SEOUL, 04 April 2022, (TON): The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called the South Korean defense minister a scum-like guy for talking about preemptive strikes on the North, warning that the South may face a serious threat.

Kim Yo Jong’s statement came amid heightened tensions between the rival Koreas over the North’s spate of weapons tests this year, including its first intercontinental ballistic missile launch in more than four years.

Some experts say her statement could signal that North Korea will conduct more significant weapons tests soon and take a hard-line stance on South Korea.

The ICBM test that broke North Korea’s four-year moratorium on big weapons tests was a huge embarrassment to South Korea’s liberal President Moon Jae-in, who has pushed hard to achieve greater reconciliation between the countries and find a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear crisis.

During a visit to the country’s strategic missile command on Friday, South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook said that South Korea has the ability and readiness to launch precision strikes on North Korea if it detects the North intends to fire missiles at South Korea.

MOSCOW, 04 April 2022, (TON): The Russian Defense Ministry denied accusations of the Kiev regime of allegedly killing civilians in the village of Bucha, Kiev region, calling photos and video footage from Bucha another production of the Kiev regime for Western media.

The military department said “all the photographs and video materials published by the Kiev regime, allegedly testifying to some kind of crimes of Russian servicemen in the city of Bucha, Kiev region, are another provocation.”

The ministry emphasized “photos and video footage from Bucha are another production of the Kiev regime for the Western media, as it was in Mariupol with a maternity hospital, as well as in other cities.”

Russian Defense Ministry said “the servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces did not commit violent acts against the inhabitants of the settlement of Bucha while they were there.”

The ministry said “during the time this settlement was under the control of the Russian armed forces, not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions.”

They also noted that all the time while the city was under the control of the Russian armed forces, the southern outskirts of the city, including residential areas, were fired around the clock by Ukrainian troops from large-caliber artillery, tanks and multiple launch rocket systems.

RIO DE JANEIRO, 04 April 2022, (TON): Authorities said “torrential downpours triggered flash floods and landslides across Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state, killing at least 14 people including eight children, and leaving five missing.”

Two days of heavy rain have battered a broad swathe of the southeastern state’s Atlantic coast, the latest in a series of deadly storms in Brazil that experts say are being aggravated by climate change.

More rain is forecast for the region in the coming days.

Officials said “the victims included a mother and six of her children, who were buried when a landslide swept away their home.”

President Jair Bolsonaro said on Facebook the federal government had sent military aircraft to help the rescue effort and dispatched national disaster response secretary Alexandre Lucas to the state of 17.5 million people.

The new incidents come six weeks after flash floods and landslides killed 233 people in the scenic city of Petropolis, the Brazilian empire’s 19th-century summer capital, also in Rio state.

This time, the areas hit hardest included the tourist town of Paraty, a seaside colonial city known for its picturesque cobblestone streets and colorful houses.

Officials there said a landslide in the Ponta Negra neighborhood had killed a mother and six of her children, ages two, five, eight, 10, 15 and 17.

RIYADH, 04 April 2022, (TON): Saudi Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed bin Abdulkarim Al-Khuraiji met Ambassador of Algeria to the Kingdom Mohammed Ali Boughazi.

During the reception at the ministry’s headquarters in Riyadh, the two reviewed bilateral relations and ways to enhance them in all fields.

They also discussed the most prominent regional and international developments of common interest.

NEW YORK, 04 April 2022, (TON): US arms manufacturers are not cashing in directly from the thousands of missiles, drones and other weapons being sent to Ukraine, but they do stand to profit big-time over the long run by supplying countries eager to boost their defenses against Russia.

Like other Western countries, the United States has turned to its own stocks to furnish Ukraine with shoulder-fired Stinger and Javelin missiles, for instance.

These weapons from Lockheed-Martin and Raytheon Technologies were paid for some time ago.

So these companies’ first quarter results, due to be released in coming weeks, should not be especially fatter because of the rush to arm Ukraine as it fights off the Russian invasion.

But those US military weapons stockpiles being tapped for Kyiv will need to be replenished.

A Defense Department spokesman told media “the Pentagon plans to use $3.5 billion earmarked for this purpose in a spending bill approved in mid-March.”

KYIV, 04 April 2022, (TON): Ukrainian troops moved cautiously to retake territory north of the country’s capital on Saturday, using cables to pull the bodies of civilians off streets of one town out of fear that Russian forces may have left them booby-trapped.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that departing Russian troops were creating a catastrophic situation for civilians by leaving mines around homes, abandoned equipment and even the bodies of those killed.

His claims could not be independently verified.

Associated Press journalists in Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv, watched as Ukrainian soldiers backed by a column of tanks and other armored vehicles used cables to drag bodies off of a street from a distance.

Locals said “the dead, the AP counted at least six, were civilians killed without provocation by departing Russian soldiers.

A Bucha resident who declined to give his name citing safety reasons, said “those people were just walking and they shot them without any reason. Bang.”

“In the next neighborhood, Stekolka, it was even worse. They would shoot without asking any question.”

LONDON, 04 April 2022, (TON): Britain’s foreign minister said “as evidence mounts of appalling acts in the Ukrainian towns of Irpin and Bucha, Russia’s attacks on civilians must be investigated as war crimes.”

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement “the government is seeing increasing evidence of appalling acts by the invading forces in towns such as Irpin and Bucha, close to Kyiv.”

AFP reporters saw at least 20 bodies, all in civilian clothing, strewn across a single street in Bucha.

Truss said “Russian troops, indiscriminate attacks against innocent civilians during Russia’s illegal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine must be investigated as war crimes.”

Truss said “we will not allow Russia to cover up their involvement in these atrocities through cynical disinformation.”

She said “the UK will fully support any investigations by the International Criminal Court.”

KABUL, 04 April 2022, (TON): Hospital officials said “an explosion in the center of the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday killed one person and wounded at least 59 others.”

In a tweet, Kabul's Emergency Hospital said one body was received at the hospital and 59 people were treated, with 30 of the wounded being admitted for further treatment.

It did not specify the injuries.

A spokesman for the Taliban's Kabul police, Khalid Zadran, said the explosion was caused by a hand grenade thrown by a would-be thief who wanted to rob the money changers in the area.

He said “10 people were injured.”

There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy in the number of wounded.

Zadran said “police have launched an investigation.”

NEW DELHI, 04 April 2022, (TON): India and Australia signed an interim free trade deal that cuts tariffs on billions of dollars of commerce as the two Quad partners bolster their economic ties.

Both signatories are members of the Quad alliance with the United States and Japan, which is seen as a counterweight to an increasingly assertive China.

But while they both border the Indian Ocean, Canberra says “India was only Australia's seventh-largest trading partner in 2020, and accounted for just over 4% of its exports in 2021.”

The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement was signed simultaneously in New Delhi and Canberra by India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and his Australian counterpart Dan Tehan in a joint ceremony.

Goyal said “India and Australia are natural partners, connected by shared values of democracy, rule of law and transparency.”

KABUL, 04 April 2022, (TON): Afghan refugees in Iran said “the local officials in Abu Shaar province of Iran banned Afghan refugees from access to work and accommodation.”

The Afghan refugees said that the local officials in Abu Shaar instructed the residents to not allow the refugees to have access to work or to rent homes. 

Inayatullah Alokozai, an Afghan refugee in Iran said “I think the overwhelming number of the Afghan refugees in the recent months of the 1400 solar year caused these problems.” 

Asifa Stanikzai, a refugee rights activist in Iran, said “several years ago, due to cultural, social, economic and security reasons, the presence of foreign nationals was banned in various cities in Iran. A ban has recently been announced again in Abu Shaar due to security reasons. The Afghan refugees are facing education and work problems.”  

The Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation vowed to seek to resolve the solution via diplomatic efforts in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Abdulmutalib Haqqani, a spokesman for the Minister of Refugee and Repatriation said “it is unfair in any country that the Afghan nationals are not allowed for work.”