International
Ukraine assures that the first North Korean soldiers will be deployed on the war front in two days
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, warned this Friday citing information collected by his intelligence services, that the first North Korean soldiers who according to Seoul, Washington and Kiev already receive instruction in Russia will be sent with the Russian Army at the front in two days.
“According to intelligence information, on October 27 or 28 the first North Korean military will be deployed by Russia in combat zones,” Zelenski said after meeting with his military and security leadership.
“Obvious escalation” of Russia
The Ukrainian president described the alleged imminent deployment of North Korean soldiers on the front as an “obvious escalation” by Russia.
“The world has to do with it clearly what Russia really wants, which is the continuation of the war,” Zelenski said in his report of the meeting with his military leadership, published on his Telegram channel.
The Ukrainian president also called for “a forceful reaction” from the international community.
“The consummation of North Korea’s entry into combat actions should not be received with closed eyes and vague comments, but with tangible pressure on both Moscow and Pyongyang to respect the UN Charter and punish this escalation,” Zelenski said.
North Korean soldiers on the Kursk front
Both the United States and South Korea have confirmed that about 3,000 North Korean soldiers are already training in Russia to enter the war with the Russian Army.
According to Seoul intelligence, North Korea has decided to contribute up to 12,000 men to the Russian war effort.
Ukrainian sources say they have evidence of movements of North Korean soldiers from the Russian Far East, where they would have begun training, to the west of Russia, from where they would join the ranks of the Kremlin troops fighting against Ukraine.
According to some Kiev sources, the Russian oblast of Kursk – where Ukrainian troops control part of the territory – is the destination chosen for the first North Korean contingent to join the Russian Army.
“Compliance” with international law
Meanwhile, North Korea said that sending its troops to Russia “would comply with international law” if it occurred, in a statement from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs that is the first of the regime on the North Korean deployment allegedly destined for Ukraine.
“If something like what the international media talk about happens, I think it would be an action that complies with international legal norms,” Kim Jong-gyu, Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of Russia, said in a statement distributed by the state agency KCNA.
“I think there will surely be forces that want to present it as illegal,” Kim added in response to a question posed by a journalist from this official North Korean agency about the deployment of this country’s army in Russia, according to the KCNA.
“Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not participate directly in what the Ministry of Defense does and does not feel the need to confirm it separately,” said the deputy minister.
International
French Parliament Moves to Approve Social Media Age Limit for Minors
France’s Parliament is expected to approve legislation on Tuesday banning children under the age of 15 from accessing social media platforms, following an agreement reached Monday between lawmakers on the mechanism to enforce the measure.
The initiative is part of President Emmanuel Macron’s broader effort to strengthen online protections for minors and regulate children’s screen time before the end of his second presidential term in May 2027.
“Tomorrow, France will become the first country in Europe to establish a digital age of majority to better protect our children online,” Digital Affairs Minister Anne Le Hénanff said Monday in a post on X.
If approved, the government plans to implement the restriction in September, when students return to school after the summer holidays.
The United Kingdom has already passed similar legislation restricting social media access for users under the age of 16, although that measure is scheduled to take effect in early 2027.
Both the National Assembly, France’s lower house of Parliament, and the Senate are expected to hold final votes on the legislation Tuesday after a joint committee of seven senators and seven lawmakers reached an agreement on the bill’s final wording.
Under the proposed law, children under 15 years old would be prohibited from accessing online social media services, with limited exceptions for certain platforms, including online encyclopedias.
The legislation would make France the first member of the European Union to introduce a nationwide minimum digital age for access to social media platforms, reflecting a growing international movement to strengthen online safeguards for children and teenagers.
International
WHO to Hold New Round of Talks After Slow Progress on Pandemic Accord
Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) made limited progress during the seventh session of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) tasked with finalizing a key annex to the global pandemic agreement, prompting negotiators to schedule another round of talks in September.
The session, which opened on July 6 and concluded last week at WHO headquarters in Geneva, focused on drafting and negotiating the annex covering the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) System, a central component of the pandemic accord.
Without the completion of the PABS annex, the global pandemic agreement cannot enter into force.
The annex had originally been expected to be finalized before May 2026, but negotiations have progressed more slowly than anticipated.
In a statement, the WHO said member states “advanced negotiations” on the PABS system while acknowledging that additional discussions are required to complete a framework capable of supporting a faster, more effective and more equitable response to future pandemics.
The organization announced that an eighth round of negotiations will take place on September 14.
Despite the limited progress, delegates succeeded in streamlining the draft text and concentrating discussions on several technical issues.
According to the WHO, negotiators focused on the contractual arrangements underpinning the PABS mechanism, the laboratory networks responsible for handling and sharing pathogens and their genetic sequence data, as well as the framework for distributing the benefits generated through the sharing of those pathogens.
The PABS system is considered one of the most important elements of the future pandemic agreement, as it aims to ensure timely access to pathogens for scientific research while establishing fair mechanisms for sharing the benefits derived from vaccines, diagnostics and other medical countermeasures developed during future global health emergencies.
International
Iran Says It Is in “Full-Scale War” as U.S. Launches Ninth Consecutive Night of Airstrikes
Iran declared on Monday that it is facing a “full-scale war” against the United States after Washington carried out another wave of overnight airstrikes, including attacks near a city that hosts one of the country’s nuclear facilities.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country must prepare for the consequences of the ongoing conflict, describing the situation as a broad military confrontation.
“The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war,” Pezeshkian said in a statement released by the presidency. “We must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance.”
The latest U.S. strikes marked the ninth consecutive night of military operations, according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which announced the attacks on X.
Since hostilities resumed on July 7, U.S. air operations have expanded well beyond southern Iran, reaching central and northwestern regions of the country, according to local sources.
Local authorities reported that one person was killed and several others injured in Tabriz, in northwestern Iran, more than 1,000 kilometers from the Persian Gulf.
Additional casualties were reported in the nearby city of Urmia, where several people were wounded during separate strikes.
Washington said the attacks targeted military installations. However, Iranian officials accused the United States of striking populated areas, including Bushehr, home to Iran’s only operational nuclear power plant.
Iran also reported that the Darkhovin nuclear facility, which is still under construction, was among the sites hit during the latest attacks.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the renewed military campaign was carried out in honor of American service members killed in recent days.
Two U.S. soldiers died on Friday during attacks on a military base in Jordan, while another service member was killed on Sunday during the controlled disposal of unexploded munitions from an Iranian drone in northern Iraq.
According to U.S. figures, 17 American troops have been killed since the conflict began on February 28.
On the Iranian side, the latest official figures released on Friday reported 50 deaths and more than 500 injuries since fighting resumed earlier this month.
A memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the United States on June 17, which had been intended to pave the way for peace negotiations, collapsed after hostilities resumed over the strategic control of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes.
French Parliament Moves to Approve Social Media Age Limit for Minors
WHO to Hold New Round of Talks After Slow Progress on Pandemic Accord
Iran Says It Is in “Full-Scale War” as U.S. Launches Ninth Consecutive Night of Airstrikes
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