WORLD
Ukraine intelligence agency orchestrated Crimean Bridge blast
A senior Ukrainian official interviewed by the New York Times claimed that Kiev was behind the explosion, adding that the attack was masterminded by Ukraine's intelligence services, which had arranged a bomb to be planted on a truck that was driving across the bridge, RT said in a report.
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen set to win second term
Projections from Austrian broadcaster ORF on Sunday night showed that Van der Bellen won more than 56 per cent of the votes in the election involving seven candidates, Xinhua news agency reported. Van der Bellen's closest rival, Walter Rosenkranz from the Freedom Party of Austria, was expected to get around 18 per cent of the votes.
Jaishankar addresses Indians in New Zealand, asserts on bilateral cooperation
"Stronger cooperation will ensure peace, prosperity and progress of our common region. Possibilities abound in business, digital, agriculture, education, skills, traditional medicine and maritime security domains," Jaishankar, wrapping up his first visit to New Zealand, tweeted. While inaugurating the new Indian High Commission Chancery in Wellington on Sunday, the minister said that the relationship between both countries is "due for an update", and "due for refresh".
Vladimir Putin denounces Crimean bridge explosion as terrorist act
"Ukraine's special services were the initiators, performers and masterminds," Putin said when meeting with Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, Xinhua news agency reported. Confirming Putin's statement, Bastrykin said that citizens of Russia and foreign countries were also involved in the incident.
Iranian security forces arresting children in school
The authorities also shut all schools and higher education institutions in Iranian Kurdistan on Sunday -- a sign that the state remains concerned about dissent after weeks of protests over the death of a Kurdish 22-year-old Mashi Amini, The Guardian reported. Footage showed protests in dozens of cities across Iran early on Sunday, with hundreds of high school girls and university students participating in the face of teargas, clubs, and, in many cases, live ammunition by the security forces, rights groups said.
Lahore ranked as the most polluted city in the world
The latest data gathered through various government and private monitors highlights that the air quality of the provincial capital is the worst in the world, followed by Beijing, Dhaka, Milan, Shenyang, Seattle, Zagreb, Portland, Karachi and Vancouver, Express Tribune reported. Live statistics released by the United States air quality monitoring agency IQ Air show that the worst atmospheric pollution was recorded at Kot Lakhpat where the AQI rating was hovering around 279.
Anti-government protests: State-run broadcaster hacked in Iran
The 1730 IST bulletin was interrupted with images of Khamenei with a target on his head (photos of Amini and three others recently killed in the protest), BBC reported. The group, which hacked the public broadcaster on Saturday, called itself "Adalat Ali", or Ali's Justice. At least three people were shot dead when protesters clashed with security forces in unrest over death of Iranian girl Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran's morality police.
17 killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia city
Ukrainian regional governor in Zaporizhzhia, Oleksandr Starukh said, "Russian missiles partially destroyed a nine-story building . Eight people have been rescued. There may be more people under the rubble." Though the city is under Ukrainian control, it is a part of the region Russia claimed to have annexed last month, BBC reported. Denouncing the Russian action, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky termed the shelling "merciless strikes on peaceful people again".
President Putin faces grim choices after blast hits prized Crimea bridge
It brings forward by a number of weeks the strategic choices he must make about Russia's occupation of southern Ukraine. This entire presence was already poorly supplied, managed and in retreat. And it shows that the key railway route into Crimea and onwards to the frontlines in Kherson is highly vulnerable to future attacks, CNN reported. While Kiev has not claimed responsibility for the Kerch Strait bridge blast, it has previously taken credit for a series of strikes on targets in Russian-occupied Crimea over the summer.
Putin orders intensified measures to protect Crimea-related facilities
Putin authorised the Russian Federal Security Service to organise and coordinate measures to effectively protect these facilities, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the decree published on Saturday by the Kremlin. Earlier on Saturday, a deadly blast hit the 19-km Crimean Bridge, which consists of two parallel routes for automobiles and trains over the Kerch Strait.
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