Kyiv officials say six hypersonic missiles were launched at the city and shot down, but there is no evidence of the incident. International monitors and journalists denied reports of any such missile attack. The Ukrainian government has not commented on the alleged attack. Experts say claims of such a missile strike are highly unlikely, and would be a significant escalation of the conflict.
A delegation of African heads of state will travel to Moscow and Kyiv to help end Russia's war in Ukraine, according to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He had held separate phone calls with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who both agreed to host the African leaders to discuss a potential peace plan for the conflict. Senegal, Uganda, Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and South Africa have been chosen to take part in the mediation effort, and Ramaphosa confirmed the US and UK had expressed “cautious” support for the plan. It is the latest in a string of foreign offers of mediation and peace talks.
Ramaphosa stated that Guterres and the African Union (AU) welcomed the initiative, after the UN Secretary-General said peace talks in the Ukraine conflict were not possible at the moment. There is no timeline as yet for the visits, but Ramaphosa said the conflict had been “devastating, and African countries suffered a great deal” from it. South Africa has previously abstained from voting on UN peace resolutions relating to the war, however Ramaphosa insisted that South Africa was impartial after recent allegations that Russian ships containing military hardware were loaded in Cape Town. Despite the allegations, he said that South Africa would not be drawn “into a contest between global powers”.
Journalist and author Masha Gessen has stood down from the board of free speech organisation PEN America, following the cancellation of a World Voices Festival panel featuring Russian writers. The Ukrainian authors Artem Chapeye and Artem Chekh, who were due to appear on a panel about writers as combatants, objected to the presence of two Russians – Ilia Veniavkin and Anna Nemzer – on another, unconnected panel concerning writers in exile, which was to be moderated by Gessen. After efforts to stage the panel outside the festival proved impossible, it was cancelled. Gessen, who served as PEN America’s vice president, said they remained committed to the organisation despite leaving the board.
Experts have cast doubt on the effectiveness of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons following Monday night’s missile attack on Kyiv, in which Ukrainian authorities claimed to have neutralised 100% of the projectiles fired. According to the Ministry of Defence in London, Russia launched a total of 27 missile and drone systems, including Kinzhal ballistic missiles, Kalibr cruise missiles, and Iranian-supplied Shahed drones. Some of these are “dual capable”, meaning they can either be used conventionally or in nuclear form. The claim raises the prospect of a future conflict in which Russia is unable to deploy its nuclear weapons against NATO forces.
The February 2022 Russian offensive on Ukraine was doomed to fail due to four factors: overconfidence, deep levels of theft and corruption at every level, sheer incompetence of the military leadership, and logistic failure at every level. The Russians wanted to use a combined all-arms offensive to quickly overwhelm the Ukrainians and seize Kiev, however, due to the reasons outlined, the plan did not play out. Although the Ukrainian offensive this year will likely not deliver any "knockout blow", a qualitative difference in potential for performance and success now exists between the two sides.
Sam Altman, CEO of the AI firm OpenAI, has called for regulatory measures to mitigate the risks associated with the development of artificial intelligence. Speaking to a Senate judiciary subcommittee hearing, Altman argued that generative AI has the potential to help tackle global challenges such as climate change or cancer, however, he warned: “AI poses serious risks, and those risks demand clear, reliable, and transparent governance." OpenAI is the firm behind the chatbot tool ChatGPT which anticipates user requirements about what words to use next to produce a human-like exchange. Altman suggested that these rules should consider licencing and testing requirements prior to the release of AI models and would promote better labelling and global coordination. He also proposed the establishment of a regulatory agency to create complete safeguards concentrating on preventing AI models able to "self-replicate and self-exfiltrate into the wild."
The EU’s high representative for foreign policy, Josep Borrell, has urged the European Union to take action to close a loophole that enables India to be a centre for Russian oil that is resold as refined fuels to Europe, violating sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. India has emerged as a top purchaser of Russian oil in the past year, which has been rejected by western states such as the US and its allies. Access to cheap oil has enabled Indian refineries to boost profits by exporting refined fuel to Europe.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company behind the human-like chatbot ChatGPT, told a US Senate hearing that the creation of a U.S. or global agency that could provide licences for the most powerful AI systems would be vital to mitigating the risks of advancing AI. The agency would also be tasked with ensuring compliance with safety standards, and be able to withdraw licences. Altman's comments expanded on earlier concerns over cyber-cheating mechanisms, to reflect a wider range of concerns ranging from misinformation to breaching copyright protections and job dislocation. Altman's proposals echo initiatives under way in Europe.
The CEO of AI firm OpenAI, Sam Altman, has called for the creation of a licensing body for the world's most powerful AI algorithms. Speaking at a hearing of the US Senate this week, Altman said that, as AI became more advanced, people were understandably anxious about its power and how it could change human lives. He recommended that a new agency should ensure compliance with safety standards for use of AI, including its ability to generate misleading and false statements. The proposed agency could license the most powerful AI systems and withdraw that licence where any risks were identified.
UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, has called for greater UK and US collaboration on energy security. Speaking ahead of his address at America's largest civil nuclear conference in Washington DC, Kwarteng emphasised the importance of both countries working together on state-of-the-art technologies and creating the conditions for renewable businesses to thrive. Kwarteng argued that the UK was already demonstrating its energy innovation, citing the country's large offshore wind farms and potential for reviving nuclear power.
Russian missile strikes on May 16 may have damaged the US-made Patriot missile defence system, which is currently used by Ukraine, according to two anonymous US officials. Though the system has not been destroyed, the two countries are reportedly discussing the best way to repair it without having to remove it from Ukraine. The alleged damage follows a warning from Vladimir Putin to target and destroy anti-missile defence systems supplied by the West to Ukraine. The Patriot system is designed to counter a range of threats, from ballistic missiles and cruise missiles to aircraft.
Russia has been ramping up the number of missiles it fires in order to confuse and overwhelm Ukraine’s air defences. However, according to one US official, this may have worked to Ukraine’s advantage as it forced Russia to go through more of its limited supply of precision weaponry that can home in on targets. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke at a summit of the Council of Europe, where he said that recent battlefield successes showed that Ukraine could achieve anything as long as it was united. These included shooting down 18 Russian missiles overnight, including a volley of six Kinzhals, which Russia claims have hypersonic capabilities.
An accusation from the US that South Africa has sold arms to Russia is putting over $15bn worth of exports on the line, which are crucial in supporting its manufacturing industry. President Cyril Ramaphosa and the African National Congress have promised an inquiry into whether arms were placed on a sanctioned Russian vessel at a Cape Town naval base in 2021, but South African businesses are sounding the alarm over their participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a US law that grants duty-free terms to specific nations. South Africa’s future participation in a deal which is up for renewal in 2025 is already in doubt.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has told US legislators that government regulation over AI is essential to mitigate risks posed to humanity. Speaking at a US senate judiciary subcommittee, Altman said “if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong”. Despite ongoing political divisions, he urged Congress to introduce rules aimed at regulating tech companies. OpenAI was founded to improve lives with AI, but regulation is necessary due to concerns over disinformation, job security and other dangers, Altman said. He proposed the formation of a US or global agency to license the most powerful AI systems, having authority to intervene.
Five individuals have gone on trial in Germany charged with planning a far-right coup and plotting to kidnap the country’s health minister. Four men and a 75-year-old female have been accused of founding or being members of a terrorist organisation and treason. The group, which referred to itself as United Patriots, is linked to the Reich Citizens scene, that rejects Germany’s post-war constitution. Prosecutors claim the group used explosives to plan nationwide blackouts before plotting to kidnap Health Minister, Karl Lauterbach, a prominent advocate of strict coronavirus measures. Although there were no serious indications that the group was in any position to launch the coup, prosecutors said the group’s procurement of weapons and money showed they were “dangerous criminals who wanted to implement their plans”. Neither the group’s names nor their nationalities were made public at their request.
A US Patriot missile system is unlikely to have to be removed from Ukraine, despite being damaged in a recent attack. The Russian defence ministry had claimed that a Kinzhal missile had destroyed the system, but two US officials have said that it likely suffered damage but had not been destroyed. Ukrainian officials say that the attack included drones, cruise missiles and potentially ballistic missiles. A total of 27 missiles were reportedly fired by Russia over 24 hours, including six Kinzhal missiles. The Council of Europe has created a “register of damages” to record Russia’s destruction of Ukraine for future compensation.
Australian workers have experienced the strongest annual wage growth in a decade, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, but the rise remains within the Reserve Bank's forecasts, setting fears the pay packets will lead to an interest rate rise next month. Wages have grown by 3.7% in the 12 months to March 2021, marking the largest increase since September 2012, but inflation has eased, meaning that, when factored in, real wages have fallen by 3.2% over the past year.
African countries, including Zambia, Senegal, Egypt and South Africa, have drawn up a peace initiative to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine. The proposed mission will visit Moscow and Kiev as part of the peace process. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who represented the initiative, also said that UN Secretary-General Antonio Gruterres and the African Union (AU) had been briefed and welcomed the initiative.
Ukrainian air defences using US-made Patriot interceptors neutralised a heavy Russian missile attack against Kyiv, with six KH-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched missiles reported to have been stopped by Patriots. However, the Kinzhal missiles are modified air-launched versions of the ground-launched Iskander short-range ballistic missile developed three decades ago, and do not incur the additional hypersonic boost-glide system of manoeuvrable hypersonic descent hypersonic weapons that can be fired atop booster rockets, making them harder to intercept. Therefore, while Patriots can indeed stop Kinzhal missiles, they cannot necessarily intercept swerving-and-jinking weapons. Additionally, Russia has been developing an Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, deployed on Russian ICBMs, capable of descending at Mach 20 and outpacing any interceptors. China is also said to be developing similar weapons.
President Zelensky's recent visit to Britain has resulted in the offer of air-defence missiles and attack drones, which marks a significant step up in the conflict. Britain's offer of weaponry, including the recently provided long-range Storm Shadow missiles, is pushing the boundaries of what other nations can offer, and has the potential to provide Ukraine with a level playing field in the conflict. With the ability to deplete, disrupt or destroy Russia's logistics, Ukraine now has a genuine game-changing capability. Though these additions are significant, it does not signal a swift end to the war against the "formidable foe" of Russia, but suggests the tide may slowly turn in Ukraine's favour.
The Council of Europe is creating a 'register of damages' to record Russia's destruction of Ukraine over the past few years for future compensation. It will be lodged at the Hague and aimed to record the costs that Russia has exacted on Ukraine since the war began, not just morally, but financially. The action aims to hold Moscow accountable long-term for the situation in Ukraine. Germany’s government has said it is looking into further mechanisms to secure war damages, including the possibility of using frozen Russian assets as compensation.
