Month: October 2022

WARSAW, Poland -- Britain's defense secretary said Tuesday that Russia's war on Ukraine has been a “wake-up call” for NATO members, making them realize that their militaries need to be better and invest more in defense. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said many nations in Europe had become complacent after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin has become “in a sense, a gift to NATO.” He spoke during a panel discussion at the Warsaw Security Forum, a two-day gathering of trans-Atlantic leaders, security and defense experts. Conference attendees included Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska, who thanked Poland and other allies for their support of her country. Wallace described Putin as a “pantomime villain” who “reminded us that there really i...

Elon Musk has gotten into a Twitter tussle with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the tech billionaire floated a divisive proposal to end Russia’s invasion. The Tesla CEO, who on Tuesday revived a $44 billion deal to take control of Twitter, argued in a tweet that to reach peace Russia should be allowed to keep the Crimea Peninsula that it seized in 2014. He also said Ukraine should adopt a neutral status, dropping a bid to join NATO following Russia’s partial mobilization of reservists. Musk also crossed red lines for Ukraine and its supporters by suggesting Monday that four regions Russia is moving to annex following Kremlin-orchestrated “referendums” denounced by the West as a sham should hold repeat votes organized by the United Nations. Musk noted Crimea was part of Rus...

BRUSSELS -- Leaders from more than 40 countries meeting in the Czech capital Thursday are set to launch a “European Political Community” aimed at boosting security and prosperity across the continent. But critics claim the new forum is an attempt to put the brakes on European Union enlargement. The Prague meeting is the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron and is backed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. It’s taking place with Russia’s war on Ukraine in its eighth month and as pressure builds to allow Ukraine to join the 27-nation EU. “The war in Ukraine and the legitimate aspiration of its people, just like that of Moldova and Georgia, to join the European Union, encourages us to rethink our geography and the organization of our continent,” Macron said in May in a speech outlin...

BRUSSELS -- The head of the European Union’s executive arm vowed Wednesday to introduce checks on key EU infrastructure, including energy, after the suspected sabotage of natural-gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the damage last week to the Nord Stream pipelines linking Russia and Germany has "shown how vulnerable our energy infrastructure is” and a comprehensive plan is needed to ensure the safety of key EU networks, including for data. “We need to stress test our infrastructure,” von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. “We need to identify whether we have weak points and where these weak points are.” She also said that satellite surveillance will be used to detect potential threats. Amid Russia’s seven-mo...

BIRMINGHAM, England -- U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss will say Wednesday that all change brings disruption as she tries to convince her Conservative Party — and the country — that her tax-cutting economic agenda will bring prosperity, despite the turmoil it has unleashed. Truss is due to close a tumultuous Conservative conference with a speech to delegates in the central English city of Birmingham. Many are in a glum mood after a four-day gathering that saw policy U-turns from the government and open rebellion from lawmakers who fear the party is doomed to lose the next national election. Truss says she will stick with her plan to reshape Britain’s economy through tax cuts and deregulation in a bid to end years of sluggish growth and create "a new Britain for the new era.” In her most im...

SEOUL, South Korea -- A malfunctioning South Korean ballistic missile blew up as it plowed into the ground Wednesday during a live-fire drill with the United States that was a reprisal for North Korea's successful launch a day earlier of a weapon that flew over Japan and has the range to strike the U.S. territory of Guam. The explosion and subsequent fire panicked and confused residents of the coastal city of Gangneung, who were already uneasy over the increasingly provocative weapons tests by rival North Korea. Their concern that it could be a North Korean attack only grew as the military and government officials provided no explanation about the explosion for hours. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said no injuries were reported from the explosion, which involved a short-range Hyumo...