According to the Russian News Agency TASS, Sergey Lavrov said in an interview, “I have already stopped paying attention to what Western media write, especially after they violated every possible contractual commitment, for example, by sending a huge amount of Soviet and Russian military equipment that remained in the West, such as tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery – by sending it all to the Kyiv regime in flagrant violation of the so-called end-use certificates, which require that these weapons cannot be sent anywhere without the seller’s consent”.
He was commenting on Western news reports alleging that Russia and North Korea could supply each other with weapons.
The North Korean leader is currently making an official visit to Russia at the invitation of the Russian president.
Kim last visited Russia in April 2019 when the two leaders met for talks in Vladivostok.
Some Western experts claim that Russia is probably looking to buy artillery shells and anti-tank missiles from North Korea, and in return, Pyongyang wants advanced satellites and nuclear submarine technology from Moscow.
The White House has previously asked Pyongyang not to provide Russia with weapons or sell them to Moscow.
Extensive flooding across central Greece from a powerful storm last week killed 15 people and has caused widespread damage to property, farms and infrastructure
Published Date – 06:54 PM, Wed – 13 September 23
AP Photo
Athens: A senior prosecutor on Wednesday ordered an investigation into allegations that officials in disaster-hit central Greece failed to complete flood defence projects on time.
Extensive flooding across central Greece from a powerful storm last week killed 15 people and has caused widespread damage to property, farms and infrastructure.
A Supreme Court prosecutor ordered an investigation into delays in publicly funded flood-prevention projects, noting that the potential offences include breach of duty and manslaughter due to breach of duty.
In flooded villages, municipal crews raced to dispose of tens of thousands of dead farm animals to prevent the spread of disease, while stranded areas received emergency supplies delivered by helicopter.
Elderly residents in need of medical attention were moved to nearby towns using boats or placed in the buckets of earthmoving vehicles.
The European Union on Tuesday promised emergency aid worth 2.25 billion euros (USD 2.42 billion) provided from unclaimed funds.
Major General Mohammad Bagheri made the remarks during a phone call with the Defense Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov on Wednesday, APA reported.
Bagheri stressed that information regarding the concentration of troops on the border with Azerbaijan is baseless.
Earlier in September, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for International Cooperation Brigadier General Mohammad Ahadi had dismissed as “baseless” reports about the deployment of its troops on the northern border with Azerbaijan under the current tense circumstances in the South Caucasus.
Earlier in August, Major General Bagheri discussed the development of Tehran-Baku defense and security cooperation with the Azeri minister of defense over the phone during which the two sides emphasized the development of bilateral defense and military relations and cooperation between the two sides.
“This attack, which took place on 27 January 2023 as a result of personal motives and firearms used in it, caused the death of one of the embassy staff, the injury of three of his colleagues and the destruction of part of the embassy’s properties,” Salehi said on Wednesday.
The Tehran prosecutor general added that the defendant has been charged with killing on purpose an Azerbaijani citizen using a firearm inside the embassy, buying, carrying and keeping illegal weapons and ammunition including one AK-47 and a pistol and threatening civil order.
The judicial official said that the assailant has also been charged with the intentional wounding of three embassy staff who are citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
He further said that the attacker is expected to receive the severest punishment, while the case is not closed yet as the investigation continues.
Salehi emphasized that in spite of the all-out ill-wishing attempts to undermine the relations between Iran and Azerbaijan following the attack, after the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the attacker in the Iranian court, the case went through close cooperation of the judicial bodies of the two countries and reached the stage that the severest punishment is being asked for the assailant now.
The prosecutor further said that the Islamic Republic of Iran spares no efforts to protect the rights of foreign nationals who are working in the diplomatic premises, stressing that the Azerbaijani embassy case has been going through a transparent judicial process since its beginning.
He further expressed hope that the process of judicial cooperation between the two countries on the case will continue until the end and that the court will reach a definitive conclusion by issuing a fair verdict for the defendant.
National Frequency Agency called on Apple in a statement to “implement all available means to rapidly fix this malfunction” for phones already being used
Published Date – 06:26 PM, Wed – 13 September 23
A woman walks past a closed Apple Store in Lille, northern France, Monday, March 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler, File)
Paris: A government watchdog agency in France has ordered Apple to withdraw the iPhone 12 from the French market, saying it emits levels of electromagnetic radiation that are too high.
The National Frequency Agency, which oversees radio-electric frequencies as well as public exposure to electromagnetic radiation, called on Apple in a statement Tuesday to “implement all available means to rapidly fix this malfunction” for phones already being used.
Corrective updates to the iPhone 12 will be monitored by the agency, and if they don’t work, “Apple will have to recall” phones that have already been sold, according to the French regulator’s statement.
Apple disputed the findings and said the device complies with all regulations governing radiation.
The agency, which is known by the French acronym ANFR, said it recently checked 141 cellphones, including the iPhone 12, for electromagnetic waves capable of being absorbed by the body.
It said it found a level of electromagnetic energy absorption of 5.74 watts per kilogram during tests of a phone in a hand or a pocket, higher than the European Union standard of 4 watts per kilogram.
The agency said the iPhone 12 met the threshold when radiation levels were assessed for a phone kept in a jacket or in a bag.
Apple said the iPhone 12, which was released in late 2020, has been certified by multiple international bodies and complies with all applicable regulations and standards for radiation around the world.
The US tech company said it has provided the French agency with multiple lab results carried out both by the company and third-party labs proving the phone’s compliance.
Cellphones have been labelled as “possible” carcinogens by the World Health Organisation’s cancer research arm, putting them in the same category as coffee, diesel fumes and the pesticide DDT. The radiation produced by cellphones cannot directly damage DNA and is different from stronger types of radiation like X-rays or ultraviolet light.
In 2018, two US government studies that bombarded mice and rats with cellphone radiation found a weak link to some heart tumours, but federal regulators and scientists said it was still safe to use the devices. Scientists said those findings didn’t reflect how most people use their cellphones and that the animal findings didn’t translate into a similar concern for humans.
Among the largest studies on potential dangers of cellphone use, a 2010 analysis in 13 countries found little or no risk of brain tumours.
People’s mobile phone habits also have changed substantially since the first studies began and it’s unclear if the results of previous research would still apply today.
Since many tumours take years to develop, experts say it’s difficult to conclude that cellphones have no long-term health risks. Experts have recommended that people concerned about their cellphone radiation exposure use earphones or switch to texting.
In yet another attack spearheaded by the West against freedom of speech in Iran, the Australian Foreign Ministry announced in a media release on Wednesday that the restrictive measures, including financial sanctions and travel bans, targeted four individuals and three entities over what it claimed was “human rights violations” in Iran.
Iran’s police spokesman General Saeed Montazer-al-Mahdi was among the sanctioned individuals, and the targeted entities include Iran’s Cyber Police and Tehran-based Press TV news channel.
Accusing the Islamic Republic of the “oppression of people” in the country, the ministry said the sanctions, the first by the Australian government, were levied on the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman of Kurdish descent who died in police custody in the capital Tehran in September last year.
The 22-year-old died in a hospital in Tehran days after she was detained by police on September 15.
Despite clarification on the circumstances surrounding her death, protests erupted in the country, which later turned violent and led to attacks on security officers and acts of vandalism against public property as well as police vehicles and ambulances.
Comprehensive investigations carried out by the Iranian Parliament and Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization ruled out the use of force on the woman, pointing to her medical history and brain surgery years ago.
The foreign-backed violent riots claimed dozens of lives from both security forces and innocent people as the Western media and Persian-language news networks continued to instigate unrest in Iran.
The latest anti-Iran measure by the Australian government comes as the West has a bleak history of gagging the Islamic Republic’s media apparatuses over groundless and unsubstantiated allegations of human rights violations.
In November last year, the European Union imposed sanctions on a number of Iranian institutions and individuals, including Press TV, following the riots and weeks later, the French satellite operator Eutelsat threatened to take the English-language news network off the air.
“The West has tried to stop the broadcasting of Iranian channels’ programs on satellites in the past and this action is not a new issue,” Ahmad Norouzi, the head of IRIB World Service and the CEO of Press TV said at the time.
Denouncing the removal of Press TV from the Eutelsat satellite as a shame, Norouzi said, “Iran is engaged in an all-out media war by enemies to expand the range of protests in the country and that Press TV has played a commendable role in countering these attacks.”
The Tehran-based English-language news network has repeatedly fallen victim to censorship on multiple fronts, including Twitter, Instagram, Google, and its services.
IRIB’s World Service in general, and Press TV in particular, has played a remarkable role as the counterweight to Western propagandist media for years, demolishing and debunking their lop-sided and unfair coverage of Iran and the region.
TEHRAN, Sep. 13 (MNA) – The Australian government has imposed a fresh round of sanctions on a number of Iranian individuals and entities, including the English-language Press TV news network, on the anniversary of foreign-backed riots in the country.
Most economists downplayed the prospect that the British economy would fall into recession as monthly growth figures have been yo-yoing up and down as of late. Still, growth is expected to stay tepid
Published Date – 06:01 PM, Wed – 13 September 23
Representational Image
London: The British economy shrank by 0.5 per cent in July amid a series of strikes, particularly by doctors at the start of their careers, and unseasonably wet weather, official figures showed Wednesday.
The Office for National Statistics said the strikes by so-called junior doctors weighed on health sector activity, while the sixth wettest July on record hit retailers after a buoyant June, when business was brisk as a result of warm weather.
Most economists downplayed the prospect that the British economy would fall into recession as monthly growth figures have been yo-yoing up and down as of late. Still, growth is expected to stay tepid.
James Smith, developed markets economist at ING, said a recession “can’t be ruled out” but that the economy “seems to be still growing, albeit fractionally.” Despite the July retreat, financial markets think it’s more likely than not that the Bank of England would raise interest rates again next week given that inflation of 6.8% is substantially above its target of 2 per cent.
Most economists think the bank will raise its main rate by a further quarter of a percentage point to a fresh 15-year high of 5.5 per cent.
Nasser Kan’ani reacted Wednesday to the anti-Iran statements of the President of the European Parliament and some representatives of the European Union in Tuesday’s session.
Criticizing that these positions are in line with the failed policy towards the realities of Iranian society and people, he added that it reflects their confusion in the face of the stability, rationality, and authority of Iran.
Adopting interventionist logic and resorting to ineffective political-propaganda pressure, instead of cooperating with Iran based on mutual respect and common interests, reveals the lack of seriousness and sincerity of some European actors in their engagement with Iran, he continued.
He further stated that the baseless accusations against Iran regarding certain foreign nationals and prisoners who have been convicted based on solid evidence suggest that certain EU officials insist on maintaining confrontational positions against the people and government of Iran.
This approach contradicts what is expressed by EU officials regarding interaction and dialogue with Iran, he noted.
The anti-Iran positions of the European Parliament in the past year have greatly damaged Iran’s relations with the European Union, he said, expressing hope that these individuals will soon come to understand the realities and work towards correcting and compensating for these incorrect positions.
Kan’ani emphasized that it is strongly expected from the European Union not to allow certain elements within the organization to make unsubstantiated, unconstructive, and contradictory statements that undermine the efforts to maintain communication and dialogue with Iran.
The leaders met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome for a summit that underscores how their interests are aligning in the face of their countries’ separate, intensifying confrontations with the United States.
Published Date – 05:17 PM, Wed – 13 September 23
File Photo
Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed support for Russia’s “just fight” during a summit with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that the US warned could lead to a deal to supply ammunition for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
After touring launch pads with Putin at a remote space base in Russia’s Far East, Kim expressed “full and unconditional support” and said Pyongyang will always stand with Moscow on the “anti-imperialist” front.
The leaders met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome for a summit that underscores how their interests are aligning in the face of their countries’ separate, intensifying confrontations with the United States. The talks lasted four to five hours, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported. Putin told Russian state TV that the North Korean will visit two more cities in Russia’s Far East after the summit.
North Korea may have tens of millions of aging artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs that could give a huge boost to the Russian army in Ukraine, analysts say.
The United States has accused North Korea of providing Russia with arms, including selling artillery shells to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Both Russian and North Korean officials have denied such claims.
That would be a striking reversal of roles: the Soviet Union provided ammunition, warplanes and pilots to support communist North Korea’s invasion of the South during the 1950-53 Korean War, and the North relied on Soviet economic aid for decades afterward.
The decision to meet at the cosmodrome, Russia’s most important launch center on its own soil, suggests that in return Kim is seeking Russian help to develop military reconnaissance satellites, which he has described as crucial to enhance the threat of his nuclear-capable missiles. In recent months, North Korea has repeatedly failed in attempts to put its first military spy satellite into orbit.
But either buying arms from or providing rocket technology to North Korea would violate international sanctions that Russia has supported in the past.
Putin met Kim’s limousine, brought from Pyongyang in the North Korean leader’s special armoured train, at the entrance to the launch facility, greeting his guest with a handshake that lasted around 40 seconds. In his opening remarks, Putin talked about the Soviet Union’s wartime support for North Korea and said the talks would cover economic cooperation, humanitarian issues and the “situation in the region.” Kim, in turn, expressed support for Moscow, making an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine. “Russia is currently engaged in a just fight against hegemonic forces to defend its sovereign rights, security and interests,” the North Korean leader said. “I take this opportunity to affirm that we will always stand with Russia on the anti-imperialist front and the front of independence.” The two men began their meeting with a tour of a Soyuz-2 space rocket launch facility, at which Kim peppered a Russian space official with questions about the rockets.
Kim and Putin then met together with their delegations and later one-on-one, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. After the talks, the Russian president threw an official lunch for Kim, Russian state media reported. After leaving the cosmodrome, Putin said, Kim will fly to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where he will visit an aircraft plant, and then go to Vladivostok to attend “a demonstration of capabilities” of Russia’s Pacific Fleet and visit a university. The meeting came hours after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea, extending a highly provocative run in North Korean weapons testing since the start of 2022, as Kim used the distraction caused by Putin’s war on Ukraine to accelerate his weapons development.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff didn’t immediately say how far the North Korean missiles flew. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the missiles landed in the waters outside of the country’s exclusive economic zones and there were no reports of damage to vessels or aircraft.
Official photos showed that Kim was accompanied by Pak Thae Song, chairman of North Korea’s space science and technology committee, and navy Adm. Kim Myong Sik, who are linked with North Korean efforts to acquire spy satellites and nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarines, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry.
Asked whether Russia will help North Korea build satellites, Putin was quoted by Russian state media as saying “that’s why we have come here. The DPRK leader shows keen interest in rocket technology. They’re trying to develop space, too,” using the abbreviation for North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Asked about military cooperation, Putin said “we will talk about all issues without a rush. There is time.” Kim also brought Jo Chun Ryong, a ruling party official in charge of munitions policies, who joined him on recent tours of factories producing artillery shells and missiles, according to South Korea.
During the lunch, which reportedly featured delicacies from Siberia and Russia’s Far East, such as Kamchatka crab dumplings and taiga lingonberries with pine nuts and condensed milk, Kim said that he and Putin agreed to deepen their “strategic and tactical cooperation,” and that he believes Russia will achieve victory, apparently referring to the war in Ukraine.
“We believe with certainty that the Russian army and people will achieve a great victory in the just fight to punish the evil forces pursuing hegemonic and expansionary ambitions and create a stable environment for national development,” the North Korean leader said.
Despite the recent frequency of North Korean missile firings, Wednesday’s launches on the eve of the summit came as a surprise. South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said it was the first time the North launched a missile while Kim was travelling overseas.
Kim could have ordered the launches to make a point to Putin about North Korea’s defence posture and show that he remains in close control of the country’s military activities even while abroad, said Moon Seong Mook, an analyst with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.
Moon, a retired South Korean brigadier general who participated in past inter-Korean military talks, said the North with the launches could have also intended to express its anger toward the United States, after State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a press briefing that Putin was meeting “an international pariah to ask for assistance in a war.” Speculation about military cooperation grew after Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited North Korea in July. Kim subsequently toured his weapons factories, which experts said had the dual goal of encouraging the modernisation of North Korean weaponry and examining artillery and other supplies that could be exported to Russia.
