According to a report by Reuters, Chinese President Xi Jinping might skip the G20 leaders’ summit in India next week. As per the report, two Indian officials, including a diplomat stationed in China and another official from a G20 nation, indicated that Premier Li Qiang will attend the New Delhi meeting on 9-10 September as a representative of Beijing.
Reassuring the country’s political parties, Pakistan’s Election Commission said on Thursday that general elections in Islamabad would be held by the end of January or mid-February. The poll body gave assurance to the Awami National Party when the party leaders met the election body. Wednesday’s meeting was chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.
About 5,000 soldiers from the US, Indonesia, Australia, Japan, Singapore, the UK, and France began the live-fire Super Garuda Shield annual training exercises on Thursday on Indonesia’s main island of Java, as China’s increasing aggression raises concern.
In a coordinated move with South Korea and Japan, the US Treasury Department announced the addition of three more names to its sanctions list: Moscow-based company Intellekt, Russian national Sergey Mikhaylovich Kozlov, and Russia-based North Korean national Jon Jin Yong, for their alleged support for North Korea’s development of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
On Thursday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said during a Security Council meeting that NATO countries consistently focus on the alliance’s expansion agenda and continue provocative drills near his country’s borders. According to the president, the military bloc’s actions are justified using threats reportedly originating from Belarusian territory. “The leaders of Poland and the Baltic states accuse Belarus of some mythical aggressive intentions,” Lukashenko stated.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Ukrainian soldiers breached Russia’s main defence line in the southeast. Officials reported that Ukrainian paratroopers were pushing through entrenched Russian defences, and made advances towards Verbove and the south of Robotyne village, but provided no other information.