Jumat, 13 Januari 2023

Russia claims control of salt mine town Soledar - BBC

A satellite view shows a destroyed school and buildings in south Soledar, Ukraine, January 10, 2023Maxar Technologies

Russia's military says it has captured the Ukrainian salt-mine town Soledar after a long battle, calling it an "important" step for its offensive.

The victory would allow Russian troops to push on to the nearby city of Bakhmut, and cut off the Ukrainian forces there, a spokesman said.

This was a very confident and ambitious statement from Moscow.

But Ukrainian officials said the fight for Soledar was still going on and accused Russia of "information noise".

The battle for Soledar has been one of the bloodiest of the war.

The town is relatively small, with a pre-war population of just 10,000, and its strategic significance is debatable. But if it is confirmed that Russian forces have seized control of it, then there will likely be a big sigh of relief in the Kremlin.

Barely any walls there remained standing, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week. Describing almost apocalyptic scenes, he spoke of the nearby terrain as scarred by missile strikes and littered with Russian corpses.

His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, compared the fight for Soledar and Bakhmut to one of the bitterest battles of World War One, at Verdun.

Regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Thursday that 559 civilians including 15 children remained in Soledar and could not be moved out.

Control map of Bakhmut area
1px transparent line

The town's significance for the Russian military is disputed by military analysts because of its relatively small size. The US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said while it was likely that Russian forces had captured Soledar, it did not believe they would then be able to go on to encircle Bakhmut.

Nevertheless, if it becomes clear that Russia has taken it, then that will be seen in Moscow as progress - even a victory.

That is exactly what President Vladimir Putin needs as Russia has failed to capture a single town in Ukraine since July 2022. Since then, Moscow's forces have suffered a whole series of embarrassing defeats.

Ukraine's successful counter-attack pushed Russia almost completely out of Kharkiv region in the north-east. In October, Russia's Kerch bridge came under attack, with Russian forces retreating from the city of Kherson the following month.

Kherson had been the only regional capital that Russia had managed to seize since the invasion began and it was back in Ukrainian hands.

Capturing Soledar would be something for Moscow to present as some "good news" to the Russian people and the troops on the wintry front line.

But Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern military command, denied Soledar was in Russian hands: "We won't give any more details as we do not want to reveal the tactical positions of our fighters."

Deputy Defence Minister, Hanna Malyar, said fighting had been "hot in Soledar overnight". Ukrainian fighters were "bravely trying to hold the defence", she added, in what was a difficult stage of the war.

President Volodymyr Zelensky described Soledar, Bakhmut and the wider defence of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine as the top issue in his nightly address late on Thursday.

Photo claiming to show Yevgeny Prigozhin inside a Soledar salt mine
Reuters

Western and Ukrainian officials have said much of the fighting in Soledar and Bakhmut is being done by the notoriously brutal Wagner mercenary group.

Its leader, 61-year-old Yevgeny Prigozhin, has claimed repeatedly over the past few days that his forces are the only units on the ground in Soledar. He said on Tuesday night that his mercenaries had seized the town, only to be contradicted by Russia's defence ministry the next morning.

Daily updates from the Russian defence ministry have made no mention whatsoever of Wagner, and Friday's briefing was no exception. The military said that paratroopers had played a key part in the capture of the town.

Mr Prigozhin then released a statement saying he was "surprised" to read the defence ministry briefing. There "wasn't a single paratrooper" in Soledar, he insisted, warning against "insulting [his] fighters" and "stealing others' achievements".

Analysts have long spoken of tensions between the military and Mr Prigozhin's Wagner group. The Russian oligarch has publicly criticised senior military leaders, including Gen Valery Gerasimov, appointed two days ago as overall commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.

While Russia has mobilised some 300,000 reservists for the war since the end of September, Prigozhin has looked to recruit extra numbers from Russia's prisons.

Andriy Yermak told French daily Le Monde that Russian criminals had been sent straight to their deaths on the front line: "Soledar is a scene of street battles, with neither side really in control of the town."

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2023-01-13 14:05:34Z
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Russia claims control of salt mine town Soledar - BBC

A satellite view shows a destroyed school and buildings in south Soledar, Ukraine, January 10, 2023Maxar Technologies

Russia says it has taken control of Ukrainian salt-mine town Soledar after a months-long battle, calling it an "important" step for its offensive.

The victory would allow Russian troops to cut off Ukrainian supply routes in the nearby larger city of Bakhmut, the defence ministry said.

Ukrainian officials said the fight for Soledar was still going on and accused Russia of "information noise".

The fighting around Soledar has been some of the bloodiest of the war.

Regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Thursday that 559 civilians including 15 children remained in the town and could not be moved out.

Soledar's significance for the Russian military is disputed by military analysts because of its relatively small size. But seizing Soledar would likely be hailed as a victory in Moscow after months of failures and setbacks in Russia's 10-month war.

The US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said hours earlier that it was likely that Russian forces had captured Soledar, but it did not believe they would then be able to go on to encircle Bakhmut.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern military command, said Russia had sent its best mercenary fighters and other units to Soledar.

Deputy defence minister, Hanna Malyar, said fighting had been "hot in Soledar overnight". Ukrainian fighters were "bravely trying to hold the defence", she added, in what was a difficult stage of the war.

President Volodymyr Zelensky described Soledar, Bakhmut and the wider defence of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine as the top issue in his nightly address hours earlier.

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2023-01-13 10:52:32Z
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At least seven dead as storm system batters southern US with tornado leaving trail of destruction in Alabama - Sky News

At least six people have died in Alabama and one in Georgia as a powerful storm sweeps through the southern US, spurring a large tornado which damaged dozens of homes.

Six of the deaths were reported in the Old Kingston community of Autauga County, spanning several properties.

At least 12 people have been taken to hospital there, local officials said.

Ernie Baggett, the emergency management director in Autauga, told the Associated Press that between 40 and 50 homes had been damaged by the extreme weather, with the tornado dubbed "large and extremely dangerous".

The death in Georgia was a passenger who was sitting in a vehicle when a tree fell on it in Jackson, said Butts County coroner Lacey Prue.

Local media reported that the victim was a five-year-old child, citing county officials.

A damaged structure and debris are seen in the aftermath of severe weather, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, in Selma, Ala. A large tornado damaged homes and uprooted trees in Alabama on Thursday as a powerful storm system pushed through the South. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Image: Properties in Selma were damaged by the storm. Pic: AP

'It blew out windows'

But it's Alabama which has been the worst hit by the extreme weather so far.

Properties in the city of Selma were impacted - photos showed scenes of devastation in residential areas, as powerful winds shredded walls and toppled roofs.

Former state senator Hank Sanders said there was damage "all over" the city of about 18,000 residents.

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US tornado: 'This was my mum's house!'

"A tornado has definitely damaged Selma," he added.

"In fact, it hit our house, but not head-on. It blew out windows in the bedroom and in the living room.

"It is raining through the roof in the kitchen."

Cars have been blown over and trees uprooted by the high winds, and a city-wide curfew is in place.

No deaths have been reported in Selma so far.

"People have been injured, but no fatalities," said mayor James Perkins.

"We have a lot of downed power lines. There is a lot of danger on the streets."

Devastation is seen in the aftermath from severe weather, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, in Greensboro, Ala. A giant, swirling storm system billowing across the South spurred a tornado on Thursday that shredded the walls of homes, toppled roofs and uprooted trees. (Mike Goodall via AP)
Image: Pic: Mike Goodall via AP

'Life-threatening situation'

Alabama's tornado was one of 33 reported by the National Weather Service by Thursday evening, with warnings remaining in place for Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina into the night.

"This is a life-threatening situation. Take shelter immediately," the weather service said of the Alabama tornado.

Tens of thousands of homes have been left without power, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages, including more than 50,000 in Alabama and more than 100,000 in Georgia.

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2023-01-13 03:42:56Z
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Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 324 - Al Jazeera English

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 324th day, we take a look at the main developments.

Here is the situation as it stands on Friday, January 13, 2023:

Fighting:

  • Russia said its forces were edging closer to capturing Soledar, a salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine.
  • A Russian-installed official in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region said “pockets of resistance” remain in Soledar.
  • Russia appointed Valery Gerasimov as its overall commander of forces for the war in Ukraine. Gerasimov played key roles in Russia’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and in Moscow’s military support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s war.
  • Russia could raise the upper age limit for citizens to be conscripted into the armed forces as soon as this spring as part of Moscow’s plans to boost the number of Russian troops by 30 percent.

Diplomacy:

  • More than a dozen senior European Union officials will visit Kyiv on February 2 to meet members of the Ukrainian government.
  • A delegation headed by the commander of Russia’s ground forces, Oleg Salyukov, visited Belarus to inspect the combat readiness of a joint force stationed there.
  • Ukraine expressed its disappointment in signals that the new Israeli government may establish closer ties with Russia.
  • A spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry questioned whether Sweden has “something to hide” over blasts along the Nord Stream gas pipelines last September.
  • Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova said Moscow and Kyiv were interested in future contacts between their rights commissioners.

Economy:

  • Car sales in Russia fell by 58.8 percent in 2022, the Association of European Businesses said, as the industry continues to reel from the effect of Western sanctions on Moscow.
  • Russia’s foreign ministry said Moscow imposed sanctions on 36 individuals in connection with the “anti-Russian course” adopted by the United Kingdom’s government.

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2023-01-13 06:36:38Z
1733763175

Kamis, 12 Januari 2023

Special counsel to look into Biden's handling of classified files - BBC

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US Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel to investigate President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents.

Robert Hur, a former senior justice department official during the Trump presidency, will lead the investigation.

Classified files were recently found in Mr Biden's home and at an office he used after his term as vice-president.

The White House said Mr Biden will fully cooperate with the investigation.

The discovery of the documents have been called a political embarrassment for Mr Biden, as it comes during an ongoing investigation into former President Donald Trump's own alleged mishandling of classified files.

The first batch of files were found on 2 November at the Penn Biden Center, a think-tank Mr Biden launched in Washington DC. They were then handed over to the US National Archives, Mr Biden said.

Mr Garland said a second batch of files were located on 20 December at Mr Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware. He added that on Thursday morning, Mr Biden's lawyers called investigators to notify them of an additional document, also found at the president's private home.

After an initial probe by US Attorney John Lausch, Mr Garland said his office decided that a special counsel was needed to investigate Mr Biden's handling of the files due to the "extraordinary circumstances" of the matter.

"This appointment underscores for the public the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters, and to making decisions undisputedly guided only by the facts and the law," Mr Garland said.

Mr Hur said he will investigate the issue "with fair, impartial and dispassionate judgement".

Photo of Robert Hur
Getty Images

White House lawyer Richard Sauber said Mr Biden has cooperated fully with the justice department's review, and will continue to do so.

"We are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the President and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake," he said.

Sources familiar with the case told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that the review has so far included interviews with witnesses who may have knowledge of how the classified documents were handled.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning, Mr Biden reiterated again that his lawyers had notified officials of the discovery and that he take the matter seriously.

He added that the additional documents found were locked in a garage next to his 1960s Chevrolet Corvette sports car, "not sitting out in the street".

The additional search in Mr Biden's home garage uncovered "among personal and political papers a small number of additional Obama-Biden Administration records with classified markings", Mr Sauber said.

Lawyers also searched Mr Biden's home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, but found no additional files.

A timeline on the discovery of Biden's classified documents

  • 2 November: Lawyers for Mr Biden found a batch of classified documents in a storage closet at the University of Pennsylvania's Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington DC while they were moving out of the space. The files were turned over to the US National Archives as soon as they were discovered, Mr Biden said. They reportedly included intelligence information about Ukraine, Iran and the UK
  • 4 November: The National Archives informed the US Department of Justice that the classified documents had been found
  • 9 November: The FBI conducted an assessment, per protocol, to see if the classified information had been mishandled in violation of US federal law
  • 14 November: US Attorney John Lausch was assigned by the Department of Justice to conduct an initial probe into the matter
  • 20 December: Mr Biden's lawyer told Mr Lausch that a second batch of documents was found at the president's private home garage in Wilmington, Delaware. The documents were from Mr Biden's time as vice-president. Those documents were then secured by the FBI
  • 5 January: Mr Lausch advised US Attorney General Merrick Garland that a special counsel should be appointed to conduct a further investigation of Mr Biden's handling of the files. Mr Merrick agreed, and appointed Mr Hur to lead the investigation in the subsequent days
  • 12 January: Mr Biden's lawyers notified Mr Lausch than an additional classified document was found at the president's Delaware home

Mr Biden is now facing questions about whether the newly discovered files hold sensitive information that could have jeopardised matters of US national security.

Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy also raised concerns about the timing of the discovery being made public.

"They knew this had happened to President Biden before the (US midterm) election, but they kept it a secret from the American public," Mr McCarthy said.

Mr Biden's predecessor, Mr Trump, is currently under investigation by the justice department after more than 325 classified files - including some marked with Secret and Top Secret designations - were discovered last year at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Investigators said they are looking at whether Mr Trump violated federal law by obstructing the document recovery process or destroying government materials. The former president has denied any wrongdoing.

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2023-01-12 22:34:21Z
1724777398

Brazil Congress: Bolsonaro supporters inside palace enabled riot - Lula - BBC

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks to reporters on ThursdayGetty Images

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has accused ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro's allies of aiding an attack on the presidential palace on Sunday.

Lula said he was convinced supporters of Mr Bolsonaro inside the palace had been complicit by allowing rioters to enter key state buildings.

And he vowed to carry out a thorough screening of palace employees in the wake of the attempted insurrection.

Some 1,500 people have already been detained in connection with the attack.

"I am convinced that the door to the Planalto palace was opened so these people could get in because I didn't see the front door had been broken down. And that means that somebody facilitated their entry here," Lula told reporters in the capital Brasilia.

"Many people in the military police were complicit," the veteran leftist politician said. "There were many people in the armed forces here inside [the palace] who were complicit."

In the wake of the attack on Sunday, Lula accused local security officials - who were commanded by Mr Bolsonaro's former Justice Minister Anderson Torres - of incompetence or active involvement with the rioters.

And he doubled down on the allegations on Thursday, telling reporters that the presidential palace "was full of Bolsonaristas and military officials and we want to try to correct this so we can appoint career civil servants - preferably civilian ones".

"Nobody who is suspected of being a hardcore Bolsonarista can be allowed to remain in the palace," he went on. "How can I have someone at the door of my office who might shoot me?"

Arrest warrants have already been issued for a host of top officials accused of being "responsible for acts and omissions" that led to the riots.

Attention has been turned to the military, widely perceived as being full of supporters of Mr Bolsonaro - a former army captain during the last military dictatorship.

The army was forced to deny reports that some of its officers had prevented police from detaining protesters, after footage showing angry exchanges between security forces emerged in local media.

But Lula has insisted Defence Minister Jose Mucio will remain in his post, telling reporters "I trust him".

"If I had to fire a minister every time they made a mistake the turnaround would be enormous," he added.

A member of a right-wing party, Mr Mucio was viewed as a concession to the military upon his appointment. In November, Mr Bolsonaro's vice-president Hamilton Mourao welcomed reports of the appointment and said it would be "very well seen by the armed forces".

Meanwhile, Mr Torres has denied he had anything to do with a draft decree allegedly found during a search of his house on Tuesday, which local media say was aimed at overturning October's election result.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Mr Torres - who is believed to be in Orlando, Florida - said he had a "clear conscience" regarding his role as minister and accused authorities of leaking stories out of context.

Despite the mass arrest of supporters of Mr Bolsonaro, authorities have expressed concern that more rallies could be organised by his hard-line allies.

According to a memo from federal prosecutors seen by the BBC, pro-Bolsonaro groups have been calling for "mega" demonstrations to take place across Brazilian state capitals.

The government is also asking that social media platforms take steps to suspend accounts that have been involved in planning criminal behaviour.

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2023-01-12 21:08:50Z
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President Biden speaks after second batch of classified files found in garage - BBC News - BBC News

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2023-01-12 16:44:02Z
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