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(Photo: LRT)

Lithuania expels two Belarusian diplomats, says foreign ministry

According to Reuters, Lithuania is expelling two Belarusian diplomats, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday, saying their activities were "incompatible with diplomatic status".

"With this decision, Lithuania also stands in solidarity with Latvia, whose diplomats and employees at the embassy in Minsk were unjustifiably expelled by Belarus a few days ago", the statement said.

Latest Indian cyclone kills five, thousands homeless

Thousands of people were homeless Thursday after the latest cyclone to hit Covid-ravaged India left a trail of destruction, although timely evacuations meant the death toll was limited to single figures, France 24 reported.

Cyclones are a regular menace in the northern Indian Ocean but many scientists say they are becoming more frequent and severe as climate change warms sea temperatures.

Barely a week after Cyclone Tauktae claimed at least 155 lives in western India, Cyclone Yaas forced the evacuation of more than 1.5 million people in the eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha.

The storm hit on Wednesday with torrential rain and howling winds gusting up to 155 kilometres (96 miles) an hour, the equivalent to a category two hurricane.

(Photo: MENAFN)

Waves the size of double-decker buses pounded the shore and swamped towns and villages along the coastline, exacerbated by a higher-than-normal tide because of a full moon.

Prabir Maity, a resident of a village close to the sea, told AFP, "I have lost my home, everything."

Two people died in West Bengal, two in Odisha and one in neighbouring Bangladesh where the sea smashed through water defences and inundated thousands of homes, officials said.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said more than 300,000 homes were destroyed.

Low-lying areas of state capital Kolkata were also flooded after the Hooghly river rose.

In Odisha hundreds of trees were uprooted, some bringing down power lines, relief official Pradeep Kumar Jena said. Some thatched homes were also damaged during the storm, but telecommunication networks were not affected, he added.

Putin offers Belarus leader support against West in Ryanair plane standoff

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday offered his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko support in his standoff with the West over his handling of the grounding of a passenger jet and the arrest of a dissident blogger, as reported by US News.

The West has accused Belarus of piracy after Belarusian air traffic control on Sunday informed the Ryanair pilot of a hoax bomb threat and Minsk scrambled a MiG-29 fighter plane to escort the jetliner down, and then arrested Roman Protasevich, a blogger and critic of Lukashenko, along with his girlfriend.

Both are now languishing in jail. Accused of orchestrating mass riots, Protasevich could be jailed for up to 15 years.

But Putin, a close ally of Lukashenko, gave his support to Lukashenko, warmly welcoming him for talks in the southern Russian city of Sochi and agreeing with Lukashenko that the West's reaction to the incident was "an outburst of emotion".

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi, Russia May 28, 2021 (Photo: Reuters)

"At one time they forced the Bolivian president's plane to land and took him out of the plane and nothing, silence," said Putin, referring to a 2013 incident in which Evo Morales' plane was forced to land in Austria at a time when the United States was trying to intercept whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The talks in the Black Sea city of Sochi were organised before the plane incident, but come after many European nations have imposed flight bans on Belarusian aviation and the EU is weighing further sanctions.

Lukashenko told Putin he would show him some confidential documents about the Ryanair incident that would help the Russian leader understand what really happened.

Myanmar sentences 28 people to prison for burning Chinese factories

A military court in Myanmar sentenced 28 people to prison terms in connection with the fire in two Chinese factories in March.

The suspects involved in the attacks on the Rong Wei New shoe factory in Myanmar and the Yuan Hong clothing factory were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison after a May 24 ruling by a military court in Myanmar. 19 of them are hiding, the Myanmar media reported on May 27.

Protesters in the city of Yangon, Myanmar’s trading center, reportedly set dozens of Chinese textile factories on fire in March, causing around US $ 37 million in damage.

(Photo: News Beezer)

Opposition group Twitter accounts in Myanmar accused the army of attacking factories to “justify” cracking down on protests that killed dozens of people. However, opposition groups have provided no evidence to support this claim.

Protests erupted in many locations in Myanmar after the army arrested State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi and took power in February. A local surveillance group said more than 800 people were killed during security operations in Myanmar. The Myanmar military government denies this figure, AFP said.

Protests erupted in many locations in Myanmar after the army arrested State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi and took power in February. A local surveillance group said more than 800 people were killed during security operations in Myanmar. The Myanmar military government denies this figure.

Gold price forecast – gold markets recover after early selloff

Gold markets initially fell during the trading session on Friday but found buyers near the $1880 level to turn things around and form a supportive looking candlestick.

(Photo: Economic Times)

Gold markets initially fell during the course of the trading session on Friday but found quite a bit of support near the $1880 level. At this point time, the market is likely to continue to see buyers on these dips, but I believe that we could fall closer towards the $1850 level. All things being equal, the 50 day EMA is starting to race towards that area so that could tie together quite nicely in that general vicinity. On the other hand, if we break above the top of the candlestick for the Wednesday session, then it is likely that we could go looking towards the $1950 level, and even towards the $2100 level for quite some time, according to FX Empire.

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