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☆ Kremlin says it needs to understand aims of Ukraine talks reportedly planned in Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, July 31 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday it needed to find out the purpose of upcoming talks reportedly planned in Saudi Arabia about the war in Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Saudi Arabia would invite Western states, Ukraine and major developing countries to the talks. The paper said Kyiv and Western countries hoped that the talks, which would exclude Russia, can lead to international backing for peace terms favoring Ukraine. Asked about the WSJ report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Of course, Russia will follow this meeting. However, Peskov also restated Moscow's position that it currently saw no grounds for peace talks with Kyiv.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Gareth Jones, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Street, Ukraine, Kyiv, Saudi, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Kyiv, Western, Russia

☆ Russia says Ukraine 's counteroffensive is not going as planned
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 31 (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday that Ukraine's counteroffensive was not going as planned and that it was wasting billions of dollars of weapons supplied to it by the West. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, in remarks to a military conference, said Ukraine was "desperately hurling new forces" into attacks on Russian positions, but had failed to advance. Ukraine says it has made gradual progress, though more slowly than it would like, since launching its long-anticipated counteroffensive in early June against well entrenched Russian positions. Russia, for that reason, has repeatedly portrayed the counteroffensive as a failure, even though it is still in its very early stages. Peskov told reporters that "all possible measures" were being taken in Moscow and elsewhere to protect against similar attacks.

Persons: Sergei Shoigu, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Gareth Jones Organizations: West . Defence, NATO, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow

☆ Kremlin seeks more info about talks in Saudi, Ukraine says Moscow unwelcome
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The meeting was first reported last Saturday in the Wall Street Journal, which said Saudi Arabia would invite Western states, Ukraine and major developing countries to talks focusing on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's peace plan. The paper said Kyiv and Western countries hoped that the talks could lead to international backing for peace terms favouring Ukraine. Peskov, however, also restated Moscow's position that it currently saw no grounds for peace talks with Kyiv. "If there's acceptance from both Ukraine and Russia to look for solutions to achieve peace, we'll participate," he told reporters in Mexico City. Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy's chief of staff, said Ukraine would be "boundlessly happy if West, East, South and North work in this format towards renewing a system of world security".

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy's, Dmitry Peskov, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrado, we'll, Andriy Yermak, Yermak, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Vladimir Putin, Gareth Jones, Ron Popeski, Stephen Coates Organizations: Press, State Emergency Service of, REUTERS, Street, Ukraine, Kyiv, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Kryvyi Rih, State Emergency Service of Ukraine, Handout, REUTERS MOSCOW, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kyiv, Western, Mexico City, East, South, Saudi

☆ Russia says West is sponsoring 'nuclear terrorism' after Ukrainian drone strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MOSCOW, July 14 (Reuters) - Russia accused the West on Friday of sponsoring "nuclear terrorism" after authorities said a Ukrainian drone had struck the western Russian town of Kurchatov, where a nuclear power station similar to the ill-fated Chernobyl plant is located. "A drone crashed in the town of Kurchatov overnight," Starovoit said on the Telegram messaging app. There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine, which is regularly subjected to massed Russian drone attacks and seldom comments on its own suspected drone and sabotage attacks inside Russia. "People in NATO countries should realise that their governments are sponsoring nuclear terrorism by the Kyiv regime." Russia and Ukraine have long accused each other of risking a nuclear catastrophe at another facility - the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Russian-controlled territory in southern Ukraine - through shelling.

Persons: Roman Starovoit, Starovoit, Maria Zakharova, Dmitry Peskov, Alexei Likhachev, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones, Peter Graff Organizations: RUSSIAN, Kremlin, Russian Foreign Ministry, Foreign, NATO, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukrainian, Russian, Kurchatov, Roman, Russia's Kursk, Ukraine, Soviet, Kyiv

☆ Kremlin says Wagner's legal status needs reviewing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 14 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday that the status of the private Wagner mercenary group needed to be "considered", a day after President Vladimir Putin said the group had no legal basis. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the status of companies such as Wagner was "rather complicated" and needed to be studied. Asked if new legislation was likely on the status of private military companies, he said: "This question will at least be under consideration." Under the terms of the agreement ending the June 23-24 mutiny, Prigozhin was meant to go into exile in Belarus, a close ally of Russia. Reporting by Reuters Writing by Mark Trevelyan Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones Organizations: Kommersant, Kremlin, Russia, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Belarus

☆ Putin says Russia may quit Black Sea grain deal if demands not met
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, July 13 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia was set to withdraw from a deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea unless its own demands are met, reaffirming Moscow's tough stance ahead of the deal's expiry next Monday. We will immediately rejoin this deal," Putin said. A Kremlin spokesman later clarified that Russia had not taken a final decision on whether to exit the grain deal. The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Russia and Ukraine in July 2022 to help alleviate a global food crisis that worsened after Moscow sent forces into Ukraine and blockaded Ukrainian ports. To convince Putin to agree to the deal, U.N. officials also agreed to help Russia get its food and fertilizer exports to foreign markets - something Moscow says they have failed to do.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Antonio Guterres, SWIFT, Gareth Jones, David Evans, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Russia, United Nations, Kremlin, United, Reuters, European Union, Russian Agriculture Bank, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russian, Russia, United Nations, Turkey, Ukraine, Moscow, Ukrainian

☆ Putin: foreign-made tanks are 'priority target' for Russian forces in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, July 13 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Western supplies of weapons to Ukraine would change nothing on the battlefield but only further escalate the conflict, adding that foreign-made tanks were a "priority target" for Moscow's forces. "The supply of new weapons will only aggravate the situation... and will further fuel the conflict," Putin said. Asked about France's decision to supply Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles which can travel 250 km (155 miles), Putin said: "Yes, they cause damage, but nothing critical happens in the war zone with their use." Putin added that foreign-made tanks were "a priority target for our guys". In his first public response to the moves, Putin reiterated Moscow's strong opposition to Ukraine ever joining NATO, saying this would threaten Russia's own strategic interests.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Moscow's, Gareth Jones, Mark Heinrich, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: NATO, Ukraine, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Ukraine, Russian, Lithuanian, Vilnius, Russia, Moscow

☆ Top Russian general not seen since mutiny is 'resting', lawmaker says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 12 (Reuters) - General Sergei Surovikin, a deputy commander of Russia's military operations in Ukraine who has not been seen in public since last month's armed mutiny by mercenary fighters, is "resting", a lawmaker from the ruling party said on Wednesday. Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defence Committee, is heard saying in a video posted on social media: "Surovikin is currently resting. Surovikin, dubbed "General Armageddon" by the Russian press for his aggressive tactics in the Syria conflict, was last seen publicly when he issued a video appeal urging a halt to the June 23-24 mutiny by fighters of Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner mercenary group while it was still underway. A New York Times report based on a U.S. intelligence briefing said last month that Surovikin had advance knowledge of the mutiny and that Russian authorities were checking whether he was complicit. Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sergei Surovikin, Andrei Kartapolov, Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner, Surovikin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Staff Valery Gerasimov, Vladimir Putin, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones Organizations: State Duma Defence Committee, Staff, New York Times, Kremlin, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Syria

☆ Kremlin says Turkey should have no illusions over its EU bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Gareth Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan September 16, 2022. He has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over the invasion and has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Turkey in August. Turkey had held up Sweden's accession, accusing the Nordic country of not doing enough to crack down on people Ankara sees as terrorists. He was alluding to long-standing EU resistance to admitting Turkey, a large, relatively poor Muslim country adjoining the Middle East. Turkey also helped last year to broker prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine, and the Kremlin says Putin highly appreciates Erdogan's efforts to mediate in the war.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Tayyip Erdogan, Alexander Demyanchuk, Ukraine Erdogan, Dmitry Peskov, Erdogan, Peskov, Putin, Gareth Jones, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Sputnik, NATO Russia, EU, European Union, Kremlin, NATO, Russia, Russian, Nordic, Ankara, NATO's, United Nations, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Turkish, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Sweden, Moscow, Ankara, Lithuania, Kyiv, Republic of Turkey, Europe

☆ Factbox: General Gerasimov, Russia's top soldier, appears for first time since Wagner mutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here are some facts about Gerasimov:AS CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF* Gerasimov, now 67, is the third most powerful man in the Russian military after President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. UKRAINE* Gerasimov played key roles in Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and in Russia's game-changing military support for President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian Civil War. * In January, Putin appointed Gerasimov to lead the Ukraine campaign, and made Army General Sergei Surovikin, appointed to the role three months earlier, one of his three deputies. read more* Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the mercenary Wagner Group, fiercely criticised Gerasimov and Shoigu and staged a short-lived mutiny on June 23-24 to demand their dismissal. He graduated from the Kazan Higher Tank Command in 1977, from the Malinovsky Military Armoured Forces Academy in 1987, and from the Military Academy of the General Staff another decade later.

Persons: Valery Gerasimov, Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Putin, Shoigu, Gerasimov, Bashar al, Assad, Sergei Surovikin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Aemy, AS, Defence, Zvezda, Wagner Group, Kazan Higher Tank Command, Malinovsky Military Armoured Forces Academy, Military Academy of, General Staff, Leningrad Military District, Moscow Military District, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, UKRAINE, Crimea, Ukraine, Syrian, Russia, Kazan, Leningrad, Moscow

☆ Anti-LGBT protesters break up Pride festival in Georgia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Anti-LGBTQ protesters scuffle with police as they try to break into the site of Tbilisi Pride Fest, in Tbilisi, Georgia July 8, 2023. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYJuly 8 (Reuters) - Up to 2,000 anti-LGBT protesters broke up a Gay Pride festival in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Saturday, scuffling with police and destroying props including rainbow flags and placards, though there were no reports of injuries. "The protesters managed to find... ways to enter the area of the event, but we were able to evacuate the Pride participants and organisers," Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Darakhvelidze told reporters. Georgia aspires to join the European Union but its ruling Georgian Dream Party has faced increased criticism from rights groups and the EU over its perceived drift towards authoritarianism. Georgia has passed laws against discrimination and hate crimes, but LGBT+ rights groups say there is a lack of adequate protection by law enforcement officials and homophobia remains widespread in the socially conservative South Caucasus nation.

Persons: Alexander Darakhvelidze, Nobody, Mariam Kvaratskhelia, Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, Alexander Lashkarava, Gareth Jones, Ros Russell Organizations: Tbilisi Pride Fest, REUTERS, Gay, Pride, Tbilisi Pride, Reuters, LGBT, European Union, Georgian, Party, EU, Thomson Locations: Tbilisi, Tbilisi , Georgia, Georgian, Georgia, . Georgia, South Caucasus

☆ Wagner fighters preparing to move to Belarus, senior commander quoted as saying
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File PhotoJuly 8 (Reuters) - Mercenary fighters of Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner group are preparing to move to Belarus under the terms of a deal that defused their mutiny against Russia's military leadership, a senior commander of the group was quoted as saying. Since the June 23-24 mutiny, which saw Wagner fighters briefly seize a southern Russian city and march towards Moscow, the exact whereabouts of Prigozhin and his mercenaries have been unclear. He has not posted on his previously preferred Telegram channel - Yevgeny Prigozhin Press Service - since June 26, when he defended his fighters' mutinous actions. Yelizarov said there had been no attempt by Russia's security forces to "hit" Wagner fighters since the mutiny. The attempt would fail, he said, because Prigozhin himself had created and moulded the Wagner fighters "when the state did not need us".

Persons: Wagner, Alexander Ermochenko, Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Anton Yelizarov, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Yevgeny, Lukashenko, Yelizarov, King Arthur, Gareth Jones, Alison Williams Organizations: Southern Military District, REUTERS, Yevgeny Prigozhin Press Service, General Staff, Knights, Prigozhin's St, Thomson Locations: Rostov, Don, Russia, Belarus, Russian, Moscow, Ukraine, Prigozhin's, Prigozhin's St Petersburg

☆ Turkey's Erdogan to host Putin, hopes for Black Sea grain deal extension
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Can Sezer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ISTANBUL, July 8 (Reuters) - Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he was pressing Russia to extend a Black Sea grain deal by at least three months and announced a visit by President Vladimir Putin in August. Erdogan said work was under way on extending the Black Sea grain deal beyond its expiration date of July 17 and for longer periods beyond that. The deal would be one of the most important issues on the agenda for his meeting with Putin in Turkey next month, he said. "Our hope is that it will be extended at least once every three months, not every two months. Russia, angry about aspects of the grain deal's implementation, has threatened not to allow its further extension beyond July 17.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy's, Erdogan, Putin, Zelenskiy, Petr Fiala, Stringer, Dmitry Peskov, Ezgi Erkoyun, Oleksandr Kozhukhar, Orhan Coskun, Elaine Monaghan, Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer, Gareth Jones, Diane Craft Organizations: Ukraine, United Nations, Zelenskiy, REUTERS, NATO, Western, Thomson Locations: ISTANBUL, Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Czech, Prague, Crimean Tatars, Istanbul

☆ Explainer: What's on the table for NATO at Vilnius summit?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Sabine Siebold | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

It will be the fourth NATO summit since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the first held virtually on Feb. 25, 2022, just one day after the assault, followed by meetings in Brussels and in Madrid. Security measures in Vilnius will be high, with three German Patriot air defence units deployed to protect the venue, a first for a NATO summit. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has made clear that Kyiv will not become a member while war rages, and that the Vilnius summit will not issue a formal invitation. NATO is also likely to find a stronger wording than 2008 to underscore Kyiv's perspective for joining the alliance. BOLSTERING NATO'S EASTERN FLANKLeaders will review the first defence plans the alliance has drawn up since the Cold War, detailing how NATO would respond to a Russian attack.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Tayyip Erdogan, Sabine Siebold, Gareth Jones Organizations: NATO, German Patriot, Kyiv, British, UKRAINE, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Vilnius, Ukraine, Brussels, Madrid, Lithuania, Russian, Kaliningrad, Belarus, UKRAINE, Kyiv, United States, Germany, Russia, Bucharest, NATO, Washington, Moscow, Turkey, Cyprus, SWEDEN Sweden, Stockholm, Britain, Poland, Greece, Estonia, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Canada, Slovenia, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg

The VAT rate charged on goods and services rose to 20% from 18%, while that on basic goods such as toilet paper and detergents increased to 10% from 8%, effective immediately, the Official Gazette said. "Reducing the budget deficit is the aim of the latest increase in taxes and fees, and some other steps to ensure fiscal discipline are on the agenda too. The tax increases could raise Turkey's budget revenues by around 2%, Oyak Investment said in a note. Economists said the increased VAT rate charged on goods and services would boost state revenues by around 30 billion lira. Separately, Turkey on Friday also exempted from witholding tax the dividend payments of own shares purchased by companies listed on the Istanbul bourse.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, QNB Finansbank, Erdogan, Economists, Ezgi Erkoyun, Burcu Karakas, Orhan Coskun, Jonathan Spicer, Gareth Jones Organizations: stoke, Official Gazette, Bank Insurance, Oyak Investment, Istanbul bourse, Thomson Locations: ISTANBUL, Turkey, Istanbul

We like to call it the occupation of the Museum of Modern Art and the director is happy with the occupation," Krivich, 34, joked. "Many of my friends from Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Belarus feel at home here, also mentally, culturally and ideologically… We have a common past," Krivich told Reuters. The New Theatre not only gave the refugee actors a chance to perform but also helped them with accommodation and visas. "Poland is the only country where Belarusians can easily legalise their stay... All independent art initiatives that used to be in Minsk are now in Warsaw," said Dashuk. In May, a Moscow District Court arrested Vyrypaev in absentia for spreading "fake news" about the Russian army.

Persons: Yulia Krivich, Krivich, Marina Dashuk, Ivan Vyrypaev, Dashuk, Vyrypaev, Agnieszka Pikulicka, Gareth Jones Organizations: WARSAW, Soviet, Warsaw's Museum of Modern, Museum of Modern Art, Reuters, THEATRE Warsaw, New Theatre, Theatre, Teal, Ukrainian, Court, Thomson Locations: Soviet Union, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Russian, Moscow, Belarus, Central, Kyrgyzstan, Dashuk, Belarusian, Minsk, Warsaw, Europe

☆ NATO makes membership pledge to Ukraine as Zelenskiy drums up support
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Robert Muller | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/3] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala visit the Velvet Revolution Memorial in Prague, Czech Republic, July 7, 2023. In Prague, he won a pledge of support for Ukraine to join NATO "as soon as the war (with Russia) is over", and in Sofia secured backing for membership "as soon as conditions allow". "There is strength in unity of NATO," he said, adding that undecided questions over Ukraine's future in NATO and Sweden's pending membership were "a threat to the alliance's strength". Zelenskiy has acknowledged that Kyiv is unlikely to be able to join NATO while at war with Russia. TALKS DUE IN TURKEYDespite Russia's anger, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala told a news conference with Zelenskiy in Prague that he expected all NATO allies to support Ukraine in its membership aspirations.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Petr Fiala, Zelenskiy, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Zuzana Caputova, Vladimir Putin, Fiala, Tayyip Erdogan, Jason Hovet, Pavel Polityuk, Timothy Heritage, Gareth Jones, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Presidential Press Service, NATO, EU Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, European Union, Thomson Locations: Czech, Prague, Czech Republic, Ukraine, PRAGUE, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia, Sofia, Bratislava, Vilnius, Lithuanian, Brussels, Russian, Russia's, TURKEY, Europe, Kyiv, United States, Istanbul

☆ Rocket launch at Israel from Lebanon draws Israeli cross-border shelling
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Two rockets fired from southern Lebanon towards IsraelIsrael responds with cross-border strikesIncident follows large Israeli incursion in West BankBEIRUT/JERUSALEM, July 6 (Reuters) - Two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward Israel on Thursday, prompting cross-border strikes by the Israeli military, sources on both sides said. Three security sources in Lebanon said two rockets were fired toward Israel, one of them landing in Lebanese territory and the second near a disputed area at the border. After initially saying it had no indications of any unusual incidents on its side of the border, the Israeli military said a projectile had exploded there. One resident of Wazzani, the village in southern Lebanon where one of the rockets fell, said artillery fire had hit there from the direction of Israel. Israel blamed the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas for firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon in April during another flare-up in Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Persons: Israel Israel, Najib Mikati, Israel, Laila Bassam, Aziz Taher, Maya Gebeily, Dan Williams, Ahmed Elimam, Gebeily, Tom Perry, Gareth Jones, Ros Russell Organizations: West Bank, IDF, Israel Defence Forces, Lebanon's National News Agency, Caretaker, Lebanese, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Lebanon, Israel, West Bank BEIRUT, JERUSALEM, Jenin, Palestinian, Wazzani, Ghajar, Syria, Iran, Jerusalem

☆ US plans to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Mike Stone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A weapons aid package that includes cluster munitions fired by a 155 millimeter Howitzer cannon was expected to be announced Friday, said two U.S officials speaking on condition of anonymity. The White House said sending cluster munitions to Ukraine is "under active consideration" but it had no announcement to make at this time. Human Rights Watch on Thursday called on Russia and Ukraine to stop using cluster munitions and urged the U.S. not to supply them. In order to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, Biden would need to sign a waiver, one of the people said, similar to one that was signed for exporting cluster munitions technology to South Korea in 2021. The cluster munitions, banned by more than 120 countries, normally release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area, threatening civilians.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Bradley, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Mike Stone, Jeff Mason, Steve Holland, Rami Ayyub, Doina, Christina Fincher, Gareth Jones, David Gregorio Our Organizations: United, NATO, Human Rights, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, Stryker, Pentagon, Munitions, ABC, Thomson Locations: United States, Ukraine, Vilnius, Lithuania, Russia, South Korea, U.S, Kyiv, Denmark, Netherlands

☆ Inside Ukraine's tech push to counter Russian 'suicide' drone threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

One man arrived in shorts and a baseball cap with a large drone under his arm. Another participant, Yuriy, an engineer and deputy head of a Ukrainian company, said his team presented designs for new anti-drone electronic warfare systems that would be more effective against Shaheds. "This really is an unprecedented war of drones," Fedorov said, adding that Ukraine's military technology innovation had boomed since Russia's invasion. Anatoliy Khrapchynskyi, who works for a firm developing electronic warfare technology, contrasted Ukraine's approach to technological innovation with Russia's. "There were seven companies that could sell drones to the state when we began this project last year.

Persons: Yuriy Motov, Alina Smutko, Mykhailo Fedorov, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Fedorov, Oleksandr, Yuriy, Yurii, Shchyhol, Anatoliy Khrapchynskyi, ", " Fedorov, Tom Balmforth, Mike Collett, White, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Russian, Reuters, Shaheds, Army, Defence Ministry, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russia, KYIV, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Yemen, Syria, Nagorno, Karabakh, China

[1/4] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a briefing near the Salem military post between Israel and the West Bank, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Marshoud was named by the militant Islamic Jihad group as one of four of its members killed on Monday during Israel's assault in Jenin refugee camp. At least 11 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's operation that began on Monday, one of its biggest in the West Bank in years. The Israeli military has said it had confirmation of nine Palestinians killed by its forces, saying all were combatants. U.N. aid agencies voiced alarm at the scale of the Israeli operation.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Shir, Marshoud, Marshoud's, Hussam, Israel, Jamal Hamdan, Jihad Hassan, Hassan, Ali Sawafta, Nidal, Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh, James Mackenzie, Tom Perry, Gareth Jones Organizations: West Bank, Islamic, Palestinian, Residents, Thomson Locations: Israel, JENIN, West, Jenin, Iran, Gaza, Palestinian, Jerusalem

☆ Neutral Switzerland wants to take part in Sky Shield defence project
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ZURICH, July 4 (Reuters) - Switzerland wants to participate in the European Sky Shield air defence umbrella, the government said on Tuesday, a move which critics say is incompatible with the country's long-standing tradition of neutrality. European Sky Shield is a common air defence scheme set up by Germany in 2022 to boost European air defence, an issue which has come into sharper focus since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "Switzerland wishes to participate in the European Sky Shield Initiative and a declaration of intent is due to be signed in Bern," the Defence Ministry told Reuters, confirming an earlier report by broadcaster SRF. Some 17 European countries have so far signed up to the Sky Shield project including Germany, Britain, Finland and Sweden. The Sky Shield move has provoked concerns from Switzerland's neutrality lobby.

Persons: Viola Amherd, Werner Gartenmann, John Revill, Gareth Jones Organizations: Sky, Swiss, Sky Shield, Defence Ministry, Reuters, SRF, Patriot, Pro Schweiz, NATO, Thomson Locations: ZURICH, Switzerland, Germany, Ukraine, Austria, Bern, Britain, Finland, Sweden, Swiss, Denmark

☆ In Kremlin stunt, Putin and girl, 8, lobby minister for budget funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sputnik/Alexander... Read moreJuly 4 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted an eight-year-old girl in the Kremlin on Tuesday and got her to join him in a bizarre phone call to his finance minister to ask for a budget grant for her home region. The Kremlin released video of Putin welcoming the girl, Raisat Akipova, in the latest of a series of appearances since a brief armed mutiny last month that seem designed to show him as caring, concerned and in control. Putin responded, before telling the girl: "We've got 5 billion roubles for Dagestan" - a sum equivalent to $55.6 million. Putin chuckled with amusement during the conversation and a similar call that he made with Raisat to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The visit was a sequel to a visit by Putin to Dagestan last week when, unusually, he mingled with a large crowd of people.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Raisat Akipova, Alexander, Read, Putin, Anton Siluanov, We've, Raisat, Mikhail Mishustin, Siluanov, Wagner, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones Organizations: Kremlin, Sputnik, Finance, Thomson Locations: Derbent, Republic of Dagestan, Moscow, Russia, Kremlin, Dagestan

☆ Protesters close Israeli seaport, eye airport as judicial crisis simmers
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAIFA, Israel July 3 (Reuters) - Demonstrators briefly shut off access to a major Israeli seaport on Monday ahead of a planned mass convergence on the country's main airport, as a half-year-long crisis over the government's judicial overhaul again builds up steam. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had doused some of the protests during compromise talks with the opposition but they proved fruitless. People take part in a demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government's judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Israel July 1, 2023. REUTERS/Nir Elias/File PhotoProtest leaders called for a similar shut-down of Ben Gurion Airport, Israel's main international gateway, in the afternoon. Washington has urged Netanyahu to seek broad consensus rather than rapidly push through unilateral changes it said could undermine Israeli democracy.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Nir Elias, Ben Gurion, Netanyahu, Dan Williams, Gareth Jones Organizations: Israeli, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: HAIFA, Israel, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion, Washington

☆ Explosion rips through Tokyo building; four injured
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, July 3 (Reuters) - An explosion tore through a building in downtown Tokyo on Monday, scattering debris across a busy intersection and sending smoke into the air, but the fire was soon contained, Japanese media said. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear but witnesses said they had smelled gas before the explosion. [1/4]Rescuers work at the site of an apparent explosion near Shimbashi station in Tokyo, Japan July 3, 2023. REUTERS/Issei Kato"I'd just got to work and was starting preparations when there was a really loud explosion," said Shinobu Nakagawa, a 26-year-old restaurant worker, who works on the first floor of the building. The blast took place in an area near a railway station that is packed with bars and restaurants popular with office workers.

Persons: Issei Kato, I'd, Shinobu Nakagawa, Elaine Lies, Gareth Jones, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: NHK, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Tokyo, Shinbashi, Japan

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