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☆ Gaza: The Labour party’s position on the conflict appears to have cost it votes in the UK election
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Corbyn won 49.2% of the vote, while the Labour candidate came in second with 34.4%. Many of these seats where Labour appears to have lost votes over its position on Gaza have sizable Muslim populations. She said, after Streeting abstained from a vote on a Gaza ceasefire, she decided to enter politics and abdicate from Labour. “As a Palestinian, that place is no longer for me… The Labour party does not represent us,” she told CNN. Meanwhile Jess Phillips, also a prominent Labour figure, won her Birmingham Yardley seat by just 693 votes.

Persons: Keir Starmer, Jonathan Ashworth, Shockat Adam, ” Adam, Jeremy Corbyn, Ashworth, Corbyn, ”, Kate Hollern –, –, Adnan Hussain, Iqbal Mohamed, Heather Iqbal, Birmingham Perry Barr, Ayoub Khan, Khalid Mahmood, Faiza Shaheen –, Iain Duncan Smith, “, ” Shaheen, Starmer, Israel’s, Starmer –, Israel “, Wes Streeting, Leanne Mohamad, Mohamad, Streeting, Jess Phillips, Jody McIntyre Organizations: London CNN, Gaza, Labour, Leicester South, Islington, Blackburn, Dewsbury, Batley, Conservative, Hamas, LBC, Scottish National Party, CNN, Birmingham, Workers Party of Britain Locations: Gaza, English Midlands, Birmingham, Chingford, Woodford, London, Israel, Leicester, Ilford, Blackburn, Starmer’s, Ilford North, Palestine, Birmingham Yardley

☆ A growing club led by Xi and Putin to counter the US is adding a staunchly pro-Russia member
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-02 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

After adding Belarus, it will boast 10 members, representing more than 40% of the world’s population and roughly a quarter of the global economy. Growing ambitionsAs the SCO grows in international visibility and economic weight, it has also broadened in geopolitical ambitions. Putin speaks to Xi at the SCO summit two years ago in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. But the Belarus membership also creates big question marks that will hang over the organization, Gill said. After the summit in Astana, China is due to take up the rotating presidency of the SCO for a year.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi, Moscow’s, ”, “, Eva Seiwert, Seiwert, Putin, Xi, Sergei Bobylev, Bates Gill, Gill, –, ” Gill, Modi, they’re Organizations: Hong Kong CNN —, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Indian, SCO, Union, Mercator Institute for China Studies, ”, Putin, AP, National Bureau of Asian Research, “, Central, Modi, Astana –, Kremlin, Central Asia, NATO, European Union, Seven Locations: Hong Kong, China, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Belarus, Astana, Kazakhstan, Beijing, Moscow, United States, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Turkey, Berlin, “, Eurasia, Samarkand, Central Asia, New Delhi, Soviet, Xi’an

CNN —Israel has sparked condemnation after the finance minister announced plans to legally recognize five unauthorized Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. As CNN has reported, the Israeli government has been looking to “strengthen” Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank after several countries unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority, which administers some areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, told CNN on Sunday that it has not yet received the funds from Israel. He has long advocated for the building of settlements, pointing to them as a means of preventing the West Bank becoming part of such an independent state. Such settlements are considered illegal under international law and by much of the international community.

Persons: CNN — Israel, Bezalel Smotrich, ”, Amir Cohen, Peter Stano, “, Smotrich Organizations: CNN, West Bank, Palestinian Authority, Israel, Israeli, Reuters, Union, Oslo Accords Locations: Palestinian, Israel, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Oslo

Rights groups are furious the Taliban meeting is going ahead without Afghan women, and say it legitimizes Afghanistan’s leaders and fails to hold them to account for grave injustices. Whatever we had, we spent it,” Arzo’s brother Ahamad, a 27-year-old journalist under threat from the Taliban due to his occupation, told CNN in November. Arzo told CNN what drove her suicide attempt. Pakistan’s policy on “illegal foreigners” is no different to that of other nations, Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told CNN. CNNArzo doesn’t want a life like that for herself, her sister, or the women and girls still in Afghanistan.

Persons: ”, Arzo, Javed Iqbal, ” Richard Bennett, Zabihullah Mujahid, “, Richard Bennett, weren’t, – they’ll, They’re, Mahsa, Ahamad, Doctors, Arzo’s, CNN Arzo hadn’t, ” Mahsa, they’ve, can’t, Moniza Kakar, Rain, Kakar, Abbas, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Baloch, hadn’t, ” Amanullah, He’s, Amanullah, he’s, CNN Arzo, Heather Barr, ” Barr, “ It’s, Bennett, she’ll, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, Lifeline, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Befrienders Worldwide, Pakistan CNN —, United Nations, Human Rights, UN, Security, “ ACC ”, Afghan, ACC, Pakistani Ministry of Foreign, “, Taliban, Human Rights Watch, International Court of Justice, Criminal Court, ICC Locations: Karachi, Pakistan, Pakistani, Afghanistan, CNN Pakistan, Doha, Qatar, Afghan, Kabul, Islamabad, –, Soviet, ”, Canada, Israel, Gaza

☆ Iran Warns Israel Against War in Lebanon Against Hezbollah: Latest Updates
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

Illegal Israeli settlements in the Gush Etzion settlement block in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in 2020. But after the first Arab-Israeli war, Jordan took control of the West Bank, and Jerusalem became divided between Israel and Jordan. In the 1967 war, Israel annexed East Jerusalem and occupied the West Bank, which it says is disputed territory whose fate should be determined in negotiations. That appears to be the goal for Mr. Smotrich, who adamantly opposes Palestinian statehood. In a social media post on Thursday, Mr. Smotrich indicated that the latest settlement legalization was a response to those decisions.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Bezalel Smotrich, Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Smotrich, Ammar Awad, Evyatar Borovski, Givat, Assaf Hershkovitz, Sde Ephraim, Jordan, Amit Elkayam, Volker Türk, Tor, “ We’ll, ”, Yehuda Fox, “, ” Aaron Boxerman Organizations: West Bank, Authority, Palestinian, Reuters, West, Peace, United Nations General Assembly, United Nations Security Council, International Court of Justice, Bank, Geneva Convention, Criminal Court, United Nations, International Court of, The New York Times, East Jerusalem —, Mr, Israel’s, Command Locations: Gush Etzion, Bank, Israel, Jerusalem, Jabal Subeih, Nablus, West, Givat Assaf, West Bank, Ras Karkar, Ramallah, Settlers, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jordan, East Jerusalem, Palestinian, Oslo, Evyatar, Beita, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, Armenia

CNN —The Israeli military strapped an injured Palestinian man to the hood of a military vehicle during an operation on Saturday in the occupied West Bank. The PRCS said the Israeli military had prevented its crews from providing first aid to an injured man in the Jabarat area of Jenin. Raneen Sawafta/Reuters/FileHe was transferred to the Red Crescent to receive medical treatment, the Israeli military added. Almost three quarters of those fatalities took place during operations by Israeli forces, the UN agency said. As well as Israeli military raids in the West Bank, there has been an increase in violence carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

Persons: PRCS, Raneen Sawafta, Biden Organizations: CNN, West Bank . Video, Palestinian, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Military, West Bank, United Nations Office, Humanitarian Affairs, UN Locations: Jenin, Jabarat, “, Wadi, Gaza, Israel, East Jerusalem

☆ Far-right Israeli minister sets out plan to prevent West Bank from becoming part of a Palestinian state
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Lauren Izso | Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has spoken about preventing the occupied West Bank from becoming a part of an independent Palestinian state, according to leaked audio of a speech he gave earlier this month. Smotrich, a leading far right member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, said the way to prevent a Palestinian state that would endanger the state of Israel was to develop Jewish settlements. Israel’s Supreme Court defines Israeli control over the West Bank as a temporary military occupation rather than the annexation of territory under a civilian administration. But Smotrich, who lives in a settlement himself, has opposed the creation of an independent Palestinian state. The official position of the government is that the status of the West Bank is subject to future negotiations.

Persons: Bezalel Smotrich, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, ”, Smotrich, ” Smotrich, Benjamin Netanyahu, “ Organizations: CNN, Israeli, West Bank, Ministry of Defense, Directorate, Ministry, Defense Ministry, Oslo Accords Locations: Israel, State, Judea, Samaria, Oslo, Gaza

☆ Putin signs deals with Vietnam in bid to shore up ties in Asia to offset Moscow’s growing isolation
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Russia and Vietnam pledged on June 20, 2024 to deepen ties as President Vladimir Putin made a state visit aimed at bolstering his alliances to counter Moscow's growing isolation over the war in Ukraine. Putin and President To Lam agreed to further cooperate in education, science and technology, oil and gas exploration and clean energy. The two countries also agreed to work on a roadmap for a nuclear science and technology center in Vietnam. In Hanoi, Putin also met Vietnam’s most powerful politician, Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, according to the official Vietnam News Agency. Putin drove to Vietnam’s Presidential Palace on Thursday afternoon, where he was greeted by school children waving Russian and Vietnamese flags.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Lam, Gavriil Grigorov, Putin, ” Lam, “, Kim Jong, Nigel Gould, Davies, ”, Nguyen Khac Giang, Giang, Nguyen Phu Trong, Pham Minh Chinh, Putin’s, Ridzwan Rahmat, Janes, ” Rahmat, Prashanth, Wilson, Vladimir Lenin, Trong, Nhan Dan, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Gould, they’ve, he’s, Parameswaran Organizations: Sputnik, Hanoi Opera, Afp, Getty, North, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Singapore’s, Yusof, Institute, Communist Party General, Vietnam News Agency, Criminal, Kremlin, U.S, Embassy, Security, NATO, Asia, Communist Party’s, Vietnam’s Communist Party Locations: Russian, Hanoi, Russia, Vietnam, Ukraine, Moscow, Asia, Pacific, Eurasia, London, British, Belarus, China, North Korea, U.S, Hague, Korea, Singapore, Soviet Union, Soviet, trickier, Washington

☆ How China could take Taiwan without even needing to invade
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“China has significantly increased pressure on Taiwan in recent years, stoking fears that tensions could erupt into outright conflict. China’s escalating gray zone tactics were on stark display this week as China Coast Guard vessels clashed with Philippine Navy boats in the South China Sea. In the 24 hours ending at 6 a.m. Friday, 36 Chinese military aircraft crossed into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry says. Meanwhile, a quarantine, rather than a blockade, would not require China to close or restrict access to the Taiwan Strait, the CSIS report notes. Under its claims that Taiwan is Chinese territory, Beijing could require customs declarations to be filed before vessels can call in Taiwan.

Persons: CNN —, Beijing’s, Xi Jinping’s, Bonny Lin, Brian Hart, Matthew Funaiole, Samantha Lu, Tinsley, stoking, Adm, Dong Jun, ”, Dong, China’s, “, Joe Biden, Rong Xu, Carl Schuster, ” Schuster, Alessio Patalano, Sidharth Kaushal, Patalano Organizations: CNN, Communist Party, Center for Strategic, International Studies, China Coast Guard, CSIS, TAIWAN, GUARD, People’s Liberation Army, PLA, Chinese Defense, Philippine Navy, Taiwan Relations, White, PLA Navy, Maritime Safety Agency, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, Bloomberg, Getty, “, Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, Taipei, King’s College, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, Imports, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Taiwan, Ukraine, China, Washington, United States, Pengjia, Beijing, Singapore, South China, Manila, Second, Philippines, Taiwan’s, Taiwan Strait, Port, Taichung, Kaohsiung, London, Covid

One by one, each country with the money and the drive to compete started its own nuclear weapons program. Even with this kind of evidence in hand, science has reached only limited conclusions about how nuclear weapons testing affects individuals’ health. They helped create the 2021 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, signed by 93 countries, which bans the possession, use and testing of nuclear weapons. France has acknowledged its “debt” to Polynesians over nuclear testing, and it created a commission in 2010 to evaluate nuclear testing victim compensation claims, but it has never apologized. We are still wrestling with the damage wrought by testing nuclear weapons in our past.

Persons: —, Ernest Moniz, Barack Obama, ” Mr, Moniz, Trump, Trump’s, Biden, United States ’, Republic of Kiribati —, we’re, Robert Oppenheimer’s, Oppenheimer, Ben Wyatt, King Juda, Harry Truman, Oppenheimer’s, Karina Lester, ”, Willard F, Libby, Louis, couldn’t, Merril Eisenbud, Hinamoeura, Britain —, “, it’s, John Moody, Benetick Kabua Maddison, Maddison, Benetick, It’s, Vladimir Putin Organizations: Las, Washington, United States, Marshall, Embassy, D.C, Marshalls, U.S, Navy, United, Soviet Union, Britain, Atomic Energy Commission, St, Louis University, Washington University School of Dental Medicine, Bravo, U.S . Navy, Atomic Energy, Centers for Disease Control, Polynesia —, Nuclear Weapons, ., Pacific Mart, Educational, America Locations: U.S, Japan, United States, Russia, China, Nevada, Soviet Union, — Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, Reggane, Algeria, Montebello, Australia, Republic of Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Republic, Washington, Hiroshima, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Marshall, Hawaii, Philippines, Bikini, Atoll, Soviet, Africa, Polynesia, Xinjiang, The, Britain Britain, Britain, American, Kwajalein Atoll, France, France France, Tahiti, Nagasaki, Asia, Europe, India, Pakistan, North Korea, United, Kwajalein, Hawaii , California, Washington and Oregon, Arkansas, Springdale, you’re, Rhode Island, Moscow

☆ Is Hamas Bound by International Law? What to Know.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Amanda Taub | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since the attacks of Oct. 7, every legal expert I have asked has shared one conclusion: Hamas’s attacks on civilians that day, including killing, torture, and hostage-taking, were war crimes. Tom Dannenbaum, a Tufts University professor, told me just days after the attack that there was “no question” Hamas’s attack had involved multiple war crimes. Last month, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that he was seeking warrants for the arrest of three Hamas leaders on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, as well as the hostage-taking that followed. Last week, a U.N. commission concluded that there was credible evidence that members of Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups committed war crimes on Oct. 7, including by killing civilians, carrying out torture, and taking hostages. The commission also found evidence of Israeli war crimes, including the use of starvation of civilians as a weapon of war.

Persons: Tom Dannenbaum, ” Organizations: Tufts University, Criminal Court Locations: Israel

☆ How Architecture Became One of Ukraine’s Essential Defenses
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Jason Farago | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When the German Army finally broke through in central Ukraine in September 1941, pasting up ordinances around Kyiv to announce a new occupying authority, they had only a few days’ calm. Less than a week after the occupation began, an explosion went off in a children’s toy store on Khreshchatyk Street — the capital’s grandest shopping boulevard, Kyiv’s equivalent of Fifth Avenue or the Champs-Élysées. Soon the city hall and the Communist Party headquarters crumbled. Walk through central Kyiv today, down the Khreshchatyk, past the grand Independence Square and the ritzy Tsum department store, and you can read the history of postwar and post-independence Ukraine in the subsequent architecture. When the city is a battleground, architecture becomes an act of defense and defiance.

Organizations: German Army, Communist Party, New York Times Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Russia

☆ ‘Only pirates do this’: Philippines accuses China of using bladed weapons in major South China Sea escalation
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Nectar Gan | Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Hong Kong CNN —The Philippines has accused China’s Coast Guard of launching a “brutal assault” with bladed weapons during a South China Sea clash earlier this week, a major escalation in a festering dispute that threatens to drag the United States into another global conflict. A Philippine Navy serviceman on the rubber boat lost his right thumb when the Chinese Coast Guard rammed it, Torres said. China’s Coast Guard also deployed tear gas, “blinding” strobe lights and continuously blared sirens, the AFP said. “The Chinese Coast Guard personnel had bladed weapons and our personnel fought with bare hands. This is the closest China’s Coast Guard has come to the BRP Sierra Madre, Koh noted.

Persons: Thomas Shoal, –, ” Collin Koh, ” Koh, “, ”, Alfonso Torres Jr, Torres, Romeo Brawner Jr, ” Brawner, Ferdinand “ Bongbong ” Marcos Jr, Marcos, Matthew Miller, Enrique A, Antony Blinken, ” Derek Grossman, Koh, they’re, Thomas, Washington “, ” “ Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Coast Guard, Chinese Foreign Ministry, Philippine, Rajaratnam, of International Studies, Philippine Navy, Armed Forces, Getty, Western Command, Chinese Coast Guard, China’s Coast Guard, Staff, Getty Images Mutual, South China, US State Department, Mutual Defense, RAND Corporation, China Coast Guard, Philippine personnel, Navy Special Operations Group, BRP, BRP Sierra Madre Locations: Hong Kong, Philippines, China, United States, Manila, Spratly, Philippine, Singapore, AFP, ’, China’s, South, States, US, Washington, South China, The Hague, Beijing, India, BRP Sierra, BRP Sierra Madre

☆ AI could become a lawyer's greatest help in the courtroom
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Matthew S. Smith | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Courtesy of Danielle BeneckeA lawyer's copilotFounded in 1949, Baker McKenzie has over 6,500 lawyers working in 70 offices worldwide. The firm's work building generative AI to produce legal draft advice for high-volume employment-law questions recently won an award from Law.com. Courtesy of Jake HellerAI won't replace lawyersThere's another fear likely to push lawyers toward AI: other lawyers. Lawyers might also turn to AI to address a force meant to tame AI: regulation. "I think in three to five years, not using AI for legal work will be tantamount to refusing to use online search for legal work today," Ziniti said.

Persons: Michael Cohen, Donald Trump, Cohen, isn't, Danielle Benecke, Baker McKenzie, Benecke, Cecilia Ziniti, It's, copilot, Ziniti, Cecilia Ziniti Ziniti, CoCounsel, CoCounsel isn't, Jake Heller, Thomson, Heller, they'd, it's Organizations: Google, Law.com, Federal Trade Commission, Microsoft, AI's, IBM, CoCounsel, Thomson Reuters, Times, American Bar Association

☆ In 'Operation Endgame,' global law enforcement teamed up in their biggest battle against hackers. It's a start.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. 'Largest ever operation against botnets'Europol called the sting the "largest ever operation against botnets, which play a major role in the deployment of ransomware." As part of the operation, the law enforcement agencies shut down at least four malware groups or "droppers" known as "IcedID," "Smokeloader," "Pikabot," and "Bumblebee." Mitrano said "Operation Endgame," is a "very important first step, but we have to keep going." AdvertisementThe "biggest problem" in the malware world, according to Holt, is that there is always a different iteration of malware on the horizon.

Persons: —, Adam Wandt, John Jay, botnets, Europol, Christopher Wray, alarmingly, Wandt, Ransomware, Tracy Beth Mitrano, it's, Mitrano, Thomas Holt, cybercrime, Holt, Cybercriminals, Wray, borderless cybercrime Organizations: Service, Business, European Union, FBI, cybercrime, New, John, John Jay College of Criminal, botnets, Cornell University, of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University Locations: Ukraine, Armenia, Europe, cryptocurrency, United States, Holt, ransomware

Today we celebrate Juneteenth, the day when word of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the farthest outpost in America. Many people do not realize that Emancipation did not legally end slavery in the United States, however. Some historians have described this convict leasing system as “worse than slavery,” because there was no incentive to avoid working those people to death. In fact, federal agencies are mandated to purchase goods from federal prisons, just as state or municipal agencies, including public schools and universities, often must consider sourcing from state penitentiaries. Labor that people have no meaningful right to refuse and that is enforced under conditions of total control is, unquestionably, slavery.

Persons: ” Organizations: Labor Locations: America, United States, Xinjiang, Washington

☆ Australia's Albanese, China's Li hold 'candid' talks
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

China's Premier Li Qiang (L) and Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shake hands during a signing ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra on June 17, 2024. This dialogue has allowed us to build a deeper awareness of our respective interests," Albanese said in opening remarks. After the meeting, Li told reporters the leaders held a "candid, in-depth and fruitful meeting and reached a lot of consensus". Albanese told reporters after the meeting the two countries had revitalized engagement and he was "determined to keep growing our relationship where we can." watch nowOn regional issues, he had told Li that "Australia advocates that we should all work together to promote a regional balance where no country dominates and no country is dominated".

Persons: Li Qiang, Anthony Albanese, Lukas Coch, Li, Xi Jinping, " Albanese, Albanese, Gong, Tenzin Wougyal Organizations: Australia's, House, AFP, Getty Locations: Canberra, Australian, Beijing, Australia, China, Hong Kong

☆ Major Ukraine summit ends with fresh plea for peace but key powers spurn final agreement
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-16 | by ( Joshua Berlinger | Niamh Kennedy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A two-day summit in Switzerland dedicated to forging a path forward to end the war in Ukraine concluded with key powers spurning a joint communique agreed to by more than 80 other countries and international organizations. The world cares deeply about the war provoked by Russia’s aggression,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. The sides also said that all children and civilians that were unlawfully displaced must be returned to Ukraine. And Ukraine must disarm so that is vulnerable to future Russian aggression down the road. No responsible nation could say that is a reasonable basis for peace,” Sullivan said.

Persons: spurning, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, Kamala Harris, Ursula von der Leyen, Jake Sullivan, ”, Putin, ” Sullivan Organizations: CNN, United Arab, European Union, Kremlin, NATO, Russian, Luhansk –, US National Security, Ukrainian Locations: Switzerland, Ukraine, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Ghana, Canada, Chile, Lucerne, Argentina, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom, China, Moscow, Russian, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Harris

☆ 'We're not backing down:' How the West plans to use Russia's frozen funds, and why some say it's still not enough to help Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-16 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Group of Seven has agreed in principal to provide Ukraine with a $50 billion loan. Profits from Russian frozen funds are to be used as collateral to back the loan. AdvertisementThe Group of Seven has finally moved the dial on a contentious idea to provide funding to Ukraine by using Russian funds. AdvertisementRoughly $322 billion in funds were frozen after Moscow invaded Ukraine and have sat untouched for over two years. That could mean Moscow taps Western funds in the country and punishes any Western companies that have remained in Russia.

Persons: —, Putin, we're, Joe Biden, Biden, Michael Froman, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Charles Lichfield, Chatham House's Timothy Ash Organizations: Seven, Service, Kyiv, European Commission, of Foreign, CNBC, Moscow, The, CEPA, Financial Times Locations: Ukraine, headbutting, Moscow, Europe, Kyiv, Russia, France, Germany

☆ Ukraine peace summit to kick off in Switzerland without China and Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-15 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Nearly 100 countries and organizations are attending a major conference in Switzerland dedicated to setting out a path toward peace between Ukraine and Russia, but there will be no delegation from Moscow. The meeting, which is being held at a resort near Lucerne, will be attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who wants to gather support for the 10-point peace plan he first outlined late in 2022. It has said that any such meeting needs to be attended by both Russia and Ukraine. On Friday, the day before the summit was set to kick off, Russian President Vladimir Putin restated the Kremlin’s own peace plan, which Ukraine is unlikely to ever agree to. That most of the world is on the side of Ukraine, on the side of life.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Kamala Harris, Fumio Kishida, Ukraine’s , Vladimir Putin, Putin, Zelensky, ”, Zelensky “ Putin, ” Zelensky Organizations: CNN, Ukrainian, White, Japanese, NATO, Russian, Luhansk – Locations: Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Lucerne, France, Germany, China, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia

Representatives from the warring nations held peace talks in the early weeks of the Russian invasion. It was the only time that Ukrainian and Russian officials are known to have engaged in direct peace talks. This includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Mr. Putin annexed in 2014 in a swift operation that he considers central to his legacy. At another point, Russia’s lead negotiator, Mr. Medinsky, interrupted a video conference by claiming that Mr. Putin was phoning him directly. There were signs that Mr. Putin was micromanaging not only the Russian invasion but also the peace talks.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, —, Putin’s, … ”, “, Oleksandr Chalyi, Mr, Vladimir Medinsky, Oleksii Reznikov, Vladimir Putin, Leonid Slutsky, Medinsky, ”, Aleksandr Fomin, Reznikov, Ukraine’s, … “, Sergey Ponomarev, Ukraine —, Andrzej Duda, Duda, Putin “, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Murat Cetin Muhurdar, Russia’s, Zelensky, …, ‘, ’, Daniel Berehulak, Davyd Arakhamia, ” “, Roman Abramovich, ” Mr, Arakhamia, Abramovich, micromanaging, Nanna Heitmann, France —, Laetitia Vancon, Kamala Harris, Volodymyr Zelensky, “ Putin, Marc Weller, Russia “, Weller Organizations: The New York Times, Ukraine, Kremlin, NATO, “, Russian Federation, ”, European Union, West, Ministry, Times, Europe’s, Russian, Moscow, Donetsk People's, Nazi, U.S, Ukrainian, Turkish Presidential Press Service, Agence France, The Times, Russia, New York Times, stoke, Cambridge Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Kyiv, Crimean, Switzerland, Ukrainian, Crimea, “ Ukraine, Republic of Crimea, Sevastopol, ”, … ” Russia, Russian, ” Russia, Istanbul, Geneva, Belarus, Western, Russia’s, Donetsk, Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, Simferopol, Poland, Germany, France, European, Brussels, Turkish, Zelensky, “, Great Britain, China, United States, Turkey, Canada, Italy, Israel, Bucha, Washington, Swiss, Russians

A simple principle underpins a contentious Thursday decision by the U.S. and key allies to tap profits from Russian sovereign assets in support of Ukraine: Moscow must make reparations. Questions have also been raised over the legality of setting such a precedent: Russia has been cut off from its frozen assets, but retains their ownership. The proposal must now pass various legal hurdles and be backed by European states, where the majority of frozen Russian assets are held. Further loans secured against the interest accrued by Russian frozen assets could be forthcoming, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen signaled on Thursday. The annual summit comes as most of the G7 leaders face their own domestic upheavals including national elections and falling approval ratings.

Persons: Charles Michel, CNBC's Steve Sedgwick, Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Putin, we're, Biden, Michel, Janet Yellen, Yellen, We're, Russia's, Ursula von der Leyen, Georgia Meloni Organizations: U.S, West, . Security, Kyiv, Treasury, Bank, European Commission Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Russian, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan . U.S, Kuwait, U.S, Borgo Egnazia, Puglia

☆ At the G7, Biden Can’t Escape the Shadow of the Gaza War
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Erica L. Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sharing the stage with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at a sprawling seaside resort in Italy, President Biden was looking forward to talking about a security pact he had just signed to provide continued support to Ukraine in its battle with Russia. “I wish you guys would play by the rules a little bit,” Mr. Biden snapped when asked for an update on the fate of a cease-fire deal in Gaza that he announced last month but has yet to be publicly accepted by Israel or Hamas. Mr. Biden reiterated the U.S. stance that the proposal had been endorsed by the Israeli government, the United Nations Security Council and the G7, and that the hold up was with Hamas. The moment was emblematic of the shadow that American support for Israel’s war in Gaza has cast over Mr. Biden’s efforts to restore the United States’ traditional role as a defender of democracy and a beacon of international law. As he has rallied the world around Ukraine, he has grown increasingly isolated in his staunch support for Israel in its war against Hamas.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Biden, “, Mr Organizations: Ukraine, United Nations Security Council, Hamas, Israel Locations: Ukraine, Italy, Russia, Gaza, Israel, U.S, States

☆ Live Updates: U.S. to Sign 10-Year Pact With Ukraine as G7 Leaders Meet
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( David E. Sanger | Steven Erlanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

Mr. Biden and Mr. Zelensky will meet on Thursday and sign a security agreement, said Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser. Mr. Biden faces the hurdle of convincing his allies, starting with Mr. Zelensky, that the United States plans to stay in the fight with Ukraine, no matter what happens in November. Mr. Biden told Mr. Zelensky last week, in France, that “I apologize for the weeks of not knowing what was going to pass,” and put the onus on Republicans in Congress. During a trip to Normandy last week, Mr. Biden appeared to have persuaded France, one of the last holdouts, to support the deal. “The administration has been quick to get aid to Ukraine once Congress moved, and that’s to its credit,” he said.

Persons: Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr, Zelensky, Jake Sullivan, “, ” Mr, Sullivan, we’ll, ”, Vladimir Putin, Pope Francis, Donald J, Trump, Rishi Sunak, Emmanuel Macron, Biden’s, Vladimir V, Putin, Claudia Greco, John E . Herbst, Evelyn Farkas, Barack Obama, Ms, Farkas, ” Alan Rappeport Organizations: Ukraine, U.S, Kremlin, Group, Air Force, “, hobble, NATO, Mr, Reuters, European, World Bank, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council, United, McCain Institute, Arizona State University Locations: Ukraine, United States, Italy, Israel, Russia, hobble Russia, Europe, France, Congress, Savelletri, Normandy, Belgium’s, U.S, Eurasia

☆ Russia accused of using hunger as a weapon of war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Sophie Tanno | Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov, was encircled and captured by Russian forces at the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This included the establishment of ad hoc distribution points for food, water and other basic necessities. They were attacking food distribution points.”There were numerous opportunities for Russian forces to alleviate civilian suffering, he said, but they failed to do so. Ukrainian authorities and some international officials have previously accused Russia of robbing the country of grain and other commodities in areas it occupied. Accusations that Russia is using food as a weapon of war have been mounting ever since the first reports emerged in the spring of 2022 of grain being stolen by Russian troops.

Persons: “, Nikolai Osychenko, ”, Osychenko, Mariupol, Alexei Alexandrov, ’, Yousuf Syed Khan, Cross, ” Khan, Pavel Klimov, Khan, Vladimir Putin Organizations: CNN, Mobile, Team, Global, International Criminal Court, ICC, EU Commission, Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Mariupol City, Global Rights, International Committee, United Nations, Reuters, Russian Locations: Russia, Mariupol, Ukrainian, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, Azov, Russian, Ukraine, Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast, Mariupol City, “, Moscow, Syria, Aleppo City

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