Zelensky to attend G7 in person amid fresh sanctions vs. Russia

UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr

Zelensky will attend the G7 summit in Japan in person, officials familiar with his plans revealed Friday, as the bloc announced new sanctions targeting Russia's "war machine."

The surprise trip will be his first to Asia since the war began and would allow him to meet key allies like US President Joe Biden and the leaders of powerful unaligned nations who have been invited, including Brazil and India.

Zelensky had been expected to address the grouping by videolink on Sunday.

"Very important things will be decided there, and therefore the presence, the physical presence of our president is absolutely essential to defend our interests," Secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine

Oleksii Danilov said confirming the trip.

An informed source in Hiroshima told AFP that Zelensky was now expected to appear, though the timing of his trip remained unclear. Zelensky recently embarked on a European tour, pleading for military support ahead of a long-anticipated spring offensive.

The Hiroshima summit would offer a chance to again push Kyiv's demand for modern US-made fighter jets, as well as tougher sanctions on Russia.

Earlier Friday, the United States and its G7 allies announced new measures targeting Moscow's lucrative diamond trade and more entities linked to the invasion of Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine 15 months ago has prompted waves of sanctions that have helped plunge his country into recession and drained the Kremlin's war chest.

The G7 wants to tighten the screws further, strengthening existing sanctions, closing loopholes, and subjecting more Russian firms and their international partners to punitive restrictions.

A senior US administration official said another 70 entities from Russia and "other countries" would be placed on a US blacklist.

"And there will be upwards of 300 new sanctions against individuals, entities, vessels and aircraft," the official said. As the G7 weighs how to collectively choke off Russia's $4-5 billion annual trade in diamonds – including through high-tech methods of tracing – Britain announced its own "ban on Russian diamonds."

London said it was also targeting imports of aluminium, copper and nickel.

"As today's sanctions announcements demonstrate, the G7 remains unified in the face of the threat from Russia and steadfast in our support for Ukraine," said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. AFP

Hong Kong court rejects Jimmy Lai challenge to nat’l security body

A HONG KONG court on Friday dismissed a legal challenge by jailed pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, conceding it had "no jurisdiction" over Beijing's national security apparatus in the city.

Lai, founder of the now-shuttered tabloid Apple Daily, is awaiting trial for "collusion with foreign forces" – an offense under a security law Beijing imposed in 2020 to quell dissent.

Three levels of Hong Kong's courts previously allowed Lai to be represented by veteran British human rights barrister Tim Owen, overruling repeated objections from the government.

But Beijing intervened in December, announcing that city leader John Lee would have the power to bar foreign lawyers from national security trials.

The National Security Committee – a top-level government body answering directly to Beijing –then advised immigration authorities to withhold Owen's working visa.

High Court judge Jeremy Poon – the same justice who backed Lai's lawyer choice in a ruling last year – on Friday ruled the media tycoon could not contest the committee.

"(Hong Kong's) courts have no jurisdiction over the work" of the National Security Committee, he wrote in a decision.

"The supervisory power over the (committee) is hence reserved to the Central People's Government exclusively."

Poon's Friday's ruling underscores Beijing's ability to trump Hong Kong courts, despite the city's guarantee of judicial independence separate from the mainland legal system.

Hong Kong's common law tradition, left over from British colonial rule and distinct from the mainland system, had been key to its appeal as an international legal and business hub.

But under the security law – imposed by Beijing to stamp out opposition after massive pro-democracy protests in 2019 – critics say Hong Kong has seen its autonomous status and freedoms steadily eroded.

Last week, in an echo of Beijing's December intervention, the city's opposition-free legislature imposed a blanket ban on foreign lawyers in national security trials.

Lai's trial, originally scheduled for December, was postponed to September due to the lawyer dispute.

More than 100 media leaders globally signed a Reporters Without Borders petition this week calling for the 75-year-old's release.

The Hong Kong government condemned the petition as a "wrongful attempt to interfere with the judicial proceedings." AFP