Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk has expressed frustration in an interview with CNN over Germany’s indecision over whether to send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
Speaking to CNN’s Isa Soares on Friday, Melnyk called Germany’s lack of action a “disappointment,” after first praising the United Kingdom for moving forward with a pledge of Challenger 2 tanks, adding he hoped the move might prompt other countries to follow suit.
The UK is the “first nation to deliver Challenger 2 main battle tanks and that might be a trigger, hopefully, for other countries but unfortunately not for Germany yet,” said Melnyk, who went on to describe Germany’s inaction as a “huge disappointment for all Ukrainians.”
Germany has so far failed to reach an agreement with its key Western allies on sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, despite growing pressure from NATO and Kyiv to step up its military aid ahead of a potential Russian spring offensive.
A butcher died while trying to slaughter a pig in Hong Kong on Friday, the city’s police said.
The 61-year-old butcher, who worked in the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse on the city’s northern outskirts close to its border with mainland China, was knocked to the ground by the struggling pig and sustained a wound from a 40 centimeter (15 inch) meat cleaver, police told CNN.
The butcher had been about to kill the pig – which he had already shot with an electric stun gun – when it regained consciousness and knocked him over, police said.
A colleague found the man unconscious with the cleaver in his hand and a wound on his left foot, police said. He was taken to hospital and was later certified dead.
The police force said the cause of death has yet to be determined.
The city’s Labour Department said it has launched an investigation.
Chris Hipkins, New Zealand’s education minister, is bidding to replace Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, after her shock resignation announcement earlier this week.
Hipkins emerged as the only candidate to be nominated for the leadership of the ruling Labour party on Saturday morning.
The Labour Party caucus is due to meet on Sunday to formally endorse and confirm Hipkins as leader, party whip Duncan Webb said.
New Zealand’s next general election is expected to be held on October 14.
Hipkins is a career politician who entered Parliament in 2008, and became a household name leading New Zealand’s pandemic management as Covid-19 response minister in Ardern’s cabinet. Aside from being education minister, he is also minister for police and the public service, and Leader of the House.
Royce Williams was a real life “Top Gun” 10 years before Tom Cruise was even born.
On a cold November day in 1952, Williams shot down four Soviet fighter jets – and became a legend no one would hear about for more than 50 years.
The now 97-year-old former naval aviator was presented with the Navy Cross, the service’s second-highest military honor at a ceremony Friday in California.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said on Friday that among the many proposals he has reviewed to upgrade sailors’ awards, Williams’ case “stood out above all others. It was very clear to me that his actions were truly extraordinary and more closely aligned with the criteria describing a higher medal.”
“Freedom does not come cheap,” Del Toro said. “It comes through the sacrifice of all those who have and continue to serve in today’s military. Your actions that day kept you free. They kept your shipmates free in Task Force 77. Indeed, they kept all of us free.”
In the largest DNA analysis of its kind, scientists have found evidence to suggest that historic plague pandemics, such as the Black Death, were not caused by newly evolved strains of bacteria but ones that could have emerged up to centuries before their outbreaks.
The plague-causing bacterium Yersinia pestis is dated to have first emerged in humans about 5,000 years ago. Through animals and trade routes, Y. pestis spread globally over time on multiple occasions, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Communications Biology.
It caused the first plague pandemic in the sixth to eighth centuries and the second one in the 14th to 19th centuries. The latter pandemic is thought to have started with the medieval Black Death outbreak, which is estimated to have killed more than half of Europe’s population. The bacterium also caused the third plague pandemic between the 19th and 20th centuries.
Germany failed to reach agreement with its key Western allies on sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, despite growing pressure from NATO and Kyiv to step up its military aid ahead of a potential Russian spring offensive.
“We all cannot say today when a decision will be made and what that decision will be on Leopard tanks,” newly appointed Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters on the sidelines of the high-stakes defense meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday.
The stance will come as a disappointment to Ukraine’s military – at least for now – and follows days of negotiations between the US, other Western partners and Berlin that ended in anticlimax on Friday.
Leopard 2 tanks are seen as a vital, modern military vehicle that would bolster Kyiv’s forces as the war with Russia approaches the one-year mark.
Two popular Sydney beaches were closed Saturday after swimmers witnessed several bull sharks attacking a dolphin, according to Surf Life Saving New South Wales.
The closures led to the canceling of several surfing and Ironman and Ironwoman events.
The dolphin suffered injuries to its tail and was later euthanized, the organization said.
Lifesavers closed Manly and Shelly beaches where hundreds of people had gathered for the Manly Open Classic – a community event including Ironman competitions that were supposed to be held on Saturday.
“Surf lifesavers and lifeguards cleared swimmers from the water and a large surf carnival has been suspended,” the organization wrote in a statement.
Drones operated by Surf Life Saving spotted a number of sharks in the area, it said.
Emily Pettersson told CNN affiliate Channel Nine that she went into the water when she heard the dolphin had been hurt.
South Korea’s first lunar probe has returned some striking images of Earth and the moon.
The Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter began orbiting the moon in December after the Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s spacecraft had launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in August.
The probe, also known as “Danuri” thanks to a public naming contest in the country that combined the Korean words for moon and enjoy, will orbit the moon for 11 months.
The stunning images captured by the probe showcasing Earth and the moon in black and white look like something photographer Ansel Adams might have taken had he ever enjoyed such an opportunity. The orbiter is flying at an altitude of 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the lunar surface.
Indonesia is warning people against consuming liquid nitrogen after more than 20 children were harmed eating a street snack known as “dragon’s breath” that’s at the center of a dangerous new viral video trend.
The children suffered burns to their skin, severe stomach pains and food poisoning after consuming the colorful candies, according to Indonesia’s Ministry of Health, which is urging parents, teachers and local health authorities to be vigilant.
The candies are dipped in liquid nitrogen to create a vapor effect when eaten. They are popular with children, dozens of whom have uploaded clips to short-form video app TikTok showing them blowing the fumes out of their mouths, noses and ears. One video showing the preparation of the snack by a street vendor has been viewed close to 10 million times.
Israel’s highest court this week ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire a key ally, a dramatic move amid an unprecedented confrontation between his government and the judiciary.
The High Court ruled 10-1 on Wednesday that it was unreasonable for Aryeh Deri, leader of the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox party Shas, to serve as a minister. He was appointed interior and health minister just three weeks ahead of the ruling.
But so far, Netanyahu has not taken any action, as political tensions mount. Israel media reported Friday Deri and Netanyahu are in the midst of negotiations over the situation.
Deri has several convictions on his record, most recently on tax charges. Last year he struck a plea bargain with the courts, which saw him serve a suspended sentence after he resigned from parliament and pledged not to return to public office.
Under Israeli law, people convicted of
