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Ukraine’s frontline judges deliver justice under fire

Ukraine’s frontline judges deliver justice under fire

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Ukraine's frontline judges deliver justice under fire

Olha Konoplenko’s eastern Ukrainian city is occupied by Russian forces, but that hasn’t stopped her from trying to uphold the law remotely as a judge.

Residents who fled Bakhmut, captured last May after months of fierce fighting, still rely on her and other exiled colleagues for key rulings.

“There’s no city, but there are still its people,” said Konoplenko, whose Artemivsk City District court now operates in a town farther from the front line of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

She requested its exact location not be disclosed for security reasons.

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Working in the war-torn east, parts of which have been occupied by Russian proxy forces since 2014, was never easy for local judges. Moscow’s February 2022 invasion raised the stakes further.

Konoplenko, 39, and other colleagues in the Donbas region preside under the regular threat of air strikes. Their hearings, to which defendants and plaintiffs dial in remotely, are often cut short by power outages.

During a visit by Reuters to Konoplenko’s court, clerks were sitting in front of dark screens, leafing through documents as they waited for electricity to return.

The next day, a hearing was punctuated by the sound of explosions from a Russian strike.

NEW CHALLENGES

Local courts face the extra burden of handling war crimes litigation and trying alleged collaborators. They also hear cases from people seeking compensation for their ruined homes.

That’s in addition to settling family matters, labour disputes and other typical cases, said Konoplenko, who fled Bakhmut while pregnant and said she was motivated by a sense of service.

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“Who’s supposed to help people obtain alimony? Who’s supposed to help people obtain property rights?,” she said.

On her daily commute, Konoplenko walks past buildings with windows shattered by strikes. At weekends, she travels to see her son, nearly two years old, who lives with relatives several hours’ drive away.

Residents say they have more faith in courts here than elsewhere in Ukraine. A legacy of corruption has made the country’s judicial system one of the least trusted public institutions.

“Just look around – there’s a war here, we’re surviving, but out there, people are hiding out and making money,” said Oleksandr, a 24-year-old service member, on a visit to Konoplenko’s courthouse.

BUSIER THAN BEFORE

Vasylyna Liubchyk, head of another Donetsk region court, said her colleagues were busier now than they were before the war because many locals had returned.

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Liubchyk also did not disclose the location of her court, which has always been in Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Four judges are expected to handle nearly 4,000 registered cases of administrative and criminal offences, she said. Drunk driving accidents, in particular, have increased during war time.

Ukraine is conducting a nationwide hiring spree to address the deficit of judges, but Liubchyk and other officials have said that attracting applicants in eastern Ukraine is difficult.

Despite the dangers of practising so close to the war, Konoplenko said she and her colleagues had got used to many of them.

“We’re tired of being scared,” she said.

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Estonia summons Russian embassy chief over GPS jamming

Estonia summons Russian embassy chief over GPS jamming

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Estonia summons Russian embassy chief over GPS jamming

Estonia’s foreign ministry has summoned the head of the Russian embassy in Tallinn to protest the jamming of GPS signals, the Baltic country said on Wednesday.

Estonia accuses neighbouring Russia of violating international regulations by disturbing GPS navigation in airspace above the Baltic states, echoing concerns from airlines that say they have contended with such interference for months.

The Estonian foreign ministry on Wednesday summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires to convey its message. Moscow and Tallinn last year expelled each other’s ambassadors as relations deteriorated in the wake of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Jamming the GPS signal is an element of Russia’s hybrid activities, disrupting everyday life and threatening the security of allies,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a statement.

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Russia’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

GPS, short for Global Positioning System, is a network of satellites and receiving devices used for positioning, navigation and timing on Earth in everything from ships and planes to cars.

The jamming of GPS signals can be disruptive to commercial airliners but they can usually navigate by other means.

Finnish carrier Finnair last month said it would pause all flights to Tartu in Estonia to allow the local airport to upgrade its navigation system, which has so far relied only on GPS.

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Australia boosts funds to Taiwan-ally Tuvalu amid Pacific contest for influence with China

Australia boosts funds to Taiwan-ally Tuvalu amid Pacific contest for influence with China

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Australia boosts funds to Taiwan-ally Tuvalu amid Pacific contest for influence with China

Australia will quadruple its financial assistance to Tuvalu, a Pacific Island nation at risk from rising seas, to cement a landmark climate migration and security deal as China also courts small island states.

On a visit to Tuvalu, foreign minister Penny Wong said on Wednesday evening Australia has committed A$110 million ($72.27 million) in its national budget to Tuvalu.

The sum includes A$50 million ($32.85 million) to build the first undersea cable connecting the island’s residents to global telecommunications services, and A$19 million for a land reclamation project to fortify Tuvalu’s coastline from rising seas.

Another A$15 million will be spent on a national security coordination centre, as well as A$10 million in direct budget support.

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The funding is a significant boost on the A$17 million ($11.17 million) Australia provided to Tuvalu in 2023-24.

China’s ambitions for a greater security presence in the Pacific became an election issue in Tuvalu in January, as two leadership contenders said Tuvalu should consider switching ties from Taiwan to Beijing for more funds, and revise a new security pact with Australia.

Neighbour Nauru cut ties with Taiwan a fortnight before Tuvalu’s vote, after China built a port and promised more aid.

Tuvalu’s new prime minister Feleti Teo pledged to stick with Taiwan, and to ratify the Falepili Union signed with Australia in November. The treaty allows Tuvalu citizens to migrate to Australia for work or study, while recognising Tuvalu continues to exist despite the rising sea levels.

“Australia has provided a security guarantee to support Tuvalu in a humanitarian disaster, a pandemic or the event of attack,” Wong said in a speech on Wednesday evening.

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“It is also the first time in history that two nations have agreed in a legally binding instrument that statehood endures in the face of sea level rise,” she added.

The treaty allows Australia to vet Tuvalu’s deals with third countries in a broad range of security areas from ports to telecommunications.

On Thursday, Wong and Teo are expected to say that the security cooperation does not limit Tuvalu’s ability to enter into diplomatic agreements with other nations, according to an advance copy of a joint statement viewed by Reuters.

“We recognise that the people of Tuvalu deserve the choice to live, study and work elsewhere, as climate change impacts intensify at home,” the text of the statement reads.

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Probe launched after Boeing cargo plane lands in Istanbul without front landing gear

Probe launched after Boeing cargo plane lands in Istanbul without front landing gear

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Probe launched after Boeing cargo plane lands in Istanbul without front landing gear

A FedEx Airlines Boeing cargo plane landed at Istanbul Airport on Wednesday without its front landing gear, a Turkish Transport Ministry official said, adding there were no casualties and authorities had launched an investigation.

The aircraft, flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, informed the control tower in Istanbul that its landing gear had failed to open and touched down with guidance from the tower, managing to remain on the runway, a ministry statement said.

Airport rescue and fire fighting teams were scrambled before landing, but no one was injured. The ministry gave no reason for the failure.

The aircraft involved is a nearly 10-year-old Boeing 767 freighter, one of the most common cargo planes and based on the 767 passenger model dating back to the 1980s.

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An official from Turkey’s transport ministry said its teams were conducting examinations at the scene as part of the ongoing investigation, but did not provide further details.

Boeing referred queries to FedEX, which said in a statement it was coordinating with investigation authorities and would “provide additional information as it is available”.

Video footage obtained by Reuters showed sparks flying and some smoke as the front of the plane scraped along the runway before coming to a halt and being doused with firefighting foam. No fire appeared to have broken out.

The video showed the pilots holding the plane’s nose above the runway for several seconds after the main wheels had touched the ground, apparently executing the emergency drill for landing with a retracted nose gear that pilots train for, according to the SKYbrary aviation database.

In June last year, a small 22-year-old Boeing 717 flown by Delta Airlines made a similar smooth landing without a nose gear in Charlotte, North Carolina, in an incident later blamed on a fractured component.

The runway was temporarily closed to air traffic, but other runways at Istanbul airport were still operating normally, the airport operator IGA said.

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Manufacturers are not typically involved in the operation or maintenance of jets once they enter service, but Boeing has been under intense media and regulatory scrutiny following a series of incidents on its smaller 737.

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