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Gunman opens fire in a Prague university, killing 14 people in Czech Republic's worst mass shooting
A student opened fire Thursday at a university in Prague, killing at least 14 people, officials said, and injuring more than 20 in the Czech Republic's worst mass shooting.
The bloodshed took place in the philosophy department building of Charles University, where the shooter was a student, Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said. The gunman also died, authorities said. His name has not been released.
Vondrasek said in the evening that 14 people had died and 25 were injured, after earlier reporting that 15 had died and 24 were hurt. He didn't explain the change. Authorities warned that the death toll could rise.
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Police gave no details about the victims or a possible motive for the shooting at the building located near the Vltava River in Jan Palach Square. Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said investigators do not suspect a link to any extremist ideology or groups.
Vondrasek said police believe the gunman killed his father earlier Thursday in his hometown of Hostoun, just west of Prague, and that he had also been planning to kill himself. He didn't elaborate.
Later Thursday, Vondrasek said that based on a search of his home, the gunman was also suspected in the killing of another man and his 2-month-old daughter Dec. 15, in Prague.
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The chief described the shooter as an excellent student with no criminal record, but didn't provide any other information.
The gunman suffered "devastating injuries" but it wasn't clear if he killed himself or was shot to death in an exchange of gunfire with officers, Vondrasek said, adding that there was "nothing to suggest that he had an accomplice."
The shooter legally owned several guns — police said he was heavily armed Thursday and was carrying a lot of ammunition — and that what he did was "well thought out, a horrible act," Vondrasek said.
University authorities said they would tighten security in university buildings with immediate effect.
"We mourn the loss of life of members of our university community, express our deepest condolences to all the bereaved and our thoughts are with all those affected by the tragedy," Charles University said in a statement.
The building where the shooting took place is in Jan Palach Square, a busy tourist area in Prague's Old Town. It is just a few minutes' walk from the picturesque Old Town Square, a major tourist attraction where a popular Christmas market attracts thousands of visitors.
The government quickly sought to quell concerns that the massacre was back by foreign interests.
"There's no indication that it has anything to do with international terrorism," Rakusan said.
"It's a horrible crime, something the Czech Republic has never experienced," he said.
Pavel Nedoma, the director of the nearby Rudolfinum Gallery, said he watched from a window as a person standing on a balcony of the building fired a gun.
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Authorities evacuated everyone from the building and police said they were still searching the area, including the balcony, for explosives.
The building forms part of the square and faces a bridge across the river with a view of Prague Castle, the seat of the Czech presidency. President Petr Pavel said he was "shocked" by what happened and offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims, as did leaders of Germany, France and Slovakia, the European Union and Israel.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sent a message of condolence.
"The president and the first lady are praying for the families who lost loved ones and everyone else who has been affected by this senseless act of violence," Jean-Pierre said. "On behalf of the United States, we send our condolences and also wish the survivors of this tragic event a speedy recovery."
The Czech government declared Saturday a national day of mourning to honor the shooting victims, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.
Previously, the nation's worst mass shooting was in 2015, when a gunman opened fire in the southeastern town of Uhersky Brod, killing eight before fatally shooting himself.
On Thursday, where tourists, students and others would normally be enjoying the view of the iconic monument, chaos and terror instead took hold. Police vehicles and ambulances sped across the bridge with their sirens wailing. Officers sealed off the empty square.
Some video footage showed people being evacuated from the building and others trying to hide behind a wall.
Ivo Havranek, a diving instructor, said he was near the building when he heard a shot ring out, but he didn't quite believe that was what he had heard.
"Only at the moment when I saw the fully equipped riot police with bulletproof vests and shields, it looked to me that I had found myself in a movie," Havranek said. "But it was obvious that nobody was shooting a movie."
Putin says there will be no peace in Ukraine until Russia's goals, still unchanged, are achieved
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday there would be no peace in Ukraine until the Kremlin realizes its goals, which remain unchanged after nearly two years of fighting that has sent tensions soaring between Moscow and the West.
Speaking at a year-end news conference that lasted over four hours and offered him an opportunity to reinforce his grip on power, Putin gave some rare details on what Moscow calls its "special military operation."
He dismissed the need for a second wave of mobilization of reservists to fight in Ukraine — a move that has been deeply unpopular. He said there are some 617,000 Russian soldiers there, including around 244,000 troops who were called up to fight alongside professional military forces.
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"There will be peace when we will achieve our goals," Putin said, repeating a frequent Kremlin line. "Victory will be ours."
Putin highlighted Russian military gains in Ukraine as the conflict's second winter approached.
"Almost all along the line of contact our armed forces, let's put it modestly, are improving their positions, almost all in an active stage of action and there is an improvement in the position of our troops all along," he said.
"The enemy has declared a big counteroffensive, but he hasn't achieved anything anywhere," Putin added, claiming that the latest Ukrainian attempt to create a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River also fizzled and Ukrainian troops suffered heavy losses.
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He alleged Kyiv was sacrificing its troops in order to show some success to its Western sponsors as it seeks more aid.
"I believe it's stupid and irresponsible on behalf of the country's political leadership, but it's their business," he said.
Putin, who has held power for nearly 24 years and announced last week he is running for reelection, was greeted with applause as he arrived in the hall in central Moscow. He didn't hold his traditional news conference last year after his military failed to capture Kyiv and as the Ukrainian army retook lost territory.
But with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleading for more U.S aid amid a stalling counteroffensive and fracturing Western support, he decided to face reporters once more — although the session is heavily choreographed and more spectacle than scrutiny.
It was the first time that Putin took questions from Western journalists since the fighting in Ukraine began. Ordinary citizens were able to submit questions alongside those from journalists, and Russian media said at least 2 million were sent in advance.
The news conference began with questions about Ukraine and highlighted concerns some Russians have about another wave of mobilization.
"There is no need" for mobilization now, Putin said, because 1,500 men are recruited every day. As of Wednesday, 486,000 soldiers have signed contracts with the military, he said.
His remarks about another mobilization were met with skepticism by some independent Russian media, which noted he had promised not to draft reservists for Ukraine and then reversed course and ordered a "partial" call-up. The move, which he announced in September 2022, prompted thousands of Russians to flee the country.
He reiterated that Moscow's goals in Ukraine — "de-Nazification, de-militarization and a neutral status" of Ukraine — remain unchanged. He had spelled out those loosely defined objectives the day he sent in troops February 2022.
The claim of "de-Nazification" refers to Russia's false assertions that Ukraine's government is heavily influenced by radical nationalist and neo-Nazi groups — an allegation derided by Kyiv and the West.
Putin has also demanded that Ukraine remain neutral and refrain from joining NATO.
He reaffirmed his claim that much of today's Ukraine, including the Black Sea port of Odesa and other coastal areas, historically belonged to Russia and were given away by Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin.
While Moscow had accepted the new reality after the USSR's collapse in 1991, Putin said he was forced to respond to what he described as an attempt by the West to turn Ukraine into a tool to challenge and threaten Russia.
"Russians and Ukrainians are one people, and what's going on now is a huge tragedy, a civil war between brothers who have found themselves on the opposite sides," he added.
Putin's last news conference was in 2021 as the U.S warned that Russia was about to send troops into Ukraine. He delayed an annual state-of-the-nation address until February 2023.
Relations with the U.S. since then have plunged to new lows as the conflict continued. Russia detained Moscow-based U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich in March.
Shortly before Putin spoke, a Russian court ruled that Gershkovich, 32, must stay behind bars until at least Jan. 30.
U.S citizen Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, also has been jailed in Russia since his 2018 arrest on espionage-related charges.
Russia recently rejected an offer to bring home Gershkovich and Whelan, both labeled by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained.
"We're not refusing to return them," Putin said Thursday, adding he wanted to reach an agreement but "it's not easy." He refused to elaborate but said Washington "must hear us" and make an offer that satisfies Russia.
On the Israeli-Hamas war, Putin again deplored the death of thousands of women and children in Gaza, citing U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called it a "graveyard for children."
Putin urged stronger efforts to protect civilians and urged greater humanitarian aid, adding that Russia proposed setting up a field hospital in Gaza near the border with Egypt but Israel responded it would be unsafe. He reaffirmed a call for implementing a U.N. resolution on the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Putin appeared calm and relaxed during questions, although he frequently cleared his throat, blaming the air conditioning. The event is primarily aimed at a domestic audience and is a chance for him to appear personally involved in resolving the problems of ordinary Russians and reinforce his authority ahead of the March 17 election.
Responding to a final question about what kind of warning he would have given to himself from today's perspective when he started his first term in 2000, Putin said he would have warned against "naivety and excessive trustfulness regarding our so-called partners."
He also fielded questions from children in Russian-annexed Crimea about the leaking roof and mold in their sports hall, and a woman who addressed "my favorite president" to complain about the rising price of eggs. Putin apologized and blamed "a glitch in the work of the government," for not increasing imports quickly enough.
Journalists lined up in freezing temperatures to enter the hall hours before Putin's arrival. Some donned traditional dress, including elaborate hats to catch his attention or held identifying placards.
Although the event is tightly controlled, some online questions that Putin ignored appeared on screens in the hall.
"Mr. President, when will the real Russia be the same as the one on TV?" one text message said, apparently referring to the Kremlin's control over the media that portrays Putin positively and glosses over the country's problems.
Another read: "I'd like to know, when will our president pay attention to his own country? We've got no education, no health care. The abyss lies ahead."
Putin was asked by an artificial intelligence version of himself, speaking with his face and voice, on whether he uses body doubles — a subject of intense speculation by some Kremlin watchers. Putin brushed off the suggestion.
"Only one person should look like myself and talk in my voice -- that person is going to be me," he said, deadpanning: "By the way, this is my first double."
Oxford University Press has named 'rizz' as its word of the year
Oxford University Press has named “rizz″ as its word of the year, highlighting the popularity of a term used by Generation Z to describe someone’s ability to attract or seduce another person.
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It topped “Swiftie” (an enthusiastic fan of Taylor Swift), “situationship” (an informal romantic or sexual relationship) and “prompt” (an instruction given to an artificial intelligence program) in the annual decision by experts at the publisher of the multivolume Oxford English Dictionary.
The four finalists were selected by a public vote and the winner was announced on Monday.
Rizz is believed to come from the middle of the word charisma, and can be used as a verb, as in to “rizz up,” or chat someone up, the publisher said.
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“It speaks to how younger generations create spaces — online or in person — where they own and define the language they use,” the publisher said. “From activism to dating and wider culture, as Gen Z comes to have more impact on society, differences in perspectives and lifestyle play out in language, too.”
German Federal prosecutor declines to investigate Myanmar atrocities
The Federal Public Prosecutor General of Germany decided not to initiate an investigation into genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Myanmar alleged in a 215-page complaint filed in January by Fortify Rights and 16 individual complainants from Myanmar, said Fortify Rights in a statement released on Thursday from Bangkok.
The complaint, filed in January 2023 under the principle of universal jurisdiction against senior Myanmar military generals and others, focused on those responsible for committing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the Rohingya in 2016 and 2017 and for crimes against humanity committed throughout the country since the Myanmar military launched a failing coup d’état in February 2021.
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There is no reason to believe that this decision will hamper future universal jurisdiction complaints either in Germany or elsewhere, said Fortify Rights.
“The prosecutor’s decision is hugely disappointing,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Fortify Rights. “We remain confident in the evidence and legal arguments in the complaint, and indeed, the German Federal Prosecutor’s office made clear that its decision was not based on the merits or strength of the evidence.”
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The German Federal Public Prosecutor informed Fortify Rights last month that it had declined to open an investigation primarily because of a lack of suspects present in Germany and under the belief that its investigation would duplicate the work that the Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar (IIMM) is currently undertaking.
“When we filed the complaint, we knew that Min Aung Hlaing and others responsible for atrocities in Myanmar weren’t present in Germany. Such presence is not required for an investigation under German law. We didn’t expect this factor to lead the prosecutor to fully decline any investigation into the evidence presented,” said Matthew Smith.
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“We know that the IIMM is diligently collecting and preserving evidence, and we expected German authorities to use and leverage the IIMM’s work for future prosecutions in Germany. That is the point of the IIMM. Parts of this decision seem counter to the purpose of Germany’s universal jurisdiction.”
The Federal Prosecutor underscored the absence of Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and other named perpetrators in Germany as a decisive factor. However, history has shown that individuals responsible for atrocity crimes often elude custody until political winds and circumstances shift, leading to extraditions, trials, and convictions in courts of law, said Fortify Rights.
Under German law, there are limited opportunities to formally appeal the Prosecutor’s discretionary decision not to investigate or prosecute based on Section 153f of the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, advocates in Germany, such as at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), have recommended reforming the law to enable such reviews.
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“While completely disappointing, the Prosecutor’s decision underscores the urgent need for a truly international effort to prosecute the crimes unfolding in Myanmar,” said Matthew Smith.
“We’re grateful the Prosecutor clarified that the German government is cooperating with efforts to collect and preserve evidence of crimes in Myanmar and that the Prosecutor’s decision was unrelated to the strength of the evidence submitted. We’ll continue to pursue accountability for the heinous crimes committed in Myanmar, and we’re already working on new strategies with survivors and others to that end. The team at Fortify Rights is growing and is more committed than ever to ending and remedying these horrors.”
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Approximately half of the 16 individual complainants who brought their cases to Germany with Fortify Rights survived the Rohingya genocide and Myanmar military-led “clearance operations” in Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017. The other half survived post-coup atrocities in states and regions throughout the country in 2021 and 2022.
In its statement released today, Fortify Rights noted the Myanmar military’s “longstanding impunity for international crimes, including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity” against “millions of innocent civilians.” The statement concludes that “Fortify Rights is determined to pursue every means possible” to ensure that accountability “happens swiftly and efficiently.”
9th Primakov Readings held in Moscow
The 9th International Scientific and Expert Forum Primakov Readings ended in Moscow, Russia.
This year, the Primakov Readings was attended by 80 leading foreign experts in international security, world politics, and economics from 31 countries of the world including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Egypt, Finland, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Oman, South Africa, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, USA, Uzbekistan and others.
In total, more than 1300 representatives of the Russian and foreign scientific and expert community, government agencies, and political and business circles took part in the forum.
Post-Globalization Horizons was the main topic of the discussions at the event, said a media release on Wednesday.
During its five sessions, experts discussed nuclear energy, Russia-Africa relations, the challenges of post-Soviet countries, as well as the current state of the Baltic Sea and the rise of the Global South.
The second day of the forum was opened with a special session attended by Alexey Likhachev, Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.
The speaker spoke about the company’s main activities and current projects, and gave an overview of the nuclear industry in other countries.
According to the speaker, despite the political factor, “the global nuclear family has not split”.
The next session was devoted to Russia-Africa relations.
This topic was chosen for the first time in the history of the forum.
Another innovation was the participation of two presidents: current President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, and President of South Africa (1999-2008) Thabo Mbeki.
The latter spoke about promising sectors of Russian-African cooperation, “There is a serious shortage of energy resources on the continent. If Russia were to start developing hydropower in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it would solve 90 percent of Africa’s problems in this area.”
Mikhail Bogdanov, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, also shared his view on cooperation between Russia and Africa, “Russia attaches special importance to building a long-term strategic partnership with Africa, which is gaining the status of one of the world’s significant centers of power. The principled positions of Russia and Africa on most issues on the international agenda, urgent problems of our time, global challenges and threats are close or coincide.”
The session was followed by the search for new development models for Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Russia.
One of the speakers, Eduard Solovyev, Head of the Center for Post-Soviet Studies, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), spoke about the situation in the post-Soviet space, “If we talk about the weaknesses of post-Soviet Eurasia, these are conflicts and institutions. Conflicts in the context of great geopolitical confrontation become entry points for non-regional powers, while political institutions cause the need to create stable and effective states on the territory of the post-Soviet space.”
Yerkin Tukumov, Director of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in his turn called upon the expert community to respond competently to current events and set the agenda in the information field.
The Central Asian topic was followed by a discussion on the problems of the Baltic region.
In particular, Alexander Grushko, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, spoke vividly and pessimistically about the expansion of the European Union, “EU enlargement has turned out not to be the elimination of borders, but the erection of new walls and the transfer of old ones to the East.
In the eyes of our neighbors, the ideal of regional security consists of borders wrapped in barbed wire, anti-tank trench, and a training ground for military exercises. Their dream is to turn the Baltic into a NATO sea, as some NATO officials are directly talking about.”
The forum ended with a session entitled The Rise of the Global South, where experts discussed the need to include developing countries in the processes of world governance.
Thus, José Ramón Cabañas, Director of the Centre for International Policy Studies (Republic of Cuba), noted that the Global South does not have a ready-made solution to all the world’s problems, but nevertheless there is a positive trend for countries who strive to jointly develop alternative development paths.
The two days of the Primakov Readings included eight working sessions, as well as traditional address by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The discussions were focusing on political risks for global energy markets, cooperation of Russia and states of Central Asia and South Caucasus, Sino-American relations, and the development of the Global South.
The participants are also touched on the balance of power in the Baltic region and prospects for the development of relations between Russia and countries of the Middle East and Africa.
The event was organized by the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, the Primakov Center for International Cooperation, the World Trade Center, and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the Russian Federation with the support of the Presidential Grants Foundation.
Ukraine has a new way to get its grain to the world despite Russia's threat in the Black Sea
Grain thunders into rail cars and trucks zip around a storage facility in central Ukraine, a place that growing numbers of companies turned to as they struggled to export their food to people facing hunger around the world.
Now, more of the grain is getting unloaded from overcrammed silos and heading to ports on the Black Sea, set to traverse a fledgling shipping corridor launched after Russia pulled out of a U.N.-brokered agreement this summer that allowed food to flow safely from Ukraine during the war.
“It was tight, but we kept working … we sought how to accept every ton of products needed for our partners,” facility general director Roman Andreikiv said about the end of the grain deal in July. Ukraine’s new corridor, protected by the military, has now allowed him to “free up warehouse space and increase activity.”
Growing numbers of ships are streaming toward Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and heading out loaded with grain, metals and other cargo despite the threat of attack and floating explosive mines. It’s giving a boost to Ukraine’s agriculture-dependent economy and bringing back a key source of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products for parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia where local prices have risen and food insecurity is growing.
"We are seeing renewed confidence among commercial operators keen to take Ukrainian grain cargoes,” said Munro Anderson, head of operations for Vessel Protect, which assesses war risks at sea and provides insurance with backing from Lloyd’s, whose members make up the world’s largest insurance marketplace.
Ihor Osmachko, general director of Agroprosperis Group, one of Ukraine’s biggest agricultural producers and exporters, says he's feeling “more optimistic than two months ago.”
“At that time, it was completely unclear how to survive,” he said.
Since the company’s first vessel departed in mid-September, it says it has shipped more than 300,000 metric tons of grain to Egypt, Spain, China, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Tunisia and Turkey.
After ending the agreement brokered by the U.N. and Turkey, Russia has attacked Ukraine’s Black Sea ports — a vital connection to global trade — and grain infrastructure, destroying enough food to feed over 1 million people for a year, the U.K. government said.
The risk to vessels is the main hurdle for the new shipping corridor. Russia, whose officials haven't commented on the corridor, warned this summer that ships heading to Ukraine's Black Sea ports would be assumed to be carrying weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that allies had agreed to provide ships to help his country protect commercial vessels in the Black Sea but that more air defense systems were needed.
“Air defense is in short supply,” he told reporters Saturday at an international food security summit in Kyiv. “But what’s important is that we have agreements, we have a positive signal and the corridor is operational.”
While a deadly missile strike on the port of Odesa hit a Liberian-flagged commercial ship this month, not long afterward, insurers, brokers and banks teamed up with the Ukrainian government to announce affordable coverage for Black Sea grain shipments, offering shippers peace of mind.
Despite such attacks, Ukraine has exported over 5.6 million metric tons of grain and other products through the new corridor, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink tweeted Friday. Before the war, it was nearly double that per month, Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka said.
“The way that they’re transporting right now, it’s certainly much more expensive and time consuming,” said Kelly Goughary, a senior research analyst at agriculture data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence.
“But they are getting product out the door, which is better than I think many were anticipating with the grain initiative coming to an end,” she said.
Farmers also are facing low prices for their grain, which makes sending trucks to Odesa's often-attacked port not worth the risk for one agricultural company near the front line.
Instead, Slavhorod, which farms near the border with Russia in the Sumy province that faces daily shelling, has chosen to store its peas, wheat, soybeans, sunflower and corn in warehouses.
There's risk in keeping the 3,500-hectare (8,650-acre) farm running at all: Signs warned of explosive mines near where workers were collecting corn in a field 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) from Russia.
But “who, if not us? It’s the only industry that brings some income to the country,” said Slavhorod’s chief agronomist, Oleksandr Kubrakov, who survived driving over a mine last year.
But it's becoming increasingly challenging to maintain morale.
“This year, there is less enthusiasm because grain prices are low, the product remains near the border and at any moment" it could be destroyed, he said. “It’s a big risk.”
Since the war started, Ukraine has struggled to get its food supplies to countries in need. Even during the yearlong U.N. deal, when Ukraine shipped nearly 33 million metric tons of food, Russia was accused of slowing down ship inspections required to be done by all sides.
“That corridor worked in an unpredictable way for us,” said Mykola Horbachov, president of the Ukrainian Grain Association.
Now, the Ukrainian military decides when it’s safe to sail.
“This may incur additional costs, but it is still more predictable than it was before,” Horbachov said.
Osmachko of Agroprosperis Group agrees. Before the invasion, the exporter paid $50 per metric ton to ship grain through the Black Sea. Alternatives since the war — including river routes through Europe — cost the company nearly three times more, Osmachko said. Under Ukraine’s new corridor, the company pays $70 to 80 per metric ton.
“It’s more efficient, more profitable,” he said.
Plus, Ukraine’s shipping corridor allows vessels to travel less in dangerous areas compared with the grain deal and avoid those often-delayed inspections, said Anderson of Vessel Protect.
Agroprosperis Group no longer needs to pay for ships to wait around. Inspection delays cost the company $30 million in losses during the yearlong grain deal, Osmachko said.
While the delays are gone, there still “is military risk, safety risk, war risk. And not all of the insurance companies are ready to take this risk,” Osmachko said.
To ease that hurdle, an insurance program launched this month to provide affordable coverage to shippers carrying food from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. The partnership between insurance broker Marsh McLennan, Lloyd’s, two Ukrainian state banks and the government offers up to $50 million for each of two types of coverage protecting against damage and other losses.
In another boost, a humanitarian program was extended Saturday that donates Ukrainian grain to nations facing food shortages with support from countries worldwide. Next, it will bring enough grain to help nearly 400,000 people in Nigeria, Zelenskyy said.
The goal for the new shipping corridor is to export at least 6 million metric tons of grain a month, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said. It has a lot of work to do: Ukraine exported 4.3 million metric tons of grain in October through all routes, the ministry said.
“We maintain cautious optimism, based on the fact that we have been fighting before and will continue to fight further,” he said.
Ex UK PM David Cameron makes return to government as foreign secretary
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron made a shock return to high office on Monday, becoming foreign secretary in a major shakeup of the Conservative government that also saw the firing of divisive Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Cameron, who led the U.K. government between 2010 and 2016, was appointed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a Cabinet shuffle in which he sacked Braverman, a divisive figure who drew anger for accusing police of being too lenient with pro-Palestinian protesters.
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She was replaced by James Cleverly, who had been foreign secretary.
Cameron's appointment came as a surprise to seasoned politics-watchers. It's rare for a non-lawmaker to take a senior government post, and it has been decades since a former prime minister held a Cabinet job.
Rishi Sunak fires UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman who accused police of favoring pro-Palestinian protesters
The government said Cameron was being appointed to Parliament's unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords. The last foreign secretary to serve in the Lords, rather than the elected House of Commons, was Peter Carrington, who was part of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government in the 1980s.
Cameron, 57, said Britain was “facing a daunting set of international challenges, including the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East.”
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“While I have been out of front-line politics for the last seven years, I hope that my experience — as Conservative leader for 11 years and prime minister for six — will assist me in helping the prime minister to meet these vital challenges," he said in a statement.
Cameron's appointment brings back to government a leader brought down by Britain's decision to leave the European Union. Cameron called the 2016 EU membership referendum, confident the country would vote to stay in the bloc. He resigned the day after voters opted to leave.
Sunak was a strong backer of the winning “leave” side in the referendum. Cameron's return, and Braverman’s sacking, are likely to infuriate the Conservative Party’s right wing and inflame tensions in the party that Sunak has sought to soothe.
Prominent right-wing lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg said sacking Braverman was “a mistake, because Suella understood what the British voter thought and was trying to do something about it.”
Sunak had been under growing pressure to fire Braverman — a hard-liner popular with the party's authoritarian wing — from one of the most senior jobs in government, responsible for handling immigration and policing.
In a highly unusual attack on the police last week, Braverman said London’s police force was ignoring lawbreaking by “pro-Palestinian mobs.” She described demonstrators calling for a cease-fire in Gaza as “hate marchers.”
On Saturday, far-right protesters scuffled with police and tried to confront a large pro-Palestinian march by hundreds of thousands through the streets of London. Critics accused Braverman of helping to inflame tensions.
Last week Braverman wrote an article for the Times of London in which she said police “play favorites when it comes to protesters” and acted more leniently toward pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Black Lives Matter supporters than toward right-wing protesters or soccer hooligans.
The article was not approved in advance by the prime minister’s office, as would usually be the case.
Braverman said Monday that “it has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary,” adding that she would “have more to say in due course.”
Braverman, a 43-year-old lawyer, has become a leader of the party’s populist wing by advocating ever-tougher curbs on migration and a war on human rights protections, liberal social values and what she has called the “tofu-eating wokerati.” Last month she called migration a “hurricane” that would bring “millions more immigrants to these shores, uncontrolled and unmanageable.”
As home secretary Braverman championed the government’s stalled plan to send asylum-seekers who arrive in Britain in boats on a one-way trip to Rwanda. A U.K. Supreme Court ruling on whether the policy is legal is due on Wednesday.
Critics say Braverman has been building her profile to position herself for a party leadership contest that could come if the Conservatives lose power in an election expected next year.
The bold changes are an attempt by Sunak to reset his faltering government. The Conservatives have been in power for 13 years, but opinion polls for months have put them 15 to 20 points behind the opposition Labour Party amid a stagnating economy, persistently high inflation, an overstretched health care system and a wave of public sector strikes.
Last month Sunak tried to paint his government as a force of change, saying he would break the “30-year status quo” that includes the governments of Cameron and other Conservative predecessors.
“A few weeks ago, Rishi Sunak said David Cameron was part of a failed status quo. Now he’s bringing him back as his life raft,” said Labour lawmaker Pat McFadden.
As well as bringing about Brexit, Cameron's government imposed years of public-spending cuts after the 2008 global financial crisis that have frayed the country's welfare system and state-funded health service. After leaving office he was caught up in a scandal over his lobbying for Greensill Capital, a financial services firm that later collapsed.
Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said Cameron's appointment “is a measure of the desperation that surrounds this government.”
“It’s difficult to believe that this is going to impress voters, whether they are convinced Brexiteers who despise David Cameron for being a remainer, or convinced remainers who despise David Cameron for holding and losing a referendum," he said.
“On the upside, it’s a useful distraction from Braverman’s sacking, and as a former prime minister it will mean that the U.K. has rather more clout in international circles than perhaps might have been the case.”
Rishi Sunak fires UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman who accused police of favoring pro-Palestinian protesters
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday fired Home Secretary Suella Braverman, a divisive figure who drew anger for accusing police of being too lenient with pro-Palestinian protesters.
The government said Braverman had left her job as part of a Cabinet shuffle as Sunak shakes up his top government team. She was replaced by James Cleverly, who had been foreign secretary.
Braverman said “it has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary,” adding that she would “have more to say in due course.”
Sunak had been under growing pressure to fire Braverman — a hard-liner popular with the authoritarian wing of the governing Conservative Party — from one of the most senior jobs in government, responsible for handling immigration and policing.
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In a highly unusual attack on the police last week, Braverman said London’s police force was ignoring lawbreaking by “pro-Palestinian mobs.” She described demonstrators calling for a cease-fire in Gaza as “hate marchers.”
On Saturday, far-right protesters scuffled with police and tried to confront a large pro-Palestinian march by hundreds of thousands through the streets of London. Critics accused Braverman of helping to inflame tensions.
Last week Braverman wrote an article for the Times of London in which she said police “play favorites when it comes to protesters” and acted more leniently toward pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Black Lives Matter supporters than to right-wing protesters or soccer hooligans.
The article was not approved in advance by the prime minister’s office, as would usually be the case.
Braverman, a 43-year-old lawyer, has become a leader of the party’s populist wing by advocating ever-tougher curbs on migration and a war on human rights protections, liberal social values and what she has called the “tofu-eating wokerati.”
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Last month she called migration a “hurricane” that would bring “millions more immigrants to these shores, uncontrolled and unmanageable.”
As home secretary Braverman championed the government’s stalled plan to send asylum-seekers who arrive in Britain in boats on a one-way trip to Rwanda. A U.K. Supreme Court ruling on whether the policy is legal is due on Wednesday.
Critics say Braverman has been building her profile to position herself for a party leadership contest that could come if the Conservatives lose power in an election expected next year. Opinion polls for months have put the party 15 to 20 points behind the opposition Labour Party.
International Forum "Primakov Readings" to be held on November 27-28 in Moscow
The ninth edition of the International Forum "Primakov Readings" will be held on November 27-28, 2023 in Moscow.
The theme of the forum is "Postglobalization Horizons". Sergey Lavrov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, will speak at the forum.
“The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, rising tensions between China and the United States, energy risks, as well as security challenges such as climate and migration crises – these and other factors are shaping the post-global world and in this regard are in the focus of this year's Primakov Readings,” Member of the Forum Organizing Committee – Director of Primakov Institute, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Feodor Voitolovsky said.
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The forum will bring together the leading Russian and foreign experts in the field of international security, world politics and economics, representatives of public organizations, politicians and diplomats.
The discussions will center on political risks for the world energy markets, Russia's cooperation with the countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus, the relationship between China and the United States, and the development of the countries of the "Global South".
Also read: Russia rehearsed 'massive' nuclear strike: Kremlin
The participants will also discuss the balance of power in the Baltic region and the prospects for Russia's relations with the countries of the Middle East and the African continent, said a media release on Tuesday.
The forum program includes a special session with the participation of Alexei Likhachev, Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation "Rosatom".
The event is organized by the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, with the assistance of its partners Primakov Center for International Cooperation, World Trade Center and the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The project is supported by the Presidential Grants Foundation.
Media accreditation is available on the official forum website (https://www.primakovreadings.ru/en).
International Scientific and Expert Forum "Primakov Readings" is an annual international discussion platform for analysing problems of world economy, politics and security with the participation of leading representatives of Russian and foreign research centers and think tanks.
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It was first held in 2015 and was named after Yevgeny Primakov, a Russian scientist, politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999.
Russia rehearsed 'massive' nuclear strike: Kremlin
Russia has practised delivering a "massive" nuclear strike, Kremlin has said.
The military practice featured delivering a "response to an enemy nuclear strike," said Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, reports BBC.
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Russian state television showed him telling President Vladimir Putin about the rehearsal, it said.
It comes as Russia's parliament endorsed Moscow's departure from a worldwide treaty that prohibits all physical testing of nuclear weapons.
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Russia and the US perform monthly nuclear readiness simulations, with Moscow often holding its own towards the end of October, said the report.
This year's drills included "delivering a massive nuclear strike by strategic offensive forces in response to an enemy nuclear strike," according to Shoigu's report to Putin.
Also read: Russian missile and drone attack in Ukraine kills 21 people
According to a Kremlin statement, "practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles" had happened, the report added.
According to the statement, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from a test location in Russia's far-east, while another missile was launched from a nuclear-powered submarine in the Barents Sea.
The defence ministry made available video of the testing, the report continued.
Putin announced earlier this month that Russia has conducted a "final successful test" of a nuclear-powered cruise missile.
The experimental weapon, initially unveiled in 2018, was lauded as potentially having an infinite range, but President Putin's story has yet to be officially confirmed.
The new tests will be viewed as a demonstration of force.
There is no indication that the Kremlin intends to strike Ukraine with nuclear weapons, according to the US government.