Putin visits Kursk region for first time since ejecting Ukrainian forces
Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a statement to the media at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 11, 2025. Sergey Bobylev/Host agency RIA Novosti/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
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The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Australia has stabilising role amid rising global division, says PM Albanese
FILE PHOTO: Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reacts as he speaks at a Labor party election night event, after local media projected the Labor Party's victory, on the day of the Australian federal election, in Sydney, Australia, May 3, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia will seek to disprove the "corrosive" idea that democratic institutions are failing amid significant global uncertainty, and play a stabilising role in the region, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday. In his first major speech since his centre-left Labor party was re-elected in May, Albanese said the rise of far right and far left populism elsewhere in the world was because people felt they did not have a stake in the economy and that institutions were not working for them. "We are living in a time of significant global uncertainty - and that reaches beyond just economic instability, it is the more corrosive proposition that politics and government and democratic institutions, including a free media, are incapable of meeting the demands of this moment," he said in a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra. Albanese said that while some "cynically seek to harvest it", the Australian government saw its responsibility was to disprove such perceptions. He also referred to an Australian journalist hit by a rubber bullet during protests on Sunday in the U.S. city of Los Angeles as "horrific", and said that his government had contacted the U.S. over the incident to say it was not acceptable. Albanese is expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time next week on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Canada, where the security allies will discuss tariffs and a request from the United States for Australia to increase defence spending from 2% to 3.5% of gross domestic product. Albanese has declined to publicly commit to a defence spending target, saying Australia would focus on capability needs, such as local manufacturing of missiles. "I think that Australia should decide what we spend on Australia's defence," he said on Tuesday, adding the country's ties in the Pacific and Asia were also important for its security. Australia was focussed on strengthening relationships in Asia, amid strategic competition in the region, he said. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham and Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Ukraine's drone attacks temporarily halt flights in Moscow, across Russia
(Reuters) -Ukraine's overnight drone strikes have forced a temporary suspension of flights in all airports serving Moscow and the country's second-largest city St. Petersburg, but caused no damage, Russian officials reported on Tuesday. Russian air defence units destroyed a total of 102 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defence ministry - which reports only how many were downed, not the number Ukraine launched - said on the Telegram messaging app. Nearly half of the drones were destroyed over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, the ministry said. Three drones were downed over the Moscow region and two over the Leningrad region, of which St. Petersburg is the regional capital. Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia temporarily halted flights at all four major airports serving Moscow and St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport, as well as at airports in nine other cities to ensure safety, it said on Telegram. Flights in Moscow and some other cities were restored by Tuesday morning, but restrictions were still in place in St. Petersburg at 0430 GMT. Regional governors, who wrote about the attacks on Telegram, did not report any damage caused by the attacks. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Chris Reese and Saad Sayeed)
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Ukraine says ‘massive' Russia drone attacks hit Kyiv, Odesa
KYIV: Russia carried out 'massive' drone attacks on Ukraine's capital Kyiv and port city of Odesa early Tuesday, killing one person and hitting a maternity hospital, Ukrainian officials said, calling for further sanctions. Moscow has kept up its attacks on Ukraine, which has hit back with strikes deep inside Russian territory, while peace talks held over the weekend failed to yield a breakthrough towards ending the three-year war. Aside from an agreement to exchange prisoners, progress has stalled and Russia has repeatedly rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire. 'Russia lies every day about its desire for peace and attacks people every day. Time to impose sanctions. Time to support Ukraine with weapons. Time to prove that democracy has power,' Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said on Telegram. A 59-year-old man was killed in the Russian strikes on residential buildings in Odesa on Tuesday, and at least four others were wounded, said Governor Oleg Kiper. 'The enemy massively attacked Odesa with strike drones. There is damage to civilian infrastructure and fires,' Kiper wrote on Telegram. 'The Russians hit a maternity hospital, an emergency medical ward and residential buildings,' he said, adding the maternity hospital had been evacuated in time. In central Kiev, an AFP journalist heard at least 12 explosions, anti-aircraft fire and the buzzing of drones. 'Stay in shelters! The massive attack on the capital continues,' Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, adding in a separate post around 3:00 am (0000 GMT) that 'a new batch of UAVs (drones) is flying to the capital'. Several people were reported wounded in the attacks that hit at least seven districts, with buildings and cars on fire. Prisoner swap Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the biggest European conflict since World War II, forcing millions to flee their homes and decimating much of eastern and southern Ukraine. Ukrainian cities are targeted by Russian air strikes almost daily. On Sunday, Russia launched a record 479 explosive drones at Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Despite efforts by US President Donald Trump to reach a ceasefire agreement, a second round of peace talks in Turkey are at a standstill. The only concrete agreement reached at the talks over the weekend was for release all seriously wounded or sick prisoners of war and those under the age of 25 -- a deal that did not specify the number of soldiers involved. While welcoming POW exchanges, Zelensky said last week said it was 'pointless' to hold further talks with the current Russian delegation -- who he previously dismissed as 'empty heads' -- since they could not agree to a ceasefire. On Sunday, the Russian army also claimed to have attacked the Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk, which borders the regions of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, already partially under Russian control, a first in more than three years of conflict. 'Time for everyone to finally accept the fact that Russia understands only strikes, not rational words,' Ukraine's Yermak said on Tuesday, in a thinly veiled criticism of the Trump administration. As a condition for halting its invasion, Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede the territories Moscow claims to have annexed and forswear joining NATO. It has also rejected a proposed 30-day unconditional ceasefire sought by Kyiv and the European Union, arguing that it would allow Ukrainian forces to rearm with Western deliveries. Ukraine is demanding a complete Russian withdrawal of from its territory and security guarantees from the West, describing Moscow's demands as 'ultimatums'.
