AFP

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has for the first time said he would give away most of his $124 billion fortune to charity, but warned that doing so effectively will be hard.

The pledge matches similar commitments by some of the world’s richest people, including Bill and Melinda Gates, Elon Musk, and others.

In a CNN interview released Monday, Bezos said he and his partner Lauren Sanchez were “building the capacity to be able to give away this money.”

Asked whether he intended to give away most of his wealth within his lifetime, the 58-year-old Bezos said: “Yeah, I do.”

Bezos has been under pressure to make the pledge after his ex-wife, author MacKenzie Scott, in 2019 committed to donate half her vast wealth after their divorce.

She had signed up to something called the Giving Pledge, an initiative created in 2010 by the Gates and Warren Buffet that has the world’s richest people commit to giving the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.

The Giving Pledge currently has over 230 signatories from 28 countries, including Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Russian steel magnate Vladimir Potanin.

Bezos previously pledged $10 billion to set up the Bezos Earth Fund, which he launched in 2020 to help fight climate change and preserve wildlife.

The online tycoon told CNN he intended to maximize returns in his philanthropy, a priority also put forward by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is a signatory to the Giving Pledge.

“It’s not easy,” Bezos said in the joint interview with Sanchez. “Building Amazon was not easy…and I’m finding — and I think Lauren is finding the same thing — that charity, philanthropy is very similar.”

“There are a bunch of ways that I think you could do ineffective things,” he added.

Bezos and Sanchez on Saturday announced they were giving Dolly Parton $100 million to give to charities of her choosing.

The country queen was the third recipient of the Bezos Courage and Civility Award, which previously went to Spanish chef Jose Andres and CNN commentator Van Jones. 

Bezos said that Parton “gives with heart” and praised the singer of “Jolene” and “9-to-5” on her promotion of children’s literacy.

The 76-year-old Parton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame earlier this month.

Bezos stepped down as chief executive of Amazon in 2021. He owns the Washington Post and the space tourism company Blue Origin.

After two failed attempts this summer, NASA was busy Monday completing final preparations for the launch of its new mega Moon rocket, now scheduled for early Wednesday from Florida. 

The Artemis 1 mission, a test flight without astronauts, represents the first step in the US space agency’s plan to build a lasting presence on the Moon, and taking lessons from there to prepare for a future voyage to Mars.

Named after the sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, the new space program comes 50 years after humans last set foot on lunar soil.

The first launch of the Space Launch System rocket, the most powerful ever designed by NASA, is set for Wednesday at 1:04 am local time (0604 GMT), with a possible launch window of two hours.

Countdown has already begun at the storied Kennedy Space Center, where the orange and white behemoth awaits its maiden flight.

The takeoff is scheduled less than a week after the passage of Hurricane Nicole, which the rocket endured outside on its launch pad.

For now, officials are evaluating the risk associated with hurricane damage to a thin strip of caulk-like material called RTV, which encircles the Orion crew capsule atop the rocket, and makes it more aerodynamic.

Teams are looking at whether the RTV could shake loose during launch and pose problems.

Two fallback dates are possible if needed, on November 19 and 25.

But Mike Sarafin, in charge of the Artemis 1 mission, was optimistic Sunday evening. “I feel good headed into this attempt,” he said.

– Far side of Moon –

The weather promises to be mild, with a 90 percent chance of favorable conditions during the launch window.

At the end of September, the rocket had to be wheeled back to its assembly building to be sheltered from another hurricane, Ian, postponing the mission by several weeks.

Before these weather setbacks, two launch attempts had to be canceled for technical reasons.

The first failure was related to a faulty sensor, and the second to a fuel leak when filling the rocket’s tanks. It runs on ultra-cold, ultra-volatile liquid oxygen and hydrogen.

NASA has since replaced a seal and modified its procedures to avoid thermal shock as much as possible, and succeeded in a tank filling test in late September. 

These filling operations are now due to begin Tuesday afternoon, under the orders of Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, NASA’s first female launch director.

About 100,000 people are expected on the coast to watch the launch, with the rocket promising to light up the night sky.

The Orion capsule will be lifted by two boosters and four powerful engines under the core stage, which will detach after only a few minutes.

After a final push from the upper stage, the capsule will be well on its way, taking several days to reach its destination.

Rather than landing on the Moon, it will assume a distant orbit, venturing 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) beyond Earth’s natural satellite — further than any other habitable spacecraft so far.

Finally, Orion will embark on the return leg of its journey. When passing through the atmosphere, the capsule’s heat shield will need to withstand a temperature half as hot as the Sun’s surface.

If takeoff happens Wednesday, the mission would last 25 and a half days in all, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on December 11.

NASA is banking on a successful mission after developing the SLS rocket for more than a decade. It will have invested more than $90 billion in its new lunar program by the end of 2025, according to a public audit.

Artemis 2 will be almost a replay of the first mission, albeit with astronauts, in 2024. 

Boots on the ground should happen during Artemis 3, no sooner than 2025, with the crew set to include the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.

NASA then wants to launch around one mission per year and build a lunar space station called Gateway. There, humanity must learn to live in deep space and develop the technologies necessary for a round trip to Mars, perhaps in the late 2030s.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said Ukraine’s recapture of Kherson marked “the beginning of the end of the war” as he hailed the liberation of the city of Kherson in a surprise visit.

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg nonetheless cautioned that Ukraine was facing difficult months ahead and said that Russia’s military capability should not be underestimated.

And US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping — a key ally of Vladimir Putin — agreed in talks Monday that nuclear weapons should never be used, including in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian presidency distributed images of Zelensky singing the national anthem with his hand over his chest as the country’s blue and yellow flag was hoisted next to Kherson’s main administrative building.

“This is the beginning of the end of the war,” Zelensky said. 

“It is a long way, difficult way, because the war took the best heroes of our country. We are ready for peace but our peace, for our country it’s all our country, all our territory,” he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman denied that the Ukrainian leader’s visit had any impact on the status of the Kherson region, which Moscow formally annexed into Russia at a ceremony last month. 

In Kherson, Zelensky said that “the price of this war is high”.

“People are injured. A large number of dead. There were fierce battles, and the result is — today we are in Kherson region.”

– ‘Mistake’ to underestimate Russia –

His visit came just days after Ukrainian troops entered the city — the Kherson region’s administrative centre — after Russia pulled back its forces on Friday.

The takeover is the latest in a string of setbacks for the Kremlin, which invaded Ukraine on February 24 hoping for a lightning takeover and to topple the government in days.

But Russian troops failed to capture the capital Kyiv and have since been pushed back from large portions of territory in the south and east.

Still, Stoltenberg said that “the coming months will be difficult” and cautioned that: “we should not make the mistake of underestimating Russia”.

“Putin’s aim is to leave Ukraine cold and dark this winter,” he told a press conference in The Hague.

The city of Kherson was the first major urban hub to fall to Russian forces and the only regional capital Moscow’s troops gained control over.

Its recapture opens a gateway for Ukraine to the entire Kherson region, one of four that the Kremlin announced in September were annexed and part of Russia.

President Vladimir Putin vowed to use all available means to defend them from Ukrainian forces, hinting at the use of nuclear weapons.

Biden and Xi agreed in talks at the G20 however that nuclear weapons should never be used, including in Ukraine, the White House said.

“President Biden and President Xi reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won and underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine,” it said in a statement.

US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns was meanwhile holding talks with his Russian counterpart in Ankara to warn him about the consequences of using nuclear weapons.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday he would not comment on Zelensky’s visit to Kherson but added: “this territory is part of the Russian Federation.”

– ‘Very scared’ –

A self-described partisan in Kherson told AFP after the Russian withdrawal that he and his friends had spent months walking the streets observing the Russians’ every move.

“You watch closely and then come home and write it all down. And then you send the information and hide absolutely everything — phones, papers, clothes, everything,” 19-year-old aspiring musician named Volodymyr Timor said.

“We reported everything — where their equipment and ammunition sites were, where they slept and where they went out drinking,” Timor said.

Ukraine’s forces could then use the coordinates to target strikes during a counteroffensive that has seen Russia cede roughly half the land it seized in the first weeks of war.

“I was scared,” the imposing but soft-spoken guitarist said of the prospect of being caught and possibly killed.

Fuelling concerns that Moscow may have a lingering presence in Kherson, Ukrainian intelligence services said they had detained a Russian military serviceman dressed in civilian clothes.

It said his task was “to gather information, adjust fire on the Ukrainian armed forces and carry out sabotage.”

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s forces had retaken 12 towns and villages in the eastern region of Lugansk, the military and local officials said Monday.

The eastern industrial region has been held by Russian-supported separatists since 2014 but Kyiv’s forces have slowly been clawing back territory there.

But Russia’s military also said its forces were making gains in the neighbouring region of Donetsk, capturing the village of Pavlivka, where fighting had caused controversy in Russia.

Last week, soldiers from the Far Eastern 155th Marine Guards Brigade complained about heavy losses in an address to the governor of the Far Eastern region of Primorye, Oleg Kozhemyako. 

Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping tried to take some heat out of their simmering superpower rivalry Monday, during a three-hour summit that found common ground on Ukraine but left little doubt that stark differences remain.

Biden emerged from the meeting proclaiming there need not be a new Cold War, as both leaders spoke of the desire to prevent high tensions from spilling over into conflict.

Xi told Biden that the two countries “share more, not less, common interests”, according to a Chinese account of the meeting, sounding more conciliatory than the last three pandemic-filled years without face-to-face presidential meetings would suggest.

“The world expects that China and the United States will properly handle the relationship,” Xi told him.

Trying to scotch the notion that China is bent on usurping the United States and remaking the world in its own authoritarian image, Xi reportedly said Beijing does not seek to challenge the United States or “change the existing international order”.

On the pressing issue of Russia’s war in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin’s veiled threats to use nuclear weapons, the pair agreed that nuclear war should not be fought and cannot be won, according to the White House.

They “underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine,” the US added.

That common cause is likely to give Putin pause as he weighs how to turn the tide of a war that his regime’s survival could hinge on.

But Biden and Xi’s meeting was no kumbaya summit. 

The two leaders notably clashed on the question of Taiwan’s future.  

Tensions have risen sharply over Taiwan, with China in August conducting major military exercises after a visit to the self-governing democracy, which it claims, by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Xi told Biden that Taiwan is the “first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations,” according to the Chinese foreign ministry statement.

Biden told Xi he opposed any changes on Taiwan — after the US leader repeatedly indicated that Washington was ready to defend the island militarily.

And he raised US “objections” to China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan, which undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, and jeopardise global prosperity,” the White House said.

Biden also nudged China to rein in ally North Korea after a record-breaking spate of missile tests has raised fears that Pyongyang will soon carry out its seventh nuclear test, and said he was “confident China’s not looking for North Korea to engage in further escalation”.

In a sign of thawing ties, Biden announced that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit China “to follow up on their discussions”.

A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP the two countries were working “to schedule a visit tentatively planned for early next year”.

Xi’s last in-person meeting with a US president was in 2019 with Donald Trump, who along with Biden identified China as a top international concern and the only potential challenger to US primacy on the world stage. 

Although the meeting was the first time Xi and Biden have met as presidents, the pair have an unusually long history together. 

By Biden’s estimation, he spent 67 hours as vice president in person with Xi including on a 2011 trip to China aimed at better understanding China’s then-leader-in-waiting, and a 2017 meeting in the final days of Barack Obama’s administration.

On Tuesday, Xi will hold the first formal sitdown with an Australian leader since 2017, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced, following a concerted pressure campaign by Beijing against the close US ally. 

He will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron, and Britain’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he also hopes to speak with the Chinese leader.

– Absent Putin –

Though he is engaging Xi, Biden has refused since the invasion of Ukraine to deal directly with Putin, who is conspicuously absent from the Bali summit.

The Kremlin cited scheduling issues and has instead sent longtime foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who arrived Sunday evening and underwent two health checks at a Bali hospital, according to an Indonesian health ministry official.

Lavrov, 72, denied reports that he was receiving treatment at a Bali hospital, telling Tass news agency that he was in his hotel preparing for the summit.

Lavrov’s presence has thrown into question a customary G20 group photo and joint statement, with Russia sure to reject any explicit calls to end its invasion of Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said it was “impossible to kill Ukraine” as he hailed the liberation of city of Kherson in a surprise visit.

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg meanwhile cautioned that Ukraine was facing difficult months ahead and Russia’s military capability should not be underestimated, despite the takeover of Kherson city.

And US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping — a key ally of Vladimir Putin — agreed in talks Monday that nuclear weapons should never be used, including in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian presidency distributed images of Zelensky singing the national anthem with his hand over his chest as the country’s blue and yellow flag was hoisted next to Kherson’s main administrative building.

“This is what the Russian Federation did in our country, it showed the whole world that it can kill. But all of us, our armed forces, our National Guard and intelligence (services) have shown that it is impossible to kill Ukraine,” Zelensky said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman denied, however, that the Ukrainian leader’s visit had any impact on the status of the Kherson region, which Moscow formally annexed into Russia at a ceremony last month. 

In Kherson, Zelensky said that “the price of this war is high”.

“People are injured. A large number of dead. (Russian forces) have left or escaped — we believe that they have escaped because our army has surrounded the enemy and they were in danger,” Zelensky said.

“There were fierce battles, and the result is — today we are in Kherson region.”

– ‘Fierce battles’ –

Late Sunday, Zelensky said Ukrainian forces found evidence of hundreds of new “war crimes” carried out by Russian occupiers in Kherson.

His subsequent visit came just days after Ukrainian troops entered the city — the Kherson region’s administrative centre — after Russia pulled back its forces on Friday.

The takeover by Ukrainian troops is the latest in a string of setbacks for the Kremlin, which invaded Ukraine on February 24 hoping for a lightning takeover and to topple the government in days.

But Russian troops failed to capture the capital Kyiv and have since been pushed back from large portions of territory in the south and east.

Still, Stoltenberg said that “the coming months will be difficult” and cautioned that: “we should not make the mistake of underestimating Russia”.

“Putin’s aim is to leave Ukraine cold and dark this winter,” he told a press conference in The Hague after meeting the Dutch foreign and defence ministers.

The city of Kherson was the first major urban hub to fall to Russian forces and the only regional capital Moscow’s troops gained control over.

Its recapture opens a gateway for Ukraine to the entire Kherson region, with access to both the Black Sea in the west and the Sea of Azov in the east.

The region was one of four that the Kremlin announced in September were annexed and part of Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to use all available means to defend them from Ukrainian forces, hinting at the use of nuclear weapons.

Biden and Xi agreed in talks at the G20 however that nuclear weapons should never be used, including in Ukraine, the White House said.

“President Biden and President Xi reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won and underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine,” it said in a statement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday he would not comment on Zelensky’s visit to Kherson but added: “this territory is part of the Russian Federation.”

– ‘Very scared’ –

A self-described partisan in Kherson told AFP after the Russian withdrawal that he and his friends had spent months walking the streets observing the Russians’ every move.

“You watch closely and then come home and write it all down. And then you send the information and hide absolutely everything — phones, papers, clothes, everything,” 19-year-old aspiring musician named Volodymyr Timor said.

“We reported everything — where their equipment and ammunition sites were, where they slept and where they went out drinking,” Timor said.

Ukraine’s forces could then use the coordinates to target strikes during a counteroffensive that has seen Russia cede roughly half the land it seized in the first weeks of war.

“I was scared,” the imposing but soft-spoken guitarist said of the prospect of being caught and possibly killed.

Fuelling concerns that Moscow may have a lingering presence in Kherson, Ukrainian intelligence services said they had detained a Russian military serviceman dressed in civilian clothes.

It said his task was “to gather information, adjust fire on the Ukrainain armed forces and carry out sabotage.”

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s forces had retaken 12 towns and villages in the eastern region of Lugansk, the military and local officials said Monday.

The eastern industrial region has been held by Russian-supported separatists since 2014 but Kyiv’s forces have slowly been clawing back territory there.

But Russia’s military also said its forces were making gains in the neighbouring region of Donetsk, capturing the village of Pavlivka, where fighting had caused controversy in Russia.

Last week, soldiers from the Far Eastern 155th Marine Guards Brigade complained about heavy losses in an address to the governor of the Far Eastern region of Primorye, Oleg Kozhemyako.