AT LEAST 85 KILLED, OVER 300 INJURED AT CHARITY DISTRIBUTION EVENT IN SANAA

A stampede occurred late Wednesday during a financial assistance distribution event in Yemen's capital, killing at least 85 people and injuring dozens more, according to a Houthi official. According to the Houthi-run Interior Ministry, the chaos occurred in Sanaa's Old City when hundreds of underprivileged people came for a merchant-organized event.

Brig. Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri, the ministry's spokesperson, blamed the crush on "random distribution" of cash without consultation with local authorities. The incident occurred only days before Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the conclusion of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan later this week.

According to a Houthi spokesman, at least "85 people were killed and more than 322 were injured" in the rush in the capital's Bab al-Yemen area.

Dozens of injured people were taken to nearby hospitals. According to the Houthi rebels' Al-Masirah satellite TV channel, Motaher al-Marouni, a top health official in Sanaa, reported the death toll and stated at least 13 others were critically injured.

The insurgents promptly shut off the school where the ceremony was being held and banned anybody from coming, including journalists. According to witnesses, armed Houthis fired into the air in an attempt to control the crowd, striking an electrical line and causing it to explode. According to them, this caused fear, and people began stampeding.

The Interior Ministry stated that two organisers had been detained and that an inquiry was ongoing. Since the Houthis descended from their northern stronghold in 2014 and deposed the internationally recognised government, Yemen's capital has been under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthis.

KYIV RECEIVES PATRIOT MISSILES MADE BY U.S.

Ukraine’s Defence Minister said on Wednesday his country has received the U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air guided missile systems it has long craved and which Kyiv hopes will help shield it from Russian airstrikes during the war.

Ukrainian officials have previously said the arrival of Patriot systems would be a major boost and a milestone in the war against Moscow’s full-scale invasion. It's the latest contribution from Kyiv's Western allies, who have also pledged tanks, artillery and some types of fighter jets as Ukraine gears up for an expected counteroffensive.

Also, US is sending Ukraine $325 million in additional military aidas the launch of the spring offensive against Russia approaches, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The aid resembles earlier deliveries, which included rockets for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and howitzers, as well as an array of other missiles and anti-tank ammunition, all from Pentagon stocks, so it can go quickly to the front lines.

Meanwhile, South Korea might extend its support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if it comes under alarge-scale civilian attack, President Yoon Suk Yeol said, signalling a shift in his stance against arming Ukraine for the first time.

US-CHINA MUTUAL SUSPICION TROUBLE FOR REST OF THE WORLD: S’PORE PM

Singapore : The deep mutual suspicion and fundamental distrust between the United States and China will not improve anytime soon and it will mean “big trouble” for the rest of the world, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Wednesday.

Lee, who made an official visit to Beijing earlier this month, said that the Chinese public perception of the US has deteriorated. China’s leaders are convinced that the US is seeking to “contain, encircle and suppress” China, Lee said, quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Even if the two powers avoid a direct conflict. . . enduring enmity and bad relations between them will be very costly for both and will mean big trouble for the rest of the world,” Lee said in Parliament, outlining three major geopolitical tensions that make the current global situation graver than what Singapore has faced in a long time.

Singaporeans need to realise the gravity of the situation, he said.

WHY THE WORLD IS WORRIED OVER CHINA’S SHRINKING POPN

Despite the cancellation years ago of China’s harsh, Mao-era restriction on families to a single child, China’s population is steadily shrinking — a momentous shift that will soon leave India as the world’s most populous nation. The change will have outsize effects not just on the domestic Chinese economy, but on the world at large as well.

Here’s why global economists and others are alarmed by the developments.

The shrinking workforce could hobble the global economy. For years, China’s massive working-age population powered the global economic engine, supplying the factory workers whose cheap labour produced goods that were exported around the world.

In the long run, a shortage of factory workers in China — driven by a better-educated workforce and a shrinking population of young people — could raise costs for consumers outside China, potentially exacerbating inflation in countries such as the United States that rely heavily on imported Chinese products. Facing rising labour costs in China, many companies have already begun shifting their manufacturing operations to lower-paying countries like Vietnam and Mexico.

A shrinking population could also mean a decline in spending by Chinese consumers, threatening global brands dependent on sales ofproducts to China, from Apple smartphones to Nike sneakers. The data is bad news for China’s crucial housing market.

China has also been unwilling to loosen immigration rules to boost the population, and has historically issued relatively few green cards to replenish its shrinking workforce. To address the labor shortage, China has been outsourcing low-skilled production to other countries in Asia, and adding more automation to its factories, hoping to rely more on artificial intelligence and technology sectors for future growth.

EU ADOPTS BAN ON IMPORTS THAT SPEED UP DEFORESTATION

Strasbourg (France) : The European Parliament adopted a new EU law on Wednesday that will ban imports deemed to be driving deforestation, throwing the bloc’s trade muscle behind a global fight against climate change.

The legislation, which has to get final approval from the European Union’s member countries, would apply to coffee, cocoa, soy, timber, palm oil, cattle, printing paper and rubber, and derived products, coming from countries around the world. Imports that come from land that was deforested after December 31, 2020 will be prohibited in the huge EU market.

Companies sending such merchandise to Europe will have to show a certificate guaranteeing they do not come from such zones, with checks conducted on a sliding scale according to how high risk the exporting country is ranked. The EU is the second-biggest market for consumption of the targeted products after China. The European Parliament estimates Europe is responsible for 10% of deforested land around the planet.

‘CREDIT SUISSE FAULTED OVER INVESTIGATION OF NAZI-LINKED ACCOUNTS

Geneva : US lawmakers have accused embattled Swiss bank Credit Suisse of limiting the scope of an internal investigation into Nazi clients and Nazi-linked accounts, including some open until just a few years ago.

The Senate Budget Committee says an independent ombudsman initially brought in by the bank to oversee the probe was “inexplicably terminated” as he carried out his work. Credit Suisse said it was “fully cooperating” with the committee’s inquiry but rejected some claims from the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, a Los Angeles-based Jewish human rights group, that brought to light in 2020 allegations of possible Nazilinked accounts at Switzerland’s second-largest bank.

Reports from the ombudsman and a forensic research team revealed at least 99 accounts credibly tied to senior Nazi officials in Germany or members of Nazi-affliliated groups in Argentina, most of which were not previously disclosed, the committee said Tuesday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

AFTER PROBE, SUNAK DECLARES WIFE’S SHARES

London : British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s register of ministerial interests was published by the UK Cabinet Office on Wednesday, revealing his wife Akshata Murty’s shares in a childcare agency which could benefit from a policy in last month’s Budget.

The publication of the list came in the wake of a parliamentary watchdog probe opened by the UK’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards last week to determine if the British Indian leader had been “open and frank” in his obligation under the parliamentary Code of Conduct.

Now, a full ‘List of Ministers’ Interests’’ published online reveals Sunak’s reference to his wife’s interests aswell under a section entitled ‘relevant interests of spouse or close family member’. “The Prime Minister’s wife is a venture capital investor. She owns a venture capital investment company, Catamaran Ventures UK Limited, and a number of direct shareholdings,” reads the register.

As a footnote, it adds: “As the PM set out in his letter to the Chair of the Liaison Committee on April 4, 2023, this includes the minority shareholding his wife has in relation to the company, Koru Kids. ” Downing Street had maintained that Sunak, 42, followed the rules of ministerial conduct at all times and had declared his wife’s interests as a ministerial interest.

KIM JONG-UN SAYS NORTH KOREA’S FIRST SPY SATELLITE IS READY FOR LAUNCH

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country had built its first-ever military spy satellite and that he planned to launch it on an undisclosed date. During his visit to the country’s aerospace agency, Mr. Kim said that having a reconnaissance satellite was crucial for North Korea to use its nuclear-capable missiles.

IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER RULES OUT REFERENDUMS ON DIVISIVE ISSUES

TEHRAN: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled out the holding of popular referendums on state policies. During a meeting with students, he rejected the idea saying, ‘Where in the world is this done?’ He appeared to be referring to remarks by former President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, who had mooted the plan.