Recently, Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned that Pyongyang could take strong retaliatory measures if Seoul continues activities it considers provocative. To casual observers, this may appear to be just another routine exchange of verbal threats between the two Koreas. However, a closer examination of the current situation suggests […]

The post Is the Korean Peninsula moving closer to war? appeared first on Asia Times.

Kylian Mbappé has apologized for comments referring to Mao Zedong as a dictator. He said his remarks were ill-judged and hurt many people in China and Chinese communities worldwide.

Organizações da sociedade civil acusam a Nicarágua de perseguição às igrejas e aos lideres religiosos de forma a impedir qualquer tipo de criticas contra o Governo de Daniel Ortega e Rosario Murillo.

© JORGE TORRES/EPA

An Indonesian taxi driver who went looking for work abroad ended up in Russia's army and died in his first battle in Ukraine, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said. Russian recruiters found him through a job application, and he reached the front in Donetsk Oblast within weeks of signing. HUR calls him one more foreigner drawn into Russia's war through deception.

Russia's war against Ukraine consumes men faster than the Kremlin is ready to replace them through another mobilization at home, so it keeps hiring abroad. Ukraine has identified nearly 46,000 foreigners who signed with Russia's army since 2022. On 26 October, a UN commission found “compelling evidence” that Russia trafficked men from 29 countries into its forces.

A résumé that reached Russian recruiters

Taufiq Muhammad, born in 1978 in Sorong, Indonesia, drove a taxi in Jakarta and had once worked in the US. Russian recruiters found him through a résumé he had sent out while looking for work, the agency said. He probably believed promises of “easy money” and traveled to Moscow. HUR sees his case as part of a pattern.

“In fact, he became yet another victim of Russia's scheme of recruiting foreigners for the criminal war through deception,” HUR said.

A week and a half of training, then the front

Muhammad signed a one-year contract with Russia's army in Korolyov, near Moscow, on 19 April 2026. HUR called that term typical for foreigners Russia uses as “disposable” infantry. Russia made him a machine gunner and gave him only a week and a half at a training center near Voronezh, Army Inform reported, citing HUR.

Russia moved him to occupied Ukraine in early May. He died almost at once, in his first battle. Russian troops were trying to advance from the village of Zelena Dolyna toward Novoselivka and Drobysheve in Donetsk Oblast, Militarnyi reported.

Indonesia is the newest recruiting ground

Russia's recruiters have been working in Indonesia for months. In August, Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service said it held documents on at least eight Indonesians recruited into Russia's army.

Another Indonesian, Rendi Apriyanto, 30, was reportedly killed in September, his family learned from an Indonesian fighting for Russia. Rendi had told his family he was recruited for logistics work, The Jakarta Post reported.

HUR has traced the same fast track before. In January, it identified a Filipino recruit killed in a Donetsk Oblast assault after one week of training. A Nigerian, 34, died in Kharkiv Oblast after a similar week of training, HUR said in May.

Russia courts Africa ahead of a summit

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has counted at least 2,982 Africans recruited into Russia's army, and 486 of them have died. Ahead of a Russia–Africa summit on 28–29 October, Moscow plans military and port-access deals with a string of African states, HUR said. The deals would help expand the campaign of Russia's Africa Corps, the Defense Ministry-controlled force on the continent, Army Inform reported, citing HUR.

Each recruit Ukraine identifies gives his home government a documented case to act on. Jakarta has said citizens shown to have been deceived will get its protection, while those who enlisted by choice could lose their citizenship.

 

Britain and Poland are giving European security something it urgently needs: a practical plan to turn allied solidarity into stronger military capabilities. Their new Warsaw Defence Plan brings together missile development, ammunition production, maritime cooperation and protection against drones and cyberattacks, strengthening a partnership with consequences well beyond either country’s borders.

Announced as British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting met his Polish counterpart, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, in Warsaw, the agreement establishes the first phase of defence cooperation under the countries’ new Security and Defence Partnership Treaty. According to the Ministry of Defence announcement, it covers operations and industry across land, sea, air and cyberspace.

Its significance lies in that breadth. Modern deterrence depends on much more than the number of soldiers available for deployment. It requires protected infrastructure, reliable supplies of ammunition, effective air defences and forces capable of operating together under pressure. London and Warsaw are addressing those requirements as connected parts of the same challenge.

Air defence is a central priority. The two countries will collaborate on developing and manufacturing the next generation of air defence missiles, building on an industrial relationship that includes Poland’s procurement of the Narew system from MBDA UK. Closer procurement coordination offers an opportunity to align military requirements and strengthen production.

That approach has clear strategic value. Missiles become more useful when allies can sustain their supply, maintain their systems and plan their deployment together. By connecting industrial cooperation with operational needs, Britain and Poland can help develop the dependable defensive capacity that Europe requires against an increasingly demanding range of aerial threats.

The plan also embraces joint development of drones and technologies designed to defeat them. The ministry explicitly links this work to protecting civilians and critical national infrastructure amid Russian drone incursions. It is a welcome recognition that security must extend beyond military installations to the services and networks on which everyday life depends.

Cybersecurity cooperation follows the same logic. Strengthening the resilience of civilian and defence sites can reduce opportunities for disruption and make national responses more effective. For both countries, sharing expertise offers a practical way to improve preparedness against hostile activity that can unfold without a conventional military attack.

At sea, the agreement builds on an existing technical connection: Britain’s Type 31 frigates and Poland’s Miecznik ships share a common design. Exchanging experience as those capabilities develop should help both navies learn from each other. Planned exercises and regional coordination will also increase defensive maritime activity in the Baltic, supporting the protection of vital communications routes.

The industrial commitments are equally encouraging. BAE Systems and Poland’s PGZ will expand capacity and capability in large-calibre ammunition production. The announcement supplies no production figures or delivery timetable, but its direction is important. Credible defence requires the ability to replenish supplies and sustain operations, giving manufacturing capacity a direct role in military readiness.

Cooperation on defence education, training and workforce mobility could strengthen that foundation further. Advanced weapons programmes depend on skilled people as well as investment. Building shared expertise can support delivery while creating opportunities for engineers, technicians and the wider industrial supply chain in both countries.

Joint exercises will test the partnership in practice. Continued participation in Steadfast Defender, Polish Dragon and Joint Warrior is intended to prepare forces for challenges including electronic warfare, counter-drone operations and missile defence. Such training gives commanders opportunities to identify weaknesses, improve coordination and build confidence before a crisis demands immediate action.

Ukraine remains integral to this effort. The countries are preparing a major Coalition of the Willing exercise in Poland in November, involving thousands of personnel. The stated purpose is to prepare the Multinational Force Ukraine to support military training and post-war rebuilding. Preparation cannot determine the course of diplomacy, but it can make future commitments more credible.

For Europe, the promise is straightforward: two committed allies are connecting operational readiness with industrial strength. Delivering the plan will require sustained effort, but Warsaw and London have established a constructive agenda whose success would benefit the wider alliance.

Tutto è partito da un meme sul leader cinese Mao Zedong, che Kylian Mbappé trovava molto divertente, ma adesso almeno tre aziende cinesi hanno interrotto le collaborazioni con il calciatore. La decisione da parte delle aziende di opporsi a “qualsiasi parola o comportamento che ferisca i sentimenti nazionali” è arrivata dopo la diffusione di un video sui social in cui Mbappé, intervistato prima della partecipazione al programma online francese The Bridge, cita un meme “in cui c’è un video di un tizio, un dittatore cinese“, ha affermato il calciatore. Nel filmato, che non è più presente sul canale YouTube del programma, si vede un’immagine manipolata del capitano della nazionale francese con il volto sovrapposto a quello che sembrerebbe essere Mao. Al momento non sono ancora circolate dichiarazioni di Mbappé o The Bridge sulla vicenda.

“Le parole e le azioni che feriscono i sentimenti del popolo cinese incontreranno naturalmente l’opposizione congiunta di tutti i settori della società cinese”, ha affermato il portavoce del ministero degli Esteri cinese, Guo Jiakun. Le aziende che hanno annunciato la fine degli accordi con Mbappé sono tre al momento: il produttore di bevande energetiche Dongpeng, il gruppo lattiero-caseario Mengniu e l’azienda di formaggi Milkground. Anche la piattaforma social RedNote ha annunciato la rimozione dei materiali promozionali legati al giocatore. Sul social network cinese Weibo gli hashtag relativi alla fine delle collaborazioni e al boicottaggio di Mbappé sono diventati virali.

Nell’annuncio dell’interruzione “con effetto immediato” di ogni collaborazione con l’attaccante del Real Madrid, Dongpeng ha dichiarato che l’azienda “adotta una politica di tolleranza zero nei confronti di qualsiasi comportamento che offenda i sentimenti nazionali”. Durante i Mondiali di quest’anno, in Cina sono stati trasmessi degli spot pubblicitari che mostravano immagini generate dall’intelligenza artificiale in cui il 27enne capitano della Francia, molto popolare in Cina, beveva una bevanda sportiva Dongpeng.

Mao fondò la Cina comunista nel 1949 e ancora oggi viene celebrato come un’icona nazionale. In tutto il Paese, le battute sul il fondatore del Repubblica Popolare Cinese, morto nel 1976, sono considerate irrispettose e rimangono un tabù sociale.

L'articolo Pechino attacca Mbappé: il francese ride di un meme con “un dittatore cinese” e tre aziende lo scaricano proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Vientián, 27 oct (Prensa Latina) La embajadora de Cuba en Laos, Enna Esther Viant, agradeció hoy al vicepresidente del Parlamento Monexay Laomuaxong el permanente apoyo de su país contra el bloqueo de Estados Unidos a la isla caribeña.

The post Agradecen a vicepresidente parlamento de Laos apoyo a Cuba first appeared on Noticias Prensa Latina.

La organización presentará cargos internacionales contra el mandatario tras sus dichos contra cinco periodistas que cubrieron el caso de la criptomoneda $LIBRA.