At least three killed by Russian drones in Ukraine which cut power to 370,000.

Extract from ABC News

• Topic:War

about 9 hours ago

Russian drones have hit areas of Ukraine, including in the Rivne region. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine via Reuters)

In short:

At least three people were killed by Russian drones in Ukraine overnight, the strikes also cut power to around 370,000 people.

Russia appears eager to publicise a Ukrainian strike on a an oil refinery, after Donald Trump declared an energy ceasefire.

What's next?

EU Leaders rallied around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a summit in Brussels, extending support to cover Ukraine's budget gap.

At least three people have been killed by Russian drones in Ukraine, with strikes also hitting two shopping centres and key energy grid infrastructure.

Two people died and 12 more were wounded in attacks on three districts of the eastern city of Kharkiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. He had earlier put the death toll at three.

In the north-western region of Volyn, which borders Poland, a drone strike on a food-processing facility killed one person and wounded eight others, according to Governor Roman Romaniuk.

The attacks on Ukranian energy grids cut power to around 370,000 in the north-west after strikes on the energy grid, officials said.

More than 370,000 people in Ukraine lost power after Russian strikes. (Reuters: Gleb Garanich)

Crews set out to repair damage to the grid in Volyn and had reconnected about 100,000 people by later in the morning, Mr Romaniuk added.

The blackout could last for at least 24 hours in Volyn's regional capital, Lutsk, Mayor Andriy Razumovskyi said on Facebook.

Other attacks hit at least two shopping centre, one in the northern city of Sumy, which sits close to the front line, and one in the neighbouring region of Rivne, officials said.

The strikes in Sumy were the latest in a spate of Russian assaults on malls and markets.

Seven people were wounded by drones that hit a major shopping centre and other sites in Rivne, regional governor Oleksandr Koval said.

Russia publicises refinery strike

Russia publicly acknowledged a Ukrainian drone strike on a major oil refinery this week and broadcast images on state media, breaking its usual practice in order to highlight the attack that US President Donald Trump branded a "disgrace".

President Donald Trump announced the energy ceasefire despite neither Moscow or Kyiv confirming their involvement. (AP: Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Ukraine has frequently struck Russian oil refineries in attacks that officials typically describe as hits on "industrial enterprises".

The target of Thursday's attack in Ryazan was immediately identified by the regional governor as one of Russia's largest refineries.

For the first time since the start of the war, state TV showed the aftermath of the Ryazan refinery attack.

In a brief report, the Rossiya-24 channel showed the plant with a relatively small plume of black smoke rising from the sit, no fire was visible.

Russia is eager to publicise the incident, which took place four days after Mr Trump announced an energy ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv, which neither side confirmed they had agreed to.

Ukraine said it paused such attacks for three days in deference to Mr Trump, but resumed because Russia had continued to pound its thermal power plants and other energy infrastructure.

European Union heads back Ukraine

European Union leaders rallied around President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a summit in Brussels on Friday.

The support is off the back of Mr Trumps remarks on Ukraine's strikes on Russia, a recent diesel deal signed between Russia and the US, and allegations the US is withholding critical intelligence from Ukraine.

Diesel deal unlikely to lower prices

US President Donald Trump says his deal with Russia will drive down the cost of fuel but experts say its effect will be minimal.

"We want to end this war as quick as possible. We don't see now signals from the Russian side that they are ready for this, to end this war. That's why we have to prepare for the winter," Mr Zelenskyy said as he arrived at the summit, hugging many of the leaders as he met them.

"The winter package is not only energy, it's also air defence and funding."

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said the EU would probably have to provide a new loan to Ukraine to help cover its budget gap for next year.

"Last winter was already hell, this one will be once again like hell," he said.

"We have a lot of gaps to fill, and this is a European mission to fill the gaps that Ukraine needs. Because always, at the start [and] at the end of every conversation.

"People need to be reminded that we are sitting in a warm room, lights are on, heating is on, the coffee is warm, and we cannot get tired of the war in Ukraine, because they are fighting … for us."

Reuters/AP

Settlers attack US journalist in West Bank as Israel says both sides hurled objects in clashes.

Extract from ABC News

By Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran and wires

• Topic:Unrest, Conflict and War

about 1 hours ago

Palestinians have clashed with Israeli settlers during an olive harvest in Abu Falah near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. (Reuters: Ammar Awad)

In short:

Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians and journalists in the occupied West Bank with slingshots and rocks.

The violent attacks happened during the yearly olive harvest.

What's next?

The Israel Defense Forces says it will examine "all circumstances surrounding the incident".

Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians and journalists in the occupied West Bank, using slingshots to hurl rocks from hilltops around the village of Abu Falah, north of Ramallah.

The violent attacks happened during the yearly olive harvest, which is regularly a flashpoint between the settlers and Palestinians who rely on the crop as a source of income.

Some settlers set olive trees on fire, sending smoke billowing across the area.

Olive trees were set alight during clashes in Abu Falah near Ramallah. (Reuters: Ammar Awad)

Veteran Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was among those attacked, despite wearing a flak jacket emblazoned with the word "press".

She was beaten by settlers, who stole her camera and phone, before being taken to hospital in Ramallah after other journalists rushed to her aid once the settlers had pulled briefly back from the area.

"We saw in the distance on the hilltop, I would say at least 50 masked men," Ms Levine told journalists in hospital, fighting back tears.

Journalist attacked during clashes in the West Bank. (X: @the_andrey_x)

"I had a 500 millimetre lens that you could see the mask with slingshots. And when they came running down, I was attacked, pushed to the ground.

"Luckily, I had my flak jacket and my helmet. Otherwise I probably wouldn't even be here because they just kept kicking me, and kicking me in, like, probably 50 times."

Ms Levine questioned the parents of the violent settlers, many of whom are often teenage boys or young men.

"I don't know how a parent can raise such monsters," she said.

"They are giving everyone in the country a horrible reputation.

"And unfortunately, everyone is seeing who they are. And you know what? Sadly, none of them will be prosecuted. I am sure of it."

Israel investigating incident in West Bank

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said his country condemned violence against anyone, but said the circumstances around the attacks in Abu Falah "remain unclear".

In a statement posted on X, it said "serious questions remain" and suggested 200 Palestinians had "confronted" around 40 settlers, and that people on "both sides" were "hurling objects".

Israeli soldiers amongst the olive trees following a settler attack during harvest in the West Bank. (AP: Leo Correa)

"We will not allow disputed incidents to be exploited to demonise the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria," Mr Netanyahu's office said.

"The facts must determine the conclusions. Not the headlines."

Witnesses reported seeing soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), who were called to the area, fire tear gas at Palestinians in the area.

'Israeli terrorists' target villagers' homes in days-long siege

Palestinians in a small West Bank village have spent almost a week under siege from Israeli settlers, with members of the community accusing the Israeli military of complicity in the saga.

The IDF said it would examine "all circumstances surrounding the incident".

"Upon arriving at the scene, the forces acted to disperse the confrontation using riot dispersal means," the IDF said.

"At another location where the confrontation took place, IDF soldiers fired warning shots into the air and subsequently toward a suspect who ran toward them carrying a sharp object and posed a threat to them.

"The IDF strongly condemns this incident and views any manifestation of violence with utmost severity. Attempts to incite friction between populations undermine security in the area."

Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray issued a note to staff about the attack.

"While we are relieved that Heidi has received medical care and is safe, we are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities," he said.

"The safety of our journalists is of paramount importance for The Post, as is the right of journalists everywhere to report freely and the responsibility of authorities to protect journalists doing their work.

"We will press for an investigation and support Heidi in the wake of this shocking attack."

In a post on X, Mr Murray later lashed out at Mr Netanyahu's office at the suggestion things remained "unclear".

"To be clear: some facts are neither in dispute nor unclear," the post read.

"Our photographer was clearly marked as Press. She was clearly beaten. These are not partisan or risible statements, but indisputable. We urge a thorough investigation and accountability," he said.

It came a week after settlers attacked a photographer from AFP in the West Bank.

While attacks by settlers on foreigners, particularly journalists, often get attention due to the fact they happen with media witnesses, Palestinians argue they bear the brunt of the violence on a daily basis.

Humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations, have reported a surge in settler violence since October 2023, emboldened by the decisions and policies of the right-wing Netanyahu Government, which includes settlers in its ministerial ranks.

Israeli organisation Yesh Din said there had been 170 attacks since late September when the olive harvest began.

The IDF and Israel Police are regularly criticised for failing to prosecute settlers for their offences, while insisting they are taking a firm stance against criminals.

At least half a million Israelis live in settlements scattered across the occupied West Bank.

International law considers their presence illegal.

Trump and Netanyahu are putting the world at risk to stay in power.

Extract from ABC News

Analysis

By Laura Tingle

• Topic:Foreign Affairs

about 4 hours ago

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu risk making a mess around the world in their determination to stay in power.   (Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)

More often than is healthy, international news is framed in terms of the transactions of political leaders — who has come out on top on any given day — and the impact on those leaders' political fortunes at home.

This week we have seen the US president doing something different.

Donald Trump has not just been jostling with Russian president Vladamir Putin and Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He has personally gone to war with the people of Ukraine. All, it seems, to improve the political prospects of his Republican Party in the looming US midterm elections.

Trump this week reportedly turned off intelligence to the Ukrainians and ordered the speed to be slowed of Starlink services that help warn Ukrainians of incoming missiles. That he did so is chilling.

Reuters reported on Friday that "the order to limit a satellite system used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, according to two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter".

"The officials said ‌leaders at the Defence Department received a message that the SpaceX Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed.

"The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not specify who in the White House made the decision or who was responsible for implementing the order."

In the past six days Trump has announced a deal to buy Russian diesel (long sanctioned by the US and, indeed, the subject of threats of sanctions on others who might buy it). He has told Ukraine and European allies that the US might suspend European purchases of US weapons on behalf of Ukraine and also pressured European countries to unfreeze Russian assets.

The Trump administration is also reported to be considering easing restrictions on so-called shadow fleet vessels that have transported oil and petroleum products from countries including Russia, Iran and Venezuela.

So shutting off US intelligence and ordering a go-slow on the Starshield service might be just two more points of pressure being applied to Kyiv. But they weren't moves to apply financial pressure or shift the oil market to get oil prices down.

They weren't even simple abuse of another country's leader. ("I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president," Trump told Washington reporters last Saturday).

These were explicit decisions to leave a civilian population exposed to ballistic missile attacks and to shift the balance of the war in Russia's favour

Beyond the scores killed and injured in Russian attacks on civilians in recent days, an unanswered Russian strike on energy infrastructure left at least 600,000 people in Ukraine without power on Wednesday.

It is not clear how Donald Trump would react to a loss in the mid-terms. (Reuters: Callaghan O'Hare)

Midterm predictions mount

An increasing number of analysts in the United States believe that Trump will not just lose the US House of Representatives but also the Senate. Instead of seeing that development as a harbinger of some curbs on his erratic administration, the concern is about how Trump will respond to the news.

In the American capital, there is no great confidence that Trump will respond rationally, or will feel somehow chastened and therefore constrained, to exercise power in a way which reflects the boundaries of actual laws.

That means malevolent interventions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict could continue and only spread further shock waves into a Western Europe that is desperately trying to prop Ukraine up.

There is also the question of what Trump does, or doesn't do, on Iran and whether he does, or doesn't, do something before the midterm elections in pursuit of a similar electoral boost.

The Middle East brings more tension

The conflict with Iran continues to dominate much of the coverage out of the Middle East.

But for those in the region, a much more pressing question revolves around the Israeli election, now just 10 days away.

Regional powers observe that Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has done everything he could to provoke a regional confrontation — whether that be in Syria, Lebanon, within the West Bank or even with Jordan — in the run up to the election.

Like Trump, Netanyahu has played his international politics hard for domestic consumption.

Like the US president, he has often presented a spectacular failure as a sign of his strength: in Netanyahu's case, the intelligence failures of October 7, the lack of any clear victory in Gaza, or Lebanon, or Iran.

There was one contested report this week that he even pushed Washington to restart the Iran war before the Israeli vote.

The man who has emerged as Netanyahu's major opponent in the upcoming elections, Gadi Eisenkot, and two other party leaders — the right wing's Avigdor Liberman and the centre-left's Yair Golan — all warned this week that Netanyahu may start a war before the election in an attempt to stay in power.

Golan said Netanyahu will try to disrupt the democratic process before and on election day.

Recent polls have given Eisenkot a significantly larger number of seats than Netanyahu. Yet, like Trump, there is no confidence in the Middle East that he is about to lose power.

At best, the numbers are so close — when all the permutations of possible coalitions are done — that the current PM is likely to continue in the job for some time, at least as caretaker prime minister.

Benjamin Netanyahu, on a visit to Mount Hermon on the border between Syria and Lebanon, has kept up destabilising actions in Syria. (Israel GPO/Anadolu via Getty Images: Ma'yan Toaf)

The biggest concern is what he might do in Syria.

The wiring of the Middle East has been rapidly rerouting since the war in Iran began on February 28: the Gulf states, Türkiye, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq have all been having to find new voices for themselves and new ways of getting along.

Some in the region argue that the need to keep the only recently-stabilised Syria more or less in one piece is the one thing all the locals can agree upon.

There is also an unstable Syria representing the threat of an ISIS resurgence. Conflict between the Kurds and Türkiye with spill over into Iraq and the restoration of the land bridge that Syria once represented between Iran and Hezbollah. All of these would be bad for the border security of Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, and for a possible renewed surge of millions of refugees.

Jordan watching on

For Jordan there are particular risks, including that 40 per cent of its water supply comes from Syria.

Yet Israel has kept up destabilising actions in Syria: pushing into southern Syria and even attacking an air base close to the border with Türkiye last month.

Jordan's King Abdullah — who was visiting Australia this week in search of closer defence and intelligence ties — told the UN General Assembly last month that the Israeli government's "expansionist appetite" is now a regional threat, citing Gaza, the West Bank and southern Syria.

His tiny kingdom — which boasts one of the world's most unfortunate set of surrounding neighbours — has repeatedly expressed its alarm about Israel's actions: from the threat to its water to what King Abdullah has called an existential threat seen in Israeli talk of forcing three million Palestinians into Jordan as Israel extends its annexation of the West Bank.

Jordan has never had many cards to play in its brief history. A presumption that the US would side with Israel in any conflict would seem to make its position even weaker.

But the fact that the US has had to withdraw many of its personnel and assets from the Gulf into Jordan changes the equation of its interest in keeping Jordan stable too.

And an irony of Netanyahu's recent actions is that it is the security deals with Jordan and Egypt, and thus relative border stability, that have allowed Israel to pursue its incursions into Gaza, into Lebanon and into Syria.

That Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu is now playing with Jordan, at least rhetorically, is just one more illustration of the mess he and Donald Trump are creating around the world in their determination to stay in power.

Laura Tingle is the ABC's Global Affairs Editor. 

Zelenskyy says he is 'done' with US-made ceasefire on energy targets.

Extract from ABC News

• Topic:Unrest, Conflict and War

about 6 hours ago

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine would only halt energy strikes on Russia if it received US-made Patriot interceptors. (Supplied: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service)

In short:

Ukraine has struck a Russian oil refinery after President Zelenskyy said he was "done" supporting a US-orchestrated ceasefire on energy targets.

The block has been ignored by Russia thus far, despite Kyiv suspending attacks on Russian refineries.

What's next?

Ukrainians worry that the growing rift between itself and the US could have severe consequences on the battlefield, where military still rely on technology provided by Washington.

Ukraine has struck a Russian oil refinery after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was "done" supporting a US-orchestrated ceasefire on energy targets which has been ignored by Russia.

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt attacks on energy, with Kyiv then suspending strikes on Russian refineries.

Mr Trump blames the attacks on energy infrastructure for raising diesel prices on global markets.

But in the days that followed, Russia rained down deadly missile and drone strikes on energy targets such as power stations, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the ceasefire on energy infrastructure is "done". (AP: Alex Brandon)

In an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's patience had run out.

"The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We're done,"

he said.

Mr Zelenskyy also made clear he believed changes in the capability of the military version of SpaceX's Starlink receptors this week, which have curbed Ukraine's ability to use them to pilot its drones, were a policy decision.

"It was not a technical problem, it was the will," Mr Zelenskyy said.

In a social media post overnight, SpaceX boss Elon Musk said usage of the military version of Starlink, known as Starshield, was ultimately up to Mr Trump.

"Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS," Mr Musk wrote.

Biggest rift with Washington

By walking away from Mr Trump's demand, Mr Zelenskyy risks deepening the biggest rift between Kyiv and Washington since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Although Mr Trump has described the ceasefire as a requirement for both Moscow and Kyiv, his public comments have focused mainly on Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries.

At the weekend, Mr Trump said the strikes "damn well better stop".

Russia ignoring 'energy ceasefire': Zelenskyy

The Ukrainian president says if Moscow wants Kyiv to stop targeting Russian oil refineries, as demanded by Donald Trump, then it should stop hitting key infrastructure.

Mr Trump has long had a testy relationship with Mr Zelenskyy and berated him in the White House in February 2025.

But his sharp turn against Kyiv in recent days has little precedent.

He first angered Ukraine last week by abruptly lifting sanctions on Russian diesel, and then called on Ukraine to replace Mr Zelenskyy.

Over the past several days, Ukrainian officials have reported that they have not received the usual warnings from Western allies about incoming Russian missiles, which rely on US satellite detectors.

Mr Trump has denied withholding intelligence. Mr Zelenskyy said the failure to provide the warnings had been presented to Kyiv as a technical glitch.

President Donald Trump and Starlink CEO Elon Musk. (Getty Images, Kevin Dietsch)

Refinery supplying Moscow hit

Ukraine has been using its long-range drones to target Russian refineries and logistics in recent months, which it says is its only answer to nearly five years of relentless Russian bombardment. The attacks have caused fuel shortages in Russia.

Mr Trump, under pressure to lower fuel prices, especially for diesel which has reached record highs since he launched a war against Iran in February, says the Ukrainian attacks are driving up global prices.

US President Donald Trump denies withholding intelligence on Russia's ballistic missile strikes on Ukraine. (Truth Social: Donald Trump)

Ukraine's latest target was a refinery in the Ryazan region south east of Moscow, which is owned by state oil major Rosneft and accounts for nearly 5 per cent of Russia's refinery throughout, helping supply the capital.

Regional governor Pavel Malkov said in a post on Telegram that a major Ukranian drone attack had caused a fire at the refinery. 

Damage was being assessed and emergency services were at the scene.

A Ukrainian official confirmed that Ukraine had hit a Russian refinery overnight in response to Moscow's heavy ballistic missile and drone attacks this week that violated the energy truce.

In the latest attacks on Ukraine, three people were killed and six wounded in the central region of Kirovohrad overnight, as Russia launched more than 500 drones.

State-owned energy company Naftogaz said a gas extraction facility in Poltava was damaged and operations were suspended.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Ukraine's targeting of Russian energy infrastructure ran counter to US peace efforts. 

It said earlier this week that the scope of the energy ceasefire had never been determined and work was still ongoing to do so.

Reuters

As Australia considers copyright reforms, Pope Leo's AI adviser Father Paolo Benanti issues a warning.

 Extract from ABC News

By national AI reporter Cam Wilson

• 7.30

• Topic:AI

about 13 hours ago

Father Paolo Benanti has a background in engineering and is an advisor to Pope Leo XIV on artificial intelligence. (Getty Images: Massimo Di Vita)

In short:

The AI adviser to Pope Leo has praised Australia for taking a considered approach to tech companies.

Father Paolo Benanti warned Australia that changes to copyright laws to allow AI training would be risky.

He believes tech companies openly court religious leaders to protect their business interests.

Australia risks reviving a "new form of colonialism" if it allows AI companies to train on copyrighted work without permission and send profits offshore, warned an influential AI adviser to the Vatican. 

Asked about Australia's consideration of copyright changes to attract AI training, Father Paolo Benanti compared the risk with Europe's history of taking resources from other countries and profiting from them elsewhere.

"You go, you take resources, and you monetise it outside the place where the resources [were]," he said.

He said Australian writing could become another resource used by foreign companies, with the money and tax revenue ending up overseas.

Father Benanti warns AI companies mining creative work risks repeating old patterns of colonial exploitation.  (Supplied: Microsoft)

“Is it ... a new form of colonialism from foreign power that could ... exploit from the resources and monetise it outside of the place where they are taken?" he asked.

"So is this fair? Is this something that will produce real richness or pay back to Australia? I don't know."

Those were questions he said he would ask before voting on such a change.

Last month, the ABC reported that the Attorney-General's department was quietly consulting on changes that would mean AI companies could train on copyrighted content unless its owner had opted out.

In June Attorney-General Michelle Rowland told 7.30: "This government has repeatedly said that there are no plans to weaken copyright protections when it comes to AI."

Earlier this week, the federal parliament's AI committee took the unusual step of pre-empting its own process to write a letter that urged reforms to pave the way for AI training.

Father Benanti praised Australia's efforts to regulate social media and AI when he met Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week, and told 7.30 other countries should follow Australia's lead in reining in tech companies with policies like the teen social media ban.

On his visit to Australia as a guest of the Italian Embassy, he described the country as being at the "foremost frontier" and defended it against aspersions about the effectiveness of laws like the social media minimum age.

He said that the essential democratic principle was that "no one should be above the law".

Father Benanti had a meeting with Anthony Albanese during his visit to Australia. (Supplied: Instagram)

That included overseas social media companies, which he said could rely on protections in their home countries to avoid other governments' rules.

He said Australia's first steps were important, and hoped other countries would follow.

Working together would give governments more power to make technology companies comply with the rules in countries where they wanted to do business, he said.

'We need a brain helmet'

Father Benanti studied engineering before becoming a Franciscan friar and a professor specialising in the ethics of technology. He advised Pope Francis on artificial intelligence and now advises his successor, Pope Leo.

Pope Leo's first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas, focused on the rise of artificial intelligence. (Reuters: Guglielmo Mangiapane)

In May, Pope Leo presented his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, a major papal letter sharing his teachings about humanity in the age of AI.

The landmark document made global headlines for criticising autonomous weapons, as well as algorithms that could deny people access to healthcare, employment or security.

Father Benanti said the encyclical resonated beyond the Catholic Church's followers because it addressed moral questions they were already asking about how technology could change their lives.

The encyclical urged governments to slow the development of AI systems. (Reuters: Yara Nardi)

"Human dignity is the core,"

he said.

He said its appeal came from keeping those questions open for public debate and allowing society to shape how AI is governed.

Father Benanti's concerns about AI extend to the emotional attachments people can form with the technology.

He is concerned that companies exploit loneliness and romantic attachment to their products to make money from people's emotions.

"Those are not neutral things, but are things that are designed by someone," he said.

The question he said, was whether these products could operate without laws to protect the most vulnerable people.

Father Benanti is concerned about the emotional attachments people can form with technology.  (ABC News: Maren Preuss)

Asked about protecting children, he compared the adoption of AI and smartphones by minors to his experience with riding motorised scooters as a child.

When he was old enough he was given a small vehicle rather than a powerful model that could kill him.

He said smartphones put the same device in the hands of children and adults, without being tailored to children's capabilities.

"Probably we need a brain helmet," he said.

Business versus faith

Father Benanti believes tech companies have been courting religious leaders to attempt to protect their business interests.

He's been part of meetings with leaders of top tech companies held at company locations, rather than at the Vatican.

Their purpose, he said, "was not because they would like to talk about faith".

Father Benanti has been in the room for talks with top tech leaders.  (Getty Images: Emanuela Zampa)

"There are politicians, there are religious leaders, there are scientists and things like that," he said. 

"They don't want to have leaders against them that can move the people.

"So it's a matter of business-oriented interest."

Father Benanti said these leaders tried to persuade them of their own beliefs — that their work was bringing humanity close to an extraordinary moment in history, and even the possibility that AI could be conscious.

Asked whether he found the pitch compelling, his answer was blunt. 

"Not at all."

Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV

Zelenskyy says partner nations not warning Ukraine about incoming ballistic missiles.

Extract from ABC News

• Topic:World Politics

about 8 hours ago

Donald Trump (right) says US intelligence was still being shared with Ukraine regarding incoming ballistic missile strikes, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the warnings have stopped.

In short:

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine received no early warning from partner nations about incoming Russian ballistic missiles.

Russian forces struck Kyiv on Tuesday, killing two people in a high-rise apartment, then hitting a critical thermal power plant.

What's next?

US President Donald Trump insists Washington is still sharing intelligence, even as he pressured Kyiv to halt attacks on Russian refineries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he received no early warning from international partners about incoming Russian ballistic missile strikes on civilian infrastructure in Kyiv.

Russian forces struck the Ukrainian capital with ballistic missiles on Tuesday, killing two people in a high-rise apartment, then hitting a critical thermal power plant in the second attack in 24 hours.

"Once again, no advance warning from our partners. The main target was energy infrastructure, specifically thermal plant No. 4," Mr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.

Mr Zelenskyy said it was unfair that Kyiv was enduring attacks without warnings from partners.

"According to our intelligence, the Russians are preparing further ballistic missile launches.

"The facts show that the Russians do not consider themselves bound to abide by what the president of the United States said," he added, referring to US President Donald Trump's announcement of an energy ceasefire at the weekend.

"And it is certainly unfair that they are destroying our energy infrastructure while Ukraine is not even receiving warnings about ballistic missile launches."

Kyiv relies heavily on US intelligence for early warnings of missile strikes.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left) said it was unfair for Ukraine to operate without warning of strikes from its partners. (Supplied: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service)

Mr Zelenskyy had earlier said Ukraine had again received no warning from Western partners before a previous overnight attack on the capital.

Mr Trump said Washington was still sharing intelligence, even as he pressured Kyiv to halt attacks on Russian refineries.

Reuters and other media have reported that US officials have threatened to cut off intelligence sharing and weapons sales to Ukraine unless it stops attacking Russian refineries.

Starlink limited in Ukraine

On Wednesday, Ukrainian officials confirmed SpaceX had introduced a limit on some Starlink services in Ukraine, disrupting combat drone missions that rely on the technology.

The satellite internet terminals from Elon Musk's company are crucial in guiding Ukraine's longer-range drone strikes in occupied southern and eastern Ukraine, which have assisted in disrupting Russian logistics.

"Our defence forces did not receive a warning about this limitation, and this led to the disruption of several missions," presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram.

Beskrestnov said SpaceX had stopped the operation of its military-grade version above 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).

Ukraine's 7th Rapid Reaction Corps, deployed in the south-east, said units had been forced to cancel some missions.

"According to our observations, during flights, the connection could drop for 10-20 seconds at speeds of just 110-120 km/h. The drones kept moving, but these interruptions made them harder to control," the Rapid Reaction Corps said in a statement.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular US business hours.

Although it was not immediately clear why Starlink's service was throttled, the move comes as Washington pressures Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Starlink does not work inside Russia, and the Ukrainian drones hitting Russia's oil industry use other means of communication.

Two killed in struck apartment 

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the strike on a nine-storey building had killed two people and injured 21. Sixteen people were being treated in hospital, and four were in serious condition.

Emergency crews were battling fires in apartments throughout the building, and residents were being evacuated.

Russia ignoring 'energy ceasefire': Zelenskyy

The Ukrainian president says if Moscow wants Kyiv to stop targeting Russian oil refineries, as demanded by Donald Trump, then it should stop hitting key infrastructure.

Ukrainian authorities confirmed on Wednesday morning that the hours-long missile and drone attack that unfolded overnight, primarily targeting Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, had damaged 30 energy facilities.

At least 600,000 people were left without power, according to Mr Zelenskyy.

Unconfirmed energy ceasefire

Mr Trump, who lifted sanctions on Russian diesel last week in a bid to lower politically sensitive fuel prices, has said that both sides agreed to halt strikes on energy infrastructure.

Neither Moscow nor Kyiv confirmed this.

Vladimir Putin did not confirm whether the energy ceasefire had been agreed upon. (AP: Dmitri Lovetsky)

"The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale – Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States," Mr Zelenskyy wrote on X.

"Russia does not consider the American president's statements strong."

Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday it had struck four power plants in and around Kyiv and two in Kharkiv, among other targets.

Reuters