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Far-Right Freedom Party Wins Austria Vote, Faces Coalition Struggle
International Desk
30 Sep 2024, 10:59
Photo: The FPOe's Herbert Kickl celebrates his party's historic victory [Lisa Leutner/Reuters]
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) has won a national election for the first time, securing 28.8% of the vote. However, the party, known for its Eurosceptic and pro-Russian stance, may struggle to form a coalition government as most other parties have refused to work with it. The ruling conservative People’s Party (OeVP) came in second with 26.3% of the vote.
FPOe leader Herbert Kickl, a polarizing figure, declared the victory as a historic moment and expressed his readiness to form a government with any party. “We have opened a door to a new era,” he told supporters in Vienna. Kickl has led the party since 2021 and has gained popularity on issues like migration, economic concerns, and discontent over COVID-19 restrictions.
Despite the FPOe’s win, analysts suggest forming a coalition could be difficult. Chancellor Karl Nehammer of the OeVP, who nearly closed the gap on the FPOe in recent polls, acknowledged his party’s defeat but vowed to continue working for the people. Nehammer could remain chancellor if he forms a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPOe), who received 21.1% of the vote, and possibly the liberal NEOS party, which garnered 9.2%. A three-party coalition would be unprecedented but may face challenges in governing due to the country’s rightward shift.
The FPOe has previously been part of coalition governments with the conservatives, though these alliances ended in controversy. A government formed in 2000 led to protests and sanctions from the European Union, while a later coalition collapsed in 2019 over a corruption scandal. If Kickl becomes chancellor, experts suggest Austria's relationship with the EU could change, as he has openly admired Hungary’s Viktor Orban and opposes EU sanctions on Russia.
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Latest informations about Cyclone 'Asna'
A deep depression formed in the Arabian Sea has developed into a strong cyclone. The storm will hit the coast of the western Indian state of Gujarat in the next 24 hours.
NDTV reported this news on Saturday (August 31) quoting India's Central Meteorological Department (IMD).
According to the report, the approaching cyclone has been named 'Asna'. Pakistan has kept this name. Apart from Gujarat, 'Asna' will also hit Pakistan's southeastern province, Sindh.
According to the latest IMD forecast, it is currently 250 km off the west coast of Naliya city in Gujarat, 160 km off the coast of Karachi in Pakistan and 350 km off the coast of Pasni in Balochistan. At present, Asna is moving at a speed of 14 kilometers per hour.
Apart from this, there is a distinct low pressure over the west-central Bay of Bengal and adjoining North-West Bay of Bengal. It may also slowly rise over the land and join the monsoon axis.
Due to the influence of both, rains may increase in North-Eastern region of Bangladesh especially Sylhet, Mymensingh, Rangpur and Rajshahi regions from September 3 or 4.
Impact of Cyclone Asna in Bangladesh
A deep depression formed in the Arabian Sea has developed into a strong cyclone. The storm will hit the coast of the western Indian state of Gujarat in the next 24 hours.
In the meantime, 24 people have died due to heavy rains in Pakistan. Although the cyclone hit India and Pakistan, there is no danger of hitting Bangladesh. The Meteorological Department has said that there may be rain in the country under its influence.
India's Central Meteorological Department (IMD), Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) and Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) reported this news on Saturday (August 31).
NDTV reported that the approaching cyclone has been named 'Asna'. Pakistan has kept this name. Apart from Gujarat, 'Asna' will also hit Pakistan's southeastern province, Sindh.
According to the latest IMD forecast, it is currently 250 km off the west coast of Nalia city in Gujarat, 160 km off the coast of Karachi in Pakistan and 350 km off the coast of Pasni in Balochistan.
At present, 'Asna' is moving at a speed of 14 kilometers per hour. Due to this, heavy rains have started in Jamnagar, Surat, Porbandar, Morbi, Dwarka and Kutch districts of Gujarat since last Wednesday night.
Floods have occurred in many areas of these districts due to heavy rains. However, in the last 24 hours, the highest rainfall has occurred in Kutch district.
IMD senior meteorologist Ramashray Yadav said, 'Kutch district has received 882 mm of rain in the last 24 hours, which is at least 50 percent more than the normal period. Apart from this, Surat and Kutch districts also received heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours.
Quoting the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), The Dawn reported that there is no direct threat to the coastal areas of their country due to Cyclone Asna. However, its impact is likely to bring gusty winds and moderate to heavy rains in several cities of Sindh and Balochistan between Friday and Saturday.
Thirteen members of a family were killed when the roof of their house collapsed due to a landslide in Upper Dir in the north. The victims were in their homes in Ramyal village when the landslide hit early Friday morning. At least 9 people lost their lives in rain-related incidents in Jamshoro, Dadu and Mirpurkhas districts of Sindh. Apart from this, more than 30 people were injured. A man and his sister died in a village in Toba Tek Singh. Apart from this, three people from the same family were injured when the roof of the house collapsed due to heavy rain.
Meteorologist Manowar Hossain told the media about whether this cyclone will have any effect on Bangladesh on Friday (August 30) night. He said, a cyclone (Asana) has formed in Gujarat, India. It may move north-west and coincide somewhat with the monsoon axis.
Apart from this, there is a distinct low pressure over the west-central Bay of Bengal and adjoining North-West Bay of Bengal. It may also slowly rise over the land and join the monsoon axis. Due to the influence of both, rains may increase in North-Eastern region of Bangladesh especially Sylhet, Mymensingh, Rangpur and Rajshahi regions from September 3 or 4.
Switzerland: Inmates escape from jail near German border
Two men, an Algerian and a Tunisian, who were jailed for serious crimes have escaped. It is still unclear how the two were able to get out of the prison in Basel.
Two prisoners have escaped from jail in the Swiss city of Basel, authorities said on Friday evening.
It was not immediately clear how they had managed to escape.
Both were in prison for serious crimes.
One of them is a 37-year-old Algerian national. He is accused of intentional homicide, grievous bodily harm and robbery, among other crimes, according to Swiss media outlet SRF.
The other escaped man is a 22-year-old Tunisian, who is accused of damage to property, trespassing and illegally entering Switzerland.
The Bässlergut prison from where the two men escaped is located right on the border with Germany.
Police are searching for the fugitives internationally, Swiss authorities said.
South Korea opens Telegram deepfake porn probe
Police in Seoul say they have received dozens of complaints regarding AI-generated pornographic material with real people's faces. This follows the arrest of Telegram's founder in France last month.
South Korea's National Police Agency (KNPA) announced on Monday that they were investigating the encrypted messaging app Telegram. They suspect the platform of "abetting" the distribution of AI-generated pornography, also called deepfake porn, including images of teenagers.
Deepfake pornography involves superimposing the face of a real person on an AI-created body. Last month, a South Korean broadcaster ran a story exposing a Telegram chatroom run by university students sharing deepfake pornographic material of female classmates.
This was just one several high-profile cases in the country that has caused public outrage.
"In light of these crimes, the Seoul National Police Agency launched their probe last week... for abetting the crimes," KNPA investigations chief Woo Jong-soo told reporters.
"Telegram has been non-responsive to our previous requests for account information during investigations of earlier Telegram-linked crimes," he added.
Telegram chief arrested
Woo said that police have received 88 complaints about deepfake pornography and have identified 24 suspects. Digital sex crimes have become a major concern in South Korea, including the use of spycams and revenge porn.
President Yoon Suk Yeol, a former prosecutor, has pledged to "eradicate" this type of crime.
Telegram founder and chief Pavel Durov was arrested in France in August. The Russian-born Dubai-based entrepreneur is being held over allegations of allowing criminality to spread on the platform.
Woo said that South Korean police would be working together with French counterparts on the case.
France: At least 13 dead after migrant boat capsizes
French authorities say at least 13 people have died after a boat carrying suspected migrants capsized in the English Channel.
At least 13 people have drowned after a small boat carrying around 70 migrants capsized in the English Channel on Tuesday, just off the northern coast of France near Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Local authorities said that several other people had been rescued but remained in a "serious condition," and warned that the death toll could yet rise. At least two people are still reported to be "missing."
"Unfortunately, the bottom of the boat ripped open," said Olivier Barbarin, mayor of Le Portel, a suburb of Boulogne-sur-Mer- Mer, where a first-aid post was set up to treat victims.
The boat had reportedly been attempting to cross from France to the United Kingdom when it was spotted in difficulty by a French vessel, the Minck, which had gone to its aid before it broke up, the Minck's captain told the AFP news agency.
Sea temperatures in the area were around 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit).
"It's a huge drama," said Mayor Barbarin of what is the most deadly single incident in the English Channel involving migrants this year. 25 people have already lost their lives attempting the crossing since January,
He said that the town's out-of-use hoverport had been opened up for use by rescue helicopters.
According to the local Voix du Nord newspaper, the French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin is expected in Boulogne-sur-Mer this afternoon.
China: Super Typhoon Yagi Makes Landfall in Hainan
Super Typhoon Yagi is the world's second-most powerful storm this year. It made landfall in China's Hainan province after more than doubling its strength since hitting the Philippines earlier this week.
Heavy rainfall and powerful winds from Super Typhoon Yagi slammed southern China on Friday, as the storm made landfall along the coast of Hainan province.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 245 kilometers per hour (152 miles per hour) near its eye, Yagi is the world's second-most powerful tropical cyclone in 2024 so far.
The most powerful was the Category 5 Atlantic hurricane Beryl which swept through the Caribbean islands, Mexico, parts of the US, and eastern Canada.
Yagi is also considered the strongest storm to hit the region in a decade.
Yagi gains strength
Yagi's strength has more than doubled since it devastated the Philippines last week with landslides and flooding triggered by heavy rainfall. At least 13 people died.
After China, the storm is likely to head for Vietnam on Saturday.
Tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons are the same phenomenon where a storm gathers strength from warm water at the ocean's surface to feed horizontal rotating winds.
They are called hurricanes over the Atlantic and East Pacific, typhoons in the West Pacific and cyclones in the Indian Ocean and near Australia, according to the website of the US space agency NASA.
These storms are becoming stronger and less predictable across the world, fueled by warmer oceans due to climate change, scientists have warned.
Preparing for the Super Typhoon
Authorities in Hong Kong, Vietnam, and southern Chinese provinces suspended flights, trains, and boats, and closed schools and offices, in preparation for the storm.
Vietnam's Civil Aviation Authority said four airports in the country's north, including Hanoi's Noi Ban International, would remain closed on Saturday.
The country urged around 2,200 tourists on coastal islands to return to the mainland on Thursday and mobilized more than 2,700 military personnel to help with typhoon preparation.
Several flights were canceled in China's Hainan, Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau regions, with other transport links shut down as well. China's government sent task forces to Guangdong and Hainan to guide flood prevention, official news agency Xinhua reported.
Over 400,000 residents from Hainan were relocated, while others built sandbag barriers outside buildings to guard against possible floods and reinforced their windows with tape, Xinhua said.
In the Chinese financial hub of Hong Kong, the stock exchange and bank services were closed on Friday.
The city's weather authority issued a typhoon 8 signal, the third-highest warning, for Yagi. That was expected to be lowered on Friday afternoon as the storm moves away.
However, intense rainfall will likely continue, authorities warned, asking residents to stay away from the shoreline.
Flight from India to Germany Grounded over False Bomb Threat
A Vistara airlines flight from Mumbai to Frankfurt was forced to land in Turkey due to a bomb threat which turned out to be false. A paper with the words "bomb on board" was found in the lavatory.
A bomb threat forced a flight operated by Vistara Airlines to make an emergency landing in the city of Erzurum, Turkey on Friday, but the threat turned out to be false, according to the local governor.
The flight UK27 operated by India's Vistara Airlines was heading from the city of Mumbai to Frankfurt in Germany. It had 234 passengers and 13 crew on board.
Those on board were evacuated, said Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu.
Alert over message in lavatory
A piece of paper with the words "bomb on board" was found in the lavatory of the plane, prompting the crew to make an emergency landing.
The flight landed at around 4:30 pm local time (1330 GMT).
"As of 23:30, we have completed all search and examination operations. As a result of the work we carried out, we found that the bomb threat was unfounded," Erzurum governor Mustafa Ciftci told reporters.
After receiving the alert, the authorities planed to land the plane at either Ordu or Trabzon cities in Turkey, but the flight was ultimately diverted to Erzurum due to air traffic, Turkey's TRT news reported.
Other flights landing and taking off from Erzurum airport had been stopped as a precaution. The halt was lifted after the threat was cleared.
Vistara also confirmed authorities had checked for threats and said it had arranged for an alternate flight with a fresh crew for the passengers stranded in Turkey.
