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THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The United Nations' top court on Wednesday rejected large parts of a case filed by Ukraine alleging that Russia bankrolled separatist rebels in the country's east a decade ago and has discriminated against Crimea's multiethnic community since its annexation of the peninsula.  The International Court of Justice ruled Moscow violated articles of two treaties — one on terrorism financing and another on eradicating racial discrimination — but it rejected far more of Kyiv's claims under the treaties.  It rejected Ukraine's request for Moscow to pay reparations for attacks in eastern Ukraine blamed on pro-Russia Ukrainian rebels, including the July 17, 2014, downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 that killed all 298 passengers and crew.  Russia has denied any involvement in the downing of the jetliner. A Dutch domestic court convicted two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian in November 2022 for their roles in the attack and sentenced them in their absence to life imprisonment. The Netherlands and Ukraine also have sued Russia at the European Court of Human Rights over  Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.  Court rules Russia violated order  In another rebuke for Moscow, the world court ruled that Russia had violated one of the court's orders by launching its full-scale invasion in Ukraine nearly two years ago.  The leader of Ukraine's legal team, Anton Korynevych, called the ruling "a really important day, because this is a judgment which says that the Russian Federation violated international law, in particular both conventions under which we made our application."  The legally binding final ruling was the first of two expected decisions from the ICJ linked to the decade-long conflict between Russia and Ukraine that exploded into all-out war almost two years ago.  At hearings last year, a lawyer for Ukraine, David Zionts, said the pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine "attacked civilians as part of a campaign of intimidation and terror. Russian money and weapons fueled this campaign."  Another ruling expected Friday The court, however, ruled that sending arms and other equipment didn't constitute terrorism funding, according to the 1999 treaty.  "The alleged supply of weapons to various armed groups operating in Ukraine and the alleged organization of training for members of those groups fall outside the material scope" of the treaty, said ICJ President Joan E. Donoghue.  Another lawyer for Ukraine, Harold Koh, said during last year's hearings that in the Crimean Peninsula, Russia "sought to replace the multiethnic community that had characterized Crimea before Russia's intervention with discriminatory Russian nationalism."  Lawyers for Russia urged the world court to throw out the case, arguing that the actions of pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine did not amount to terrorism.  The court found that Russia failed to investigate allegations by Ukraine of alleged terrorist acts but rejected all other claims by Kyiv of breaches of the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.  It also ruled that Moscow breached the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination by limiting school education in the Ukrainian language and by maintaining a ban on a Tartar representative assembly called the Mejlis.  The court is scheduled to rule Friday on Russia's objections to its jurisdiction in another case filed by Ukraine shortly after Russian troops invaded on February 24, 2022. It alleges Moscow launched its attack based on trumped-up genocide allegations. The court already has issued an interim order for Russia to halt the invasion, which Moscow has flouted.  In recent weeks, the ICJ also heard a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Judges issued provisional measures last week calling on Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in the conflict. 

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Qatar, Egypt and the US are negotiating a possible ceasefire deal as Israel details allegations that some UNRWA employees in Gaza participated in the October 7th attack. Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, we get the latest from Islamabad, and we get an update from Kyiv.

Israel calls for disbanding UNRWA after several staffers were implicated in the Oct. 7th attack. Kataib Hezbollah says it will stop targeting US forces as Houthis in Yemen fire at the US Navy. And in Pakistan, Imran Khan and his wife are both sentenced to jail.

Over 6 million Ukrainians have fled fighting in their homeland since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Even as the war continues, Ukrainian officials are laying the groundwork to get those citizens back in Ukraine when the war ends. Mariia Ulianovska has the story. VOA footage by Kostiantyn Golubchik.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Abuja — A coalition of more than 40 civil society groups has petitioned Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, calling on him to address chronic insecurity that has only gotten worse since he assumed office last May. The petition follows a series of kidnappings in the capital, Abuja, and southwestern Ekiti state.     According to a report this week by the civil society coalition, at least 2,400 people have been killed and close to 1,900 others kidnapped since May last year when Tinubu assumed office. The coalition said it was deeply concerned about the deteriorating security across Nigeria and called on authorities to take "actionable steps" to fix the problem. Auwal Rafsanjani, executive director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, spoke on behalf of the coalition. "Our country is under siege, our country has been taken over by criminals, pampered terrorists, pampered bandits and pampered political criminals, and Nigerians are being killed like ants,” he said. “Every day you wake up, its one killing after another, we cannot continue this way." The report comes amid a wave of violent attacks in the country, including Abuja.  There, armed gangs have carried out brazen kidnap-for-ransom attacks in recent weeks. Two people from different families were killed as a warning to those who don’t pay.  In southwestern Ekiti state, armed men recently kidnapped six school students and three teachers. On the same day, gunmen attacked local communities in the state and killed two traditional rulers. Tinubu condemned the attacks and ordered security forces to capture the perpetrators. But security analyst Chidi Omeje says government failure is the reason for the persistent problem. "The root cause of all these things is bad governance, bad governance that engenders poverty, beings about frustration, anger in the people,” he said. “See, there's this correlation between poverty, bad governance and [a] spike in criminality. There has to be multi-dimensional approach to it and, of course, it has to be intelligence driven." Last year, Tinubu vowed to fix Nigeria's security problems if elected president. After taking office, Tinubu retired several service chiefs and appointed new ones. Critics say that isn’t enough.  On Tuesday, members of the National Assembly the service chiefs to discuss the state of security in the country.

GENEVA — Three years after Myanmar’s military junta overthrew the country’s democratically elected government, the U.N.’s top human rights official is calling on the international community to redouble efforts “to hold the military accountable” for the many crimes and abuses it has committed against the country’s civilian population. “Myanmar’s ever deteriorating human rights crisis is now in freefall, with insufficient world attention paid to the misery and pain of its people,” Volker Türk, U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Amid all of the crises around the world, it is important no one is forgotten. The people of Myanmar have been suffering for too long,” he said. Ahead of the anniversary of the military coup February 1, 2021, the high commissioner said that “pitched battles between the military and armed opposition groups have resulted in mass displacement and civilian casualties” and as the military has suffered multiple setbacks on the battlefield, it has lashed out by launching “waves of indiscriminate aerial bombardments and artillery strikes.” According to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, credible sources in Myanmar have verified that more than 554 people have died since October, when an alliance of three ethnic armed groups mounted an offensive against the military. Overall last year, 1,600 civilians reportedly have been killed by the military. As of January 26, the sources have documented the arrests of nearly 26,000 people on political grounds—of whom 19,973 remain in detention, “some reportedly subjected to torture and abuses, and with no hope of a fair trial.” Over the last three years, it says some 1,576 individuals “have died while being held by the military.” The October offensive by the alliance of ethnic armed groups has emerged as the biggest threat to Myanmar’s military coup leaders. This reportedly persuaded the junta to accept a cease-fire agreement with the armed groups brokered by China on January 12th. “The fighting has subsided to a large degree,” said James Rodehaver, head of the U.N. Human Rights Office Myanmar Team. “However, there still continues to be airstrikes and some artillery barrages by the military against positions by these three-armed groups,” Speaking from Bangkok Tuesday, Rodehaver said “the armed groups have made it very clear that the cease-fire has repeatedly been violated by the Myanmar military…There still are instances where civilians are being killed as a result of these barrages.” He noted that the armed groups are in control of the areas they have captured and, in some cases, have handed over the administration of some towns and villages to the civilian inhabitants. “We are quite keen to see what impact that has had and also, of course, whether or not humanitarian access is going to expand in those areas and that the needs of the civilian population are going to be cared for,” he said. High Commissioner Türk says that Rakhine State has been particularly hard hit since fighting restarted there in November. He said, “Many communities, especially the Rohingya, were already suffering from the impacts of Cyclone Mocha and the military’s months-long limitation of humanitarian access and provision of assistance. “There have now been several reports of Rohingya deaths and injuries amid the military’s shelling of Rohingya villages,” he said, noting that fighting between the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military on January 26 “reportedly left at least 12 Rohingya civilians dead and 30 others wounded.” Rodehaver notes there are very few places to where people can flee. “The Rohingya have very limited options, which is one of the reasons why so many are trying to find any way to get out and into a safe location. And that includes even trying to flee on unseaworthy boats either directly from Myanmar or out of Cox’s Bazaar,” he said. The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, says 569 Rohingya perished or disappeared last year in Southeast Asian waters, with nearly 4,500 embarking on deadly sea journeys—the highest number since 2014, when the total reached 730. “Estimates show one Rohingya was reported to have died or gone missing for every eight people attempting the journey in 2023,” said Matthew Saltmarsh, UNHCR spokesperson. “This makes the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal one of the deadliest stretches of water in the world.” The UNHCR says that most of those embarking on deadly unseaworthy journeys are refugees departing from Cox’s Bazaar. Bangladesh, where more than a million refugees who fled violence and persecution in Myanmar in August 2021 are living in cramped, overcrowded camps.

WASHINGTON — The United States imposed sanctions on three entities and one individual based in Turkey and Lebanon on Wednesday for giving "critical financial support" to a financial network used by Iran's Quds Force, or IRGC-QF, and Lebanon's Hezbollah. "These entities have generated hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of revenue from selling Iranian commodities, including to the Syrian government," the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement. "These commodity sales provide a key source of funding for the IRGC-QF and Hezbollah's continued terrorist activities and support to other terrorist organizations throughout the region," it added. The Treasury Department said it had imposed sanctions on Turkey-based Mira Ihracat Ithalat Petrol, which purchases, transports, and sells Iranian commodities on the global market, and its chief executive and owner Ibrahim Talal al-Uwayr, who is also known under the alias Ibrahim Agaoglu. It also targeted two Lebanon-based entities, Yara Offshore SAL, a company affiliated with Hezbollah that has facilitated large sales of Iranian commodities to Syria, and Hydro Company for Drilling Equipment Rental, which is involved in financing the IRGC-QF by facilitating the shipment of Iranian commodities worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Syria. As a result of the sanctions, all property of those targeted in the United States or that fall under the control of U.S. persons is blocked. U.S. regulations generally bar U.S. persons from dealing with property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. Further, non-U.S. financial institutions and others that engage in certain dealings with those sanctioned may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action.

Moses Lake, Washington — It’s mid-winter in east Washington state, yet despite the chilly fog, two construction sites in the town of Moses Lake are brimming with activity. Several hundred workers are on an ambitious timeline to complete two new factories slanted to begin production of the next-generation components for electric vehicle batteries later this year. Two American start-ups, backed by $100 million in federal grants each, in addition to commercial partnerships, are racing to secure the domestic supply chain with the next-generation battery materials for EV automakers. “That's going to go into everything from electric vehicles to IoT [Internet of Things] devices to smartphones and wearables and a lot of battery-based applications that we don't even know exist yet,” explains Nik Anderson, director of program management with Group 14 Technologies, as he walks through the company’s vast construction site. Washington is one of the American states planning to ban sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles starting in 2035. For now, electric cars account for 8.6% of new vehicle sales in the United States. Affordable electric vehicles would require a significant scaling of domestic battery production, experts say. According to the Biden administration, affordable electric vehicles and reliable supply chain would require a significant scaling of domestic battery production and the national charging infrastructure. Once fully operational, the two companies’ factories in Moses Lake will be able to annually produce enough material to make batteries for about 400,000 electric vehicles. They also promise to produce a better battery, reducing the ‘charge anxiety’ of electric cars by replacing the graphite in conventional lithium-ion batteries with silicon-based components, which will allow for a faster charge. “The thing that makes our battery better, that uses our SCC55 [silicon-carbon composite] versus traditional graphite, is that it can have up to 50% more energy density, it can allow for extremely fast charging,” said Grant Ray, vice president for global market strategy with Group 14. “When we think about charge times, you know, right now we're hearing 10% to 80% in ten minutes. Well, what if that changes and it comes down to five minutes? What if it starts to get closer to what it really is for, you know, the way we think about refueling a car?” he said. One of the challenges for U.S. EV production with traditional lithium-ion batteries is the need to rely on imports. Daniel Schwartz, director of the Clean Energy Institute at the University of Washington, says the silicon-based component provides solutions for several challenges. “The primary mineral for what's going in Moses Lake is sand, silica — the most widely distributed mineral in the crust of the earth. Graphite is lower performance, and we are trade-exposed as a nation,” he said. The Biden administration invested in domestic EV battery production as part of its ambitious clean energy agenda. Among the Republican presidential candidates, most reject the urgency surrounding EV adoption, with former President Donald Trump calling it an “all-electric car hoax.” Last September, speaking in front of hundreds of people attending a rally in Clinton Township, Michigan, Trump called prioritizing EVs a “transition to hell,” telling auto workers that Democrats “want to go all electric and put you all out of business." Gene Berdichevsky, CEO of Sila Nanotechnologies, the second startup planning to start EV battery components production in Moses Lake, says the transition to electric vehicles is going to happen regardless of whether the U.S. is taking the lead in the process. “Renewables and batteries are really going to form the basis of 21st-century energy,” he said. “It's critical for the U.S. to build the capacity to be able to have battery production. Catching up to the world leaders in Asia is quite challenging. And so, the way to do that is not to build the same thing, it's to build the next generation of battery technologies.” In Moses Lake, a town of about 25,000 an hour and-a-half drive from the nearest city, all-electric cars are not a common sight. Berdichevsky is convinced that EV adoption in the area is just a matter of time. “We have to recognize that consumers want choice, and some consumers are going to want electric cars with 500 miles (range),” he says. “What we need to do is increase the choices for folks, and the way you do that is through better batteries.” Rosendo Alvarado, a Moses Lake native who took a job as a plant manager for Sila Nanotechnologies, says the remote town became an attractive spot for EV production thanks to the combination of several factors: cheap hydro power provided by local dams; existing manufacturing infrastructure and legacy companies, such as REC Silicon that could become a partner in the EV batteries production; and Washington state policies embracing clean energy initiatives. The cutting-edge industry promises to bring hundreds of new jobs to Moses Lake. Alvarado says he saw the town transforming over time from traditional farming to an industrial community — and expects further change. “We worked in the fields that this building is sitting on today,” he recalls. “It's been fast paced, but super exciting — the opportunities that we are able to bring here for the community and for the EV market.” He says the companies partnered with the local Columbia Basin Technical School and Big Bend Community College to start developing a new workforce as early as during high school classes. “It's a small, tight community. Kind of like everyone knows everyone type thing,” shrugs Nicholas Cruz, a young man out of school walking with his friend down the main street of Moses Lake, when asked about the EV projects coming to town. “It's gonna be exciting in the sense, like, there's more job opportunities and new opportunities to go here because Moses Lake is small, there's not much to it. I am not sure if it will impact me personally — I guess time will tell,” he said.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

WASHINGTON — On February 21, 2023, just before the Second Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, or CCP, and the Two Sessions in Beijing, a lone protestor projected a massive red slogan on the outer wall of the Wanda Plaza in Jinan, the capital of northeastern Shandong Province. The slogan said: "Overthrow the Communist Party. Overthrow Xi Jinping." For months, little was known about who was behind the rare protest and how someone managed to stage such an audacious act in authoritarian China. But last week, VOA’s Mandarin Service conducted an exclusive telephone interview with the lone protester — 29-year-old Chai Song, a former real estate rental broker who fled to the United States last year. His protest was inspired by the actions of Peng Lifa, who hung a long cloth banner on a bridge along a busy road in Beijing on October 13, 2022. Unlike Chai, Peng was immediately arrested and is in police custody at an undisclosed location. Following his own act of protest, Chai said, authorities immediately dispatched many police to arrest his girlfriend and two friends and cut off their contact with the outside world to reduce the social impact of the incident. Until recently, he said, he has kept quiet for the safety of his friends, but now he believes that widespread public attention is a better way to protect them. VOA: When did you come up with the idea to carry out the protest? Chai Song: What influenced me was Peng Zaizhou [Peng Lifa's online name], the White Paper Revolution and the fire in Xinjiang. After that, the disorderly reopening after the pandemic made me determined to do this. … After seeing so many people die, I decided that this was no place for people. It's trampling on life. So, I decided I had to do this. VOA: Why did you decide to use a projector? Chai: I had to consider my safety because Peng gave me some inspiration. He was brave when he did it. He was waiting on the bridge to be arrested. The impact of his arrest was even greater. I'm not as brave as he is. I just wanted to operate it remotely to ensure my personal safety. I hoped to continue to speak out more, not like that [scenario wherein] once a person makes a sound, [they] disappear. VOA: How did you set this all up? Chai: This preparation process was very cumbersome. To decide where to place [the projector], I checked out some places and finally chose the Wanda Plaza in Jinan. It had a huge passenger flow, so the effect was very good. After I decided on a place, I started preparing to rent a place. I rented a place on the 13th floor. The projector display surface was very good and very high. I decided to rent it. Then I went to buy some equipment, including that projector. After that, how do I get the characters I need? At that time, there were firms making advertising signs in China that could make the characters, but no one would make the kind of characters I needed for the slogan. And once I [ask] someone to [make the necessary characters], I might be exposed very quickly. So, I bought a laser engraving machine myself, and then I carved the characters myself. I did not use those characters to test but replaced them with a few other words: "Quzhou Spicy Duck Heads, Always Fresh." I tested it without arousing any suspicion. After testing the equipment, I replaced the lens with what I carved ["Overthrow the Communist Party. Overthrow Xi Jinping"] and then turned on the power. I bought a smart meter to control its power and turned the computer off so my phone could control it. Then, I turned it on remotely. I also installed a surveillance camera in that room to monitor whether my operation was exposed and whether I was discovered. VOA: After setting up the projector, you left China before turning it on, right? What were your expectations? Chai: I was very hesitant and struggling at the time. I was also very scared. I knew that once the operation started, people who were in contact with me or my parents would be affected. But I didn't expect it to be on such a big scale. I told my friend beforehand to help me shoot a video. I wanted to see what I did, but I was not in China. After I turned it on, he took a video for me. My friends and my girlfriend saw this video, and they were shocked. They also posted it on WeChat to spread the word. [Chai says he turned the projector on remotely from a hotel room in Panama.] VOA: When the incident happened, was there any reaction at the Wanda Plaza? Were the police dispatched? Chai: When my friend took the video for me — you may also be able to see in the video that the police car was already there — it happened very fast. But no matter how fast it was, I probably displayed the slogan for about 10 minutes. That night, around 8 or 9 o'clock, I contacted my friends, but none of them were reachable. They were probably arrested that night. Later, I learned from my friend's girlfriend that about 50 police went to his place that night to take him away. VOA: What did they do to your family and friends? Chai: The authorities interrogated everyone, especially my parents. They were basically interrogated for a week. Then my girlfriend, the friend who helped me shoot the video, and another friend — all three of them couldn't be reached at the same time and were arrested. The authorities sent people from the Provincial [Public Security] Department to Hebei Province, and the Hebei Provincial Department sent people down to my hometown to investigate my background, such as my teachers from elementary school and junior high school and the places I used to work for. VOA: Why did you post that specific slogan, “Overthrow the Communist Party. Overthrow Xi Jinping”? Chai: I think this is what I really wanted to come true. Of course, this realization may be very difficult, even a bit out of reach, and it is not something one person can accomplish. But it is really what I wanted to say most in my heart, so I chose to use this, and it is exactly what I wanted to do in my heart. VOA’s Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

Indigenous African grains such as millet and sorghum are known to be nutritious but are not popular with many, especially the Gen Zers who view the grains as food for the poor. To change this narrative, a Kenyan entrepreneur is using the grains to make snacks and breakfast cereals to promote consumption of indigenous grains and foster environmental sustainability, as Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi. Video by Amos Wangwa.

Yaounde, Cameroon — Communication ministers from the Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS, are meeting in Bangui, Central African Republic, this week to map out ways to stop the spread of hate speech. Officials from central African states say some influential politicians, business moguls and community leaders are using radio, television and social media to propagate information that has fueled regional crises, resulting in the displacement of millions of people.  Simplice Mathieu Sarandji, prime minister of the Central African Republic, said leaders of the 11-member ECCAS expect communication ministers at the meeting in Bangui to propose lasting solutions to xenophobic statements that are propagated on media outlets. Sarandji said humanitarian crises are spiraling in ECCAS states because of widespread hate speech.   A separatist crisis in western Cameroon, which has killed more than 6,000 people, was fueled in part by social media propaganda by rebel leaders who are based in Europe and the United States, according to Cameroonian officials.   Hate on social media also fueled an ongoing conflict between ranchers and fishers in northern Cameroon and Chad. Clashes there have killed more than 100 people and displaced more than 80,000.   The 1994 genocide in Rwanda was sparked by hate speech, mostly over radio, by Hutu extremists against Tutsis.  Joanne Adamson, deputy head of MINUSCA, the U.N. stabilization mission in the Central African Republic, spoke about the Bangui meeting on state TV in the CAR. She said the focus on hate speech is an important step toward finding solutions to fighting that sparked a mass movement of people fleeing in search of safety. By organizing the forum, Adamson added, the 11 ECCAS member states indicate they are ready to support and defend values that are vital to consolidate peace and security and promote human rights.  The ministers said they will enact legislation to punish people who use TV, radio and print media to propagate hate speech, but gave no further details. They also have agreed to control harmful content they say runs rampant on social media. Charly Gabriel Mbock, an anthropologist and conflict resolution specialist at the Yaounde-headquartered Catholic University of Central Africa, said the ministers should launch campaigns against hate speech in restive central African towns and villages. To do this, Mbock said, ECCAS communication ministers must educate clerics and traditional rulers that peace is priceless, before using radio, television and print media to call on civilians to reject and denounce calls for violence, especially on social media. He said central African governments should also make sure media laws being prepared against hate and xenophobic language do not infringe on press freedom. The communication ministers say they will submit their recommendations to ECCAS governments with the hope that if hate speech and xenophobic statements can be stopped, peace will return to restive areas.  

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Washington — China’s efforts to target U.S. critical infrastructure pose an urgent threat that needs to be addressed now, according to a new warning from one of Washington’s top law enforcement officials. FBI Director Christopher Wray tells U.S. lawmakers that Chinese government hackers are actively targeting America’s electrical grid, wastewater treatment plants, gas pipelines and transportation systems. “The risk that poses to every American requires our attention — now,” Wray said in prepared testimony, released ahead of a congressional hearing Wednesday on competition with China. “China’s hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities, if or when China decides the time has come to strike,” Wray said. The FBI director also alleged Beijing is running cyber campaigns to limit U.S. freedoms, “reaching inside our borders, across America, to silence, coerce, and threaten our citizens and residents.” The Chinese Embassy in Washington has yet to respond to a request for comment. Wednesday’s warning about China’s cyber efforts against U.S. critical infrastructure is not the first from top level U.S. officials. Earlier this month, the FBI along with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, and the Environmental Protection Agency, or RPA, cautioned cyberattacks were posing “a real and urgent risk to safe drinking water.” CISA has also warned about threats from Chinese-manufactured drones, warning they could access or steal sensitive information that could put the U.S. security and health and safety at risk.  This past September, the commander of U.S. Cyber Command, said he expected China to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to impact the upcoming U.S. presidential elections. “Russia, China, others are going to try to use this technology," General Paul Nakasone told an audience in Washington.    CISA Director Jen Easterly also warned this past June that in the event of a conflict with China, Beijing “will almost certainly use aggressive cyber operations to go after our critical infrastructure, to include pipelines and rail lines to delay military deployment and to induce societal panic."