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This morning, listening to Radio NZ, was different to the usual fare of trivia. It sounded like one thing after the other.
On the basis of that I have done this round-up of news.
Too much for one person to deal with.
First of all, things are blowing up in Gaza with the most horrible crimes being perpertrated against a captive civilian population and Hamas has more powerful rockets - and has being targeting the Dimona nuclear plant
UN
chief appeals for Gaza ceasefire
United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has appealed for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants and called on the international community to do everything to halt escalating violence in Gaza
Mr Ban urged both sides to exercise restraint, saying the Middle East could not afford "another full-blown war".
Palestinian officials say more than 80 Gazans have been killed since Israel's operation began on Tuesday in response to a surge in rocket-fire from Palestinian areas. The hundreds of rockets have caused no fatalities or serious injuries.
Israel says militants have fired more than 365 rockets from Gaza since Tuesday - many of which have been intercepted by the Iron Dome system - and that it has attacked about 780 targets over the same time.
Israel launched its operation after an increase in rocket-fire amid a crackdown on Hamas members in the West Bank last month, as Israel hunted for the abductors of three Israeli teenagers, the BBC reports.
The teenagers were found murdered, and tensions were raised further with the killing of a Palestinian teenager in a suspected revenge attack days later.
Israel says its targets in Operation Protective Edge have been militant fighters and facilities including rocket launchers, weapons stores, tunnels and command centres.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, many of those who have died were women and children.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian government has ordered the partial opening of the main border crossing into Gaza Strip so Palestinians injured in the Israeli air strikes can get treatment.
Death toll climbs in Gaza air strikes
Israel is pressing on with punishing aerial bombardments on Gaza for a third day. At least 70 people have been killed so far and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon warns the situation is perilous.
Up to 20 people were killed in the deadliest night of Israeli air raids on Gaza since the current offensive began, Palestinian sources told the BBC. Most occurred in attacks on a house and a cafe in the south where people were watching football's World Cup on Wednesday.
Militants in Gaza continued firing rockets into Israel on Thursday, with sirens sounding over southern towns
State television in Egypt reported that the government is opening the main border crossing into the Gaza Strip at Rafah so Palestinians injured can receive treatment. A medical official in Northern Sinai said 20 ambulances have been sent to the crossing on Thursday.
The UN's Ban Ki-moon warned that the situation in Gaza was "on a knife-edge" and perilous, urging Israel and Palestinian militants to end hostilities.
He demanded that Hamas militants stop firing rockets and also urged the Israeli government to exercise restraint and respect international obligations to protect civilians.
The UN Security Council is due to meet for emergency talks on the crisis later on Thursday.
The deaths overnight take the number of Palestinians killed since Israel launched its Operation Protective Edge on Tuesday to at least 70, Palestinian officials say.
Israel says its targets have been militant fighters and facilities including rocket launchers, weapons stores, tunnels and command centres.
The Israeli military said that it had attacked 108 targets since midnight and that 12 rockets had been fired at Israel, seven of them intercepted by the Iron Dome defence system.
An Israeli air strike in southern Gaza was reported to have killed nine people watching the World Cup, in a cafe in the town of Khan Yunis.
Separately, eight Palestinians were killed in an air strike on a house near the city, the Palestinian health ministry said.
An Israeli army spokesperson says the earlier killing of eight civilians in the town had been a tragedy and not what Israel intended.
Tensions on the Israel-Gaza border heated up in June after Israel's arrest of hundreds of Hamas activists in the occupied West Bank, where three Israeli youths went missing and were later found dead. In a suspected revenge attack, a Palestinian teenager was abducted in East Jerusalem last week and burned alive.
Jen Psaki. Now it's the Israelis that are "innocently" defending themselves
Hamas
rockets target Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor
Three
rockets have been fired from Gaza Strip at the city of Dimona in
southern Israel in what the Hamas movement later confirmed as an
attempt to destroy a nuclear reactor located there.
Hamas’
militant wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it fired M-75 rockets
towards Dimona.
One
of the rockets was intercepted by the Iron Dome antimissile system
while two others landed on open areas, according to Israeli reports.
The
Thursday rocket launch is the second attempt to hit the Israeli
nuclear reactor in the latest surge of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
On Wednesday, seven rockets were fired at Dimona, with three of them
intercepted and four others failing to cause any damage.
We have war from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine and now Lebanon. Can Lebanon and other neighboring countries like Jordan avoid the conflict?
I don't think so.
Next
target - Lebanon? Minister fears wave of ISIS-inspired bombings
Torn
apart by a political crisis and surrounded by armed conflicts,
Lebanon will become the next target for ISIS and other terrorists,
said Foreign Minister Nohad Machnouk. Earlier this week, 28 were
charged with planning suicide attacks.
"We
must admit that what has happened in Iraq has caused great excitement
among these groups that believe they can benefit from the Iraqi
experience," the Sunni Muslim politician told Reuters.
"They
think they can carry out similar operations in Lebanon. But so far,
in the last two months, it is clear that the security awareness has
been able to obstruct this. Yet, the danger of bombings is still
there.”
Security
agents have captured suspected terrorists at several locations,
though only seven of the 28 targeted ISIS members have been detained
so far. The arrests came after a botched raid in a Beirut hotel three
weeks ago resulted in injuries to three policemen when a Saudi
terrorist detonated a bomb, just as agents burst through the door of
his room. ISIS took responsibility for the incident, terming it a
“suicide attack.”
One of the great fears expressed and the one thing that was used to sell an invasion of Iraq was weapons of mass destruction and terrorists getting their hands on nuclear material.
Hardly a murmur in world media about this one!
Now it has happened - and the US 'plays it down' - "Don't worry, folks - they're our guys"
Isis
seizes former chemical weapons plant in Iraq
US
plays down threat as Iraq says Muthanna loss means it will be unable
to fulfil obligations to destroy chemical weapons
The
Islamic State extremist group (Isis) has taken control of a vast
former chemical weapons facility north-west of Baghdad, where 2,500
degraded chemical rockets filled decades ago with deadly nerve agent
sarin or their remnants were stored along with other chemical warfare
agents, Iraq has said in a letter circulated at the United Nations.
The
US played down the threat from the takeover, saying there were no
intact chemical weapons
Sunni
insurgents take over nuclear materials in northern Iraq
Iraq
says “terrorist groups” have seized nuclear materials used for
scientific research at a university in the country's north. Iraq's UN
envoy has appealed for help to "stave off the threat of their
use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad."
According
to Iraq's UN ambassador, Mohamed Ali Alhakim, about 40 kilograms of
uranium compounds were kept at Mosul University. He added that such
materials "can be used in manufacturing weapons of mass
destruction."
"Terrorist
groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came
out of the control of the state," Alhakim told UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the July 8 letter obtained by
Reuters on Wednesday.
Alhakim
warned that the materials could be smuggled out of Iraq......
Meanwhile the situation for the people of Novorossia is getting more dire while some commentators are saying the situation is 'getting better' - those that don't give a f...k about innocent lives and wander around in the abstract and amoral world of polical balance of power
Kiev
official: Military op death toll is 478 civilians, outnumbers army
losses
Four
hundred and seventy-eight civilians, including seven children, have
been killed in Kiev’s military crackdown on the eastern regions of
Ukraine, the country’s deputy health minister said on Thursday.
"The
amount on civilian casualties is, unfortunately, greater than the
military ones,” Vasily Lazoryshynets, deputy health minister, said
as cited by ITAR-TASS.
“In
the area of the operation in eastern Ukraine, 478 civilians have
died, including 30 women and seven children,” he said.
According
to Lazoryshynets , a further 1,392 people were injured in the
fighting, with 104 women and 14 children among them.
“Two
hundred and seventy-nine currently remain in hospital,” he added.
Earlier
in July, Ukraine’s National Security Council said that 200 soldiers
and law enforcement officers had been killed and over 600 injured
during the so-called “anti-terrorist operation.”
Ukraine
and pro-Russian rebels square up for showdown
Kiev
aims to win back control of Donetsk and Luhansk as rebel groups
gather in big cities after abandoning smaller strongholds
The
Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian rebels are squaring up for a
final showdown in the east of the country, as Kiev aims to win back
control of the key regional centres of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Rebel
groups have gathered in the big cities after abandoning a number of
smaller strongholds, now taken back by the Ukrainian army. Without
Russian help they face almost certain defeat, but with civilian
casualties inevitable if Ukrainian forces attempt to fight their way
into the city centres, the Kremlin and some European leaders are
calling for a resumption of a ceasefire in the troubled region.
And in Europe Cameron pushes through his fascist legislation and France is in danger of reaping the effects of its actions in the Muslim world. And Germany and the US fall out over US spying on their 'ally'
Islamist
plot to blow up Eiffel Tower, Louvre and nuclear power plant foiled,
say French police
French
police stumbled on terror plans after decrypting coded messages
between Algerian butcher living in southern France and high-ranking
members of al-Qaeda in the Maghreb
France
foiled an Islamist terrorist plot to target the Eiffel Tower, the
Louvre and even a nuclear power plant, it emerged on Wednesday, as
the country unveiled new, tougher anti-terror rules.
French
police stumbled on the plans after decrypting coded messages between
a 29-year-old Algerian butcher living in the Vaucluse, southern
France, known only as Ali M, and one of the highest-ranking members
in al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM.
According
to Le Parisien newspaper, in April last year, the married father of
two who went by the pseudonym Abu Jaji was asked by his AQIM contact,
whose web alias was Redouane18, to make “suggestions concerning how
to conduct jihad in the place you are currently”.
Ali
M suggested targeting nuclear power plants, “planes at the moment
of take-off”, and a string of French landmarks, including the
Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum in Paris.
Failing
that, he suggested launching terror attacks on “the modest and poor
French population” in markets or nightclubs, as well as police
patrols.
In
an apparent reference to the famed Avignon theatre festival, he also
singled out “cultural events that take place in the south of France
in which thousands of Christians gather for a month”.
David
Cameron makes concessions to rush through snooping law
Prime
minister offers review of intercept legislation to secure cross-party
support for emergency surveillance laws
David
Cameron abandoned his year-long resistance to tightening the
accountability of the security services as the price for winning
Liberal Democrat and Labour support for emergency surveillance laws.
Standing
alongside Nick Clegg, the prime minister unveiled emergency laws, to
be bundled through parliament in days, designed to shore up the
powers of spies, police and government agencies. But Cameron agreed
to a "sunset clause" time-limiting the bill to 2016, a
full-scale review of intercept laws, a new oversight board and
restrictions on the number of public bodies that can make use of
surveillance data.
Ministers
said the apparent sudden need for new laws stemmed partly from a
European court of justice (ECJ) ruling in April restricting state
access to citizens' data. They also warned that foreign-based phone
and internet companies were imminently going to stop handing over the
content of individual communications in response to UK warrants.
Germany
expels CIA Berlin chief over NSA spying
Germany is expelling the CIA chief in Berlin in retaliation for the latest espionage scandals 'in addition to existing issues'. Two suspected US agents have been exposed in the past week, prompting criticism from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The expulsion comes shortly after the alleged US agents were unmasked, suspected of acting as double agents within the state security apparatus, and passing secrets to US intelligence contacts.
The move was “a reaction to persistent failure to work together in efforts towards clarification,” according to the chief of the Parliamentary Control Panel.
The two new cases, which came in quick succession of one another, increase the strain on already tense relations after the revelations made about the extent of global NSA espionage in June, 2013.
Meanwhile
climate chaos continues with typhoon Neoguri having mainland Japan
(and Fukushima) in its sights. New Zealand has seen some wild weather
with 3 days of gales on end which has blown out infrastructure and
brought flooding
Neoguri
causes havoc on mainland
Typhoon Neoguri has slammed into the Japanese mainland bringing widespread flooding, ripping trees from their roots and leaving houses half-buried under mud, as tens of thousands were urged to seek shelter.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/249469/neoguri-causes-havoc-on-mainland
The storm, which has left several people dead and a string of damage in its wake, caused havoc on Thursday in many small communities as residents struggled to keep waves of dirty water from destroying their homes.
Workers at the site of a landslide caused by the typhoon at Nagiso town in Nagano prefecture.
More than 500 houses in several prefectures were flooded due to the typhoon and heavy rain, according to public broadcaster NHK, with about 130,000 households urged to seek shelter.
A dramatic government video of a mudslide in the town of Nagiso swallowing a house with a 12-year-old boy inside has been played repeatedly during round-the-clock news coverage.
Officials warned over the risk of flooding and landslides as powerful winds and torrential rain batter the archipelago nation, with local authorities urging half a million people to seek shelter in Okinawa earlier in the week, AFP reports.
Neoguri hit the mainland on Thursday morning near Akune City on the southern main island of Kyushu, which is home to 13 million people and lies next to the country's biggest island of Honshu where major cities including Tokyo and Osaka are located.
The typhoon had crossed Kyushu by late morning and was forecast to make a landfall on Honshu by Friday.
Neoguri's slowed somewhat overnight, now packing gusts of up to 126km/h as it moved east at 25km/h.
Nearly 50 people have been injured, officials and reports said, while as many as five deaths have been directly or indirectly linked to the typhoon.
More than 190 flights were cancelled while the government was expected to hold a disaster-management meeting over how to protect against the force of nature.
The typhoon is likely to reach areas near the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant by Friday morning. The site's operator said workers were bracing for the storm.
By Thursday morning, police and municipal officials said two elderly men were found dead in irrigation ditches in the northeastern and southwestern part of the country. A 62-year-old man knocked off his boat in rough waters in southwestern Kochi Prefecture, while NHK said an 81-year-old fisherman died in Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu.
NZ:
Northland weather misery continues
Thousands
of residents in the upper North Island are entering their third
consecutive day without power, while concern is growing over problems
with contaminated water in Northland.
A
storm system, described as the worst in a decade, that has been
battering the region is forecast to bring more strong winds and heavy
rain.
Floods
and power cuts have made some treatment plants useless and Civil
Defence officials say contaminated drinking water could be a concern
in the coming days.
Phone
and internet services have also been badly hit, with 12 Telecom and
nine Vodafone cellphone towers out of action across the region.
In
the Far North, Top Energy said 3500 of its customers were still
without power on Friday morning.
Northpower,
which looks after lines in the Whangarei and Kaipara Districts, said
200 homes, mainly in Kaipara, are cut off .
In
Auckland, Vector said just 70 properties were waiting to have their
electricity restored.
MetService
is predicting heavy rain and galeforce winds to continue to hammer
parts of Northland through to Saturday morning.
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