Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Kenya’s defence chief and nine other senior military officers died in a helicopter crash on Thursday, President William Ruto announced. … He said the Kenya Air Force has dispatched an air investigation team to establish the cause of the crash, which took place in Elgeyo Marakwet county, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi.” (04/18/24)
Source: Politico
“A top Iranian commander has delivered a strong hint Iran could develop nuclear weapons if Israel were to launch an attack on its atomic facilities. Ahmad Haqtalab, a Revolutionary Guards’ officer who heads the nuclear protection and security corps, said Tehran could review its long-standing ‘doctrine and nuclear policies,’ in which Iran has insisted it is running an atomic program only for civilian — and not military — ends. … His remarks are the latest in a string of warnings from Iranian officials to Israel, which is weighing its response to a barrage of 300 drones and missiles that Tehran launched toward Israeli territory over the weekend. Iran has always insisted its uranium enrichment program is only intended for the production of electricity. Its senior leaders — many with memories of the use of chemical weapons against Iran in the 1980-1988 war with Iraq — have also said they oppose the development of weapons of mass destruction on moral and religious grounds.” (04/18/24)
https://www.politico.eu/article/iran-hints-nuclear-weapons-if-israel-attacks/
Source: Reuters
“The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits was unchanged at a low level last week, pointing to continued labor market strength. Labor market resilience, which is driving the economy, together with elevated inflation have led financial markets and some economists to expect that the Federal Reserve could delay cutting interest rates until September. A few economists doubt that the U.S. central bank will lower borrowing costs this year.” (04/18/24)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-weekly-jobless-claims-unchanged-low-levels-2024-04-18/
Source: US News & World Report
“Croatia’s ruling conservatives said Thursday that talks have already started about the formation of a new governing majority the day after a highly contested parliamentary election that saw a far-right party emerge as a potential kingmaker. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who is the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union party, or HDZ, said that the party has contacted some of the potential future partners and more talks will take place on Thursday. Preliminary results of the vote on Wednesday showed that Plenkovic’s HDZ won 61 seats in the 151-seat parliament, which means the party has to form a coalition government to stay in power.” (04/18/24)
Source: Seattle Times
“A human rights organization representing ethnic Armenians submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court on Thursday, arguing that Azerbaijan is committing an ongoing genocide against them. Azerbaijan’s government didn’t immediately comment on the accusations. The neighboring countries have been at odds for decades over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and are already facing off in a separate legal case stemming from that conflict. Lawyers for the California-based Center for Truth and Justice, or CFTJ, say there is sufficient evidence to open a formal investigation into Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and other top leaders for genocide. They have submitted a so-called Article 15 communication urging the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan to look into alleged atrocities.” (04/18/24)
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The US and UK have imposed a new wave of sanctions against Iran, following its drone attack on Israel. Washington targeted 16 people and two entities that produce engines for the drones. The UK Foreign Office imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on seven individuals and six entities, including those involved in drone and missile programmes. Both countries already have hundreds of sanctions in place against Iran. The latest move follows Israel’s call for support from the international community after Iran’s direct assault on Saturday, involving more than 300 missiles and drones fired from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Almost all were downed by Israel and its allies. Tehran has maintained the attack was in retaliation for a presumed Israeli air strike on its consulate in Syria on 1 April, in which 13 people were killed.” (04/18/24)
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Drug shortages are a ‘new normal’ in the UK and are being exacerbated by Brexit, a report by the Nuffield Trust health thinktank has warned. A dramatic recent spike in the number of drugs that are unavailable has created serious problems for doctors, pharmacists, the NHS and patients, it found. The number of warnings drug companies have issued about impending supply problems for certain products has more than doubled from 648 in 2020 to 1,634 last year.” (04/18/24)
Source: Axios
“Members of the Kennedy family will appear en masse and in force to endorse President Biden at a campaign event in Philadelphia on Thursday. It’s a public display of support that reveals a weakness Democrats privately acknowledge: Biden is likely more at risk from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s third-party challenge than former President Trump is. With a substantial number of voters telling pollsters they are dissatisfied with both Biden and Trump, Democrats are increasingly petrified that a Kennedy name on the ballot will throw the election to Trump.” (04/18/24)
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/18/kennedy-family-biden-endorsement-rfk-jr
Source: Reuters
“A Russian scientist who worked on hypersonic technologies was handed a seven-year jail sentence on Thursday for treason after he was accused of passing state secrets to foreign nationals. A representative for St Petersburg’s court system said Alexander Kuranov, 76, would be sent to a high-security prison and fined 100,000 roubles ($1,000). At the time of his arrest in 2021, Kuranov was the general director of St Petersburg-based Hypersonics Systems Research Facility, where he oversaw work on a new version of a Soviet-era hypersonic aircraft dubbed Ayaks. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that Russia is a world leader in hypersonic missiles – cutting-edge weapons capable of carrying payloads at up to 10 times the speed of sound to punch through air-defence systems.” (04/18/24)
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“Cryptocurrency miners are stockpiling near-record amounts of bitcoin, hoping the token will rise in value and offset a drop in new supply that will cut the rewards for verifying deals in half. Listed miners such as Marathon Digital, CleanSpark and Bitfarms have hoarded bitcoin collectively worth about $2.8bn, according to data provider The Miner Mag, days before the reward for mining is cut in half. After the change, due to take place on Friday, global miners will share a total of 450 new bitcoins daily, down from 900, for verifying the latest transactions in bitcoin. The quadriennal move was designed with the creation of the cryptocurrency and intended to hedge against inflation.” (04/18/24)