Australia gives millions of workers 'right to disconnect'

Sydney (AFP) – Australia gave millions of workers the legal right to "disconnect" on Monday, allowing them to ignore unreasonable out-of-hours calls, emails and texts from their bosses.


Issued on: 26/08/2024 -

A boat in Sydney Harbour on August 20, where many residents welcomed new legislation that allows them to "disconnect" from work when off duty © Saeed KHAN / AFP/File

People can now refuse to monitor, read, or respond to their employers' attempts to contact them outside work hours -- unless that refusal is deemed "unreasonable".

Unions welcomed the legislation, saying it gave workers a way to reclaim some work-life balance.

"Today is a historic day for working people," said Michele O'Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

"Australian unions have reclaimed the right to knock off after work," she said.

In the streets of Sydney, people appeared to welcome the change.

"I have a very hard time disconnecting and even though I may not necessarily be logged on, my brain is constantly working overtime," not-for-profit worker Karolina Joseski told AFP.

"So getting that after-hour call from my boss doesn't necessarily help."
'Deeply confusing'

But the reform got a cool welcome from Australia's top industry body.

"The 'right to disconnect' laws are rushed, poorly thought out and deeply confusing," the Australian Industry Group said in a statement.

"At the very least, employers and employees will now be uncertain about whether they can take or make a call out of hours to offer an extra shift," it said.

The law is similar to those of some European and Latin American countries.

Research indicates that the right to disconnect benefits employees, said University of Sydney associate professor Chris Wright.

More than 70 percent of workers in European Union companies with a right to disconnect policy considered its impact to be positive, according to a November 2023 study by the EU work-related agency Eurofound.

Employees are experiencing "availability creep" as smartphones and other digital devices put them in reach of their employers, Wright told AFP.

"Having a measure that restores to some extent the boundary between people's work and non-work lives is a positive thing, certainly for employees but also for employers," he said, particularly in industries trying to lure new workers.
'Commonsense'

The Australian law, enacted in February, came into force for medium-sized and large companies as of Monday.

Smaller firms with fewer than 15 employees will be covered from August 26, 2025.

The head of Australia's workplace relations regulator, Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth, said people should take a "commonsense approach" to applying the new law.

Under the legislation, workers may be ordered by a tribunal to stop unreasonably refusing out-of-hours contact, and employers likewise may be ordered to stop unreasonably requiring employees to respond, the regulator said.

The question of what is reasonable will "depend on the circumstances", the Fair Work Ombudsman said in a statement.

Deciding factors may include the reason for the contact, the nature of the employee's role, and their compensation for working extra hours or being available, it said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the reform, which was pushed through by his centre-left Labor government.

"We want to make sure that just as people don't get paid 24 hours a day, they don't have to work for 24 hours a day," he told national broadcaster ABC.

"It's a mental health issue, frankly, as well, for people to be able to disconnect from their work and connect with their family and their life."

© 2024 AFP

Factbox-The facts about Australia's new 'right to disconnect' law for employees


A person walks dogs through a park in front of the city skyline at sunrise in Sydney

Sun, 25 Aug 2024, 

By Alasdair Pal

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian employees now have the right to ignore their bosses outside working hours thanks to a new law which enshrines the "right to disconnect."

Here are key facts about the law, which came into force on Monday:

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

Employers will still be able to contact their workers, however staff will now have the right not to respond outside working hours unless that refusal is unreasonable.


This means an employee can refuse to monitor, read or respond to contacts from an employer or a third party such as a client.

It will be up to Australia's industrial umpire, the Fair Work Commission (FWC), to decide whether a refusal is unreasonable or not. In doing so, it must take into account factors like the employee's role, the reason for the contact and how it is made.

WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES?

Employers and employees must first try and resolve disputes at work. If that fails, the FWC can intervene.

The FWC can order a company to stop contacting an employee or bar it from taking disciplinary action against workers who refuse contact, according to the Australian Industry Group.

However, it can also order an employee to respond to an employer in cases where their refusal is not reasonable.

Contravening such an order could result in fines of up A$19,000 ($12,764) for an employee or up to A$94,000 for a company.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE RESPONSE?

The law has been welcomed by unions and rights groups, who say new rights for workers are overdue.

But it has drawn criticism from employer associations who say the legislation is flawed and was rushed into law. They say it could harm productivity.

DO ANY OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE SIMILAR LAWS?

Similar laws giving employees a right to switch off their devices are already in place in France, Germany and other countries in the European Union and Latin America.

In 2018, Rentokil Initial was ordered to pay 60,000 euros by a French court for breaching an employee's 'right to disconnect' from work, after requiring him to constantly have his phone turned on in case of emergencies, according to The Telegraph.

($1 = 1.4885 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Big polluters urged to pay as key Pacific summit opens in Tonga

Nuku'alofa (Tonga) (AFP) – Emissions-belching nations were challenged to stump up for climate-related damage as a key Pacific islands summit opened on Monday, with low-lying Tuvalu declaring: "If you pollute, you should pay."


Issued on: 26/08/2024

 -

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (C) attends the Pacific Islands Forum in Nuku’alofa on August 26, 2024. © Tupou Vaipulu / AFP

The Pacific Islands Forum got underway in Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa, with leaders hoping to draw global attention to the region's worsening climate plight.

"We really need to ensure that we continue to push for action from countries that are the most polluting," Tuvalu Climate Minister Maina Talia told AFP on the sidelines of the summit.

"Polluter pays should be on the table."

Pacific leaders will mount a renewed push later this week for a homegrown climate adaptation fund, an idea that largely hinges on financial contributions from foreign nations.


They will also push to speed the transition away from oil, gas and other highly polluting fuel sources.

"We cannot address climate change without addressing the root cause, which is the fossil fuel industry," Talia said.

Pacific Islands Forum © John SAEKI, Nicholas SHEARMAN / AFP

"It's disaster after disaster, and we are losing the capacity to rebuild, to withstand another cyclone or another flood."

That is awkward terrain for forum member Australia, a coal-mining superpower belatedly trying to burnish its green credentials.

Australia wants to co-host the COP31 climate conference alongside its Pacific neighbours in 2026.

But first, it must convince the bloc it is serious about slashing emissions.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is making a rare appearance at the summit, in a trip designed to highlight the Pacific's myriad climate threats.

"The decisions world leaders take in the coming years will determine the fate, first of Pacific Islanders, and then everyone else," Guterres said.

"If we save the Pacific, we save the world."
Security split

Foreign dignitaries were briefly sent scuttling for cover when a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck off Tonga's coast early Monday. But no major damage or injuries were reported, and no tsunami warning was issued.

The summit had earlier kicked off with melodic Tongan choir singers and dancing schoolchildren in traditional dress.

Tonga's Crown Prince Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala (centre L), UN chief Antonio Guterres (centre R) and other leaders attend the Pacific Islands Forum on Monday © Mary Lyn FONUA / AFP

Beneath the bonhomie, however, rare fissures have been forming in the 18-member bloc, with Pacific nations torn over China's security ambitions in the region.

"We gather at a pivotal time in our region's history," said forum secretary Baron Waqa, a former president of Nauru.

"We are at the centre of global geopolitical interest."

China's interest, specifically, was evident long before Waqa's opening speech.

Large "China Aid" signs were installed outside the newly built conference venue, a $25 million gift from Beijing.

The United States, meanwhile, has dispatched senior diplomat Kurt Campbell to lead its forum delegation.

Campbell has been one of the key figures behind a US-led push to keep China's Pacific ambitions in check.

"We need to remain vigilant on issues of regional security," warned Waqa, who has taken a dim view of the escalating Beijing-Washington rivalry in the past.
New Caledonia crisis

The other pressing security challenge facing Pacific leaders is the unresolved crisis in French territory New Caledonia, which reared its head on opening day.

"We must reach consensus on our vision for a region of peace and security," said Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni.

"We must honour the vision of our forefathers regarding self determination, including in New Caledonia."

Much of New Caledonia's ethnically Melanesian Kanak population fears that recent voting reforms put forward by Paris could crush their dreams of independence.

It is a cause that resonates widely in the Pacific bloc, which is stacked with former colonies now fiercely proud of their hard-won sovereignty.

The fractious topic of deep-sea mining does not sit on any official agenda, but will likely be a topic of heated debate behind closed doors.

Forum host Tonga sits at the vanguard of nations eager to open up the emerging industry, joined by fellow forum members Nauru and the Cook Islands.

But others such as Samoa, Palau and Fiji see it as an environmental catastrophe in the making, giving their full-throated backing to an international moratorium.

© 2024 AFP

India's green energy wind drive hits desert herders hard

Jaisalmer (India) (AFP) – Whirring wind turbines in India's Thar desert supply critical green energy for the world's most populous nation, but those living in their shadows say it comes at their expense.


Issued on: 26/08/2024 - 

The deserts around Jaisalmer district are dotted with hundreds of turbines, one of India's largest onshore wind farms 

© Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP

It illustrates the hard balance faced as India, the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, scrambles to boost its non-fossil fuel capacity to stem the rising impacts of climate change.

"The big companies have come here and built the windmills, but they're useless to us," said 65-year-old livestock herder Nena Ram, describing an age-old farming system upended by the giant turbines.

The country is suffering increasing devastation from heatwaves, floods and droughts, events that climate scientists say are exacerbated by rising global temperatures.

But those from areas used for renewable energy production say their needs have been sacrificed for the greater good.

In western Rajasthan state, where most of the Thar desert lies, that includes the loss of grazing lands and damage to sacred groves called "orans".

Desert oases, protected by the community for centuries, collect water critical for herders' livestock-based economy of camels, cattle and goats

 © Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP

The desert oases, protected by the community for centuries, collect water critical for their livestock-based economy of camels, cattle and goats.

But herders say heavy construction trucks damage the water sources, reducing grasslands and further drying the land.

What farmers like Ram contribute to greenhouse gases is very far from the fume-belching giants of India's coal-hungry heavy industry.

He is struggling from a brutal one-two punch.

First he was hit by the consequences of climate change. Then he was knocked by mitigation efforts to combat them.
'Paying the price'

The deserts around Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan are dotted with hundreds of turbines, one of India's largest onshore wind farms.

Rajasthan is capable of providing five gigawatts (GW) of wind power to the grid, according to government figures.

Wind turbines in India's Thar desert supply critical green energy for the world's most populous nation, but those living in their shadows say it comes at their expense 

© Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP

Many turbines are owned by Indian conglomerates, including the Adani Group and Suzlon.

The companies say they are supporting India's national drive to transition to renewable power while supporting communities impacted by the construction.

Suzlon says it provides "sustainable development to the villages around its wind farms", including health, education and livestock support projects.

Adani says it is "deeply committed" to the community, supporting schools and clean water programmes.

But farmers complain bitterly that the turbines were built on community grazing land.

farmers like Nena Ram contribute to greenhouse gases is very far from the fume-belching giants of India's coal-hungry heavy industry © Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP

Milk production has also slumped.

"The farmers are paying the price," said Jitendra Kumar, who works in a local health clinic.

"Their land was taken away. Windmills occupy the land meant for cattle grazing".

'Lives in darkness'

But it suffers from frequent power cuts, sometimes for days at a stretch.

Power lines criss-cross the desert around Jaisalmer, a district home to about 670,000 people © Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP

Residents say power is channelled to feed surging demand in industrial centres and big cities.

"We are leading our lives in darkness," local environmental activist Sumer Singh Bhati said.

"We have power for barely two hours a day... We are desperate for light."

Power cuts are unbearable during summer. Temperatures sometimes sizzle at 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).

India this year baked in its longest heatwave on record, according to government weather experts.

They warn steadily more oppressive temperatures will be seen increasingly in the future.

India aims to boost non-fossil fuel power capacity to 500 GW by 2030 and is committed to achieving a net-zero-emissions economy by 2070 -- two decades after most of the industrialised West.

Renewable energy plants are being built at breakneck speed, rising from 76 GW to 203 GW in the past decade, according to government figures. Around a quarter of that is from the wind.

But reaching the 500 GW renewable target requires expansion on a vast scale.
'How will we survive?'

Such statistics mean little to villagers living near the towering turbines, slamming them as an "incursion of the white structures".

Environmental activists say that while outsiders see the desert as a dead zone, they are areas rich in biodiversity.

Locally revered species, such as the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard, are facing extinction.

The once common giant brown-and-white birds fly into the mesh of overhead power lines.

Parth Jagani, an environmental activist in Jaisalmer, said numbers had plummeted in the past 25 years -- with just 150 left nationally.

"Once the windmills and the high-tension wires were installed, their mortality increased," Jagani said.

Villagers have set up a memorial for the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard, a statue of a lone bird © Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP

In 2021, the Supreme Court ordered power lines to be put underground in key bird breeding zones.

But the government petitioned and overturned the decision, arguing it would hinder renewable energy targets.

Villagers have set up a memorial for the bird, a statue of a lone bustard.

"If our birds and animals are taken away, what will we do?" said Ram, smoothing his sweeping grey moustache.

"How will we survive?"

© 2024 AFP

Putin played on Trump’s ego, top adviser says in new book


By AFP
August 24, 2024

H.R. McMaster, seen in February 2013, served 13 months as Trump's national security advisor - Copyright AFP ROBERTO SCHMIDT

Donald Trump was determined during his presidency to cozy up to Vladimir Putin despite Russia’s interference in US democracy and objections by advisers, a former top aide claims in a new book, according to an excerpt published Saturday.

The new behind-the-scenes details from H.R. McMaster, Trump’s second national security adviser, come as Americans are set to decide whether the former president should return to the White House and as US officials warn of fresh foreign election meddling.

“After over a year in this job, I cannot understand Putin’s hold on Trump,” McMaster, in an excerpt from his memoir published in the Wall Street Journal, says he told his wife in March 2018.

A former lieutenant-general, McMaster became Trump’s national security adviser in February 2017, and says that from the beginning, discussions of Vladimir Putin and Russia “were difficult to have with the president.”

He says Trump connected “all topics involving Russia” to the federal investigation into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election and possible ties with Trump’s campaign, a probe which would dog his entire presidency.

US officials have warned this year of new efforts by foreign powers, including Russia and Iran, to meddle in the November election, in which Trump is facing Vice President Kamala Harris.

McMaster says an “overconfident” president Trump sought early in his administration to improve relations with Russia by building a personal rapport with Putin.

But the Russian president, “a ruthless former KGB operator, played to Trump’s ego and insecurities with flattery,” McMaster says.

“Trump had revealed his vulnerability to this approach, his affinity for strongmen and his belief that he alone could forge a good relationship with Putin,” he added.

McMaster detailed several instances of friction with Trump over his approach toward Putin, with the disagreements ultimately leading to his dismissal.

Following Putin’s election to a fourth term in March 2018, McMaster says Trump wanted to congratulate him by phone, but that he explained to the president that the vote had been rigged.

A call was scheduled nonetheless.

Before Trump called Putin, McMaster says he warned him about the conversation potentially being spun by the Kremlin as tacit support of the election process and to boost Russia’s image, in tatters at the time over an assassination attempt on UK soil.

He said he asked Trump: “As Russia tries to delegitimize our legitimate elections, why would you help him legitimize his illegitimate election?”

Trump nonetheless called Putin and congratulated him, and then requested the Russian president be invited to the White House.

Trump’s aversion to McMaster, he said, “was because I was the principal voice telling him that Putin was using him and other politicians in both parties in an effort to shake Americans’ confidence in our democratic principles, institutions and processes.”

McMaster was replaced just days later by John Bolton, who was also fired about a year-and-a-half later.

While Trump had four national security advisers during his term, President Joe Biden has had one since taking office in 2021.

“With Donald Trump, most everybody gets used up, and my time had come,” McMaster wrote.

CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$M

Thai officials raid illegal bitcoin mine after power outages

By AFP
August 25, 2024

This photo illustration shows a physical representation of a bitcoin - Copyright AFP/File DALE DE LA REY

Thai authorities raided an illegal bitcoin mine west of Bangkok after residents complained of frequent blackouts in the area for more than a month, local authorities said Sunday.

Police and officials from the Provincial Electricity Authorities (PEA) raided the house in Ratchaburi town on Friday.

“We found bitcoin mining rigs, pointing to people using this house to operate a mine and using power they didn’t fully pay for,” said Jamnong Chanwong, a chief district security officer.

He told AFP records showed that electricity consumption in the house was large, but they had paid for very little of it.

Mining virtual currencies such as bitcoin requires powerful computers that consume huge amounts of electricity.

Bitcoin miners are considered manufacturers in Thailand and must pay associated taxes, but illegal mining has been on the rise for years.

Jamnong said his team tried to enter the house on Thursday but a guard denied them entry. They then returned with a search warrant and found most of the equipment had been moved.

He said the house had been rented by a company for around four months, but the power outages began mid-July when the mine likely became fully operational.

No-one was arrested during the raid, he added.

It was fourth time this year that authorities have raided an illegal bitcoin mine in Ratchaburi province.

Dealmakers ponder what’s next after tough Biden antitrust years

By AFP
August 25, 2024

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter have adopted a tough line on mergers - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Drew Angerer
John BIERS

President Joe Biden’s skeptical approach to corporate mergers has been a hallmark of his administration’s business policy — a stance generally expected to ease if Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Biden appointees like Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter have broadened the scope of government antitrust oversight to consider issues such as a deal’s impact on workers and on potential new market entrants.

Dealmakers have complained of added costs from this heightened scrutiny, while Khan and Kanter insist they have deterred problematic deals.

But with the clock ticking on Biden’s tenure, the antitrust and dealmaking universes have begun to ponder what comes next as voters weigh the candidacies of Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.

While a Trump win is broadly expected to result in less antitrust enforcement and more dealmaking than a Harris victory, even that outcome is not certain, as today’s Republican coalition includes not just corporate interests but figures like Trump’s running mate Senator JD Vance, who has praised Khan.

“There is a lot of uncertainty there,” said New York University Professor Harry First. He said the populist tilt of some members of Trump’s coalition “makes it hard to predict what will happen.”

A Trump election win would be “slightly positive to very positive” for dealmaking, predicted a Wall Street banker, who spoke on condition that he not be identified. He cautioned that optimism over a potential shift under Trump should be tempered by worries over a renewed US-China trade war.

– ‘Consuming competitors’ –

Biden set an adversarial tone toward dealmaking early in his presidency, saying that too many big companies were “consuming their competitors.” An executive order he signed in July 2021 promoted competition and included tougher antitrust enforcement.

Biden cast the approach as a needed pivot from a failed 40-year “experiment of letting giant corporations accumulate more and more power.”

The appointment of Khan sent a clear message to the business world, including tech behemoths.

Khan shot to prominence following a 2017 academic article on Amazon that criticized antitrust enforcement for overlooking key priorities such as a deal’s impact on workers and the potential for big companies — not yet monopolies — to discourage new competitors from emerging.

Khan and Kanter have signaled the importance of these issues, including in merger guidelines finalized in December 2023.

They have scored some litigation wins, including the unwinding of Illumina’s acquisition of Grail in a case involving cancer detection tests; and a ruling this month that Google’s search engine constituted a monopoly in a case originally brought by the Trump administration.

But the Biden administration has also suffered some major setbacks, losing a challenge to Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard and to UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of Change Healthcare.

– Weighing risks –

Former FTC enforcement official Ryan Quillian has pointed to data that the current commission actually has filed fewer lawsuits than its predecessors. He argued in an October 2023 paper that the Biden administration’s “rhetoric outpaces” its enforcement numbers.

Quillian, now a partner with Covington & Burling, said the agencies were focused on “rhetoric and process to deter” merger activity.

CEOs considering transactions now weigh the chance of antitrust enforcement “at the beginning of a deal,” said the Wall Street banker, adding that “there is no question that clients think two or three times more about deals that are on the line.”

The American Investment Council, a trade group for the private equity industry, has sharply criticized a Biden administration proposal to significantly increase pre-merger notification disclosures.

The proposed changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act would include details about the rationale of a transaction, projected revenue streams and corporate relationships.

The proposed rule “will make it far more costly to consummate such deals,” slowing the American economy “to the detriment of the very consumers whom the antitrust laws are intended to benefit,” the council said in September 2023 comments.

Those changes have yet to be finalized. The next administration will need to decide whether to uphold this policy, along with the 2023 merger guidelines, which would need to be adopted by US courts to have teeth.

Other questions concern pending lawsuits against tech giants Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook parent Meta, and whether to proceed with litigation or take another route, such as settlement or dismissal.

WAR CRIME

Reuters says team member missing in Russian strike on east Ukraine hotel


By AFP
August 25, 2024

The eastern city of Kramatorsk has been heavily hit by Russian attacks throughout Moscow's more than two-year invasion - Copyright AFP FETHI BELAID
Maryke VERMAAK

A member of the Reuters news agency was missing and two others were wounded in a strike on a hotel in the east Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the agency said Sunday, with Russian attacks killing 15 civilians across the country in the last 24 hours.

In another deadly day in the two-and-a-half year war, six civilians were also killed in Ukrainian strikes on Russian border regions, Russian officials said.

The attacks came as Kyiv mounts an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, which has rattled Moscow but not slowed its advance in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials said attacks on Saturday said Sunday killed 15 civilians in the war-battered Donetsk, northeastern Sumy and the southern Kherson regions.

In the east Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, a search and rescue operation was underway after a strike late on Saturday on the Hotel Sapphire, where Reuters said six of its crew covering the war were staying.

Kramatorsk — the last major city under Ukrainian control in the Donetsk region — is often used as a base for aid workers and foreign journalists.

“One of our colleagues is unaccounted for, while another two have been taken to hospital for treatment,” Reuters said, adding that it was “urgently seeking more information”.

The agency said “three other colleagues have been accounted for” and said it was “working with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and supporting our colleagues and their families.”

The head of the Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin, said earlier two journalists were wounded while one was missing, saying the strike happened “in the middle of the night.”

He said a rescue operation was ongoing and “the rubble was being cleared”.

– ‘Scary to go to bed’ –

Ukrainian prosecutors said the hotel was hit by a Russian Iskander missile at 10.35 pm on Saturday, with the strike also damaging the building next door.

AFP saw authorities giving out plywood to locals for them to board their windows.

Kramatorsk lies around 20 kilometres (13 miles) from the frontline, with fears over the city rising as Russian forces continue their push into eastern Ukraine.

Many local residents were going to bed at the time of the strike.

“I was watching a film on my phone and then… there was such a noise and the glass started smashing,” 66-year-old Natalia told AFP, crying.

She said she had already been evacuated once after a similar experience but came back, and now will “think about” leaving again.

“It’s scary to go to bed,” she said, her voice breaking.

Another resident, 84-year-old Vasily who lives close to the hotel, was fixing plywood onto his window frames after the glass smashed during the strike.

“We worry all the time… and now our turn has come,” he said, adding: “It’s about how lucky you get.”

– 15 dead across Ukraine –

Officials said Russian strikes that hit outside the city of Kherson killed three people and wounded six, including a one-year-old boy who was left with shrapnel injuries.

Russian attacks on frontline towns in the Donetsk region killed eight people in the last 24 hours, Donetsk leader Filashkin said.

Officials said large-scale attacks on the Sumy region — from where Kyiv had launched its surprise incursion on August 6 — also killed four people on Saturday.

Ukrainian police said Russia had shelled some 50 settlements in the Sumy region.

Kyiv said Russia also attacked the Kharkiv region at night, wounding eight people in the city of Kharkiv.

In Russia, officials said attacks on the Belgorod border region killed six civilians.

Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said five people were killed in a strike on the village of Rakitnoye, in an attack that also wounded a dozen people.

He said 13 others were wounded, with six in a “serious condition”, including a 16-year-old in intensive care.

Gladkov later said a man was killed by a Ukrainian drone attack in the village of Solovyevka further south.

Ukraine has pushed into parts of the Kursk region after an incursion that has seen more than 130,000 people displaced.

Paris commemorates 80th anniversary of liberation in WWII

By  AFP
August 25, 2024

Reenactors dressed in wartime uniforms parade on vintage military vehicles during a reenactment marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Paris from the Germans during World War II - Copyright AFP/File JEAN-SEBASTIEN EVRARD

Paris on Sunday celebrated the 80th anniversary of its liberation from German troops in World War II with tributes, military marches and the hoisting of a flag at the Eiffel Tower.

On August 25, 1944, the 2nd French Armoured Division entered the capital under the command of General Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque, ending 1,500 days of German occupation.

Their triumphant arrival followed a tumultuous week of uprisings, strikes, combat at barricades and street battles between French Resistance fighters and occupying forces.

On Sunday a parade followed one of the itineraries of the French division from the south of the capital to its centre.

The parade featured vintage military vehicles, as surviving veterans of the 2nd Armoured Division looked on.

President Emmanuel Macron led the commemoration, also attended by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and an audience including prominent cultural figures including American actor Jodie Foster.

“Beyond all divisions and contradictions, to be French is to be together,” Macron said in a speech. “Free, and true to the great things that have been achieved and determined to achieve more together.”

A torch for the Paris Paralympics, which open Wednesday, was lit, ahead of a flyover by the Patrouille de France, a unit of French air force fighter planes.

Earlier Sunday, the French flag was raised under the Eiffel Tower in memory of firefighters who at midday 80 years ago took down the Nazi flag that had been flying there for four years, and replaced it with the tricolour.

Sunday’s events were the culmination of a week of festivities in and around the capital, matching in length the week of fighting in 1944 before the Germans surrendered Paris.

On Saturday, there was a tribute to the 160 men of “La Nueve”, mostly made up of Spanish republican forces, who were the first to enter Paris on the evening of August 24.

On Saturday night, Paris city hall was the venue for a brass band performance, a concert and a dance.



ONE OF THE GREAT WWII MOVIES WHERE THE COMMIES BEAT THE FASCISTS IN THE STREETS OF PARIS 

IS PARIS BURNING 

OPENING CREDITS AND ORCHESTRAL OVERTURE

 

IS PARIS BURNING  1966 TRAILER

 

IS PARIS BURNING  ENDING 

 "Echoes of France" by Django Reinhardt

WWIII

New collision of Chinese, Philippine vessels near flashpoint shoal

By AFP
August 25, 2024


Frame grab from Philippine Coast Guard video of a Chinese Coast Guard ship colliding with the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel BRP Datu Sanday - Copyright AFP Menahem KAHANA

Isabel KUA

China’s coast guard said it rescued Filipino “personnel” who fell overboard Sunday after a Philippine vessel collided with one of its ships near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

The Philippines slammed China’s claims as “completely unfounded”.

The two nations have had repeated confrontations in the waters in recent months, and on Saturday Manila accused China of twice firing flares at one of its patrol aircraft.

China has continued to press its claims to almost the entire sea, and has ignored an international tribunal ruling that its assertions have no legal basis.

Beijing accused the Philippine vessel of “deliberately” colliding with a Chinese Coast Guard ship.

It said the collision took place near the disputed Sabina Shoal, 140 kilometres (86 miles) west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 kilometres from Hainan island, the closest Chinese landmass.

China Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu said the collision occurred when a Philippine vessel refused to comply with “control measures” after attempting to deliver supplies to another vessel “illegally stationed” near Xianbin Reef in the Nansha Islands — using the Chinese names for the Sabina Shoal and the Spratly Islands, also claimed by Manila.

“China warns the Philippines to immediately cease its infringing actions, otherwise the Philippines will bear all consequences resulting from this situation,” Gan said.

The Philippines said that its ships encountered “aggressive and dangerous maneuvers” from the Chinese side when they were on a humanitarian mission to resupply Filipino fishermen with diesel, food and medical items.

The Chinese vessels “made close perilous maneuvers that resulted in ramming, blasted horns, and deployed water cannons”, leading to an early termination of the resupply operation after their ship experienced engine failure, a statement from Manila’s National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea said.

“These unprofessional, aggressive, and illegal actions posed serious risks to the safety of the Filipino crew and the fishermen they were meant to serve,” the statement said, adding that no one was harmed.

Footage released by the Philippine Coast Guard showed a Chinese ship approaching and ramming the left side of its vessel.

Another clip showed a Chinese vessel travelling parallel to the Philippine ship, just metres away.


– Recurring clashes –


On Saturday the Philippines accused China of firing flares at one of its aircraft earlier this month as it patrolled the South China Sea.

On Monday both countries also reported a collision between their coast guard ships near Sabina Shoal.

Manila had said that was the first hostile action by Beijing against it near Sabina, where both sides have stationed coast guard vessels in recent months and where the Philippines fears China is about to build an artificial island.

US ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson, whose country has a mutual defence treaty with Manila, blasted the “unsafe, unlawful, and aggressive conduct” by the Chinese vessels on Sunday, saying it was “the latest in multiple dangerous actions” by China.

“We are steadfast in supporting” Philippine allies, she said on X.

China deploys boats to patrol the busy South China Sea and has built artificial islands that it has militarised to reinforce its claims.

In June, Chinese coast guard sailors brandished weapons including knives and an axe as they boarded Philippine naval vessels near the strategic reef.

The Philippine military said one of its sailors lost a thumb in the confrontation in which Beijing’s coast guard also confiscated or destroyed Philippine equipment including guns.

Beijing blamed the escalation on Manila and maintains its actions to protect its claims are legal and proportional.

China accuses a Philippine vessel of brushing against its ship in disputed waters

 
August 25, 2024 
By Associated Press

This handout photo taken Apr. 27, 2021 and received from the Philippine coast guard shows Philippine coast guard personnel aboard their ship BRP Cabra monitoring Chinese vessels anchored at Sabina Shoal, in the South China Sea.

BEIJING —

China's coast guard said Sunday it took action against a Philippine vessel that ignored warnings and caused a light collision with its vessel in the disputed South China Sea, where confrontations between the two sides have increased.

Gan Yu, the coast guard spokesperson, said in a statement that the Philippine vessel entered the waters around Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands, known in Chinese as Xianbin Reef in the Nansha Islands. Gan said the Philippine ship ignored the Chinese warning and sailed toward the coast guard ship "unprofessionally" and "dangerously," causing the two vessels to brush against each other. He said the Philippine vessel also had journalists on board to take pictures to "distort facts."

"The responsibility is totally on the Philippines' side. We sternly warn that the Philippine side must immediately stop the infringement and provocation, otherwise it must bear all consequences," he said. Gan did not elaborate on what control measures the Chinese coast guard took.

SEE ALSO:
Philippines urges China to halt 'provocative and dangerous' actions after flare incidents

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in the Philippines said its vessel encountered aggressive and dangerous maneuvers from eight Chinese maritime vessels. It said the actions from the Chinese side were aimed at obstructing its vessel's humanitarian mission to resupply Filipino fishermen with diesel, food and medical supplies.

China is rapidly expanding its military and has become increasingly assertive in pursuing its territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety. The tensions have led to more frequent confrontations, primarily with the Philippines, though the longtime territorial disputes also involve other claimants including Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

The latest incident came days after Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships collided near Sabina Shoal, a disputed atoll. At least two vessels were reported to be damaged in Monday's collision but there were no reports of injuries.

Sabina Shoal lies about 140 kilometers (85 miles) west of the Philippine province of Palawan, in the internationally recognized exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.

The atoll is near Second Thomas Shoal, another flashpoint where China has hampered the resupply of Philippine forces. China and the Philippines reached an agreement last month to prevent further confrontations at Second Thomas Shoal.

Durov: Mysterious and controversial Telegram founder


By AFP
August 25, 2024

Pavel Durov comes from Saint Petersburg. — © AFP
Thibault Marchand and Stuart Williams

Russian-born tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov has founded wildly popular social networks as well as a cryptocurrency, amassed a multi-billion-dollar fortune and locked horns with authorities not just in Russia but around the world.

Still a few months shy of his 40th birthday, the man once dubbed the “Russian Zuckerberg” after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg now finds himself under arrest in France after being sensationally detained at a Paris airport this weekend.

While still in his 20s, the Saint Petersburg native shot to fame in Russia after founding the VKontakte (VK) social network which catered to the needs of Russian-language users and outgunned Facebook throughout the former USSR.

After disputes with the Russian authorities and ownership battles, he sold out of VKontakte and founded a new messaging service called Telegram which rapidly gained traction but has also proved controversial with critics condemning an alleged lack of control on extreme content.

As these dramas raged, Durov remained a mercurial and at times mysterious figure, rarely giving interviews and restricting himself to sometimes enigmatic declarations made on Telegram.

A self-avowed libertarian, Durov has championed confidentiality on the Internet and encryption in messaging.

He has defiantly refused to allow the moderation of messages on Telegram, which allows users to post video, pictures and comments on “channels” that can be followed by anyone.


Durov cultivates a near mystical image – Copyright AFP/File DALE DE LA REY

Durov, 39, was targeted in France by a warrant over offences alleged to have been conducted on Telegram, ranging from fraud to drug trafficking, cyberbullying and organised crime, including promoting terrorism and fraud.

Investigations have been entrusted to the cyber unit of the French gendarmerie and the national anti-fraud office. He was still in police custody on Sunday, according to two sources close to the case.

– ‘Thanks for all the fish’ –

In 2006, having just graduated from the University of Saint Petersburg, Durov launched VKontakte (VK), attracting users even while its founder remained a shadowy figure.

In a stunt typical of his unpredictable behaviour, Durov in 2012 showered high-denomination notes on pedestrians from VK’s headquarters on top of a historic bookstore on Saint Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospekt.

But after running into trouble with the Kremlin for refusing to hand over the personal data of users to the Russian security services (FSB), he sold out of the company and left Russia in 2014.

Durov resigned from VK with a typical flourish, posting a picture of dolphins and the slogan “So Long and Thanks for All the Fish,” a title in the famous “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” science fiction series.

He developed the Telegram messaging service with his brother Nikolai while travelling from country to country and launched the service in 2013.

He settled in Dubai and obtained citizenship of the Caribbean island archipelago of Saint Kitts and Nevis, then, in August 2021, won French nationality following a low-profile procedure about which Paris remains highly discreet.

Meanwhile, Telegram enjoyed stratospheric success, presenting itself as a champion of individual freedoms, refusing “censorship” and protecting the confidentiality of its users.

This rankled with authorities, especially in his home country and in 2018, a Moscow court ordered the blocking of the application. But the imposition of the measure was shambolic and three days later, protesters ironically bombarded the FSB headquarters with paper planes, the symbol of Telegram.

Since then, Russia has abandoned its efforts to block Telegram and the messaging service is used by both the Russian government and the opposition, with some channels boasting several hundred thousand subscribers.

Telegram also plays a key role in Russia’s war against Ukraine, documented by bloggers from both sides who post their analyses and videos of the fighting.

Pro-Moscow channels run by so-called “Z-bloggers” who back the war have proved hugely influential and are sometimes critical of Russian military strategy.

– ‘Love the privacy’ –

Durov eschews traditional media interviews but in April sat down with ultra-conservative US journalist Tucker Carlson for an extensive discussion.

People “love the independence. They also love the privacy, the freedom, (there are) a lot of reasons why somebody would switch to Telegram,” Durov told Carlson.

There are similarities with fellow tech mogul Elon Musk. — © AFP

He is also not shy of posting messages on his own Telegram channel, claiming to lead a solitary life, abstaining from meat, alcohol and even coffee. Always dressed in black, he cultivates a resemblance to the actor Keanu Reeves in the film “Matrix”.

In July, he boasted of being the biological father of more than 100 children thanks to his sperm donations in a dozen countries, describing this as a “civic duty” in an attitude to parenting that echoes that of a fellow tech mogul, the X and Tesla chief Elon Musk.

According to Forbes magazine’s latest estimate, Durov’s fortune is $15.5 billion. But toncoin, the cryptocurrency he created, has plummeted by more than 15 percent since the announcement of his arrest.

Telegram has long been in the sights of European judicial authorities over allegations it spreads conspiracy theories, shared calls for murder and hosts drug sales platforms. Durov, however, insists that he responds to every request to remove content calling for violence or murder.