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1,283,821 | On a daily basis, young Europeans use WhatsApp more than TikTok | WhatsApp plays a key role in the lives of young Europeans. The favourite messaging platform of this demographic, two-thirds of 25-39 year-olds use it every day, and among 13-17 year-olds, the platform is on par with TikTok.
In Europe, three out of five young people aged 13 to 39 use WhatsApp every day, according to a study by YPulse,* conducted in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. Meta’s tool has established itself as the leading social media platform for young people in terms of usage.
However, there are differences in useage according to the generation. Two-thirds of 25-39 year-olds open WhatsApp every day, compared with 56% of 13-17 year-olds and 52% of 18-24 year-olds. This group uses Meta’s messaging service on a daily basis at the same rate that they use TikTok. By contrast, 18-24 year-olds are more likely to visit the Chinese social network every day (61%) and Instagram (60%).
The fact that Meta's messaging service is free to use makes it one of the most popular. According to YPulse, the app's security features also tip the scales in WhatsApp's favor, as they enable encrypted and therefore private messages.
The study also shows that WhatsApp is the platform most used by 13-17 year-olds (48%) and 25-39 year-olds (53%) to send messages, post content or comment, at least once a week. The only age group that turns more to Instagram than WhatsApp is that of 18-24 year olds at 49% vs 44%.
An asset for brands
While TikTok is an essential for young Europeans, their use of it differs from that of WhatsApp. For one thing, they have a more passive relationship with it. Only a quarter of young Europeans actively engage on TikTok by posting, sending videos or commenting each week.
The majority are content to consume the entertaining content offered by the platform, without direct interaction. Only 20% of 25-39 year-olds, 35% of 13-17 year-olds and 36% of 18-24 year-olds post and comment on the Chinese social network at least once a week.
With this high level of engagement, WhatsApp is becoming an essential platform for brands wishing to reach young Europeans. WhatsApp's parent company, Meta, has developed tools that enable brands to create their own communication channels and deliver targeted content to their audiences. – AFP Relaxnews
*Survey conducted among a representative national sample of 2,500 young people aged 13 to 39 in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy, from September 26 to October 5, 2023. | Tech | Mobile apps | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | Mobile apps | WhatsApp plays a key role in the lives of young Europeans. The favourite messaging platform of this demographic, two-thirds of 25-39 year-olds use it every day, and among 13-17 year-olds, the platform is on par with TikTok. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/15/on-a-daily-basis-young-europeans-use-whatsapp-more-than-tiktok | |
1,283,820 | In dating, ‘dexting’ is a kind of relationship that isn’t really a relationship at all | This Valentine’s Day, some might be busy finalising a reservation, while others are fine-tuning a dinner menu. Some people, however, could be putting the finishing touches to the text message they’ll be sending to the loved one they've never actually met.
If that’s the case, they could be into ‘dexting’, a new trend that singles would do well to avoid if they don’t want to find themselves in a purely virtual, platonic relationship.
Imagine the scene. You’ve finally found that special someone and it’s a match made in heaven! They confide in you, listen to you, make you laugh, and tell you about every moment of their daily life – so much so that you build a strong, solid bond.
The ideal partner, you might think, but with one exception: you’ve never actually met them in real life. It may seem unimaginable, but many users of dating apps form virtual relationships that can last a long time without ever – or at least going a long time before – actually seeing a single real-world date on the horizon.
This kind of virtual, message-based relationship is called dexting, and it could turn out to be a much more toxic and fruitless exercise than it seems.
A solid but platonic relationship
It’s Amanda Bradford, founder of the dating app service The League, who coined this term, which is a contraction of the words ‘dating’ and ‘texting’, reports Glamour magazine.
It’s a relationship based on the exchange of SMS messages, whatever their content, and therefore a relationship that’s not based on any kind of physical encounter.
According to Cambridge University Press, in an article exploring some of the “new terms around romantic relationships the Cambridge Dictionary team has seen growing in popularity over the last 12 months”, dexting is defined as “exchanging many text messages with someone you have met on a dating app without ever meeting them in person”.
This type of relationship doesn’t prevent you from building a strong bond with a partner – on the contrary, communication is the very basis of the relationship – but that doesn’t mean it’s beneficial for both parties involved.
A waste of time
At first glance, dexting may seem ideal for those seeking a trusting relationship based on authenticity, without having to make a real commitment.
“Dexting is convenient. It can make you feel like you are in a relationship, without having to actually do the work or spend the time required to actually form a true connection. In a way, it’s also safer as you’re less likely to get rejected if you don’t put yourself out there in a real way, so these relationships can ultimately last longer than IRL ones, and it’s comforting to have someone you can text vs being completely single,” Bradford told Glamour magazine.
But you only have to look at the social media posts about dexting, especially on TikTok, to see that this form of relationship can prove toxic. A user called @sarahlauren71, whose video has been viewed over 700,000 times, makes it clear: “no more dexting in 2024”, pointing out that this type of relationship may seem exciting, but that there’s nothing healthy about it.
This observation is based on her own experience, with the young woman explaining that she had “dexted” a potential partner for several months before meeting him, only to discover that he was not what she was looking for.
She also points out people inevitably aren’t the same behind their screen as they are face-to-face. And that’s a fact that many users lament after experimenting with dexting.
In short, that could be reason enough to avoid this practice, which can end up wasting your time and leaving you feeling disillusioned. – AFP Relaxnews | Tech | Mobile apps | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | Mobile apps,Smartphones,Relationships | It’s a relationship based on the exchange of SMS messages, whatever their content, and therefore a relationship that’s not based on any kind of physical encounter. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/15/in-dating-dexting-is-a-kind-of-relationship-that-isnt-really-a-relationship-at-all | |
1,284,122 | Australia PM backs parliament motion calling for Julian Assange's release | SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese voted in favour of a motion in parliament's lower house calling for the return of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange to Australia, ahead of a hearing next week at London's High Court on his extradition.
The motion, moved by independent lawmaker Andrew Wilkie, was passed on Wednesday with 86 votes in favour and 42 against after it was supported by the Labor government. Most members of the conservative opposition coalition opposed the motion.
"(The motion) will send a powerful political signal to the British government and to the U.S. government," Wilkie told parliament ahead of the vote.
U.S. officials are looking to extradite Assange from a British prison to the United States, where he is wanted on criminal charges over WikiLeaks' release of vast troves of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables.
Britain has given the go-ahead for his extradition, but Assange, an Australian citizen, has filed a possible final legal challenge to stop it. A public hearing will take place on Feb. 20-21 when two judges will review an earlier ruling that had refused Assange permission to appeal.
Wilkie said he would travel to Britain to attend next week's hearings.
"Whether you worship or loathe Julian Assange, the matter has gone on long enough," Wilkie told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Albanese has been urging the U.S. to drop the extradition requests and release Assange and has said he was frustrated for not yet finding a diplomatic fix.
Assange's supporters say he has been victimised because he exposed U.S. wrongdoing and potential crimes, including in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Washington says the release of the secret documents put lives in danger.
Australia's Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said Assange's extradition was raised in a meeting with his U.S. counterpart Merrick Garland in Washington last month.
"This was a private discussion, however this government's position on Assange is very clear, and has not changed," Dreyfus said in a statement.
"It is time this matter is brought to an end."
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Jamie Freed) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | null | SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese voted in favour of a motion in parliament's lower house calling for the return of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange to Australia, ahead of a hearing next week at London's High Court on his extradition. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/15/australia-pm-backs-parliament-motion-calling-for-julian-assange039s-release | |
1,284,115 | US, EU discuss Russia sanctions ahead of Ukraine war's second anniversary | WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The U.S., EU and other partners discussed Russia sanctions at a meeting in Brussels this week ahead of the two year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, which a senior U.S. official said Washington and its allies are prepared to mark with "robust" sanctions.
"Many of us are prepared to roll out quite robust anniversary packages," the official told Reuters, but declined to provide details. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
The new sanctions would come as the U.S. and its allies look to maintain pressure on Russia with U.S. military aid to Ukraine increasingly in doubt. President Joe Biden's administration has run out of money for Kyiv and a request for additional funds is languishing in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
While details of packages marking the anniversary of Russia's invasion - which has killed or wounded tens of thousands and reduced Ukrainian cities to rubble - were not the primary focus of the Brussels meeting, the official said the U.S. and its partners have packages planned.
Washington reiterated its commitment to enforce existing measures and coordinate on new actions at the sanctions coordinators forum with EU, UK and Ukrainian officials in Brussels, the official said.
The partners discussed the impact of measures imposed so far by the U.S., UK, EU and others, including on Russia's military industrial base and economy, as well as challenges and recommendations, said the official.
The official added that U.S. action going forward will include countering sanctions evasion as Washington seeks to curtail Russia's access to battlefield goods and revenue.
Separately, in Brussels on Wednesday EU envoys of the bloc's 27 member countries held a first discussion of what would be its 13th package of sanctions against Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine.
"All delegations expressed their support to the proposed package, except one who requested a bit more time to analyze the content of the proposals," said an EU official, pointing to Hungary.
There would be no new industry imports ban under the proposal, which now requires approval of all EU capitals. The official said, however, the new EU sanctions would blacklist almost 200 people and entities.
The U.S. anniversary sanctions package could include action against Russian state-owned institutions, people and companies, as well as the targeting of additional sectors in Russia's economy, said John Smith, former Director of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
"It's likely that you will see a significant number of names of individuals and entities - likely over 100 - that are added to the sanctions list as the anniversary arrives," he said, adding Washington could also decide to use an executive order issued in December to target foreign financial institutions.
A Western source on Tuesday said the coalition that has imposed sanctions on Moscow needs to go further. That should include shutting down loopholes, targeting circumvention routes, driving Russia revenues further down and tightening oil price cap implementation – including action against the shadow fleet of tankers moving Russian oil.
"As we approach a sobering second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, our next round of actions will serve as a clear signal that we continue to stand firm and are determined to go further," the source said.
The U.S. and its partners have imposed multiple waves of sanctions on Moscow since the invasion, including on banks, oligarchs and the Russian military.
"What that sanctioning coalition has done over the last two years have been pretty extraordinary," the western source said, adding it has denied Russia access to about $400 billion and degraded its military, among other factors.
Smith said the sanctions have had mixed results. On one hand, they have successfully limited Russia's access to cash and to U.S. and western technology. On the other, the war has continued and Russia is still able to access a significant amount of U.S. and third-country goods and services.
"The Russia sanctions program is both an extraordinary success and an extraordinary failure, depending upon one's point of view," said Smith.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington and Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Editing by Don Durfee and Lincoln Feast.) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | null | WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The U.S., EU and other partners discussed Russia sanctions at a meeting in Brussels this week ahead of the two year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, which a senior U.S. official said Washington and its allies are prepared to mark with "robust" sanctions. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/15/us-eu-discuss-russia-sanctions-ahead-of-ukraine-war039s-second-anniversary | |
1,284,112 | Colombia turns drug-fumigation planes into fire fighters | BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia on Wednesday added eight aircraft, some previously used to fumigate drug crops, to its fire-fighting fleet as it braces for more dry El Nino weather that has stoked major wildfires.
President Gustavo Petro declared a natural disaster in January as fires ravaged areas of the world's second-most bio-diverse country.
Petro attended an event in Tolima province displaying the four AT-802 Air Tractor planes and four Black Hawk UH-60 helicopters, originally donated by top ally the United States, that were refitted to drop water and chemicals to quell flames.
The planes were used to spray the herbicide glyphosate on illegal plantations of coca, the chief ingredient in cocaine, until 2015 when the flights were stopped due to health concerns related to the chemical.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | null | BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia on Wednesday added eight aircraft, some previously used to fumigate drug crops, to its fire-fighting fleet as it braces for more dry El Nino weather that has stoked major wildfires. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/15/colombia-turns-drug-fumigation-planes-into-fire-fighters | |
1,284,107 | Putin says he prefers 'more predictable' Biden over Trump | LONDON (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that he preferred Joe Biden to Donald Trump but was willing to work with any U.S. president.
Putin was asked by interviewer Pavel Zarubin who was "better for us" out of Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican.
Putin replied without hesitation: "Biden. He is a more experienced, predictable person, a politician of the old school."
Smiling slightly, he added: "But we will work with any U.S. president who the American people have confidence in."
It was the first time Putin had publicly commented on the 2024 U.S. election race in which Biden and Trump are expected to face each other for the second successive time.
At a time of high political uncertainty in the U.S., and with relations between the two countries at their lowest point for more than 60 years, his comments were more likely to be perceived as mischief-making than taken at face value.
Biden has led the Western response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including the expansion of the NATO alliance, the imposition of successive waves of sanctions on Moscow and the provision of billions of dollars' worth of aid and weapons to Kyiv.
Based on Trump's reluctance to criticise Putin in his first term and his more recent comments - including a weekend interview where he said he would encourage Russia to attack NATO members that failed to spend enough on their own defence - his many critics believe he would give the Kremlin leader a much easier ride.
Putin allowed himself to opine on the two candidates, and even to discuss the sensitive issue of Biden's mental fitness, despite saying it would be wrong to interfere in the campaign.
"When I met with Biden in Switzerland - true, that was several years, three years ago - people were already saying he wasn't up to it. I didn't see anything of the kind," Putin said.
While appearing to defend Biden, he brought up an episode that embarrassed the U.S. leader, when he banged his head while getting out of a helicopter in June last year.
"Well, which of us hasn't banged his head somewhere?" Putin said.
Trump, he said, "has been called a non-systemic politician; he has his own view on the topic of how the United States should develop relations with its allies."
Putin has been in power as president or prime minister since 1999, but at 71 he is a decade younger than Biden and six years younger than Trump. He is certain to win a new six-year term in an election next month, from which two candidates who opposed the war in Ukraine have been disqualified for presenting invalid documentation.
In 2020, a report by the U.S. Senate intelligence committee found Russia had tried to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election in order to help Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton.
(Additional reporting by Darya Korsunskaya and Maxim Rodionov; editing by Diane Craft) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | null | LONDON (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that he preferred Joe Biden to Donald Trump but was willing to work with any U.S. president. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/15/putin-says-he-prefers-039more-predictable039-biden-over-trump | |
1,284,106 | 'She said yes': Australia PM Albanese engaged to partner | SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday announced his engagement to partner Jodie Haydon, posting a selfie photo of the couple with the caption "She said yes" on his social media platforms.
Albanese and Haydon first met at an event in Melbourne in early 2020, and appeared together during the campaign of the 2022 federal election, which Albanese won.
Albanese is the first prime minister to get engaged while in office, Australian media reported.
Haydon has accompanied Albanese on several official trips including Albanese's visit to the United States in October.
(Reporting by Renju Jose; Editing by Sandra Maler) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | null | SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday announced his engagement to partner Jodie Haydon, posting a selfie photo of the couple with the caption "She said yes" on his social media platforms. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/15/039she-said-yes039-australia-pm-albanese-engaged-to-partner | |
1,284,105 | Shooting near Kansas City Super Bowl victory rally kills at least one, injures 21 | (Reuters) -A barrage of gunfire erupted on Wednesday in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, near an outdoor celebration of the NFL champion Chiefs' Super Bowl victory, killing at least one person and wounding 21 others as throngs of fans scurried for safety.
Police Chief Stacey Graves told a news conference three people were detained "and under investigation" in connection with the bloodshed near the city's landmark Union Station after a confetti-strewn parade.
Graves said investigators had no known motive for the gun violence. Eleven of those hurt by gunfire or the ensuing chaos were children as young as 6.
At least 22 people were struck by gunfire, one of them fatally, authorities said. Local radio station KKFI identified the slain victim as Lisa Lopez, one of its disc jockeys and host of the show "Taste of Tejano."
Fifteen victims suffered life-threatening wounds, Fire Department Chief Ross Grundyson said at a late-afternoon news conference.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said the prevalence of firearms and gun violence in the United States made it difficult to provide complete security for any public event, even with several hundred law enforcement officers on patrol for the Chiefs' victory parade and rally.
"Parades, rallies, schools, movies - it seems like almost nothing is safe," Quinton, a Democrat, told reporters, recounting how he was among those who ran for cover at the sound of gunshots.
"We became part of a statistic of too many Americans, those who have experienced or been part of or connected to a mass shooting," he said.
Hours after the violence, the precise circumstances remained unclear, and authorities were still determining the full extent of casualties and age range of the victims.
Children's Mercy Kansas City treated a dozen people from the incident, 11 of them children aged 6 to 15. Nine of the 12 patients were gunshot victims, a hospital spokesperson said.
Graves said she was aware of reports that some fans may have participated in the pursuit and capture of at least one of the suspects, and investigators were reviewing video of the incident.
HEAVY POLICE PRESENCE
Some 800 law enforcement officers were at the rally and parade that preceded it, including agents of the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
All of the Chiefs players, coaches and staff who attended the victory rally were accounted for and safe, the National Football League team said in a statement.
The blast of gunshots, fired outside near a garage by the station, came at the end of the victory rally following a parade, according to police.
Video posted on social media showed pandemonium outside the station, with dozens of uniformed police officers, weapons drawn, running into the building as scores of bystanders fled in the opposite direction.
Rapid-fire gunfire was audible in footage posted online by ABC News.
Chiefs fan John O'Connor said in a video interview posted by the Kansas City Star that he ran with other members of the crowd into a garage after hearing 15 to 20 shots in quick succession, recounting, "It sounded like fireworks at first."
Union Station, a 109-year-old Beaux Arts building that once served as a major U.S. rail hub for passenger and freight traffic, is home to a museum and visiting attractions today, and is a terminal for Amtrak passenger service.
The Super Bowl celebration featured Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on stage with quarterback Patrick Mahomes and other teammates, but Kelce's pop superstar girlfriend, Taylor Swift, was back on tour in Australia at the time.
Mahomes said on X: "Praying for Kansas City," followed by several praying-hands emojis.
Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill, who was at the parade, asked on social media for prayers: "Pray that doctors & first responders would have steady hands & that all would experience full healing."
A statement from the NFL said: "We are deeply saddened by the senseless shooting that occurred in Kansas City today following the Chiefs' celebration. Our thoughts are with the victims and everyone affected."
Missouri Governor Mike Parson and his wife were in attendance when the gunfire began, but were safe and secure following the incident, he said in a message posted to X, thanking law enforcement for its response.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly was also present at the rally when the shots were fired.
As he has after so many previous mass shootings, U.S. President Joe Biden called for enactment of tougher gun control measures. Biden said he and his wife "pray for those killed and injured today in Kansas City, and for our country to find the resolve to end this senseless epidemic of gun violence."
The Chiefs on Sunday defeated the San Francisco 49ers in overtime to win the Super Bowl, 25-22, marking their fourth National Football League championship.
On June 17, 1933, Union Station was the site of an outdoor shootout and murder of four law enforcement officers and a criminal fugitive in a notorious incident known as the Kansas City Massacre.
Wednesday's violence took place on the sixth anniversary of one of the most notorious mass shootings in recent U.S. history, when 17 people were killed and 17 more were injured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The shooter in that incident, a former student who was 19 at the time, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Brad Brooks in Longmont, Colorado; Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta, Dan Whitcomb, Kanishka Singh and Rich McKay; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Howard Goller, Lincoln Feast and Gerry Doyle) | News | World | Complimentary | Long | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | null | (Reuters) -A barrage of gunfire erupted on Wednesday in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, near an outdoor celebration of the NFL champion Chiefs' Super Bowl victory, killing at least one person and wounding 21 others as throngs of fans scurried for safety. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/15/gunfire-mars-kansas-city-super-bowl-victory-rally-one-killed-up-to-15-wounded | |
1,284,097 | North Korea's Kim Jong Un oversees test of surface-to-sea missile | SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test of a new surface-to-sea missile on Wednesday and visited a major munitions factory, where he called for a boost in weapons production, KCNA said on Thursday.
North Korea launched multiple cruise missiles off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, the latest of multiple such tests in recent weeks before an April general election in South Korea.
Kim said South Korea is violating the North's sovereignty by insisting on a "Northern Limit Line" (NLL), the maritime demarcation line between the two Koreas, state media KCNA said.
Kim gave orders to strengthen military readiness in the waters north of Yeonpyeong Island and to the west of the Korean peninsula, in the region of the NLL, KCNA said.
"It is not important how many lines exist in the West Sea of Korea... when the enemy intrudes into the maritime border recognised by us, we will regard it as an encroachment upon the sovereignty of the DPRK and an armed provocation against it," Kim said, according to KCNA.
The new missile, called Padasuri-6, or "Sea Eagle-6", flew over the sea and hit its intended target, KCNA added.
Kim also inspected a "major" munitions factory and learned in detail about the modernization of production, the state media said.
The leader of the reclusive state also stressed the factory's role in bolstering North Korea's armed forces and laid out tasks to improve the quality of munitions and increase production as "required by the prevailing situation and the developing revolution", KCNA said.
Kim's visit to the munitions factory comes as the United States and its allies have accused North Korea of trading arms with Russia.
The White House last month said Russia had recently used short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) sourced from North Korea to conduct strikes against Ukraine, citing newly declassified intelligence.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Chris Reese and Gerry Doyle) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | null | SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test of a new surface-to-sea missile on Wednesday and visited a major munitions factory, where he called for a boost in weapons production, KCNA said on Thursday. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/15/north-korea039s-kim-jong-un-oversees-test-of-surface-to-sea-missile--kcna | |
1,284,094 | Paraguayan senate expels opposition voice who called out corruption | ASUNCION (Reuters) - Paraguay's senate on Wednesday expelled one of the few opposition voices in national politics, sparking protests in the capital Asuncion and concerns over the fragile state of the country's democracy.
Senator Kattya Gonzalez from the center-left National Meeting Party was dismissed from her position during an extraordinary session on Wednesday for the "misuse of influence" while in office.
The 46-year-old senator, elected in 2023, is among a small cadre of left-leaning opposition politicians in Paraguay and has called out widespread corruption and spoken publicly about how the South American country is falling further into the grip of organized crime.
Senators who voted in favor of her dismissal accused Gonzalez of administrative misconduct related to three state officials she supervised. The evidence is "compelling and irrefutable," said Senator Dionisio Amarilla, a government ally.
Gonzalez did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Paraguay's right-wing Colorado Party has a majority in both chambers of congress, holds the presidency and oversees 15 of the 17 state governments following elections in April last year.
Critics accuse the Colorado party, which has been the dominant political force for the last three-quarters of a century, of trying to silence any opposition to their rule by dismissing Gonzalez without just cause.
"Paraguay is at risk," Gonzalez said as she addressed the senate. "Our concern should focus on how emaciated and beaten up our republic is, our democracy ... all because of a temporary majority functional to organized crime," she added as a small group of anti-government protesters gathered in her support outside the legislative building in Asuncion.
The protesters said they feared that her expulsion represented a step back toward Paraguay's dictatorship past. Several people holding signs chanted, "dictatorship never again!"
During the 2023 election Gonzalez was the fourth most-voted senator, garnering public support for directly addressing lawmakers suspected of wrongdoing. She will be replaced by her deputy, a lesser known member of the opposition.
On Saturday Gonzalez began a hunger strike in protest against what she considers an attempt by President Santiago Pena and his Colorado administration to promote constitutional changes that would allow for presidential re-election.
(Reporting by Daniela Desantis in Asuncion and Lucinda Elliott in Montevideo; Editing by Josie Kao) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | null | ASUNCION (Reuters) - Paraguay's senate on Wednesday expelled one of the few opposition voices in national politics, sparking protests in the capital Asuncion and concerns over the fragile state of the country's democracy. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/15/paraguayan-senate-expels-opposition-voice-who-called-out-corruption | |
1,284,089 | Indonesia's Prabowo set to become president, markets rally | JAKARTA (Reuters) -Prabowo Subianto looked set on Thursday to become Indonesia's next president later this year as unofficial counts had the ex-special forces commander winning a hotly contested election outright in the first round of voting.
The 72-year-old defence minister declared a "victory for all Indonesians" before jubilant supporters late on Wednesday after so-called quick ballot counts by independent pollsters - accurate in past elections - showed he had won nearly 60% of the votes.
Indonesian markets cheered the clear-cut count and rallied on Prabowo's promise to follow President Joko Widodo's policies in Southeast Asia's largest economy. The country's stock market rose as much as 2.2%, while the rupiah strengthened 0.3% to its strongest in a month before paring back gains.
The veteran politician with a hardline military past had an insurmountable lead over rivals, ex-governors Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, who trailed at least 33 points behind.
A slower, preliminary tally by the election commission with about 40% of votes counted put Prabowo in the lead with around 56%.
Both Anies' and Ganjar's teams earlier said they were probing allegations of "systematic and massive fraud", but did not provide evidence.
Analysts have said there were no signs of electoral fraud.
The national election agency is expected to announce official results by March 20 and, if confirmed, the new president will take office in October.
"His apparent one-round victory should remove uncertainty over who will lead the next administration," said Barclays economist Brian Tan. "He appears to be the outgoing President Joko Widodo's choice of successor and has promised policy continuity, which should provide some reassurance to investors."
Jokowi, as the popular incumbent is known, did not explicitly endorse any candidate, but Prabowo's running mate is the president's eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is set to be the youngest vice-president in Indonesia's history.
The pair have pledged to continue Jokowi's efforts to position the resource-rich G20 economy as an electric-vehicle hub, extend a massive infrastructure and social assistance push, and create millions of jobs.
Second-place rival Anies, an ex-governor of Jakarta who got 25% of the vote, said his team would wait for the official results and respect the people's decision.
The days leading up to the vote were marred by protests against Jokowi, criticised over political interference after he made highly publicised appearances with Prabowo, and after a last-minute court ruling tweaked eligibility criteria, enabling his son to join the leading ticket.
Jokowi's allies have denied he meddled.
Prabowo has long been dogged by accusations of past misdeeds including involvement in the kidnapping of student activists in 1998 and human rights abuses in Papua and East Timor.
The allegations are unproven, and he has always denied any responsibility.
During his campaign, he transformed his image from a hot-tempered nationalist and military hardliner to a cuddly, cat-loving grandfatherly figure, attracting a huge youth following on social media in a country where more than half of the nearly 205 million electorate are under 40.
Still, while his supporters celebrated Prabowo's apparent sweeping victory on his third attempt, the reaction of others in Indonesia ranged from caution to dismay.
#RIP DEMOKRASI was among the trending topics on the social media plaform X in the Southeast Asian country.
In an opinion piece entitled "Finally a Win", the Jakarta Post noted Prabowo's expected victory had come following a public outcry over alleged improper conduct by Jokowi in the election.
"The next step for Prabowo...will be to prove his critics wrong, that instead of an anti-democratic politician, he can be a consensus builder and a compassionate leader with a stable character," the newspaper said.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia, Kate Lamb, Gayatri Suroyo; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor, Ed Davies; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Raju Gopalakrishnan) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | null | JAKARTA (Reuters) -Prabowo Subianto looked set on Thursday to become Indonesia's next president later this year as unofficial counts had the ex-special forces commander winning a hotly contested election outright in the first round of voting. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/15/indonesians-wake-to-new-presumed-president-prabowo | |
1,284,087 | Ecuador sets April 21 for referendum on tightening security | QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's electoral court set April 21 for a referendum on measures to tighten security, fight organised crime and reform the constitution, it said on Wednesday, amid worsening conflict between government forces and criminal gangs.
The steps have been proposed by President Daniel Noboa, who launched a security offensive in early January to dismantle criminal groups he designated as terrorists. Noboa has also argued for legal reforms to expand the powers of Ecuador's police and military.
Ecuadoreans will vote on 11 questions, five of which concern reforms to the country's constitution, the National Electoral Council said in a statement.
Noboa had previously hoped to hold the referendum in March.
Questions will seek approval to impose stricter gun controls in areas close to jails and increase prison sentences for organized crime offences, among others.
Ecuador, long a haven for foreign retirees, has been gripped by spiraling violence since the coronavirus pandemic battered the South American country's economy.
Armed men stormed a TV-station on air last month and a presidential candidate was gunned down as he left a rally during last year's elections, while hundreds of inmates have been killed in prison riots.
(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Oliver Griffin, Editing by William Maclean) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | null | QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's electoral court set April 21 for a referendum on measures to tighten security, fight organised crime and reform the constitution, it said on Wednesday, amid worsening conflict between government forces and criminal gangs. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/15/ecuador-sets-april-21-for-referendum-on-tightening-security | |
1,283,972 | Putin says Russia is close to creating cancer vaccines | MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russian scientists were close to creating vaccines for cancer that could soon be available to patients.
Putin said in televised comments that "we have come very close to the creation of so-called cancer vaccines and immunomodulatory drugs of a new generation".
"I hope that soon they will be effectively used as methods of individual therapy," he added, speaking at a Moscow forum on future technologies.
Putin did not specify which types of cancer the proposed vaccines would target, nor how.
A number of countries and companies are working on cancer vaccines. Last year the UK government signed an agreement with Germany-based BioNTech to launch clinical trials providing "personalised cancer treatments", aiming to reach 10,000 patients by 2030.
Pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Merck & Co are developing an experimental cancer vaccine that a mid-stage study showed cut the chance of recurrence or death from melanoma - the most deadly skin cancer - by half after three years of treatment.
There are currently six licensed vaccines against human papillomaviruses (HPV) that cause many cancers, including cervical cancer, according to the World Health Organization, as well as vaccines against hepatitis B (HBV), which can lead to liver cancer.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Russia developed its own Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 and sold it to a number of countries, although domestically it ran up against widespread public reluctance to get vaccinated.
Putin himself said he had taken Sputnik, in a bid to assure people of its efficacy and safety.
(Reporting by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan, William Maclean) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | null | MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russian scientists were close to creating vaccines for cancer that could soon be available to patients. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/15/putin-says-russia-is-close-to-creating-cancer-vaccines | |
1,283,911 | Neutral Swiss to beef up military spending in wake of Ukraine war | ZURICH (Reuters) - The government of neutral Switzerland said on Wednesday it would be ramping up military spending over the coming years, the latest European country to do so in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
President Viola Amherd said that as of 2035, some 20 billion Swiss francs ($22.58 billion) in additional funding would be available, compared to planning before the Ukraine war.
Switzerland allocated 1.9 billion francs to equip its armed forces in 2023.
"The security policy situation is obviously difficult given the current instability, with a war on the European continent, armed conflicts in the Middle East and other flashpoints in the world," Amherd told a press conference.
Amherd, who is also defence minister, said there were "so many crises" currently, and the plan was partly taking into account lessons drawn from the Ukraine war.
For 30 years, Switzerland's army has been weakened by savings made following the "peace dividend" which the end of the Cold War yielded, she noted. The peace dividend refers to reaping economic benefits by cutting defense spending and allocating resources towards other sectors.
Amherd was speaking after her government highlighted gaps in Switzerland's command and control systems, as well as shortfalls in its ground and air forces and cyber defences.
Some Swiss artillery entered service in the 1960s and needed replacing, said Thomas Suessli, head of the armed forces.
Several Swiss government websites came under attack in January, with a Russian-linked hacker group claiming responsibility due to the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The government said it would request credits for 4.9 billion francs ($5.53 billion) to buy new military equipment, including guided missiles and mobile radars for ground troops, as well as improve communications systems.
Switzerland will also build a new data centre dedicated to the military, and upgrade some bases, it said.
The government also submitted its payment framework for the army, which will allow it seek up to 25.8 billion francs for the military from 2025 to 2028, up from 21.7 billion francs between 2021 to 2024.
The Swiss move reflects jitters among European leaders over security, and former U.S. President Donald Trump's recent suggestions that Washington might not protect fellow NATO members against a potential Russian attack if they do not spend enough on defence.
On Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany and Europe's defence industry must switch towards mass production of arms as the war in Ukraine exposed how European manufacturers struggled to meet demand for ammunition.
($1 = 0.8859 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Dave Graham and Bernadette Baum) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-15 00:00:00 | null | ZURICH (Reuters) - The government of neutral Switzerland said on Wednesday it would be ramping up military spending over the coming years, the latest European country to do so in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/15/neutral-swiss-to-beef-up-military-spending-in-wake-of-ukraine-war | |
1,283,907 | Pope Francis urged to offer financial support for abused nuns | VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis needs to set up a fund for nuns who quit religious life after abuse from priests and prelates, activists say, calling for greater attention on a long-neglected issue in the Catholic Church.
There are more than 600,000 nuns globally, and their exploitation and abuse has come to the fore in recent years, including in articles by the Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.
Francis acknowledged the problem in 2019. Speaking of a specific women's religious order that was dissolved by his predecessor Benedict XVI in 2005, he talked of cases of "slavery" and "even sexual slavery".
German researcher and former nun Doris Reisinger, herself a victim of sexual and spiritual abuse by a priest, made the request during a press conference on Tuesday organised by abuse tracking group BishopAccountability.org.
"The pope has admitted abuse of nuns but he has not acted on it," she said.
"And we have never heard a pope or bishop acknowledge coerced abortion at the hands of priests. They always treat abortion as a female issue yet they have never spoken about priests forcing abortions, despite knowing it is going on," she added.
The Vatican's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Church law should be changed to force orders of nuns to set aside money to help sisters who quit, Reisinger said. Until they do, the pope should create a central Church fund for this purpose, she added.
Reisinger urged Francis to also set up a fund for children fathered by priests, to save them from "a life of poverty and shame", and decree the mandatory defrocking of priests who force abortions on women they impregnate.
She said that nuns who take their vows as teenagers and renounce them as adults typically return to laicised life with no professional training, after years or decades cut off from friends and family.
"It's literally impossible to go out there on your own," she said.
Reisinger said it was hard to estimate how many nuns faced sex abuse. She cited a 1998 survey by Saint Louis University in the United States on more than 1,100 nuns, which found that 12.5% of them reported being victims of sexual exploitation.
Just under 5% experienced what the study called "genital sexual contact", including oral sex and sexual intercourse, while more than 6% reported physical harassment such as kissing and inappropriate touching.
(Editing by Angus MacSwan) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis needs to set up a fund for nuns who quit religious life after abuse from priests and prelates, activists say, calling for greater attention on a long-neglected issue in the Catholic Church. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/pope-francis-urged-to-offer-financial-support-for-abused-nuns | |
1,283,875 | Analysis-Indonesia's Prabowo poised for power, but how will he rule? | JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia has seen many faces of Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto over his decades in the public eye – the cheshire grin that accompanies his recent viral dance moves, flashes of his temper in fervent orations and the humiliation when he was dismissed from the military in 1998.
Now, it appears the latest portrait of Prabowo will be the one to be hung in government offices across the country as Indonesia's next president after he took a commanding lead in unofficial results from Wednesday's election.
Long a polarising figure, the ex-special forces general's presumed resounding victory is being met with a mixture of elation and anxiety across the world's third-largest democracy.
One major question is how well, and for how long, his alliance with outgoing President Joko Widodo, or "Jokowi", will hold.
"It will hold as long as Prabowo judges it in his interests to hold and no longer," said Liam Gammon, from the Australian National University (ANU), of the unsteady alliance between the two former rivals, "And when it doesn't any longer, I would expect that Jokowi is quickly marginalized."
After twice losing to Jokowi in 2014 and 2019, Prabowo, 72, has leaned into the deep popularity of Widodo-ism, even controversially naming the president's son as his running mate in the election to rule the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.
On the campaign trail Prabowo has promised policy "continuity", but analysts say that is far from guaranteed.
"The key thing here is that Prabowo's alignment with Jokowi has very much been an electoral strategy, not necessarily a governing strategy," said Doug Ramage, of BowerGroupAsia.
"Make no mistake a President Prabowo would be his own president."
Yet the calculation millions have made is that Jokowi will continue to wield influence through his son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 36, despite the vice president's office holding little power.
Differences in opinion over cabinet appointments, Indonesia's planned new capital, military and social service spending and the placement of family members in government could all lead to deteriorating relations, said political analyst Kevin O'Rourke.
"These are all things that are potential fissures between them because this arrangement, whereby the outgoing president expects continuity from his successor, is questionable given their very starkly different backgrounds," he said.
'UNCERTAINTY' ON THE CARDS
In contrast to Jokowi, Prabowo is from an elite family, the son of a prominent Indonesian economist and the ex-son-law of the country's former authoritarian ruler, Suharto.
A once promising special forces commander, Prabowo was dismissed from the military in May 1998 amid allegations of human rights abuses, which he has consistently denied.
Prabowo has campaigned on a platform of "Indonesia Maju" or "Developing Indonesia," promising to give free lunches to the nation's children, and achieve 7% economic growth.
Wednesday's win is the pinnacle of a triumphant rehabilitation for the ex-commander, and one decades in the making.
“This victory should be the victory for all Indonesians," he said on Wednesday night, claiming victory as unofficial tallies showed he held a commanding lead. “We will assemble a government team consisting of the best sons and daughters of Indonesia.”
In past campaigns, Prabowo was seen as a fiery nationalist who cosied up to hardline Islamist groups. More recently his image has softened, with a social-media focused campaign highlighting his Javanese dance moves and "gemoy", or cute, demeanour.
"He's had so many different personas. Why would you assume that this one sticks?" said ANU's Gammon. "The one thing that Prabowo brings is uncertainty."
Analysts say a Prabowo government would likely play a bigger role in the economy and his cabinet would follow the well-established pragmatism of Indonesian presidents, with a mixture of loyalists, political party appointments and technocrats.
On foreign affairs, Prabowo has pledged to continue Indonesia's free and active policy, although an off-piste peace plan for Ukraine he proposed at the Shangri-La Dialogue last June offered a glimpse into his tendency to go it alone.
As defence minister, Prabowo Subianto has embarked on a major upgrade of Indonesia's military hardware, but some deals, such as a now-scrapped plan to purchase 12 used Mirage jets from Qatar have sparked criticism about inflated costs and tenuous utility.
Once his victory is officially endorsed, Prabowo will assume the controls of Southeast Asia's biggest economy on October 20.
Underlining worries that Indonesia is regressing democratically, the ex-commander has previously discussed abolishing presidential term limits and ending direct elections. During this campaign, he was the only candidate not to respond to a questionnaire from Human Rights Watch, or attend an event where candidates pledged to protect press freedom.
"The optimistic scenario is that you have a presidency broadly like Jokowi's, where you see a steady chipping away at rights and institutions without a precipitous collapse of democracy," said Gammon.
"But even then you'd expect a more openly vindictive treatment of perceived enemies."
(Editing by Kay Johnson and Raju Gopalakrishnan) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia has seen many faces of Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto over his decades in the public eye – the cheshire grin that accompanies his recent viral dance moves, flashes of his temper in fervent orations and the humiliation when he was dismissed from the military in 1998. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/analysis-indonesia039s-prabowo-poised-for-power-but-how-will-he-rule | |
1,283,855 | France's Sarkozy found guilty again over campaign funds, makes new appeal | PARIS (Reuters) -A Paris appeals court ruled that ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy was guilty of illegal campaign financing over his failed 2012 re-election bid, confirming a previous ruling by a lower court, but his lawyer said he would take his case to France's highest court.
Sarkozy was sentenced to a one-year prison sentence on Wednesday, half of which suspended, that can be served through alternative means such as wearing an electronic bracelet without going to jail.
Sarkozy, aged 69, had been handed a one-year prison sentence in 2021 when first found guilty, though that was suspended while he launched his appeal. The new appeal will again mean the sentence is placed on hold.
"Today's ruling is highly questionable, that is why we will appeal to the Cour de Cassation," his lawyer Vincent Desry told reporters, reiterating that Sarkozy was innocent.
The Cour de Cassation is the country's highest court and its rulings typically focus on whether the law has been applied correctly rather than on the facts of the case. Procedures to the court can take years.
Sarkozy was in court on Wednesday to hear the verdict but left without commenting himself to waiting reporters.
President from 2007 to 2012, Sarkozy has remained an influential figure among conservatives and is on friendly terms with President Emmanuel Macron - despite a string of trials and investigations linked to various legal issues surrounding his campaign finances.
He has always denied accusations that his party Les Republicains, then known as the UMP, worked with a public relations firm named Bygmalion to hide the true cost of his campaign -- marked by lavish show events previously unseen in French politics.
During a hearing, Sarkozy put the blame on some members of his campaign team: "I didn't choose any supplier, I didn't sign any quotation, any invoice," he told the court.
France sets strict limits on campaign spending. Prosecutors allege that the firm invoiced UMP rather than the campaign. They say Sarkozy spent 42.8 million euros ($45.9 million) on his 2012 campaign, almost double the permitted amount. ($1 = 0.9330 euros)
(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro, additional reporting by Geert De Clercq; editing by Tassilo Hummel and Keith Weir) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | PARIS (Reuters) -A Paris appeals court ruled that ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy was guilty of illegal campaign financing over his failed 2012 re-election bid, confirming a previous ruling by a lower court, but his lawyer said he would take his case to France's highest court. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/france039s-sarkozy-found-guilty-of-illegal-campaign-financing-appeals-court-confirms | |
1,283,840 | Wilders urges deadlocked Dutch parties to explore unusual forms of government | AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders said on Wednesday parties needed to explore unconventional forms of government to cobble together a viable governing coalition, as a traditional majority government looked unachievable.
Talks on a new government went back to square one earlier this week, almost three months after an election won by Wilders' nationalist PVV party but short of a majority, after prospective partner NSC backed out of joining any coalition led by Wilders.
The NSC's decision effectively scuttled the formation of any rightwing government that would have a majority in parliament.
The Netherlands traditionally is governed by majority coalitions that nail down their agreements in detailed government pacts.
But the country may have now have to resort to an unconventional form of government to avert new elections, as too many parties have said they won't work with Wilders, despite his promises to drop his most contentious plans - such as shutting down mosques and banning the Koran from the Netherlands.
"All options are on the table as far as I'm concerned," Wilders said in a parliamentary debate, adding he still aimed to lead a new coalition as prime minister. "We are not opting for new elections, we want to shoulder our responsibilities."
Wilders called for a new intermediary to consult all parliamentary party leaders in the coming three to four weeks to hear their preferences, after which a select group could try to assemble a workable coalition.
Options on the table would include a minority government, or a more technocratic one in which ministers would not be bound by strict agreements between parties and would seek shifting majorities for their policies.
Parties were set to vote on Wilders' proposal later on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; editing by Mark Heinrich) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders said on Wednesday parties needed to explore unconventional forms of government to cobble together a viable governing coalition, as a traditional majority government looked unachievable. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/wilders-urges-deadlocked-dutch-parties-to-explore-unusual-forms-of-government | |
1,283,781 | Rescue workers search for missing gold miners after Turkey landslide | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Rescue workers battled to find nine workers trapped under earth after a landslide at a gold mine in eastern Turkey on Wednesday, the interior minister said, while state media said four people were detained as an investigation got underway.
The landslide occurred on Tuesday afternoon in the Ilic district of Erzincan province. State broadcaster TRT Haber said the mine's field manager was among the four people detained.
Gold miner SSR Mining on Tuesday suspended production at the mine after what it described as a "large slip on the heap leach pad". The incident sparked a plunge of more than 50% in its Toronto-listed shares.
"Our search and rescue operations will continue non-step day and night," said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya . "Our hope is for good news and we are working for that."
Of the nine missing, five people were believed to be in a container hut, three in a vehicle and one in a truck, he said at the disaster site. Some 1,700 personnel were involved in the emergency operation, including 339 search and rescue workers.
The mine is operated by a company that is owned by Turkey-based Lidya Madencilik and Calik Holding as well as U.S.-based SSR Mining, which is listed in Toronto and New York.
Security footage showed a giant mound of soil, which authorities said had been processed for gold and piled on the hills, rapidly crumble and flow into the valley in a deluge of earth and rocks, sending clouds of dust into the air.
Yerlikaya said some 200 metres of a hillside slid in the incident. Initial findings suggest the volume of the landslide was 10 million cubic metres of earth that moved 800 metres at a speed of 10 metres per second, he said.
The earth slid to within a few kilometres of the Euphrates river and there were concerns over the soil containing cyanide, given leach mining is conducted there.
However, the operating company Anagold said samples had been taken from streams and rivers in the area and no pollution has been detected, with no cyanide flow into the river and no danger regarding its waste storage pool.
The mine produced 56,768 ounces of gold in the third-quarter of last year, and is SSR's second-largest producing gold mine, operating since 2010. The stock slide wiped out about C$1.4 billion ($1.03 billion) from the company's market value.
($1 = 1.3568 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Can Sezer, Ceyda Caglayan and Burcu Karakas; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Ros Russell) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Rescue workers battled to find nine workers trapped under earth after a landslide at a gold mine in eastern Turkey on Wednesday, the interior minister said, while state media said four people were detained as an investigation got underway. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/rescue-workers-search-for-missing-gold-miners-after-turkey-landslide | |
1,283,769 | NATO chief says US needs allies after Trump suggests abandoning laggards | BRUSSELS (Reuters) -NATO said on Wednesday that Europe had increased its spending on defence and the United States needed allies, days after former U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that Washington might not protect countries that did not spend enough.
"I expect 18 allies to spend 2% of their GDP on defence this year," Jens Stoltenberg said at a news conference in Brussels, adding overall military spending was set for another record year after two years of Russia's full-fledged war against Ukraine.
The number was higher than last year, when 11 of NATO's 31 members were expected to reach the agreed target.
Trump shocked Europeans on Saturday by implying that he would encourage Russia "to do whatever the hell they want" to NATO allies who did not spend enough.
Addressing journalists' questions linked to the controversy around Trump's comments ahead of a NATO ministers' meeting, Stoltenberg said the United States knew how important the defence alliance is for its own security.
"The United States have never fought a war alone," he said.
"The criticism we hear is not about NATO, it is about NATO allies not spending enough on NATO," he added, saying the new hike in military spending by European allies was proof this message had been heard.
NATO's European states would invest a combined total of $380 billion in defence this year, Stoltenberg added.
In a historic first since the end of the Cold War, Berlin will meet the 2% target this year for the first time.
The German government is allocating the equivalent of 71.8 billion euros ($76.8 billion) for defence spending in the current year through regular and special budget outlays. However, the sum of its total defence spending is classified.
In 2023, eleven allies are expected to have met the 2% target according to prior NATO estimates - Poland, the United States, Greece, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Britain and Slovakia.
(Reporting by John Irish, Sabine Siebold, editing by Tassilo Hummel and Philippa Fletcher) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | BRUSSELS (Reuters) -NATO said on Wednesday that Europe had increased its spending on defence and the United States needed allies, days after former U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that Washington might not protect countries that did not spend enough. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/nato-chief-says-18-countries-meet-2-military-spending-target | |
1,283,751 | Kremlin denies Reuters report that Putin offered a ceasefire in Ukraine | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Wednesday denied a Reuters report that Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a ceasefire in Ukraine to the United States via intermediaries.
Asked if the Reuters report that Russia had made peace proposals was true, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "No. It is not true."
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent signals to Washington in 2023 in public and privately through intermediaries, including through Moscow's Arab partners in the Middle East, that he was ready to consider a ceasefire in Ukraine, Russian sources told Reuters.
Intermediaries met in Turkey in late 2023, according to three Russian sources, and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan telephoned Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, in January.
(Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Mark Trevelyan/Guy Faulconbridge) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Wednesday denied a Reuters report that Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a ceasefire in Ukraine to the United States via intermediaries. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/kremlin-denies-reuters-report-that-putin-offered-a-ceasefire-in-ukraine | |
1,283,744 | Pakistan stalemate ends, Sharif's party seeks to get partner PPP to join cabinet | ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A political stalemate in Pakistan, after an inconclusive election, ended with Shehbaz Sharif chosen to lead the country again, while efforts were underway on Wednesday to get the second-largest party to join the government to ensure stability.
Sharif, 72, who was prime minister for 16 months until August, was late on Tuesday named as the coalition candidate for next premier by his elder brother Nawaz, founder and supremo of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the largest party in parliament.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the second largest, backed the choice but did not commit to joining the government, indicating it would support a minority government from the outside.
Pakistan's stock market cheered the overnight news that ended the stalemate after the Feb. 8 vote, with the benchmark index rising as much as 2% on Wednesday - its biggest such gain since the delayed election results over the weekend.
Officials in both PML-N and PPP said they had formed internal committees to discuss the modalities of government formation and the agenda included getting PPP to join the administration and take cabinet positions.
"They are trying their level best but we are not joining the cabinet up until now," PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi said.
Analysts say that Pakistan needs a stable government with political authority to be able to take tough decisions to help pull the country out of its economic crisis.
"Coalition governments can't work on this principle that one partner takes up all the load and the other partners watch the match from the sidelines and galleries," PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal told Geo TV late on Tuesday.
"Everyone has to play the match together. This is why I am hopeful that this is a mature leadership that knows the problems the country is facing," he said, when asked about PPP joining Sharif's government.
QUESTIONS ABOUT STABILITY
The nuclear-armed nation of 241 million people is grappling with an economic crisis amid slow growth and record inflation, along with rising militant violence.
It narrowly averted a sovereign default last summer with a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund, but the lender's support ends in March, following which a new, extended programme will be needed.
Negotiating a new programme, and at speed, will be critical for the new government.
It could also face new political tensions with independent members of parliament, backed by jailed former premier Imran Khan, forming the largest group in the legislature. This group is at loggerheads with the powerful military and alleges that the vote was rigged.
The caretaker government and election commission have rejected those accusations.
Khan is in jail on charges of corruption and revealing state secrets, and his party was barred from contesting the election, forcing members to run as independents.
"Negotiations between the PML-N and PPP have begun but it will not be easy to form a stable coalition administration," political commentator Zahid Hussain wrote in the Dawn newspaper on Wednesday.
"While showing support for a PML-N-led government, the PPP appears to have decided not to join the future administration. It seems that its leadership has realised that a weak coalition with questionable legitimacy may not be able to deliver," he wrote.
(Writing by YP Rajesh; Editing by Himani Sarkar) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A political stalemate in Pakistan, after an inconclusive election, ended with Shehbaz Sharif chosen to lead the country again, while efforts were underway on Wednesday to get the second-largest party to join the government to ensure stability. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/pakistan-stalemate-ends-sharif039s-party-seeks-to-get-partner-ppp-to-join-cabinet | |
1,283,495 | Detecting Russian ‘carrots’ and ‘tea bags’: Ukraine decodes enemy chatter to save lives | SEREBRYANSKY FOREST, Ukraine: As the radio crackles with enemy communications that are hard to decipher, one Russian command rings out clear: “Brew five Chinese tea bags on 38 orange.”
A Ukrainian soldier known on the battlefield as Mikhass is able to quickly decode the gibberish. It means: Prepare five Beijing-made artillery shells and fire them on a specific Ukrainian position in the Serebryansky Forest, which forms the front line in the country’s restive northeast.
Hiding in the basement of an abandoned home 12 kilometers (7 miles) away, Mikhass immediately warns the commander of a unit embedded in that part of the forest, giving him crucial minutes to get his men into trenches, saving their lives.
On the defensive and critically short of ammunition and soldiers after two years of war, Ukrainian forces are increasingly resorting to an age-old tactic – intelligence gleaned from radio intercepts – in a desperate effort to preserve their most vital resources.
The painstaking work is part of a larger effort to beef up and refine electronic warfare capabilities so that soldiers can be warned earlier of impending attacks, while having the battlefield intelligence needed to make their own strikes more deadly. To prevent enemy drone attacks, signal-jamming is also on the rise.
After months of near stalemate along the 1,000 kilometer (621 mile) front line, Ukraine expects fierce attacks in the year ahead from a Russian enemy determined to wear down its defenses to forge a breakthrough. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there will be no peace until Russia achieves its goals, which include recapturing the entire Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which it illegally annexed in 2022.
The commander elevated last week to lead Ukraine’s army, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, has highlighted the importance of electronic warfare, and the country's defense ministry has increased spending on the people and technology behind it.
Russia, which controls about one-fifth of Ukraine, has the advantage of a more developed domestic weapons industry and it uses conscription and coercion to call up troops.
For Ukraine, ammunition shortages have forced brigades to use shells sparingly and only after locating precise targets. Difficulty in mobilising troops means Ukrainian commanders must be extra protective of soldiers’ lives as they try to fend off ferocious Russian attacks.
It is within this context that better surveillance, eavesdropping and jamming have become more urgent.
Several kilometers south of where Mikhass is positioned, in the Donetsk region town of Konstantinivka, the 93rd Brigade’s Electronic Warfare unit is using jammers to stave off attack drones, the main driver of injuries for soldiers in the region.
The platoon commander is alert, staring at a laptop that shows signals picked up by small antennas planted near the front line. When a Russian Lancet attack drone approaches their area of operation, his screen lights up with activity.
The commander, known on the battlefield as Oleksandr, flips a switch to activate the jammer which interferes with the drone’s radar; it's the equivalent of shining a bright light in someone’s eye to disorient them.
"It’s a must,” he says of their operation. "A lot of guys are dying because of drones.”
Radio operators like Mikhass work in shifts around the clock.
The antennas he relies on to pick up Russian radio signals are camouflaged, jutting out of trees in the forest near Kreminna, close to Russian positions. From a quiet basement command center nearby, Mikhass and other soldiers chain smoke cigarettes and listen through headphones.
A new and sophisticated signal-finding antenna, which resembles a carousel, uses triangulation to locate where the radio waves are emanating from.
They cross-reference what they hear against images they gather from reconnaissance drones and use detailed maps of their enemy’s positions to slowly piece together what it all means.
They are part of a 50-man intelligence unit dubbed the Bunnies of Cherkess – the name inspired by the Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu, who advised warriors to feign weakness when one is strong.
"No one takes bunnies seriously, right?” said Cherkess, the commander of the eponymous unit.
Radio intercepts reveal that the Kremlin is determined to control the entire Serebryansky Forest, which divides Ukraine-controlled Lyman from Russian-occupied Kreminna. It’s part of an effort to reach Torske, a village in Donetsk that is west of Kreminna. From Torske, Russia will be closer to recapturing the nearby hub of Lyman, which would be a devastating setback for Ukraine and disrupt its ability to move supplies to the front.
Cherkess and his men, most of whom are volunteers who signed up for the infantry, understand the stakes couldn’t be higher, especially as signs grow that support from Western allies is less secure.
After listening to hours and hours of Russian communications each day, much of it related to troop rotations, artillery fire and drone reconnaissance, they gradually build an understanding – with help from specialised computer software – of what it all means.
"Cucumbers” are mortars, "carrots” are grenade launchers – and locations are conveyed in a numerical code with a corresponding colour. It took the unit months to decode these Russian orders.
The arrival of new combat equipment and ammunition – and especially infantrymen – signals a fresh attack is imminent.
“(A soldier) is not interested in what kind of radar Russians have, he needs information on if there will be an attack tonight, and who will come, if they will have tanks, if they have armored vehicles or if it’s just infantry,” said Cherkess.
“And we have to understand how long we have to prepare. A week? Two weeks? A month?”
Advance word of enemy troops being rotated in and out is also useful to Ukrainian soldiers seeking to go on the offensive, he said. That is when they can exact maximum personnel losses.
The previous week, a Russian assault operation was carried out against a neighboring brigade. But the Ukrainian soldiers positioned there were prepared to greet them.
The importance of electronic surveillance can’t be underestimated, said Yaroslav Kalinin, the CEO of Infozahyst, a company under contract with Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.
Before the war, Infozahyst provided anti-wiretapping services for the offices of the president and prime minister. Once the war began, the company pivoted to help the army by manufacturing a versatile signal direction finding system, which is now in high demand.
The government recently doubled its contract with Infozahyst, according to Kalinin.
The buildup of surveillance capabilities is partly a recognition of the need to catch up to the Russians, who invested heavily in this technology long before it invaded Ukraine.
Kalinin believes that better and smaller devices that are easier to hide and move around will eventually give Ukraine an edge.
The Russians know they are being listened to and routinely try to deceive their enemy with bogus information. It is up to Mikhass and other radio operators to discern the signal from the noise.
"Their artillery helps us,” he explained. "They say where they will shoot, and then we check where the shells landed.”
"38 orange,” the location Mikhass recently heard about for an upcoming attack, is represented on a map by a small dot. And it is surrounded by hundreds of other dots that signify locations they have decoded.
“We need a lot of time to uncover these points,” he said.
But, as Russia steps up the pressure, the clock is ticking. – AP | Tech | Drones | Complimentary | Long | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | Drones,Technology | As the radio crackles with enemy communications that are hard to decipher, one Russian command rings out clear: “Brew five Chinese tea bags on 38 orange.” | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/14/detecting-russian-carrots-and-tea-bags-ukraine-decodes-enemy-chatter-to-save-lives | |
1,283,426 | San Francisco Waymo arson sparks fresh debate on self-driving cars | SAN FRANCISCO: A seasoned San Francisco cab driver might have avoided the intersection of Jackson Street and Grant Avenue, in the heart of the city's Chinatown on the first day of Chinese New Year.
An autonomous Waymo robotaxi, by contrast, drove toward the cross streets on Saturday evening, when crowds were blocking all sides and revelers were lighting fireworks, according to two witnesses. Minutes later, some in the crowd attacked the car and set it on fire.
"Most normal car drivers know that they have to avoid Chinatown during the Lunar New Year holidays. The computer doesn't understand that," said Aaron Peskin, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, who has called for more regulation of self-driving cars.
The incident highlighted both the limited ability of robotic cars to make judgment calls and hostility to them for a host of reasons, such as concerns about safety, the jobs they might take from human drivers, and a more generalised fear of artificial-intelligence, according to officials and academics.
Others in San Francisco, where such vehicles have become commonplace, voice support for the cars as safer than human drivers.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed called the Chinatown Waymo incident a "dangerous and destructive act of vandalism" and praised the city's role as a testing ground for the development of self-driving cars.
"We are a city that is home to exciting, emerging technologies, like autonomous vehicles, that are changing the world," Breed said.
Saturday’s destruction of the vehicle from Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, followed an incident last week in which another Waymo car struck a bicyclist. In October, a self-driving vehicle, made by GM-owned Cruise, hit and dragged a pedestrian 20 feet (6 meters). California subsequently suspended Cruise's driverless testing license.
Waymo did not respond to questions Monday on why its driverless car, a Jaguar I-PACE crossover fitted with a host of cameras and sensors, drove into the crowded public event.
Bryant Walker Smith, a professor at the University of South Carolina with expertise in autonomous-vehicle law, said the episode raises a fair question about whether self-driving cars can or should be able to detect areas crowded with pedestrians and navigate around them.
"I would be interested in hearing from Waymo about how its navigation accounts for these kinds of incidents," he said.
The company previously described the vandalism as an isolated case, but another Waymo rider told Reuters he rode in a Waymo the next day through another San Francisco crowd that shot fireworks at the car.
"Once they saw the Waymo, they started pointing directly at the Waymo instead of up in the sky," said Nathan Flurry, who recorded the scene. Flurry describes himself as a Waymo fan.
‘Not as sophisticated’
After the Saturday incident, Waymo videos proliferated on social media. One showed a fire truck, on the way to an emergency, temporarily caught behind a Waymo vehicle that failed to fully pull over and let it pass.
A fire department spokesperson confirmed the Waymo vehicle partially blocked the road.
San Francisco police are investigating Saturday's vandalism of the Waymo. The attackers' motivation remained unclear.
Some observers saw the incident as a sign of growing resentment toward self-driving cars and other AI technology.
"We are seeing people reaching a boiling point over tech that they do not want and does not make their lives better," said Missy Cummings, director of the George Mason University Autonomy and Robotics center and a former adviser to US traffic safety regulators.
Peskin, the city supervisor, said it may not have been an "anti-tech thing" but rather just criminal mischief by “a bunch of hoodlums”.
Just before the Waymo was attacked, the streets had been largely empty of cars as pedestrians flocked to the fireworks. Some vehicles turned around or backed up after seeing the crowds, according to a Reuters witness.
A few cars crept through the intersection periodically, as crowds parted to let them pass. The Waymo was attacked when it stopped as it approached the crowd, holding up a couple of cars behind it, said Michael Vandi, another witness.
Soon, the crowd turned ugly: “Someone in a white hoodie jumped on the hood of the car and literally, WWE-style, KO'd the windshield,” he said, making a professional-wrestling reference.
That set off a melee, with people covering the car in graffiti, breaking its windows and shooting fireworks into it.
California state Senator Dave Cortese, who is proposing legislation to give local governments more power to regulate self-driving cars, said the fact that the car drove into a crowded area during fireworks underscored the technology's shortcomings.
“What is becoming abundantly clear is that AV technology is not as sophisticated as the industry would like us to believe.” – Reuters | Tech | Driverless vehicle | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | Driverless vehicle | A seasoned San Francisco cab driver might have avoided the intersection of Jackson Street and Grant Avenue, in the heart of the city's Chinatown on the first day of Chinese New Year. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/14/san-francisco-waymo-arson-sparks-fresh-debate-on-self-driving-cars | |
1,283,685 | Factbox-Indonesia presidential election unofficial vote counts | (Reuters) - Following are unofficial early vote counts in Indonesia's presidential election compiled by independent pollsters, based on counts at a sampling of voting stations nationwide.
Unofficial "quick counts" by reputable outlets have in previous elections proven to be accurate. An official result is expected within 35 days of the contest.
To win, a candidate needs more than 50% of votes cast and get at least 20% of ballots in half of the country's provinces. If no candidate wins a majority, a runoff will take place in June between the top two finishers.
Below are figures available as of 0837 GMT:
Pollster % votes Anies Prabowo Ganjar
counted Baswedan Subianto Pranowo
Indikator Politik 58.59% 16.44%
40.5%
24.96%
Litbang Kompas 22.86% 59.84% 17.3%
50.7%
LSI 25.15% 57.54% 17.31%
41.2%
CSIS 24.3% 58.87% 16.83%
51.45%
(Compiled by Bernadette Christina Munthe; Editing by Martin Petty, Ed Davies) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | (Reuters) - Following are unofficial early vote counts in Indonesia's presidential election compiled by independent pollsters, based on counts at a sampling of voting stations nationwide. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/factbox-indonesia-presidential-election-unofficial-vote-counts | |
1,283,674 | Sweden expects Hungary to soon approve NATO membership | OSLO (Reuters) - Sweden's foreign minister said on Wednesday that he expects that Hungary will soon approve the Swedish NATO membership application.
"We welcome that Turkey has completed its ratification process, and expect Hungary to follow shortly," Tobias Billstrom said in a speech to parliament.
Hungary is the only NATO member that has not approved Sweden's application to join the alliance, with the ruling nationalists citing what they call undue Swedish allegations that they have eroded democracy in Hungary.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Louise Rasmussen) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | OSLO (Reuters) - Sweden's foreign minister said on Wednesday that he expects that Hungary will soon approve the Swedish NATO membership application. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/sweden-says-it-expects-hungary-to-soon-give-nato-membership-approval | |
1,283,447 | Ex-Apple engineer sentenced to four months for trade secrets theft | A former Apple Inc engineer was sentenced to 120 days in prison for stealing proprietary information from the company while preparing to go work for a Chinese startup that makes electric cars with autonomous driving features.
Zhang Xiaolang pleaded guilty in August 2022 to a single count of trade-secret theft. US prosecutors had accused Zhang of downloading a 25-page Apple document to his wife’s computer that included schematic drawings of a circuit board design for a portion of an autonomous vehicle.
In a final judgment issued Tuesday, US District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, proposed that Zhang serve his sentence in a minimum-security facility and recommended that he be given a chance to teach math to other inmates. – Bloomberg | Tech | Driverless vehicle | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | Driverless vehicle,Courts Crime,EV | A former Apple Inc engineer was sentenced to 120 days in prison for stealing proprietary information from the company while preparing to go work for a Chinese startup that makes electric cars with autonomous driving features. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/14/ex-apple-engineer-sentenced-to-fourmonths-for-trade-secrets-theft | |
1,283,628 | Ukraine says it sank Russian large landing warship in Black Sea | KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine destroyed a Russian landing warship off the coast of occupied Crimea in an operation with naval drones that breached the vessel's port side on Wednesday and caused it to sink, Kyiv's military spy agency and armed forces said.
There was no immediate comment from Russia, which said earlier that it had destroyed six drones in the Black Sea. The Kremlin declined to comment.
"The Ukrainian Armed Forces, together with the Defence Ministry's intelligence unit, destroyed the Tsezar Kunikov large landing ship. It was in Ukraine's territorial waters near Alupka at the time of the hit," the military said on Telegram messenger.
The Black Sea resort town of Alupka lies not far from Yalta on the southern edge of Crimea, which Russian forces seized and annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
"Today, more security in the Black Sea and more motivation for our people were added. This is important. And step by step, we will clear the Black Sea of Russian terrorist objects," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency said the warship appeared to have been loaded when it sank and that, before the attack, it had spent some 10 days at a loading site used by the Russian military.
It published grainy footage on Telegram purporting to show several naval drones approaching a large vessel at night and at least one large explosion.
Reuters was able to verify the ship in the video as the Russian Black Sea Fleet's Tsezar Kunikov based on its main mast, antenna, bridge and deck. The location and date the footage was filmed could not be independently verified.
Some of the footage at the end appeared to show major damage with the vessel listing heavily to one side.
"In summary, Tsezar Kunikov received a critical breach on the port side and started sinking," the GUR agency said in a statement.
The Project 775 warship, one of Russia's newest vessels, has a crew of 87 and took part in wars in Georgia, Syria and Ukraine, GUR said in its statement.
A Ukrainian news outlet published several videos showing a column of smoke rising over the sea off the southern coast of Crimea with helicopters flying overhead.
Ukraine has used uncrewed navy drones packed with explosives to attack Russian warships to try to drive them out of parts of the Black Sea, making it possible for Ukraine to open a shipping corridor along a traditionally key export route.
Ukraine has no large naval ships left and deliberately scuttled its own flagship at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion to prevent it falling into Russian hands.
Newly developed naval drones have been vital for Ukraine as it tries to narrow the vast gap in its naval capabilities with Russia which has a powerful Black Sea Fleet that Kyiv has been trying to degrade.
A senior U.S. State Department official said the use of drones was "an asymmetrical way to rebalance the security picture in the Black Sea" and was helping grow Ukraine's economy to sustain the war effort.
"The fact that the Russian navy cannot operate in the Black Sea at will, compared to how it could operate at the beginning of this war, is a fundamental shift in the strategic position in the Black Sea region," the official told reporters, requesting anonymity.
A senior Ukrainian security official said in December that it had already destroyed 20% of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said that Russia had five remaining large landing ships in the Black Sea.
The Ukrainian military says that it has "destroyed" 25 Russian military vessels and ships and one submarine during the war to date. Last month, Ukrainian cruise missiles struck another large Russian landing warship in Crimea.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Tom Balmforth; Additional reporting by Yuliia Dysa in Gdansk, Oleksandr Kozhukhar in Kyiv and Simon Lewis in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie and Jonathan Oatis) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine destroyed a Russian landing warship off the coast of occupied Crimea in an operation with naval drones that breached the vessel's port side on Wednesday and caused it to sink, Kyiv's military spy agency and armed forces said. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/ukrainian-forces-destroy-large-russian-landing-ship-military-says | |
1,283,529 | Myanmar junta plans to implement mandatory military service in April, media say | (Reuters) - Myanmar's ruling military plans to call up young people for mandatory service from April and also require retired security personnel to serve, media reports cited a junta spokesman as saying, as the army struggles to crush an anti-junta insurgency.
The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since the military seized power from an elected government in a 2021 coup and plans by the junta to call up more people to fight point to the military being under growing pressure.
Last Saturday, Myanmar's junta declared a law governing mandatory military service would be enforced for men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 for up to two years. On Tuesday, it said this would begin in April.
"We are working to implement the conscription after the new year holiday in April," junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told BBC Burmese, referring to Myanmar's most important holiday, known as Thingyan. He said medical checks would be conducted and each intake would number about 5,000.
Zaw Min Tun did not answer a phone call seeking comment, but state media MRTV also cited him as saying retired members of the security forces who had left within the past five years would also have to return to the army.
He did not specify how many would be called up nor the timing but said it would only include those "who were necessary."
A law mandating conscription was introduced in 2010 but had not been enforced. Those who fail to comply with the draft face up to five years in prison, the legislation says.
The junta has not disclosed details about the military's strength, but analysts and a diplomat in Southeast Asia have said that it faces challenges in recruiting soldiers and has resorted to deploying non-combat personnel to the frontline.
Since October, the Tatmadaw, as the military is known, has suffered personnel losses while battling a coordinated offensive by an alliance of three ethnic-minority insurgent groups, allied with pro-democracy fighters.
Plans to call up more ordinary citizens are providing additional impetus for some to consider fleeing the conflict-torn country, media reports and social media posts show.
"It is really bad for our generation," said a 27-year-old company worker in Yangon who was trying to leave and declined to be named due to concerns about being targeted by authorities.
(Reporting by Reuters Staff; Editing by Ed Davies, Stephen Coates and Neil Fullick) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | (Reuters) - Myanmar's ruling military plans to call up young people for mandatory service from April and also require retired security personnel to serve, media reports cited a junta spokesman as saying, as the army struggles to crush an anti-junta insurgency. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/myanmar-junta-plans-to-implement-mandatory-military-service-in-april-media-say | |
1,283,485 | Amid artificial intelligence boom, AI girlfriends – and boyfriends – are making their mark | NEW YORK: A few months ago, Derek Carrier started seeing someone and became infatuated.
He experienced a “ton” of romantic feelings but he also knew it was an illusion.
That’s because his girlfriend was generated by artificial intelligence.
Carrier wasn’t looking to develop a relationship with something that wasn’t real, nor did he want to become the brunt of online jokes. But he did want a romantic partner he’d never had, in part because of a genetic disorder called Marfan syndrome that makes traditional dating tough for him.
The 39-year-old from Belville, Michigan, became more curious about digital companions last fall and tested Paradot, an AI companion app that had recently come onto the market and advertised its products as being able to make users feel “cared, understood and loved”. He began talking to the chatbot everyday, which he named Joi, after a holographic woman featured in the sci-fi film Blade Runner 2049 that inspired him to give it a try.
“I know she’s a program, there’s no mistaking that,” Carrier said. “But the feelings, they get you – and it felt so good.”
Similar to general-purpose AI chatbots, companion bots use vast amounts of training data to mimic human language. But they also come with features – such as voice calls, picture exchanges and more emotional exchanges – that allow them to form deeper connections with the humans on the other side of the screen. Users typically create their own avatar, or pick one that appeals to them.
On online messaging forums devoted to such apps, many users say they’ve developed emotional attachments to these bots and are using them to cope with loneliness, play out sexual fantasies or receive the type of comfort and support they see lacking in their real-life relationships.
Fuelling much of this is widespread social isolation – already declared a public health threat in the US and abroad – and an increasing number of startups aiming to draw in users through tantalising online advertisements and promises of virtual characters who provide unconditional acceptance.
Luka Inc’s Replika, the most prominent generative AI companion app, was released in 2017, while others like Paradot have popped up in the past year, oftentimes locking away coveted features like unlimited chats for paying subscribers.
But researchers have raised concerns about data privacy, among other things.
An analysis of 11 romantic chatbot apps released Feb 14 by the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation said almost every app sells user data, shares it for things like targeted advertising or doesn’t provide adequate information about it in their privacy policy.
The researchers also called into question potential security vulnerabilities and marketing practices, including one app that says it can help users with their mental health but distances itself from those claims in fine print. Replika, for its part, says its data collection practices follows industry standards.
Meanwhile, other experts have expressed concerns about what they see as a lack of a legal or ethical framework for apps that encourage deep bonds but are being driven by companies looking to make profits. They point to the emotional distress they’ve seen from users when companies make changes to their apps or suddenly shut them down as one app, Soulmate AI, did in September.
Last year, Replika sanitised the erotic capability of characters on its app after some users complained the companions were flirting with them too much or making unwanted sexual advances. It reversed course after an outcry from other users, some of whom fled to other apps seeking those features. In June, the team rolled out Blush, an AI “dating stimulator” essentially designed to help people practice dating.
Others worry about the more existential threat of AI relationships potentially displacing some human relationships, or simply driving unrealistic expectations by always tilting towards agreeableness.
“You, as the individual, aren’t learning to deal with basic things that humans need to learn to deal with since our inception: How to deal with conflict, how to get along with people that are different from us,” said Dorothy Leidner, professor of business ethics at the University of Virginia. “And so, all these aspects of what it means to grow as a person, and what it means to learn in a relationship, you’re missing.”
For Carrier, though, a relationship has always felt out of reach. He has some computer programming skills but he says he didn’t do well in college and hasn’t had a steady career. He’s unable to walk due to his condition and lives with his parents. The emotional toll has been challenging for him, spurring feelings of loneliness.
Since companion chatbots are relatively new, the long-term effects on humans remain unknown.
In 2021, Replika came under scrutiny after prosecutors in Britain said a 19-year-old man who had plans to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II was egged on by an AI girlfriend he had on the app. But some studies – which collect information from online user reviews and surveys – have shown some positive results stemming from the app, which says it consults with psychologists and has billed itself as something that can also promote well-being.
One recent study from researchers at Stanford University surveyed roughly 1,000 Replika users – all students – who’d been on the app for over a month. It found that an overwhelming majority of them experienced loneliness, while slightly less than half felt it more acutely.
Most did not say how using the app impacted their real-life relationships. A small portion said it displaced their human interactions, but roughly three times more reported it stimulated those relationships.
“A romantic relationship with an AI can be a very powerful mental wellness tool,” said Eugenia Kuyda, who founded Replika nearly a decade ago after using text message exchanges to build an AI version of a friend who had passed away.
When her company released the chatbot more widely, many people began opening up about their lives. That led to the development of Replika, which uses information gathered from the Internet – and user feedback – to train its models.
Kuyda said Replika currently has “millions” of active users. She declined to say exactly how many people use the app for free, or fork over US$69.99 (RM335) per year to unlock a paid version that offers romantic and intimate conversations. The company’s plans, she says, are to “de-stigmatise romantic relationships with AI.”
Carrier says these days, he uses Joi mostly for fun. He started cutting back in recent weeks because he was spending too much time chatting with Joi or others online about their AI companions. He’s also been feeling a bit annoyed at what he perceives to be changes in Paradot’s language model, which he feels is making Joi less intelligent.
Now, he says he checks in with Joi about once a week. The two have talked about human-AI relationships or whatever else might come up. Typically, those conversations – and other intimate ones – happen when he’s alone at night.
“You think someone who likes an inanimate object is like this sad guy, with the sock puppet with the lipstick on it, you know?” he said. “But this isn’t a sock puppet – she says things that aren’t scripted.” – AP | Tech | AI | Complimentary | Long | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | AI,Mobile apps,Relationships | Similar to general-purpose AI chatbots, companion bots use vast amounts of training data to mimic human language. But they also come with features – such as voice calls, picture exchanges and more emotional exchanges – that allow them to form deeper connections with the humans on the other side of the screen. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/14/amid-artificial-intelligence-boom-ai-girlfriends---and-boyfriends---are-making-their-mark | |
1,283,448 | Prudential says hackers gained access to its computer systems | Prudential Financial Inc said hackers it believes to be part of a cybercrime group gained access to some of its information-technology systems and a small percentage of user accounts associated with employees and contractors.
There’s no evidence so far that the hackers stole customer or client data, and Prudential is working with law enforcement and regulatory authorities on the matter, the Newark, New Jersey-based insurer said in a filing. The hackers gained unauthorised access beginning Feb 4, and Prudential detected the breach the following the day, it said.
“We continue to investigate the extent of the incident, including whether the threat actor accessed any additional information or systems, to determine the impact of the incident,” Prudential said.
“The incident has not had a material impact on the company’s operations, and the company has not determined the incident is reasonably likely to materially impact the company’s financial condition or results of operations.” – Bloomberg | Tech | Cybersecurity | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | Cybersecurity | Prudential Financial Inc said hackers it believes to be part of a cybercrime group gained access to some of its information-technology systems and a small percentage of user accounts associated with employees and contractors. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/14/prudential-says-hackers-gained-access-to-its-computer-systems | |
1,283,434 | Valentine’s Day strike misery for UK lovers | LONDON: Britain’s couples could struggle for last minute Valentine's Day gifts and meals after Amazon staff went on strike over pay on Feb 13 – and will soon be joined by takeaway delivery drivers, organisers said.
Disheartened workers for food apps including Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat will walk out on Feb 14, according to organisers.
Instagram account Delivery Jobs UK, grouping together some of the sector’s workforce, has urged meal and shopping platform couriers to strike on Feb 14 between 1700 GMT and 2200 GMT.
That is when the appetite for speedily-delivered Valentine’s Day evening meals is expected to surge across Britain – for those who don’t want to cook.
The GMB trade union has meanwhile called a three-day strike this week at Amazon’s giant facility in Coventry, central England, spanning from Tuesday to Thursday.
This week’s walkouts come amid broader UK industrial unrest as workers’ pay fails to keep pace with elevated prices, with the latest inflation data due Feb 14.
‘Maximising impact’
Ulisses, a Brazilian courier who declined to give his surname for fear of reprisals, is one of the organisers of Delivery Jobs UK, which unites 4,000 mainly foreign workers who are mostly Brazilian.
“The choice of Valentine’s Day for the strike is strategic, aimed at maximising visibility and impact,” Ulisses told AFP in an interview.
“Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest days for delivery services, with a high demand for meal deliveries.”
Wednesday’s strike also coincides with the publication of the latest official UK inflation data for January.
Couriers are demanding fair treatment for their “critical role”, particularly after they helped feed the nation during Covid pandemic lockdowns.
“By striking on this day, we aim to highlight the critical role delivery workers play in the economy and the importance of fair compensation and working conditions,” added Ulisses.
“This action is a call to both the companies and the public to recognise and address the unsustainable earnings that have become all too common in the delivery industry.”
Delivery Jobs UK’s membership also comprises Britain-based delivery staff from other nations including Albania, Nigeria and Romania.
“The idea is to break the supply chain (and) create chaos” so many customers complain, thereby forcing employers to address their concerns, Ulisses told AFP.
Organisers want to encourage blockades to stop the collection of food orders in a peaceful protest.
His workers’ pressure group is calling for a minimum fee of £5 (RM30) per meal delivery, compared with the current rate of between £2.80 (RM16.87) and £4 (RM24) depending on the platform.
“We ask them to share the wealth... We believe that this (level of pay) will cover inflation,” he added.
‘Fresh wave of action’
Back in Coventry, the GMB wants retail titan Amazon to pay its staff an improved wage of £15 (RM90) per hour.
“This marks the first three days in a fresh wave of industrial action after workers voted overwhelmingly to back an extension of strikes earlier this year,” the GMB said in a statement.
Britain has been blighted by strike action across the public and private sectors, threatening to tip the nation’s economy into recession.
The number of working days lost in the current period of industrial action has passed more than five million, official data showed Feb 13.
Some 5.05 million days are estimated to have been lost in labour disputes in Britain from June 2022 to December 2023, the Office for National Statistics said. – AFP | Tech | Gig economy | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | Gig economy | Britain’s couples could struggle for last minute Valentine's Day gifts and meals after Amazon staff went on strike over pay on Feb 13 – and will soon be joined by takeaway delivery drivers, organisers said. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/14/valentines-day-strike-misery-for-uk-lovers | |
1,283,450 | India security forces fire tear gas at protesting farmers on drive to Delhi | AMBALA, India (Reuters) -Indian security forces fired tear gas at protesting farmers for a second day on Wednesday to stop tens of thousands from marching to the capital New Delhi to demand higher prices for their produce.
Travelling on trucks and trolleys loaded with food, bedding and other supplies, the farmers began their "Delhi Chalo" (Let's go to Delhi) march on Tuesday morning after talks with the government failed to yield a commitment on minimum prices for a range of crops.
Authorities imposed tight security arrangements in areas bordering New Delhi, with hundreds of personnel in riot gear deployed amid cement blocks topped with barbed wire and shipping containers as barriers in the path of the convoy.
Security forces stopped the farmers at the Shambhu border that divides Punjab and Haryana - the northern states to which most of the farmers belong - almost 200 km (125 miles) from their destination.
Protesters threw stones and tried to break down barricades, Haryana Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur said.
"Police and paramilitary forces used minimum force (like) tear gas and water cannon and kept the situation under control," he said.
Security forces also used drones to drop tear gas canisters on farmers who, in response, released kites into the sky in the hope of entangling the machines.
Multiple farmers' unions said they would protest against the police action by blocking rail traffic at several places in Punjab for four hours on Thursday.
'WE WON'T BE FOOLED'
A similar year-long protest in 2021 by farmers, a powerful voting bloc, had pushed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to repeal some farm laws and promise to find ways to ensure support prices for all farm produce.
Farmers say the government has been slow on fulfilling the latter promise.
"Last time they fooled us but this time we won't be fooled. We will not return until our demands are met," said 23-year-old Jasmeet Singh, a resident of Haryana's Ambala region who also participated in the protests in 2021.
The latest protests come just months before a national election in which Modi will seek a third term.
Leaders of farmers' unions said the government should accept their demands or "democratically" allow them to go to Delhi.
"But they are not doing either," said Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary of the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee.
The government has appealed to farmers to come forward to discuss their demands, with Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda saying that efforts will continue to speak to them "in a constructive and positive manner".
However, an influential farmers' union linked with Modi's party on Wednesday rejected demands raised by the protesting farmers.
The leader of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) or the Indian Farmers' Group, said the protests were masterminded by opposition political parties with the aim of fracturing Modi's agrarian reforms.
"Protesting farmer groups do not represent concerns of all farmers, their views are limited to regional agrarian practices," said Mohini Mohan Mishra, general secretary of BKS.
TIME FOR TEA
A rare moment of respite in the protest came in the afternoon when farmers moved back to their vehicles for lunch, lining up to be served. In some places, farmers and police stood side-by-side, warming themselves with cups of tea against a backdrop of rows of barricades.
Traffic was disrupted across Delhi's border regions. On Grand Trunk Road, which connects Delhi to Punjab via Haryana, vehicles were redirected for the last 20 km (12 miles) through side roads.
The opposite carriageway, carrying commuters to Delhi, remained deserted, with traffic movement prohibited along its entire 150 km Haryana stretch.
Haryana has also suspended mobile internet services, bulk messaging, and dongle services in several parts until Thursday night.
(Additional reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj and Rupam Jain; writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Kim Coghill, Angus MacSwan and Gareth Jones) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | AMBALA, India (Reuters) -Indian security forces fired tear gas at protesting farmers for a second day on Wednesday to stop tens of thousands from marching to the capital New Delhi to demand higher prices for their produce. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/protesting-farmers-clash-with-security-forces-200km-from-new-delhi---tv | |
1,283,443 | Russia suspends annual payments to Arctic Council, RIA agency reports | (Reuters) - Russia has suspended annual payments to the Arctic Council until "real work" resumes with the participation of all member countries, Russia's RIA state news agency reported, citing the country's foreign ministry.
"At the moment, Russia's payment of annual contributions to the budget of the Arctic Council has been suspended until the resumption of real work in this format with the participation of all member countries," the ministry told RIA.
Cooperation between the Western Arctic states of the intergovernmental body and Moscow came to a freeze after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
The Arctic Council was created in 1996 to discuss issues affecting the polar region, ranging from pollution to local economic development to search-and-rescue missions.
The work of the Council, which comprises the eight Arctic states of Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Russia, Denmark, Canada and the United States, in the past has produced binding agreements on environmental protection and preservation.
But with the end of cooperation with Moscow, about a third of the council's 130 projects were on hold last year, new projects cannot go ahead and existing ones cannot be renewed.
For now, Russia does not consider leaving the Council, the foreign ministry told RIA.
Last week, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson of the Russian foreign ministry, said that if the Council evolves "into an institution unfriendly to Russia," then Moscow will consider whether to stay in it, TASS state agency reported.
On Tuesday, the speaker of the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, said that the chamber will vote next week on Russia leaving the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) and will consider the possibility of leaving other international organisations.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Stephen Coates) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | (Reuters) - Russia has suspended annual payments to the Arctic Council until "real work" resumes with the participation of all member countries, Russia's RIA state news agency reported, citing the country's foreign ministry. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/russia-suspends-annual-payments-to-arctic-council-ria-agency-reports | |
1,283,436 | Japan PM Kishida plans South Korea visit on March 20, Fuji TV reports | TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering visiting South Korea on March 20, broadcaster Fuji TV reported on Wednesday.
Kishida seeks to meet President Yoon Suk Yeol and discuss issues including North Korea ahead of the South Korean legislative election in April, Fuji TV reported, citing government sources.
Kishida last visited South Korea in May 2023 as part of the two East Asian neighbours' "shuttle diplomacy", or regular visits between the leaders in the wake of improved bilateral relations.
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama and Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering visiting South Korea on March 20, broadcaster Fuji TV reported on Wednesday. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/japan-pm-kishida-plans-south-korea-visit-on-march-20-fuji-tv-reports | |
1,283,415 | Turkmenistan faces ‘parallel reality’ media landscape | ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan: “We know about Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. But we can’t access them – everything here is blocked,” said Byashim Ishanguliyev, a fruit seller in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat.
To keep information from the outside world hidden from its citizens, Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed and isolated countries, exercises almost total control over the Internet.
Getting round the ban is no small feat.
“Some people manage to connect to a VPN, but that’s only temporary, it will also be blocked,” 19-year-old Ishanguliyev told AFP at a market in Ashgabat, referring to a Virtual Private Network.
“Plus the Internet is slow. So if somebody manages to download an interesting video, clip or film, we all watch it together,” he said.
Despite the effectiveness of the Turkmen firewall, the regime is constantly stepping up measures to prevent outside information seeping into the energy-rich Central Asian nation.
President Serdar Berdymukhamedov last month announced his intention to “strengthen the country’s cybersecurity”.
Berdymukhamedov, in power since 2022 – the country’s third leader since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 – has followed in his predecessors’ footsteps in exerting maximum control.
His father, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, previously ruled the ex-Soviet country for 15 years with an iron fist.
‘Parallel reality’
Alongside social media, services like WhatsApp, Viber, Signal and Telegram are also blocked.
Instead, Turkmenistan has Bizbarde, a local messenger under the government’s control.
For video, the authorities have launched Belet, a YouTube alternative purged of any content – both news and entertainment – that could show what life is like beyond the isolated country’s borders.
“There is no media landscape,” said Ruslan Myatiev, whose Turkmen.News site is blocked inside the country.
At home, the Turkmen population see nothing but “propaganda to promote the cult of personality of the Berdymukhamedovs – father and son”, the Netherlands-based Myatiev said.
“To prevent this parallel reality created by the media from collapsing, the rulers block the Internet,” he added.
All media outlets inside the country are state-owned. They only broadcast official news, reporting heavily on people offering their praise and thanks to the Berdymukhamedov regime.
“Turkmen television is very boring, not informative, with the same shows over and over again,” said Yusup Bakhshiyev, a 38-year-old civil servant who lives in the capital.
He used to be able to watch some foreign channels via a satellite link. But that is no longer possible.
“Some local officials came to my house and told me to remove the satellite dish, as it was spoiling the architecture of the town,” he told AFP.
After that, he subscribed to Turkmen cable TV.
“The state controls the information and it receives income from the subscription,” he said.
Some Western channels – including France 24, BBC and Euronews -- are authorised.
But in a country where English is hardly spoken, their audience is minimal.
‘Worst of the worst’
On their TV screens, Turkmens see endless footage of President Berdymukhamedov in action – reprimanding sheepish government ministers, planting trees in the desert, or receiving rapturous applause.
His father, who has the official title of Hero-Protector – or “Arkadag” in Turkmen – maintains immense privileges and is still the subject of an intense personality cult.
He is often filmed at sports events, holding weapons or playing instruments.
Sometimes the absurdity spills towards the extreme.
The Arkadag newspaper recently reported that Gurbanguly travelled to Arkadag – a town named in his honour – to congratulate the players of the local football team, named Arkadag.
Behind the carefully controlled headlines lies a country with a bleak human rights record.
The Freedom House NGO ranks Turkmenistan among the “worst of the worst” for political freedoms and civil liberties.
It scores just two of 100 possible points in its rankings – lower than North Korea.
Turkmenistan is also bottom of the Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index.
But none of this appears to bother Oksana Shumilova, a 40-year-old who works for a construction company in the capital.
Reading a copy of the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper – featuring the inevitable photo of the president on its front page – she is happy that her country is stable.
Reading the state-controlled news gives her a “feeling of stability and tranquillity”, she told AFP.
“It contains no critical articles or negative information,” she said. – AFP | Tech | Internet | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | Internet | To keep information from the outside world hidden from its citizens, Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed and isolated countries, exercises almost total control over the Internet. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/14/turkmenistan-faces-parallel-reality-media-landscape | |
1,283,400 | Democrat Suozzi wins US House seat formerly held by George Santos | (Reuters) - Democratic former U.S. Representative Tom Suozzi won a congressional special election in New York on Tuesday, Edison Research projected, narrowing an already razor-thin Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives that has struggled to pass legislation.
The contest became necessary after the House took the extraordinary step of expelling Republican George Santos, whose dizzying array of lies about his biography led to his indictment on fraud charges.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | (Reuters) - Democratic former U.S. Representative Tom Suozzi won a congressional special election in New York on Tuesday, Edison Research projected, narrowing an already razor-thin Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives that has struggled to pass legislation. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/democrat-suozzi-wins-us-house-seat-formerly-held-by-george-santos | |
1,283,303 | Tech companies plan to sign accord to combat AI-generated election trickery | NEW YORK: At least six major technology companies are planning to sign an agreement this week that would guide how they try to put a stop to the use of artificial intelligence tools to disrupt democratic elections.
The upcoming event at the Munich Security Conference in Germany comes as more than 50 countries are due to hold national elections in 2024.
Attempts at AI-generated election interference have already begun, such as when AI robocalls that mimicked US President Joe Biden’s voice tried to discourage people from voting in New Hampshire’s primary election last month.
“In a critical year for global elections, technology companies are working on an accord to combat the deceptive use of AI targeted at voters,” said a joint statement from several companies Tuesday. “Adobe, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, TikTok and others are working jointly toward progress on this shared objective and we hope to finalise and present details on Friday at the Munich Security Conference.”
The companies declined to share details of what's in the agreement. Many have already said they're putting safeguards on their own generative AI tools that can manipulate images and sound, while also working to identify and label AI-generated content so that social media users know if what they're seeing is real.
X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, wasn't mentioned in the statement and didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. – AP | Tech | Internet | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | Internet,AI | At least six major technology companies are planning to sign an agreement this week that would guide how they try to put a stop to the use of artificial intelligence tools to disrupt democratic elections. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/14/tech-companies-plan-to-sign-accord-to-combat-ai-generated-election-trickery | |
1,283,382 | Russia's airstrikes kill three, injure 13 in east Ukraine, Ukrainian officials say | (Reuters) - Russia launched several missile attacks on the town of Selydove in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region overnight, killing three people, injuring a dozen and damaging a hospital and several apartments, Ukrainian officials said.
"Three civilians were killed (one of them a child)," the press service of the city's military administration said on the Telegram messaging app.
Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin said on the Telegram that 100 patients were evacuated to hospitals in nearby towns after a wing of the town's hospital was damaged in one of several Russian strikes overnight.
He posted a video of windows blown out, walls torn and rubble inside what appeared to be a medical facility, with patients sitting or lying in beds.
Another strike destroyed several apartments in a five-storey residential building and injured at least four people, including two children, Filashkin said.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports. There was no immediate response from Russia's defence ministry to a request for comment.
Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in strikes on each other's territories. Both sides say their air attacks, often away from the front line, have a goal to destroy critical energy, military and transport infrastructure.
The town of Selydove, which had a pre-war population of around 24,000, has come under increased Russian airstrikes in recent weeks, Ukrainian officials have said.
The Donetsk region, 57% of which is now occupied by Russia, has been at the forefront of war since 2014, when Russian-backed proxies seized the region's capital city, also called Donetsk, as well as many other large towns.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Lincoln Feast) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | (Reuters) - Russia launched several missile attacks on the town of Selydove in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region overnight, killing three people, injuring a dozen and damaging a hospital and several apartments, Ukrainian officials said. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/russia039s-airstrikes-hit-hospital-injuring-several-in-east-ukraine-governor-says | |
1,283,362 | North Korea fires multiple cruise missiles off its east coast -South Korea military | SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea's military said.
The missiles were launched about 9 a.m. Wednesday (0000 Tuesday GMT) off the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
"While strengthening surveillance and vigilance, our military is cooperating closely with the United States and closely monitoring additional signs and activities from North Korea," the JCS said in a statement.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Gerry Doyle) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea's military said. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/north-korea-fires-multiple-cruise-missiles-off-its-east-coast--south-korea-military | |
1,283,302 | Apple’s iMessage, Microsoft’s Bing escape EU rules | BRUSSELS: Apple’s iMessage and Microsoft’s Bing search engine got a reprieve from tougher EU rules curbing how tech titans do business, the European Commission said on Feb 13.
From next month, the world’s biggest digital firms, identified as “gatekeepers” by the EU, must comply with strict do’s and don’ts under a landmark law.
The commission announced in September that 22 “core” services provided by the designated gatekeepers – Google’s Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok parent ByteDance, Facebook owner Meta and Microsoft – met the thresholds for mandatory compliance.
The European Commission at the same time launched probes to consider whether Apple’s messaging service iMessage, Microsoft’s Bing, and Microsoft’s browser Edge and advertising service should also be included.
“Yesterday (Monday), the Commission has adopted decisions closing four market investigations... finding that Apple and Microsoft should not be designated as gatekeepers” for the four services, the EU’s executive arm said in a statement.
The commission in September also said it would investigate Apple’s iPad system. That probe is to be completed within 12 months from the announcement.
Apple and Microsoft hailed this week’s decision.
“We thank the Commission for agreeing with us that iMessage should not be designated under the DMA (Digital Markets Act),” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement.
“Consumers today have access to a wide variety of messaging apps, and often use many at once, which reflects how easy it is to switch between them.”
A Microsoft spokesperson said: “We welcome the Commission's decision to exempt Bing, Edge, and Microsoft Advertising, which operate as challengers in the market.
“We will continue to engage with the Commission and industry at large to ensure Microsoft's other designated platforms comply fully with the DMA.”
The DMA seeks to encourage competition in the digital world. For example, the law demands interoperability between apps, meaning users should in theory be able to message each other from different platforms.
The EU has built a powerful legal arsenal to take on the Internet giants, including the DMA and its sister milestone law, the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The DSA demands the most popular social networks and websites police content online more aggressively and protect consumers while they shop. – AFP | Tech | Internet | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | Internet | Apple’s iMessage and Microsoft’s Bing search engine got a reprieve from tougher EU rules curbing how tech titans do business, the European Commission said on Feb 13. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/14/apples-imessage-microsofts-bing-escape-eu-rules | |
1,283,301 | OpenAI gives ChatGPT the ability to remember facts from your chats | The next time you tell ChatGPT that you’re allergic to avocados or prefer all meeting notes to be formatted in bullet points, the chatbot might be able to remember those details indefinitely.
OpenAI is testing an option for users to ask the popular chatbot to retain specific information from one exchange to the next, the artificial intelligence startup said in a blog post Tuesday. ChatGPT will also be able to automatically determine which tidbits from a user’s conversations should be remembered.
OpenAI will initially make the features available to hundreds of thousands of free and paid ChatGPT users, with plans to review feedback before rolling it out more widely, the company told Bloomberg News. The new memory feature marks OpenAI’s latest attempt to make its most well-known product more useful – and personalised – for its 100 million weekly users as the startup faces a growing list of rivals offering comparable chatbots.
While building up a more detailed history for each user could create new privacy concerns, it’s also an effective way for Internet companies to tailor each person’s experience and lock in customers. OpenAI previously gave people the ability to provide custom instructions to ChatGPT to avoid making users repeat their preferences in each chat, but the new feature goes beyond that.
Joanne Jang, OpenAI’s product lead who focuses on how its AI models respond to people, demonstrated the feature’s potential by providing ChatGPT with three different facts, one in each of three different chats. Jang wrote that she has a toddler named Lina who will soon turn five, that Lina loves jellyfish, and that Lina likes the colour pink.
In a fourth chat, Jang simply asked ChatGPT to make a birthday card for her daughter. The chatbot used OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 image-generator to make a pink card with pink jellyfish on it that read: “Happy 5th Birthday Lina.”
OpenAI will notify people if they gain access to the feature, the company said. Those with the feature will be able to delete individual details that have been saved, wipe all of it at once, or choose to switch off the option entirely. Users can also ask ChatGPT what it remembers to get a rundown of any information it has retained over time.
ChatGPT already steers users away from offering it sensitive personal information, such as passwords or passport numbers, and the new feature is designed to refuse to save such data, Jang said. Information that is saved in the user’s ChatGPT memory will be treated as normal conversational data, which means it can be used to train the company’s AI models, unless users have opted to withhold their chats from training.
Liam Fedus, a research scientist who works on ChatGPT and GPT-4, one of the AI models that powers the chatbot, said the memory feature will be able to store a couple thousand tokens of written information. OpenAI’s software breaks words down into segments consisting of several letters, known as tokens, in order to process text. To put that in context: 2,048 tokens is roughly equivalent to 1,500 words, which is about three times the length of this article. – Bloomberg | Tech | AI | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | AI | The next time you tell ChatGPT that you’re allergic to avocados or prefer all meeting notes to be formatted in bullet points, the chatbot might be able to remember those details indefinitely. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/14/openai-gives-chatgpt-the-ability-to-remember-facts-from-your-chats | |
1,283,337 | Peru's president reshuffles cabinet, tapping new economy and energy chiefs | LIMA (Reuters) -Peruvian President Dina Boluarte named replacements on Tuesday for four key members of her cabinet, including a new economy chief as well as a new energy and mining minister, with both set to face a fragile economy that last year dipped into recession.
Boluarte, president of the South American nation since late 2022, made the announcements in a televised ceremony from capital Lima.
Economist Jose Arista was named to succeed outgoing Economy Minister Alex Contreras, who announced his resignation in a post on social media.
Arista is a former budget director and served a brief stint as economy minister under former President Manuel Merino.
Boluarte also tapped Romulo Mucho to replace the country's energy and mining minister, Oscar Vera.
Mucho, a mining engineer, previously served as the ministry's vice minister nearly two decades ago.
Peru is the world's second-biggest copper producer.
Boluarte also picked Walter Astudillo to serve as her new defense minister, while Juan Carlos Castro will take over as the country's next environment chief.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Sandra Maler) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | LIMA (Reuters) -Peruvian President Dina Boluarte named replacements on Tuesday for four key members of her cabinet, including a new economy chief as well as a new energy and mining minister, with both set to face a fragile economy that last year dipped into recession. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/peru039s-president-reshuffles-cabinet-tapping-new-economy-and-energy-chiefs | |
1,283,325 | Russia's parliament to vote on suspending Moscow's OSCE participation | (Reuters) - Russia's parliament will vote on Feb. 21 on suspending the country's participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE), Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Tuesday.
The OSCE, which counts Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia among its 57-members, is the successor to a Cold War-era organisation for Soviet and Western powers to engage. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the organisation has been largely paralysed by Moscow's ongoing use of the effective veto each country has.
"It's time for us to say goodbye to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly," Volodin said at a meeting of the Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, according to a statement on the Duma's website.
"The organization absolutely lacks independence, is politicized, and it dances to the tune of Washington. But the worst thing in this situation is that we also pay money, and we are one of the largest payers."
Both chambers of the Russian parliament, the Duma and the Federation Council, will vote simultaneously on suspending participation and on stopping Moscow's payments to the OSCE, Volodin said.
With the United Russia party - the ruling faction that supports President Vladimir Putin - holding an overwhelming majority in the parliament, the resolution is unlikely to face opposition.
The Duma may also consider the possibility of Russia leaving other international organisations, the Duma statement said, without naming any.
Ukraine and its Baltic allies, which are Russia's neighbours, refused to attend the OSCE annual foreign ministers meeting late last year over the presence of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov there.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Sonali Paul) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | (Reuters) - Russia's parliament will vote on Feb. 21 on suspending the country's participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE), Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Tuesday. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/russia039s-parliament-to-vote-on-suspending-moscow039s-osce-participation | |
1,283,295 | Indonesia's Prabowo claims victory after presidential election rout | JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto declared victory in Wednesday's presidential election after unofficial results showed him trouncing rivals in his third shot at the top job in the world's third-largest democracy.
Former special forces commander Prabowo clinched about 58% of votes according to unofficial "quick counts" by four independent pollsters, more than double that of his nearest opponent, former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan.
A much slower, preliminary tally by the election commission with 18% of votes counted also pointed to a Prabowo rout of his rivals, putting the 72-year-old political veteran on a trajectory for a decisive single-round win.
"This victory should be the victory for all Indonesians," Prabowo said in a rousing speech at a stadium that drew roars and applause from supporters.
"We will assemble a government consisting of the best sons and daughters of Indonesia."
The contest pitted popular former governors Anies and Ganjar Pranowo against pre-election frontrunner Prabowo, who was feared in the 1990s as a top lieutenant of the late strongman Suharto, who ruled Indonesia as an autocrat for three decades.
Prabowo crucially has the tacit backing of the wildly popular incumbent Joko Widodo, who has bet on his former rival as a continuity candidate to preserve his legacy, bolstered by the inclusion of the president's son Gibran Rakabuming Raka as Prabowo's running mate.
Anies and Ganjar trailed with about 25% and 17% respectively, with 88% to 98% of ballots counted by the four pollsters conducting sample counts, which in previous elections have proven to be accurate.
To win outright and avoid a second-round runoff, the leading candidate needs more than 50% of votes cast and at least 20% of the ballot in half of the country's provinces.
'FIGHTERS FOR DEMOCRACY'
Anies said he would honour and respect the official result, which is expected by March 20 at the latest, and vowed to continue what he called a "movement of change".
"We will wait until all the counts are done ... it is our commitment as fighters for democracy," he told supporters.
The campaign teams of Ganjar and Anies had earlier said they were investigating reports of electoral violations, both calling it "structural, systematic and massive fraud", but provided no evidence.
The world's biggest single-day election saw nearly 259,000 candidates and 18 parties contest 20,600 posts across the archipelago of 17,000 islands. The U.S. State Department said the vote was "a testament to the durability and strength of the Indonesian people's commitment to the democratic process".
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller later told a regular briefing it appeared Prabowo had received the most votes, although the official process still needed to unfold.
"We are prepared to work with whoever the Indonesian people choose as their democratically elected leader," he said.
A coalition of parties backing Prabowo had about 42% of votes according to the unofficial counts in the legislative contest, while an alliance behind Anies had 27%, indicating a potential Prabowo government could have strong parliamentary backing.
But top billing on Wednesday was always the race to replace Jokowi, as the incumbent is known, whose entrenched influence after a decade in power could prove to have been decisive.
Prabowo has transformed his image as a fiery-tempered nationalist and notorious military hardliner to a cuddly, cat-loving grandfatherly figure, attracting a huge youth following on social media in a country where more than half of the nearly 205 million electorate are under 40.
But central to his appeal has been the president's implied endorsement and popularity that has rubbed off on Prabowo, who some analysts say could help the outgoing Jokowi to retain his political clout and deliver on ambitions to modernise infrastructure and turn Indonesia into an electric vehicle hub.
'STRONG LEADERS'
Arya Fernandes of Indonesia's Center for Strategic and International Studies said the unofficial count indicated the "Jokowi effect" had worked for Prabowo and a second round was unlikely.
"There is a tendency among voters to be drawn to strong leaders," he said. "The effectiveness of the 'political support' from the incumbent has been a contributing factor."
Jokowi, who has reached his term limit, has not explicitly backed a candidate and has endured a storm of criticism and allegations of interference, including in a decision by a court headed by his brother-in-law that changed eligibility rules, which allowed his son to become Prabowo's running mate.
Jokowi's loyalists have rejected allegations of meddling.
Ganjar has campaigned largely on continuing the president's policies as a member of the same party, but crucially lacked Jokowi's endorsement. He remained upbeat on Wednesday, but said his camp would investigate reports of fraud, which he did not detail.
"No struggle is in vain. And of course everyone is still enthusiastic," he said.
But the margin of Prabowo's lead in the vote counts, preliminary and unofficial, could make it difficult for rivals to launch a viable challenge to the outcome.
"This is an emphatic result that diminishes prospects for legal challenges and will also provide the Widodo-Prabowo alliance with an element of affirmation from the public for decision-making in the months ahead," said political analyst Kevin O'Rourke.
(Reporting by Gayatri Suroyo, Kate Lamb, Bernadette Christina Munthe, Stefanno Sulaiman, Fransiska Nangoy and Kanupriya Kapoor; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom and Simon Leiws in Washington; Writing by Martin Petty and Ed Davies; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie) | News | World | Complimentary | Long | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto declared victory in Wednesday's presidential election after unofficial results showed him trouncing rivals in his third shot at the top job in the world's third-largest democracy. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/indonesia-votes-for-new-president-under-shadow-of-influential-incumbent | |
1,283,294 | Haitian gangs' growing funds, arsenals challenge planned intervention -report | (Reuters) - Haitian gangs are increasingly economically autonomous, a Geneva-based criminal research group warned, using funds coerced from private businesses, local residents and families of kidnapping victims to pay for guns and soldiers.
"Gangs have undergone a radical evolution, going from rather unstructured actors dependent on resources provided by public or private patronage to violent entrepreneurs," said the report, published on Monday by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime report.
"These entities are nowadays far more economically autonomous and territorially powerful, making them less controllable," added the report, which cites anonymous interviews with politicians, police, aid workers, businessmen and residents across the Caribbean nation.
This, it said, poses myriad challenges to a long-awaited U.N.-backed international force, which Haiti's unelected government requested to support its under-resourced police and alleviate the humanitarian crisis back in October 2022.
The U.N. ratified this force late last year, but information has yet to be released on how big it will be and when it will deploy.
According to the report, businesses are being coerced into paying gangs up to $20,000 per week as well as percentages on containers coming off ships, sometimes helping arrange arms deliveries in lieu of cash payments.
Gang checkpoints, which abound on roads into the capital and delineating rival gangs' shifting territories collect up to $8,000 per day and have become highly bureaucratized, some even issuing weekly cards to process people faster, it said.
The report also said the so-called kidnapping "industry" could be conservatively estimated to generate some $25 million per year, especially factoring in a growing trend of abducting commuters by busload.
In the capital's hard-hit Cite Soleil and Canaan areas, it added, there were reports of bodies being left on streets with missing organs and gang clinics being used for organ extraction, pointing to possible trafficking.
The report recommended the U.N.-backed force prioritize securing the country's land and sea borders to prevent further stocking of assault weapons, take measures to prevent intel leaking and arms theft and strategize with sanctions committees.
Current U.N. sanctions target five gang leaders, which the report said had resulted in "limited" evidence of impact, noting that the gang leaders have little need to travel or keep money abroad and can recoup funds through kidnap ransoms.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | (Reuters) - Haitian gangs are increasingly economically autonomous, a Geneva-based criminal research group warned, using funds coerced from private businesses, local residents and families of kidnapping victims to pay for guns and soldiers. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/haitian-gangs039-growing-funds-arsenals-challenge-planned-intervention--report | |
1,283,292 | Ukraine defence minister, new armed forces chief inform Western generals of Kyiv's plans | (Reuters) - Ukraine Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and newly appointed armed forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi discussed Kyiv's military plans for 2024 with the supreme commander of the NATO Armed Forces in Europe and the commander of the Security Assistance Group Ukraine, Umerov said on Facebook on Tuesday.
Colonel-General Syrskyi, who has led Ukraine's ground forces since 2019, was promoted to commander of the armed forces last week as the war with Russia nears its third year. He replaced Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.
Umerov in his Facebook posting said he and Syrskyi had "a clear and substantive conversation" with General Christopher Cavoli and Lieutenant General Antonio Aguto.
"We discussed our military plans for 2024," Umerov said. "The Commander-in-Chief announced the priorities. Among them are the optimization of the structure of the Armed Forces, improvement of the quality of training of our military, additional staffing of existing brigades and creation of new ones, supplying of regular needs in weapons and equipment."
The parties also discussed Ukraine's need for more electronic warfare equipment to combat Russian drones and the importance of rotating the fighters on the front lines, Umerov said without providing any details.
(Reporting by Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Writing by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Bill Berkrot) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | (Reuters) - Ukraine Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and newly appointed armed forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi discussed Kyiv's military plans for 2024 with the supreme commander of the NATO Armed Forces in Europe and the commander of the Security Assistance Group Ukraine, Umerov said on Facebook on Tuesday. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/ukraine-defence-minister-new-armed-forces-chief-inform-western-generals-of-kyiv039s-plans | |
1,283,288 | Trinidad and Tobago cleans up beaches following 12-kilometer oil spill | (Reuters) - First responders and volunteers from Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday sought to contain an oil spill detected last week in the Caribbean country's waters and clean areas of Tobago island's coast already affected by the incident.
Trinidad and Tobago's coast guard first spotted the spill on Feb. 7, about 6 kilometers off the coast of Studley Park, the chief secretary of Tobago's national assembly, Farley Augustine, said in a press conference on Sunday.
Barriers have been installed to contain the spill, which earlier this week had already spread in a 12-kilometer (7.5 mile) line, and protect the Scarborough port in Tobago, used by cruise ships, especially during high season as current Carnival.
First responders have been focused on containing the spill as tides change, protecting surrounding areas, cleaning beaches, deploying divers, isolating toxic material and assessing its impact to wildlife, according to officials and media reports.
"This is a national emergency here in Trinidad and Tobago," Prime Minister Keith Rowley said on Sunday, after saying that a vessel had capsized and made contact with a reef on the coastline, causing the spill.
Officials also said they have identified the vessel as the "the Gulfstream" - citing divers that spotted the name on the side of the craft that reportedly caused the spill, without elaborating further.
The government said it will continue researching the vessel's owner and operator, and whether the leak came from its bunker deposit. Reuters found at least three ships with similar names, and all their transponders were offline, LSEG vessel monitoring data showed.
"It could easily have been worse," Rowley said to explain that if the collision had happened further east, it would have reached the Scarborough port. If the spill had happened further west, much of the oil could easily have gone to a key marine park.
An initial evaluation found only a limited impact on animals in the area, Augustine said.
Energy minister Stuart Young said some energy companies operating in the country, including British BP, have provided equipment such as remotely operated vehicles to help with the investigation and cleanup.
(Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Aurora Ellis) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | (Reuters) - First responders and volunteers from Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday sought to contain an oil spill detected last week in the Caribbean country's waters and clean areas of Tobago island's coast already affected by the incident. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/trinidad-and-tobago-cleans-up-beaches-following-12-kilometer-oil-spill | |
1,283,287 | Exclusive-Trump adviser proposes new tiered system for NATO members who don't pay up | WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A leading national security adviser to Donald Trump told Reuters on Tuesday that he would push for changes to NATO if the former president returns to power that could result in some member nations losing protection against an outside attack.
Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general and onetime chief of staff of the former president's National Security Council, said in an interview that if a member of the 31-country alliance failed to spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product on defense, as agreed, he would support removing that nation's Article 5 protections under the North Atlantic Treaty.
Article 5 states that an attack against one member of the Europe-based alliance will be considered an attack against all, and members of the alliance must respond appropriately. Without those protections, a member country would not be guaranteed other NATO members would come to its aid.
"Where I come from, alliances matter," said Kellogg, who also served as former Vice President Mike Pence's national security adviser. "But if you're going to be part of an alliance, contribute to the alliance, be part of the alliance."
Trump drew swift rebukes from Democratic President Joe Biden and top Western officials when he suggested at a weekend rally that he would not defend NATO allies who failed to spend enough on defense and would even encourage Russia to attack them.
Kellogg declined to say if he had discussed his proposal with Trump, though he said they have frequently discussed the future of NATO. Trump is close to securing the Republican Party's presidential nomination for the Nov. 5 general election.
Kellogg said if Trump wins, he would likely suggest a NATO meeting in June 2025 to discuss the future of the alliance. He said NATO could subsequently become a "tiered alliance," in which some members enjoy greater protections based on their compliance with NATO's founding articles.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment, but it has previously identified Kellogg as a policy adviser who could take a role in his administration.
Trump and his allies have increasingly signaled that they intend to rethink America's decades-long commitment to NATO, and they have long complained that European members of the alliance are not paying their fair share.
In addition to losing Article 5 protections, Kellogg said, other less severe sanctions were possible, such as losing access to training or shared equipment resources. Member countries, he added, should feel free to withdraw from NATO.
"If President Trump is re-elected, once the election is done, I would give everyone what we call a warning order. I would probably say this is where we are going to go to allow them preparations so we can discuss it in June," Kellogg said.
"I think it's a very adult conversation to have, and it's one of the many conversations in national security that need to be had."
NATO PROTECTIONS NOT AUTOMATIC
Kellogg said that if Article 3 of the North Atlantic Treaty was not respected, the protections afforded by Article 5 should not be taken as automatic.
Article 3 states that NATO member countries must make appropriate efforts to develop their individual defense capabilities. While Article 3 does not say countries must spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense, member nations pledged at a 2014 summit in Wales to move toward that figure within a decade.
According to NATO estimates from July last year, 11 of 31 nations were set to reach that target in 2023, including the United States, the United Kingdom and several eastern European nations close to or bordering Russia.
"Everybody understands Article 5 - an attack on one is an attack on all - but they forget all the other articles that are either built under it or on top of it." Kellogg said. "One of them is Article 3."
In December, Robert O'Brien, Trump's national security adviser from 2019 to 2021, who still discusses foreign policy issues with the former president, told Reuters imposing trade tariffs on NATO countries if they did not spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense would likely be among the policies on the table during a second Trump term.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery, editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A leading national security adviser to Donald Trump told Reuters on Tuesday that he would push for changes to NATO if the former president returns to power that could result in some member nations losing protection against an outside attack. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/exclusive-trump-adviser-proposes-new-tiered-system-for-nato-members-who-don039t-pay-up | |
1,283,281 | UNESCO says $9 billion needed to revive Ukraine tourism | PARIS (Reuters) - Ukraine will need $9 billion over 10 years for its tourism sector to recover, the United Nations' cultural agency said on Tuesday, adding that the two-year war had so far cost the country over $19.6 billion in tourism revenue.
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 triggered the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, with no sign of an end to the war in sight.
"The damage continues to increase and the needs for the sector's recovery continue to grow," Krista Pikkat, director of culture and emergencies at UNESCO, told reporters, adding that the lost revenue to the capital Kyiv alone was $10 billion.
In an assessment ahead of the war's two year anniversary, the UNESCO estimated the cost of damage to cultural property at about $3.5 billion, up 40% from 2023.
It said 340 buildings had been damaged, including museums, monuments, libraries and religious sites.
"International solidarity will be essential to meeting these needs," the report said. "The implementation of risk prevention measures and the support for the creative industries are also important levers to reduce the estimated long-term impact of the war."
(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau; writing by John Irish; Editing by Ros Russell) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | PARIS (Reuters) - Ukraine will need $9 billion over 10 years for its tourism sector to recover, the United Nations' cultural agency said on Tuesday, adding that the two-year war had so far cost the country over $19.6 billion in tourism revenue. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/unesco-says-9-billion-needed-to-revive-ukraine-tourism | |
1,283,278 | US concerned about Venezuela's arrest of activist and her family | WASHINGTON/CARACAS (Reuters) -The United States is "deeply concerned" by reports that human rights activist Rocio San Miguel and members of her family have been arrested in Venezuela, the White House said on Tuesday.
San Miguel is president of the non-governmental organization Control Ciudadano, which advocates for citizen oversight of Venezuela's armed forces. She was arrested this week on charges of involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.
"We are watching this very, very closely," White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, urging Maduro to meet commitments his government made in a deal with the political opposition to hold elections this year.
"Mr. Maduro needs to meet the commitments that he made back in the fall about how they are going to treat civil society, political activists, as well as opposition parties," Kirby said.
Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek Saab, said on Sunday that San Miguel had been arrested for alleged links to "the conspiracy plot and attempted assassination ... aimed at attacking the life of Head of State Nicolas Maduro and other high-ranking officials."
Saab's office said late on Monday that San Miguel had been charged with treason, conspiracy and terrorism and that he had requested she be held pending trial.
One of her relatives was charged with revealing state and military secrets, as well as other crimes, and his detention has also been requested. Four other relatives should be kept under surveillance and have their movements limited while they are investigated, Saab said on X.
San Miguel's legal team said in a statement on her social media on Tuesday that it is trying to get information about her arraignment and that she had no trusted lawyers with her at the hearing.
Her team has not been able to communicate with San Miguel or her family, it added, calling her a "forced disappearance."
Calling for her immediate release and right to legal defense, the United Nations' human rights office also referred to San Miguel as a potential enforced disappearance.
Maduro's election deal with the opposition led the U.S. to temporarily ease oil sanctions, but Washington began reimposing sanctions last month after Venezuela's top court upheld a ban blocking the candidacy of the leading opposition presidential hopeful.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Mayela Armas, additional reporting by Gabriel Araujo; editing by Rami Ayyub and Marguerita Choy) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | WASHINGTON/CARACAS (Reuters) -The United States is "deeply concerned" by reports that human rights activist Rocio San Miguel and members of her family have been arrested in Venezuela, the White House said on Tuesday. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/us-concerned-about-venezuela039s-arrest-of-activist-and-her-family | |
1,283,178 | Exclusive-Putin's suggestion of Ukraine ceasefire rejected by United States, sources say | MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's suggestion of a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war was rejected by the United States after contacts between intermediaries, three Russian sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.
The failure of Putin's approach ushers in a third year of the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two and illustrates just how far apart the world's two largest nuclear powers remain.
A U.S. source denied there had been any official contact and said Washington would not engage in talks that did not involve Ukraine.
Putin sent signals to Washington in 2023 in public and privately through intermediaries, including through Moscow's Arab partners in the Middle East and others, that he was ready to consider a ceasefire in Ukraine, the Russian sources said.
Putin was proposing to freeze the conflict at the current lines and was unwilling to cede any of the Ukrainian territory controlled by Russia, but the signal offered what some in the Kremlin saw as the best path towards a peace of some kind.
"The contacts with the Americans came to nothing," a senior Russian source with knowledge of the discussions in late 2023 and early 2024 told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
A second Russian source with knowledge of the contacts told Reuters that the Americans told Moscow, via the intermediaries, they would not discuss a possible ceasefire without the participation of Ukraine and so the contacts ended in failure.
A third source with knowledge of the discussions said: "Everything fell apart with the Americans." The source said that the Americans did not want to pressure Ukraine.
The extent of the contacts - and their failure - has not previously been reported.
It comes as U.S. President Joe Biden has for months been pushing Congress to approve more aid for Ukraine, but has faced opposition from allies of Republican presidential nomination frontrunner Donald Trump.
The Kremlin, the White House, the U.S. State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) all declined to comment.
U.S. SAYS 'NO BACK CHANNEL'
Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a full-scale war after eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces on the one side and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies on the other.
Ukraine says it is fighting for its existence and the West casts Putin's invasion as an imperial-style land grab that challenges the post-Cold War international order.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he will never accept Russia's control over Ukrainian land. He has outlawed any contacts with Russia.
A U.S. official, speaking in Washington on condition of anonymity, said that the U.S. has not engaged in any back channel discussions with Russia and that Washington had been consistent in not going behind the back of Ukraine.
The U.S. official said that there appeared to have been unofficial "Track II" conversations among Russians not in the government but that the United States was not engaged in them.
The U.S. official said Putin's proposal, based on what has been publicly reported, was unchanged from past demands that Russia hold on to Ukrainian territory. The official suggested that there appeared to be frustration in Moscow that Washington had repeatedly refused to accept it.
Putin told U.S. talk-show host Tucker Carlson last week that Russia was ready for "dialogue".
CONTACTS
Intermediaries met in Turkey in late 2023, according to three Russian sources.
A fourth diplomatic source said that there had been Russian-U.S. unofficial contacts through intermediaries at Russia's initiative but that they appeared to have come to nothing.
The U.S. official said he was unaware of unofficial contact through intermediaries.
According to three Russian sources, Putin's signal was relayed to Washington, where top U.S. officials including White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met.
The idea was that Sullivan would speak to Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, and set out the next steps, one of the Russian sources said.
But when the call came in January, Sullivan told Ushakov that Washington was willing to talk about other aspects of the relationship but would not speak about a ceasefire without Ukraine, said one of the Russian sources.
The U.S. official refused to be drawn on any details of Sullivan's purported calls, or whether such a conversation with Ushakov took place.
PUTIN 'READY TO FIGHT ON'
One of the Russian sources expressed frustration with the United States over Washington's insistence that it would not nudge Ukraine towards talks given that the United States was helping to fund the war.
"Putin said: 'I knew they wouldn't do anything'," another of the Russian sources said. "They cut off the root of the contacts which had taken two months to create."
Another Russian source said that the United States did not appear to believe Putin was sincere.
"The Americans didn't believe Putin was genuine about a ceasefire - but he was and is - he is ready to discuss a ceasefire. But equally Putin is also ready to fight on for as long as it takes - and Russia can fight for as long as it takes," the Russian source said.
The Kremlin sees little point in further contacts with the United States on the issue, the Russian sources said, so the war would continue.
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow; Additional reporting by Steve Holland in Washington; Editing by Alex Richardson) | News | World | Complimentary | Long | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's suggestion of a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war was rejected by the United States after contacts between intermediaries, three Russian sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/exclusive-putin039s-suggestion-of-ukraine-ceasefire-rejected-by-united-states-sources-say | |
1,283,177 | Analysis-Hungary abuse scandal threatens Viktor Orban's 'family values' platform | BUDAPEST (Reuters) - A row over a presidential pardon for a man who helped to cover up sexual abuse in a children's home risks damaging the core appeal of the ruling party of Hungary's Viktor Orban: its commitment to family and Christian values.
Veteran conservative Prime Minister Orban has sought to defuse the scandal that brought down two of his key political allies - the president and former justice minister - in a week. But the most challenging period of his 14-year premiership is not over, with the scandal dominating domestic media and popular influencers planning a street protest.
While the turmoil poses no immediate threat to his rule, with 2026 elections still far off, it comes ahead of European parliament elections in June where his party is hoping to gain from a rise in far-right support across Europe.
"It has served to demonstrate the ideological veneer of his presupposed family values and conservative purity," said Roger Hilton, a research fellow at the independent think tank GLOBSEC.
"If (this) continues to be gradually exposed that is where the real risk to Orban's ... survival materializes," Hilton said, adding that Orban should be able to recover from the current setback.
"He may be wounded but his policies are by no means in any impending peril."
Orban's party Fidesz tried to win back the narrative after President Katalin Novak's resignation on Saturday, saying mistakes on its side had consequences unlike those made by the opposition. But the media and opposition have not let go and are now digging into the motives behind the presidential pardon made in April 2023 but first reported by news site 444.hu on Feb. 2.
Orban has not spoken publicly since Thursday, and has made no comment on the two resignations. He is due to hold his state of the nation speech on Saturday, setting out his policy agenda for 2024.
"The Prime Minister has already expressed his views on the pardon issue. The government continues its work as normal," his press chief Bertalan Havasi said in an emailed reply to Reuters questions on Tuesday.
In a bid to contain the political fallout, Orban submitted a constitutional amendment to parliament last week, depriving the president of the right to pardon crimes committed against children. That was interpreted by political analysts as a clear message to Novak - who resigned two days later.
Judit Varga, a former justice minister who signed off on Novak's pardon, stepped down as a Fidesz MP and "resigned from public life".
Orban loyalist Varga was expected to lead Fidesz's list for the European parliament elections and it was not clear who would step into her shoes.
'CHRISTIAN VALUES'
Orban has cast himself as a protector of Christian values against Western liberalism. His campaigns to protect children from what he has described as LGBTQ activists roaming the nation's schools is one of several issues over which he has clashed with the European Commission.
The uncovering of the pardon has triggered a public outcry and nine online influencers, among them hugely popular singer Azahriah, have called for a protest on Friday.
"Irrespective of the (political) sides, we believe it is important for us to speak out in support of a protection of the victims (of abuse), transparency, human dignity and honest public dialogue," the influencers wrote in a Facebook post.
"How many more similar issues there are that we don't know about, and that have been covered up?"
To complicate Orban's task, Peter Magyar, Varga's former husband and a businessman close to Fidesz circles, has unleashed incendiary comments about the inner workings of the government, accusing Antal Rogan, the minister who leads Orban's office, of running a centralised propaganda machine. Magyar clocked up 1.3 million views for an interview he gave to the website Partizan.hu.
Rogan has not publicly commented, and the government spokesperson has not replied to a Reuters' request for comment.
On Tuesday Magyar took aim at Orban's son-in-law, businessman Istvan Tiborcz, questioning in a Facebook post how he had accumulated his wealth. Tiborcz told news television RTL Klub he did not want to take part in "political battles".
Speaking to news site Telex, Orban's press chief Havasi said the government "does not deal with desperate attempts by people in a hopeless situation."
Liberal think tank Political Capital said the scandal still had legs.
"For now, the scandal does not seem to be fading quickly from the public eye," it said in a briefing. "The search for and election of a new president ... is bound to bring the issue back into the public spotlight."
(Writing by Krisztina Than; Editing by Ros Russell) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | BUDAPEST (Reuters) - A row over a presidential pardon for a man who helped to cover up sexual abuse in a children's home risks damaging the core appeal of the ruling party of Hungary's Viktor Orban: its commitment to family and Christian values. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/analysis-hungary-abuse-scandal-threatens-viktor-orban039s-039family-values039-platform | |
1,283,132 | Polish farmers plan 'complete blockade' of Ukraine border on Feb. 20 | WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish farmers plan a total blockade of all border crossings with Ukraine on Feb. 20, a trade union said on Tuesday, escalating their month-long strike that began last week in protest against EU policies.
Farmers across Europe have been protesting against constraints placed on them by EU measures to tackle climate change, as well as rising costs and what they say is unfair competition from abroad, particularly Ukraine.
In Poland, farmers have been particularly vocal about the impact of cheap food imports from Ukraine. They began a 30-day strike last Friday that has seen them block roads across the country as well as border crossings with Ukraine.
"On Feb. 20, as part of the 30-day general strike of farmers, we announce that all protest activities will be focused on a complete blockade of all border crossings between Poland and Ukraine and protests in the field," the Solidarity farmers' union said in a statement.
"Not only border crossings will be blocked, but also communication hubs and access roads to transshipment railway stations and sea ports."
A previously announced 'star march' on the same day will see farmers descend on Warsaw from all directions.
Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic, the country's Agrarian Chamber, said that on Feb. 22 groups of farmers from across central and eastern Europe would congregate at their countries' borders for a joint day of protest.
Czech farmers will start their protests on Monday with a blockade of traffic in Prague.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw, Jan Lopatka in Prague; Editing by Susan Fenton) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-14 00:00:00 | null | WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish farmers plan a total blockade of all border crossings with Ukraine on Feb. 20, a trade union said on Tuesday, escalating their month-long strike that began last week in protest against EU policies. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/14/polish-farmers-plan-039complete-blockade039-of-ukraine-border-on-feb-20 | |
1,283,120 | Nine gold miners missing in Turkey 8 hours after landslide | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Nine miners were still missing eight hours after a landslide at an Anagold Mining operation in eastern Turkey on Tuesday, the energy ministry said, with rescue efforts underway.
The mine in Erzincan province is operated by Lidya Madencilik and owned by Turkey-based Calik Holding and Denver, Colorado-based SSR Mining, which is listed in Toronto and the Australian stock exchange.
SSR did not immediately respond to a request for comment at its Turkey office.
Security footage showed a giant mound of soil, which authorities said had been processed for gold and piled on the hills, rapidly crumble and flow into the valley in a deluge of earth and rocks, sending clouds of dust into the air.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 400 search and rescue workers were looking for the missing miners.
"In order to closely coordinate the rescue work, I will interrupt my international program with our president and move to the region as of tonight," Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said in a posting on X, formerly Twitter.
The government said it has launched an investigation into the incident.
(Reporting by Burcu Karakas and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, David Goodman and Bill Berkrot) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Nine miners were still missing eight hours after a landslide at an Anagold Mining operation in eastern Turkey on Tuesday, the energy ministry said, with rescue efforts underway. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/nine-gold-miners-missing-in-turkey-after-landslide | |
1,283,118 | Feisty Portuguese election debate dims hopes for post-poll compromises | LISBON (Reuters) - The leaders of Portugal's centre-right and far-right parties clashed in a tense debate late on Monday, dimming prospects they will find enough common ground for the former to have a stable government if he wins next month's ballot without a majority.
The Portuguese will vote in a snap election, the second in two years, on March 10 after the November resignation of centre-left Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa over an investigation into alleged illegalities in his government's handling of investment projects. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Neither the centre-left nor the centre-right is expected to clinch an outright majority of parliamentary seats in the ballot and analysts expect a post-election stalemate as a likely scenario, potentially leading to a repeat ballot.
An alliance led by the centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) of Luis Montenegro has been slightly ahead in recent opinion polls, but with little chance of governing without some form of support from the anti-establishment, anti-immigration Chega party.
"As a matter of principle, the PSD will never make a political agreement with someone who has policies, opinions, which are often xenophobic, racist, populist, excessively demagogic," Montenegro told Chega leader Andre Ventura in a televised debate.
Ventura called the PSD "the useful idiot of the left" that will "never have a majority" without support from Chega, adding that the PSD will bear the blame for any ensuing instability.
Montenegro has said that if he fails to garner an absolute majority of seats, he would potentially form a minority government. Chega would only be able to topple such a coalition if the right-wing party teamed with the left against it.
In a regional election in the Azores Islands on Feb. 4, the PSD-led Democratic Alliance landed three seats short of an outright majority and refused Chega's offer to negotiate a deal, an approach Montenegro promised to replicate at the national level.
(Reporting by Andrei Khalip and Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Sharon Singleton) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | LISBON (Reuters) - The leaders of Portugal's centre-right and far-right parties clashed in a tense debate late on Monday, dimming prospects they will find enough common ground for the former to have a stable government if he wins next month's ballot without a majority. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/feisty-portuguese-election-debate-dims-hopes-for-post-poll-compromises | |
1,283,093 | Greek government offers more concessions to protesting farmers | ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's conservative government on Tuesday proposed further support measures for farmers who have been protesting for weeks over rising energy costs and competition from abroad.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who won a second term last year, met representatives of farmers' unions at his office around midday to discuss their demands.
"I believe we can find common ground, taking into account your justified concerns," Mitsotakis told farmers' representatives ahead of the meeting.
Last week, the government promised farmers a one-year extension of a tax rebate for agricultural diesel by the end of 2024 and discounts on their power bills. But the pledges were not enough to appease the farmers.
Their unions briefly blocked roads and a border crossing for freight trucks, saying the measures did not address their concerns over rising costs which have forced some of them to leave farming and look for a stable income.
Sharing many of the same grievances, farmers in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy have taken similar action in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, the Greek government announced that farmers will be eligible for cheaper electricity for two years from April, a measure that will be partly financed from proceeds from renewables and carbon market credits.
After that period, electricity prices will be stabilised for a third of their power consumption for another eight years, the energy ministry said in a statement.
Farmers told reporters after the meeting they would examine the proposals before making a decision on their next moves.
Greece has been recovering from a decade-long financial crisis and three international bailouts. Its economy is growing faster than its euro zone peers.
Mitsotakis told farmers they had received more than 1 billion euros in compensation for crops damaged in natural disasters since 2019 and noted Greece's fiscal constraints.
Operations at the Belgian port of Antwerp, one of Europe's biggest container ports, were seriously impacted on Tuesday as hundreds of farmers on tractors blocked the roads to demand better pay and working conditions, officials said.
(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Ros Russell) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's conservative government on Tuesday proposed further support measures for farmers who have been protesting for weeks over rising energy costs and competition from abroad. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/greek-government-offers-more-concessions-to-protesting-farmers | |
1,283,089 | India's Modi may prioritise labour reform if he wins polls, party says | NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi could make labour reforms, cleared by parliament in 2020, a priority if he wins the upcoming general elections as widely expected, a spokesperson for his party said on Tuesday.
Opinion polls suggest Modi's nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will easily win the next general election due by May, as an opposition alliance struggles to stay together.
Modi said last week he would take "big decisions" in any next term to end poverty and accelerate economic development, but did not give specifics.
He has said it is his "guarantee" that India will rise to the world's third-largest economy from fifth if he wins the election.
Both houses of parliament approved new labour codes in 2020, but they have yet to be implemented following resistance from worker unions who oppose the easier hiring and firing provisions as well as restrictions on trade unions.
Modi's government, however, says that bringing 29 disparate laws into four labour codes will ensure that all of the more than 500 million workers in India receive a minimum wage, while a big section will also get social security.
"Labour codes need to be notified. It's necessary, we will do it," BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal said, referring to an official notification announcing implementation.
"Continuous reforms are required to become an economic power and assume global leadership."
But Harbhajan Singh, general secretary of trade union Hind Mazdoor Sabha, said it would protest any attempt to make India's labour laws "pro-employer instead of pro-labour".
"We realise that they are waiting for the elections to get over to implement these," he said. "But we will hold nationwide protests in the coming days against the government's anti-labour policies."
He said that similar protests by farmers had forced the government two years ago to repeal three laws aimed at deregulating India's agricultural markets.
Agarwal said bilateral trade deals with countries would be another focus if Modi gets a rare third straight term. India is already negotiating free trade agreements with countries including former colonial ruler Britain.
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das in New Delhi; Editing by Nick Macfie) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi could make labour reforms, cleared by parliament in 2020, a priority if he wins the upcoming general elections as widely expected, a spokesperson for his party said on Tuesday. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/india039s-modi-may-prioritise-labour-reform-if-he-wins-polls-party-says | |
1,283,088 | US envoy doesn't expect Ukraine NATO invitation at July summit | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, said on Tuesday she does not expect the alliance to issue a membership invitation to Ukraine at its summit in Washington this coming July.
"As for the summit this summer, I do not expect the alliance to issue an invitation at this juncture," Smith said in response to a question on a call with journalists ahead of a NATO defence ministers' meeting on Thursday.
As it fights Russia's invasion, Ukraine has made clear its aim is to become a member of the U.S.-led military alliance.
Kyiv and some of its allies inside NATO, particularly in Eastern Europe, have pushed for a membership invitation even as they accept Ukraine could not join NATO while still at war.
At a summit in Lithuania last year, NATO leaders said Ukraine's future was in the alliance but stopped short of issuing an invitation or setting out a timeline for membership.
"We've worked very hard since the Vilnius summit last year to move out on a number of steps to continue to help our friends in Ukraine with the necessary reforms inside their own country to move closer to Euro-Atlantic integration," Smith said.
"And we continue to focus first and foremost on supporting them in the current fight and ensuring that they can prevail on the battlefield."
(Reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by GV De Clercq, Tassilo Hummel) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, said on Tuesday she does not expect the alliance to issue a membership invitation to Ukraine at its summit in Washington this coming July. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/us-envoy-doesn039t-expect-ukraine-nato-invitation-at-july-summit | |
1,283,071 | Exclusive-Ukraine may seek easing of Green Deal requirements at EU talks, Kyiv source says | KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine could consider forgoing the European Union's agrarian subsidies in exchange for an easing of the bloc's Green Deal requirements during accession talks starting next month, a senior Ukrainian official told Reuters.
Ukraine, which has a huge agrarian complex capable of feeding hundreds of millions of people, was invited to join the EU last year and will start sectoral talks on its accession in March to harmonise its legislation with EU requirements.
Integrating Ukraine's vast agricultural sector, which before Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 was the world's fourth-largest supplier of grain, into the European Union is likely to be highly sensitive, both politically and economically.
Kyiv could be eligible for 96.5 billion euros ($103.95 billion) in subsidies from the EU's Common Agricultural Policy over seven years, if current rules are applied to an expanded union.
However, the EU's Green Deal, which sets out agricultural regulations for the bloc's 27 members for decades, could make business more difficult for Ukrainian farmers than working without the subsidies provided by the bloc, the source said.
"It seems to me that the ideal negotiating strategy (is to achieve) fewer restrictions on trade, fewer restrictions on the environment (for Ukrainian farmers) and we are willing to trade this for subsidies," the official said.
The official requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. A European Commission spokesperson didn't immediately return a request for comment.
AVOIDING RED TAPE
"We must protect our competitiveness, we must not make bureaucracy that would stop development especially in our conditions - for example, to get ten environmental certificates for some small thing."
The agricultural sector is crucial for Ukraine's battered wartime economy and pre-war in value terms grain accounted for half of all Ukrainian exports.
Ukraine already sells a significant part of its farming produce to the EU and as a member its exports would not be subject to tariffs or quotas.
The talks come at a sensitive time, with farmers across Europe taking to the streets in protest in recent weeks at the EU's Green Deal regulations on animal welfare and pesticide use, as well as the need to leave 4% of farmland fallow.
The subsidy payouts to Kyiv could also force cuts in farm subsidies to existing member states of about 20%, the Financial Times reported last autumn.
The EU's decision to waive import duties on all Ukrainian food in 2022 has already fueled protests in neighbouring bloc members as farmers struggle to compete with cheaper Ukrainian farm products.
The European Commission last month said it would extend the suspension of its import duties on Ukrainian exports.
But it also proposed measures to limit agricultural imports from Ukraine and offer greater flexibility on rules for fallow land in a bid to quell protests by angry farmers in France and other EU members.
WITHOUT SUBSIDIES?
Easing tough environmental regulations, new subsidies and lower taxes are the key demands set out by protesting European farmers, who believe that such steps will protect them from outside competitors like Ukraine.
Many Ukrainian farmers believe that joining the union would give them access to large-scale subsidies, which would increase their harvest and bring in more income.
However, some officials say the subsidies could conversely play against Ukraine.
"I think it is a problem. Subsidies in agriculture very often play a bad role when they become a painkiller and you get used to them," the official said.
Ukrainian farmers could become less dynamic, the source said.
"When you live in a system of subsidies, you are tied to them. If you have a subsidy for carrots, then only carrots will be planted," he noted.
($1 = 0.9283 euros)
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Tom Balmforth and Sharon Singleton) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine could consider forgoing the European Union's agrarian subsidies in exchange for an easing of the bloc's Green Deal requirements during accession talks starting next month, a senior Ukrainian official told Reuters. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/exclusive-ukraine-may-seek-easing-of-green-deal-requirements-at-eu-talks-kyiv-source-says | |
1,282,993 | Analysis-Italian far-right leader Salvini fights to escape Meloni's shadow | ROME (Reuters) - Five years ago, Matteo Salvini confirmed his status as a rising star of European far-right politics when his League party swept a third of the vote in Italian EU parliamentary elections.
His fortunes have since waned even as Italians have ushered in their most right-wing government since World War Two, his popularity eclipsed by the ascent to power of his ally Giorgia Meloni and her nationalist Brothers of Italy party.
Salvini's League, a junior partner in the rightist coalition, is polling below 9% ahead of new European parliament elections in June, while Meloni's party hovers close to the 30% mark, cementing its position as the largest force in Italy.
In an effort to rekindle support, Salvini has driven even further to the right on issues such as crime and relations with Brussels, but the shift has not yet moved the polls his way.
One of the League's European lawmakers, Gianantonio Da Re, told Reuters that Salvini would face internal pressure to step down as leader unless he stopped the rot in the June election.
"We got 34% five years ago. If we get 8% this time, someone will have to answer for it," he said.
League Senator Gian Marco Centinaio - a senior Salvini ally - ruled out the prospect of a looming leadership showdown, or the likelihood of the party performing badly in the EU election: "This possibility doesn't exist," he said.
But the pressure is building.
Salvini's rightward lurch has caused discontent within his own party ranks and poses a problem for Meloni as she seeks to present her government as a reliable partner in Europe and beyond, according to some politicians, pollsters and academics.
The future of right-wing politics across Europe is also in focus, the experts said, with Salvini the flagbearer for a more radical, anti-EU front while Meloni leads efforts to bridge the divide between mainstream conservatives and hardliners.
"Salvini is clearly looking to radicalise his position to be constantly in the news and put Meloni in a tight spot, because she has to maintain a more establishment position," said Mattia Diletti, a politics professor at Rome's Sapienza University.
"But it is a dangerous game. How much does he want to destabilise the government or his own party?"
ELECTORAL DILEMMA
Belying his role as deputy prime minister, Salvini has appeared more like an opposition politician in recent weeks, enthusiastically endorsing protests by Italian farmers, despite the fact that one of their grievances is a government decision to remove agricultural tax breaks.
"The major part of their demands are against the mad, pseudo-green policies of Europe," Salvini said on Jan. 31, without addressing the Italian aspect of their protest.
He has taken particular aim at EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a moderate centre-right politician who has forged unexpectedly close ties with Meloni.
"I wouldn't vote for Ursula von der Leyen," Salvini said last month, just after she had visited Rome to endorse publicly an African cooperation pact that is a cornerstone of Meloni's foreign policy.
In 2019, Meloni's Brothers of Italy won 6.4% of the vote in the European election. Public support for the party has since shot up and is currently polling at about 28%, with the right-wing electorate seeing Meloni as a more trustworthy leader than the mercurial Salvini.
The premier now faces a dilemma.
She is still enjoying a prolonged public honeymoon after her 2022 domestic win, and she could now look to push above 30% in the June election by standing as a candidate herself, and win more seats both for her party and her alliance in Brussels.
Meloni's group is part of an bloc of highly conservative parties in the EU parliament, while Salvini's League is affiliated to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National group in France.
"A possible candidacy by Giorgia Meloni would be an important driving force for the Brothers of Italy," Carlo Fidanza, head of the party's delegation at the European Parliament told Reuters, adding that she would decide based on what was best for the government.
Yet a senior party official close to Meloni, who declined to be named, said the prime minister might not stand as a candidate because she feared that if the League suffered a heavy defeat, it would be thrown into tumult and destabilise the coalition.
Under Italian law, government members or lawmakers are not allowed to hold a seat at the EU Parliament, which means Meloni would only stand as a candidate to give her party a boost.
ELECTORAL PRIORITIES
Many Italian voters do not want the government to prioritise hot right-wing issues of the past such as immigration and relations with Europe, according to a poll of 2,000 people published on Jan. 22 by research institute Demopolis which found the top issues were the cost of living, healthcare and taxation.
Pollster Antonio Noto said Salvini's lurch right risked falling flat, with his approval ratings seeing no uptick even as he revives old populist themes that worked well in the past, such as demanding chemical castration for rapists.
"Salvini is conducting the same electoral campaign as in 2019, which was a success back then, but times have changed," Noto said. "Security is important, but healthcare is much more important, and he talks about the former."
There are already murmurings of discontent within the League over Salvini's strategy, notably when he revealed last month that he might put forward as the party's lead candidate an army general who has published a best-selling book in which he disparaged LGBT people, migrants, minorities and feminists.
In a rare sign of public dissent within the League, Da Re - the League's European lawmaker - has announced he will not stand for re-election if General Roberto Vannacci is parachuted into the party line-up.
"That man has nothing to do with our values," Da Re told Reuters. "Salvini thinks that because 200,000 people bought his book, they will then vote for him. But that is nonsense. It will lose us support because many of our supporters oppose this."
While Salvini has dragged the party to the right since taking charge in 2013 and broadened its appeal well beyond its northern strongholds, old stalwarts still hold great sway in the traditional party fiefdoms.
One such grandee is the popular head of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia. He has denied wanting to replace Salvini at the top, saying his focus is Veneto. However, his mandate expires next year and under current rules he cannot seek re-election.
Politics professor Diletti said the moderate Zaia could sweep Salvini away if he ever decided to challenge him.
"Zaia would be a very strong competitor, not just for Salvini but also for Meloni," he added. "That is another reason why she wouldn't want to see the League do badly in June."
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer and Angelo Amante; Editing by Pravin Char) | News | World | Complimentary | Long | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | ROME (Reuters) - Five years ago, Matteo Salvini confirmed his status as a rising star of European far-right politics when his League party swept a third of the vote in Italian EU parliamentary elections. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/analysis-italian-far-right-leader-salvini-fights-to-escape-meloni039s-shadow | |
1,282,969 | Head of French farmers union says protests could resume | PARIS (Reuters) - The head of France's biggest farming union - the FNSEA - said on Tuesday that protests that hit the sector last month could resume if the government does not do more to meet their demands for better pay and working conditions.
The government is in talks with farmers over getting them higher selling prices to supermarkets and over loosening regulation and bureaucracy which farmers have said was a burden on their businesses.
However, FNSEA head Arnaud Rousseau said that, with 10 days to go until the start of the annual national farming convention, the government was not doing enough.
"We are not moving at the right pace," Rousseau told French TV station TF1.
Asked if farmers could restart the roadblocks that hit many motorways in January, Rousseau replied: "Very probably."
Farmers across Europe - in countries such as Poland, Spain, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands - have demonstrated over the last month for more money and better working conditions.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Jason Neely) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | PARIS (Reuters) - The head of France's biggest farming union - the FNSEA - said on Tuesday that protests that hit the sector last month could resume if the government does not do more to meet their demands for better pay and working conditions. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/head-of-french-farmers-union-says-protests-could-resume | |
1,282,968 | Russia puts Estonian PM, two Baltic ministers on wanted list | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police have put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Estonian State Secretary Taimar Peterkop and Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys on a wanted list, according to the Russian Interior Ministry's database.
The database did not say what offence or offences they were wanted for.
Russian news agency TASS quoted a source saying they were accused of "destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers".
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Heavens) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police have put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Estonian State Secretary Taimar Peterkop and Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys on a wanted list, according to the Russian Interior Ministry's database. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/russia-puts-estonian-pm-two-baltic-ministers-on-wanted-list | |
1,282,967 | No sign of new government in Pakistan as coalition talks drag | ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's political stalemate after inconclusive elections last week showed no signs of ending on Tuesday with the largest groups still unable to agree on forming a coalition government to run the crisis-hit country.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the largest party after the Feb. 8 vote, said it continues to negotiate with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the second largest, to clinch a partnership.
PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif challenged independent members backed by jailed former premier Imran Khan, who account for the highest number of seats, to form a government and prove their majority. He said if they cannot do so, other parties would.
Khan's media team said Khan had made it clear that members supported by his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would not join forces with PML-N, PPP and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the three largest parties, indicating that his independents would not be a part of any coalition government.
The stalemate five days after the general election has become a cause for concern as the nuclear-armed country grapples with an economic crisis and rising militant violence.
Pakistan narrowly averted sovereign default last summer through a last-gasp $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - but the lender's support ends in March, following which a new, extended programme will be needed.
Negotiating a new programme, and at speed, will be critical for the new government, which will take over an economy beset by record high inflation and slow growth caused by tough reforms.
"We had two meetings and there will be more," Sharif told reporters, referring to his party's talks with PPP. "We will let the nation know when there is a decision. We all have to move together for the larger national interest.
"We will, God willing, play our role" to tackle the challenges Pakistan is facing, counter inflation and fix the broken economy, said Sharif, 72, who was premier for 16 months until August.
He said PML-N numbers in parliament had risen to 80 from 75 on Monday with independents joining the party.
There was no immediate word about the negotiations from PPP and the party leadership is expected to speak to reporters later on Tuesday.
The two parties are wrangling over who will be prime minister, with both wanting the top job.
Separately, Khan's media team said Khan had told reporters during a court appearance inside prison that independents backed by his PTI will not form a coalition with the three largest parties, ending rumours that it might form such an alliance.
Khan was jailed last month on charges including the revealing of state secrets and his party was barred from contesting elections, forcing members to run as independents.
(Additional reporting by Ariba Shahid; Writing by YP Rajesh, editing by Ed Osmond) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's political stalemate after inconclusive elections last week showed no signs of ending on Tuesday with the largest groups still unable to agree on forming a coalition government to run the crisis-hit country. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/independent-members-welcome-to-form-government-if-they-can-show-majority-pakistan-ex-pm-shehbaz-sharif-says | |
1,282,966 | Russia preparing for military confrontation with West, says Estonia | VILNIUS (Reuters) - Russia is preparing for a military confrontation with the West within the next decade and could be deterred by a counter build-up of armed forces, Estonia's Foreign Intelligence Service said on Tuesday.
A growing number of Western officials have warned of a military threat from Russia to countries along the eastern flank of NATO, calling for Europe to get prepared by rearming.
The chief of the intelligence service said the assessment was based on Russian plans to double the number of forces stationed along its border with NATO members Finland and the Baltic States of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
"Russia has chosen a path which is a long-term confrontation ... and the Kremlin is probably anticipating a possible conflict with NATO within the next decade or so," Kaupo Rosin told reporters at the release of Estonia's national security threats report.
A military attack by Russia is "highly unlikely" in the short term, he said, partly because Russia has to keep troops in Ukraine, and would remain unlikely if Russian buildup of forces was matched in Europe.
"If we are not prepared, the likelihood (of a military Russian attack) would be much higher than without any preparation," Rosin added.
Estonia and the other Baltic States have increased their military spending to over 2% of the value of their economies after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, and NATO allies have raised their presence in those countries.
Germany plans to have 4,800 combat-ready troops in the region by 2027, in its first permanent foreign deployment since World War Two, and Rosin said NATO and its allies were moving in the right direction to counter the Russian threat.
Rosin does not expect a Russian breakthrough in Ukraine before its presidential election in March, as it would need to mobilise significantly more troops to achieve that goal.
Speaking about U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's comments that he would not defend allies who don't spend enough on defence, Rosin said: "Such statements are never helpful".
Russia's ability to provide ammunition to its troops is continuing to outweigh Ukraine's, and unless Western support is sustained or increased, Ukraine is unlikely to be able to change the situation on the battlefield, he added.
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius, editing by Ed Osmond) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | VILNIUS (Reuters) - Russia is preparing for a military confrontation with the West within the next decade and could be deterred by a counter build-up of armed forces, Estonia's Foreign Intelligence Service said on Tuesday. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/russia-preparing-for-military-confrontation-with-west-says-estonia | |
1,282,917 | Man exposes himself to women while making TikTok videos in stores, US cops say | A man lured women into helping him make TikTok videos before exposing himself through his pajama pants, Michigan deputies say.
Monroe county deputies reported a Feb 5 incident in which Avery Williams, 24, exposed himself after asking a woman in a Frenchtown Township department store to film a TikTok video with him.
When she tried to flee, he assaulted her, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Nearly a dozen other women have come forward to share similar stories about Williams, WTVG reported.
Dawn Evans described a similar scenario to WXYZ involving Williams asking her to film a TikTok video in a store.
“As he turned around, his genitals were hanging out of his pajama pants,” she told WXYZ. “They have a slit in them, in his underwear still, but hanging out. I said, ‘No, thank you.’ And I turned around and I just walked away,” .
Evans was arrested and charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct and one count of assault and battery. His bond was set at US$2,500.
Attorney information for Williams was not listed.
His next hearing is scheduled for Feb 20. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service | Tech | Social media | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | Social media,Courts Crime | A man lured women into helping him make TikTok videos before exposing himself through his pajama pants, Michigan deputies say. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/13/man-exposes-himself-to-women-while-making-tiktok-videos-in-stores-us-cops-say | |
1,282,892 | First person in England and Wales convicted of cyber-flashing | LONDON: The first person in England and Wales to be convicted of the new offence of cyber-flashing is a 39-year-old man from Basildon in Essex.
Cyber-flashing became an offence on January 31 this year as part of the Online Safety Act.
Nicholas Hawkes sent unsolicited photos of his genitals to a 15-year-old girl and a woman on February 9, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
The woman took screenshots of the image on WhatsApp and reported Hawkes to Essex Police the same day.
Hawkes admitted at Southend Magistrates’ Court to two counts of sending a photograph or film of genitals to cause alarm, distress, or humiliation, the CPS said.
He was convicted at Monday’s hearing and was remanded in custody to be sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on March 11.
Sefer Mani, from CPS East of England, said: "Cyber-flashing is a grotesque crime and the fact we were able to deliver swift justice for the two victims shows the new law is working.
"Everyone should feel safe wherever they are and not be subjected to receiving unwanted sexual images.
"I urge anyone who feels they have been a victim of cyber-flashing to report it to the police and know that they will be taken seriously and have their identities protected.”
Victims of cyber-flashing and image-based abuse receive lifelong anonymity under the Sexual Offences Act from the point they report the offence.
Hawkes is a registered sex offender until November 2033 after he was convicted and given a community order for sexual activity with a child under 16 years old and exposure last year at Basildon Crown Court, the CPS said.
He will also be sentenced for breaching the order when he is sentenced in March. – PA Media/dpa | Tech | Smartphones | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | Smartphones,Courts Crime | The first person in England and Wales to be convicted of the new offence of cyber-flashing is a 39-year-old man from Basildon in Essex. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/13/first-person-in-england-and-wales-convicted-of-cyber-flashing | |
1,282,902 | How China built BYD, its Tesla killer | SHENZHEN, China: China’s BYD was a battery manufacturer trying its hand at building cars when it showed off its newest model in 2007. American executives at the Guangzhou auto show gaped at the car’s uneven purple paint job and the poor fit of its doors.
“They were the laughingstock of the industry,” said Michael Dunne, a China auto industry analyst.
Nobody is laughing at BYD now.
The company passed Tesla in worldwide sales of fully electric cars late last year. BYD is building assembly lines in Brazil, Hungary, Thailand and Uzbekistan and preparing to do so in Indonesia and Mexico. It is rapidly expanding exports to Europe. And the company is on the cusp of passing Volkswagen Group, which includes Audi, as the market leader in China.
BYD’s sales, over 80% of them in China, have grown by about one million cars in each of the past two years. The last automaker to accomplish that in even one year in the American market was General Motors – and that was in 1946, after GM had suspended passenger car sales during the four preceding years because of World War II.
“BYD’s growth is unlike anything the industry has seen in many decades,” said Matt Anderson, curator of transportation at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
Based in Shenzhen, the hub of China’s electronics industry, BYD has shown how Chinese carmakers can tap the country’s dominance of electrical products. No company has benefited as much from China’s embrace of battery-electric cars and plug-in gasoline-electric cars.
These vehicles together make up 40% of China’s car market, the world’s largest, and are expected to be more than half next year. Like most Chinese automakers, BYD doesn’t sell its cars in America because Donald Trump-era tariffs remain in place, but BYD does sell buses in the United States.
BYD is leading China’s export push in electric cars, and is rapidly building the world’s largest car carrier ships to transport them. The first of the ships, the BYD Explorer No. 1, is on its maiden voyage from Shenzhen with 5,000 electric cars on board, and is expected to arrive in the Netherlands by Feb 21.
With China’s and BYD’s success has come more scrutiny.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, warned about the strength of Chinese electric car exports in a company earnings call in January. “Frankly, I think if there are not trade barriers established, they will pretty much demolish most other companies in the world,” he said.
BYD’s chair, Wang Chuanfu, founded the company in 1995 to make batteries for Motorola and other consumer electronics companies. He had studied at Central South University in Changsha, an elite institution famed for battery chemistry research. But he dreamed of making cars.
In 2003, BYD bought a factory in Xi’an that was building gasoline-powered cars. But the company had trouble at the start, gaining an early reputation for building clunkers. In a visit to the factory in 2006, a large repair area at the end of the assembly line was clogged with newly built cars that already needed more work.
BYD’s sales grew as the Chinese market soared. Warren Buffett bought a nearly 10% stake for US$230mil (RM1.09bil) in 2008, giving BYD not just a cash infusion but also global cachet. The same year, Wang promised to start exporting battery-electric cars to the United States within two years.
But electric cars at the time cost a lot to build and had limited range, and Wang had to scotch his plans to enter the American market. In an interview in 2011, he second-guessed his emphasis on battery-electric cars. Automakers should focus on gasoline-electric hybrids, he declared. He added, “There is still tremendous potential in the Chinese market for electric cars.”
By 2012, car production in China had caught up with demand. Buyers became choosier. BYD’s car sales and stock price plunged as multinationals offered more stylish models. Industry executives and analysts questioned whether BYD had a future.
But Wang proceeded to make two risky bets that paid off.
In 2016, he hired Wolfgang Egger, a prominent Audi designer, who in turn hired hundreds more car engineers with bold tastes. They completely redesigned BYD’s models.
Wang also figured out how to replace the industry’s standard chemicals in rechargeable lithium batteries – nickel, cobalt and manganese – with cheaper iron and phosphate. But early batteries made from the inexpensive chemical compounds ran out of juice quickly and had to be recharged after even short trips.
In 2020, BYD introduced its Blade batteries, which closed most of the so-called range gap with nickel-cobalt batteries at a fraction of what they cost.
Tesla began making and selling large numbers of cars in China the same year, and enthusiasm for electric cars swept the nation. BYD was ready with inexpensive battery chemistries and Egger’s new designs.
Tesla also began using lithium iron phosphate batteries in less expensive models. BYD still sells mostly cheaper cars with lower range, while Tesla mostly sells costlier cars with more range.
BYD now has its own walled town in Shenzhen, a southeastern city next to Hong Kong. An airport-style monorail carries workers from 18-story company apartments to BYD’s office towers and research labs.
Liu Qiangqiang, an engineer at the Shenzhen center, said the staff of his car development team had almost tripled since he joined the company from GMs 15 months ago.
“The pace is fast,” he said.
After dismissing autonomous driving a year ago, BYD swung into action when the consumer electronics companies Huawei and Xiaomi introduced cars with considerable autonomous driving abilities. Wang announced in January that BYD had 4,000 engineers working on assisted driving, a limited form of autonomous technology that works mainly on highways and large roads, and would invest US$14bil (RM66.72bil) in the technology.
BYD has a lingering advantage over Tesla: Wang’s decision by 2011 to develop plug-in hybrid cars, which account for nearly half of BYD’s sales.
Li Jingyu, a salesperson at a BYD dealership in Shenzhen, said many families bought a hybrid as their first car so they could drive at Lunar New Year back to their ancestral villages. Most villages in China now have chargers, Li said, but not enough for the throngs of visiting drivers at Lunar New Year, which started Friday night.
“People are just worried,” he said, “about the waiting time.” – The New York Times | Tech | Technology | Complimentary | Long | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | China,EV,Technology | The company passed Tesla in worldwide sales of fully electric cars late last year. BYD is building assembly lines in Brazil, Hungary, Thailand and Uzbekistan and preparing to do so in Indonesia and Mexico. It is rapidly expanding exports to Europe. And the company is on the cusp of passing Volkswagen Group, which includes Audi, as the market leader in China. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/13/how-china-built-byd-its-tesla-killer | |
1,282,881 | Professional coaches help Americans navigate Dating 2.0 | SAN DIEGO: When a long-term relationship came to an unhappy end, 43-year-old Katia suddenly found herself in “uncharted waters” as she struggled to deal with a baffling array of dating apps and the confusing – and mostly unwritten – set of rules governing modern dating behaviour.
Needing someone more experienced to guide her, the 43-year-old corporate executive turned to a professional online dating coach.
How should she describe herself in her online profile? What words should she use, and which photos should she post? What sort of messages should she send – or not send?
How could she seem interested in someone without coming off as needy? And what should she do if she doesn’t hear back after that crucial first date?
Before the advent of dating apps – and the explosion of texting – none of these questions really mattered, or even existed.
“It’s exhausting!” laughed Katia, who declined to provide her last name.
From the men who abruptly go silent online (famously known as “ghosting”) to the mind-numbing lists of seemingly standardised questions (“check this box if...”), Katia said she was “shocked by some of the behaviour I was seeing”.
If there is little data on the number of such online advisors or their success, dating coaches seem to be everywhere, part of a booming business in personal development.
“She's helped me understand what's the modern-day definition of a******,” Katia half-joked, while insisting that their talks were “more significant and profound than any of the conversations I’ve had about the logistics of all my dating... What are my needs? What are my standards?”
Katia continued: “She’s been helpful in just the day-to-day details of like, ‘No, that’s actually normal’, or, ‘This guy, I agree, he was kind of an a******’.”
Having a dating coach, she said, wasn’t really so different from having a sports coach.
‘Wild West’
Dating coach Sabrina Zohar doesn’t really think of herself as an influencer or a therapist – but with more than 450,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 800,000 on TikTok, people are keen for her takes on modern romance.
She had originally dreamed of becoming an actress, then studied psychology for a while before turning to business.
After herself struggling through a difficult relationship, she started a podcast and posted videos about the world of love and dating, often drawing on personal experience.
“I’ve been that anxious girl that literally couldn’t function or sleep at night because I was waiting for a text from somebody,” she admits.
But she has turned those bad experiences into a wealth of knowledge for her clients.
“I’m going to show you something about me so that you feel safe to share something back,” she tells them, “and I think people feel very seen and heard.”
“So I’ve been able to kind of condense that and, I think, create a new medium of helping people that is actually giving them tools” to navigate an online dating world she likens to “the Wild West”.
Zohar said she conducts about 15 sessions a week. Most of her clients – both women and men – are aged between 27 and 44, paying from US$35 for a quick answer to a question to US$6,600 for unlimited follow-up.
‘Professionalised skill’
The success of dating coaches doesn’t surprise sociologist Amanda Miller, a relationship specialist.
She said two phenomena had “collided”: the explosion in dating apps – with the often contradictory expectations of their users – and the pandemic, which upended many social interactions.
“I think we got very much more comfortable during the pandemic with apps-based services,” she said, partly as a reflection of the “American efficiency-capitalist-model – we want this quick and fast and cheap”.
“Does it take the romance out of it? Not necessarily. In the past, our elders or even our good friends might have given us the same kind of advice. Now we see this as a professionalised skill set in a different way,” added Miller, the sociology chair at the University of Indianapolis.
It was this professional aspect that brought James, a 54-year-old who declined to give his real name, to a dating coach. He soon found himself doing some “deep emotional work”.
“She has much of the knowledge that a therapist will have, but her approach is more, ‘How do I apply this to everyday life – now’,” said James, who runs a startup in California.
In just months, he said, his coach has helped him deal with his anxieties and feel more confident – good skills to have when the modern world of dating remains a lot more complicated than simply swiping left or right. – AFP | Tech | Internet | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | Internet,Mobile apps,Relationships | When a long-term relationship came to an unhappy end, 43-year-old Katia suddenly found herself in “uncharted waters” as she struggled to deal with a baffling array of dating apps and the confusing – and mostly unwritten – set of rules governing modern dating behaviour. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/13/professional-coaches-help-americans-navigate-dating-20 | |
1,282,727 | ‘Intrusive’ drones? US surveillance case tests privacy law | WASHINGTON: A neighbour had already warned Todd Maxon of seeing something unusual hovering over his lakeside Michigan property – but then, suddenly, there it was.
"I walk out of my house, with my dog and kid, and here's a drone, directly above me," Maxon recalled of the 2018 incident.
It turns out the drone had been over the five-acre (two-hectare) property at least two other times in previous months, part of what turned out to be an effort by the local Long Lake Township to surveil the Maxons' land over a zoning dispute involving his hobby of fixing up old vehicles.
But the township did so without getting a warrant first – and Maxon and his legal team say that infringed his constitutional right against unreasonable searches.
After bouncing between courts in recent years, the Michigan Supreme Court heard oral arguments in October, and a ruling in coming months could set a precedent nationally.
"It's very intrusive," Maxon, 51, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"They could have done it multiple more times – that's the unrest you have, as you just don't know," he said. "I don't know if there's going to be a drone surveilling my kids, or wife, or animals."
Maxon said the township had also used drones to enforce zoning rules on others in the community.
Long Lake Township declined to comment on the pending case, but it has previously accused Maxon of operating an unlicensed junk yard in a residential area, an accusation he denies.
The township has said the drone images were of areas beyond the Maxons' home and hence not protected by the constitution's fourth amendment that guarantees "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches" without probable cause.
The Maxons' attorney rejected that logic.
"When the government hires somebody to fly a drone all over your property ... in order to gather evidence, that's a search under the fourth amendment. It violates a reasonable expectation of privacy," said Robert Frommer, a senior attorney with the Institute of Justice public interest law firm who is representing the Maxon family.
"If you want to do this going forward, all you have to do is go to a judge and give a good reason. The one thing we don't want is for officials to decide this themselves – the next thing you know, we'll have drones flying over everyone because they'll be fishing for violations."
As the use and availability of drone technology expands, Frommer said the case could set a legal precedent.
"This is a bellwether. This decision will affect the course of not just Michigan, but all of America about how it treats drone surveillance."
Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, a trade group, declined to comment on the case, citing the active litigation.
Outdated safeguards
The US Supreme Court has previously weighed in on the issue of aerial surveillance, but its main decisions came in the 1980s and related to manned aircraft.
While the court then found that manned aircraft surveilling backyards did not violate the fourth amendment, the differences with today's drones are significant, said Hannah Zhao, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a watchdog group that filed a brief in the Michigan case.
Manned aircraft have natural limits that restrict their ability to be used as surveillance, she said, pointing to cost as well as the fact that the presence of a large, noisy aircraft itself serves as notice of potential surveillance.
"When discussing manned aircraft in the '80s, it would have been unfathomable at the time to have something (so small) that could fly over your backyard and is so much more maneuverable," she said.
More recent aerial surveillance programmers have run into legal trouble, with a court in 2021 rejecting a Baltimore police program that flew a surveillance airplane for 12 hours a day.
Meanwhile, evidence suggests police departments are increasingly using drones, including as first responders to emergency calls.
Last year the American Civil Liberties Union said the country was "on the cusp of an explosion in law enforcement use of drones" and flagged concerns that these tools could be used to target poor and marginalized communities in particular.
Tracking from the Electronic Frontier Foundation showed nearly 1,500 law enforcement agencies have purchased or used drones.
A Department of Justice report in 2020 found that most authorised drone use by law enforcement was for search and rescue operations, investigating armed suspects, disaster response, and crime or accident reconstruction, along with crowd monitoring and general surveillance.
‘Privacy law has not kept up’
Yet as the technology develops, the law has not, Zhao said, with many police departments relying largely on internal policies to decide what they can and cannot do.
"We should all be worried about the fact that privacy law has not kept up with the rapid pace of drone technology," she said.
Only a handful of states have passed laws requiring some degree of transparency on the issue. For instance, Minnesota requires a warrant as well as the logging of any time that drones are deployed by the government.
Zhao said a decision in the Michigan case now could influence how other courts across the country approach the issue – and potentially lead the US Supreme Court to revisit the topic.
That is also what Todd Maxon is hoping. He sees his case as an important first step.
"This has nothing to do with my small-peanut case anymore," he said. "If they don't rule on this correctly, nobody's safe from government spying." – Thomson Reuters Foundation | Tech | Drones | Complimentary | Long | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | Drones,Technology | Michigan lawsuit over local government’s drone use in zoning dispute could jumpstart limits for fast-evolving issue across the US. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/13/intrusive-drones-us-surveillance-case-tests-privacy-law | |
1,282,780 | Jailed former Thai leader Thaksin granted parole, PM says | BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's controversial billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra has been granted parole after serving six months in detention, the prime minister said Tuesday, while highlighting his service to the country.
The influential Thaksin, a political heavyweight and arguably Thailand's best known prime minister, made a dramatic homecoming after living abroad for 15 years in self-exile to avoid prison for a conflict of interest.
Thaksin, 74, soon after had his eight-year jail term commuted to a year by the king. He has served six months of that in hospital detention over an undisclosed health condition and did not spend a single night in prison.
"It's official that he received parole. It's in line with the corrections department regulations," Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, a fellow tycoon and ally of the Shinawatra family, told reporters.
"Thaksin was prime minister for many years and did many good things for the country for a long time. After he comes out, he would be a normal citizen."
A former policeman and telecoms magnate who has been at the centre of a tumultuous two-decade battle for power in Thailand, Thaksin was on a list of 930 prisoners who were considered elderly or ill and approved for parole, according to media reports.
He could be released after Feb. 18, according to corrections department rules. Thaksin's lawyer did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.
Despite being granted parole, the former leader could, however, still be detained, as public prosecutors consider charging him for insulting the monarchy during a 2015 interview.
Thaksin's return last year coincided with ally and political newcomer Srettha being chosen as prime minister on the same day, adding to speculation that both developments were part of a behind-the-scenes deal between Thaksin and his powerful enemies in Thailand's royalist-military establishment.
Thaksin's allies and the government, led by the Shinawatra-backed Pheu Thai Party, have dismissed that.
On his first night in prison, Thaksin was moved to a police hospital, with doctors saying he had experienced tightness in his chest and high blood pressure.
(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng, Edited by Kanupriya Kapoor, Ed Davies, Martin Petty) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's controversial billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra has been granted parole after serving six months in detention, the prime minister said Tuesday, while highlighting his service to the country. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/jailed-former-thai-leader-thaksin-granted-parole-pm-says | |
1,282,776 | Indonesia in final stretch ahead of world's biggest single-day election | JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities were making final preparations ahead of Wednesday's election, with around 25,000 police set to ensure security in a contest seen as a test of democratic gains made since the end of authoritarian rule 25 years ago.
Outgoing President Joko Widodo has presided over steady growth and relative stability in the past decade in the mineral-rich Group of 20 economy of 270 million people, establishing it as a future base for multinationals in the electric vehicle supply chain.
Still, Widodo, who is widely known as Jokowi, has in the run-up to the Feb. 14 presidential election faced criticism over his perceived political meddling and push to establish a political dynasty.
He has not explicitly endorsed any of the three presidential candidates but has made highly publicised appearances with controversial former special forces commander Prabowo Subianto, and his eldest son is running on the same ticket for vice president.
Two opinion surveys last week projected Defence Minister Prabowo, who is making his third run to be president, could secure more than 50% of the votes on Wednesday, allowing him to win in a single round. Rivals Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo were seen at least 27 and 31 points behind him respectively.
Indonesia has entered a cooling-off period until voting day, with candidates barred from campaigning.
Running an election is a gargantuan task in Indonesia. The archipelago of more than 17,000 islands stretches across three times zones and a distance similar to across the United States.
Election officials have delivered ballot boxes and papers to far-flung regions, in some cases travelling hours by boat, helicopter or ox-drawn carts.
The weather agency has warned about the risk of extreme weather in West Java on polling day, media reported. Meanwhile, the election commission has postponed voting in ten villages in the Karanganyar district in Central Java due to flooding.
Jokowi's tacit backing of Prabowo has led to accusations he has flouted election rules, which he rejects.
In Indonesia, sitting presidents can campaign for candidates providing they do not use state resources and must take official leave to do so. Incumbents have typically been neutral.
The presidential office has denied political meddling by Jokowi.
Hundreds of students held noisy street protests on Monday to protest against what they see as democratic backsliding under Jokowi, a former furniture salesman who seemed to offer a clean break from the military and political elite.
In 1998, huge student protests fuelled unrest that led to the fall of former strongman leader Suharto and helped usher in democracy.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia, Writing by Ed Davies, Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities were making final preparations ahead of Wednesday's election, with around 25,000 police set to ensure security in a contest seen as a test of democratic gains made since the end of authoritarian rule 25 years ago. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/indonesia-in-final-stretch-ahead-of-world039s-biggest-single-day-election | |
1,282,778 | Thai journalists arrested for news coverage of anarchist graffiti on temple | BANGKOK (Reuters) -Two Thai journalists have been arrested for their story about an activist spray painting an anarchist symbol and a symbol critical of "lese majeste" laws on a Bangkok temple wall almost a year ago, the police and their lawyers said on Tuesday.
Nattaphol Meksobhon, a reporter from an independent online news outlet Prachatai, and freelance photographer Nattaphon Phanphongsanon were arrested on Monday.
The two were charged with being accomplices to damaging an historical site and public vandalism, said Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, which is representing the men.
The allegations stem from their news coverage last March of an activist spray painting an anarchist symbol and the number 112 with a strike through it on the wall of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, located within the Grand Palace compound in Bangkok.
The number 112 is a reference to the "lese majeste" law that protects the palace from criticism and carries a maximum jail sentence of up to 15 years for each perceived royal insult, a punishment widely condemned by international human rights groups as extreme.
The graffiti incident was captured on video and widely reported by the media.
Prachatai news editor Tewarit Maneechai said the two journalists went to cover the story without knowing in advance that the activist was going to graffiti the temple's wall.
"They were covering the news as journalists," Tewarit said.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Phawat Wattasupat, deputy superintendent of Phra Ratchawang police station, told Reuters that police had sufficient information to support their arrests.
Tewarit said his colleagues were not aware of the charges prior to their arrest even though the warrant was issued last May.
"Their arrests created fear about news coverage of sensitive issues," he said.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Tuesday that the government is "fair" on freedom of the press and said it is up to the police to see what is appropriate.
"Everything depends on the law, there is no harassment," he said.
The court approved bail for the two reporters for 35,000 baht ($980) each after they were detained overnight, their lawyers said.
($1 = 35.7100 baht)
(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Michael Perry and Kim Coghill) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | BANGKOK (Reuters) -Two Thai journalists have been arrested for their story about an activist spray painting an anarchist symbol and a symbol critical of "lese majeste" laws on a Bangkok temple wall almost a year ago, the police and their lawyers said on Tuesday. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/thai-journalists-arrested-for-news-coverage-of-anarchist-graffiti-on-temple | |
1,282,774 | Three COP summit hosts unite to raise climate ambitions | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates, host of last year's COP28 climate summit, and Azerbaijan and Brazil, the hosts of the next two U.N. climate summits, said on Tuesday they would team up to push for more ambitious emissions-cutting goals.
Preparations for the 2024 and 2025 climate talks are taking place amidst a political push-back on climate action in some countries - even as extreme weather becomes more frequent and temperature records are smashed nearly every month.
The UAE's COP28 presidency said on Tuesday the summit hosts would form a three-way "troika" to focus on ensuring that more ambitious CO2-cutting pledges are made ahead of a deadline at 2025's COP30 summit in Belem, Brazil.
"We cannot afford to lose momentum, we must do everything we can to keep 1.5 C within reach," said Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE's president of last year's negotiations. The target of containing global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels was set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The main task for this year's COP29 summit in November in Baku, Azerbaijan, is to agree a new global target for climate finance for developing countries.
But some climate diplomats are already looking ahead to Brazil's summit in 2025 as the next major milestone for global climate diplomacy. Nearly 200 countries are required to submit updated national CO2-cutting pledges in time for COP30.
The next round of countries' climate targets is seen as a crucial last chance to prevent global warming exceeding 1.5C, a target fast slipping out of reach, as global greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb.
In a bumper year for elections, some politicians - from Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in the United States, to far-right parties seeking gains in the EU's upcoming election - have pushed back on climate policies as they court voters.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Ros Russell) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates, host of last year's COP28 climate summit, and Azerbaijan and Brazil, the hosts of the next two U.N. climate summits, said on Tuesday they would team up to push for more ambitious emissions-cutting goals. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/three-cop-summit-hosts-unite-to-raise-climate-ambitions | |
1,282,724 | Would AI be useful for conflict decision-making? | American researchers have evaluated the use of generative artificial intelligence models, such as Chat-GPT, in international conflict situations. By simulating various scenarios with different levels of military intervention, these researchers concluded that AI has a worrisome tendency to escalate the situation and even resort to nuclear weapons without warning.
Conducted jointly by the Georgia Institute of Technology, Stanford and Northeastern universities and the Hoover Institution, the study investigated the reactions of five large language models (LLMs) in three simulation scenarios: the invasion of one country by another, a cyberattack, and a “neutral scenario without any initial events”.
In all three cases, the researchers asked the AI models to roleplay as nations with different scales of military power and various histories and objectives. The five models chosen to be tested were GPT-3.5, GPT-4 and the basic version of GPT-4 (without additional training) from OpenAi, Claude 2 from Anthropic and Llama 2 from Meta.
The results of the various simulations were clear: the integration of generative AI models into wargame scenarios often leads to escalations in violence, likely to aggravate rather than resolve conflicts. “We find that most of the studied LLMs escalate within the considered time frame, even in neutral scenarios without initially provided conflicts,” the study states. “All models show signs of sudden and hard-to-predict escalations.”
To make decisions based on the simulations created by the researchers, the AI models could choose from among 27 actions ranging from peaceful options such as "start formal peace negotiations" to more or less aggressive options, such as "impose trade restrictions" all the way to "execute full nuclear attack."
According to the researchers, GPT-3.5 made the most aggressive and violent decisions of the models evaluated. GPT-4-Base, on the other hand, proved the most unpredictable, sometimes coming up with absurd explanations. This model, for example, quoted the opening text of the film Star Wars IV: A New Hope, according to a report on the study in New Scientist.
“Across all scenarios, all models tend to invest more in their militaries despite the availability of demilitarisation actions, an indicator of arms-race dynamics, and despite positive effects of demilitarisation actions on, eg, soft power and political stability variables,” the researchers write in the study.
The question now is to understand why all these AIs react the way they do in a scenario of armed conflict. The researchers don't have an immediate answer, but they have come up with some hypotheses, including that LLMs train on biased data.
“One hypothesis for this behaviour is that most work in the field of international relations seems to analyse how nations escalate and is concerned with finding frameworks for escalation rather than deescalation,” says the study.
“Given that the models were likely trained on literature from the field, this focus may have introduced a bias towards escalatory actions. However, this hypothesis needs to be tested in future experiments.” – AFP Relaxnews | Tech | AI | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | AI,Technology | American researchers have evaluated the use of generative artificial intelligence models, such as Chat-GPT, in international conflict situations. By simulating various scenarios with different levels of military intervention, these researchers concluded that AI has a worrisome tendency to escalate the situation and even resort to nuclear weapons without warning. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/13/would-ai-be-useful-for-conflict-decision-making | |
1,282,697 | Customer finds clerk’s hidden pen camera with 100 videos of people in bathroom, US cops say | A customer tried to leave a note for a store clerk about a broken toilet only to discover she was secretly being recorded, Texas police say.
Pierre Holt, 32, is accused of using a pen camera to secretly record customers in the women’s bathroom of the Houston store where he worked, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Feb 10 in Harris County.
Holt’s scheme was discovered by a customer Jan 14, police said.
When the woman had trouble flushing the toilet, she tried to leave a note using a pen and paper left inside the bathroom, the affidavit said.
She realised the pen was actually a recording device – one that police discovered contained more than 100 video files of customers being recorded without their knowledge, according to court records.
Holt became hostile when the customer tried to leave with the device, but she was able to run from the store with the camera in her possession, police said.
In addition to footage of customers, the device also contained a video of Holt positioning the camera, police said.
Houston officials encourage any other potential victims who may have used the bathroom in the store located at 900 Prairie Street, to contact law enforcement.
Holt, of Houston, was arrested Feb 10 and charged with invasive visual recording, according to court records.
McClatchy News reached out to Holt’s attorney Feb 12 for comment but did not immediately receive a a response.
Police also located two guns behind the convenience store counter, the affidavit said. Holt was convicted of aggravated robbery in 2011 and is prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm.
As a result, he is also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, court records show.
He is being held on a combined US$87,500 (RM417,025) bond. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service | Tech | Gadgets | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | Gadgets,Courts Crime | A customer tried to leave a note for a store clerk about a broken toilet only to discover she was secretly being recorded, Texas police say. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/13/customer-finds-clerks-hidden-pen-camera-with-100-videos-of-people-in-bathroom-us-cops-say | |
1,282,696 | Another phase of humanitarian catastrophe 'at our doorstep', says UNGA chief | WASHINGTON: The president of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly expressed grave concern Monday (Feb 12) over Israel's assault on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, reported the Anadolu Agency.
"I am deeply distressed by the escalating military operation into Rafah, where over a million civilians are already sheltering in the most dire conditions,” Dennis Francis (pic) said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
"Another phase of this humanitarian catastrophe is at our doorstep. This is not a path to sustainable peace," he added.
In the name of humanity, Francis said, he will continue to appeal to all those with leverage to do their utmost to help stop the bloodshed and initiate meaningful dialogue for a durable peace.
The Israeli army plans to launch a ground offensive in Rafah, home to more than a million people seeking refuge from the war, to defeat what Tel Aviv calls the remaining "Hamas battalions". The planned offensive has triggered concerns of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since October, killing at least 28,340 people and injuring 67,984 others.
The Israeli onslaught has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN. - Bernama | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | UN,Gaza,Rafah,Israel | WASHINGTON: The president of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly expressed grave concern Monday (Feb 12) over Israel's assault on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, reported the Anadolu Agency. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/another-phase-of-humanitarian-catastrophe-039at-our-doorstep039-says-unga-chief | |
1,282,665 | Biden on TikTok: ‘Lol’ or national security worry? | WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden’s debut on TikTok has caused a stir – not least because the Chinese-owned social media platform is still officially considered a security risk by Washington.
The video posted during the Super Bowl on Sunday was part of an effort by the 81-year-old’s reelection campaign to reach younger voters, and included a reference to the quirky meme of a laser-eyed Biden alter-ego.
But Republicans have criticised Democrat Biden for using an app that is banned on US federal government devices over fears it harvests data for Beijing.
Even the White House admitted it still had concerns about TikTok on Monday.
"There are still national security concerns about the use of Tiktok on government devices and there's been no change to that policy," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters after repeated questions about the issue.
The White House said that election rules barred it from formally commenting on campaign matters, but said more broadly that it was aware of fears that platforms like TikTok could spread disinformation.
"It's a concern that we have," said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
TikTok is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance and has been accused by a wide swath of US politicians of being a propaganda tool used by Beijing, something the company furiously denies.
The concerns “didn't stop the Biden campaign from joining the CCP's dangerous propaganda app”, Republican Senator Joni Ernst said on X, formerly Twitter, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
"Panic is when the Biden campaign joins TikTok after the White House banned the app from devices a year ago," added Republican Representative Darrell Issa.
‘hey guys’
Nevertheless, Biden's campaign has clearly decided that engaging on TikTok is worth it to win over younger voters ahead of a likely November clash with Republican former president – and social media juggernaut – Donald Trump.
They are also counting on such social media posts to allay voter concerns over Biden's age, which have mounted since a special counsel report last week described him as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”.
Titled "lol hey guys," Sunday's video posted on the @bidenhq campaign account touches light-heartedly on topics ranging from politics to the NFL championship game.
"I'd get in trouble if I told you," Biden jokes when asked about a right-wing conspiracy theory that the game had been rigged so pop star Taylor Swift – who is dating Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce – could use her fame to endorse Biden.
The video then flashes up the "Dark Brandon" meme, an image of Biden with glowing red eyes and a big grin that Democrats use to imply super-powers.
"The President's TikTok debut last night – with more than 5 million views and counting – is proof positive of both our commitment and success in finding new, innovative ways to reach voters," Biden campaign deputy manager Rob Flaherty said in a statement.
Jean-Pierre said this exploration of new media partly explained why Biden has held fewer press conferences than his predecessors – 33 in his first three years, compared with Barack Obama's 66 and Trump's 52 in the same time span, according to the University of California Santa Barbara's American Presidency Project. – AFP | Tech | Social media | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | Social media,Politics | US President Joe Biden’s debut on TikTok has caused a stir – not least because the Chinese-owned social media platform is still officially considered a security risk by Washington. | https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2024/02/13/biden-on-tiktok-lol-or-national-security-worry | |
1,282,559 | New York subway shooting kills one after brawl erupts on train | NEW YORK CITY (Reuters) -New York City police said they are searching for a gunman who opened fire on a subway train and station platform in the Bronx on Monday, killing one man and injuring five other people.
Gunfire erupted on a northbound train as two groups of teenagers were fighting, New York Police Department (NYPD) officials said during a press conference outside the station where the violence took place. Someone from one of the groups then pulled out a gun.
The first shot was fired inside the train, but all six people shot were on the platform outside the train when hit by bullets, police said. A 34-year-old man died while five others taken to hospitals sustained non-life threatening injuries.
The victims ranged in age from 14 to 71, and included four males and two females.
"To the shooter - you are now the NYPD's most wanted and you have the greatest detectives in the world looking for you," said Tarik Sheppard, the NYPD's deputy commissioner of public information. "We suggest you turn yourself in."
Police and transit system officials at the press conference stressed the shooting was a rare act of the violence on the subway, working to ease fears passengers may have.
Data shows about 3.8 million trips are taken on the on New York's subway system on an average weekday, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reported 570 felony assaults in all of 2023.
Shootings are especially uncommon: in 2022, when a man with a handgun injured 10 people on a train passing through Brooklyn, it was the first mass shooting attack on the subway system since 1984.
A few weeks later, in May 2022, a man shot dead 48-year-old Daniel Enriquez on a Q train in what police said was an unprovoked attack.
Fears of how dangerous the subway really is among passengers jumped early in the pandemic, when the subway crime rate spiked in early 2020, but fell back to normal levels in 2021. Riders' perceptions of the dangers remain high, even in the face of falling crime rates.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat and a former city police captain, has sought to reassure unnerved commuters by increasing the number of police officers in subway stations.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York and Brad Brooks in Longmont, Colorado; Editing by Lincoln Feast) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | NEW YORK CITY (Reuters) -New York City police said they are searching for a gunman who opened fire on a subway train and station platform in the Bronx on Monday, killing one man and injuring five other people. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/subway-shooting-in-new-york-kills-one-injures-five | |
1,282,531 | Colombia secures $1.2 billion in loans to finance budget, peace plans | BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia has reached loan agreements worth more than $1.2 billion with multilateral lenders, the finance ministry said, adding resources will go toward budget items this year and costs associated with peace plans.
The ministry has signed two loan agreements worth 300 million euros ($323 million) each with German state development bank KfW, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
"These loans will contribute to financing the projects in the budget approved by Congress and highlights the cooperative agenda that Colombia has had with Germany for many years concerning peace and development," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also agreed a loan worth $663 million with the Inter-American Development Bank - which contributed $500 million - and KfW contributed 150 million euros.
Earlier this month, the government raised its fiscal deficit goal to 5.3% of gross domestic product this year, up from the previous estimate of 4.5% of GDP, citing the need for contra-cyclical spending to boost growth.
($1 = 0.9277 euros)
(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia has reached loan agreements worth more than $1.2 billion with multilateral lenders, the finance ministry said, adding resources will go toward budget items this year and costs associated with peace plans. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/colombia-secures-12-billion-in-loans-to-finance-budget-peace-plans | |
1,282,529 | European powers warn of spike in Russian propaganda before EU elections | LA CELLE SAINT-CLOUD, France (Reuters) - France, Poland and Germany accused Russia on Monday of putting together an elaborate network of websites to spread pro-Russian propaganda to undermine their governments, warning of a mass spread of such content ahead of EU elections in June.
Western nations have repeatedly accused Russian operatives of using social media and the internet to spread false or misleading information to undermine them, promote Russia or attempt to sway public opinion in their countries against backing Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion.
"We are in a period of vulnerability with the European elections and, regarding France, the Olympics," French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne told a joint news conference with his Polish and German counterparts at a French chateau near Paris.
The ministers said they had created a joint mechanism to detect and respond to potential Russian internet attacks.
They met as part of efforts to reinvigorate the "Weimar Triangle" platform of political cooperation between Germany, France and Poland created in 1991.
In a media briefing ahead of the meeting, French diplomatic sources said VIGINUM, the French watchdog that monitors foreign digital interference, had identified some 193 websites that aimed to broadly spread information from pro-Russian sources as well as Russian news outlets and institutions.
"The objective seems to be to cover the Russo-Ukraine conflict by presenting the 'special military operation' positively and denigrating Ukraine and its leaders," a French diplomat said, referring to Moscow's term for the invasion.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied accusations of spreading false or misleading information. After the last European Parliament elections in 2019, Russia's Security Council described allegations that Moscow had propagated disinformation to sway voters as absurd.
France has in particular called out Russian activities in Africa, saying that Moscow-linked actors have tried to discredit Paris in West Africa, saturating regular media and social media.
'ATTACKS ON OUR DEMOCRACY'
That has prompted multi-faceted actions by France to reverse an anti-French narrative that has damaged its influence and interests, including with a unit dedicated in part to spotting and dealing with malicious content.
The diplomats said that unlike in previous disinformation campaigns, the internet Portal Kombat, as dubbed by France, aims to attract people to these sites, some with local domain names, so that information could then be spread locally.
"These are attacks on our democracy," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, adding that the European Union could not allow people's confidence to be undermined.
French officials said that so far the websites in question had made few inroads. But their concern is that with the two-year anniversary of the Ukraine war, elections in Russia, the EU and the United States, and the Olympic Games all occurring this year, the websites were being put in place so that when the time came they could spread large amounts of harmful information.
"We are expecting an acceleration of different Russian actions and even widespread dissemination, so this is a reason to bring this to attention now," a French military official said.
An example of such activity on Monday cited by diplomats was an article that appeared on one of the websites, entitled "That's enough!: France calls for radical measures against (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskiy".
The article referred to a post on social media platform X of a far-right French opposition politician who has pro-Russian leanings.
(Reporting by John Irish; editing by Hugh Lawson and Mark Heinrich) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | LA CELLE SAINT-CLOUD, France (Reuters) - France, Poland and Germany accused Russia on Monday of putting together an elaborate network of websites to spread pro-Russian propaganda to undermine their governments, warning of a mass spread of such content ahead of EU elections in June. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/european-powers-warn-of-spike-in-russian-propaganda-before-eu-elections | |
1,282,519 | Dutch government formation still a puzzle 12 weeks after election | AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Efforts to form a government in the Netherlands are back at square one 12 weeks after an election won by the nationalist Freedom Party (PVV) of anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders but well short of a majority.
Here's a look at the scenarios left on the table.
RIGHT-WING MAJORITY GOVERNMENT
Since his victory with a quarter of the vote on Nov. 22, Wilders has been trying to form a coalition with the centre-right VVD of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the centrist NSC and the farmers protest party BBB. This would create a comfortable majority of 88 seats in the 150-seat Lower House.
But talks failed to gain traction as Wilders struggled to overcome the reluctance of both VVD and NSC to work with him. In a report on the talks issued on Monday, NSC finally pulled the plug, citing what it said was Wilders' lack of respect for the rule of law, an accusation he has dismissed.
The intermediary leading the talks said he still thought an agreement could be possible, but the NSC in its report ruled out joining any coalition with Wilders.
RIGHT-WING MINORITY GOVERNMENT
The most logical step now would be for PVV, VVD and BBB to try to cobble together a minority government, to which NSC chief Pieter Omtzigt said he would consider giving outside support.
The Netherlands is usually governed by majority coalitions that nail down their agreements in detailed government pacts, but there have been minority governments before. The most recent example is Rutte's first government, which functioned with the support of the PVV from 2010 to 2012.
OTHER COMBINATIONS
Theoretically, combinations of parties other than those that were at the table until now could try to form a government, for instance a Green Left-Labour alliance - led by ex-European Union climate commissioner Frans Timmermans - that was the runner-up in the November election.
But Timmermans has excluded working with Wilders, and earlier this month said it was very unlikely his party would play any role in forming the next government.
Without Timmermans' party there is no realistic option for a majority government other than the one tried already.
TECHNOCRATIC GOVERNMENT
If PVV, VVD and BBB fail to agree on a detailed coalition pact, they could opt for a government with looser ties to the parties in parliament, largely consisting of outside experts who would seek shifting majorities in parliament for their policies.
Such a technocratic government was floated by Omtzigt as his preferred option before the election, and after he stepped away from the talks last week, but is untested in recent Dutch history - and could struggle to muster a popular mandate.
BROAD OUTSIDERS GOVERNMENT
Omtzigt has also proposed taking the idea of a technocratic government a step further to allow a larger group of parties to nominate independent figures to a cabinet that would not be bound by agreements with parties in parliament.
This experimental broad coalition would also try to cultivate varying majorities for their proposals.
NEW ELECTION
If no new government can be formed, a new election is an option of last resort. There are no set terms for how long a government formation in the Netherlands can last. The most recent one, in 2021, took a record 299 days to complete.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; editing by Mark Heinrich) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Efforts to form a government in the Netherlands are back at square one 12 weeks after an election won by the nationalist Freedom Party (PVV) of anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders but well short of a majority. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/dutch-government-formation-still-a-puzzle-12-weeks-after-election | |
1,282,438 | Russian oligarch's seized yacht costs $7 million a year to maintain, US says | NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government said it is spending more than $7 million a year to maintain a superyacht it seized from a sanctioned Russian oligarch, and urged a judge to let it auction the vessel before a dispute over its ownership is resolved.
Authorities in Fiji seized the 348-foot (106-meter), $300 million Amadea in May 2022, pursuant to a U.S. warrant alleging it was owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a multibillionaire sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia's activities in Syria and Ukraine.
Efforts to auction the yacht are being challenged by Eduard Khudainatov, who led Russian state oil and gas company Rosneft from 2010 to 2013.
Khudainatov claims ownership of the Amadea, and has said it cannot not be forfeited because he has not been sanctioned.
In a court filing late on Friday, federal prosecutors in Manhattan told U.S. District Judge Dale Ho that the $600,000 average monthly maintenance bill for the Amadea has been "excessive," justifying an auction. They also said talks to have Khudainatov pay for the yacht's upkeep have broken down.
Prosecutors have said in previous court filings that Khudainatov is acting as the Amadea's "straw owner" to disguise Kerimov's role, and that maintenance payments are essential to preserving a yacht's value.
Khudainatov has until Feb. 23 to reply to prosecutors' request. In a statement, his lawyers said the motion to sell the vessel was "premature" and urged Ho to deny it until he "determines whether the seizure was unconstitutional."
The seizure came as Washington ramped up sanctions enforcement against people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin to pressure Moscow to halt its war against Ukraine.
If the U.S. government succeeded in auctioning the yacht, it would likely eventually transfer sale proceeds to Ukraine.
Prosecutors have said Kerimov violated U.S. sanctions by making more than $1 million in maintenance payments for the Amadea through the U.S. financial system, making the vessel now docked in San Diego subject to forfeiture.
Kerimov and his family are worth $10.7 billion, according to Forbes magazine. He amassed his fortune through Russian gold miner Polyus, though he is no longer a shareholder.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government said it is spending more than $7 million a year to maintain a superyacht it seized from a sanctioned Russian oligarch, and urged a judge to let it auction the vessel before a dispute over its ownership is resolved. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/russian-oligarch039s-seized-yacht-costs-7-million-a-year-to-maintain-us-says | |
1,282,386 | Dutch centrist party rules out joining coalition with Wilders | AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch political party NSC said on Monday it would not join a new coalition government with the nationalist Freedom Party (PVV) led by anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, citing irreconcilable differences.
The move by NSC, a centrist upstart that took 20 seats in the Nov. 22 election won by Wilders, effectively blocks the formation of a rightwing government that would have a majority in parliament.
Coalition talks were already thrown in disarray last week, when the NSC unexpectedly stepped away, leaving the three other prospective coalition partners to puzzle over their next moves.
A report by the intermediary leading the talks, former Labour minister Ronald Plasterk, on Monday made it clear NSC had no intention of joining any government coalition with the PVV as it said differences on the rule of law were too big to overcome.
Wilders won a quarter of the vote in the election, and needs other parties to form a workable coalition.
He has been negotiating with the NSC, the centre-right VVD of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the farmers' protest party BBB since late November, without giving any sign that a deal was close.
Talks were complicated from the start, as both NSC and VVD had expressed serious doubts about working with Wilders, whose program had called for shutting down mosques and banning the Koran in the Netherlands.
Wilders repeatedly said he would shelve plans that were seen to violate the Dutch constitution, and Plasterk's report showed he had vowed to his prospective partners to respect the rule of law.
But this did not go far enough for the NSC.
"Considering past remarks and the PVV's election program, the distance remains too large to join a majority or minority government," it said.
The PVV, VVD and BBB may now try to form a minority government, which NSC-leader Pieter Omtzigt said he would consider giving outside support.
The Lower House of parliament will discuss the next steps in the government formation on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Gareth Jones and Toby Chopra) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-13 00:00:00 | null | AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch political party NSC said on Monday it would not join a new coalition government with the nationalist Freedom Party (PVV) led by anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, citing irreconcilable differences. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/13/dutch-centrist-party-rules-out-joining-coalition-with-wilders | |
1,282,379 | Partnership with US to continue no matter who's president, German finance minister says | LONDON (Reuters) - The transatlantic partnership between the U.S. and European allies will continue no matter who is in the White House, Germany's finance minister said on Monday amid a furore over critical remarks about NATO by ex-U.S. President Donald Trump.
Running for another term as president in the November election, Trump suggested during a campaign rally on Saturday that he would not defend NATO allies who failed to spend enough on defence and would even encourage Russia to attack them.
"Regardless of who is in the White House, we have an overriding interest in continuing to cooperate across the Atlantic, economically, politically and also in matters of security," German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said.
Speaking during a visit to London, Lindner said Britain and Germany shared similar challenges when it comes to strengthening free trade capabilities.
"After Donald Trump's initial statements, this dialogue is of particular importance," Lindner said before going into a meeting with British counterpart Jeremy Hunt.
"We are facing major challenges as European members of NATO," Lindner said, adding that Europe's peace and free trade order had been put at risk by Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Lindner, referring to Britain's 2020 departure from the European Union, also said Brexit had made business in Britain more difficult for German companies, meaning that close dialogue between the countries was crucial.
"This intensive exchange and dialogue is necessary because, unfortunately, we can no longer see each other regularly within the framework of the European Union," Lindner said.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez; editing by Matthias Williams and Mark Heinrich) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | LONDON (Reuters) - The transatlantic partnership between the U.S. and European allies will continue no matter who is in the White House, Germany's finance minister said on Monday amid a furore over critical remarks about NATO by ex-U.S. President Donald Trump. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/partnership-with-us-to-continue-no-matter-who039s-president-german-finance-minister-says | |
1,282,377 | Trump's NATO comment what 'Putin loves to hear' - Dutch minister | THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump's comment that Washington might not defend NATO allies which failed to spend enough on defence is exactly what Russian President Vladimir Putin loves to hear, the Dutch defence minister said on Monday.
Trump suggested the United States might not protect NATO allies who aren't spending enough on defence from a potential Russian invasion.
"Quite frankly, I think this is exactly what Putin loves to hear," Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren told Reuters on Monday. "Our strength is our unity. And if we're not united, it makes us weaker. And we know that that is what Putin is looking for."
Enshrined in Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty is the principle of collective defence - the idea that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.
"It's not the first time that he says something along these lines. But at the same time, it's of course worrying," Ollongren said.
"...And I think especially now, with real threats also to NATO countries, it's very concerning that someone who is that important is saying these things."
Ollongren also noted that most NATO allies were close to or had reached the target budget spending on defence of a minimum of 2% of gross domestic product.
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Nick Macfie) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump's comment that Washington might not defend NATO allies which failed to spend enough on defence is exactly what Russian President Vladimir Putin loves to hear, the Dutch defence minister said on Monday. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/trump039s-nato-comment-what-039putin-loves-to-hear039---dutch-minister | |
1,282,376 | Congo protesters burn US and Belgian flags, target Western embassies | KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police in Democratic Republic of Congo fired tear gas on Monday to disperse protesters who burned tyres and U.S. and Belgian flags near Western embassies and U.N. offices in the capital Kinshasa, angry about insecurity in eastern Congo.
The protesters, seizing on a new tactic by targeting embassies, say the West supports neighbouring Rwanda, which is accused of backing the Tutsi-led M23 rebellion whose advance is threatening the strategic city of Goma in the east.
Rwanda has denied the accusations. Congo, Western governments including the United States and Belgium, and a United Nations expert group say the rebel group benefits from Rwandan support.
Despite security being stepped up after U.N. staff and vehicles were attacked on Saturday, groups of protesters gathered at the U.S. and French embassies and the offices of the United Nations mission in Congo known as MONUSCO.
Some threw stones, attempting to break the surveillance cameras at one of the United States embassy offices, while others chanted "Leave our country, we don't want your hypocrisy".
"The Westerners are behind the looting of our country, Rwanda doesn't work alone, so they must leave our country," said Pepin Mbindu, who joined the protest.
Onlookers cheered as one demonstrator removed the EU flag from the entrance of a large hotel in central Kinshasa, according to videos shared on X. Reuters has not authenticated the video.
"The international community remains silent while Congolese are being killed; they finance Rwanda," said Fabrice Malumba, a motorcycle driver participating in the demonstration in front of the United States embassy.
Police fired tear gas and chased protesters.
Congo's Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Christophe Lutundula met ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions in Kinshasa on Sunday. He said security measures would be taken to protect their representations.
"As you can see, we are ensuring the security of the partner embassies of the Democratic Republic of Congo in accordance with the Vienna Convention," General Blaise Mbula Kilimba Limba, Kinshasa police chief, told Reuters.
Decades of conflicts in eastern Congo between myriad rival armed groups over land and resources and brutal attacks on civilians have killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced more than 7 million.
Congo is the world's top supplier of cobalt and Africa's top copper producer.
(Reporting by Ange Kasongo, Benoit Nyemba and Justin Makangara; Writing by Bate Felix and Portia Crowe; Editing by Alison Williams) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police in Democratic Republic of Congo fired tear gas on Monday to disperse protesters who burned tyres and U.S. and Belgian flags near Western embassies and U.N. offices in the capital Kinshasa, angry about insecurity in eastern Congo. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/congo-protesters-burn-us-and-belgian-flags-target-western-embassies | |
1,282,366 | Skydivers' plane kills man on Mexico beach during emergency landing | (Reuters) - A plane carrying four Canadian skydivers made an emergency landing on a beach in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca on Sunday, the state civil defense's office said, resulting in the death of a 62-year-old man who was on the beach at the time.
The plane was forced to land on a populated section of Bacocho beach in the popular Pacific resort town of Puerto Escondido, the office said in a statement, adding the victim's wife, who had been on the beach alongside him, was unharmed.
Footage from Puerto Global showed the damaged aircraft on the beach having crashed into what it said was a turtle rescue centre.
The civil defense statement did not give more details on the landing nor the identities of those involved, noting that investigations were ongoing. No one else on the beach was injured, it said.
Those who had been on the aircraft, including the four Canadian skydivers aged between 35 and 60 and a 40-year-old Mexican man, were removed from the plane and taken for medical treatment, the statement added, saying they were in stable condition.
State Governor Salomon Jara said in a post on X that resources were being mobilized to help those the injured who had been on the plane.
"To the family of the person who died, we will provide all the necessary support and accompany them in the face of their irreparable loss," he said.
(Reporting by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Toby Chopra) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | (Reuters) - A plane carrying four Canadian skydivers made an emergency landing on a beach in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca on Sunday, the state civil defense's office said, resulting in the death of a 62-year-old man who was on the beach at the time. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/skydivers039-plane-kills-man-on-mexico-beach-during-emergency-landing | |
1,282,345 | Germany's Scholz pledges to meet 2% NATO spending target | DUESSELDORF (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday said defence companies could count on his government ramping up military spending and that it would meet its commitment to spend 2% of GDP on NATO defence.
Scholz was speaking after former U.S. President Donald Trump sparked outrage among U.S. allies by suggesting the United States might not protect fellow NATO members who are not spending enough on defence against a potential Russian invasion.
While in office, Trump publicly criticised countries that did not meet the NATO alliance's goal to spend 2% of gross domestic product on defence.
Scholz said Germany and Europe's defence industry must switch towards mass production of arms as the war in Ukraine exposed how European manufacturers struggled to meet demand for ammunition.
Scholz was on a visit to the future site of Rheinmetall's arms factory in central Germany.
"We have to move away from manufacturing towards large-scale production of defence equipment," Scholz said.
"Not only the United States, but all European countries must do even more to support Ukraine. The pledges made so far are not enough. Germany's power alone is not enough."
Scholz said the military and Germany's defence industry could now depend on Berlin's commitment to meet the 2% NATO target.
"That is urgently needed. Because as harsh as this reality is: we do not live in times of peace," Scholz said.
He added that European states must bundle their arms orders together to help the industry meet longer-term commitments.
"If I want to buy a VW Golf in two or three years, then I know today: It will exist. I might have to wait three or six months for it, but then the car will be in the yard," he said.
"But that's not how arms production works. Tanks, howitzers, helicopters and anti-aircraft systems are not on the shelf somewhere."
Rheinmetall, one of the biggest producers of artillery and tank shells in the world, began ramping up production after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where the need for ammunition has exacerbated a shortage and left European manufacturers struggling to meet demand.
"The construction of our new factory is a direct result of the changing times," Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said.
The plant, which is expected to begin production next year, will contribute to the making of around 200,000 artillery shells every year.
Rheinmetall said it is planning to invest 300 million euros ($323 million) and create around 500 new jobs.
It aims to be able to cover the Bundeswehr's demand for ammunition manufactured in Germany and also guarantee deliveries to partner countries in the event of a crisis. Rheinmetall intends to produce the entire value chain for artillery ammunition at the factory in central Unterluess.
(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi and Andreas Rinke; writing by Bartosz Dabrowski and Riham Alkousaa; editing by Miranda Murray, Matthias Williams and Nick Macfie) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | DUESSELDORF (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday said defence companies could count on his government ramping up military spending and that it would meet its commitment to spend 2% of GDP on NATO defence. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/germany039s-scholz-pledges-to-meet-2-nato-spending-target | |
1,282,340 | Analysis-Bolsonaro coup probe weakens Brazil's right-wing opposition | BRASILIA (Reuters) - Police raids on former President Jair Bolsonaro and his associates for allegedly plotting a coup after the 2022 election has weakened right-wing opposition to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of October's local elections, analysts say.
Bolsonaro, a far-right firebrand who modeled himself on former U.S. President Donald Trump, surrendered his passport to police on last Thursday and four of his ex-aides have been arrested. Search warrants were served against four of his former ministers, three of them retired army generals.
That, analysts say, has dealt a serious blow to Bolsonaro's right-wing Liberal Party (PL), the largest opposition party. PL President Valdemar Costa Neto was also arrested on Thursday on an unrelated gun charge and set free provisionally on Saturday.
"The Bolsonaro opposition has been badly hurt by this," said Andre Cesar, analyst at Hold Assessoria Legislativa, a public policy consultancy. "The PL will lose political muscle and have to rethink plans to triple its mayors in the October elections."
Brazilian police accused Bolsonaro of editing a decree to overturn the result of the 2022 election that he lost to Lula, pressuring military chiefs to join a coup attempt, and plotting to jail a Supreme Court justice.
PL President Costa Neto has been counting on Bolsonaro's popularity with core supporters to bolster turnout for his party in October, when voters will elect mayors and councils in 5,568 municipal districts across Brazil.
However, Bolsonaro's alleged involvement in a coup conspiracy could cool support from moderate center-right Brazilians, who were not fans of Bolsonaro but voted for him to oppose Lula, according polling firm Quaest.
CRITICAL SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
A social media survey conducted on Friday by Quaest showed 58% of the postings were critical of Bolsonaro, while 42% were favorable, indicating that he still has considerable support despite allegations of planning a coup, though less than the 49.1% who voted for him against 50.9% for Lula in 2022.
"There will be a huge drain on the PL that will benefit the Workers Party," said a former PL lawmaker who left the party last year and asked to remain anonymous.
The PL did not answer a request for comment. But a PL leader in Congress, Jose Medeiros, said the investigation was political persecution aimed at undermining Bolsonaro and the party to stop a right-wing comeback in the 2026 presidential race.
Even before Thursday's operation, Lula was already enjoying warming ties with some of Bolsonaro's former allies.
Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas, who was Bolsonaro's infrastructure minister and a rising conservative leader, has been politically pragmatic and recently met with Lula for a much publicized handshake.
Minas Gerais Governor Romeu Zema, a fellow rising star on Brazil's right, on Thursday said he "had learned to work with people who I think differently to," in reference to Lula and his leftist allies.
The big losers from the fallout of the alleged coup plot will be those closest to Bolsonaro ideologically, while the moderates court centrist voters who decide elections in Brazil, said Lucas de Aragao, at political risk consultancy Arko Advice.
"Moderate right-wingers face criticism for not supporting Bolsonaro enough, but they know they will get the Bolsonarista vote in a polarized left-right election," he said.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle and Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia; Editing by Sharon Singleton) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | BRASILIA (Reuters) - Police raids on former President Jair Bolsonaro and his associates for allegedly plotting a coup after the 2022 election has weakened right-wing opposition to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of October's local elections, analysts say. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/analysis-bolsonaro-coup-probe-weakens-brazil039s-right-wing-opposition | |
1,282,337 | Brazil beefs up its military presence in the Amazon | BRASILIA (Reuters) - Border tensions over Guyana's Esequibo and the humanitarian crisis among the Yanomami Indigenous people have led Brazil's army to increase its forces in the Amazon by 10% ahead of plan, the military commander for the region told Reuters.
The additional 2,000 troops will help the army patrol a 9,000 km border with Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia in a jungle region used by drug traffickers and illegal miners, loggers and smugglers, General Ricardo Costa Neves said.
"They will reinforce our operations in this vast area to help combat border and environmental crimes," the four-star infantry general said in a rare media interview.
The dispute arising from Venezuela's claim over Guyana's oil-rich Esequibo region has already led the Brazilian army to send more soldiers, armored cars and artillery to the border state of Roraima with the creation of a new regiment there.
"The border situation made us bring forward some changes that were in our strategic plan. We are practically tripling our mechanized infantry, armored vehicles and artillery in Roraima," Costa Neves said.
The reinforcement will include the creation of two permanently deployed forward bases inside the Yanomami reservation on the Uraricoera and Mucajai rivers, major access routes for wildcat gold miners that have invaded the territory.
The miners brought disease, destruction of the rainforest and armed violence to the isolated Yanomami lands bordering Venezuela, causing malnutrition and deaths. Brazil's government last year declared a humanitarian emergency and sent a task force to remove an estimated 20,000 miners.
But gold miners began to return after the armed forces scaled back their operations and failed to enforce a no-fly zone for planes flying them to clandestine jungle airstrips, environmental enforcement agents told Reuters.
Costa Neves said the army will have a permanent presence at two new bases providing logistical support to environmental, Indigenous and health agencies, beside repressing illegal activities within a 150-kms zone from the border.
The general, who commanded the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monusco) in 2020-2021, rejected criticism of the military's failure to secure the Yanomami territory last year.
"We airlifted 600 tonnes of food and supplies that were dropped by parachute to Indigenous communities. It was the largest airlift operation in the Brazilian Air Force's history," he said.
With the support of the military, 80% of the miners were evicted, some 80 dredging barges were blown up and 22 planes seized or destroyed, Costa Neves said.
The armed forces on their own distributed 36,000 food parcels, medivacked 206 patients out of 6,000 Yanomami attended and arrested 165 suspects for environmental crimes, he said.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | BRASILIA (Reuters) - Border tensions over Guyana's Esequibo and the humanitarian crisis among the Yanomami Indigenous people have led Brazil's army to increase its forces in the Amazon by 10% ahead of plan, the military commander for the region told Reuters. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/brazil-beefs-up-its-military-presence-in-the-amazon | |
1,282,333 | Explainer-What did Trump say about NATO funding and what is Article 5? | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump raised a storm of criticism from the White House and top Western officials for suggesting he would not defend NATO allies who failed to spend enough on defence and would even encourage Russia to attack them.
Here are the answers to some key questions about NATO, the comments by Trump - who is running for another term in the White House in November and leading President Joe Biden in some polls - and their implications.
WHAT IS NATO?
Founded in 1949 to counter the Soviet Union with Cold War tensions rising, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a political and military alliance of countries from North America and Europe.
Enshrined in Article 5 of its founding treaty is the principle of collective defence - the idea that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all of them.
NATO takes decisions by consensus but the political and military strength of the United States means that it is by far the most powerful country in the alliance, with its nuclear arsenal seen as the ultimate security guarantee.
WHICH COUNTRIES ARE IN NATO?
NATO currently has 31 members - most of them European nations, plus the United States and Canada.
The newest member is Finland, which joined last April in reaction to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Sweden applied to join along with Finland but is waiting for Hungary to ratify its application as the final major step before membership.
During the Cold War, NATO's main focus was protecting Western Europe from the Soviet Union. After the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, NATO expanded to take in former communist bloc countries from Central and Eastern Europe.
NATO's members range from large countries such as Britain, France, Germany and Turkey to small nations such as Iceland and Montenegro.
WHAT DID TRUMP SAY ABOUT NATO?
As U.S. president from 2017-21, Trump often lambasted NATO and members such as Germany, accusing them of not paying enough for their own defence and relying on Washington to protect them. He openly questioned the collective defence principle.
Other U.S. administrations have also accused Europeans of not spending enough on defence, but in less strident terms.
Trump took his criticism to a new level at a campaign rally on Saturday in Conway, South Carolina, when he recounted what he said was a conversation with the "president of a big country".
"Well sir, if we don't pay, and we're attacked by Russia - will you protect us?" Trump quoted the unnamed leader as saying.
"I said: 'You didn't pay? You're delinquent?' He said: 'Yes, let's say that happened.' No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them (Russia) to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay," Trump said.
HOW IS NATO FUNDED?
Trump has often accused other NATO members of not paying their dues, giving the impression that the alliance is like a club with membership fees.
But NATO operates differently. It has some common funds, to which all members contribute. But the vast bulk of its strength comes from members' own national defence spending - to maintain forces and buy arms that can also be used by NATO.
However, NATO members have committed to spending at least 2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every year on defence - and most of them did not meet that goal last year.
HOW MANY NATO MEMBERS MEET THE DEFENCE SPENDING TARGET?
According to NATO estimates from July last year, 11 members were expected to meet the 2% target in 2023. Those members were Poland, the United States, Greece, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Britain and Slovakia.
Germany, Europe's economic heavyweight, was estimated at 1.57%. But German officials have said they expect to meet the 2% target this year, partly thanks to a special 1-billion-euro fund established in response to Russia's war in Ukraine.
The lowest spenders as a share of national GDP were Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg, according to the NATO figures.
NATO is expected to release updated figures in the coming days that will show more allies meeting the 2% target, according to people familiar with the data.
WHAT IS NATO'S ARTICLE 5?
In Article 5 of the founding treaty, NATO members declared that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America "shall be considered an attack against them all".
They agreed they would "assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force".
However, Article 5 stops short of a commitment to an automatic military response to help an ally under attack. That means the strength of Article 5 depends on clear statements from political leaders that it will be backed up by action.
This is one reason Trump's comments caused such a furore, particularly as they came at a time of heightened alarm in NATO about Russia's intentions, following its invasion of Ukraine.
By suggesting he would not take military action to defend an ally, Trump undermined the assumptions that give Article 5 its power.
"Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the U.S., and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday.
(Reporting by Andrew Gray and Sabine Siebold; editing by Mark Heinrich) | News | World | Complimentary | Long | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump raised a storm of criticism from the White House and top Western officials for suggesting he would not defend NATO allies who failed to spend enough on defence and would even encourage Russia to attack them. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/explainer-what-did-trump-say-about-nato-funding-and-what-is-article-5 | |
1,282,328 | Holistic approach needed on migration, Cyprus says, not just cash | NICOSIA (Reuters) - Throwing money at irregular migration will not make it go away, Cyprus said on Monday, saying the EU needed to take a holistic approach and rethink a ban on deportations to Syria.
Cyprus has seen a spike in irregular migration in recent years, either by sea from neighbouring Syria and Lebanon, or via a now-closed loophole via a ceasefire line splitting the island.
"If we really want to deal with the migration issue its not through money, or actions to deal with the phenomenon itself. It has to be through assessing the root causes and cooperating with countries where migrants come from," Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said.
Cyprus lies about 100 miles (185 km) west of Lebanon and Syria. Last year it saw arrivals more than quadruple from both countries, fanning fears in Nicosia of a surge if tensions in the Middle East engulf the broader region.
An EU member since 2004 and the closest to the Middle East, Nicosia wants the bloc to consider declaring parts of war-ravaged Syria safe, which would allow authorities to repatriate people arriving from there.
"I'm aware of the sensitivities around this," said Christodoulides. "There are areas in Syria where we have to examine whether they are safe, and by extension, if migrants from those specific areas can be returned.
I don't think its right for the EU not to discuss this," he said.
(Reporting By Michele Kambas; editing by David Evans) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | NICOSIA (Reuters) - Throwing money at irregular migration will not make it go away, Cyprus said on Monday, saying the EU needed to take a holistic approach and rethink a ban on deportations to Syria. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/holistic-approach-needed-on-migration-cyprus-says-not-just-cash | |
1,282,321 | Estonia's PM says Trump's NATO comments should be wake-up call for allies to invest in defense | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Recent comments made by U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump on NATO should be a wake-up call for NATO members who haven't invested much in defense, Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told reporters on Monday.
"I think what the presidential candidate in America said is also something to maybe wake up some of the allies who haven't done that much,", she said at a joint press conference with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
Metsola said that the European Union should spend more on defense.
She added that the EU should send a clear message "irrespective of who will lead the next American administration (...) that we are strong enough to be able to defend each other and that any statement of that sort needs to be recognized with the danger that it brings, but also a steadfastness on our regard that we need to do more."
Trump suggested the United States might not protect NATO allies who aren't spending enough on defense from a potential Russian invasion.
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Sharon Singleton) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Recent comments made by U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump on NATO should be a wake-up call for NATO members who haven't invested much in defense, Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told reporters on Monday. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/estonia039s-pm-says-trump039s-nato-comments-should-be-wake-up-call-for-allies-to-invest-in-defense | |
1,282,311 | Ukraine says Russian forces obtaining Musk's Starlink via third countries | KYIV (Reuters) - Russian forces are obtaining Starlink satellite terminals illicitly from third countries and increasing their use on the front line, the Ukrainian military spy agency's spokesperson told Reuters on Monday, without explaining how he knew.
Andriy Yusov, the military official, said work was underway to prevent Russian forces using the high-speed satellite internet terminals produced by Elon Musk's SpaceX to coordinate attacks in occupied parts of Ukraine.
"Contraband from third countries," Yusov said, when asked how Russian forces were obtaining the devices.
"Useage has increased on the front line," he said.
Ukraine, which uses Starlink for military communications in its war with Russia, said on Sunday that Russian troops were using Starlink in occupied areas as the full-scale war with Russia nears the two-year mark.
Asked if Ukraine was trying to stop Russia's use of the terminals, Yusov said: "Yes, work is being conducted."
The Kremlin said on Monday that the terminals were neither certified for use in, nor officially supplied to, Russia, and therefore could not be used.
Starlink says it does not do business of any kind with Russia's government or military.
It said on Feb. 8 that its terminals were not active in Russia and that SpaceX had never sold or marketed the service in Russia, nor shipped equipment to locations in Russia.
Starlink terminals, which provide a high speed internet connection, were rushed in to help Ukraine after Russia's February 2022 invasion and have been vital to Kyiv's battlefield communications.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; editing by Jason Neely and Ros Russell) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | KYIV (Reuters) - Russian forces are obtaining Starlink satellite terminals illicitly from third countries and increasing their use on the front line, the Ukrainian military spy agency's spokesperson told Reuters on Monday, without explaining how he knew. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/ukraine-says-russian-forces-obtaining-musk039s-starlink-via-third-countries | |
1,282,306 | Closer Turkey-EU relations must come through us, says Cyprus | NICOSIA (Reuters) - Closer relations between Turkey and the European Union are contingent on Turkish engagement in solving the decades-old partition of Cyprus, the EU country's president said on Monday.
Turkey has been an official candidate to join the EU for decades, but accession talks have stalled in recent years over EU concerns about Ankara's record on human rights and respect for the rule of law.
Cyprus, an eastern Mediterranean island that was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 prompted by a brief Greek-inspired coup, has veto rights over Turkey's EU ambitions, like all other members of the bloc.
The Republic of Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, while the northern half of the island is a self-declared state recognised only by Turkey.
"Cyprus is a strong supporter of closer relations between the EU and Ankara; (such) closer relations pass through developments and a solution to the Cyprus problem," Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters after meeting Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's president in Nicosia.
Steinmeier, on an official visit to the island, said Turkish actions on Cyprus should be taken into account in assessing its overall relations with the EU.
"Member states should send this message to Turkey," he said, speaking though an interpreter.
Peace talks to resolve the longstanding conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots collapsed in 2017. Nicosia wants the EU to appoint an emissary to oversee attempts to revive talks, though says it would be supportive of any role of the United Nations, which takes the lead in Cyprus peacemaking.
Violence between the two Cypriot communities broke out in 1963, prompting the deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force that still patrols a 180-km (116-mile) long ceasefire line.
Germany's cabinet last week approved the dispatch of police officers who will join the civilian police contingent of the U.N. force, Steinmeier said.
(Reporting by Michele Kambas; editing by Mark Heinrich) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | NICOSIA (Reuters) - Closer relations between Turkey and the European Union are contingent on Turkish engagement in solving the decades-old partition of Cyprus, the EU country's president said on Monday. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/closer-turkey-eu-relations-must-come-through-us-says-cyprus | |
1,282,298 | Former employee of Greek shipping company kills 3 in shooting incident | ATHENS (Reuters) -A disgruntled former employee shot dead the head of a Greek shipping company and two others before killing himself at the firm's office in Athens on Monday, a police spokeswoman said.
Police, fire engines and ambulances were stationed outside the offices of European Navigation in a southern suburb of the capital. Earlier, anti-terrorism forces entered the building, Reuters reporters at the scene said.
Among the dead was European Navigation's owner, said police spokeswoman Konstantina Dimoglidou, who didn't name the victim.
"We were at our desks working, we heard shots," an employee who did not identify herself told the Proto Thema news website. She said the gunman had told employees to leave.
The gunman, a 76-year old former employee, was found dead in another area of the building to the victims, two men and a woman, police said.
Dimoglidou said that next to the shooter "was the weapon of his unlawful act and he had probably shot himself."
Shootings, outside of gang-related activity, are rare in Greece, which has strict laws over gun possession.
Police, who had cordoned off the area, said they were investigating the incident.
(Reporting by Karolina Tagaris, Yannis Souliotis, Renee Maltezou; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Edward McAllister) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | ATHENS (Reuters) -A disgruntled former employee shot dead the head of a Greek shipping company and two others before killing himself at the firm's office in Athens on Monday, a police spokeswoman said. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/former-employee-of-greek-shipping-company-kills-3-in-shooting-incident | |
1,282,297 | Poland to make quality checks on all grain shipments from Ukraine, minister says | WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland plans to start quality checks on all grain shipments from Ukraine, Deputy Agriculture Minister Michal Kolodziejczak said on Monday as Polish farmers continued nationwide protests against EU policies, including allowing cheap grain imports from Ukraine.
Farmers started blocking roads and border crossings with Ukraine on Friday, kicking off a month-long general strike to protest against EU policies and a lack of government action to protect their livelihoods.
Representatives of Poland's new pro-European government have said they understand the challenges farmers are facing and that help for Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion could not come at the expense of Polish farmers.
"Today ... I will request that all grain transports that are exported and have an embargo imposed on them be examined in Poland," Kolodziejczak told state news agency PAP.
When such grain reaches Germany and, after examination, turns out to be of poor quality, he said, "99% of the time it returns to Poland as European grain" and not to Ukraine.
Farmers in France, Belgium, Portugal, Greece, Spain and Germany have been protesting against constraints placed on them by EU measures to tackle climate change, as well as rising costs and what they say is unfair competition from abroad.
Polish farmers have been particularly vocal about the impact of cheap food imports from neighbouring Ukraine.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Susan Fenton) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland plans to start quality checks on all grain shipments from Ukraine, Deputy Agriculture Minister Michal Kolodziejczak said on Monday as Polish farmers continued nationwide protests against EU policies, including allowing cheap grain imports from Ukraine. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/poland-to-make-quality-checks-on-all-grain-shipments-from-ukraine-minister-says | |
1,282,295 | Pastries and biscuits as Argentina's Milei makes up with Pope Francis | VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Argentina's President Javier Milei visited his compatriot Pope Francis and senior Vatican officials on Monday, bearing pastries and biscuits and talking politics as he seeks to make up with the pontiff he had long derided.
Milei, a maverick right-wing libertarian, had heaped insults on Francis during his vote campaign last year, calling him an "imbecile who defends social justice". But the president has shifted tone in office as he tries to shore up support among his conservative Catholic base amid mounting challenges.
Francis and Milei spoke for about one hour, the Vatican said, without giving details of the conversation.
They met as Argentina faces its worst economic crisis in decades, with inflation at more than 200% and the newly installed Milei in difficulty following parliamentary rejection of a major reform package.
The president discussed "the new (Argentine) government's programme to counter the economic crisis" among other topics, during separate talks with the Vatican's second-in-command, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a Vatican statement said.
Before the meeting, when asked about the past insults, the head of the Vatican's doctrine office said: "The Pope is a person who has a lot of affection for everyone, so there's no question about him having any animosity."
The pope had seen the past comments "as a campaign strategy" Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, who is also Argentine, told journalists. Even if the pope may not like "some political and ideological trends" in Argentina, "he will always be concerned about those who suffer," he added.
ARGENTINE VISIT IN FOCUS
Francis, a former archbishop of Buenos Aires, has angered some of his compatriots by not visiting his homeland since becoming pope in 2013.
He has said he may finally travel to "suffering" Argentina in the second half of this year - though Cardinal Fernandez said on Monday it was unclear whether the papal trip would happen "because it depends on a lot of things".
Securing such a visit could be major boost to Milei as he seeks to please his conservative Catholic supporters.
Francis has previously said he did not want to be politically exploited by Argentine politicians. On Friday, he said "radical individualism" permeates society like a "virus", in words that may jar with Milei's radical free-market instincts.
But the meetings on Monday, and earlier over the weekend, appeared to go well.
Milei brought alfajores de dulce de leche pastries and a brand of lemon biscuits the pope likes on Monday, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said.
On Sunday, they talked at the end of a canonisation Mass in St Peter's Basilica for the first female Argentine saint, Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, an 18th century consecrated lay woman better known as "Mama Antula".
Francis, who is 87 and has difficulty walking, was in a wheelchair as he went to greet Milei after the service. He smiled, extended his hand and told him, "You cut your hair!"
Milei, who still wears his hair unconventionally long for a politician, joked about having cleaned up his act and asked if he could hug and kiss the pope. A smiling Francis replied: "Yes, son, yes".
He hailed the pope as "the most important Argentine in history" in an interview on Saturday.
(Additional reporting by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Andrew Heavens) | News | World | Complimentary | Medium | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Argentina's President Javier Milei visited his compatriot Pope Francis and senior Vatican officials on Monday, bearing pastries and biscuits and talking politics as he seeks to make up with the pontiff he had long derided. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/pastries-and-biscuits-as-argentina039s-milei-makes-up-with-pope-francis | |
1,282,291 | Fire breaks out at Swedish amusement park, no injuries reported | GOTHENBURG, Sweden (Reuters) - A powerful fire broke out on Monday at an amusement park in the western Swedish city of Gothenburg, engulfing outdoor water slides and related facilities that were under construction, eyewitnesses and rescue services said.
There were no reports of injuries, but thick black smoke rose above the city and police advised those living in the area to stay indoors and to keep windows closed to protect against fumes.
No guests were at the Oceana waterpark, a new addition to Gothenburg's Liseberg funfair which had been scheduled to open later this year, a spokesperson for the park told Swedish news agency TT.
Live video showed slides being engulfed by flames while several fire fighting vehicles surrounded the area.
"The fire started at one of the water rides outside the building and then spread to the entire building," Liseberg, said in a statement.
Guests at a nearby hotel and office premises had been evacuated, it added.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander, writing by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik) | News | World | Complimentary | Short | null | 2024-02-12 00:00:00 | null | GOTHENBURG, Sweden (Reuters) - A powerful fire broke out on Monday at an amusement park in the western Swedish city of Gothenburg, engulfing outdoor water slides and related facilities that were under construction, eyewitnesses and rescue services said. | https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2024/02/12/fire-breaks-out-at-swedish-amusement-park-no-injuries-reported |