Category: International Conflict
Russian forces bombard Ukraine’s Bakhmut in major new offensive
The eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut endured heavy artillery fire on Monday as the NATO chief backed reports from local officials that a major new Russian offensive had begun, days before the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion. Ukrainian defenders, who have already held out for months, were braced for new ground attacks, Ukrainian military officials said. Positions in Bakhmut have been fortified and only people with a military role were being allowed in, a deputy battalion commander said. Any civilians…
Congressional Scrutiny of ‘Big Tech’ Builds on Bipartisan China Focus
About this time last year, we offered some insight on Economic Espionage and Theft of Trade Secrets, which included a primer on economic espionage, case examples, and avoidance strategies. We observed that “[w]hile the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has identified China, Russia, and Iran as the three states most capable of committing.
Da Jiang Innovations: World’s largest drone maker is unfazed — even if it’s blacklisted by the U.S.
The world’s biggest drone maker DJI found itself embroiled in the Russia-Ukraine conflict last year. In March, three weeks after Russia’s invasion began, a Ukrainian minister called out DJI on Twitter for being complicit in the war. DJI is just one of many tech companies that has found its products used on the battlefield. The Russian military allegedly used its drones on the battlefield. It includes the Mavic 3 drone, and Aeroscope, a drone-detection platform that enables users to identify…
Putin draws parallels between World War II and Ukraine conflict
Russian President Vladimir Putin leveraged a World War II commemoration on Thursday to whip up support for his army’s intervention in Ukraine, comparing the fighting to Nazi Germany’s invasion and hinting Moscow could use nuclear weapons. Putin has used World War II to promote his political agenda in recent years while the Kremlin has sought to give cult status to Moscow’s victory in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War. Arriving in the southern city of Volgograd for commemorations to…
Spain: Rights experts call for probe into claim Catalan leaders were spied on
“Spanish authorities must conduct a full, fair, and effective investigation into these allegations, publish the findings and stop any unlawful interference into the fundamental rights of the Catalan minority activists in Spain,” they said in a statement. Top leaders arrested Following the October 2017 independence referendum, Spain arrested leaders of the Catalonian independence movement on charges of sedition. The alleged spying occurred between that year and 2020, with most incidents taking place soon after the vote. Mobile phones of at least…
NZ, Australia want ‘urgent’ answers over Saudi sponsorship of Women’s World Cup
Co-hosts New Zealand and Australia said Thursday they “urgently” want answers from FIFA over reports Saudi Arabia’s tourist board will sponsor the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Visit Saudi is reportedly poised to be named among the sponsors of the 32-team soccer tournament to be held in New Zealand and Australia from July 20. The sponsorship deal looks set to go ahead despite the Gulf kingdom’s poor record on women’s rights. Officials from Football Australia and New Zealand Football said they…
China coast guard drives away Japanese vessels from disputed waters in the East China Sea
China’s coast guard drove away Japanese vessels from waters around disputed East China Sea islets on Monday, according to Chinese state media. Disputed East China Sea islets claimed by both China and Japan have long been a sticking point in bilateral relations. China calls the islands Diaoyu while Japan calls them Senkaku. China Marine Police spokesperson Gan Yu said the “Shinsei Maru” and four other Japanese ships illegally entered the territorial waters of the Diaoyu islands before being driven away…
Reports of drone attacks in Iran and Syria
Corruption Ledger does not not endorse or confirm the below content. Media is currently unverified. BREAKING MULTIPLE REPORTS: 🇬🇧UK-🇺🇲US-🇪🇺EU-armed military action targets 🇮🇷Iran humanitarian aid trucks loaded with flour and rice near Iraq-#Syria border as CIA boss arrives in Israel. (Video unverified) pic.twitter.com/tMy6YRB4WI — Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) January 29, 2023 Details on the #Iran Isfahan attack, which happened around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, remained scarce. A Defense Ministry statement described three drones being launched at the facility, with two of them…
AP: Ukraine Corruption Scandal; U.S. likely to OK sending Abrams tanks
Several senior Ukrainian officials, including front-line governors, lost their jobs Tuesday in a corruption scandal plaguing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government as it grapples with the nearly 11-month-old Russian invasion. Ukraine’s biggest government shake-up since the war began came as U.S. officials said Washington was poised to approve supplying Kyiv with M1 Abrams tanks, with international reluctance eroding toward sending tanks to the battlefront against the Russians. Zelenskyy was elected in 2019 on an anti-establishment and anti-corruption platform in a country…
North Korea calls U.S. pledge of tanks to Ukraine ‘unethical crime’
North Korea on Sunday criticized for a second day a U.S. decision to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine, calling it an “unethical crime” aimed at perpetuating an unstable international situation. Washington’s allegations that North Korea has provided arms to Russia are a “groundless rumor” to justify its own military aid to Ukraine, Kwon Chung-keun, director of U.S. affairs at North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA. “The U.S. is working hard…
China, U.S. spar at WTO meeting over disputes
China and the United States exchanged sharp criticism at a World Trade Organization meeting on Friday, with Beijing calling Washington a “unilateral bully” and the U.S. accusing its rival of illegal retaliatory measures. China’s ambassador to the WTO Li Chenggang spoke at a meeting on trade disputes shortly after the United States lodged an appeal against a series of WTO rulings involving China, Turkey, Norway and Switzerland which found that U.S. metal tariffs breached global rules. “These troubling behaviors of…
Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe: Thousands dead
The Philippine government said Friday it intended to appeal an International Criminal Court decision to reopen an inquiry into Manila’s brutal anti-drug campaign, which left thousands dead. The Hague-based tribunal launched the inquiry in 2019 but suspended it later that year at the request of the government of then Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who had launched the crackdown in 2016, with Manila saying it would re-examine cases of alleged abuses. Announcing the probe’s resumption on Thursday, the ICC said its…
Turkey says Sweden complicit in hate crime, NATO talks pointless
Turkey’s foreign minister on Thursday accused Sweden of being complicit in a “hate and racist crime” for failing to prevent weekend protests in Stockholm by an anti-Islam and pro-Kurdish groups. Mevlut Cavusoglu also confirmed that a key meeting in Brussels to discuss Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership has been postponed, saying such a meeting would have been “meaningless” in the wake of the protests. Turkey has been infuriated by a Quran-burning protest by anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan on Saturday and…
Defence minister won’t say whether Canada is willing to send battle tanks to Ukraine
Defence Minister Anita Anand says she has “no news to share” on whether Canada is willing to send some of its battle tanks to Ukraine — should Germany greenlight the export — following a meeting of 50 allied defence leaders this week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly issued pleas for tanks, although members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group failed to come to an agreement on what to send after meetings at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany this…
Norway detains former top Wagner Group member seeking asylum, Andrey Medvedev
A former high-ranking member of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group seeking asylum in Norway is in custody on suspicion of entering the Scandinavian country illegally, authorities said Monday. Russian Andrey Medvedev “has been arrested under the Immigration Act and it is being assessed whether he should be produced for detention,” Jon Andreas Johansen of Norwegian immigration police told The Associated Press. Norway’s VG newspaper said detaining him isn’t intended as a a punishment, but a security measure. Medvedev,…
