XI ASKS TROOPS TO BE COMBAT-READY, FLEXES MILITARY MUSCLE AGAINST TAIWAN

Chinese leader Xi Jinping renewed Beijing's territorial assertiveness and called upon country's military to enhance its combat readiness to ensure victory in an actual combat, Xinhua news agency reported. Xi made the call while addressing the troops of Eastern Theater Command responsible for the securing the disputed international boundaries in eastern China, including the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

"We must persist in thinking and handling military issues from a political perspective, dare to fight, be good at fighting, and resolutely defend our national sovereignty, security, and development interests," Xi told the Eastern Theater Command.

Beijing renewed its aggression against Taiwan in 2019 when it crossed the median line — a maritime boundary that demarcates Taiwan from mainland China — for the first time in 20 years.

IMRAN KHAN NAMED IN CASES FOR ATTACKS ON ARMY, ISI OFFICES

In a major development, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has booked in six cases related to the May 9 violence, where several military installations, government buildings, a metro bus station, along with the Army Headquarters (GHQ) were vandalised by his supporters.

Supporters of Khan, also chief of the Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, breached the gates of the Pakistan Army's GHQ in Rawalpindi on May 9, dubbed as a "Black Day" by the powerful military.

The joint investigation teams (JITs) are investigating all the cases, including the attacks on military installations and the incident of arson at a metro station.

Sources told the channel that three of these cases were registered against Khan on May 9 while the other three under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The death toll in the violent clashes that gripped Pakistan on May 9 stands at 10 while hundreds were injured. The PTI claims 40 of its workers died in firing by security persons.

US TREASURY SECY BEGINS CHINA TRIP

US treasury secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday began a four-day visit to China focused on easing tensions between the world’s two largest economies, despite low expectations on both sides. Yellen said she was glad to be in Beijing and looked forward to advancing President Joe Biden’s goal of deepening communication between the economically linked but increasingly adversarial countries. “We seek a healthy economic competition that benefits American workers and firms and to collaborate on global-challenges,” she said.

BELARUS PRESIDENT CLAIMS WAGNER CHIEF IS IN RUSSIA

The mercenary leader who led a short-lived mutiny against the Kremlin is in Russia and his Wagner troops are in their field camps, the President of Belarus said on Thursday, raising new questions about the deal that ended the extraordinary challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s rule.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s claim could not be independently verified, and the Kremlin refused to comment on Yevgeny Prigozhin’s whereabouts. It was not clear if travelling to Russia would violate the deal, which allowed the Wagner chief to move to Belarus in exchange for ending the rebellion and a promise of amnesty for him and his troops.

Few details of the agreement brokered by Mr. Lukashenko have emerged. Last week, Mr. Lukashenko said the mercenary leader was in Belarus. Russian media later reported he was seen at his offices in St. Petersburg, a sign that the deal may have allowed him to finalise his affairs in Russia.

On Thursday, Mr. Lukashenko told international reporters that the mercenary leader was in St. Petersburg and Wagner’s troops were in their camps. He did not specify the location of the camps.

Asked about where Mr. Prigozhin is, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to comment, but reaffirmed that the deal that ended the mutiny envisaged his move to Belarus.

RUSSIAN STRIKE IN LVIV KILLS 5, 36 HURT

A Russian missile slammed into a residential building in Lviv in western Ukraine on Thursday, killing five people in a city that is far from frontlines and home to thousands displaced by war. Lviv’s mayor called it biggest attack of the war on civilian infrastructure in Lviv, a city 70km from the border with Nato and EUmember state Poland. “There definitely will be a response to the enemy. It will be a noticeable one,” President Zelensky said. At least 36 others were injured. Ukraine said Kalibr missiles were launched from the Black Sea.

RUSSIA SHUTS FINNISH MISSION, EXPELS STAFF

Russia said on Thursday it was expelling nine diplomats from Finland, Russia’s neighbour and Nato’s newest member, in a tit-for-tat measure. Finland said last month it was expelling nine Russian diplomats, accusing them of working on intelligence missions. Russia has also decided to close the Finnish consulate in St Petersburg.

FRANCE PASSES BILL FOR POLICE TO SPY VIA PHONES

Paris : French police should be able to spy on suspects by remotely activating the camera, microphone and GPS of their phones and other devices, lawmakers agreed late Wednesday.

Part of a wider justice reform bill, the spying provision has been attacked by the left and rights defenders as an authoritarian snoopers’ charter, though justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti insists it would affect only “dozens of cases a year”. Covering laptops, cars and other connected objects as well as phones, the measure would allow geolocation of suspects in crimes punishable by at least five years’ jail. Devices could also be remotely activated to record sound and images of people suspected of terror offenses, as well as delinquency and organised crime.

META’S ‘TWITTER-KILLER’ THREADS NOW OPEN; 30M USERS JOIN IN FIRST 18 HRS

Meta’s Threads racked up more than 30 million sign-ups within about 18 hours of its launch, emerging as the first real threat to Elon Musk-owned Twitter, as it took advantage of its access to billions of Instagram users and a similar look to that of its rival. Dubbed as the “Twitter-Killer”, Threads was the top free app on Apple’s App Store in the UK and the US on Thursday.

Its arrival comes after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Musk have traded barbs for months, even threatening to fight each other in a real-life mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas. “The cage match has started, and Zuckerberg delivered a major blow,” Insider Intelligence principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said. Numerous competitors to Twitter have sprung up following Musk’s $44 billion purchase of the social media platform last year, which was followed by a series of chaotic decisions that have alienated both users and advertisers.

Musk’s latest move involved limiting the number of tweets users can read per day.

Twitter’s stumbles make room for a well-funded competitor like Meta Platforms, experts said, particularly because of its access to Instagram users and its advertising strength. Other competitors have found limited success. Mastodon, another Twitter-like app, has 1. 7 million monthly active users, according to its website, while Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey-backed Bluesky has about 265,000 users. Twitter had 229 millionmonthly active users in May 2022, according to a statement made before Musk’s buyout.

While Threads is a standalone app, users can log in using Instagram credentials, which makes it an easy addition for Instagram's more than 2 billion monthly active users. Threads does not have hashtags and keyword search functions, which means users cannot follow real-time events like on Twitter. It also does not yet have a direct messaging feature and lacks a desktop version.

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, who was hired by Musk in May to shore up advertiser confidence, said in tweet: “We’re often imitated — but the Twitter community can never be duplicated. ” Zuckerberg, meanwhile responding to a user who predicted Twitter’s demise, cautioned patience saying: “Only in opening moments of the first round. ”

TITANIC TOUR SUB FIRM SUSPENDS EXPEDITIONS AFTER DEADLY IMPLOSION

OceanGate, the US-based company that managed the tourist submersible that imploded during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic, has suspended all exploration and commercial operations, its website showed on Thursday.

The company did not elaborate beyond a red banner at the top of its website: “OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial operations. ”

OceanGate had planned two expeditions to the centuryold Titanic ruins, located in a remote corner of the North Atlantic, for June 2024, its website showed. US and Canadian authorities are investigating the cause of June undersea implosion, which killed all five people aboard and raised questions about the unregulated nature of such expeditions.

SUNAK GOVT LOSES LEGAL BID TO KEEP BOJO TEXTS SECRET

London : British PM Rishi Sunak’s government must hand over potentially embarrassing WhatsApp messages sought by its own public inquiry into the Covid pandemic after it lost a legal battle at London’s HC on Thursday.

Britain’s cabinet office had refused to provide the WhatsApp messages concerning the government’s handling of the pandemic and other political issues last month, saying some of the material sought was “unambiguously irrelevant”.

The inquiry’s chair Heather Hallett had asked the government to provide two years’ worth of messages, including from Sunak, former PM Boris Johnson and nearly 40 other senior figures and advisers. The cabinet officebrought a legal challenge against the inquiry’s demand, arguing the request was too broad. Its lawyers said the messages contained some references to personal information and comments about identifiable government figures.

But its case was opposed by Johnson, who had said when announcing the inquiry in 2021 that it must be “free to scrutinise every document”. The cabinet office’s challenge was rejected in a written ruling on Thursday. The government said it would comply with the decision. Judges James Dingemans and Neil Garnham said that requests for documents by public inquiries were “bound to lead to the inclusion of irrelevant material”, but that did not make the request unlawful.

NETHERLANDS TO RETURN TREASURES TO INDONESIA AND SRI LANKA

The Netherlands will return hundreds of artefacts looted from Indonesia and Sri Lanka during its colonial period, including a gem-encrusted bronze cannon and the "Lombok treasure." The decision to restitute the items comes as the Netherlands confronts its colonial past and follows a report recommending their return if requested by the countries of origin. Other countries, such as Britain and Germany, have also returned looted artefacts in recent years. The Dutch Culture Minister stated that this marks the first time the Netherlands is returning objects that should never have been in its possession, emphasizing a new era of cooperation with Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The restitution is based on recommendations from a 2020 report that urged the unconditional return of cultural objects taken during the colonial era. The Netherlands has been increasingly addressing its colonial legacy, with King Willem-Alexander recently apologizing for the country's role in the slave trade.