Category: Foreign

Posted on by — Leave a comment

UK police say train stabbings carried out by lone attacker

A 32-year-old British man was the sole suspect accused of a mass stabbing on a train in England, after another man arrested in the case was released on Sunday with no charges.

British police said the knife attack that put 11 people in hospital was not a terrorist incident. A 35-year-old man who had been arrested earlier was released after officers concluded he was not involved in the attack.

By late on Sunday, five of the injured had been discharged from hospital. Among those still being treated was a member of the train crew who tried to stop the attacker and was in a life-threatening condition, police said.

“Detectives have reviewed the CCTV from the train and it is clear his actions were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved many people’s lives,” police said.

Counterterrorism police had helped with the initial investigation after the mass stabbing of passengers on a train in eastern England on Saturday, but police later said there was nothing to suggest that the incident was terrorism.

Work was now ongoing to establish the events leading up to the attack and the suspect’s background, police said. A knife had also been recovered from the scene.

“Our investigation is moving at pace and we are confident we are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident,” Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy said in a statement.

Police described the sole suspect as a Black British national from Peterborough, 160 km north of London, who had boarded the train there.

The suspect was arrested by armed police after the train made an emergency stop at Huntingdon around 80 miles north of London.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it an “appalling incident” which was “deeply concerning”, while King Charles said he was “truly appalled and shocked”.

Knife crime in England and Wales has risen 87% over the past decade, with 54,587 offences last year alone, a 2% rise from 2023 and among the highest rates in Europe, according to figures from Britain’s interior ministry.

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood said she was “deeply saddened”, while urging people to avoid speculation about the incident.

The government is keen to stop rumors spreading on social media following an incident in Southport in northwest England in 2024, when internet claims over the murder of three young girls sparked days of rioting across the country.

Witness Olly Foster told the BBC that he was on the train which was heading towards London on Saturday evening when someone ran past him saying a man was stabbing “everyone, everything”.

“I put my hand on this chair…and then I look at my hand, and it’s covered in blood. And then I look at the chair, and there’s blood all over the chair. And then I look ahead and there’s blood on all the chairs,” he said.

Another witness told Sky News that a suspect was seen waving a large knife before being tasered by police. (JapanToday)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Tanzania president claims 98% victory amid protests, internet blackout

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan was to be inaugurated on Monday, with the internet still blocked after election protests in which the opposition says hundreds were killed by security forces.

The electoral commission says Hassan won 98 per cent of the vote.

But the main opposition party, Chadema, which was barred from competing, has rejected the results and called for fresh elections, calling last Wednesday’s vote a “sham”.

State television said the public would not attend the inauguration, which would be held in the State House in the capital, Dodoma, rather than at a stadium as usual.

A total internet blackout has been in place since protests broke out on election day, so only a trickle of verifiable information has been getting out of the East African country.

A diplomatic source said there were credible reports of hundreds — perhaps even thousands — of deaths registered at hospitals and health clinics around Tanzania.

Chadema told AFP it had recorded “no less than 800” deaths by Saturday, but none of the figures could be independently verified.

The government has not commented on any deaths, except to reject accusations that “excessive force” was used.

Schools and colleges remained closed on Monday, with public transport halted.

The diplomatic source said there were “concerning reports” that police were using the internet blackout to buy time as they “hunt down opposition members and protesters who might have videos” of atrocities committed last week.

Dar es Salaam and other cities were much calmer over the weekend as a near-total lockdown was in place.

An AFP reporter said police were stopping almost everyone who moved around the city, checking IDs and bags, and allowing shops to open only in the afternoon.

AFP journalists on the island of Zanzibar — which has greater political freedom and saw few protests — saw masked armed men patrolling without visible insignia or identification in the days after the election.

A rights group in neighbouring Kenya presented gruesome footage on Sunday that it said was gathered from inside Tanzania, including images of dead bodies piled up in the street.

The images could not be independently verified.

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for prayers for Tanzania, where he said post-election violence had erupted “with numerous victims”.

“I urge everyone to avoid all forms of violence and to pursue the path of dialogue,” the pope said.

Hassan was elevated from vice-president on the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, in 2021.

She wanted an emphatic election victory to cement her place and silence critics within the ruling party, analysts say.

Rights groups say she oversaw a “wave of terror” ahead of the vote, including a string of high-profile abductions that escalated in the final days.

Despite a heavy security presence, election day descended into chaos as crowds took to the streets across the country, tearing down her posters and attacking police and polling stations, leading to an internet shutdown and curfew.

Polling stations had been largely empty before the violence broke out, AFP journalists and observers saw, though the electoral commission later said turnout was 87 per cent.

UN chief Antonio Guterres was “deeply concerned” about the situation in Tanzania, “including reports of deaths and injuries during the demonstrations”, his spokesman said last week. (Punch)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Trump tells military to prepare for ‘action’ against Islamist militants in Nigeria

US President Donald Trump has ordered the military to prepare for action in Nigeria to tackle Islamist militant groups, accusing the government of failing to protect Christians.

Trump did not say which killings he was referring to, but claims of a genocide against Nigeria’s Christians have been circulating in recent weeks and months in some right-wing US circles.

Groups monitoring violence say there is no evidence to suggest that Christians are being killed more than Muslims in Nigeria, which is roughly evenly divided between followers of the two religions.

An advisor to Nigeria’s president told the BBC that any military action against the jihadist groups should be carried out together.

Daniel Bwala said Nigeria would welcome US help in tackling the Islamist insurgents but noted that it was a “sovereign” country.

He also said the jihadists were not targeting members of a particular religion and that they had killed people from all faiths, or none.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has insisted there is religious tolerance in the country and said the security challenges were affecting people “across faiths and regions”.

Trump wrote in a social media post on Saturday that he had instructed the US Department of War to prepare for “possible action”.

He warned that he might send the military into Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” unless the Nigerian government intervened, and said that all aid to what he called “the now disgraced country” would be cut.

Trump added: “If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!”

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth replied to the post by writing: “Yes sir.

“The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”

Trump’s threat has triggered alarm across Nigeria. Many on social media are urging the government to step up its fight against Islamist groups to avert a situation where foreign troops are sent into the country.

But Mr Bwala, who said he was a Christian pastor, told the BBC’s Newshour programme that Trump had a “unique way of communicating” and that Nigeria was not taking his words literally.

“We know the heart and intent of Trump is to help us fight insecurity,” he said, adding that he hoped Trump would meet Tinubu in the coming days to discuss the issue.

Trump earlier announced that he had declared Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” because of the “existential threat” posed to its Christian population. He said “thousands” had been killed, without providing any evidence.

This is a designation used by the US State Department that provides for sanctions against countries “engaged in severe violations of religious freedom”.

Following this announcement, Tinubu said his government was committed to working with the US and the international community to protect communities of all faiths.

“The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality,” the Nigerian leader said in a statement.

Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have wrought havoc in north-eastern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands of people – however most of these have been Muslims, according to Acled, a group which analyses political violence around the world. (BBC)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

10 injured in stabbing attack on train near Cambridge in England, police say

Ten people were injured in a stabbing attack on a train that connects London to the north of England on Saturday night, authorities said.

Nine suffered life-threatening injuries while a 10th victim was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, the British Transport Police said in a statement early Sunday.

“There have been no fatalities,” the agency said.

The U.K.-wide Counter Terrorism Policing agency said it is assisting with the investigation being led by transport police.

The British Transport Police said they hope to discover the “full circumstances and motivation” for the attack, which was “declared a major incident.”

“At this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident,” British Transport Police Chief Superintendent Chris Casey said in the statement.

Police and medics rushed to a station in Huntingdon, northwest of Cambridge, where the train was stopped following a report of stabbings at 7:42 p.m. GMT (3:42 p.m. ET), according to transport police and social media video of the aftermath.

The Cambridgeshire Police, which patrols the area, arrested two people at the scene in connection with the incident, authorities said. The suspects were not immediately identified and any allegations against them were not given.

An East of England Ambulance Service spokesperson said it scrambled numerous ambulances, tactical commanders, a hazardous response team, and two helicopters to transport “multiple patients” to the hospital.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the violence “appalling” and “deeply concerning” and said, “My thoughts are with all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services for their response.”

The London North Eastern Railway (LNER) issued a “Do Not Travel” alert for the line on Saturday. The train operating company said some lines remained closed Sunday and some services could be canceled or delayed.

LNER Managing Director David Horne said in an update early Sunday that staff was “shocked and saddened” by the attack, and he thanked emergency services for their quick response.

“The safety and wellbeing of everyone affected will remain our priority,” Horne said. “We will continue to do everything we can to support our customers and colleagues during this difficult time.”

The British Transport Police said the train was the 6:25 p.m. GMT (2:25 p.m. ET) service from Doncaster in the north of England to London King’s Cross. Huntingdon is about 77 miles north of London. (NBC)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

U.S. to limit refugees to record low 7,500, mostly white South Africans

The Trump administration announced plans on Thursday to drastically cut back the number of refugees to be accepted annually by the United States to a record low and give priority to white South Africans.

Under the new policy, the United States would welcome 7,500 refugees in fiscal 2026, down from more than 100,000 a year under Democratic president Joe Biden.

The vast majority of those being accepted during the fiscal year which began on October 1 would be white South Africans and “other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands,” according to a White House memo.

“The admissions numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa,” it said.

Republican President Donald Trump essentially halted refugee arrivals after taking office in January, but has been making an exception for white South Africans despite Pretoria’s insistence that they do not face persecution in their homeland.

A first group of around 50 Afrikaners — descendants of the first European settlers of South Africa — arrived for resettlement in the United States in May.

Trump campaigned for the White House on a pledge to deport millions of undocumented migrants and signed an executive order in January suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said that since 1980 more than two million people fleeing persecution have been admitted into the United States under the program.

“Now it will be used as a pathway for white immigration,” Reichlin-Melnick said on X. “What a downfall for a crown jewel of America’s international humanitarian programs.”

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of another immigration-focused group, Global Refuge, also criticized the move by the Trump administration.

“For more than four decades, the U.S. refugee program has been a lifeline for families fleeing war, persecution, and repression,” Vignarajah said in a statement.

“At a time of crisis in countries ranging from Afghanistan to Venezuela to Sudan and beyond, concentrating the vast majority of admissions on one group undermines the program’s purpose as well as its credibility.”

In addition to slashing refugee numbers, the Trump administration has moved to strip Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghans, Haitians, Venezuelans and nationals of several other countries.

The United States grants TPS to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.

Trump has said the Afrikaners being taken in as refugees by the United States are fleeing a “terrible situation” back home and has even gone so far as to describe it as “genocide,” an allegation widely dismissed as absurd.

Whites, who make up 7.3 percent of South Africa’s population, generally enjoy a higher standard of living than the Black majority. They still own two-thirds of farmland and on average earn three times as much as Black South Africans.

Mainly Afrikaner-led governments imposed the race-based apartheid system that denied Black people political and economic rights until it was voted out in 1994. (JapanToday)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Jamaica hurricane death toll hits 28 as Caribbean Island reels from colossal disaster

Storm-ravaged communities in western Jamaica were facing dire straits Sunday, days after record-setting Hurricane Melissa left towns demolished and at least 28 people dead across the island.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness confirmed the new death toll — nine higher than the previous tally of 19 — and posted on X late Saturday that “there are additional reports of possible fatalities that are still being verified”.

Melissa became the most intense storm to make landfall in 90 years when it barreled into Jamaica last Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane packing winds of 185 miles (300 kilometers) per hour.

It ripped a terrifying path through the Caribbean, leaving at least 31 dead in Haiti, Dominican Republicincluding 10 children who drowned in heavy flooding, and ravaged parts of Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

In Jamaica, devastation was rampant in western parishes including Westmoreland and Saint Elizabeth.

AFP reporters witnessed residents grappling with the enormity of the disaster.

Buildings in Whitehouse were destroyed or crumpled, with corrugated roofs strewn across the ground.

Power lines were down, and trees were shorn of all leaves.

Many communities have been cut off.

Countless homes, hospitals, businesses, and other buildings have been badly damaged or destroyed.

With large swathes of the country still without electricity or phone service, it was difficult to gain an accurate assessment of the death toll or the scope of the search and rescue operations needed.

The staggering economic losses will be a “burden” weighing on Jamaica and the rest of the region for years, a senior United Nations official said Sunday in Panama.

“It is estimated that Melissa could cause economic losses equivalent to Jamaica’s annual GDP,” said Nahuel Arenas, head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) for the Americas and the Caribbean.

According to the World Bank, the gross domestic product of Jamaica stood at nearly $20 billion in 2024.

“These are losses that will weigh heavily on the economy of all Jamaicans for years and years to come,” Arenas said.

The World Health Organisation and other groups have sent medical teams in the country, and the United States says its emergency response teams are on the ground.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres “emphasised that international support is crucial at this time,” and called for the “mobilisation of massive resources” to address the loss and damage, a spokesman for the secretary-general said Sunday in a statement.

The UN has allocated $4 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund to help scale up humanitarian operations in Jamaica. (Channels)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Kamala Harris hints at running for president again

Former US vice president Kamala Harris said in a British television interview previewed in Saturday that she may “possibly” run again to be president.

Harris, who replaced Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate but lost to Donald Trump, told the BBC that she had not yet decided whether to make another White House bid.

But the 61-year-old insisted she was “not done” in American politics and that her young grandnieces would see a female president in the Oval Office “in their lifetime, for sure”.

“I have lived my entire career a life of service, and it’s in my bones, and there are many ways to serve.

“I’ve not decided yet what I will do in the future, beyond what I am doing right now,” Harris told the British broadcaster in an interview set to air in full on Sunday.

The comments are the strongest hint yet that Harris could attempt to be the Democratic Party nominee for the 2028 election.

The interview follows the release of her memoir last month, in which she argued it had been “recklessness” to let Biden run for a second term as president.

She also accused his White House team of failing to support her while she was his deputy, and at times of actively hindering her. (Punch)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

U.S., China talks sketch out rare earths deal, tariff pause for Trump and Xi to consider

Top Chinese and U.S. economic officials on Sunday hashed out the framework of a trade deal for U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to decide on later this week that would pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, U.S. officials said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur had eliminated the threat of Trump’s 100% tariffs on Chinese imports starting November 1. Bessent also said he expects China to delay implementation of its rare earth minerals and magnets licensing regime by a year while the policy is reconsidered.

Chinese officials were more circumspect about the talks and offered no details about the outcome of the meetings.

Trump and Xi are due to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, to sign off on the terms. While the White House has officially announced the highly anticipated Trump-Xi talks, China has yet to confirm that the two leaders will meet.

“I think we have a very successful framework for the leaders to discuss on Thursday,” Bessent told reporters after he and the U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and top trade negotiator Li Chenggang for their fifth round of in-person discussions since May.

Bessent said he anticipates that a tariff truce with China will be extended beyond its November 10 expiration date, and that China will revive substantial purchases of U.S. soybeans after buying none in September while favouring soybeans from Brazil and Argentina.

U.S. soybean farmers “will feel very good about what’s going on both for this season and the coming seasons for several years” once the deal’s terms are announced, Bessent told the ABC program “This Week.”

Greer told the “Fox News Sunday” program that both sides agreed to pause some punitive actions and found “a path forward where we can have more access to rare earths from China, we can try to balance out our trade deficit with sales from the United States.”

China’s Li Chenggang said the two sides reached a “preliminary consensus” and will next go through their respective internal approval processes.

“The U.S. position has been tough, whereas China has been firm in defending its own interests and rights,” Li said through an interpreter. “We have experienced very intense consultations and engaged in constructive exchanges in exploring solutions and arrangements to address these concerns.”

Trump arrived in Malaysia on Sunday for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, his first stop in a five-day Asia tour that is expected to culminate in Thursday’s face-to-face with Xi in South Korea.

After the weekend talks, Trump struck a positive tone, saying: “I think we’re going to have a deal with China”.

Trump had threatened new 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and other trade curbs starting on November 1, in retaliation for China’s expanded export controls on rare earth magnets and minerals.

China controls more than 90% of the world’s supply for the materials, which are essential for high-tech manufacturing from electric vehicles to semiconductors and missiles. The export controls and Trump’s threatened retaliation would disrupt a delicate six-month truce under which China and the U.S. reduced tariffs that had quickly escalated to triple-digit rates on each side.

The U.S. and Chinese officials said that, in addition to rare earths, they discussed trade expansion, the U.S. fentanyl crisis, U.S. port entrance fees and the transfer of TikTok to U.S. ownership control.

Bessent told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program that the two sides have to iron out details of the TikTok deal, allowing Trump and Xi to “consummate the transaction” in South Korea.

On the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, Trump hinted at possible meetings with Xi in China and the United States.

“We’ve agreed to meet. We’re going to meet them later in China, and we’re going to meet in the U.S., in either Washington or at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said.

Among Trump’s talking points with Xi are Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans, concerns around democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, and the release of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

The detention of the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily has become the most high-profile example of China’s crackdown on rights in Hong Kong.

Trump also said he will seek China’s help in U.S. dealings with Moscow, as Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on.

Tensions between the world’s two largest economies flared in the past few weeks as a delicate trade truce, reached after a first round of trade talks in Geneva in May and extended in August, failed to prevent the United States and China from hitting each other with more sanctions, export curbs and threats of stronger retaliatory measures.

China’s expanded controls of rare earths exports have caused a global shortage. That has prompted the United States to consider a block on software-powered exports to China, from laptops to jet engines, according to a Reuters report. (JapanToday)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

2 suspects arrested over theft of crown jewels from Paris’ Louvre museum

Two suspects were arrested in connection with the theft of crown jewels from Paris’ Louvre museum, justice and police officials said Sunday, a week after the heist that stunned the world and sparked a massive manhunt.

The Paris prosecutor said that investigators made arrests Saturday evening, adding that one of the men taken into custody was preparing to leave the country from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

French media BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that two suspects had been arrested and taken into custody. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests and did not say whether any jewels had been recovered.

A police official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing case, told The Associated Press that two men in their 30s, both known to police, were taken into custody. He said one suspect was arrested as he attempted to board a plane bound for Algeria. The official added that one of the suspects was identified through DNA traces. Beccuau said earlier this week that forensics experts were analyzing 150 samples at the scene.

The suspects can be held in police custody for up to 96 hours.

Thieves took less than eight minutes last Sunday morning to steal jewels valued at 88 million euros ($102 million) from the world’s most-visited museum. French officials described how the intruders used a basket lift to scale the Louvre’s façade, forced open a window, smashed display cases and fled. The museum’s director called the incident a “terrible failure.”

Beccuau said investigators from a special police unit in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries and art thefts made the arrests. In her statement, she rued the premature leak of information, saying it could hinder the work of over 100 investigators “mobilized to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators.” Beccuau said further details will be unveiled after the suspects’ custody period ends.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez praised “the investigators who have worked tirelessly, just as I asked them to, and who have always had my full confidence.”

The Louvre reopened earlier this week after one of the highest-profile museum thefts of the century stunned the world with its audacity and scale.

The thieves slipped in and out, making off with some of France’s crown jewels — a cultural wound that some compared to the burning of Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019.

The thieves escaped with a total of eight objects, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense.

They also took an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, as well as a reliquary brooch. Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch — an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship — were also part of the loot.

One piece — Eugénie’s emerald-set imperial crown with more than 1,300 diamonds — was later found outside the museum, damaged but repairable.

News of the arrests was met with relief by Louvre visitors and passersby on Sunday.

“It’s important for our heritage. A week later, it does feel a bit late, we wonder how this could even happen — but it was important that the guys were caught,” said Freddy Jacquemet.

“I think the main thing now is whether they can recover the jewels,” added Diana Ramirez. “That’s what really matters.” (JapanToday)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Mosquitoes found in Iceland for first time after record heat

Mosquitoes have been found in Iceland for the first time after the country experienced record-breaking heat this spring.

Insect enthusiast Bjorn Hjaltason encountered the mosquitoes over several nights last week while using wine-soaked ropes to observe moths, local media reported.

Mr Hjaltason found two female mosquitoes and one male which were later confirmed to be Culiseta annulata, one of few species that can successfully survive winter.

Iceland was one of only two mosquito-free havens in the world prior to the discovery, partly due to its cold climate. The only other recorded mosquito-free zone is Antarctica.

The mosquitoes were found in Kjós, a glacial valley to the South West of the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.

Mr Hjaltason shared the news of his discovery on a Facebook page for local wildlife alongside pictures of the insects, describing “a strange fly on a red wine ribbon”, according to Icelandic media.

“I could tell right away that this was something I had never seen before” he said in the post, which was screenshotted and shared by Iceland’s Morgunblaðið news site, adding “the last fortress seems to have fallen.”

Mr Hjaltason sent the insects to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History to be identified, where entomologist Matthías Alfreðsson confirmed his suspicions.

The species are common across parts of Europe and North Africa but it it isn’t clear how they reached Iceland, Alfreðsson told CNN.

Iceland’s cold climate and lack of stagnant water in which the insects can breed are key contributors to the country’s former lack of mosquitoes, the World Population Review said.

But this year, the country broke multiple records for its high temperatures.

Typically, Iceland rarely experiences highs of more than 20C (68F) in May, and when it does those heatwaves will last for no more than two to three days, its Met Office notes. That threshold was exceeded for 10 consecutive days this year in different parts of the country, though.

Iceland also saw its hottest ever day in May, with temperatures reaching 26.6C (79.8F) at Eglisstaðir Airport.

A June study published by the Global Heat Health Information Network noted that such shifts could have “significant” impacts on delicate ecosystems, which have adapted to the cold climate and are sensitive to temperature shifts.

Last year was the world’s hottest on record, and the UN’s climate body has established that human influence has “unequivocally” warmed the atmosphere, oceans and land.

Further monitoring will be required in spring to see if the mosquito species has “truly become established in Iceland”, Alfreðsson added.

Hjaltason, meanwhile, has speculated on the origin of the specimens he observed.

“One always suspects Grundartangi – it’s only about six kilometers from me, and things often arrive with ships and containers, so it’s possible something came in that way,” he told Morgunblaðið.

“But if three of them came straight into my garden, there were probably more.” (BBC)