Johannesburg building fire: Death toll rises to 63 in South Africa - CNN

CNN  — 

The death toll from a raging fire in a five-story building in central Johannesburg has risen to 63, according to the city’s emergency services.

The number of people injured stands at 43, said spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi.

Emergency services and firefighters are working to put out the blaze, public broadcaster SABC reported.

Videos from the scene show huge orange flames engulfing the lower floor of a building, and scores of people who appear to have fled outside.

In a series of tweets shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, emergency services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said multiple people were being treated and some had been transported to health care facilities.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, according to SABC.

Johannesburg’s emergency services said the fire was reported at around 1:30 a.m. local time Thursday.

“At this stage the cause of the fire incident is still a subject of investigations,” the statement read. “Officials from City of Johannesburg Disaster Management have been activated to start facilitating relief for affected families,” it added.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.

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Russia and North Korea in 'Actively Advancing' Talks on Weapons, U.S. Says - The New York Times

The governor of Pskov, Russia, shared videos on his Telegram account showing smoke rising from the city’s airport and rounds being fired into the sky.Mikhail Vedernikov via Storyful

Exploding drones attacked six regions of Russia overnight Wednesday and damaged four military cargo planes at an airfield hundreds of miles from Ukraine, Russian officials said, suggesting that, after months of enduring missile and drone strikes with little recourse, Ukraine is increasingly able to hit back deep inside Russia.

In what appeared to be the most successful of the strikes, four Russian Il-76 military cargo planes were damaged while parked near a runway at an airfield in Pskov, 30 miles from the border with Estonia, a NATO member. The Russian regional governor posted video footage of smoke billowing from an airfield where he said drones had damaged the planes, although the extent was unclear.

Russia also launched a wave of attacks on Ukraine early Wednesday that targeted at least three regions. Ukraine’s Air Force said it had shot down 43 of 44 missiles and drones, although officials in Kyiv, the capital, said that falling debris from drones or missiles shot down by air defense systems killed at least two people.

Clearing debris from a damaged residential building after a Russian strike in Kyiv on Wednesday.Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times

Officials in Kyiv said that falling debris from drones or missiles shot down by air defense systems killed at least two people.Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times

Local officials said the barrage was the most significant in the Kyiv region in months. But the volley of drones exploding in Russia was exceptional, and appeared to be the result of a long effort by Ukraine to answer Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, infrastructure and military targets.

While Ukrainian officials did not claim responsibility for the overnight strikes, in keeping with their practice involving attacks inside Russia, they have made it increasingly clear that they view bringing the war home to ordinary Russians to be a legitimate tactic against Moscow’s invasion.

“We all went through these attacks by Russia,” Oleksandr Danylyuk, the former secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defense council, said in an interview on Wednesday. “We understand how destructive they can be. It’s important to be able to retaliate.”

The attacks have destroyed valuable military equipment, although they have done little significant damage to Russia’s overall military might. They are also intended to pierce Russian propaganda by showing Russians that their military is vulnerable, and to bolster morale among Ukrainians wanting payback.

On Wednesday, the Russian governor of the Pskov region, Mikhail Vedernikov, posted videos on the Telegram messaging app that show a large nighttime fire with billowing smoke, and what appeared to be air defenses being fired at incoming drones.

He later wrote that a review of the airfield had been conducted and that “everything is in order,” adding that operations would resume there on Thursday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry did not address the event in Pskov. It said that at least eight Ukrainian drones had been intercepted over five regions south and southwest of Moscow. The drones were shot down in the Bryansk, Oryol, Kaluga and Ryazan regions, as well as in the Ruza district on the outskirts of the Moscow region, the ministry said.

In Ukraine, explosions and the roar of launching air defense missiles shook Kyiv around 5 a.m. The capital was targeted with missiles and drones in the largest attack since the spring, Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv regional military administration, said in a statement.

A barrage of drones flew at the city, later followed by missiles, more than 20 of which were shot down, he said. Two people in the city were killed by debris, according to Mr. Popko and the city’s mayor.

Marc Santora and Valeriya Safronova contributed reporting.

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A woman walking past a damaged building in the Russian-occupied city of Tokmak, in January, in a photograph from Russian state news media.Alexander Galperin/Sputnik, via Associated Press

As Ukrainian forces push forward to try to secure the patch of land that they have retaken in the south, a strategic target looms: the city of Tokmak, a road-and-rail hub whose recapture could eventually help Kyiv drive deep enough into Russian-controlled territory to split Moscow’s forces and supply lines.

Ukraine’s military said on Monday that its forces had breached Russia’s initial lines of defense in the area and recaptured Robotyne, a village that connects to Tokmak — 15 miles farther to the south — by a highway, though the two are separated by yet more layers of robust Russian defenses.

Ukraine started its long-awaited counteroffensive in June, and its successes have been measured in increments. In a sign of the daunting task, it took months of fierce combat to seize Robotyne, and Ukrainian officials said in recent days that they were still securing positions in the village as they demine the area and look to edge farther south.

“We had successes and are consolidating the achieved positions,” Andriy Kovalev, a spokesman for the military’s general staff said on Tuesday, adding that Ukrainian troops were advancing toward Verbove, a village about five miles southeast of Robotyne. His claim could not be independently verified.

Controlling Robotyne and its surrounding area could allow Ukraine to use it as a base to prepare and launch attacks on targets farther south. Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, said this week that consolidating their foothold in Robotyne would mean that Ukrainian forces could bring more troops to the area, providing greater opportunities for maneuver.

Damage in Robotyne, Ukraine, last week.Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters

Tokmak is a key target for the Ukrainian Army because it is the crossing point for five main roads in the Zaporizhzhia region, including two that connect to the cities of Melitopol and Berdiansk, near the Sea of Azov. Reaching the Sea of Azov would allow Ukraine to drive a wedge into the so-called land bridge between Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea, a link that is vital to Moscow’s supply routes.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said in a speech to French diplomats in Paris on Tuesday that after securing the flanks of Robotyne, “we are opening the way to Tokmak and, ultimately, Melitopol and the border with Crimea.”

But Mr. Shtupun, the army spokesman, acknowledged that the push toward Tokmak would not be easy. “I think the Russians will not leave this settlement easily, and Ukrainian forces will have to fight for it,” he said.

Satellite images show that to reach Tokmak, Ukrainian forces would have to breach two more formidable Russian defensive lines made up of trenches, dense minefields, earthen berms and anti-tank barriers — part of an extensive network of defenses that military analysts say is the biggest in Europe since World War II.

Securing Tokmak, a city that had a prewar population of about 30,000 people, also poses its own challenges. Once through the anti-tank traps surrounding the city, Ukrainian forces would have to fight through tall buildings and narrow side streets in close-quarter combat that would most likely be deadly for both sides.

Kyiv’s troops are still a long way from Tokmak, but Ukrainian officials claim that recent advances appear to have caused concern among the occupying Russian authorities there. On Tuesday, Ivan Fedorov, the Ukrainian mayor in exile of Melitopol, said that, according to local residents, some Russian officials were leaving Tokmak as the fighting drew closer.

The Ukrainians “are forcing the occupiers to leave Tokmak,” Mr. Fedorov wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app. The claim could not be independently verified.

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Gabon military officers claim to have seized power after election - CNN

CNN  — 

Military officers on Wednesday declared they were seizing power in Gabon, shortly after President Ali Bongo was deemed the victor of a contested election, extending his family’s half-century rule over the Central African nation.

The officers, claiming to represent “defense and security forces” in the country, made the announcement in a televised address on news channel Gabon24. It was viewed by CNN on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“On behalf of the Gabonese people and guarantor of the protection of institutions, CTRI [the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions] has decided to defend peace by putting an end to the regime in place,” a military officer said on the broadcast.

CNN cannot independently confirm the video, and has not yet been able to reach Gabon’ government for comment.

In the broadcast, the military officer said the election results would be voided and the country’s borders would be shut.

“All the institutions of the republic are dissolved: in particular the government, the Senate, the National Assembly, the Constitutional Court, Economic and Social and Environmental Council, and the Elections Council of Gabon,” the officer said.

“We call on the population of Gabon, the communities of neighboring countries living in Gabon, as well as the Gabonese diaspora, to remain calm.”

Loud sounds of gunfire could be heard in the capital Libreville, a Reuters reporter said, following the television appearance.

People in Gabon were seen dancing and celebrating on the streets of its capital, according to videos shared with CNN and posted on social media.

In one video obtained by CNN, people can be seen shouting “liberated!” and waving the Gabon flag in the Nzeng Ayong district of the capital, alongside military vehicles. 

Five countries in western and central Africa have already been seized by military juntas in the past three years, five of them former French colonies. Coups in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger have undermined democratic progress in recent years.

Most recently, Niger’s military junta seized control of the West African country in late July, prompting the African Union to suspend Niger’s membership in the group of 55 member states. Earlier this month, Niger’s military ruler proposed a return to democracy within three years, saying the principles of the transition would be decided within the next 30 days.

Bongo’s long rule

Earlier Wednesday, Gabon’s election body said Bongo had won the presidential election with 64.27% of the vote, Reuters reported, after a delay-plagued general election that the opposition denounced as fraudulent.

Bongo’s main challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, came in second place with 30.77%, said the election body. Bongo’s team had rejected Ondo Ossa’s allegations of electoral irregularities.

Ali Bongo, 64, took over from his father, Omar Bongo, who died of cardiac arrest while receiving treatment for intestinal cancer in a Spanish clinic in 2009, following nearly 42 years in office.

The elder Bongo came into power in 1967, seven years after the country’s independence from France.

He ruled over the small nation with an iron fist, imposing a one-party system for years and only allowing multi-party rule in 1991, though his party retained its grip on government.

Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 21, 2022.

Brendan McDermid/Reuters/File

In this week’s election Ali Bongo had 18 challengers, six of whom had backed Ondo Ossa, a former minister and university professor, in an effort to narrow the race. Many in the opposition were pushing for change in the oil-rich but poverty-stricken nation of 2.3 million.

Tensions were running high amid fears of unrest after Saturday’s vote, with international observers complaining of a lack of transparency.

Protesters hold a Niger flag during a demonstration on independence day in Niamey on August 3, 2023.

AFP/Getty Images

African Union suspends Niger in crackdown over coup

Ahead of the election, the non-profit Reporters Without Borders condemned the Gabonese government for obstructing foreign press coverage of the event.

The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday that “if (the situation in Gabon) is confirmed (that) it’s another military coup,” it would “increase instability in the whole region.”

“It’s an issue that will be put on table and we will discuss it,” Borrell told reporters ahead of an EU ministerial meeting on defense held in Toledo, Spain.

“The whole area starting with Central African Republic, then Mali, then Burkina Faso, now Niger, maybe Gabon, it’s a very difficult situation,” Borrell said. “Defense ministers and foreign ministers have to have a deep thought on what is going on there. And how we can improve policy with these countries.”

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said her country was following the situation in Gabon “very closely.”

This is far from the first time Gabon has seen a power struggle or unrest over Bongo’s rule, which has frequently been disputed by critics.

In 2016, the parliament building was torched when violent street protests erupted against Bongo’s contested re-election for his second term. The government shut down internet access for several days at the time.

A coup attempt came in 2019, when a group of soldiers and military officers stormed the state radio and television headquarters, took staff hostage, and declared they had taken control of the nation.

They cited their dissatisfaction with Bongo as president, vowing to “restore democracy” in the country – before Gabonese defense and security forces moved in to end the takeover and rescue the hostages. Two soldiers were killed and eight military officers arrested as a result.

CNN’s Joseph Ataman and Jake Kwon contributed to this report.

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'Still alive and wriggling:' Doctors remove 3-inch parasitic worm from woman's brain in world first - CNN

CNN  — 

When a 64-year-old Australian woman was sent to hospital for brain surgery, neurosurgeon Dr. Hari Priya Bandi was not expecting to pull out a live 8-centimeter (3-inch) long parasitic roundworm that wriggled between her forceps.

“I’ve only come across worms using my not-so-good gardening skills … I find them terrifying and this is not something I deal with at all,” Bandi told CNN of the world’s first discovery of a live worm inside a human brain.

The finding unleashed a mad scramble to find out what exactly the parasite was, Canberra Hospital infectious disease expert Sanjaya Senanayake told CNN.

One colleague in the hospital lab was able to reach an animal parasitology expert at a governmental scientific research agency just 20 minutes away – and found their unexpected answer.

“We were able to send the live wiggling worm to him, and he was able to look at it and immediately identify it,” Senanayake said.

Molecular tests confirmed it was Ophidascaris robertsi, a roundworm usually found in pythons, according to a press release from the Australian National University and the Canberra Hospital.

“To our knowledge, this is also the first case to involve the brain of any mammalian species, human or otherwise,” said Senanayake, who is also a professor at Australian National University.

Researchers say the patient lived near a lake area inhabited by carpet pythons in southeastern New South Wales. Although she did not have direct contact with the reptiles, it’s likely she caught the roundworm after foraging Warrigal greens, a native leafy vegetable, which she cooked and ate.

The doctors and scientists involved in her case theorized that a carpet python might have spread the parasite via its feces into the greens, which the patient then touched and cross-contaminated with food or other cooking utensils.

How the worm was discovered

The woman was initially admitted to a local hospital in late January 2021 after suffering three weeks of abdominal pain and diarrhea, followed by a constant dry cough, fever and night sweats.

Several months later, her symptoms developed into forgetfulness and depression and she was sent to a hospital in the Australian capital, where an MRI scan revealed something unusual in the right frontal lobe of her brain.

What normally happens is that carpet pythons in Australia carry the Ophidascaris robertsi and shed parasite eggs in their feces, spreading through vegetation that small mammals and marsupials eat. At some point, pythons also eat those same infected animals, and the parasite then lives inside the snake, completing the cycle.

In this case, the patient was likely an accidental host of the worm, Senanayake said. The parasite is highly invasive and it is suspected that its larvae, or juveniles, were present in other organs in the woman’s body, including the lungs and liver.

The 64-year-old woman suffered forgetfulness and depression before undergoing brain surgery.

Hossain M/Kennedy KJ/Wilson HL

Senanayake said the case highlighted the growing danger of diseases and infections passing from animals to humans, especially as people encroach deeper into animal’s habitats.

“There’s more opportunities for humans, domestic animals and wild animals to interact with each other and the vegetation that’s out there. So this is just another marker that more new infections will be seen in the future,” Senanayake said.

He said about 30 new infections had been uncovered in the world in the past three decades. And of those emerging infections, about 75% were zoonotic, meaning there has been transmission from the animal world to the human world – including coronaviruses.

“This Ophidascaris infection does not transmit between people, so it won’t cause a pandemic like SARS, COVID-19 or Ebola. However, the snake and parasite are found in other parts of the world, so it is likely that other cases will be recognized in coming years in other countries,” Senanayake said.

“The other message from this case is about foraging. People who forage should wash their hands after touching foraged products. Any foraged material used for salads or cooking should also be thoroughly washed.”

Other tapeworm larvae

This case in Australia is entirely different from recent reports of people developing painful headaches with tapeworm larvae found in their brain.

That condition is known as neurocysticercosis, which can cause neurological symptoms when larval cysts develop in the brain.

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

A woman in Australia discovered her headaches were caused by tapeworm larvae in her brain

People are infected with the parasite after swallowing eggs found in the feces of a person who has an intestinal tapeworm, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 1,000 cases are reported every year in the US alone.

Last year, a study revealed that a 25-year-old woman in Australia was found to have tapeworm larvae in her brain after suffering from a headache that lasted for more than a week.

An MRI scan of her brain led doctors to believe a tumor might be the cause of her pain, but after operating and removing the lesion, they discovered it was actually a cyst full of tapeworm larvae.

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Powerful quake and aftershocks rock Indonesia's Bali and Java islands. No casualties reported - ABC News

A powerful earthquake and two strong aftershocks have rocked Indonesia’s resort island of Bali and other parts of the country, causing panic but no immediate reports of damage or casualties

ByThe Associated Press

August 28, 2023, 6:41 PM

DENPASAR, Indonesia -- A powerful earthquake and two strong aftershocks rocked Indonesia’s resort island of Bali and other parts of the country early Tuesday, causing panic but no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 and was centered in the Bali Sea 181 kilometers (112 miles) northeast of Gili Air, a tiny island near the coast of Lombok Island, next to Bali. It occurred at a depth of 513.5 kilometers (319 miles).

Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami but warned of dangers from aftershocks. The agency put the quake's preliminary magnitude at 7.4. Variations in early measurements are common.

The quake was followed by aftershocks of magnitude 5.4 and 5.6 that hit the Bali sea a few minutes later, just before dawn.

Many residents and tourists rushed out of their homes and hotels toward higher ground after reporting powerful shockwaves, but the situation returned to normal after they received text messages saying the quake had no potential to trigger a tsunami.

“I thought the walls were going to come down on the hotel,” an Australian tourist said on social media.

People in the neighboring provinces of East Java, Central Java, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara also felt the tremors and panicked as houses and buildings swayed for several seconds.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 270 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific.

An earthquake in the hilly Karangasem in 2021 triggered landslides and cut off at least three villages, killing at least three people.

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake last year killed at least 331 people and injured nearly 600 in West Java’s Cianjur city. It was the deadliest in Indonesia since a 2018 quake and tsunami in Sulawesi killed about 4,340 people.

In 2004, an extremely powerful Indian Ocean quake set off a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

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Spain's regional soccer chiefs call on Luis Rubiales to resign over unwanted kiss with Jenni Hermoso - CNN

CNN  — 

The presidents of Spain’s regional soccer federations are calling for the resignation of Luis Rubiales, the suspended president of the National Football Association, in a statement published Monday following an emergency meeting.

Rubiales was suspended by FIFA, the world’s governing soccer body, on Saturday after he forcibly kissed a female player during the women’s team’s World Cup victory celebrations.

“After the recent events and the unacceptable behaviours that have seriously damaged the image of Spanish football, the presidents request that, immediately, Mr. Luis Rubiales submits his resignation as president of the RFEF [Royal Spanish Football Federation],” the RFEF said on behalf of the committee of regional presidents.

All 19 regional presidents are unanimously supporting the interim RFEF president, Pedro Rocha, “to lead a new stage of dialogue and reconciliation with all of the football institutions,” the statement read. Rocha replaced Rubiales after his FIFA suspension.

“We will urge the corresponding bodies to carry out a wholesale, immediate and organic restructuring process in strategic positions of the Federation in order to bring in a new management role in Spanish football,” the officials added in their statement.

Along with the mounting pressure to resign, Rubiales also faces an investigation that could end in sexual aggression charges from Spanish prosecutors.

A rally in support of soccer player Jenni Hermoso on August 28, 2023, in Galicia, Spain.

Javier Vazquez/Europa Press/Getty Images

Mother starts ‘hunger strike’ in church

Earlier, Rubiales’ mother locked herself in a church and went on hunger strike to protest the “inhumane, bloodthirsty hunt” of her 46-year-old son, Spanish media reported.

Ángeles Béjar reportedly said Monday that she would remain in the church in Motril, near Granada in southern Spain, “indefinitely, day and night” until justice was served toward Rubiales.

Aug 25, 2023; Orlando, Florida, USA; The San Diego Wave FC starting lineup shows support for Jenni Hermoso after the game against the Orlando Pride at Exploria Stadium.

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Soccer world rallies behind Jenni Hermoso to leave Luis Rubiales looking increasingly isolated

The soccer boss and the RFEF have been embroiled in controversy ever since he kissed 33-year-old attacker Hermoso on the lips after Spain won its first Women’s World Cup title with victory against England.

Rubiales said that he made a mistake but called the kiss consensual, while Hermoso said that she did not give her permission to be kissed and felt violated.

“I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out of place act without any consent on my part,” she said on social media. “Simply put I was not respected.”

exp Spanish Federation Meeting 082808ASEG1 cnni sport_00050001.png

video

Norwegian FA Chief speaks out on World Cup kiss controversy

In a defiant speech on Friday, Rubiales refused to resign from his position and vowed to “fight to the end” – a stance that prompted a wave of heavy criticism from teams, players, politicians, union officials and even the United Nations.

When asked to comment on the incident during a press conference Monday, the United Nations Secretary General’s spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said: “I mean how difficult is it not to kiss someone on the lips?”

“There’s a critical issue of sexism that remains in sports and we hope that Spanish authorities and the Spanish government deal with this in a manner that respects the rights of all female athletes,” he added.

Ongoing fallout

On Saturday, FIFA said it was suspending Rubiales from “all football-related activities at national and international level” for 90 days while disciplinary proceedings are underway.

In response to Rubiales’ refusal to step down, RFEF vice president Rafael del Amo and 11 members of the Spanish national women’s soccer program have resigned.

Hermoso and her World Cup teammates said that they would not play again for Spain until Rubiales has been removed from his position.

The RFEF, however, is standing behind its chief, accusing Hermoso of lying about the incident and threatening legal action against her and others.

The president of Spain’s High Council of Sport (CSD), Victor Francos, has expressed worry that the controversy will hurt Spain’s bid to co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Portugal and Morocco.

“I am worried about the World Cup,” Francos said in a press conference on Monday. “Two weeks ago we were in a better position for the 2030 World Cup than we are today. But we are a stubborn government.”

Francos said he has been in touch with the governing bodies to explain to them that “Spanish sport isn’t like what we’ve been seeing these days and Spanish football isn’t what you’ve seen these days,” referring to the Rubiales incident.

Protesters took to the street Monday to demand Rubiales’ resignation.

Among them was 27-year-old Ella from Northern Ireland, who told Reuters, “We cannot express our joy as women without having some man interrupt it and spoil it and take it for his own. This was meant to be a celebration of women’s sports, the improvements that we have made.”

Another protester, Guadaluper Martin told the news agency that the incident was “terribly disgusting.”

“First of all, before you could see up close the kiss he gave her without consent, all that hugging and touching was completely out of place. In front of all these international representatives at the World Cup, he was touching and rubbing the players.”

CNN’s Joshua Berlinger, Benjamin Brown, Aimee Lewis, Kevin Dotson, Richard Roth, Jessica Xing and Amy Cassidy contributed to reporting.

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Ukraine says it liberates strategic southeastern settlement - Reuters

KYIV, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Monday its troops had liberated the southeastern settlement of Robotyne and were trying to push further south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces.

The Ukrainian military said last week that its forces had raised the national flag in the strategic settlement, but were still carrying out mopping-up operations.

Ukrainian forces believe they have broken through the most difficult line of Russian defences in the south and that they will now start advancing more quickly, a commander who led troops into Robotyne told Reuters last week.

"Robotyne has been liberated," Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar was quoted as saying by the military.

The settlement is 10 km (six miles) south of the frontline town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region on an important road towards Tokmak, a Russian-occupied road and rail hub.

Tokmak's capture would be a milestone as Ukrainian troops press southwards towards the Sea of Azov in a military drive that is intended to split Russian forces following Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Maliar told Ukrainian television that Kyiv's troops, who began their counteroffensive in early June, were now moving southeast of Robotyne and south of nearby Mala Tokmachka.

Ukraine's success in retaking Robotyne, which Russia has not confirmed, follows media reports of a meeting this month of senior NATO military chiefs and Ukraine's top general on resetting Ukraine’s military strategy.

'VERY HOT' ON EASTERN FRONT

Ukrainian forces are also fighting Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, and progress has been slower than had been widely expected in the counteroffensive because they have encountered vast Russian minefields and trenches.

Maliar described the battlefield situation in the east as "very hot" in the past week. She said Russian troops were gathering new forces there and regrouping, and Moscow was aiming to deploy its best troops there.

Ukrainian forces had continued to advance south of Bakhmut, she said, referring to the nearly devastated eastern city that was captured by Moscow's troops in May after months of fierce fighting.

She added that in the past week Ukrainian forces had retaken 1 square km (0.39 square mile) around Bakhmut, and Russian troops had not made any advances.

In the latest of Russia's frequent air strikes on Ukraine, two people were killed overnight when a vegetable oil plant was hit in the central Poltava region, the region's governor said.

Russia said it had shot down a Ukrainian drone flying towards Moscow in the early hours of Monday, in an incident that briefly disrupted flights over the Russian capital.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the situation on the battlefield of the reports of the latest attacks.

Reporting by Tom Balmforth, Writing by Anna Pruchnicka, Editing by Timothy Heritage

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Foxconn founder Terry Gou announces run for Taiwan presidency - Reuters

TAIPEI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of major Apple Inc (AAPL.O) supplier Foxconn (2317.TW), announced on Monday a bid to be Taiwan's next president in 2024 elections, saying to wanted to ensure the island did not become "the next Ukraine".

Gou is the fourth person to throw his hat in the ring for the January election, but his poll numbers before his announcement put him well behind the front-runner, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) William Lai, who is currently vice president.

Gou, 72, stepped down as Foxconn chief in 2019 and made his first presidential bid that year, but dropped out after he failed to win the nomination for Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang KMT. The KMT traditionally favours close ties with China, whose government claims Taiwan as its own territory.

Earlier this year, Gou made a second bid to be the KMT's candidate for the presidential election, but the party chose instead Hou Yu-ih, the mayor of New Taipei City.

Gou has spent the past few weeks touring Taiwan and holding campaign-like rallies, fuelling speculation he was planning to run as an independent.

Speaking at a Taipei conference centre under two large Taiwanese flags, Gou lambasted the DPP.

"Under the rule of the DPP in the past seven years or so, internationally, they lead Taiwan towards the danger of war. Domestically, their policies are filled with mistakes," Gou said, adding "the era of entrepreneur's rule" has begun.

"Give me four years and I promise that I will bring 50 years of peace to the Taiwan Strait and build the deepest foundation for the mutual trust across the strait," he said in a plea to Taiwan voters.

"Taiwan must not become Ukraine and I will not let Taiwan become the next Ukraine."

The DPP champions Taiwan's separate identity from China, but the government it leads has repeatedly offered talks with China that have been rebuffed.

AVOID WAR

Gou's main theme in his pre-campaign events has been that the only way to avoid war with China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, is to get the DPP out of office.

Gou must gather close to 300,000 voter signatures by Nov. 2 to be qualified as an independent candidate, according elections regulations. The Central Election Commission will review the signatures and announce the results by Nov. 14.

Huang Kwei-bo, an associate professor of diplomacy at Taipei's National Chengchi University and a former KMT deputy secretary general, said Gou would further divide the opposition vote.

"Any split on the non-DPP side would mean Lai's sure victory in January," Huang said.

Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je of the small Taiwan People's Party has generally been running second in the polls, with Hou third. A poll last week by the My Formosa online newspaper put Gou's support at just 12%.

Gou reiterated a call for "unity" amongst opposition parties, urging Ko and Hou to sit down with him and discuss plans to join forces in order to win the election against the DPP.

The KMT expressed "extreme regret" at Gou's bid and urged Gou to support the party's candidate, Hou. Ko's party said it respected Gou's right to run but was working hard on Ko's own campaign.

The run up to the election is taking place at a time of increased tensions between Taipei and Beijing, as China stages regular military exercises near the island to assert its sovereignty claims.

When asked about the issue of conflict of interest with Gou being a major shareholder of Foxconn, which has massive investment in China, Gou said he's willing to "sacrifice" his personal assets in China in the event of a Chinese attack.

"I have never been under the control of the People's Republic of China," he said. "I don't follow their instructions."

Foxconn said in a statement that Gou was no longer involved in day to day management of the company having "handed over the baton" four years ago.

Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Editing by Michael Perry and Lincoln Feast

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Yimou Lee

Thomson Reuters

Yimou Lee is a Senior Correspondent for Reuters covering everything from Taiwan, including sensitive Taiwan-China relations, China's military aggression and Taiwan's key role as a global semiconductor powerhouse. A three-time SOPA award winner, his reporting from Hong Kong, China, Myanmar and Taiwan over the past decade includes Myanmar's crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, Hong Kong protests and Taiwan's battle against China's multifront campaigns to absorb the island.

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