Russian President Vladimir Putin has thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for showing heartfelt hospitality during his visit to Pyongyang last week, saying bilateral ties have been boosted to an “unprecedentedly high level”, North Korea’s state media reported on Tuesday.

In a message to Kim, Putin said his trip to the North has opened ways for the two countries to achieve beneficial cooperation in various fields, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“He said that his recent state visit to the DPRK was of special significance as it raised the relations between Moscow and Pyongyang to an unprecedentedly high level of comprehensive strategic partnership,” the KCNA said, using the acronym of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Putin said the North’s leader is an “honoured guest” that Russia always waits for, wishing for Kim’s good health and success.

After summit talks on Wednesday, Putin and Kim signed a treaty of comprehensive strategic partnership that calls for providing military assistance without delay if either side comes under attack. It marked Putin’s first trip to North Korea in 24 years.

Putin also voiced hope to hold the next summit with Kim in Moscow, according to Russian media outlets.

Meanwhile, North Korea condemned Ukraine troops for “staging attacks on the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula this week with Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) missiles supplied by the United States”.

“Puppet groups in Ukraine have been clinging to reckless terrorist acts as the country has faced repeated defeats with military confrontations with Russia,” the KCNA said in a separate dispatch, calling the attack the outcome of Washington’s “madness against Russia”.

In a similar message to show solidarity with Moscow, Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, slammed Washington’s military support for Ukraine on Monday. AGENCIES

At least nine motorists have been injured in a car crash due to a tyre blowout in Quezon province, southeast of Manila, police said.

Police said one of the passenger van’s rear tyres burst while travelling on a highway in Atimonan town before 5 p.m. local time on Monday, reports Xinhua news agency.

The driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to crash into the gutter on the roadside, roll down a hill, and tilt on its side. One of the passengers was thrown off the vehicle and onto the pavement.

Rescuers rushed the injured passengers to a local hospital for treatment. AGENCIES

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that Israel is “committed” to the deal proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden for a ceasefire in Gaza in return for the release of hostages.

“We are committed to the Israeli proposal that President Biden endorsed,” Netanyahu said on Monday during a special plenum session of the Knesset (parliament) summoned by the opposition, noting “Our position has not changed”.

Biden first presented the deal proposal to end the ongoing conflict in late May. Netanyahu’s remarks marked the first time the Israeli side has confirmed that Israel has approved and supports the proposal, Xinhua news agency reported.

Netanyahu told the Knesset that Israel will not end the conflict “until we bring back all the hostages, all 120 of them — both the living and the fallen” and until Hamas is “eliminated” and the residents in southern and northern can safely return to their homes.

Israel has been carrying out a massive offensive in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a Hamas rampage on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage. AGENCIES

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Spanish King Felipe VI visited a Lithuanian air force base and met with the Spanish troops participating in the Baltic air policing mission.

Nauseda thanked the king for Spain’s contribution to the security of the Baltic region, highlighting Spain’s participation in the Baltic air policing mission for the eleventh time, according to a press release from the Lithuanian presidential office.

They were briefed on the operations of the Baltic air policing mission. During the meeting, members of the Spanish Air Force contingent leading the mission presented their tasks, activities, equipment, and fighter jets, reports Xinhua news agency, citing the release.

The NATO air policing mission in the Baltic States was launched at the end of March 2004, following Lithuania’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The mission aims to safeguard the airspace of the Baltic States, thus ensuring the integrity of NATO’s European airspace. AGENCIES

 Driven by the financial sector, the Indian stock market saw a sharp rally to close at an all-time high on Tuesday, with the Bank Nifty index breaking above the resistance of 52,000 for the first time.

The domestic market experienced a financial sector-driven rally on Tuesday, primarily led by private banks, with the Nifty Bank reaching a new high and the Sensex surpassing 78,000.

Sensex closed at 78,053 points, or 712 points up, while Nifty reached 23,721, or 183 points up.

Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra and L&T were top gainers on the Sensex.

According to market watchers, the Bank Nifty is trading in a strong uptrend with higher highs and higher lows intact on the daily chart.

“The support now stands at 52,000, and intraday dips should be viewed as a buying opportunity for targets of 53,000/53,500,” said Kunal Shah from LKP Securities.

According to market experts, profit booking was evident in sectors such as realty, power, metals and midcaps.

Amid moderate consolidations and sector rotations, the market is moving upwards due to expectations from the upcoming budget.

Additionally, the progress of the monsoon is being watched for insights into the consumption outlook, said experts.

The rupee traded higher by 0.03 at 83.45 against the dollar, showing slight gains as capital markets remained positive with support from the banking and financial sectors and fund flows into these areas. AGENCIES

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged a global fight against the tyranny of algorithm-driven online media supercharged by artificial intelligence (AI) that promotes disinformation and puts “lives at stake”.

“You are the majority, and this is a fight we can win — together,” he said on Monday. “Demand accountability; demand choice; demand control.”

Releasing the UN’s Global Principles for Information Integrity, he said, “No one should be at the mercy of an algorithm they don’t control, which was not designed to safeguard their interests, and which tracks their behaviour to collect personal data and keep them hooked.”

“Opaque algorithms push people into information bubbles and reinforce prejudices including racism, misogyny, and discrimination of all kinds,” he said.

He warned that threats to information integrity are not new, “they are proliferating and expanding with unprecedented speed on digital platforms, supercharged by AI technologies” becoming vehicles for spreading hate.

“When information integrity is targeted, so is democracy — which depends on a shared, fact-based perception of reality,” he said.

He appealed to the media to “raise and enforce editorial standards” against the onslaught of disinformation and manipulation.

“Do your part to safeguard our future by providing quality journalism based on facts and reality,” he said.

Exorciating the big tech companies for “the damage your products are inflicting on people and communities”, he told them to acknowledge the harm they have done and take responsibility for it.

“You have the power to change business models that profit from disinformation and hate” and “to mitigate harm to people and societies around the world,” he said.

Turning to the role of governments, he said, “Commit to creating and maintaining a free, viable, independent, and plural media landscape.”

He urged governments to “guarantee strong protection for journalists” and ensure “regulations to uphold human rights”.

He also came out against “drastic measures, including blanket internet shutdowns”.

Guterres said that he had himself been the victim of campaigns of disinformation, citing the example of the campaign falsely claiming that he had never condemned Hamas, which carried out brutal attacks on Israel last year.

A fact check showed that he had, in fact, condemned Hamas 102 times.

The UN’s Global Principles for Information Integrity, as outlined by him, are based on five rubrics:

The principles were arrived at after broad consultations with member nations, youth leaders, academia, civil society, and the private sector including tech companies and the media, he said.

They are “based on an overriding vision of a more humane (information) ecosystem”, he said.

While Guterres unequivocally — and the principles — come out against internet shutdown and enshrine the right of everyone to “express themselves freely without fear of attack” and “to access a range of views and information sources”, they do not adequately address what can be done to limit harm in situations of civil unrest, or war. IANS

The death toll has risen to five after torrential rains triggered mountain torrents in a county in central China’s Hunan Province, authorities said on Tuesday.

Yuanling County initially reported four deaths and one person missing on Monday. The body of the missing individual was retrieved earlier on Tuesday, according to the county’s emergency management department, reports Xinhua news agency.

Yuanling County saw record rainfall in Wuqiangxi Town from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. local time on Saturday, with precipitation reaching 337.8 mm. The heavy rains triggered mountain torrents and caused severe waterlogging in the town.

In response to the disaster, the county has activated emergency measures, organising efforts to ensure the availability of necessary supplies and the restoration of power, telecommunications and transportation services. AGENCIES

 The death toll from Sunday’s attacks in southern Russia’s Republic of Dagestan has risen to 20, the region’s Health Minister has said.

“As a result of the terrorist attack in the cities of Makhachkala and Derbent on June 23, 46 people were injured,” Tatyana Belyaeva said on social media on Monday, adding that 20 people had been killed, including law enforcement officers and civilians.

The shootings occurred on Sunday at two orthodox churches, a synagogue and a traffic police post in the coastal city of Derbent and Dagestan’s capital city of Makhachkala, with previous reports indicating that 15 people had been killed and dozens injured, Xinhua news agency reported.Monday to Wednesday were declared as days of mourning for the victims of the attacks. AGENCIES

 Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has welcomed the news that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to be released by US authorities.

Assange, 52, on Tuesday agreed to plead guilty to US espionage charges in a deal that ended his imprisonment in the United Kingdom (UK), allowing him to return to Australia pending court proceedings in Saipan on Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Albanese welcomed the news and said he plans to speak more once the legal process is complete.

“While this is a welcome development, we recognise these proceedings are crucial and delicate,” he said.

“We have engaged and advocated Australia’s interest using all appropriate channels to support a positive outcome, and I have done that since very early on in my prime ministership.”

He reiterated that the US case against Assange has dragged on so long that there was nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration.

Penny Wong, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, said in the Senate that Albanese had raised Assange’s case with US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak since coming to office in 2022 and that the government had offered Assange and his family consular support while he was imprisoned in the UK.

Biden said in April that he was considering a request from Australia to drop the prosecution of Assange over WikiLeaks’ 2010 release of classified military records relating to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and diplomatic cables. AGENCIES

The Australian government has welcomed UNESCO’s recommendation that the Great Barrier Reef remain off the World Heritage in-danger list.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Monday released a draft report urging Australia to set more ambitious climate change targets to preserve the reef but recommending against the 21-member World Heritage Committee listing it as in danger at its meeting in July, reports Xinhua news agency.

Responding to the report, Australian Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek said the decision recognised the ongoing efforts of the governments of Australia and the state of Queensland to make significant progress on climate change, water quality and sustainable fishing.

In a joint statement with Nita Green, Australia’s Special Envoy for the Reef, Queensland Premier Steven Miles and Di Farmer, Queensland’s Acting Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Plibersek said the two governments have invested a combined 2.2 billion Australian dollars ($1.4 billion) in protecting the reef.

“The Great Barrier Reef is part of our national heritage. We have a duty to safeguard it, to care for it, and to pass it on, so our kids and grandkids can enjoy it like we do,” she said.

“Together with the Queensland Government, we are acting on climate change, improving local water quality, protecting our marine life, dealing with invasive species, and investing a record amount of money into reef programs.”

In its report, UNESCO experts expressed their utmost concern over a mass coral bleaching event that occurred across the reef in the summer of 2023/24.

It was the fifth time in eight years that the reef has experienced mass coral bleaching, a phenomenon whereby coral enduring heat stress expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissue, turning the coral completely white and increasing the risk of starvation.

The UNESCO report also raised concerns about ongoing water quality problems on the reef, calling for tougher laws to prevent land clearing in the reef’s catchment area.

Australia will be required to provide further progress reports on its reef management efforts to UNESCO in February 2025 and 2026. AGENCIES