Authorities in Russia’s Dagestan and Chechnya regions have blocked access to the Telegram messaging app over concerns it could be used by hostile groups, according to regional officials quoted by the TASS state news agency.
Dagestan’s digital development minister, Yuri Gamzatov, stated that the decision was made at the federal level due to security risks. “It (Telegram) is often used by enemies, an example of which is the riots at the Makhachkala airport,” he said, referring to the October 2023 anti-Israel riot in Dagestan. During that incident, protesters stormed an airport after calls for antisemitic violence circulated on Telegram.
Telegram, founded by Russian-born Pavel Durov and based in Dubai, has nearly 1 billion users. The app has faced previous crackdowns from Moscow, which unsuccessfully attempted to ban it in 2018 and has demanded user data access.
Gamzatov suggested Telegram could be unblocked in the future but encouraged users to switch to other messaging platforms. Telegram has not yet responded to requests for comment.
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China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov following recent military strikes carried out by the United States and Israel on targets in Iran, as tensions in the Middle East continue to rise.
The Kremlin is utilising the recent United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran to validate its ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian officials are pointing to the escalation in the Middle East as evidence that Western nations do not adhere to international rules.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday (26 February) accused Ukraine of threatening Europe’s energy security by halting oil flows through the Druzhba oil pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, arrived in Geneva and may hold talks with U.S. officials, according to the RIA news agency.
Follow the latest developments and global reaction after the U.S. and Israel launched “major combat operations” in Iran, prompting retaliation from Tehran.
Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Saudi Aramco closed its Ras Tanura refinery on Monday following an Iranian drone strike, an industry source told Reuters as Tehran retaliated across the Gulf after a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iranian targets over the weekend.
The Kremlin is utilising the recent United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran to validate its ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian officials are pointing to the escalation in the Middle East as evidence that Western nations do not adhere to international rules.
The Middle East crisis intensifies after the deadly attack on the compound of the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei on Saturday that killed him, other family members and senior figures. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on U.S. targets in the region.
Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has moved into a pivotal constitutional role following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, becoming the clerical member of Iran’s temporary leadership council under Article 111 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
South Korea will soon cease to be one of the few countries where Google Maps does not function fully, after its security-conscious government reversed a two-decade-old policy and approved the export of high-precision map data to overseas servers.
New research suggests 40,000-year-old carved objects from south-western Germany bear repeated marks arranged in organised sign sequences similar to early proto-cuneiform, although they are not regarded as a form of writing.
The chief executive of Google DeepMind, Demis Hassabis, has called for more urgent research into the risks posed by artificial intelligence, warning that stronger safeguards are needed as systems become more advanced.
NASA successfully completed a critical fueling rehearsal on Thursday (19 February) for its giant moon rocket, Artemis II, after earlier hydrogen leaks disrupted preparations for the next crewed lunar mission. The launch is scheduled for 6 March, according to the latest information from NASA.
ByteDance will take steps to prevent the unauthorised use of intellectual property on its artificial intelligence (AI) video generator Seedance 2.0, the Chinese technology firm said on Monday.
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