Military reforms could be adjusted to respond to security threats, says new commander Gerasimov.The new Russian general in charge of operations in Ukraine has said military reforms will respond to NATO’s possible expansion and the “collective West”, which he accused of waging a hybrid war against Moscow. In his first public comments, Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s military general staff, admitted problems with mobilising troops and broader challenges in the conflict that began 11 months ago. “The system of mobilisation training in our country was not fully adapted to the new modern economic relations,” Gerasimov told the news website Argumenty…
Author: National Tone
When much of the world went through a major recession in 2008-2009, China, through enormous government spending efforts, managed to weather the storm and buoy the global economy. With the world tottering “perilously close” to a global recession on the back of Russia’s war in Ukraine and three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, a repeat of a Chinese-led recovery seems less likely. The country’s economy expanded by only 3 percent in 2022. Growth is projected to remain slow in the early quarters of 2023 before rebounding strongly in the second half of the year, according to a survey of 37…
Veteran Korean-speaking diplomat Julie Turner will take on a position that has been vacant since 2017.United States President Joe Biden has named a special envoy for human rights in North Korea, a position that was vacant throughout the presidency of his predecessor Donald Trump. Biden nominated Julie Turner, a Korean-speaking career diplomat who now heads the Asia section of the State Department’s human rights bureau, the White House said in a statement on Monday. Turner previously worked on North Korean human rights as a special assistant in the envoy’s office, the statement added. The appointment needs confirmation from the Senate,…
California-based Harmony said in June it had been the target of a cyberattack that stole $100m worth of digital assets.North Korean hackers were behind the theft of $100m worth of digital assets from a US crypto firm last year, according to United States law enforcement. The North Korean hacking groups Lazarus Group and APT38 carried out the cyber heist on crypto firm Harmony last June, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in a statement on Monday. North Korean cyber actors earlier this month used privacy protocol Railgun to launder more than $60m worth of Ethereum stolen during the heist,…
A gang leader is accused of organising the 2022 murders of Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips.Federal police in Brazil have identified a Colombian fish trader and gang leader as the mastermind behind the dual murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, a crime that drew international attention to Amazon rainforest. On Monday, Alexandre Fontes, the head of the federal police for the Brazilian state of Amazonas, said that his investigators had a “strong conviction” that Ruben Dario da Silva Villar was behind the June 2022 slayings. Pereira, 41, and Phillips, 57, were last…
Colombo, Sri Lanka – More than 180 prominent economists and development experts from around the world have made a global appeal to Sri Lanka’s financial lenders to forgive its debt, even as other experts are not convinced it is the best way forward for the island nation. According to World Bank estimates, Sri Lanka has an external debt burden of more than $52bn as of December. Of that, nearly 40 percent is owed to private creditors, including financial institutions, while the rest is owed to bilateral creditors where China (52 percent), Japan (19 percent) and India (12 percent) are the…
Verdict marks major victory for US Justice Department in its push to prosecute those involved in January 6, 2021, riot.A jury in the United States has convicted four members of the far-right Oath Keepers of seditious conspiracy over their roles in the US Capitol riot, as authorities continue to prosecute individuals accused of plotting to keep former President Donald Trump in power. The 12-member jury found Oath Keepers David Moerschel, Joseph Hackett, Roberto Minuta and Edward Vallejo guilty of seditious conspiracy on Monday. All four members also were found guilty of various obstruction and felony charges. The verdict marked the…
Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather Jr will fight Geordie Shore’s Aaron Chalmers in a London exhibition bout on Saturday February 25.Mayweather, 45, has fought five exhibitions up to now against kickboxer and MMA fighter Tenshin Nasukawa, boxer Don Moore, YouTuber Logan Paul, MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura and, most recently in November, 2022, Youtuber Deji Olatunji. He ended his career with victory over Irish MMA fighter Conor McGregor.As well as being part of the cast of Geordie Shore, Chalmers is now a professional MMA fighter. Image: Chalmers, an MMA fighter as well as being part of the Geordie Shore cast, will take on Mayweather…
Police credit people who confronted the California gunman who killed 10 with preventing more casualties.A man has recounted his desperate struggle to seize the gun from an attacker who police say fatally shot 10 people during a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, California in the US. Brandon Tsay was in the lobby of the Lai Lai Ballroom in the city of Alhambra when he confronted and disarmed a man who entered the venue carrying a gun on Saturday night, he recounted in multiple media interviews on Monday. “My heart sank, I knew I was going to die,” the…
The Ottawa Senators will be without Josh Norris for the remainder of the season, with the club announcing Monday that the centre will require shoulder surgery. .acf-block-preview .instagram-twitter-container width: 340px; margin: 0 auto; Norris, 23, had only just returned to the lineup on Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, after having missed 38 games (dating back to Oct. 22) with the same shoulder issue. He played just three games in his return, scoring against the Jets in Saturday’s 5-1 loss. He finishes the season having played just eight times, collecting two goals and one assist. The loss of Norris is a…