Pyongyang reaffirms support for Moscow on Ukraine
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Trump wants deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine by Aug 8, US tells UN
UNITED NATIONS: US President Donald Trump has made clear that he wants a deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine by Aug 8, the United States told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday. 'Both Russia and Ukraine must negotiate a ceasefire and durable peace. It is time to make a deal. President Trump has made clear this must be done by Aug 8. The United States is prepared to implement additional measures to secure peace,' senior US diplomat John Kelley told the 15-member council. Trump said on Tuesday that the United States would start imposing tariffs and other measures on Russia "10 days from today" if Moscow showed no progress toward ending its war in Ukraine. Kyiv and Moscow have held three rounds of talks in Istanbul this year that yielded exchanges of prisoners and bodies, but no breakthrough to defuse the more than three-year conflict. "We intend to continue the negotiations in Istanbul," Russia's deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told the council, but he added: 'Despite the meetings in Istanbul, in the West, the war party did not go away ... We continue hearing voices of those who think that diplomacy is just a way of criticizing Russia and exerting pressure on it." Ukraine's deputy UN Ambassador Khrystyna Hayovyshyn said Russia must be confronted with "unity, resolve and action." "We seek a comprehensive, just and lasting peace grounded in the principles of the UN Charter and nothing less. We repeat - a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire is essential. It is the first step to halting Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," she told the council.
CNA
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Ukraine moves to restore power of anti-graft agencies
KYIV: Ukrainian lawmakers on Thursday (Jul 31) approved a bill restoring the independence of the country's two main anti-corruption agencies, moving to defuse a political crisis that has shaken faith in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wartime leadership. Thousands of protesters rallied in Kyiv and other cities in recent days in a rare show of discontent after lawmakers led by Zelenskyy's ruling party rushed through amendments last week defanging the respected agencies. Zelenskyy reversed course after the outcry and under pressure from top European officials, who warned that Ukraine was jeopardising its bid for EU membership by curbing the powers of its anti-graft authorities. Lawmakers voted 331 to 0 in favour of the new Zelenskyy-submitted bill, which reverses measures that had given his hand-picked general prosecutor the power to transfer cases away from the agencies and reassign prosecutors. Critics alleged the step had been designed to protect his political allies from prosecution. Eradicating graft and shoring up the rule of law are key requirements for Kyiv to join the EU, which Ukrainians see as critical to their future as they fend off a Russian invasion. Demonstrations had continued even after Zelenskyy submitted the new bill, with hundreds rallying near the presidential administration in Kyiv late on Wednesday chanting "Shame!" and "The people are the power!". Activists also rallied near parliament ahead of Thursday's vote to pressure lawmakers to approve the new measure. They burst into applause after it passed. Speaking at the rostrum before voting, opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Yurchyshyn thanked Ukrainians for stopping authorities "one step from the abyss" of autocracy. Some lawmakers appeared in parliament with hand-made placards mimicking those carried by protesters. The bill now goes to Zelenskyy for signature. CORRUPTION FIGHTERS The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) have stepped up a closely watched campaign against graft since Russia's February 2022 invasion. They have brought charges against lawmakers and senior government officials, including a then-deputy prime minister who was accused last month of taking a US$345,000 kickback. Speaking to Reuters last Friday, after Zelenskyy's reversal, NABU chief Semen Kryvonos said he expected continued pressure on his agency from corrupt forces uninterested in cleaning up Ukraine. He said he and other anti-corruption officials felt a greater sense of responsibility following the protests, but also called on the country's leadership to help their effort.
CNA
2 days ago
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Russia relieved as tsunami spares far east from major damage
MOSCOW: Russia lifted a tsunami alert on Wednesday (Jul 30) after a massive quake and tsunami largely spared the country's sparsely populated far east from casualties and major damage. An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia's far eastern Kamchatka peninsula earlier, prompting evacuations and tsunami alerts across parts of the Pacific coast. Russian state television on Wednesday aired footage of a tsunami wave sweeping through Severo-Kurilsk, a coastal town on an island close to Japan, carrying buildings and debris into the sea. Giant waves crashed through the port area and submerged a fishing plant in the town of about 2,000 people, some 350 kilometres southwest of the earthquake's underwater epicentre, according to authorities. The epicentre was 47 kilometres beneath the sea level and sent shock waves at a range of 300 kilometres, Russia's geophysical survey told state news agency RIA Novosti. The waves, which were up to four metres high in some areas, reached as far as the town's World War II monument about 400 metres from the shoreline, according to mayor Alexander Ovsyannikov. Most of the town lies on higher ground safe from flooding, he added. "Everyone was evacuated. There was enough time, a whole hour. So everyone was evacuated, all the people are in the tsunami safety zone," he said at a crisis meeting with officials earlier. A tsunami warning for Kamchatka was lifted later on Wednesday. "EVERYONE ACTED QUICKLY" "Thank God, there were no casualties," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, saying the region's warning system had helped. CCTV footage released by the Kamchatka region's health minister, Oleg Melnikov, showed surgeons holding down a patient on an operating table when the earthquake rocked the area. Regional governor Vladimir Solodov said on Telegram he would nominate the doctors for state awards, adding: "Such courage deserves the highest praise." An expedition group from the Russian Geographical Society was on the Kuril island of Shumshu when the tsunami swept away their tent camp. "When the wave hit, all we could do was run to higher ground. It's very difficult to do that in boots on slippery grass and in fog," group member Vera Kostamo told Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda. "All the tents and structures were swept away by the wave, and our belongings were scattered across the beach for hundreds of metres. "We have no casualties; everyone acted quickly, but we lost all our belongings." Authorities in the Sakhalin region, which includes the northern Kuril Islands, declared a state of emergency. The regional seismic monitoring service said the earthquake was the region's strongest since 1952. "Strong aftershocks with a magnitude of up to 7.5 should be expected," it added.
