Thursday, June 30, 2022

Why NATO's historic expansion matters

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 08:28:37 GMT

Russia-Ukraine war: Russia withdraws from Snake Island and says Ukraine should demine waters – live news

Russian ministry of defence says withdrawal is goodwill gesture to facilitate grain exports, and asks that Ukraine demine its coastal waters

The UK’s foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said that one of the reasons that Russia was able to invade Ukraine was because of underspending on defence in Europe.

Appearing on Sky News, she said:

I’ve been very clear that the entire free world, the western alliance, does need to focus more on deterrence. We need to focus more on defence. And what we know is prevention is better than cure.

The lesson that Putin learned from underspending on defence was that he could invade a sovereign nation, and we simply can’t let our guard down again, we can’t allow that to happen again.

I would say that we need a full range of capabilities to deal with the threats that we face now. Whether those are cyber threats, whether those are land-based threats, naval threats, and we have the balance right. But of course we need to continue to evolve, because we’re seeing, you know, we never expected in our lifetimes to see this kind of war on in Europe.

We’ve seen the systematic rape of women. We’ve seen the attacking of civilians, including at the shopping centre this week. And what we need to make sure is not only are the Ukrainians successful in pushing Russia out of Ukraine, but also that people are held to account for these appalling crimes that have been committed.

I’ve not met Vladimir Putin. I do not know the motivations for carrying out this appalling war. All I know is that we have to make it our absolute priority to stop this war, to push Vladimir Putin and the Russian troops out of Ukraine, otherwise we will live in a much less safe Europe.

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 10:00:00 GMT

Ukraine forces reportedly recapture Snake Island in strategic win

Winning back vital Black Sea landmass would weaken any future Russia coastal land attack

Russia-Ukraine war – live updates

Ukrainian forces say they have pushed Russian forces from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea landmass off the southern coast near the city of Odesa.

Ukraine’s reported recapture of the island weakens any potential plans Russia may have for a future land attack on that stretch of coastline.

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 09:18:56 GMT

Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 127 of the invasion

Nato says Moscow ‘most direct threat’ to security; Putin warns over installing military infrastructure in Finland and Sweden

Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 00:19:42 GMT

Oxford university urged to reject donation from Russian-British businessman

Ministers have imposed sanctions on Said Gutseriev, who donated £2.6m to university in 2019

The University of Oxford has come under renewed pressure to reject a £2.6m donation from a Russian-British businessman after he was designated for sanctions by the UK government.

Ministers imposed sanctions on Said Gutseriev on Wednesday for “obtaining a benefit from or supporting the government of Russia” in his role as a director of SFI, a Russian conglomerate that the UK government said was involved in the “Russian financial services sector, a sector of strategic significance”.

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 05:00:31 GMT

Nato leaders voice concern about threat China poses to world order for first time

Beijing’s efforts to build up nuclear forces, hacking operations and increasingly close ties to Moscow are ‘serious challenges’, says Nato secretary general

China is not an adversary but it does represent serious challenges, Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, said on Wednesday, as the alliance agreed for the first time to include threats posed by Beijing into a blueprint guiding its future strategy.

While Russia’s war against Ukraine has dominated discussions at the Nato summit, China earned a place among the western alliance’s most worrying security concerns.

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 02:12:25 GMT

Secret Service agent reportedly willing to testify Trump did not lunge at him

Row comes after ex-White House aide’s explosive testimony that portrayed a violent and unhinged Trump on day of Capitol attack

Senior Secret Service agents are reportedly prepared to testify that Donald Trump did not lunge for the wheel of his vehicle or physically attack the chief of his security detail after his speech near the White House on January 6 – as a former aide said he did in sworn testimony on Tuesday.

The row follows the explosive testimony to the House January 6 committee, which painted an unhinged and violent portrait of Trump on the day of the Capitol attack, in a shocking hearing many have seen as potentially loosening the former president’s grip on the Republican party.

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 17:13:50 GMT

Hong Kong tightens security as Xi visits for 25th anniversary of handover

China’s president makes first trip outside mainland since pandemic began as territory prepares to mark milestone

China’s president, Xi Jinping, has made his first trip outside of the mainland since the C0vid pandemic began, landing in Hong Kong and telling crowds the region had “risen from the ashes” after years of upheaval.

The leader, his wife, Peng Liyuan, and delegates, arrived by high-speed train at West Kowloon station before his scheduled attendance at the inauguration of the city’s new chief executive, and the 25th anniversary of the British return of Hong Kong to Chinese rule.

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 08:29:38 GMT

Ferdinand Marcos Jnr praises dictator father during swearing in as Philippines president

Son says late dictator has legacy of achievement as he completes clan’s return to power 36 years after father’s ousting

Ferdinand Marcos Jr has promised a government that will deliver for all Filipinos during his inauguration speech, even as he paid tribute to the legacy of his dictator father, whose rule was marked by widespread corruption and rights abuses.

Marcos Jr, who began his term as president of the Philippines on Thursday, said he would emulate his father. “I once knew a man who saw what little had been achieved since independence in a land of people with the greatest potential for achievement. And yet they were poor. But he got it done. Sometimes with the needed support, sometimes without. So will it be with his son. You will get no excuses from me,” he said.

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 09:45:31 GMT

North Korean hackers thought to be behind $100m cryptocurrency heist

If confirmed, last week’s attack would be the eighth this year – involving $1bn in stolen funds – that could be confidently attributed to North Korea

North Korean hackers are thought to be behind last week’s theft of as much as $100m in cryptocurrency from a US company, as the regime steps up attempts to secure funding for its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The assets were stolen on 23 June from Horizon Bridge, a service operated by the Harmony blockchain that allows assets to be transferred to other blockchains, three digital investigative firms have concluded.

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 05:06:24 GMT

Fossil fuel industry faces surge in climate lawsuits

Number of climate-related lawsuits globally has doubled since 2015, with quarter filed in past two years

The world’s most polluting companies are increasingly being targeted by lawsuits challenging their inaction on climate change and attempts to spread misinformation, according to a new report.

Research by the London School of Economics Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment found a surge in legal cases against the fossil fuel industry over the past year – especially outside the US – and growing action in other corporate sectors.

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 05:00:32 GMT

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