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Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Zelensky urges Biden, Xi to join peace summit

Zelensky urges Biden, Xi to join peace summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine’s supporters say a ceasefire will only help Russia rearm and regroup. (Ukrainian presidential press service/AFP)
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Updated 26 May 2024
Reuters
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Zelensky urges Biden, Xi to join peace summit

Zelensky urges Biden, Xi to join peace summit
  • Moscow’s forces have in recent weeks advanced on the battlefield and stepped up air strikes on cities
  • Kyiv hopes the June meeting in Switzerland will help pile international pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin
Updated 26 May 2024
Reuters
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KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Sunday to join an upcoming peace summit as his country struggles to stave off unrelenting attacks by Russia in its 27-month-old invasion.
Moscow’s forces have in recent weeks advanced on the battlefield and stepped up air strikes on cities, and Kyiv hopes the June meeting in Switzerland will help pile international pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In English-language video recorded inside the charred remains of a printing press destroyed on Thursday in a Russian air strike, Zelensky said the summit would “show who in the world really wants to end the war.”
“I am appealing to the leaders of the world who are still aside from the global efforts of the Global Peace Summit – to President Biden, the leader of the United States, and to President Xi, the leader of China,” he said.
“Please, show your leadership in advancing the peace – the real peace and not just a pause between the strikes.
Russia has said it sees no point in the conference to which Moscow is not currently invited.
Zelensky’s comments came two days after Russian sources told Reuters that Putin was ready to halt the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognizes the current battlefield lines.
Zelensky and Ukraine’s supporters say a ceasefire will only help Russia rearm and regroup.
Russia has in recent months made slow but steady gains along several parts of the sprawling eastern front and is attempting to push deeper into the northeastern Kharkiv region after a ground incursion launched earlier this month.
In an interview with Reuters last week, Zelensky said it was crucial to get as many countries around the table at the peace talks as possible. Putin has said he believes the talks may convert Ukrainian demands for a Russian withdrawal into an ultimatum for Russia.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Russia Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky Xi Jinping Joe Biden

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Russia says it downs seven Ukrainian missiles over Kursk region

Russia says it downs seven Ukrainian missiles over Kursk region
Updated 6 sec ago
Reuters
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Russia says it downs seven Ukrainian missiles over Kursk region

Russia says it downs seven Ukrainian missiles over Kursk region
Updated 6 sec ago
Reuters

Russia’s air defense systems destroyed seven Ukrainian missiles overnight over the Kursk region, governor of the Russian region that borders Ukraine said on Monday.
He said that air defense units also destroyed seven Ukrainian drones. He did not provide further details.
A pro-Russian military analyst Roman Alyokhin, who serves as an adviser to the governor, said on his Telegram messaging channel that “Kursk was subjected to a massive attack by foreign-made missiles” overnight.

Topics: Ukraine Russia war

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Pakistani police arrest thousands of Imran Khan supporters as capital under lock down ahead of rally

Pakistani police arrest thousands of Imran Khan supporters as capital under lock down ahead of rally
Updated 38 min 37 sec ago
AP
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Pakistani police arrest thousands of Imran Khan supporters as capital under lock down ahead of rally

Pakistani police arrest thousands of Imran Khan supporters as capital under lock down ahead of rally
  • Former PM Imran Khan has been behind bars for more than a year and has over 150 criminal cases against him
  • Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan suspended mobile and Internet services ‘in areas with security concerns’
Updated 38 min 37 sec ago
AP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani police arrested thousands of Imran Khan supporters as the capital remained under lock down ahead of a rally there to demand the ex-premier’s release from prison, a security officer said Sunday.
Khan has been behind bars for more than a year and has over 150 criminal cases against him. But he remains popular and his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or PTI, says the cases are politically motivated.
Shahid Nawaz, a security officer in eastern Punjab province, said police have arrested more than 4,000 Khan supporters. They include five parliamentarians.
Pakistan has since Saturday sealed off Islamabad with shipping containers and shut down major roads and highways connecting the city with PTI strongholds in Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Tit-for-tat teargas shelling between the police and the PTI was reported on the highway bordering Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan suspended mobile and Internet services “in areas with security concerns.”
The government and Interior Ministry posted the announcement on the social media platform X, which is banned in Pakistan. They did not specify the areas, nor did they say how long the suspension would be in place.
“Internet and mobile services will continue to operate as usual in the rest of the country,” the posts said.
Meanwhile, telecom company Nayatel sent out emails offering customers “a reliable landline service” as a workaround in the areas suffering suspended cellphone service.
Khan’s supporters rely heavily on social media to demand his release and use messaging platforms like WhatsApp to share information, including details of events.
PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram said Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi was traveling to Islamabad in a convoy led by the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur.
“She cannot leave the party workers on their own,” said Akram.
There was a festive mood in Peshawar, with PTI members dancing, drumming and holding up pictures of Khan as cars set off for Islamabad.
The government is imposing social media platform bans and targeting VPN services, according to Internet advocacy group Netblocks. On Sunday, the group said live metrics showed problems with WhatsApp that were affecting media sharing on the app.
The US Embassy issued a security alert for Americans in the capital, encouraging them to avoid large gatherings and warning that even “peaceful gatherings can turn violent.”
Last month, authorities suspended the cellphone service in Islamabad and Rawalpindi to thwart a pro-Khan rally. The shutdown disrupted communications and affected everyday services such as banking, ride-hailing and food delivery.
The latest crackdown comes on the eve of a visit by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said authorities have sealed off Islamabad’s Red Zone, which houses key government buildings and is the destination for Khan’s supporters.
“Anyone reaching it will be arrested,” Naqvi told a press conference.
He said the security measures were in place to protect residents and property, blaming the PTI for inconveniencing people and businesses.
He added that protesters were planning to take the same route as the Belarusian delegation, but that the government had headed off this scenario.
Naqvi denied cellphone services were suspended and said only mobile data was affected.

Topics: Pakistan Imran Khan

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Social media sites call for Australia to delay its ban on children younger than 16

Social media sites call for Australia to delay its ban on children younger than 16
Updated 45 min 28 sec ago
AP
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Social media sites call for Australia to delay its ban on children younger than 16

Social media sites call for Australia to delay its ban on children younger than 16
  • Advocate tells Parliament should wait until the government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies is completed in June
  • Proposed legislation would impose fines of up to $33 million on platforms for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts
Updated 45 min 28 sec ago
AP

MELBOURNE: An advocate for major social media platforms told an Australian Senate committee Monday that laws to ban children younger than 16 from the sites should be delayed until next year at least instead of being rushed through the Parliament this week.
Sunita Bose, managing director of Digital Industry Group Inc., an advocate for the digital industry in Australia including X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, was answering questions at a single-day Senate committee hearing into world-first legislation that was introduced into the Parliament last week.
Bose said the Parliament should wait until the government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies is completed in June.
“Parliament is asked to pass a bill this week without knowing how it will work,” Bose said.
The legislation would impose fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) on platforms for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.
It seems likely to be passed by Parliament by Thursday with the support of the major parties.
It would take effect a year after the bill becomes law, allowing the platforms time to work out technological solutions that would also protect users’ privacy.
Bose received heated questions from several senators and challenges to the accuracy of her answers.
Opposition Sen. Ross Cadell asked how his 10-year-old stepson was able to hold Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube accounts from the age of 8, despite the platforms setting a nominal age limit of 13.
Bose replied that “this is an area where the industry needs to improve.”
She said the proposed social media ban risked isolating some children and driving children to “darker, less safe online spaces” than mainstream platforms.
Bose said her concern with the proposed law was that “this could compromise the safety of young people,” prompting a hostile response from opposition Sen. Sarah Henderson.
“That’s an outrageous statement. You’re trying to protect the big tech giants,” Henderson said.
Unaligned Sen. Jacqui Lambie asked why the platforms didn’t use their algorithms to prevent harmful material being directed to children. The algorithms have been accused of keeping technology-addicted children connected to platforms and of flooding users with harmful material that promotes suicide and eating disorders.
“Your platforms have the ability to do that. The only thing that’s stopping them is themselves and their greed,” Lambie said.
Bose said algorithms were already in place to protect young people online through functions including filtering out nudity.
“We need to see continued investment in algorithms and ensuring that they do a better job at addressing harmful content,” Bose said.
Questioned by opposition Sen. Dave Sharma, Bose said she didn’t know how much advertising revenue the platforms she represented made from Australian children.
She said she was not familiar with research by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that found X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat made $11 billion in advertising from US users under 18 in 2022.
Communications department official Sarah Vandenbroek told the committee said the evaluation of age assurance technologies that will report in June would assess not only their accuracy but also their security and privacy settings.
Department Deputy Secretary James Chisholm said officials had consulted widely before proposing the age limit.
“We think it’s a good idea and it can be done,” Chisholm told the committee.

Topics: social media Australia

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US drawing up contingency plans for Taiwan emergency: Kyodo

US drawing up contingency plans for Taiwan emergency: Kyodo
Updated 57 min 18 sec ago
AFP
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US drawing up contingency plans for Taiwan emergency: Kyodo

US drawing up contingency plans for Taiwan emergency: Kyodo
  • They will be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December
  • Washington has been strengthening alliances in the region
Updated 57 min 18 sec ago
AFP

TOKYO: The United States is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of an emergency over Taiwan, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported.
They will be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, according to sources familiar with Japan-US relations, Kyodo said late Sunday.
The US Third Marine Littoral Regiment, which possesses the multiple-launch HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), would be deployed along Japan’s Nansei island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said.
From an early stage, if a Taiwan contingency becomes highly imminent, temporary bases will be set up on inhabited islands based on US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations, the report added.
Japan’s military is expected to mainly engage in logistical support for the marine unit, including supplying fuel and ammunition, it said.
Kyodo added that the US Army would deploy Multi-Domain Task Force long-range fire units in the Philippines, Kyodo said.
The Japanese and the Philippines defense ministries were not immediately available for comment. The US embassy in Manila declined to comment while the Chinese embassy in Manila “noted” the Kyodo report.
China is building up its military capacity while ramping up pressure on self-governed Taiwan, which it claims as part of its territory.
Washington has been strengthening alliances in the region, while infuriating Beijing with regular deployments of ships and fighter jets in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

Topics: US Taiwan

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Russian forces capture British man fighting with Ukraine, RIA reports

Russian forces capture British man fighting with Ukraine, RIA reports
Updated 25 November 2024
Reuters
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Russian forces capture British man fighting with Ukraine, RIA reports

Russian forces capture British man fighting with Ukraine, RIA reports
  • In a video posted on unofficial pro-war Russian Telegram channels on Sunday, a young bearded man says in English that his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson and that he formerly served in the British Army
Updated 25 November 2024
Reuters

Russian forces captured a British mercenary fighting with the Ukrainian army in Russia’s Kursk region, which is still partially controlled by Kyiv forces, a security source told Russia’s RIA state news agency.
“A mercenary from Great Britain, who called himself James Scott Rhys Anderson, was captured. He is now giving evidence,” the Russian source told RIA in remarks published on Sunday.
In a video posted on unofficial pro-war Russian Telegram channels on Sunday, a young bearded man wearing military clothing with what appears to be his hands tied in the back, says in English that his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson and that he formerly served in the British Army.
Reuters could not independently verify the video and the RIA and other media reports.
It was not clear when the video was filmed. The British Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment on the reports outside office hours.
The BBC reported earlier that the Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention.”
Ukraine forces, which staged a surprise incursion in the Russian border region of Kursk in August, still control parts of it. However, Kyiv said over the weekend that it has since lost over 40 percent of the territory that it had captured, as Russian forces have mounted waves of counter-assaults.
 

Topics: Russian aggression Russian-Ukraine conflict

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Pakistani police arrest thousands of Imran Khan supporters as capital under lock down ahead of rally
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Social media sites call for Australia to delay its ban on children younger than 16
Social media sites call for Australia to delay its ban on children younger than 16
US drawing up contingency plans for Taiwan emergency: Kyodo
US drawing up contingency plans for Taiwan emergency: Kyodo

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