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WhatsApp Accuses Russia of Trying to Fully Block its Service

FILED - 21 January 2022, Berlin: The icon of Whatsapp is seen on the screen of a smartphone. Photo: Fabian Sommer/Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH/dpa
FILED - 21 January 2022, Berlin: The icon of Whatsapp is seen on the screen of a smartphone. Photo: Fabian Sommer/Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH/dpa
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WhatsApp Accuses Russia of Trying to Fully Block its Service

FILED - 21 January 2022, Berlin: The icon of Whatsapp is seen on the screen of a smartphone. Photo: Fabian Sommer/Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH/dpa
FILED - 21 January 2022, Berlin: The icon of Whatsapp is seen on the screen of a smartphone. Photo: Fabian Sommer/Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH/dpa

US messenger app WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms, accused authorities in Russia on Thursday of trying to fully block its service in order to drive Russians to a state-owned app, which it alleged was used for surveillance.

"Trying to isolate over 100 million users from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia," WhatsApp said in a statement.

"We continue to do everything we can ‌to keep users connected."

Some ‌domain names associated with WhatsApp on Thursday disappeared from Russia's ‌national ⁠register of domain ⁠names, meaning that devices inside Russia stopped receiving its IP addresses from the app and that it could be accessed only by using a virtual private network (VPN), Reuters reported.

Roskomnadzor, the state communications regulator, and the Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Roskomnadzor first began restricting WhatsApp and other messenger services in August, making it impossible to complete phone calls on them, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing ⁠to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism ‌cases.

It said in December it was taking ‌new measures to gradually restrict the app, which it accused of continuing to violate Russian ‌law and of being a platform used "to organize and carry out terrorist acts ‌on the territory of the country, to recruit their perpetrators and to commit fraud and other crimes."

Since then, many Russians have been able to use WhatsApp only in conjunction with a virtual private network and have switched to using rival messenger apps, though some ‌of those - like Telegram - are also under pressure from the authorities for the same reasons.

In a video published by state ⁠news agency ⁠TASS on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was a possibility of reaching an agreement if Meta entered into dialogue with the Russian authorities and complied with the law.

"If the corporation (Meta) sticks to an uncompromising position and, I would say, shows itself unready to align with Russian legislation, then there is no chance," Peskov said.

Russian authorities, who also block or restrict social media platforms such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, are heavily pushing a state-backed messenger app called MAX, which critics say could be used to track users.

The authorities have dismissed those accusations as false and say MAX, which integrates various government-related services into it, is designed to simplify and improve the everyday lives of citizens.

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World

China Slams Report It Gave Iran Intel Before Deadly Strike on US Base

22 July 2025, China, Beijing: Guo Jiakun, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, speaks to journalists. (dpa)
22 July 2025, China, Beijing: Guo Jiakun, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, speaks to journalists. (dpa)
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China Slams Report It Gave Iran Intel Before Deadly Strike on US Base

22 July 2025, China, Beijing: Guo Jiakun, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, speaks to journalists. (dpa)
22 July 2025, China, Beijing: Guo Jiakun, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, speaks to journalists. (dpa)

Beijing rejected on Monday "groundless" reports that Chinese entities supplied Tehran with satellite images of a military base housing US troops in Jordan, before and after an Iranian strike killed three American soldiers.

The reports by the Wall Street Journal over the weekend related to July 17 missile strikes launched by Iran on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.

Unnamed American officials cited in the Journal's reporting did not name the Chinese entities involved, and did not suggest that Beijing was directly to blame.

"We firmly oppose groundless suspicion and accusations without evidence," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular news conference on Monday.

US President Donald Trump sought to downplay the reports, which could deepen tensions ahead of a planned visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the White House on September 24.

"You know, when they say that China spies on us, I say you're right, and we spy on them too," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

"That's what we do. They basically do what we do," he said.

Chinese officials asked for proof of the transfer of satellite imagery when prodded by the US officials, and refused to acknowledge that Chinese companies were involved in providing Tehran with satellite images, the Journal reported late Friday.

Trump has warned Beijing not to sell weapons to Iran, and in May, Washington sanctioned three China-based satellite companies for enabling Iran's military operations.

China is a top economic partner of Iran, buying much of its oil output, and also an important diplomatic backer.

Still, Trump said of Xi on Sunday that "he's behaved reasonably well, and we behave reasonably well."

Asked if he would ever allow Chinese cars to be sold in the United States, Trump said "I haven't. I'm the one that kept them out. The tariffs kept them out."

World

Australian Far-Right Leader Sparks Outrage with ‘Primitive’ Indigenous Comments

An Australian and an Aboriginal flag are seen in Canberra, Australia Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch via Reuters)
An Australian and an Aboriginal flag are seen in Canberra, Australia Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch via Reuters)
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Australian Far-Right Leader Sparks Outrage with ‘Primitive’ Indigenous Comments

An Australian and an Aboriginal flag are seen in Canberra, Australia Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch via Reuters)
An Australian and an Aboriginal flag are seen in Canberra, Australia Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch via Reuters)

Australian far-right leader Pauline Hanson drew outrage on Monday for comments in which she described the country's Indigenous people as the "most primitive race on Earth".

For years a political outsider, Hanson's One Nation has surged this year to become one of the country's most popular parties, according to opinion polls.

In a podcast appearance last year that resurfaced in the media on Monday, the senator for the state of Queensland was asked about the teaching of Indigenous Australian history in school.

"What the hell have they done in this country for, you know, supposedly 60,000 years?" she said.

"They never invented the wheel. There was nothing there. What are we actually holding up?

"A few, you know, rock paintings. Sorry, they're the most primitive race on Earth.

"They've achieved nothing."

Hanson's remarks swiftly drew condemnation, with the country's Indigenous affairs minister Malarndirri McCarthy describing them as "completely racist" and "outrageous".

And fellow Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price -- who is also of Indigenous heritage -- said she was "disappointed".

"All decent Australians, I'm sure, would condemn such comments and would rightfully be shocked that they came from the leader of a political party," she said on Facebook.

"Some of the issues raised by Pauline Hanson are serious debates, many of which I have been very vocal about, but yet again, Senator Hanson has dragged the conversation into appalling territory."

Indigenous peoples, whose ancestors have lived on the continent for more than 60,000 years, have average life expectancies about eight years shorter than the rest of the population.

Several factors contribute to the disparity, with chronic health issues, higher poverty rates, more limited access to healthcare in some communities and complex socio-economic causes often blamed.

Indigenous people are also far more likely to be incarcerated or die in custody than other Australians.

Hanson's history of inflammatory and racist comments have done little to dent her party's popularity.

An opinion poll conducted by Resolve Strategic on behalf of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers released Sunday showed 27 percent of Australians would vote for her party -- just one percentage point away from the ruling Labor Party.

World

Indonesia Searches for 129 People Missing After Ferry Capsizes in the Java Sea

Rescue personnel stretcher out a body bag containing a deceased victim of the Virgo Transport 8 passenger ferry, which capsized September 13 while en route from Banjarmasin to Surabaya, at the port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on September 14, 2026. (AFP)
Rescue personnel stretcher out a body bag containing a deceased victim of the Virgo Transport 8 passenger ferry, which capsized September 13 while en route from Banjarmasin to Surabaya, at the port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on September 14, 2026. (AFP)
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Indonesia Searches for 129 People Missing After Ferry Capsizes in the Java Sea

Rescue personnel stretcher out a body bag containing a deceased victim of the Virgo Transport 8 passenger ferry, which capsized September 13 while en route from Banjarmasin to Surabaya, at the port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on September 14, 2026. (AFP)
Rescue personnel stretcher out a body bag containing a deceased victim of the Virgo Transport 8 passenger ferry, which capsized September 13 while en route from Banjarmasin to Surabaya, at the port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on September 14, 2026. (AFP)

Indonesian authorities intensified a search Monday for 129 people who were missing after a ferry overturned in bad weather in the Java Sea on Sunday, killing at least six passengers.

The Virgo Transport 8 was carrying more than 240 people when its captain issued a distress call, saying the ship was listing in rough seas with waves of up to 3 meters (10 feet) while traveling from Surabaya in East Java province to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan province, on Borneo Island.

Contact was lost with the ferry at about 2 a.m. Sunday and about two hours later authorities received information that the vessel had overturned in the Java Sea’s Masalembo waters, about 148 kilometers (92 miles) from Banjarmasin.

Videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency on Sunday showed an overturned ferry floating in choppy waters during a helicopter search operation.

On Monday, 17 ships and aircraft were deployed for the search carrying about 655 personnel deployed from the military, police and other agencies, said Mohammad Syafii, the National Search and Rescue Agency chief.

Authorities were also deploying specialized underwater teams and navy-operated underwater thermal drones to strengthen search efforts and speed up the evacuation of victims, he said.

“We remain hopeful of finding more survivors,” Syafii told a video briefing.

Search teams, assisted by nearby tugboats and other passing vessels, rescued 108 people and recovered six bodies on Sunday.

The manifest said the ship carried 243 people including 213 passengers and 30 crew members, although it is common in Indonesia for the number of passengers to differ from the manifest. The 119-meter (390-foot) ferry, which was built in Japan in 1987, also was transporting 89 vehicles.

Authorities have not determined the cause of the accident.

A survivor, Ahmad Saudi, said the ferry appeared overcrowded, with many passengers forced to sleep in hallways and common areas because the cabins were full.

Saudi, a bus driver traveling with a vehicle he was transporting, recalled how the ferry suddenly listed without warning, triggering panic among passengers as rough seas battered the vessel in the Java Sea.

Passengers initially tried to hold on before scrambling to the higher side of the ship as it tilted further, he said, speculating the ferry’s balance may have been affected by trucks loaded on one side.

“The women staying in the economy-class cabins likely didn’t survive because the ferry listed so quickly,” Saudi said. “There were no alarms or announcements warning passengers about what was happening, many people in the cabins may not have had enough time to get out.”

Faisal, another survivor who goes by one name, said he and 14 other passengers clung to a section of the overturned ferry that remained above water after it capsized.

“After the ship listed, people panicked and rushed to the upper deck, but eventually the ferry rolled over completely,” he said. “Fourteen of us were left stranded there.”

The group repeatedly recited the Islamic call to prayer, or adhan, while battling exhaustion and rough seas as awaiting rescue. A wave later swept Faisal toward a lifeboat, helping him survive, he said.

Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands. Ferries are a common method of travel and accidents occur regularly, in part due to weak enforcement of safety standards.