Ukrainian Parliament approves law ensuring independence of anti-graft watchdogs
Lawmakers in the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv, approved Zelenskyy's new proposal with 331 votes and nine abstentions Thursday, official figures showed.
Last week's measure by Zelenskyy to place the watchdogs under the oversight of the prosecutor general prompted an outcry from Ukrainians, the European Union and international rights groups. It raised fears that the government could meddle in investigations and potentially shield its supporters from scrutiny.
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Time Business News
an hour ago
- Time Business News
Britain hopes crackdown on people-smugglers' social media ads will help curb Channel crossings
Source – LegalPressLondon, Aug 3 (AP) Britain says people who advertise fake passports or people-smuggling services on social medial could face up to five years in prison, in the government's latest effort to deter migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats. The government said Sunday that anyone convicted of creating online materials intended to break UK immigration law will face prison time and a large fine. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the aim was to stop the 'brazen tactics on social media' used by smuggling gangs. 'Selling the false promise of a safe journey to the UK and a life in this country — whether on or offline — simply to make money, is nothing short of immoral,' she said. Assisting illegal immigration to the UK is already a crime, but officials believe a new offense — part of a border security bill currently going through Parliament — will give police and prosecutors more powers to disrupt gangs that send migrants on perilous journeys across one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the crime gangs are a threat to global security and should be treated like terror networks. Since taking office a year ago, Starmer's centre-left Labour Party government has adopted powers to seize the assets of people-smugglers, beefed up UK border surveillance and increased law-enforcement cooperation with France and other countries to disrupt the journeys. Despite that, more than 25,000 people have reached Britain by boat so far this year, an increase of 50 per cent on the same period in 2024. Small boat crossings have become a potent political issue, fuelled by pictures of smugglers piling migrants into overcrowded, leaky inflatable boats on the French coast. Opposition parties say the government's plans aren't working — though the government argues the problems built up during 14 years when the Conservative Party was in power, The Conservatives say Starmer should not have scrapped the previous government's contentious and expensive plan to send migrants arriving by boat on a one-way trip to Rwanda. 'This is a panicked attempt to look tough after months of doing nothing,' Conservative immigration spokesman Chris Philp said. The government says it will take time to clear a backlog of applications that has left thousands of migrants stuck in temporary accommodation — often hotels — without the right to work. The hotels have become flashpoints for tension, attracting protests fuelled by a mix of local concern, misinformation and anti-immigrant agitation.(AP) TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Ukrainian drone attack sets Russian oil depot on fire; Zelensky announces prisoner swap
An overnight Ukrainian drone attack on an oil depot near Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi sparked a major fire, Russian officials said Sunday, as the two countries traded strikes and the Ukrainian president announced a prisoner exchange. More than 120 firefighters attempted to extinguish the blaze, ignited after debris from a downed drone struck a fuel tank, Krasnodar regional Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said on Telegram. Videos on social media appeared to show huge pillars of smoke billowing above the oil depot. Russia's civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, temporarily stopped flights at Sochi's airport. Farther north, authorities in the Voronezh region reported that four people were wounded in another Ukrainian drone strike. Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 93 Ukrainian drones over Russia and the Black Sea overnight into Sunday. Meanwhile, in southern Ukraine, a Russian missile strike hit a residential area in the city of Mykolaiv, wounding seven people, according to the State Emergency Services, The Ukrainian air force said Sunday that Russia had launched 76 drones and seven missiles against Ukraine. It said 60 drones and one missile were intercepted, while 16 others and six missiles hit targets across eight locations. The reciprocal attacks came at the end of one of the deadliest weeks in Ukraine in recent months, after a Russian drone and missile attack Thursday killed 31 people, including five children, and wounded more than 150. The continued attacks come days after President Trump moved up his self-declared deadline — to Aug. 8 — for Russia to show progress on peace efforts. Trump said Thursday that special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Russia to push Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in its war with Ukraine and has threatened new economic sanctions if progress is not made. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners after their latest round of negotiations in Istanbul in July. 'There is an agreement to exchange 1,200 people,' he wrote on X, saying that the lists of individuals to be swapped were being settled and that his government was working to 'unblock the return of our civilians.' There was no immediate comment from Russia. Zelensky also said he discussed with top Ukrainian officials 'the negotiation track — specifically, the implementation of the agreements reached during the meetings with the Russian side in Istanbul, as well as preparations for a new meeting.' Each of the three rounds of talks between the countries this year has resulted in prisoner exchanges but yielded no breakthrough toward a ceasefire.
an hour ago
Students rally in Dhaka, pledge to build a 'new Bangladesh'
DHAKA, Bangladesh -- DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A new political party formed by the students who spearheaded an anti-government movement ousting former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday rallied in Bangladesh's capital and pledged to build a new Bangladesh amid political uncertainty over the next election. Separately, supporters of the student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, also held a rally in the capital, Dhaka, where party leaders also vowed to work to establish democracy following the fall of Hasina. The rallies took place two days before the country's interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is marking the anniversary of Hasina's fall. Hasina fled the country to India last Aug. 5 amid a mass uprising, ending her 15-year rule. Yunus took over three days later and pledged to restore order following weeks of violence that left hundreds killed and thousands injured. The rallies reflect the shifting power dynamics in Bangladesh following Hasina's dramatic ouster. With her Awami League banned and the political landscape fractured, the country is at a crossroads. The emergence of new political actors and unresolved tensions over the timing of the next election raise concerns about whether Bangladesh will move toward a stable, democratic transition — or slide into deeper political turmoil. On Sunday, some 1,000 supporters of the student-led National Citizen Party rallied in front of the Shaheed Minar national monument in Dhaka, the capital, where its top leader Nahid Islam announced a 24-point agenda for a 'new Bangladesh.' 'Exactly one year ago, at this Shaheed Minar (memorial), we vowed to free this country from the hands of dictatorship. By responding to that call, we together defeated the fascist rule and regained control of our country,' he said. He said his party wanted a new constitution that would replace one adopted in 1972 after Bangladesh was born under the leadership of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina's father. Bangladesh had just fought a nine-month war to gain its independence from Pakistan. 'Let us all unite and transform this historic 24-point agenda into reality to build a new Bangladesh — a Bangladesh that fulfills the dreams of all citizens, as we move toward the formation of our second republic,' he said. Also on Sunday, thousands of supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's student wing rallied elsewhere in the city. Tarique Rahman, acting chairman of the party, asked his supporters to seek support from young voters in the next election. Rahman has been in exile in London since 2008 and joined Sunday's rally online. He is expected to return to the country before the next elections.
