Ukrainian protesters celebrate as lawmakers vote to restore power of anti-corruption bodies
Thousands of protesters rallied in Kyiv and other cities in recent days in a rare show of discontent after lawmakers led by politicians in Zelenskyy's ruling party last week rushed through amendments that stripped powers from the national anti-corruption bureau and the anti-corruption prosecutor's office
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The Independent
24 minutes ago
- The Independent
Putin says Russia's hypersonic missile has entered service and will be deployed in Belarus
President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia has started production of its newest hypersonic missiles and reaffirmed its plans to deploy them to ally Belarus later this year. Sitting alongside Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Valaam Island near St. Petersburg, Putin said the military already has selected deployment sites in Belarus for the Oreshnik intermediate range ballistic missile. 'Preparatory work is ongoing, and most likely we will be done with it before the year's end,' Putin said, adding that the first series of Oreshniks and their systems have been produced and entered military service. Russia first used the Oreshnik, which is Russian for 'hazelnut tree,' against Ukraine in November, when it fired the experimental weapon at a factory in Dnipro that built missiles when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. Putin has praised the Oreshnik's capabilities, saying its multiple warheads that plunge to a target at speeds up to Mach 10 are immune to being intercepted and are so powerful that the use of several of them in one conventional strike could be as devastating as a nuclear attack. He warned the West that Moscow could use it against Ukraine's NATO allies who allowed Kyiv to use their longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia. Russia's missile forces chief has declared that Oreshnik, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, has a range allowing it to reach all of Europe. Intermediate-range missiles can fly between 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles). Such weapons were banned under a Soviet-era treaty that Washington and Moscow abandoned in 2019. Last fall, Putin and Lukashenko signed a treaty giving Moscow's security guarantees to Belarus, including the possible use of Russian nuclear weapons to help repel any aggression. The pact follows the Kremlin 's revision of its nuclear doctrine, which for the first time placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella amid tensions with the West over the conflict in Ukraine. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for over 30 years and has relied on Kremlin subsidies and support, allowed Russia to use his country's territory to send troops into Ukraine in 2022 and to host some of its tactical nuclear weapons. Russia hasn't disclosed how many such weapons were deployed, but Lukashenko said in December that his country currently has several dozen. The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which has a 1,084-kilometer (673-mile) border with Ukraine, would allow Russian aircraft and missiles to reach potential targets there more easily and quickly if Moscow decides to use them. It also extends Russia's capability to target several NATO allies in Eastern and Central Europe. The revamped nuclear doctrine that Putin signed last fall formally lowered the threshold for Russia's use of its nuclear weapons. The document says Moscow could use nuclear weapons 'in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction' against Russia or its allies, as well as 'in the event of aggression' against Russia and Belarus with conventional weapons that threaten 'their sovereignty and/or territorial integrity.' ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___
Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Italian pop singers who glorify mafia face three years in prison
Neomelodic singers are known to perform at the weddings and baptisms of mafia families and some are alleged to have received mafia money to launch their careers. Performers who extol the virtues of a life of crime and gun violence will face prosecution under the legislation, which is being pushed by Matteo Salvini, Italy's deputy prime minister and the leader of the hard-Right League party. He announced the initiative alongside Daniela Di Maggio, a woman whose 23-year-old son, a symphony orchestra musician, was shot dead by a young mafia gangster in Naples in 2023. Since her son's death, Ms Di Maggio, a therapist and counsellor, has become an anti-mafia campaigner. The proposed law targets anyone, including artists, writers and musicians, who glamorise the criminal underworld 'in whatever form of expression'. The legislation is aimed at neomelodic songs that 'exalt' a life of crime and 'tell young people to go out and buy firearms so that they can feel safe,' said Gianluca Cantalamessa, an MP with the League who comes from Naples. The definition is so broad that it could also target popular television shows such as Gomorra, a fictionalised portrayal of the Camorra mafia, which is broadcast in the UK. 'There are no positive models in Gomorra, unlike when we were kids when there were goodies and baddies on television and children could choose between the two,' said Mr Cantalamessa. Last year, more than 44,000 crimes were committed by minors in Italy, who are particularly susceptible to the influence of songs and TV shows that romanticise organised crime, he said. An 'extravagantly kitsch' wedding The links between music and the mafia were vividly illustrated in 2019 when a popular neomelodic singer called Tony Colombo married Tina Rispoli, the widow of a mafia boss who was shot dead on a beach in the town of Terracina, north of Naples, a few years before. The extravagantly kitsch wedding involved four white horses pulling a pumpkin-shaped white carriage through the streets of Naples, while musicians in cream suits played trumpets and jugglers performed with acrobats. In 2023, the couple were amongst 27 people that were arrested during police raids on one of the clans that make up the Camorra. Prosecutors accused them of investing £433,393 in the clan and backing a fashion line called 'Corleone', which was named after the town in Sicily which is synonymous with the island's Cosa Nostra mafia. They were also allegedly involved in launching a high-energy drink called ''9mm', which came in a bottle shaped like a bullet. The couple denied all the accusations. They were acquitted of the charges in March this year. However many of the other defendants were found guilty, including the brother of Ms Rispoli, who was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison.
Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Reeves tells universities: Let defence firms recruit your students
Rachel Reeves has called on universities to do more to ensure defence companies can attend careers fairs without facing intimidation. The Chancellor told The Telegraph there should be 'no barriers' to young people taking jobs in the sector as the world gets more dangerous and uncertain. The intervention was triggered by concerns that Left-wing student unions protesting the presence of defence firms at careers events was discouraging attendance. Ms Reeves told The Telegraph: 'A strong national defence can build a strong economy too. By backing Britain's defence industry, we can create new jobs, opportunities, and investments in our industrial heartlands. 'We can give the next generation the chance to work in high-skilled, well-paid part of the economy. 'But those opportunities can only be seized if we make them available to everyone. That's why it's right that companies should be allowed to attend university career events or recruitment fairs. 'There should be no barriers to young people having the chance to decide on their own futures or crucial part of the British economy being shut out of hiring the best and the brightest.' The Telegraph has been told of incidents when defence companies have cancelled sending employees to jobs fairs due to fears they will be barracked by vocal critics. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and concerns about the growing influence of China have contributed to Western nations, including the UK, markedly increasing defence spending. The Government has for months been taking steps to counter long-standing negative portrayals of the defence sector, talking up its importance to UK national security. Student protests create hostile environment Business leaders whose firms make military equipment have personally complained to the Chancellor that they were effectively barred from some university careers fairs. There is no ban by the university sector or individual universities on defence companies sending representatives to events where students look for future jobs. However, often a hostile environment is created by student protesters, according to multiple well-placed figures in the defence sector and the Government. It means executives are sometimes taking the decision not to attend certain careers fairs, fearing it would be an unpleasant experience for those employees – often recent graduates themselves – who are sent in. A source at one defence company described how they took that decision after learning of a planned protest where the firm would be accused of being 'dealers of death'. The source said: 'We have had instances where student groups on campuses have taken the fact we are there as a problem. We have seen some pretty unpleasant campaigns with those groups to try to agitate within student unions.' Defence firms have anecdotal evidence that confrontational protests have become more common since Hamas's Oct 7 attack on Israel, after which there has been heightened scrutiny of connections between the British defence industry and Israel. It comes amid pro-Palestine protests on campuses across the country in the wake of Oct 7 and Israel's subsequent military campaign in Gaza. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is also aware of the issue of defence companies feeling they cannot attend some university careers events and is monitoring it. The concerns have emerged at a time when the UK is set to need even more home-grown engineers and scientists for the defence sector as government spending in that space soars. The Chancellor, who an ally said had been a consistent champion behind the scenes of Britain's defence companies, recently signed off a marked increase in defence spending. The UK's defence spending will rise from around 2.3 per cent of GDP to 2.5 per cent GDP by 2027 – or to 2.6 per cent when money for the intelligence agencies is included for the first time. There is also a looser ambition to hit 3 per cent by the early 2030s, as well as a new Nato target to reach 3.5 per cent on core defence spending by 2035. Labour has already pressed financial institutions to change their definition of environmental, social and governance to make sure that defence companies are not being locked out of potential funding. There was a 9 per cent drop in investment in defence companies from UK funds between the start of 2022 and late 2023, according to London Stock Exchange data. Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, met senior figures at defence firms and banks last December to press his concerns about barriers to investment in the sector. Meanwhile, Labour has also taken steps to protect free speech on university campuses since entering office last summer, retaining proposed Tory legislation in that space after initially signalling it would be dropped. Ms Reeves said: 'The world is changing and we can see that before our eyes. It is becoming more dangerous, more insecure and more uncertain. 'But the job of the Government is not simply to step back and watch that change happen, but to take action to keep our country safe. 'That is why we have announced the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War and an ambition to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence in the next parliament.'
