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Voting continues in 4 areas of Ukraine on becoming a member of Russia

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KYIV: The Kremlin stated on Monday it was in “sporadic” contact with the US on nuclear subject, a day after Washington warned of “catastrophic penalties” if Moscow used nuclear weapons to guard Ukrainian areas it appears set to annex.

Residents in 4 areas of Ukraine had been voting for a fourth day on Monday in Moscow-organised referendums on becoming a member of Russia, a plan Kyiv and the West have branded a sham. They are saying the outcomes are pre-determined and they won’t recognise the outcomes.

However by incorporating the 4 areas – Luhansk and Donetsk within the east and Zaporizhzhia and Kherson within the south – Moscow may painting Ukraine’s efforts to retake them as assaults on Russia itself.

President Vladimir Putin stated final week Moscow was prepared to make use of nuclear weapons to defend any of its territory as he introduced a mobilisation drive that threatens to considerably escalate the seven-month-old battle in Ukraine.

US Nationwide Safety Adviser Jake Sullivan stated on Sunday the US would reply “decisively” to any Russian use of nuclear weapons towards Ukraine, with out elaborating. He stated Washington had privately informed Moscow “precisely what that will imply”.

Requested on Monday about Sullivan’s feedback, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated: “There are channels for dialogue on the correct degree, however they’re of a really sporadic nature. Not less than they permit for the alternate of some emergency messages about one another’s positions.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated he didn’t imagine Putin was bluffing when the Kremlin chief stated Moscow could be prepared to make use of nuclear weapons to defend Russia.

Door-to-door voting

The exiled mayor of Russian-controlled Melitopol within the Zaporizhzhia area condemned the referendums – that are because of finish on Tuesday – as “a faux and a farce”.

“The voting takes place in entrance of assault rifles, males with weapons… Individuals are grabbed proper on the road and are compelled to vote not just for themselves however for his or her entire households,” he stated by way of videolink from an undisclosed location.

Fedorov additionally accused Russia of forcibly enlisting Ukrainian males in occupied areas into its armed forces.

“As we speak the scenario is essential: our residents are scared, our residents are panicking, they don’t know what’s going to occur tomorrow and when they are going to really take our individuals away for enlisting,” he stated.

The governor of Luhansk, one other area Moscow goals to annex, stated Russian-backed officers had been carrying poll containers from door to door, accompanied by safety officers.

Residents’ names had been taken down in the event that they didn’t vote accurately or refused to solid a poll, Serhiy Gaidai stated.

“Representatives of the occupation forces are going from house to house with poll containers. This can be a secret poll, proper?” Gaidai stated in an interview posted on-line.

The 4 areas signify about 15% of Ukraine. Russian forces don’t management all of the territory in these areas, the place preventing nonetheless rages. They’d add to Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014 after the same referendum there.

Ukraine, bolstered by refined Western weapons, has recaptured swathes of territory over the previous month, prompting Putin final week to order Russia’s first navy mobilisation since World Conflict Two to enlist 300,000 further troops.

Protests

Kremlin spokesman Peskov stated on Monday Russia had taken no selections on closing its borders, amid an exodus of military-age males since Putin’s announcement, which goals to enlist some 300,000 reservists.

Virtually 17,000 Russians crossed the border into Finland over the weekend, Finnish authorities stated, whereas Russian state media stated the estimated wait to enter Georgia hit 48 hours at one level on Sunday, with greater than 3,000 automobiles queuing.

Greater than 2,000 individuals have been detained throughout Russia for protests on the draft, says unbiased monitoring group OVD-Information. With criticism of the battle banned, the demonstrations had been among the many first indicators of discontent for the reason that struggle started.

A 25-year-old gunman opened hearth at a draft workplace on Monday within the Irkutsk area of Siberia, the native governor stated.

In Russia’s Muslim-majority southern area of Dagestan, police clashed with protesters, resulting in the detention of at the least 100 individuals.

Peskov acknowledged that some call-ups had been issued in error, saying errors had been being corrected by regional governors and the ministry of defence.

In a Sunday video clip, Zelenskiy addressed Russian protesters straight: “Carry on preventing in order that your kids won’t be despatched to their deaths – all these that may be drafted by this felony Russian mobilisation.”

“As a result of for those who come to remove the lives of our youngsters … we won’t allow you to get away alive.”

Patriarch Kirill, the pinnacle of Russia’s Orthodox Church and a detailed ally of Putin, stated anyone who sacrificed themselves on the battlefield could be “cleansed…of all of the sins they’ve dedicated”.

Ukrainian officers stated on Monday that additional heavy preventing had seen greater than 40 cities hit by Russian shelling, principally in southern and southeast Ukraine.

Zelenskiy stated Ukraine had found two extra mass burial websites containing the our bodies of a whole lot of individuals within the northeastern city of Izium, a part of territory recaptured from Russian forces this month.

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‘Butcher of Gujarat’ hires hitman to kill Sikh chief after Canada saga

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WASHINGTON: The BJB-led Modi authorities has continued its worldwide ‘terrorism’ agenda to kill opponents on international soil as an Indian nationwide has been charged with plotting to assassinate a Sikh separatist chief on US soil.

That is the second such incident after Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing in Canada by Indian authorities.

The USA (U.S.) Justice Division stated on Wednesday Indian authorities official was additionally concerned within the planning.

The Justice Division unsealed murder-for-hire prices in opposition to Nikhil Gupta, 52, “in connection along with his participation in a foiled plot to assassinate a US citizen” of Indian origin in New York Metropolis, it stated in a press release.

The person allegedly focused within the killing “is a vocal critic of the Indian authorities and leads a US-based group that advocates for the secession of Punjab,” a northern Indian state with a big inhabitants of Sikhs.

An Indian authorities official, directing the plan from India, labored with Gupta and others based mostly all over the world, the US authorities stated.

Who’s Pavan Kumar Rai? India’s diplomat kicked out of Canada

Gupta, who lives in India, was arrested by authorities within the Czech Republic beneath US extradition orders.

White Home ‘warning’ to India
The information comes after the White Home stated final week it was treating an alleged plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist on American soil with “utmost seriousness,” and had raised the difficulty with the Indian authorities.

The Monetary Occasions (FT) reported that very same day that US authorities had thwarted a conspiracy to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US and Canadian citizen.

After Wednesday’s information broke, Pannun stated in a press release that “the try on my life on American soil is the blatant case of India’s transnational terrorism which has turn out to be a problem to America’s sovereignty and menace to freedom of speech and democracy.”

The Justice Division, which didn’t establish the goal of the alleged assassination try on Wednesday, stated that Gupta was recruited into the trouble in Might 2023.

Canada and India had a serious diplomatic row after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September linked New Delhi to the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, additionally a Sikh separatist, in June.

New Delhi referred to as the Canadian allegations “absurd.”

However Trudeau stated Wednesday that “the information popping out of the US additional underscores what we’ve been speaking about from the very starting, which is that India must take this significantly.”

“The Indian authorities must work with us to make sure that we’re attending to the underside of this,” he stated.

Pannun stated that “first by assassinating Nijjar in Canada after which trying to assassinate me on US soil, India beneath [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi has prolonged to the international soils its coverage of violently crushing the Sikhs motion for proper to self-determination.”

Modi govt and New York Metropolis goal

The US Justice Division stated that after Nijjar’s killing, Gupta instructed undercover US officers that there was “now no want to attend” on killing the New York Metropolis goal.

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Dominica, Blue Carbon unite for sustainable local weather options

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DUBAI: Dominica and UAE-based Blue Carbon have formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate on carbon buying and selling aligning with Paris Settlement Article 6 targets, specializing in local weather change initiatives for carbon mitigation and elimination throughout numerous sectors.

The MoU signing marks a considerable stride in cultivating collaborative efforts to attain local weather targets, enabling elevated ambition in mitigation actions whereas championing sustainable growth and environmental integrity.

The signing ceremony occurred in Dubai on Thursday, that includes the presence of Roosevelt Skerrit, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, and Sheikh Ahmed Dalmouk Al Maktoum, Chairman of Blue Carbon.

Article 6 of the Paris Settlement particulars the mechanisms for worldwide cooperation, involving the identification and evaluation of prospects to generate tradable mitigation outcomes (MOs) generally known as Worldwide Switch Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs).

The settlement additionally paves the way in which for initiating bilateral negotiations on binding agreements, establishing the framework for the authorization of ITMOs and their transfers primarily based on the provisions of Article 6.2 and preapproved methodologies of 6.4 of the Paris Settlement.

Furthermore, the strategic alliance between the Commonwealth Authorities of Dominica and Blue Carbon carries particular significance contemplating the distinctive challenges encountered by small island nations, like Dominica, amidst the impacts of local weather change.

Small islands, like Dominica, face outsized impacts from rising sea ranges and excessive climate. The MoU initiatives not solely contribute to international local weather objectives however are very important for fostering adaptation and resilience in Dominica.

By prioritizing sustainable growth and complete local weather initiatives, the collaboration goals to mitigate the catastrophic penalties of local weather change, making certain a safer and resilient future for the individuals of Dominica.

This added dimension reinforces the dedication of each events to deal with the particular wants of weak nations and construct a basis for sustainable growth that withstands the challenges posed by a altering local weather.

Recognizing the strategic significance of their cooperation, Blue Carbon and the Authorities of Dominica are poised to merge their experience and assets. Their objective is to formulate shared methods that advance sustainable growth, generate monetary returns, create jobs, and facilitate carbon credit score transfers.

Blue Carbon is a number one within the area of environmental asset creation and nature-based options, specializing within the growth of tasks for carbon credit score origination specializing in bilateral agreements and compliance markets.

On the core of the Caribbean, Dominica is dedicated to championing sustainability and environmental integrity. Working to reinforce local weather resilience, the nation is addressing vulnerabilities for a resilient future.

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Widespread sexual violence used as ‘instrument of warfare’ in Sudan: UN consultants

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KHARTOUM: Widespread and in some instances ethnically motivated sexual violence is being utilized in conflict-ravaged Sudan as “a instrument of warfare”, a dozen UN consultants mentioned on Thursday, demanding that perpetrators be held accountable.

Since April, forces loyal to military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan — Sudan’s de facto head of state — have been at warfare with the paramilitary Fast Assist Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Over 10,000 folks have been killed, based on a conservative estimate from the Armed Battle and Occasion Knowledge Mission, and the UN says 6.3 million extra have been pressured to flee their houses.

“We’re appalled by studies of widespread use of gender-based violence, together with sexual violence, as a instrument of warfare to subjugate, terrorise, break and punish ladies and women,” the unbiased United Nations rights consultants mentioned in a joint assertion.

The consultants, together with the particular rapporteurs on violence towards ladies and women and sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of kids, mentioned RSF forces and their allies seemed to be behind a lot of the sexual violence seen within the battle.

They pointed to studies of rapes, sexual exploitation, slavery and trafficking, which “in some instances could have been racially, ethnically and politically motivated”.

There had additionally been studies of pressured prostitution and compelled marriage of ladies and women, they mentioned.

The violence appeared usually for use “as a method of punishing particular communities focused by the RSF and allied militias,” the consultants mentioned, including that in some instances non-Sudanese migrants, refugees and stateless individuals had additionally been focused.

“These critical acts are reportedly now not concentrated in Khartoum or Darfur, however have unfold to different elements of the nation, corresponding to Kordofan,” they warned.

They referred to as for a newly established UN fact-finding mission for Sudan to research in a bid to make sure that perpetrators are held accountable.

The consultants, who’re appointed by the UN Human Rights Council however don’t converse on behalf of the UN, warned that the size and seriousness of the sexual violence was “grossly underreported”.

“The world should not flip a blind eye to the atrocities and large-scale sexual violence unfolding in Sudan,” they mentioned.

“The worldwide group should ship a powerful and clear message to events to the battle that they are going to be held accountable for his or her actions and violations of worldwide humanitarian and human rights legislation,” they added.

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