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Region

A TV crew operates in front of the office building where BAC Consulting KFT is said to be registered, in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday. REUTERS

Hunt for origins of Lebanon pager attack widens to Bulgaria, Norway

Supply chains investigated after deadly pager attackBulgaria opens probe after one company linkedWhereabouts of executives in Norway, Hungary unknownBulgaria and Norway became new focal points on Thursday of a global hunt for who supplied Hezbollah with the thousands of pagers that exploded in Lebanon this week in a deadly blow to the group.Security sources said that Israel was responsible for the explosions on Tuesday that killed 12 people, injured more than 2,300 and raised the stakes in a growing conflict between the two sides. Israel has not directly commented on the attacks.How and with whose help the pager attack was carried out was not yet known, although so far there were possible leads in Taiwan, Hungary and Bulgaria.It is not clear how and when the pagers were weaponised so they could be remotely detonated. The same question remains for the hundreds of hand-held radios used by Hezbollah that exploded on Wednesday in a second wave of attacks.One theory is that the pagers were intercepted and hooked up with explosives after they left factories. Another is that Israel orchestrated the whole deadly supply chain.Bulgarian authorities said on Thursday that its interior ministry and state security services had opened an investigation into a company's possible ties. They did not name the company they were investigating.Local media reports said Sofia-based Norta Global Ltd had facilitated the sale of the pagers to Hezbollah. Citing security sources, national broadcaster bTV reported that 1.6 million euros related to the transaction passed through Bulgaria, and was sent to Hungary.Reuters could not immediately confirm the claim.Emails sent to a Norta email listed on Bulgarian company registration records were returned as undeliverable. The firm's founder declined to comment.Images of destroyed pagers analysed by Reuters showed a format consistent with devices made by Taiwan's Gold Apollo. Gold Apollo said on Wednesday that the pagers were made by BAC Consulting, a company based in the Hungarian capital Budapest.The owner and CEO of BAC Consulting, Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, did not return multiple requests for comment by phone and text message.On Wednesday, she told NBC News that her company worked with Gold Apollo but that she had nothing to do with the making of the pagers. "I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong," she told NBC.Hungarian news site Telex reported that the sale was facilitated by Norta Global Ltd, citing sources.Norta's Bulgarian headquarters are registered at an apartment building in the capital Sofia that is also home to nearly 200 other companies, according to a local company registry. There was no sign of Norta.Content on Norta Global's website, globalnorta.com, was deleted on Thursday. The website previously had English, Bulgarian and Norwegian language versions, and advertised services including consulting, technology integration, recruitment and outsourcing."Are you looking for an agile company to help you succeed or to find that tech solution just right for you? Look no further," the website had said, according to copies of the website reviewed by Reuters before it was altered.Norta's founder, Rinson Jose, is based in Norway. He declined to comment on the pagers when reached by phone and hung up when asked about the Bulgarian business.His neighbours in a quiet suburb of Oslo said they didn't know much about him. Amund Djuve, the CEO of DN Media, where Jose currently works, told Reuters he was aware of the reports and had alerted the police and security services. He said that Jose was travelling to the United States."We are taking these matters very seriously," Djuve said.Oslo police said it had initiated "preliminary enquiries into the information that had come to light".Norway's domestic intelligence agency, PST, said it was aware of the situation and declined to comment further.There was no evidence of a link between DN Media and Norta.Barsony-Arcidiacono of BAC Consulting, the Budapest-based company that was also linked to the sale of the pagers, vacated her apartment in Budapest on Wednesday, a neighbour told Reuters. Her door was ajar on Wednesday but closed on Thursday morning, said a Reuters reporter at the scene. No one answered the doorbell.A Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah believed it was ordering the pagers from Gold Apollo and that they were produced in Asia, not Europe.The source said Hezbollah considered it much easier for Israel's Mossad spy agency to operate in Hungary."It is possible that the Mossad created a European company," the source said.

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Brazil sanctuary fears no 'safe' place for jaguars to 'return' as fires rage

As fires continue to ravage the Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland, a rescue center treats a jaguar injured in a fire in 2020. The jaguar, whose paws were badly burned, is now unable to move her claws. The NEX (No Extinction) sanctuary near Brasilia is in a race against time to save the remaining 24 of the 70 jaguars and pumas it originally rescued. With forest fires on the rise in Brazil, the jaguar's veterinarian Thiago Luczinski is concerned about the safety of the animals' habitats. "It's a big problem because this animal is in a safe place today, but it's going back to an area where there's still fire," he explains. AFP

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Aftermath of an Israeli strike on a school-turned-displacement shelter in Gaza's Nuseirat

"The children are speechless, traumatized by the sight of their parents torn apart" says a Palestinian outside Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir el-Balah following a strike on a school-turned-displacement shelter in central Gaza's Nuseirat."I can hardly stand up", says a Palestinian man holding a bag filled with human remains after the Israeli strike at Nuseirat. 14 people were killed in the facility, which has already been hit several times during the war. AFP

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Apple unveils new iPhone built for AI

Apple unveils the iPhone 16, a new iPhone built for generative artificial intelligence, as it seeks to boost sales and show it is keeping up in the technology race. AFP

Gulf Times

Establishing diplomatic relations with Israel is contingent on establishment of independent Palestinian state : Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has affirmed that establishing diplomatic relations with Israel is contingent on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, said in a speech before the Shura Council on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that the Palestinian issue is at the forefront of the Kingdom's concerns, and we renew the Kingdom's rejection and strong condemnation of the crimes of the Israeli occupation authority against the Palestinian people, ignoring international and humanitarian law in a new and bitter chapter of suffering.The Saudi Crown Prince appreciated the position of the countries that recognized the Palestinian state as an embodiment of international legitimacy, calling on the rest of the countries to take similar steps.He pointed out that the Kingdom is keen to cooperate with all active countries in the international community, certain that what protects humanity and preserves its civilizational values is the joint pursuit of a better future based on fruitful cooperation between countries and peoples, respecting the independence and values of countries, adopting the principle of good neighborliness, non-interference in their internal affairs, and avoiding resorting to force in resolving disputes.He noted that the Kingdom seeks to enhance regional and international security and peace, by making efforts to reach political solutions to crises in Yemen, Sudan, Libya and others, as well as supporting solutions to international crises such as the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.The Saudi Crown Prince added that the Kingdom has achieved many essential achievements during the recent stage, and from the models of these non-oil activities in the Kingdom, it recorded its highest contribution to the real GDP at (50%) last year, which enhances the sustainability and comprehensiveness of growth and achieves high quality in economic diversification, and the Public Investment Fund continues its role in achieving its goals to be a driving force for investment, and unemployment among citizens, both male and female, recorded its lowest historical level in the first quarter of 2024 AD, reaching (7.6%), after its rate was (12.8%) in 2017 AD.He added that the percentage of home ownership for citizens increased from (47%) in 2016 to more than (63%), and in the field of tourism, the achievements preceded the target date, as the national tourism strategy launched in 2019 set a target of (one hundred) million tourists in 2030, and this target was exceeded and reached (one hundred and nine) million tourists in 2023, and the Kingdom achieved the sixteenth rank among the most competitive countries, and with the exploration of natural resources, the Kingdom becomes one of the largest natural resource stores in the world, and your country has also achieved an advanced position in the field of renewable energy, and has become one of the most active regionally and internationally.

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