World

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

– Lavrov storms out of G20 talks –

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov storms out of talks with other G20 foreign ministers meeting in Indonesia as Western powers criticise Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

At the meeting on the resort island of Bali, the US and Western allies tell Moscow the conflict with Ukraine must end through negotiations.

But Lavrov walks out of a morning session as German counterpart Annalena Baerbock criticises Moscow over its invasion, and he also leaves an afternoon session before Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba addresses the ministers virtually.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had earlier shunned a meeting with Lavrov, instead accusing Russia of triggering a global food crisis and demanding Moscow allow grain shipments out of Ukraine.

– Kramatorsk under fire –

A Russian air strike in the eastern Ukrainian industrial city leaves at least one dead and several others wounded as Russia seeks to push deeper into the Donbas region.

The explosion leaves a gaping crater next to a hotel and residential buildings and several cars ablaze, AFP journalists say.

Before the strike, the head of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, announced that Russian bombardments had killed at least seven people over the past 24 hours.

– Kyiv-Ankara tensions –

A diplomatic crisis flares between Ukraine and Turkey with Kyiv accusing Ankara of ignoring its calls to impound a Russian-flagged ship carrying grain allegedly stolen from Ukraine.

Kyiv alleges that the Zhibek Zholy, which arrived at Turkey’s Black Sea port of Karasu a week ago, slipped out of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdyansk with wheat stolen from Ukrainian territory.

Russia denies stealing grain.

After being submitted to Turkish checks, the vessel returned to Russian territorial waters on Thursday, Turkish sources said.

Ukraine said it was “deeply disappointed” Turkey has not impounded the ship and handed back the grain.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry has summoned Turkey’s ambassador to demand an explanation.

– Ukraine control of Snake Island –

In his evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reissues his call for more arms from international allies. 

He also thanks the effort involved in Ukraine regaining control of Snake Island in the Black Sea.

“I want to thank for the final stage of the fight for Snake Island.  Our national flag was erected there. This operations lasted for two months,” Zelensky says.

Russia says it pulled back from the symbolic island in a gesture of “good will”, but has since continued targeting positions there.

The Russian defence ministry says it had carried out “precision” missile strikes on the island early Thursday, killing Ukrainian soldiers.

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Shinzo Abe smashed records as Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, championing ambitious economic reform and forging key diplomatic relationships while weathering scandals.

Nearly two years after poor health forced him to leave office, the 67-year-old was shot during a campaign event in the western region of Nara on Friday.

He was transported to a local hospital and died there almost five hours later, hospital officials said. 

Abe was a sprightly 52 when he first became prime minister in 2006, the youngest person to occupy the job in the postwar era.

He was seen as a symbol of change and youth, but also brought the pedigree of a third-generation politician groomed from birth by an elite, conservative family.

Abe’s first term was turbulent, plagued by scandals and discord, and capped by an abrupt resignation.

After initially suggesting he was stepping down for political reasons, he acknowledged he was suffering an ailment later diagnosed as ulcerative colitis.

– They called it ‘Abenomics’ –

The debilitating bowel condition necessitated months of treatment but was, Abe said, eventually overcome with the help of new medication.

He ran again, and Japan’s revolving prime ministerial door brought him back to office in 2012.

It ended a turbulent period in which prime ministers sometimes changed at a rate of one a year.

With Japan still staggering from the effects of the 2011 tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster at Fukushima — and a brief opposition government lashed for flip-flopping and incompetence — Abe offered a seemingly safe pair of hands.

And he had a plan: Abenomics.

The scheme to revive Japan’s economy — the world’s third-biggest, but more than two decades into stagnation — involved vast government spending, massive monetary easing and cutting red tape.

Abe also sought to boost the country’s flagging birth rate by making workplaces more friendly to parents, particularly mothers.

He pushed through controversial consumption tax hikes to help finance nurseries and plug gaps in Japan’s overstretched social security system.

While there was some progress with reform, the economy’s bigger structural problems remained.

Deflation proved stubborn and the economy was in recession even before the coronavirus struck in 2020.

Abe’s star waned further during the pandemic, with his approach criticised as confused and slow, driving his approval ratings down to some of the lowest of his tenure.

– Political storms –

On the international stage, Abe took a hard line on North Korea, but sought a peacemaker role between the United States and Iran.

He prioritised a close personal relationship with Donald Trump in a bid to protect Japan’s key alliance from the then-US president’s “America First” mantra, and tried to mend ties with Russia and China.

But the results were mixed: Trump remained eager to force Japan to pay more for US troops stationed in the country, a deal with Russia on disputed northern islands stayed elusive, and a plan to invite Xi Jinping for a state visit fell by the wayside.

Abe also pursued a hard line with South Korea over unresolved wartime disputes and continued to float plans to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution.

Throughout his tenure, he weathered political storms including cronyism allegations that dented approval ratings but did little to affect his power, in part thanks to the weakness of the opposition.

Abe had been due to stay on until late 2021, giving him an opportunity to see out one final event in his historic tenure — the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games.

But in a shock announcement, he stepped down in August 2020, with a recurrence of ulcerative colitis ending his second term, too.

Britain’s main opposition Labour party on Friday threatened to call a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Boris Johnson to get him to quit immediately, after he was forced to resign by a cabinet revolt.

Johnson quit as leader of the ruling Conservative party on Thursday, after a frenzy of nearly 60 resignations in less than 48 hours in opposition to his scandal-hit leadership.

But the 58-year-old premier, whose three-year premiership has been defined by Britain’s departure from the European Union and Covid, said he would stay on until his successor is found.

As candidates readied for a battle to replace Johnson, he faced calls to leave straight away and for an acting leader to be appointed to head the world’s fifth-largest economy in the interim.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner on Friday said they aimed to trigger a vote of no-confidence in parliament if the Tories do not get rid of him immediately.

“He’s a proven liar who’s engulfed in sleaze and we can’t have another couple of months of this,” she told BBC radio.

“If they don’t, we will call a no-confidence vote because it’s pretty clear he hasn’t got the confidence of the House (of Commons) or the British public.”

To do so, they would need the support of dozens of Conservative MPs. But the strategy is fraught as it could trigger a general election, which could see Tories lose their seats if Johnson is defeated.

– Contenders –

James Cleverly, newly installed as education minister, insisted that Johnson would stay in charge for the next few months.

“It’s right that he has stood down and it’s right that he has put a team in place to continue governing whilst the selection procedure flows for his successor,” he told Sky News.

“And we should do that I think pretty quickly.”

A timetable for the Tory leadership contest is expected to be announced on Monday, with the winner installed in time for the party’s annual conference in early October.

Defence minister Ben Wallace and Rishi Sunak — whose resignation as finance minister on Tuesday set off the chain of exits — were among the early frontrunners to take over, a YouGov survey of Tory members suggested.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, another potential contender, cut short a trip to Indonesia for a G20 meeting to fly back. 

So far, Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat and Attorney General Suella Braverman have both officially announced their candidature, while Brexiteer Steve Baker has signalled interest.

– ‘Best job’ –

In a defiant resignation speech in Downing Street, Johnson said he was “sad… to be giving up the best job in the world”.

But he said he initially refused to surrender to his “herd” of Tory critics by claiming a personal mandate he won by a landslide in December 2019.

Even while eyeing the exit, Johnson sought to steady the ship, making several appointments to replace departed cabinet members.

At a first meeting of his hastily convened new cabinet, Johnson confirmed his lame-duck status by saying “major fiscal decisions should be left for the next prime minister”, Downing Street said.

Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid prompted the exodus by quitting late Tuesday, just as Johnson apologised for appointing a senior colleague facing sexual assault claims to a prominent role.

Chris Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip last week following accusations he had drunkenly groped two men.

Downing Street officials eventually conceded that Johnson had known about other allegations against Pincher back in 2019, and many ministers recoiled at having to defend the leader yet again.

– Legacy –

As late as Wednesday night, Johnson had been defiantly clinging to power. 

But he was forced to concede his time was up after another round of resignations on Thursday mornings and warnings of a second no-confidence vote next week by Tory MPs.

The Tory infighting erupted as millions of Britons battle the worst slump in living standards since the 1950s, fuelled by rocketing energy prices on the back of the war in Ukraine.

Johnson’s popularity had slumped since revelations about lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street that saw him become the first prime minister to be fined in office.

Johnson gambled successfully on a vaccine campaign but was criticised for his initial response to the pandemic, which saw more than 180,000 people in Britain die after contracting Covid.

Japan’s best-known politician Shinzo Abe was shot at a campaign event Friday and left in a “very grave condition”, shocking the country and global leaders.

The former prime minister resigned in 2020, ending a tenure studded with headline-grabbing moments, from a turn as Super Mario to a controversial shrine visit that sparked regional anger.

Here are some of the most memorable moments of Abe’s record-breaking time in office.

– Ties with Trump –

Abe made building a close personal relationship with former US president Donald Trump a cornerstone of protecting Japan’s key alliance.

In 2016, he flew to New York to chat with Trump after the US election, becoming the first foreign leader to meet him at his Manhattan skyscraper.

The pair regularly golfed together, and Trump was the first head of state to meet Japan’s new emperor.

But there were plenty of awkward moments.

In 2017, a video went viral of Trump almost wrestling with Abe in a handshake that lasted 19 seconds and ended with the Japanese leader visibly grimacing and appearing relieved the encounter was over.

And then there was their 2018 golf game, when Abe tumbled backwards into a bunker and Trump marched down the fairway seemingly oblivious.

– Olympics –

It was about the last thing expected from Japan’s straight-laced prime minister, but in 2016, Abe decided to show his commitment to the Olympics in an unusual fashion — by appearing as video game icon Super Mario.

He donned the disguise at the Rio Games for the official handover ceremony to Tokyo, appearing to tunnel through the earth from Japan to Brazil thanks to some digital trickery, before popping up in full costume.

“I wanted to show Japan’s soft power to the world with the help of Japanese characters,” he told reporters.

– ‘Banzai!’ –

Few political leaders can say their tenure literally involved the end of an era, but in Japan, the abdication of former Emperor Akihito meant the Heisei imperial era came to an end in 2019.

The new Reiwa era began in May 2019 and Emperor Naruhito formally ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne in October, in a ceremony steeped in tradition and grandeur.

As prime minister, Abe had a once-in-a-generation role in the transition, pledging in an address to the new monarch that the people of Japan would “respect your highness the emperor as the symbol of the state and of the unity of the Japanese people”.

He then raised his hands three times, shouting the phrase: “Banzai!” or “Long live the emperor!”

– Shrine trip –

His tenure was also marked by less light-hearted moments including his 2013 visit to Yasukuni, a shrine that venerates the souls of Japan’s war dead — including some convicted by a US tribunal of war crimes.

The shrine is seen by many in the region as a symbol of Japan’s militarism during which much of East Asia and Southeast Asia were subjected to brutal offensives and years-long occupations.

Abe’s visit prompted outrage from China and South Korea and even a US rebuke.

He said the trip was not intended to inflame tensions, but he stayed away afterwards, sending only ritual offerings in following years.

– Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor –

Abe said little about what he thinks his legacy would be, but he cited one particular point of pride: bringing then-US president Barack Obama to Hiroshima in 2016.

Obama became the first sitting US president to visit the site, where he paid tribute to victims of the world’s first atomic attack, though stopping short of offering an apology for the bombing.

Later that year, the two leaders made a poignant joint pilgrimage to Pearl Harbor, the first visit by a sitting Japanese leader to the memorial there, issuing symbolic declarations about the power of reconciliation and warning against the drumbeat of conflict.

Huge crowds of robed Muslim pilgrims prayed on Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat on Friday, the climax of the biggest hajj pilgrimage since the pandemic forced drastic cuts in numbers two years in a row.

Groups of worshippers, many holding umbrellas against the fierce sun, recited verses from the Koran on the rocky rise, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon.

Prayers on Mount Arafat, also known as the “Mount of Mercy”, are the highlight of the pilgrimage, capped this year at one million people including 850,000 from abroad after Covid greatly reduced numbers over 2020 and 2021.

Pilgrims, many of them in simple white robes and chanting “Oh God, here I am”, reached Mount Arafat on foot or in buses from the tents nearby where they spent the night.

After sunset, they will journey the short distance to Muzdalifah, where they will sleep under the stars before performing the symbolic “stoning of the devil” ceremony on Saturday. 

“I am so happy to be here, like everyone else. This is the biggest hajj in the coronavirus era, but it isn’t big enough yet,” Egyptian pilgrim Saad Farhat Khalil, 49, told AFP.

“There are one million here today, but if the Saudis allowed more, 10 million would have came,” he added.

Entry roads were packed with worshippers as helicopters buzzed overhead and volunteers handed out bottles of water and collected rubbish in green plastic bags. 

“Let’s keep the purest of all lands clean,” read a sign on a large garbage container.

The hajj, usually one of the world’s largest annual religious gatherings, is among the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken by all Muslims with the means at least once in their lives.

In 2019, as in previous years, some 2.5 million Muslims from around the world took part, a figure that dropped to a few thousand in 2020 and 60,000 in 2021.

Even though the crowds are back, Covid fears remain and the hajj is taking place against the backdrop of a resurgence in the region, with some Gulf countries tightening restrictions to keep outbreaks in check.

All participants were required to submit proof of full vaccination and negative PCR tests. On reaching their white-tent encampment at Mina on Thursday, they were handed small bags containing masks and sanitiser. 

– Heat warnings –

The pilgrimage can be physically draining even in ideal conditions, but worshippers this year have faced an added challenge: scorching sun and temperatures rising to 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit).

Islam forbids men from wearing hats once the rites start, and many have been seen shielding themselves with umbrellas, prayer mats and even, in one case, a small bucket filled with water. 

Women, meanwhile, are obliged to cover their heads with scarves.

“We can tolerate (the heat). We are here for the hajj. The more we tolerate, the more our pilgrimage is accepted,” Laila, a 64-year-old Iraqi pilgrim who gave only her first name, told AFP in Mecca, where the rituals started.

Saudi officials have touted their preparations for the extreme conditions, highlighting the hundreds of hospital beds allocated for heatstroke patients and the “large number of misting fans” they have provided. 

A truck has also been allocated to distribute umbrellas, water bottles and small fans.

Nevertheless, the National Centre for Meteorology, which has set up an office in Mina, is sending warnings to pilgrims on their mobile phones, urging them to avoid outdoor rituals at certain times of the day, especially at noon.

On Saturday, Muslim pilgrims will take part in the “stoning”, the last major ritual of the hajj which has previously led to deadly stampedes, as hundreds of thousands of participants converge on a small space.

After the stoning ritual, pilgrims return to the Grand Mosque in Mecca to perform a final “tawaf” or circling of the Kaaba, the cubic structure draped in a gold-embroidered black cloth that is the focal point of Islam.

Eid al-Adha, the feast of the sacrifice that begins on Saturday, marks the end of hajj.

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The United States and Western allies pressured Russia at G20 talks in Indonesia Friday over its “unprovoked and unjustifiable war of choice” in Ukraine, but Moscow’s envoy remained defiant.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov joined colleagues for day-long talks in their first meeting since the outbreak of war, with the host immediately telling them the conflict must end through negotiations.

Before the meeting on the resort island of Bali, Blinken met his French and German counterparts and a senior British official to discuss “Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable war of choice” in Ukraine, the State Department said in a statement.

They “reviewed ways to address the global food security concerns that have resulted from Russia’s deliberate targeting of Ukrainian agriculture”, it said.

Blinken will shun a direct meeting with Lavrov, US officials said, instead accusing Moscow of triggering global food and energy crises.

In response, Lavrov told reporters he would not “go running” after the United States for talks.

“It was not us who abandoned contact, it was the United States,” he said, adding that no ministers walked out of the talks.

“Our Western partners are trying to avoid talking about global economic issues,” he added. “From the moment they speak, they launch into fevered criticism of Russia.”

The gathering was overshadowed by the shooting of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a campaign event on Friday, with Japanese premier Fumio Kishida saying he is in a “very grave condition”.

Blinken voiced alarm and called it a “very sad moment” after the attack on a longtime ally of Washington and Japan’s longest-serving premier.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, chair of the meeting, said Jakarta conveyed its “deepest sympathies” to Japan.

Before the news emerged, she addressed the war in a speech to the ministers including Lavrov.

“It is our responsibility to end the war sooner than later and settle our differences at the negotiating table, not the battlefield,” Marsudi said.

In the session that followed, there was strong and “nearly unanimous” condemnation of Russia, a source in the meeting told AFP.

– No family photo –

A US official indicated Washington did not want to embarrass Indonesia at the meeting by walking out on Lavrov.

The hosts have addressed US concerns about Lavrov attending in part by inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the G20 summit later this year and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to Friday’s meet.

But there will be no family photo of the G20 ministers as is customary, an Indonesian government official told AFP.

Blinken arrived at the Mulia hotel on Friday where he could be seen talking with South Africa’s foreign minister before entering the same room as Lavrov, who he last met in January.

Russia’s top diplomat was seated between the Saudi Arabian and Mexican foreign ministers as the meeting began.

He was later seen strolling and chatting to Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar before he met with Blinken.

In his meeting with Delhi’s envoy, Blinken said many of the G20 member countries had criticised Moscow over its campaign in Ukraine.

“What we’ve heard today already, is a strong chorus from around the world… about the need for the aggression to end,” he said.

– British FM leaves –

Friday’s meeting is a prelude to the leaders’ summit on Bali in November that was meant to focus on the global recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Blinken’s efforts to have a powerful Western stance against Russia at the meeting were diluted after British Foreign Minister Liz Truss pulled out following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation as leader of his party on Thursday.

She flew out of Bali on Friday morning and was replaced by former British ambassador to the European Union Sir Tim Barrow, a British official told AFP.

While in Bali, Blinken will also seek to reopen dialogue with Beijing in talks on Saturday with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the first in months after tensions became strained over issues including Taiwan.

The meeting comes as US President Joe Biden voices hope for a conversation in the coming weeks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he last spoke in March.

Lavrov met Wang on Thursday to discuss Russia’s invasion, which Moscow says it launched to stop Ukraine from joining the NATO military alliance.

The United States has condemned Beijing’s support for Russia, and Blinken is expected to reiterate those warnings in talks with Wang.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will herself meet Wang on the sidelines of the meeting on Friday to press China to end trade “blockages”, she said. 

Japan’s former premier Shinzo Abe was fighting for his life on Friday after being shot at a campaign event, the prime minister said, condemning the “absolutely unforgivable” attack.

The shooting of the country’s best-known politician comes despite Japan’s strict gun laws and with campaigning under way ahead of upper house elections on Sunday.

“Former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot in Nara and I have been informed he is in a very grave condition,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after arriving in Tokyo by helicopter from the campaign trail.

“I pray that former prime minister Abe will survive,” the visibly emotional leader said.

“It is a barbaric act during election campaigning, which is the foundation of democracy, and it is absolutely unforgivable. I condemn this act in the strongest terms.”

The attack took place shortly before noon in the country’s western region of Nara, and “one man, believed to be the shooter, has been taken into custody”, government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno earlier told reporters.

Kishida said “no decision” had been made on the election, though several parties announced their senior members would halt campaigning in the wake of the attack.

Abe, 67, had been delivering a stump speech with security present, but spectators were able to approach him fairly easily.

Footage broadcast by NHK showed him standing on a stage when a loud blast was heard with smoke visible in the air.

As spectators and reporters ducked, a man was shown being tackled to the ground by security.

Local media identified the man as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, citing police sources, with several media outlets describing him as a former member of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, the country’s navy.

He was wielding a weapon described by local media as a “handmade gun”, and NHK said he told police after his arrest that he “targeted Abe with the intention of killing him”.

– ‘A large bang’ –

Witnesses at the scene described shock as the political event turned into chaos.

“He was giving a speech and a man came from behind,” a young woman told NHK.

“The first shot sounded like a toy bazooka. He didn’t fall and there was a large bang. The second shot was more visible, you could see the spark and smoke,” she added.

“After the second shot, people surrounded him and gave him cardiac massage.”

Abe was bleeding from the neck, witnesses said and photographs showed. He was reportedly initially responsive but subsequently lost consciousness.

Officials from the local chapter of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party said there had been no threats before the incident and that his speech had been announced publicly.

The attack prompted international shock.

“This is a very, very sad moment,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at a G20 meeting in Bali, saying the United States was “deeply saddened and deeply concerned”.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha was “very shocked” at Abe’s shooting, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply distressed” by the news.

– ‘Profoundly sad and shocking’ –

Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, held office in 2006 for one year and again from 2012 to 2020, when he was forced to step down due to the debilitating bowel condition ulcerative colitis.

He is a hawkish conservative who pushed for the revision of Japan’s pacifist constitution to recognise the country’s military and has stayed a prominent political figure even after his resignation.

Japan has some of the world’s toughest gun-control laws, and annual deaths from firearms in the country of 125 million people are regularly in single figures.

Getting a gun licence is a long and complicated process for Japanese citizens, who must first get a recommendation from a shooting association and then undergo strict police checks.

Japan has seen “nothing like this for well over 50 to 60 years”, Corey Wallace, an assistant professor at Kanagawa University who focuses on Japanese politics, told AFP.

He said the last similar incident was likely the 1960 assassination of Inejiro Asanuma, the leader of the Japan Socialist Party, who was stabbed by a right-wing youth. 

“But two days before an election, of a (man) who is so prominent… it’s really profoundly sad and shocking.” 

He noted, too, that Japanese politicians and voters are used to a personal and close-up style of campaigning.

“This could really change.”