International news brief: Shinzo Abe shot in chest; Putin warns Ukraine

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was showing no vital signs after apparently being shot at a campaign event in the Nara region on Friday. While Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia had barely started its actions in Ukraine and urged Kyiv and its Western allies to reach a deal with Moscow.

Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe shot in chest

Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot at during a campaign speech Friday in western Japan, NHK public television said Friday.

NHK public broadcaster aired footage showing Abe collapsed on the street, with several security guards running toward him, He was reportedly shot a few minutes after he started talking outside of the main train station in western Nara.

Abe was holding his chest when he collapsed, with his shirt smeared with blood. He was in Nara campaigning ahead of Sunday's election for the parliament's upper house and was giving a speech when people heard a gunshot.

Putin warns Russian actions in Ukraine 'haven't even started' yet

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia had barely started its actions in Ukraine and urged Kyiv and its Western allies to reach a deal with Moscow.

Putin accused the West of wanting to "fight [Russia] until the last Ukrainian" in providing military and economic support to Kyiv.

"It's a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but it looks like it's heading in that direction," Putin said.

"Everybody should know that largely speaking, we haven't even yet started anything in earnest," Putin warned.

Russia's president said that the Kremlin was ready to sit down for peace talks, and stressed that "those who refuse to do so should know that the longer it lasts the more difficult it will be for them to make a deal with us."

G20 foreign ministers meet in Bali

The foreign ministers of the Group of 20 (G20) countries are attending a joint summit on Friday on the Indonesian island of Bali, amid tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine.

Several Western ministers, including German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have ruled out meeting the Kremlin's top diplomat. They boycotted a dinner held on Thursday evening due to Lavrov's presence.

China demands end to US-Taiwan military 'collusion'

China has demanded the US cease military "collusion" with Taiwan during a virtual meeting between the joint chiefs of staff from the two countries whose relationship has grown increasingly fractious. Gen. Li Zuocheng told Gen. Mark Milley on Thursday that China had "no room for compromise" on issues affecting its "core interests," which include self-governing Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary.

"China demands the U.S. ... cease reversing history, cease U.S.-Taiwan military collusion and avoid impacting China-U.S. ties and stability in the Taiwan Strait," Li said. The Chinese military would "resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.

US President Biden to sign order on abortion access

US President Joe Biden will take executive action on Friday to protect access to abortion, according to three people familiar with the matter, as he faces mounting pressure from Democrats to be more forceful on the subject after the Supreme Court ended a constitutional right to the procedure two weeks ago.

The White House said Biden will speak on Friday morning "on protecting access to reproductive health care services", but the actions Biden was to outline were expected to be limited in scope. He is expected to formalise instructions to the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to push back on efforts to limit the ability of women to access federally approved abortion medication or to travel across state lines to access clinical abortion services.

George Floyd death: Ex-Minnesota cop Derek Chauvin sentenced to 21 years in prison

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Derek Chauvin to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd's civil rights, telling the former Minneapolis police officer that what he did was "simply wrong" and "offensive."

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sharply criticized Chauvin for his actions on May 25, 2020, when the white officer pinned Floyd to the pavement outside a Minneapolis corner store for more than 9 minutes as the Black man lay dying. Floyd's killing sparked protests worldwide in a reckoning over police brutality and racism.

"I really don't know why you did what you did," Magnuson said. "To put your knee on a person's neck until they expired is simply wrong. ... Your conduct is wrong and it is offensive."