SUSPECTED LEAKER OF TOP-SECRET US DOCUMENTS ARRESTED: REPORT

Multiple US media sources have reported that Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested on Thursday in connection with the leak of classified documents.

Teixeira was allegedly responsible for managing a group called Thug Shaker Central on a popular gamer website Discord, where over 100 classified documents, including information on Ukraine and intelligence gathered from spying on allies, were shared.

ABC News reported that the FBI made a “probable cause” arrest of a man identified by authorities as a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.

US media aired footage from North Dighton, Massachusetts showing the detainee in shorts with his hands behind his back and being placed by agents into an unmarked vehicle.

The newspaper identified him as Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.

Less than a week since news of highly classified military documents surfaced, US national security agencies and the Justice Department are probing the release to assess the damage to national security and relations with allies.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden indicated that the US government was close to identifying the suspect.

N KOREA TESTS NEW TYPE OF MISSILE, TRIGGERS SCARE IN JAPAN

Seoul/Tokyo : North Korea fired a new model of long-range ballistic missile on Thursday, South Korea said, triggering a scare in northern Japan where residents were told to take cover, though there turned out to be no danger.

A South Korean military official said the missile appeared to have been a new weapon displayed at recent North Korean military parades, andpossibly used solid fuel. North Korea has been working to build more solid-fuel missiles, which are easier to store and transport, and can be launched with almost no warning or preparation time.

The missile flew about 1,000 km, the South’s military said, calling it a “grave provocation”. The official said the missile’s maximum altitude was lower than 6,000km, the apogeeof some of last year’s record breaking tests. “So far we assess that they fired a new type of ballistic missile,” the official said. “We’re still analysing the possibility that it carried a solid-fuel propellant. ”

The South Korean military said it was on high alert and coordinating closely with its main ally, the US, which “strongly condemned” what the White House said in a statement was along-range ballistic missile test. Japan called a National Security Council meeting in response to the launch. The missile sparked fear on the northern island of Hokkaido after the government’s emergency alert system warned residents to take cover. Schools in Hokkaido delayed their opening times and some train services were suspended, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.

A COVID WAVE IS RIPPLING ACROSS ASIA

A number of Asian nations are reporting an uptick in Covid infections as the region treats the virus as endemic, with fresh wave exerting limited pressure on health-care systems.

Singapore’s infections almost doubled in the final week of March to the highest this year, data from the ministry of health showed. India reported its biggest single-day tally since late-August, while Indonesia’s daily caseload is near a four-month high and Vietnam is ramping up virus prevention measures.

While infections are rising, countries across Asiaare attributing the wave to a mix of XBB subvariants — a highly transmissible omicron strain that, so far, isn’t causing widespread severe illness. Most of the region’s population have been vaccinated or had prior infections and governments have counseled that new coronavirus waves are to be expected from time to time. In Singapore, which dropped most mask mandates in February due to the significantly reduced threat from Covid, weekly cases topped 28,000 by the end of March, up from 14,467 a week earlier. Indonesia’s caseload has risen in recent months as the government eased mobility curbs, with daily infections reaching 987 on Wednesday. PresidentJoko Widodo, addressing the wave on Thursday, urged citizens to take a second booster shot, though said the country’s high level of immunity meant the situation was “still under control”.

Vietnam’s health ministry ordered new preventative measures at schools and close monitoring at border gates to detect cases and prevent community spread after reporting 639 new cases in the past seven days, a roughly four-fold increase from a week earlier. Meanwhile, cases in the Philippines have plateaued since February and there was just a single Covid death in March.

CHINA REVISES WARTIME MILITARY HIRING RULES AMID TENSIONS WITH TAIWAN

Beijing : China has released a new set of revised rules for military recruitment in wartime, including giving priority to veterans and drafting high-calibre soldiers, which an expert described as combat readiness for a war over Taiwan.

The new rules were released by the State Council and the Central Military Commission (CMC) — the high command of the Chinese military headed by President Xi Jinping — aiming to provide institutional guarantees for consolidating national defence, state-run Xinhua reported on Wednesday. The new rules, with 74 articles in 11 chapters, focuses on recruiting more high-calibre soldiers and standardising conscription procedures, it reported.

The new rules will come into effect next month. The regulations said recruitment should “focus on preparing for war” and increase efficiency by calling up “high calibre” recruits, South China Morning Post newspaper reported. For the first time, a separatechapter on wartime recruitment has been included in the rules, which state that ex-servicemen would be prioritised.

The new rules were promulgated as Beijing is facing geopolitical tensions on several fronts, including in the South China Sea and in the Taiwan Strait. Chine recently conducted three-day drills near Taiwan that followed Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House Speaker Kevin. McCarthy. During a visit to the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theatre Command on Wednesday, Xi stressed the importance of accelerating PLAs transformation into a modern fighting force through “real combatoriented exercises” and innovative warfare concepts.

PAK. SC HALTS IMPLEMENTATION OF BILL LIMITING CHIEF JUSTICE’S POWERS

ISLAMABAD: Ignoring calls to stop interfering in the domain of Parliament, Pakistan's Supreme Court stopped operationalisation of a Bill aimed at clipping the powers of the chief justice. It observed that prima facie the proposed law infringed the powers of the apex court to frame its own rules and it merits a hearing by the court.

‘NAVALNY HAS MYSTERY AILMENT WHICH MAY BE SLOW POISONING’

Moscow : Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent Opposition politician, is grappling with a mystery ailment in jail that could be some sort of slow acting poison and has lost 8 kg in weight in just over two weeks, his spokeswoman said. An ambulance was called for Navalny overnight on Friday to Saturday to the maximum-security IK-6 penal colony at Melekhovo, about 250 km (115 miles) east of Moscow, where he is being held. Kira Yarmysh, his spokeswoman, said on Twitter.

She said an unknown stomach complaint had flared up on Friday and that prison doctors had treated him in the past by injecting him with medicine which they had refused to identify. “We do not rule out that at this very time Navalny is being slowly poisoned, being killed slowly so that it attracts less attention,” Yarmysh said. The federal penitentiary service, which has in the past denied allegations that its employees have mistreated Navalny and has said he has been afforded medical treatment when needed, did not respond to a request for comment.

U.S. COURT PRESERVES ACCESS TO ABORTION PILL BUT TIGHTENS RULES

AUSTIN: A federal appeals court in the U.S. ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone can be used for now but reduced the period of pregnancy when the drug can be taken and said it could not be dispensed by mail. The decision temporarily narrowed a ruling by a lower court judge in Texas that blocked the drug’s approval.

NORWAY EXPELS 15 RUSSIAN DIPLOMATS SUSPECTED OF SPYING

COPENHAGEN: Norway said it was expelling 15 Russian diplomats from the country, saying they were suspected of spying while working at the Russian Embassy in Oslo. The government said the move was “an important measure to reduce the scope of Russian intelligence activities in Norway, and thereby secure our national interests.”

RIYADH READIES ARAB TALKS ON SYRIA AS DIPLOMACY SHIFTS

Saudi Arabia was preparing on Thursday to host an Arab regional meeting on ending Syria’s isolation at a time of dizzying diplomatic shifts following its deal to resume relations with Iran.

Friday’s nine-nation talks in Jeddah, the Red Sea gateway to Mecca, come after Syria’s Foreign Minister arrived on a previously unannounced visit — the first since the outbreak of the country’s civil war in 2011.

It was one in a flurry of events that were nearly unthinkable before Saudi Arabia and Iran’s landmark, Chinese-brokered announcement on March 10 that they would resume ties, seven years after an acrimonious split.

And late on Wednesday, gas-rich Qatar and its tiny Gulf neighbour Bahrain agreed to re-establish relations, putting aside a long-running diplomatic feud.

On Friday, ministers and top officials from the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — along with Egypt, Iraq and Jordan will meet in Jeddah.

On the table is Syria’s suspension from the Arab League, in place since President Bashar al-Assad’s government launched a crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011.

ASEAN GROUP ‘STRONGLY CONDEMNS’ MYANMAR AIR STRIKE THAT KILLED DOZENS

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), criticised for its inaction over the deepening Myanmar crisis, strongly condemned air strikes that reportedly killed dozens of people.

“All forms of violence must end immediately, particularly the use of force against civilians,” the 10-member bloc said in astatement issued by Indonesia, the 2023 chair of the regional bloc.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said he was “horrified” and that its victims included schoolchildren performing dances.

JAPAN APPROVES COUNTRY'S FIRST LEGAL CASINO

TOKYO — Japan's government said Friday it has approved a controversial plan to build the country's first legal casino in Osaka, hoping to draw tourists after years of wrangling.

The local governments of Osaka and Nagasaki in western Japan have long sought approval to build "integrated resort" (IR) facilities combining casinos, convention centers, hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues.

The Osaka plan, which aims to open the casino by 2029, was approved after "sufficient examination from various perspectives," land and transport minister Tetsuo Saito told reporters.

"We expect the IR will become a tourism base that will disseminate the charm of Japan," he said.

Japan was long the only developed nation that banned casinos but passed legislation in 2016 paving the way to make the industry legal.

And in 2018, parliament enacted a law allowing the construction of IR facilities.

Critics warn that approving legal casinos could worsen the country's already significant gambling problem.

The government says any IR complex seeking approval will have to submit their plans to prevent gambling addiction.

The IR law also stipulates that Japanese citizens will be required to pay 6,000 yen per 24 hours when entering a casino.