Dhaka:

 The authorities in Bangladesh have issued another heatwave alert for three more days from Sunday as the South Asian country is facing its longest heatwave in 75 years.

Bangladesh reported the season’s highest temperature at 42.7 degrees Celsius on Friday in the south-western district of Chuadanga. Dhaka’s maximum temperature was 38.2 degrees that day, according to Meteorological data.

The blistering heat has forced the government to shut schools for a week, with hospitals preparing to receive higher numbers of patients with heat-related ailments.

The heatwave reached a 29th day on Sunday, the longest since the government started keeping records in 1948, said meteorologist Shaheenul Islam.

The previously record hot spell of 23 days was recorded in 2019, according to data tracked by Bangladesh’s Meteorological Department.

“The hot spell is impacting more than 50 out of 64 administrative districts,” said Khandaker Hafizur Rahman, another meteorologist.

Rahman said hot weather is likely to continue until the first week of May.

Physician Mohammad Niatuzzaman, head of state-run Mughdah Hospital in Dhaka, said his hospital received a large number of patients suffering from heatstroke, dehydration, exhaustion and respiratory problems.

Thousands of worshippers in different parts of Muslim-majority Bangladesh prayed in the past week for rain in line with an Islamic tradition.    AGENCIES

Tehran:

 The Iranian military on Sunday presented a new attack drone designed to fly into targets and explode, like the kind used by Russia in the war in Ukraine.

According to the state Tasnim news agency, the new Iranian drone — which has not yet been publicly named — is similar to the Russian Zala Lancet drone, which was first produced in 2020.

Tasnim published a video of the new drone in the report.

Iran claims to have made great progress in the production of drones in recent years, and Iranian-produced drones have been used extensively by Russian forces in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The US, the UK and Canada imposed new sanctions against Tehran on Thursday targeting the country’s drone production and export efforts, following Iranian air attacks on Israel.

Iran angrily condemned the sanctions.

“These sanctions will not influence our will, on the contrary … they will only strengthen our military willpower and independence,” said Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nasser Kanaani.

Kanaani added that Iran has the legitimate right to arm itself militarily for the defence of the country, just as it is legitimate to take military action against hostile aggression such as that of Israel.

The Iranian attacks on Israel came after a suspected Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, which killed high-ranking officers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, among others.

AGENCIES

Berlin:

 Germany’s Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, has called on universities to scrutinise any joint projects with China in the light of recent arrests over spying allegations.

“The arrest of three Germans for suspected espionage once again makes it abundantly clear that we must not be naive in our dealings with China,” the liberal politician told German news magazine Wirtschaftswoche.

“We need to weigh up the risks and benefits of cooperation even more carefully, especially in science and in universities. This includes reviewing existing cooperative relationships.”

A week ago, a married couple and another man were arrested in the western German cities of Dusseldorf and Bad Homburg on suspicion of having procured information on military technology in order to pass it on to the Chinese secret service.

According to the federal prosecutor’s office, they were in negotiations about research projects that could be useful for expanding China’s naval combat power.

Stark-Watzinger said that support would only be given to projects “that have a clear added value for Germany and Europe”.

At the same time, she said that Berlin would “continue to support the expansion of independent China expertise”.

AGENCIES

Kiev:

 Russian forces shot down 17 Ukrainian drones over its territory on Sunday, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed as quoted by media reports.

According to the Ministry, Russian air defence shot down two drones over the Belgorod region, three over Kursk region, three over Kaluga region, and nine over Bryansk region, The Kyiv Independent reported.

Vladislav Shapsha, Governor of Kaluga region in Russia, claimed that three drones “fell down” near an oil depot in the town of Lyudinovo. No casualties or damages were reported.

Ukrainian officials did not comment on these claims, which cannot be verified independently.

In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia’s oil industry, which is crucial to sustain Moscow’s war efforts.

One of the oil refineries was targeted in Kaluga region in mid-March in an attack reportedly carried out by Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.

In one of the latest strikes, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) struck with drones two oil refineries and a military airfield in Russia’s Krasnodar region on April 27, hitting “key technological objects,” according to the Kyiv Independent’s source in the security and defence forces.

Strikes against Russian energy targets have prompted criticism from US officials, who have made it clear that Washington does not support Ukraine’s campaign against oil refineries, citing fears that it could threaten the global energy market.

In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kiev has the right to use its own weapons with retaliatory strikes on Russian oil refineries.

AGENCIES

Baghdad :

The Iraqi Parliament has passed a law criminalising same-sex relations and vowing tough penalties against them in a decision that rights advocates decried as discriminating against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

The legislature on Saturday voted for an amendment to a 1988 anti-prostitution law, penalising homosexuality by 10 to 15 years in prison, and which bans promoting prostitution and same-sex relationships in “any way” in Iraq, making it punishable by at least seven years in jail.

An initial draft proposed the death penalty for same-sex relations, the Iraqi independent portal Alsumaria News reported.

The acting head of the Iraqi Parliament, Mohsen al-Mandalawi, defended the bill.

“It is an essential step to protect the value structure of society and a supreme interest to protect our children against calls of moral depravity and homosexuality,” he said in a press statement.

However, the legislation triggered an outcry and condemnations.

“Absolutely horrific developments in law for Iraq today (Saturday) as it codifies discrimination against the LGBT community,” said Raz Salayi, an Iraq researcher at the rights group Amnesty International.

The US, an ally of Iraq, said it was “deeply concerned” about the Iraqi move.

“This amendment threatens those most at risk in Iraqi society and weakens Iraq’a ability to diversify its economy and attract foreign investment,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a post on X.  AGENCIES

Kiev:

 Russia attacked Ukraine with nine drones on Sunday, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported as quoted by media reports.

Five of them were shot down by the Ukrainian forces, The Kyiv Independent reported.

Four Shahed-type attack drones were launched from Cape Chauda in occupied Crimea. Anti-craft missile units and mobile fire groups shot down all of them over Kiev, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, and Kirovohrad regions, according to the report.

Russian forces launched five more drones of unknown types from the occupied territory of Kherson region, with one of them shot down over Mykolaiv region, according to Oleshchuk.

Russia also launched one S-300 missile from its Belgorod region, Oleshchuk said, without giving any further details on the aftermath.

The city of Mykolaiv came under a drone attack on Sunday, Mykolaiv Oblast Governor Vitalii Kim said.

A hotel was “severely” damaged and caught fire, which was later doused, according to him.

“The owners of the hotel have just recovered from the attacks that took place in 2022. There is a children’s sports school and a stadium nearby. No military facilities,” Kim wrote on Telegram.

The attack also damaged a heat-generating infrastructure facility, cars and damaged windows of another hotel, Kim said. No casualties were reported.

Drone attacks are a daily occurrence in Ukraine, affecting various regions across the country.

Earlier on April 27, Russia launched 34 missiles at Ukraine, hitting energy facilities in Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Lviv regions. AGENCIES

Yangon:

 Myanmar authorities have seized 100 kg of methamphetamine and 13 kg of ketamine in a recent operation in southern Myanmar, the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control reported on Sunday.

Acting on a tip-off, anti-narcotics police searched a truck in Waw township in Bago region on Thursday, and seized the drugs worth more than 3.7 billion kyats (about $1.76 million), along with four mobile phones, according to the committee as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

Three suspects involved in the case have been charged under the country’s Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substance Law, it said. AGENCIES

New Delhi:

 The 16 remaining Indian crew members on board a cargo ship seized by Iran are set to be released soon, Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian assured his Portuguese counterpart Paulo Rangel in a telephonic conversation on Saturday.

“The humanitarian issue of the release of the ship’s crew is of our serious concern and we have announced consular access, release, and extradition to their ambassadors in Tehran,” Abdollahian was quoted as saying by the Iranian Foreign Ministry during his discussion with Rangel on MSC Aries – the seized Israeli ship carrying the Portuguese flag. Last week, Deck Cadet Ann Tessa Joseph, one of the 17 Indian crew members on board the seized vessel, returned home as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who had spoken to

Seoul:

 North Korea on Saturday reiterated its commitment to launching more reconnaissance satellites into orbit this year after putting its first spy satellite into orbit in November.

Pyongyang “will carry out an important mission to enhance its space reconnaissance capabilities as planned to monitor and control the US and other hostile forces’ military movements and aggressive attempts,” an unnamed spokesperson of the North’s National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA) said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Yonhap news agency reported.

North Korea put its first spy satellite, Malligyong-1, into orbit in November after two failed attempts in May and August and has vowed to launch three more this year. It has yet to disclose any timeline for the launches but has repeatedly reaffirmed the plan through the KCNA.

The North blamed the “US ambitions to militarise space” for its push for space development.

“The US has been building a big space army over the Korean Peninsula and its surrounding area with an ultimate goal to launch a preemptive nuclear attack,” the spokesperson said, accusing Washington of escalating the possibility of an actual war breaking out in the region.

The North also denounced recent remarks by Stephen Whiting, the commander of the US Space Command, that North Korea’s satellite launch violates UN Security Council resolutions, saying the US is acting based on “double standards.”

North Korea has the right to develop space and use it as a military means for self-defence, the spokesperson said, reiterating the country’s position on space development.AGENCIES

Washington:

 Dozens of tornadoes tore across the US Midwest and flattened entire neighbourhoods, particularly in and around the city of Omaha in the state of Nebraska.

“Numerous houses” in western Douglas County, outside of Omaha, were damaged by a twister that hit on Friday afternoon, Omaha police said in a statement.

Photos and videos showed buildings reduced to rubble. While there have been injuries, authorities have not reported any deaths so far.

“We’ve been very fortunate with very few injuries,” Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer told reporters during a press briefing late Friday. “It seems like our warning systems in the city of Omaha have been very effective.”

Thousands of households were left without electricity in the wake of the storms.

In Lancaster County, to the south-west of Omaha, some 70 people were rescued from an industrial building that had collapsed in the storm, according to media reports.

Another tornado reportedly crossed the Missouri River into the neighbouring state of Iowa to the east of Nebraska, where it caused severe damage in the small community of Minden, among others.

At least 60 tornadoes and cyclones have been reported from five different states on Friday, according to CNN.

The National Weather Service said it expects possible more bad weather later on Saturday, including “very large hail, damaging winds, and multiple strong tornadoes.”

While tornadoes are common in some parts of the US, experts say the rise of natural disasters, including storms, floods and forest fires, is also due to climate change.  AGENCIES