Kharkiv mayor dismisses Russian claims of ‘terrorism’ over Crimean bridge attack - The Guardian

The mayor of Kharkiv has dismissed Russia’s claim that Monday’s attack on the Kerch Bridge linking the Crimean peninsula to Russia was an act of Ukrainian “terrorism” and said the Kremlin had brought death and destruction to his city on an epic scale.

In an interview with the Guardian, Ihor Terekhov said Moscow had been bombarding Kharkiv’s civilian population since last year’s full-scale invasion. On Sunday, one person was killed and seven injured in three separate attacks, with S-300 missiles fired from across the Russian border.

“How can they speak about terrorism after unleashing war on Ukraine? They are shooting and killing our people. They have destroyed thousands of buildings in Kharkiv, leaving 150,000 homeless,” he said.

He added: “Half of our schools and kindergartens have been wrecked, not to mention our cultural heritage. Our children can’t go to school. This weekend, the Russians attacked us again. They strike our parks and gardens. How dare they speak of terrorism?”

Terekhov said Russia’s army tortured and shot “thousands of people” living in the Kharkiv region, which was occupied for six months. He cited the city of Izium, where the bodies of 447 men, women and children were discovered in a mass grave, including the bodies of 22 Ukrainian soldiers.

The mayor suggested the bridge between Russia and the occupied Crimean peninsula was a legitimate military target. “This will cause a lot of logistical problems for Russia,” he observed. “It shows the Kremlin is weak. The task of Ukraine and its allies is to make Moscow even weaker.”

When Russian tanks tried to seize Kharkiv last March, most citizens fled, with only 300,000 remaining from a population of 2 million, he said. “Sometimes I would drive around and I didn’t see anybody on the streets,” he recalled. Local people returned in several waves after Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive last September.

Kharkiv’s population had gone back up to 1.2 million, he said, after many families returned this summer. He described the city as “indomitable”. But he stressed the situation was far from normal, with frequent air raid sirens, and the threat of bombs and explosions hanging over daily life.

“They are trying to break us, to break Ukraine’s spirit. They will not succeed,” he said.

Terekhov spoke after one of the biggest Russian attacks on Kharkiv for several weeks on Sunday. Air raid alarms sounded across the city for much of the day, with a strike at 2am, followed by another in the evening, and a third on Sunday night. All involved S-300 anti-aircraft missiles.

The regional governor, Oleh Synyehubov, said a young man was killed in the second attack. Vapour trails were visible above Kharkiv’s Freedom Square and the neoclassical regional administration building, which was bombed in the first days of the invasion.

Synyehubov said the victim on Sunday was a man born in 1999 who worked in a civilian enterprise. Three people were hospitalised with shrapnel injuries after the strike in the Osnovianskyi district of the city. A fourth was treated at the scene.

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Ukraine recaptured much of the wider Kharkiv region in September, with Russian forces occupying now only a small strip of land there.

The deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram that Russian forces had also been attacking in the direction of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region for two days.

“We are on the defensive,” Maliar wrote. “There are fierce battles. The positions of both sides change dynamically several times a day.”

Maliar also said the two armies were pummelling one another around the ruined city of Bakhmut, but that Ukrainian forces were “gradually moving forward” along its southern flank.

She added that Kyiv’s troops were also fending off Russian attacks elsewhere on the eastern front near Avdiivka and Maryinka.

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2023-07-17 22:17:00Z
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Extreme weather grips the globe as heatwaves and wildfires rage - Al Jazeera English

Temperatures have soared towards new highs across three continents as heatwaves and wildfires are scorching parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

Health authorities have sounded alarms from North America to Europe and Asia, urging people to stay hydrated and shelter from the burning sun, in a stark reminder of the effects of global warming.

California’s Death Valley, often among the hottest places on Earth, reached a near-record 53.3 Celsius (128 Fahrenheit) on Sunday afternoon.

Near Athens, Greece, a forest fire flared in strong winds by the popular beach town of Loutraki, where the mayor said holiday camps for youngsters had come under threat, forcing the children’s evacuation.

“We have saved 1,200 children who were in the holiday camps,” Mayor Giorgos Gkionis said on Monday.

Europe, the globe’s fastest-warming continent, was bracing for its hottest-ever temperature on Italy’s islands of Sicily and Sardinia, where a high of 48C (118F) is predicted, according to the European Space Agency.

The United Nations on Wednesday validated the European heat record of 48.8C (119.8F) set in Sicily in 2021.

“The extreme weather – an increasingly frequent occurrence in our warming climate – is having a major impact on human health, ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy and water supplies,” said World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

“This underlines the increasing urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and as deeply as possible.”

It was already the world’s hottest June on record, according to the European Union weather monitoring service, and July looks to be readying to challenge its own record.

“There are heatwave warnings stretching from Hungary down through the Balkan states through Italy and back towards central Spain. They exist for a couple days at least,” Al Jazeera’s senior weather presenter Rob McElwee said.

China reported a new high for mid-July in the northwest of the country, where the temperature reached 52.2C (126F) in the Xinjiang region’s village of Sanbao, breaking the previous high of 50.6C (123F) set six years ago.

In nearby Turpan city, where ground surface temperatures sizzled at 80C (176F) in some parts, authorities have told workers and students to stay home and ordered special vehicles to spray water on major thoroughfares, the weather body said.

In Cyprus, where temperatures are expected to remain above 40C (104F) through Thursday, a 90-year-old man died as a result of heatstroke and three other seniors were hospitalised, health officials said.

In the Turkish-held north of the island, building worker Achebe Chimeka, aged 27, was still toiling outside. He may be used to the sun, but admitted “It’s very intense heat. It feels like my brain is going to stop.”

“Some bosses don’t follow the rules but we don’t want to complain for fear of losing our jobs,” he said.

In Japan, heatstroke alerts were issued in 32 out of the country’s 47 prefectures, mainly in central and southwestern regions.

At least 60 people in Japan were treated for heatstroke, local media reported, including 51 who were taken to hospital in Tokyo.

The heat was enough for at least one man to dispense with social mortification in Hamamatsu city.

“It’s honestly unbearable without a parasol, although I have to admit it is a bit embarrassing,” he told national broadcaster NHK of the umbrella in his hand.

‘Oppressive’ US heat

In western and southern states in the United States – places that are used to high temperatures – more than 80 million people were under advisories as a “widespread and oppressive” heatwave roasted the region.

McElwee reported that Reno, Nevada reached a new record of 42C (107F).

“We’ve had new records in this general part of the US. The desert southwest will stay hot, although not necessarily record breaking for a few more days,” McElwee said.

In Arizona, the state capital Phoenix recorded its 17th straight day above 43C (109F), as temperatures hit (45C) 113F on Sunday afternoon.

“We’re used to 110F, 112F … But not the streaks,” Nancy Leonard, a 64-year-old retiree from the nearby suburb of Peoria, told AFP. “You just have to adapt”.

Historic highs forecast

In Europe, Italians were warned to prepare for “the most intense heatwave of the summer and also one of the most intense of all time,” with the health ministry sounding a red alert for 16 cities including Rome, Bologna and Florence.

Temperatures were due to hit 42C-43C (107F-109F) in Rome on Tuesday, smashing the record of 40.5C (104.9F) set in August 2007.

Nevertheless, visitors thronged to tourist hot spots like the Colosseum and the Vatican.

“I’m from South Africa. We’re used to this heat,” said Jacob Vreunissen, 60, a civil engineer from Cape Town.

“You have to drink lots of water, obviously wear your hat and that’s about it.”

In Romania, temperatures are expected to reach 39C (102F) on Monday.

Little reprieve is forecast for Spain, where meteorologists warned of “abnormally high” temperatures on Monday, including up to 44C (111F) in the southern Andalusia region in what would be a new regional record.

Along with the heat, parts of Asia have also been battered by torrential rain.

South Korea’s president vowed Monday to “completely overhaul” the country’s approach to extreme weather, after at least 40 people were killed in recent flooding and landslides during monsoon rains, which are forecast to continue through Wednesday.

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2023-07-17 19:50:45Z
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Russia-Ukraine war live: two killed in Crimean bridge ‘emergency’, Russian authorities say, as explosions reported - The Guardian

From 4h ago

Two people from Russia’s Belgorod region, a mother and father, were killed in the “emergency” on the Crimean bridge and their daughter was injured, the region’s governor has said on Telegram.

“This morning we all started with information about the emergency that happened on the Crimean bridge. We all saw a video on the internet of a damaged car with Belgorod number plates,” Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote.

“The girl was injured, moderately injured … The hardest thing is that her parents died, dad and mom.”

Ukrainian officials have continued to hint at Kyiv’s involvement in the Kerch bridge attack.

A spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence department, Andriy Yusov, has said: “The peninsula is used by the Russians as a large logistical hub for moving forces and assets deep into the territory of Ukraine. Of course, any logistical problems are additional complications for the occupiers.”

AP reports that the Security Service of Ukraine has posted a redacted version of a popular lullaby, tweaked to say that the bridge “went to sleep again.”

It also released a statement saying “all details regarding the explosion will be announced after the victory”, the BBC reports.

A Crimean Tatar-led underground movement is already active behind Russian lines and hundreds of young Tatar men are ready to take up arms to liberate the occupied peninsula, a veteran community leader has said.

The Guardian’s world affairs editor Julian Borger reports.

Moving away from events on the Crimean bridge for now, Russia continued its assault on Kharkiv last night and air raid sirens sounded to warn people to take shelter. Loud explosions were heard in the central district on Sunday evening, just hours after one person was killed and four wounded in an earlier attack.

Officials from the Kremlin have now spoken. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the following, without providing evidence to corroborate the claims:

Today’s attack on the Crimean bridge was carried out by the Kyiv regime. This regime is terrorist and has all the hallmarks of an international organized crime group.

Decisions are made by Ukrainian officials and the military with the direct participation of American and British intelligence agencies and politicians. The US and Britain are in charge of a terrorist state structure.

A senior Russian politician has said that Russia should not renew the Black Sea grain deal in light of the attack on the bridge.

Sergei Mironov, leader of the A Just Russia party in Russia’s parliament, also said that Moscow should respond by destroying Ukrainian infrastructure, according to Reuters.

“That is what we need to do, and not discuss a grain deal that helps Kyiv’s rulers and their western masters line their pockets. There can be no grain deal after another terrorist attack,” he said on Telegram.

Russia agreed a year ago to sign the Black Sea grain deal which allowed Ukraine to resume shipping food from its southern ports despite the war. But it has repeatedly cast doubt on whether it will agreed to extend the arrangement, which – incidentally – expires today.

The Kremlin has yet to comment on the Crimean bridge incident or its possible implications for the grain deal. But state media is now reporting that Russia’s anti-terrorist committee has said Ukrainian “special forces” attacked the Crimean bridge overnight using unmanned drones on the water surface.

At least two other Ukrainian media outlets have cited unnamed sources which have said Ukraine’s domestic security agency and navy were behind the incident.

Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne and media outlet Ukrainska Pravda gave few details of an operation they said had involved the security service of Ukraine and the navy, but Suspilne cited its sources as saying the bridge was attacked with underwater drones, according to Reuters.

Suspilne quoted a navy spokesperson as saying he had no such information and urging the broadcaster to wait for official announcements.

The Russian-installed head of Crimea’s parliament has claimed that Ukraine was behind the incident on the Crimea bridge which killed two people earlier, the state RIA news agency reported.

Vladimir Konstantinov was quoted as saying that the bridge had been attacked by what he called Ukraine’s “terrorist regime” and that the railway part of the bridge was not damaged. In comments published by Russian media, he alleged Ukraine had committed a “new crime” by targeting a “civilian” facility.

Meanwhile, the BBC reports that a Ukraine security service source has told the broadcaster that the attack was “a special operation of the naval forces of the armed forces of Ukraine and the security service of Ukraine”.

“The bridge was attacked with surface drones. It was difficult to reach the bridge, but in the end it was possible,” the source says.

The Ukrainian site censor.net is also reporting that Ukraine’s domestic security agency was behind the attack, citing security service sources. It also states that the organisation head, Vasyl Malyuk, previously said the bridge was a legitimate target.

The Russian independent online newspaper The Insider has published a video showing the damage done to the bridge earlier today.

One section of the carriage way has buckled. There is no vehicle traffic in either direction. The footage was taken from the neighbouring railway bridge which is undamaged, and broadcast by the pro-Kremlin Crimea 24 channel.

We may not know exactly what happened to the bridge for some time. Reuters reports that Russia blamed Ukraine for an attack on the bridge last October, but the country admitted only indirectly to it months later.

Today, Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Odesa military administration, has posted a photo on his Telegram account of what seemed to show part of the bridge broken. But it was not immediately clear whether that was related to any attack.

Russia’s transport ministry said there was damage to the road on the bridge closer to the Crimean Peninsula, but there was no damage to the pillars. It did not say what caused the damage.

In recent weeks, traffic jams to the entrance of the bridge have stretched for kilometres on a daily basis as Russian people went on holiday.

This morning the traffic jam ran for kilometres before police directed vehicles away from the bridge. Social media accounts showed cars lined up on the bridge and its entrance.

Here’s the full story following the reported explosions on Crimea’s Kerch Bridge, from the Guardian’s Emma Graham-Harrison.

The Kerch Bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula to Russia has been closed by an “emergency” that killed two people and injured a child, after local residents reported hearing explosions in the early hours of Monday morning.

The heavily guarded road and rail link is among the Kremlin’s most important and high-prestige infrastructure projects, and the only overland link that goes directly from Russia to occupied Crimea.

Cars heading for the bridge were stopped early on Monday morning after the head of the Russian-controlled administration in Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said there was “an emergency situation” on the 145th pillar of the bridge.

Mattha Busby here taking over the blog from my colleague Helen Livingston. I’m on Twitter here or email mattha.busby.freelance@guardian.co.uk

Russia is suffering from a shortage of “counter-battery radars”, which are key to allowing commanders to “rapidly locate enemy gun lines,” the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update on the conflict.

“Russian ground forces survivability relies on effectively detecting Ukrainian artillery and striking against it,” the MoD added.

“After being sacked by as commander of Russia’s 58th Combined Arms Army (58 CAA) in Ukraine, General-Major Ivan Popov claimed that one of his key complaints had been about the lack of counter battery provision,” the ministry wrote.

Ukrainian forces have recaptured a total of seven square kilometres in the past week around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian forces in May, the deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, has said.

“On the southern flank around Bakhmut we have been advancing every day during the past week,” she wrote on Telegram.

In total Ukrainian forces have liberated 31 square kilometres in the Bakhmut area during the counteroffensive, she said.

Pictures are circulating on social media which show the damage done to the bridge in more detail:

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2023-07-17 07:31:00Z
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Charon sees temperatures soar again as record could be broken - live - The Independent

Europeans seek shade as heatwave grips much of the continent

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Europe’s record for the hottest temperature ever recorded could be broken this week, with Italy issuing new hot weather red alerts for 16 cities as another heat dome heads towards the Mediterranean region.

A new anticyclone dubbed “Charon”, who in Greek mythology was the ferryman of the dead, advanced into the region from north Africa on Sunday and could lift temperatures well above 45C in parts of Italy.

“We need to prepare for a severe heat storm that, day after day, will blanket the whole country,” Italian weather news service said.

“In some places ancient heat records will be broken.”The hottest temperature recorded in Europe was 48.8C in Sicily, in August 2021.

The new heat dome enters Europe as the region is already experiencing deadly heat and wildfires with temperatures above 40C.

At least 4,000 people were evacuated in Spain as firefighters struggle to contain wildfires tearing through La Palma.

It comes as extreme temperatures are breaking records worldwide as both the US and China saw the mercury crossing 50C on Sunday.

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British holidaymakers reportedly changing plans for fear of heatwave

Some British holidaymakers are changing their plans for fear of the European heatwave, it has been reported.

Justine Rush, 53, who is in Corfu, told the Observer: “It’s properly hot – too hot to go outside in the day, except when you’re in the sea. We’ve had to stay in our room most of the day.”

Paola Deitan, 29, from Marlborough, Wiltshire, was planning to travel with her best friend to Greece, but has now opted for Barcelona, the newspaper said.

People can change their holiday plans, but normal conditions apply, including cancellation fees.

Tara Cobham17 July 2023 09:20

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In pictures: Heatwave in Europe

A man cools off in a fountain during a heat wave in Rome, Italy

Jose Fernandez, 46-year-old, a forest firefighter from the R13 group, works to extinguish the Tijarafe forest fire on the Canary Island of La Palma, Spain

People bathe in the area of Lake Sirio to cool off, in the province of Turin, Italy

Tara Cobham17 July 2023 09:00

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Extreme heatwave in US while flooding killed at least five

An extreme heatwave peaked in the western United States on Sunday, with temperatures reaching 128 Fahrenheit (53 Celsius) in the California desert, while flash flooding continued to menace the Northeast, killing at least five people.

Nearly a quarter of the US population fell under extreme heat advisories, partly due to a stubborn heat dome that has been parked over western states. While baking parts of the country, the heat dome has also helped generate heavy rains in the Northeast, a pattern expected to continue for days if not weeks, according to the National Weather Service.

In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia, downpours and flash flooding over the weekend killed at least five people. Nearly 7 inches (17 cm) of rain fell on the area in 45 minutes late Saturday, Upper Makefield Township Fire Chief Tim Brewer told a press conference, claiming five lives as vehicles were swept away. Two children, one aged 2 and the other 9 months, remained missing.

"We continue to look for the two children," Brewer said. "We are not going to give up regardless. The weather is a factor but at this point we are going to continue the operations and have already set things in motion for tomorrow as well."

New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Sunday urged residents in her state to avoid travel until the rain passes, saying that "your car can go from a place of safety to a place of death" if swept up in a flash flood.

The rains were expected to ease on Monday but nonetheless created havoc throughout much of the Northeast in recent days, with Vermont in particular reporting catastrophic flooding in its capital Montpelier.

Tara Cobham17 July 2023 08:27

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South East Water says it lost £17 million in year due to extreme weather

South East Water said it had lost around £17 million in the year to the end of March due to extreme weather.

The business said the cost of the exceptional conditions had come from directly responding by sourcing new water, paying compensation to customers and repairing leaks caused by last year’s heatwave and other similar events.

It helped push the company into a pre-tax loss of £74.2 million, down from a profit of £17 million a year earlier. Revenue was up 2.5% to £257.5 million.

South East Water supplies about 2.2 million homes in Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire.

Tara Cobham17 July 2023 07:49

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China logs 52.2 Celsius as extreme weather rewrites records

A remote township in China's arid northwest endured temperatures of more than 52 Celsius (126 Fahrenheit) on Sunday, state media reported, setting a record for a country that was battling minus 50C weather just six months ago.

Temperatures at Sanbao township in Xinjiang's Turpan Depression soared as high as 52.2C on Sunday, state-run Xinjiang Daily reported on Monday, with the record heat expected to persist at least another five days.

The Sunday temperature broke a previous record of 50.3C, measured in 2015 near Ayding in the depression, a vast basin of sand dunes and dried-up lakes more than 150 m (492 ft) below sea level.

Since April, countries across Asia have been hit by several rounds of record-breaking heat, stoking concerns about their ability to adapt to a rapidly changing climate. The target of keeping long-term global warming within 1.5C is moving out of reach, climate experts say.

Prolonged bouts of high temperatures in China have challenged power grids and crops, and concerns are mounting of a possible repeat of last year's drought, the most severe in 60 years.

China is no stranger to dramatic swings in temperatures across the seasons but the swings are getting wider.

Tara Cobham17 July 2023 07:40

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Heat Index at Persian Gulf Airport recorded at 66C

The heat index at the Persian Gulf International Airport reached 66 degrees Celsius or 152 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday, according to data from the US National Weather Service.

The heat index is different from the air temperature, which stood at 40C at the location.

It refers to a measure of what temperature feels like to the human body, combining humidity with ambient air temperature.

Stuti Mishra17 July 2023 07:30

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New heat storm 'Charon' stretches into southern Europe

Europe’s record for the hottest temperature ever recorded could be broken this week, with Italy issuing new hot weather red alerts for 16 cities as another heat dome heads towards the Mediterranean region.

A new anticyclone dubbed “Charon”, who in Greek mythology was the ferryman of the dead, advanced into the region from north Africa on Sunday and could lift temperatures well above 45C in parts of Italy.

“We need to prepare for a severe heat storm that, day after day, will blanket the whole country,” Italian weather news service said.

“In some places ancient heat records will be broken.”The hottest temperature recorded in Europe was 48.8C in Sicily, in August 2021.

A man cools off in a fountain during a heat wave in Turin, Italy

Stuti Mishra17 July 2023 07:02

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California's Death Valley on track to beat its own record for highest temperature on Earth

California's Death Valley has recorded a temperature of 53 degrees Celsius on Sunday amid sweltering global temperatures that are baking parts of Asia and Europe as well.

The Furnace Creek area in Death Valley, which runs along part of central California's border with Nevada and has long been considered the hottest place on Earth, recorded 53.33C, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Meteorologists are raising concerns that amid extreme temperatures worldwide, Furnace Creek can see the mercury rising up to 55C or above.

The hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth was 56.67C in July 1913 at Furnace Creek. However, there are some disputes over this reading.

Temperatures at or above 54.4C have only been recorded on Earth a handful of times, mostly in Death Valley.

Stuti Mishra17 July 2023 06:30

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Japan issues heatstroke alerts for tens of millions of people

Amid sweltering heat in parts of Asia, Japan has issued heatstroke alerts on Sunday to tens of millions of people warning that the heat was at life-threatening levels.

Japan saw temperatures soaring to nearly 40C in some places, including the capital Tokyo.

The government issued heatstroke alerts for 20 of the country’s 47 prefectures, mainly in the east and southwest, affecting tens of millions of people.

While record-high temperatures were scorching swathes of the country, torrential rain pummelled other regions.

Foreign tourists walk on the pavement along the Imperial Palace Gardens in the intense heat in Tokyo

(AFP/Getty)

Stuti Mishra17 July 2023 05:51

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Over 50C temperatures recorded in China and US

As southern Europe is grappling with record-breaking heat, the US and several countries in Asia are also experiencing record-breaking temperatures.

China's Sanbao city recorded an extreme temperature of 52C on Sunday while in the US Death Valley, known for being the world's hottest place, recorded 51C.

Some parts of Europe are on track to challenge these figures later this week, forecasters have warned.

Stuti Mishra17 July 2023 05:23

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2023-07-17 08:00:32Z
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Russia-Ukraine war live: traffic stopped on Crimean bridge due to ‘emergency’, governor says, as explosions reported - The Guardian

Russia’s Ministry of Transport has confirmed that there is damage to the road on the Crimean side of the bridge, Tass is reporting. It did not confirm reports that the bridge’s supporting pillars have been damaged.

“The ministry stressed that the inspection of the bridge’s condition is ongoing,” Tass wrote on its Telegram channel.

More updates from Russian news agency Tass, which cites the Grand Service Express as saying that train services to the Crimea may be changed due to the emergency on the Crimean bridge.

It also reported that Crimean authorities are urging tourists to stay in hotels if possible.

Checkpoints in Armyansk, Dzhankoy and Perekop, which connect Crimea with the Russian-occupied Kherson region, are operating as usual, Tass said citing Oleg Kryuchkov, an advisor to Crimea’s governor.

As mentioned in the previous post, Ukraine’s post office actually issued a commemorative stamp last year to celebrate the October attack on the Crimea bridge.

It illustrates how hated the bridge is by Ukrainians as a symbol of Russia’s illegal occupation of the Crimean peninsula.

Designed by the Ukrainian artist Yuriy Shapoval, the stamp shows the bridge behind clouds of dark grey smoke.

In the forefront is the famous scene from the Titanic, where Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet stand on the bow of the ship a reference to Russia’s claims that the bridge was unsinkable.

The bridge was hit by a huge explosion back in October, causing a section of the road bridge to collapse into the Kerch strait and leaving a train and the rail link in flames.

Russia said three people were killed in the blast and blamed it on a truck bomb. Kyiv did not claim responsibility for the attack, although it was certainly celebrated by Ukrainians.

The country’s post office revealed – within hours – designs for a commemorative stamp, showing the bridge ablaze and raising questions about whether the explosion had been anticipated.

More on the significance of the Crimea bridge, also known as the Kerch bridge or Kerch Strait bridge, from George Barros, an analyst at the US-based Institute for the Study of War:

Crimea has stockpiles of fuel, food and industrial goods, the Russian news agency Tass has reported, citing Elena Elekchyan, acting minister of industrial policy in Crimea.

A ferry service linking Crimea with Kuban, in the Russian region of Krasnodar, has also been halted, Tass reported.

While we try to find out more about the latest “emergency” on the Crimean bridge here is background on why it’s so important, courtesy of Reuters:

The 19-km (12-mile) Crimea Bridge over the Kerch Strait is the only direct link between the transport network of Russia and the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

The bridge was a flagship project for [Russian president Vladimir] Putin, who opened it himself for road traffic with great fanfare by driving a truck across in 2018.

It consists of a separate roadway and railway, both supported by concrete stilts, which give way to a wider span held by steel arches at the point where ships pass between the Black Sea and the smaller Azov Sea.

The structure was built, at a reported cost of $3.6 billion, by a firm belonging to Arkady Rotenberg, a close ally and former judo partner of Putin.

The bridge is crucial for the supply of fuel, food and other products to Crimea, where the port of Sevastopol is the historic home base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

It also became a major supply route for Russian forces after Moscow invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, sending forces from Crimea to seize most of southern Ukraine’s Kherson region and some of the adjoining Zaporizhzhia province.

Google maps is showing huge tail backs on the Russian side of the bridge:

Russia’s Grey Zone channel, a heavily followed Telegram channel affiliated with the Wagner mercenary group, according to Reuters, reported that there had been two strikes on the bridge at 03:04 a.m. (0004 GMT) and 03:20 a.m.

Reuters and the Guardian are not able to verify this report.

Meanwhile, in a further Telegram post, Crimean governor Aksyonov has asked residents to “refrain from travelling through the Crimean bridge” and to choose alternative land routes “for security reasons”.

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Livingstone.

Traffic has been stopped on the Crimean bridge, which links the Crimean peninsula with the Russian region of Krasnodar, due to an “emergency”, the Russia-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov has said.

Writing on the Telegram messaging app in the early hours of Monday, Aksyonov said “measures are being taken to restore the situation” but gave few further details.

The RBC-Ukraine news agency reported that explosions were heard on the bridge, according to Reuters which said it was not able to independently verify the reports.

The bridge, one of president Vladimir Putin’s prestige projects and a vital logistical link for the Russian military, was hit by an explosion in October.

In other developments:

• Fighting in eastern Ukraine has “somewhat intensified” as Ukrainian and Russian forces clash in at least three areas, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said. Russian forces had been attacking in the direction of Kupiansk in Kharkiv for two successive days, she said: “We are on the defensive,” Maliar wrote. “There are fierce battles.” Maliar also said the two armies were pummelling one another around the ruined city of Bakhmut but that Ukrainian forces were “gradually moving forward” along its southern flank.

• Russian president Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian counteroffensive had been a failure in an interview broadcast on television. “All enemy attempts to break through our defences … they have not succeeded since the offensive began. The enemy is not successful,” Putin said.

• The president also said Russia had a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster bombs and that Moscow reserved the right to use them if such munitions were used against Russian forces in Ukraine. He added that Russia had not yet used the weapons although Russia was accused of using cluster munitions in last year’s deadly Kramatorsk railway station attack.

• The Russian state has taken control of French yoghurt maker Danone’s Russian subsidiary along with beer company Carlsberg’s stake in a local brewer, according to a decree signed by Putin. Danone said it was investigating the situation while Carlsberg said it had not been officially informed of the move.

• The UN-brokered deal under which Moscow allowed Ukraine to ship its grain across the Black Sea is due to expire late Monday. The Kremlin has threatened to pull out of the agreement and said at the weekend it still had concerns that obligations to remove “obstacles to the export of Russian food and fertilisers still remain unfulfilled”.

• Two people were killed on Sunday when Russia launched a series of missile and shelling attacks on the city and region of Kharkiv, beginning in the early hours of the morning and continuing into the evening. Kharkiv governor Oleh Synyehubov said a young man was killed in the city’s Osnovianskyi district and another civilian man was killed in a village in the Kupiansk area.

• Ukrainian forces shelled the Russian town of Shebekino near the Ukrainian border with Grad missiles on Sunday, killing a woman riding her bike, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said. Vyacheslav Gladkov said the missiles had struck a market area, damaging a building and two cars.

• Only a “few hundred” fighters from Russia’s Wagner group have so far relocated to Belarus, a Ukrainian official said, leaving the eventual fate of the fighting force unclear. “There are some groups of mercenaries on the territory of Belarus, but we are not talking about any massive or large-scale deployment … we are talking about a few hundred,” Andrii Demchenko, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s border guards, told Ukrainian television.

• A Chinese naval flotilla set off on Sunday to join Russian naval and air forces in the Sea of Japan in an exercise aimed at “safeguarding the security of strategic waterways”, according to China’s defence ministry. Codenamed “Northern/Interaction-2023”, the drill marks enhanced military cooperation between China and Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and is taking place as Beijing continues to rebuff US calls to resume military communication.

• Former UK prime minister Tony Blair said it would be “completely disastrous” if the US rowed back support for Ukraine in the event of Donald Trump being re-elected as US president. He also told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme that said Ukraine had done an “extraordinary” job in defending itself but when asked what the endgame looked like he said the path would be “extremely difficult”.

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2023-07-17 03:50:15Z
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South Korea: At least 39 killed after torrential rain unleashes flooding and landslides - Sky News

At least 39 people have died after torrential downpours triggered deadly flash floods and landslides in South Korea.

The country has been hit by heavy rainfall since 9 July, which has intensified in the past three days and is expected to continue in some regions until Sunday.

Rescue workers have so far pulled seven bodies from a flooded tunnel where around 15 vehicles were trapped in muddy water.

Nearly 400 rescue workers, including divers, were searching the tunnel in the central city of Cheongju, where the vehicles, including a bus, were swamped by a flash flood Saturday evening, Seo Jeong-il, chief of the city's fire department, said in a briefing.

Photos and video from the scene showed rescue workers establishing a perimeter and pumping brown water out of the tunnel as divers used rubber boats to move in and out of the area.

Yang Chan-mo, an official from the North Chungcheong provincial fire department, said it could take several hours to pump out all the water from the tunnel, which was still filled with 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16.4 feet) of water dense with mud and other debris.

Workers were proceeding slowly with the work to prevent any victims or survivors from being swept out, Yang said.

Image: Rescuers work to search for survivors along a road submerged by floodwaters. Pic: AP

Image: Pic: AP

Nine survivors were rescued from the tunnel and 11 others were believed to be missing based on reports by families or others, but the exact number of passengers trapped in vehicles wasn't immediately clear, Seo said.

Thousands are being evacuated after a dam in North Chungcheong province came perilously close to overflowing on Saturday morning.

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As of 9am local time, more than 2,700 tonnes of water was flowing into Goesan Dam - the maximum amount it can discharge.

The 22 fatalities were reported on Friday and Saturday, all in the central and southeastern regions, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said in a report.

Landslides claimed the lives of five people on Saturday, burying houses in two central towns, the ministry said, in an earlier statement.

Two people died on Friday in a building collapse caused by landslides in the central city of Nonsan.

The report said torrential rains have also left 14 people missing since Tuesday, and 13 others injured since Thursday.

However, the latest ministry report didn't explain the cause of deaths for the additional fatalities.

More than 1,500 people have been forced to flee their homes while thousands more have been deprived of electricity.

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A train in the North Chungcheong province was derailed by a landslide, which hurled debris on the rail tracks, according to the transport ministry.

A train engineer was injured but there were no passengers on board during the incident on Thursday.

Train operator Korea Railroad Corp announced it was cancelling all slow trains and bullet trains, with some services delayed due to ongoing safety fears.

Image: Rising flood waters invaded homes in Cheongju, South Korea Pic: AP

Image: A flooded park along the Geum River in Sejong, South Korea Pic: AP

South Korea's Prime Minister, Han Duck-soo, has called on the military to assist in the rescue operation by working with government officials to mobilise equipment and manpower.

The incidents follow the death of at least eight people after record rainfall pounded the South Korean capital and surrounding areas in August last year, leaving 14 injured.

More than 100 homes were evacuated to temporary shelters to avoid floodwaters, as the downpours transformed the streets of Seoul's usually bustling Gangnam district into rivers.

More than 5.5 inches of rain fell per hour (14cm per hour) at one stage - the highest hourly downpour measured in the capital since 1942.

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2023-07-17 03:41:08Z
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Tunisia and EU finalise deal on migration - Al Jazeera English

The European Union and Tunisia have signed a memorandum of understanding for a “strategic and comprehensive partnership” aimed at combatting irregular migration and boosting economic ties between the bloc and the North African country, which lies on a major route for migrants and refugees travelling to Europe.

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni held renewed talks with Tunisian President Kais Saied on Sunday as the number of migrants and refugees departing from Tunisia and trying to reach Europe has significantly increased in recent months.

Speaking at the Tunisian presidential palace, Von der Leyen hailed the accord as an investment in “shared prosperity and stability”.

“Tunisia and the European Union are bound by our shared history and geography, and we share strategic interests,” she said.

Saied said there is the utmost need for a collective agreement on what he called “inhuman migration”, for which he blamed criminal networks.

“This memorandum should be coupled at the earliest time by a set of binding agreements emanating from its principles,” he said.

Rutte said the agreement would help combat human traffickers.

“It contains agreements on disrupting the business model of people smugglers and human traffickers, strengthening border control and improving registration and return. All essential measures for bolstering efforts to stop irregular migration,” Rutte said on Twitter.

Meloni welcomed “a new and important step to deal with the migration crisis”, and invited Tunisia’s Saied to an international conference on migration on July 23.

Last month, the three leaders visited Tunisia, and the European Commission said at the time that it was considering supporting Tunisia with an aid package of up to 900 million euros ($1,010m) as the country is roiled by economic woes and rising numbers of migrants and refugees travelling through it as they seek to reach Europe.

Specific aid that von der Leyen announced on Sunday included a 10-million euro ($11 million) programme to boost exchanges of students and 65 million euros ($73 million) in EU funding to modernise Tunisian schools.

On migration, Von der Leyen said: “We need an effective cooperation more than ever.”

The EU will work with Tunisia on an anti-smuggling partnership, will increase coordination in search and rescue operations and both sides also agreed to cooperate on border management, she said. Von der Leyen pledged 100 million euros ($112 million) for those efforts – a figure she had already announced on the leaders’ previous visit.

As of Friday, the Italian interior ministry counted more than 75,000 migrants who had arrived by boat on the Italian coast since the beginning of the year compared to about 31,900 in the same period last year.

‘Trying to police migration’

Yasmine Akrimi, a researcher at the Brussels International Center, said that the agreement was an attempt at “reshaping African mobility”.

“This is a new pathway that Europe is trying to implement in its relationship with Africa – specifically North Africa, which is the closest neighbour – and trying to police African migration and reshaping social dynamics in Tunisia and in North Africa more largely,” she told Al Jazeera, speaking from Tunis.

The EU has been trying to achieve this deal for decades, Akrimi said, with the idea of turning North African countries into a “disembark platform” for refugees and migrants.

“Italy wants to consider Tunisia as what they call a safe third country – meaning that everyone who passes through Tunisia can eventually be relocated back to Tunisia,” she said.

Italy is a common destination for refugees and migrants who have fled from parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

The port of Sfax -Tunisia’s second-largest city – is a departure point for many sub-Saharan migrants from impoverished and violence-torn countries who are seeking a better life in Europe by making a perilous Mediterranean crossing, often in makeshift boats.

In March, 29 asylum seekers died attempting the journey.

On July 3, hundreds of migrants fled or were forced out of Sfax after racial tensions flared following the killing of a Tunisian man in an altercation between locals and migrants.

On Sunday, Libyan border guards rescued dozens of migrants they say had been left in the desert by Tunisian authorities without water, food or shelter, the AFP news agency reported.

The Tunisian Red Crescent has said it provided shelter to more than 600 migrants who had been taken after July 3 to the militarised zone and border town of Ras Jedir north of Al-Assah on the Mediterranean coast.

Amine Snoussi, an independent journalist in Tunis, said anti-migrant sentiment has been building in the past few weeks within Tunisia, a country that does not have a legal framework to welcome migrants.

“The anti-migration and racist sentiment that has been growing has led to people being evicted from their homes, and being fired from their jobs,” he told Al Jazeera. “So it’s difficult to imagine a future for them in Tunisia if things stay this way.”

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2023-07-16 20:48:45Z
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