World Briefing: November 21, 2024
Ukraine says Russia fired RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile from its territory on its attack on Dnipro today. If confirmed, it would mark the first time Moscow has used such a weapon - which can travel thousands of miles - in the war. In addition, seven Kh-101 cruise missiles were fired by Russia. Kyiv would need a more advanced system than Patriot to shoot down ICBMs, which can also carry nuclear warheads. Russia has not commented on the reports but there have been rumours circulating for weeks that the Kremlin was preparing to position ICBMs for use in Ukraine. Russia has claimed that it shot down two Anglo-French Storm Shadow missiles. It claimed earlier five of six ATACMs fired by Ukraine were shot down, however it lacks credibility. The British defence secretary John Healey was to have appeared before MPs this morning. Separately, the U.S. Defense Department announced an additional security assistance package worth $275 million under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) program. It said the package will provide Ukraine with “additional capabilities to meet its most urgent needs, including munitions for rocket systems and artillery and anti-tank weapons.”
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman received a phone call during a live press briefing on Thursday ordering her not to comment on reports of a ballistic missile strike on Ukraine, video showed. “Masha,” an unknown male voice on the phone said, addressing spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. “On the ‘Yuzhmash’ ballistic missile strike that the Westerners have started talking about, we are not commenting at all,” it said, referring to an aerospace manufacturer based in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro - AFP
The Danish military is shadowing a Chinese bulk carrier days after two fibre optic cables were severed in the Baltic Sea. The Chinese ship departed a Russian port six days ago and was in the area when the cables were damaged, the FT reported. Swedish police also said they were curious about this particular ship and possible others in the area at the time.
Vietnam has extradited a Belarusian national who fought as a volunteer in Ukraine on Kyiv's side to Minsk, Belarusian media reported on November 20. The opposition-led Coordination Council said Vasyl Verameychyk, who is a member of the council, was turned over to Belarus on November 14. Verameychyk served in the Belarusian Army for seven years but participated in the 2020 anti-government protests. After the threat of arrest, he fled to Ukraine, where he joined the fighting against Russian forcesand was wounded in April 2022. Nasha Niva news reported Verameychyk moved to Vietnam after he was denied permission to settle in Lithuania because of his former Belarusian Army service - RFE/RL
U.S. regulators want a federal judge to break up Google to prevent the company from continuing to squash competition through its dominant search engine after a court found it had maintained an abusive monopoly over the past decade. The proposed breakup floated in a 23-page document filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice calls for sweeping punishments that would include a sale of Google’s industry-leading Chrome web browser and impose restrictions to prevent Android from favoring its own search engine. A sale of Chrome “will permanently stop Google’s control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet,” Justice Department lawyers argued in their filing. Although regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android too, they asserted the judge should make it clear the company could still be required to divest its smartphone operating system if its oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct - AP
Australian teen Bianca Jones has become the fourth tourist to have died in a suspected mass poisoning in Laos. The 19-year-old's family confirmed her death to the media on Thursday. Hours earlier, the US State Department told the media that an American man died in the tourist town of Vang Vieng. Two Danish women, aged 19 and 20, also died last week in Laos, Danish authorities confirmed, declining to share more due to confidentiality concerns. The deaths remain under police investigation, but news reports and testimonies online from other tourists suggest they may have consumed drinks laced with methanol, a deadly substance often found in bootleg alcohol - BBC
