International

US, Russia hold ‘productive’ arms control talks in Geneva

AFP

Russian and US diplomats held talks behind closed doors in Geneva on Thursday which both sides described as constructive, in the latest round of discussions aimed at ironing out the many tensions between the world’s top two nuclear powers.

US State Department number two Wendy Sherman and Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov met for most of the day, with both sides saying they would continue discussions on arms control.

In a joint statement after the talks, the State Department and the Russian foreign ministry said the two delegations had agreed to form two working groups, one of which will look at future arms control measures.

“The delegations additionally agreed that the two working groups would commence their meetings, to be followed by a third plenary meeting,” the statement said.

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Ryabkov said that the sides had discussed the “entire range of issues” related to strategic stability and arms control.

“Despite existing differences — and there are a lot — there is a desire and readiness to move the process further,” he was cited by Russian news agencies as saying.

“This is slow progress. But this in itself is also good.”

A senior State Department official said that the meeting was “very interactive and broad-based” and went in-depth into multiple issues, although she declined to give details.

“We think this was a very productive meeting,” she told reporters on condition of anonymity.

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– ‘Sort of pact’ –

While the United States and Russia are set to negotiate a successor to the New START nuclear treaty, the official said that the talks also discussed broader confidence-building measures and conventional weapons.

“The simple act of dialogue is sort of part of arms control,” she said.

“There are non-nuclear tools that can have strategic implications and that’s really sort of a conversation that we’d like to expand — both Washington and Moscow — and sort of understanding threat perceptions and where we think we need to go in that space.”

In June, US President Joe Biden and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in a high-profile summit at which they agreed it was vital to keep talking despite the differences that divide them.

From cyber attacks on US entities and meddling in the last two US presidential elections to human rights violations and aggression against Ukraine and other European countries, the US list of allegations against the Kremlin runs long.

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Putin though insists he is just challenging US hegemony, and has denied any connection to what the US says are Russia-based hacking and ransomware gangs, or having any hand in the deaths of many opponents during two decades in power.

Thursday’s talks were held at Russia’s UN mission, after the last round in late July was hosted by the Americans a few hundred metres (yards) away.

Arms control was at the top of the agenda at that exchange.

International

Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka

Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.

The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.

An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.

The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.

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Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.

Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.

Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.

Internacionales

Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages

May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.

In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.

Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.

International

Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.

During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.

“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.

“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”

Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.

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On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.