Category World News

In response to the alleged transferring of missiles and drones to Russia, the European Union has imposed sanctions on more than a dozen Iranians and businesses, including the nation’s deputy defense minister and national airline.

The European Council announced on Monday that seven individuals and as many as seven other individuals would be subject to a travel ban and asset freeze as a result of their involvement in the Russian military’s campaign against Ukraine.

Those targeted include Iranian Deputy Defence Minister Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari, high-ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ‘ Quds Force, and three Iranian airlines, including Iran Air.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, welcomed the sanctions.

Von der Leyen wrote in a post on X that “the Iranian regime’s support of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is unacceptable and must stop.”

“It is therefore gratifying that our sanctions against people and organizations were put in place in response to Iran’s sending of drones and missiles to Russia. More is needed”.

Andrii Sybiha, the country’s foreign minister, wrote on X that those who “support aggression must share responsibility and pay the price.”

On Tuesday, spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmail Baghaei, disputed Iran’s claim that Tehran had supplied Russian missiles and that the sanctions were against international law.

“Some European nations and the UK have, regrettably, asserted without any proof that Iran has militarily fought this conflict,” according to Baghaei.

The United States announced last month that it had information that suggested Iran had used ballistic missiles against Ukraine, prompting the most recent sanctions.

Tehran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, at the time, denied any weapons transfers to Russia since his administration’s inception in August, citing the possibility that there had been one since then.

According to South Korea’s military, North Korea has destroyed the northern sections of the roads that connect it to South Korea.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced in a message to the media on Tuesday that some of the roads north of the military demarcation line dividing the nations had been destroyed at around noon (03:30 GMT).

The military reportedly fired warning shots south of the demarcation line.

Seoul had hinted on Monday that Pyongyang planned to blow up the roads.

Since North Korea accused its neighbor of flying drones carrying propaganda flyers over Pyongyang, the Korean Peninsula’s capital, has risen in tensions.

Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, convened a meeting with his top military and security officials to discuss the issue the day after the explosions.

During the meeting, Kim described the flights as the “enemy’s serious provocation” and laid out unspecified tasks related to “immediate military action” and the operation of his “war deterrent” for defending the country’s sovereignty, North Korean state media reported earlier on Tuesday.

In the event that North Korea’s drones were discovered over North Korea, it had previously prepared frontline artillery and other army units to launch attacks on South Korea. South Korea has declined to confirm whether drones were sent, but warned that it would sternly punish North Korea if its citizens’ safety were endangered.

Kim Jong Un wants to cut off ties with South Korea, officially declares it as his country’s top enemy, and abandon North Korea’s decades-long quest for a peaceful Korean unification.

In 2020, North Korea blew up the liaison office for the two Koreas, signalling the end of a period of detente.

After Seoul suspended parts of the joint military agreement in response to Pyongyang’s launch of a military spy satellite, Pyongyang announced in November last year that it would move more troops and military equipment to the border and that it would no longer be bound by a joint military agreement in 2018.

The central bank of Australia has announced plans to outlaw debit card surcharges, which the country’s central bank estimates are causing annual consumer costs of nearly 1 billion Australian dollars ($671 million).

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will review card payments from the beginning of 2026, according to the centre-left-led government of Australia on Tuesday.

The proposed ban would be “another step to protect Australians,” according to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who stated that his top priority was lowering the cost of living for households.

The move, according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, will result in lower costs for small businesses and a “better deal” for consumers.

“Consumers shouldn’t be punished for using cards or digital payments, and at the same time, small businesses shouldn’t have to pay hefty fees just to get paid themselves”, Chalmers said.

The ban would align Australia with a number of other nations, including the European Union, which prohibited debit card surcharges in 2018.

According to the RBA, Australians lose 960.26 million Australian dollars ($645m) annually as a result of increasing consumer preference for card payments over cash.

Laurent Vinatier, a French researcher, was found guilty of breaking the country’s “foreign agent” law and given a three-year sentence by a Russian court.

Vinatier, who works for the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), was arrested in June amid rising tensions between Moscow and Kyiv’s Western allies over Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The 48-year-old was accused of collating information without being a “foreign agent” and being charged with with gathering information about Russia’s military.

Judge Natalya Cheprasova resisted the defense’s pleas for a fine and sentenced Vinatier to three years in a penal colony, less than the maximum sentence.

Vinatier addressed the court before the sentence was imposed, apologizing for breaking the law, and reciting a verse from Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.

He watched intently as the judge delivered her verdict while standing behind metal bars while wearing a blue open-necked shirt and jeans. He was flashing quickly but did not express any emotion.

Vinatier’s lawyer Pavel Mamonov told reporters: “We consider the sentence harsh and will undoubtedly appeal.

Vinatier has been called for his release after being arbitrarily detained by France. Emmanuel Macron, the president’s representative, has denied that Vinatier worked for the French government and that Moscow is behind his arrest.

The government reiterated its request for his release following the court’s ruling on Monday. It criticized the sentence’s “extreme severity.”

According to Christophe Lemoine, a spokesman for France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, “the “foreign agent” legislation contributes to a systematic violation of fundamental freedoms in Russia.”

In a statement following Vinatier’s arrest, HD said its staff work globally and “routinely meet with a wide range of officials, experts and other parties with the aim of advancing efforts to prevent, mitigate and resolve armed conflict”.

The “foreign agent” law has been widely used to silence Kremlin critics.

Vinatier, a veteran researcher on the former Soviet Union, was detained as tensions rose after Macron claimed France might be prepared to send troops to Ukraine under certain circumstances.

Since August, ties have gotten even more strained since French authorities opened an investigation into Pavel Durov, the Russian who founded the Telegram messaging app, over use of the platform for crimes like child pornography, money laundering, and child pornography. Durov’s lawyer has called the proceedings against him absurd.

Vinatier claimed in his final court appearance that he had chosen to work in Russia 20 years ago.

“I fell in love with Russia. My wife is Russian, my friends are Russian. I lived a Russian life, that’s who I am”, he said.

During its offensive in Ukraine, Russia has detained and charged a number of Westerners with serious crimes.

Here is the situation on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.

Fighting

• At least one person was killed and 11 injured, some of them seriously, in a Russian air attack on Ukraine’s southern region of Mykolaiv, said Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim.
• In the most recent Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Odesa port in the Black Sea, one person was killed and eight were hurt. A grain storage facility and two civilian vessels suffered damage as well.
• The Interfax news agency reported that the tiny village of Levadne in the Zaporizhia region of southeast Ukraine had been under Russian control by the Ministry of Defense. There was no comment from Ukraine.
• As Russian troops attempted to cross their lines in the Kursk region for the fifth day straight, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Ukraine’s forces had been counterattacking and had remained firm.

Politics and diplomacy

• Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, called for a new international security system to prevent future instances of armed aggression, as he spoke at an online conference on securing peace following Russia’s invasion. According to Yermak, the conference featured representatives from 66 nations and various international organizations.
• Mark Rutte, the alliance’s secretary-general, stated that the alliance would continue to support Kyiv without being constrained by Russian threats. Rutte addressed the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), which will eventually coordinate the German-based organization’s assistance to Kyiv, during his first visit as NATO chief.
• After a Moscow court found French researcher Laurent Vinatier guilty of breaking Russia’s “foreign agent” laws and given a three-year prison sentence, France demanded his immediate release. Vinatier was taken into custody shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron called for a more stern stance on the Ukrainian conflict.

Weapons

• Iran’s deputy defense minister, senior Revolutionary Guard members, and three airlines were subject to sanctions by the European Union for allegedly providing Russia with drones, missiles, and other equipment for its conflict with Ukraine. Andrii Sybiha, the Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs, welcomed the move.
• According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine has already provided 1 million drones to the front line.

Google and small nuclear reactors have a groundbreaking agreement that allows the development of artificial intelligence (AI) using small nuclear reactors.

The tech giant, based in California, will support the construction of seven small nuclear reactors that can generate 500 megawatts of power under the terms of the agreement Kairos Power signed on Monday.

By 2030, the first reactor is expected to be operational, with more to follow in the coming years.

According to Michael Terrell, senior director of energy and climate at Google, “the grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are advancing major scientific discoveries, enhancing services for businesses and customers, and boosting economic growth and competitiveness.”

This agreement allows for the full potential of AI to be fully realized and to be used to meet energy needs responsibly and quickly.

As tech giants search the globe for energy to power the data centers that support the boom in AI, there is a renewed interest in nuclear energy.

A decommissioned nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, which will provide the tech giant with power for the next 20 years, was restored last month by Microsoft and Constellation Energy.

A 1, 200-acre (486-hectare) data center campus in Pennsylvania that receives energy from a nearby nuclear plant was purchased earlier this year by Amazon and Houston-based Talen Energy.

Data centres consume about 3 percent of the world’s electricity, with consumption expected to rise substantially in the coming years as AI continues to develop, according to the law firm White &amp, Case.

So-called small modular reactors are seen by proponents as a more cost-effective and less time-consuming alternative to large, commercial-scale nuclear reactors.

The technology is still in its infancy, however, with only three such reactors known to be in operation worldwide, in Russia, China and India.

Mike Laufer, CEO of Kairos Power, stated that the partnership will help the company “quickly advance down the learning curve.”

“By coming alongside in the development phase, Google is more than just a customer. They are a partner who fully comprehends the benefits of our creative approach.

The United States Department of Energy supported the establishment of Kairos Power in 2016.