Ukraine war: Drones target Odesa grain stores near Romania border - BBC

Oleh Kipper/Odesa ODA

By Jaroslav Lukiv

BBC News

A Russian drone strike has hit Ukrainian port facilities at Izmail on the River Danube, a short distance from Nato member state Romania.

An elevator used for loading grain was damaged in the overnight attack, Ukraine's defence ministry said.

Russia began targeting Ukraine's ports after abandoning a UN deal that enabled both countries to export grain safely across the Black Sea.

A large fire raged from the port area of Izmail early on Wednesday.

Video, filmed from the Romanian side of the Danube roughly 3km (1.9 miles) away, showed the extent of the fire.

Ukraine's air force said during the night that Russian drones were heading for the Danube river, where Ukraine has two ports, Izmail and Reni.

Ukraine's military command in the south said air defences had been operating for almost three hours.

Odesa regional leader Oleh Kiper said emergencies services were working on the site of the latest Russian attack, and there were no reports of any casualties.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that "unfortunately there has been damage" - and the regional chief posted several images on social media indicating that several structures had been hit.

Last week Russian drones also attacked grain warehouses in Reni, further up the River Danube and also next to Romanian territory.

Russia had already attacked the big Black Sea ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk, where authorities said 60,000 tonnes of grain were destroyed.

When it pulled out of the grain deal in July, Russia threatened to target any vessels heading towards Ukraine's Black Sea ports, essentially imposing a naval blockade.

Ships have continued to sail across the Black Sea to Ukraine's ports on the Danube, which has grown in importance as an alternative.

Ukraine is one of the world's major exporters of wheat and corn, and the bulk of the shipments had been moving from the country's Black Sea ports. If the Black Sea is closed to shipping then the Danube becomes pivotal for Ukraine's exports.

Wheat prices spiked on world markets immediately after the Russian withdrawal from the grain deal.

There are now also concerns about global food security, especially for impoverished African and Asian nations.

Overnight, Russia also launched more than 10 drones against Ukraine's capital Kyiv, local officials say.

All the projectiles were destroyed by anti-aircraft systems but several non-residential buildings were damaged by falling debris, the officials say.

Russia has so far not publicly commented on the reported attacks.

Related Topics

• Russia-Ukraine war
• Russia
• Ukraine

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiMGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLWV1cm9wZS02NjM3OTU2MdIBNGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLWV1cm9wZS02NjM3OTU2MS5hbXA?oc=5

2023-08-02 07:19:40Z
2257612095

Donald Trump indicted over efforts to overturn 2020 US election - The Telegraph

Donald Trump was on Tuesday night criminally charged with trying to “defraud the United States” over the riot at the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021.

It is the most serious legal threat yet to the former president as he attempts to return to the White House in 2024.

Mr Trump said the charges showed he was being “persecuted” by political opponents in a manner “reminiscent of Nazi Germany”.

He was charged with four counts – conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

The charges were detailed in a 45-page indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The four charges Donald Trump faces in the Jan 6 indictment

Mr Smith said the riot was an “unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy.”

He said: “It was fueled by lies. Lies by the defendant. Targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the US government, the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.”

Mr Smith added that he would seek a “speedy trial” in the case.

BREAKING: Special Counsel Jack Smith of the United States Department of Justice makes a statement in Washington after former president Donald Trump was handed a third criminal indictment.https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/4d3iyzQgTv

— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 1, 2023

According to the indictment Mr Trump’s claims that he won the 2020 election were “false” and “the defendant knew they were false”.

It said Mr Trump “widely disseminated them anyway” to create an “intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger.”

Mr Trump was “determined to remain in power,” it said.

The former president is due in court on Thursday before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

Mr Trump remains the clear frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

‘Persecution’ like Nazi Germany, says Trump

In a statement his campaign said: “The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes.

“These un-American witch hunts will fail and President Trump will be re-elected to the White House.”

Minutes before the indictment was handed down Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social that “Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favourite President.”

On Jan 6, 2021 supporters of Mr Trump attacked the US Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory.

Supporters of Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021 Credit: REUTERS

Before the attack Mr Trump told supporters near the White House to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell” to “stop the steal”.

More than 1,000 people have since been charged with crimes related to the riot.

It was the third indictment brought against Mr Trump.

He pleaded not guilty after he was charged in June with 37 counts relating to unlawful retention of classified government documents.

He has also pleaded not guilty to 34 counts accusing him of falsifying business records over a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRlbGVncmFwaC5jby51ay93b3JsZC1uZXdzLzIwMjMvMDgvMDIvZG9uYWxkLXRydW1wLWluZGljdGVkLTIwMjAtdXMtZWxlY3Rpb24tamFjay1zbWl0aC_SAQA?oc=5

2023-08-02 06:19:00Z
2305385068

Live news: Russia launches new drone strike on Odesa port and grain silos - Financial Times

What is included in my trial?

During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages.

Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here.

Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section.

What happens at the end of my trial?

If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month.

For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial.

You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.

Any changes made can be done at any time and will become effective at the end of the trial period, allowing you to retain full access for 4 weeks, even if you downgrade or cancel.

When can I cancel?

You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. Simply log into Settings & Account and select "Cancel" on the right-hand side.

You can still enjoy your subscription until the end of your current billing period.

What forms of payment can I use?

We support credit card, debit card and PayPal payments.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2IwZTgxNWVkLTI4ZDMtNDVjYi04OWU5LTM0NjBkOWI5MWNlMdIBAA?oc=5

2023-08-02 05:36:27Z
2257612095

Russia-Ukraine war live: 'drone shot down in Crimea' as Kyiv warns of more attacks behind Russian lines - The Guardian

From 3h ago

Russia has downed a drone in the Sevastopol district of Crimea, the local governor has said.

The Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said on Telegram: “A UAV was shot down in the Kara-Koba area. An explosion occurred on the ground. Grass and bushes caught fire. Fire brigades are already on site and have begun to put out the blaze.”

Poland’s ministry of defence said it will increase the number of troops at its border with Belarus after two helicopters from Belarus violated Poland’s airspace on Tuesday.

In a statement, the Polish defence ministry said Belarus’ charge d’affairs had been called in to explain the situation. Nato has been informed, it said.

In response, the Belarusian ministry of defence posted to Telegram:

Accusations of a violation of the Polish border by Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters of the Belarusian Air Force and air defense forces are farfetched and made by the Polish military and political leadership to justify the build-up of forces and means at the Belarusian border.

The US has not seen any indication that Russia was behind the coup in Niger, State department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said.

Miller told reporters that the US has not seen evidence suggesting Russia was involved in a coup in Niger, after several Russia flags were seen in pro-coup protests across Niger’s capital, Niamey and Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner group, expressed support for putschists.

Miller however, warned that Russia could take advantage of uncertainty in Niger. He said: “It would not be out of character for Russia or for the Wagner group to try to take advantage of instability in this country or any other in Africa”.

Thousands of people backing the coup were seen marching through the streets of Niamey, denouncing France, the country’s former colonial power.

Some demonstrators shouted support for Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. Shouts of “long live Putin,” “long live Russia” and “down with France” could be heard among the crowds on Sunday.

Here are some of the latest images sent over the news wires of the aftermath of a Russian drone attack on Kharkiv.

• Russian air defences have shot down several drones targeting the Moscow region, the mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Tuesday, with one hitting a tower that had also been struck on Sunday. The Russian defence ministry said two drones had been destroyed in the Odintsovo and Narofominsk districts near Moscow, and that a third was jammed and had crashed in the capital. The ministry blamed the attacks on Kyiv. Sobyanin wrote on Telegram that no injuries had been reported. Moscow’s Vnukovo airport was also temporarily shut and flights redirected.

• Russia also downed a drone in the Sevastopol district of Crimea, the local governor said. Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote on Telegram: “A UAV was shot down in the Kara-Koba area. An explosion occurred on the ground. Grass and bushes caught fire. Fire brigades are already on site and have begun to put out the blaze.”

• The Ukrainian presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said more attacks on Russian soil were coming. He tweeted: “Moscow is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war, which, in turn, will soon finally move to the territory of the ‘authors of the war’ to collect all their debts … Everything that will happen in Russia is an objective historical process. More unidentified drones, more collapse, more civil conflicts, more war.”

• The mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, said early on Tuesday that at least three drones had hit populated areas, one destroying two floors of a dormitory. Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram: “A fire broke out and emergency services are attending. Details on casualties are being clarified.”

• A doctor was killed and a nurse wounded in Russian shelling of a hospital in Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson, regional officials said.

• Ukraine’s interior minister said a Russian saboteur group’s attempt to cross into the country in the Chernihiv region on its northern border had been foiled.

• The Russian ministry of defence said it had successfully repelled a unmanned boat attack on two of its Black Sea fleet ships – the Sergey Kotov and the Vasily Bykov. It said the attack had taken place 340km southwest of Sevastopol, and that three Ukrainian drone boats had been destroyed.

• Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces, has visited troops in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, part of which is occupied by Russia and which it claims to have annexed. Gerasimov was one of the military figures repeatedly criticised by Yevgeny Prigozhin before the Wagner group’s aborted uprising.

• Denis Pushilin, the Russian-imposed acting governor of occupied Donetsk, said the village of Staromaiorske remained hotly contested.

• A resident of Krasnodar in Russia has received a 12-year prison sentence after being found guilty of passing information to Ukraine’s security service.

• At least six people, including a 10-year-old child, were killed and more than 80 are now known to have been injured after Russia struck a high-rise apartment in Kryvyi Rih on Monday.

Poland has called in Ukraine’s ambassador to Warsaw in response to the “comments of representatives of Ukrainian authorities”, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.

The move came after the Ukrainian foreign ministry called in Poland’s ambassador to Kyiv earlier in the day over what it said were unacceptable comments made by the country’s presidential foreign policy adviser.

Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, has said the country “needs decisions on full military support to drive the Russians out of the occupied territories” to end the war.

Russia has downed a drone in the Sevastopol district of Crimea, the local governor has said.

The Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said on Telegram: “A UAV was shot down in the Kara-Koba area. An explosion occurred on the ground. Grass and bushes caught fire. Fire brigades are already on site and have begun to put out the blaze.”

Reuters has spoken to Moscow residents who were near the site of the drone attack earlier today.

“In this situation, any place can be hit, so it is quite hard to feel 100% safe,” said Alexander Gusev, 67. “No one is safe in this situation because we don’t know what will hit us and where.”

Another resident, Kirill, 32, who declined to give his last name, said: “I feel safe. I’m originally from Donetsk, so I consider this a minor incident … You should just adjust your attitude and everything will be fine.”

A witness told Reuters: “We were going to see the tower where the explosion happened the day before yesterday … Suddenly there was this explosion, and we immediately ran.

“There were shards of glass, and then smoke rising. Then the security services starting running that way. The shards were really big.”

Médecins Sans Frontières has confirmed it had a partnership with the hospital in Kherson that was shelled leading to the death of a doctor.

The medical charity said the operating theatre suffered a direct hit and that it had been working at the hospital supplying medical equipment and providing mental health consultations to people displaced by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam.

The hospital caters “largely to stroke victims, patients with cardiac issues, and the provision of general surgical care”, it said.

Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said on Tuesday that Moscow was ready to help to improve Algeria’s combat readiness. He made his comments at a meeting in Russia with the chief of staff of Algeria’s armed forces, Reuters reports.

Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, has characterised Russia’s alleged mass abduction of children from Ukraine as a deliberate strategy to sever ties between Ukraine and the “next generation that will defend the country”.

Simmons told the Ukrainian news outlet ArmyInform that the alleged abductions were part of its “hybrid invasion” of the country.

In March, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and Russia’s children’s commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, were indicted by the international criminal court at The Hague over the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children.

Children taken or kept by Russia were “subject to an extraordinary, relentless range of brainwashing”, Simmons said, which “creates a psychological barrier between the kids and their parents”.

This meant that Ukraine not only needed to find and return those children to their families, but it “inherits” the issue of addressing the “psychological journey to undo the harm of that brainwashing”.

Simmons said: “We know that there are children who come back from some of those engagements thinking that fighting Ukraine is the right thing to do.”

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqQFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVndWFyZGlhbi5jb20vd29ybGQvbGl2ZS8yMDIzL2F1Zy8wMS9ydXNzaWEtdWtyYWluZS13YXItbGl2ZS1tb3Njb3ctaGl0LWJ5LXNlY29uZC1kcm9uZS1hdHRhY2staW4tdHdvLWRheXMtcnVzc2lhbi1zdHJpa2UtaGl0cy1jb2xsZWdlLWRvcm1pdG9yeS1pbi1raGFya2l20gEA?oc=5

2023-08-01 16:00:39Z
2257612095

Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow hit by second drone attack in two days; Russian strike hits college dormitory in Kharkiv - The Guardian

From 3h ago

Russian air defences have shot down “several” drones targeting the Moscow region, mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said, with one hitting a tower that had been struck on Sunday.

The Russian defence ministry said two drones were destroyed by air defence systems in the Odintsovo and Narofominsk districts near Moscow, while a third was jammed and crashed in the capital, the Russian state news agency Tass reported early on Tuesday. The ministry blamed the attacks on Kyiv.

Sobyanin said in a Telegram post that no injuries had been reported. “The facade of the 21st floor was damaged. The glazing of 150 square metres was broken,” he said.

Moscow’s Vnukovo airport was also temporarily shut and flights redirected.

Kharkiv’s mayor Ihor Terekhov has described last night in the city as “very difficult”.

Earlier he said that drones destroyed two floors of a dormitory, and Reuters reports he confirmed on Ukrainian television that the dormitory was not in use.

Regional governor Oleh Synehubov said a sports complex in the city’s Shevchenkivskyi district was hit, damaging a two-storey building. A 63-year-old security guard had been injured and was in hospital.

Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of Russia’s Bryansk region, has reported on Telegram that Ukrainian forces have shelled the village of Churovichi. He said there were no casualties, but that residential buildings and two cars were among the objects damaged.

Ukraine has thwarted an overnight attempt by a Russian saboteur group to cross its northern border, the interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“Last night, in the Chernihiv region, border guards stopped an attempt by an enemy saboteur-reconnaissance group to cross the state border of Ukraine within the Semenivka community,” Reuters reports he said.

Serhiy Naev, commander of the joint forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said four armed people attempted to cross the border but were repelled by Ukrainian fire.

Klymenko said the four people were detected moving from Russian territory.

He added that reserves of the State Border Guard Service and Ukraine’s armed forces were deployed to strengthen the area.

Ukraine has strengthened its northern military sector following the reported arrival of Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and some Wagner group troops in Belarus. The reported presence of the Wagner mercenaries has also led to Poland reinforcing its border.

Maria Zakharova has said of the drone attack on Moscow that Kyiv “continues to reveal itself to the world community as a terrorist cell.”

Tass quoted the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, saying she was appearing on the Soloviev live TV channel.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the UN has recorded over 20,000 civilian casualties in areas of Ukraine controlled by the Kyiv government and attacked by Russia, including over 7,000 civilian deaths.

Here are some of the latest images that have been released from the site of a Russian strike on Kharkiv.

Reuters has a quick snap that Ukraine’s interior minister has claimed an attempt to cross into the country on its northern border in the Chernihiv region by a Russian saboteur group was foiled.

More details soon …

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, includes the following headlines in its morning daily round-up on Telegram today:

At night, the Russian Federation attacked Kharkiv with five “shahed” drones. In the Shevchenkivskyi district, three struck the territory of a sports complex: a two-story building was damaged, a security guard was injured. In Saltivskyi district, two floors of a school were destroyed.

The number of wounded in Kryvyi Rih has increased to 81, reported the head of the defence council of the city. Among them are seven children. 19 people remain in hospitals. All are in a moderate condition.

Over the last 24 hours, four people died in Kherson region, 18 were injured. On 31 July, two people were killed and three injured in Donetsk region.

Here are some of the pictures that have been sent to us over the news wires from Moscow after a drone hit a building there earlier.

The Russian ministry of defence claims it successfully repelled a unmanned boat drone attack on two of its ships in the Black Sea fleet – the Sergey Kotov and the Vasily Bykov.

Interfax reports that in a statement the ministry said:

Tonight, the armed forces of Ukraine made an unsuccessful attempt to attack the patrol ships Sergey Kotov and Vasily Bykov of the Black Sea Fleet with three sea unmanned boats … 340 km southwest of Sevastopol.

In the course of repulsing the attack, all three unmanned enemy boats were destroyed by fire from the standard armament of Russian ships. The ships Sergei Kotov and Vasily Bykov of the Black Sea fleet continue to perform their tasks.

It is the second time the ministry has claimed that the Sergey Kotov was targeted in recent days.

More on the drone strikes in Moscow, which come two days after Zelenskiy said the war was coming to Russia, after three drones were shot down over the city on Sunday, although Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attacks.

“Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centres and military bases. This is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on Sunday.

The attacks on Tuesday mark at least the fifth time unmanned aerial vehicles have reached the Russian capital since May, when two drones came down over the Kremlin. Moscow and its surrounding area are more than 310 miles (500km) from the Ukrainian border and the conflict there.

In Sunday’s attack, Russia said its air defences shot down a drone in Odintsovo in the surrounding Moscow region, while two others were jammed and crashed into the Moscow City business district.

Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces, has visited Russian troops in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, part of which is controlled by Russia, the Interfax news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying on Tuesday.

It said Gerasimov inspected a command centre and underscored the importance of preemptive strikes against the Ukrainian forces.

Officials in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, said on Tuesday that drones hit populated areas of the city and one drone destroyed two floors of a college dormitory.

The chief of police in Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, Volodymyr Tymoshko, said there were two night-time strikes - one on the college and one on the city centre.
One person was injured in the city centre, he told Suspilne, or public, television. The college building was empty at the time of the strike.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov spoke of three strikes, Reuters reports.

“One of the drones destroyed two floors of a dormitory,” Terekhov wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “A fire broke out and emergency services are attending.”
A video posted on social media showed the top of a building ablaze and smoke billowing upwards. Suspilne said the half the college building was destroyed.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the attack or determine the location of the site in the video.

Russian air defences have shot down “several” drones targeting the Moscow region, mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said, with one hitting a tower that had been struck on Sunday.

The Russian defence ministry said two drones were destroyed by air defence systems in the Odintsovo and Narofominsk districts near Moscow, while a third was jammed and crashed in the capital, the Russian state news agency Tass reported early on Tuesday. The ministry blamed the attacks on Kyiv.

Sobyanin said in a Telegram post that no injuries had been reported. “The facade of the 21st floor was damaged. The glazing of 150 square metres was broken,” he said.

Moscow’s Vnukovo airport was also temporarily shut and flights redirected.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. This is Helen Sullivan with the latest.

Our top stories this morning: Russian air defences have shot down “several” drones targeting the Moscow region, mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said, with one hitting a tower that had been struck on Sunday.

Meanwhile, officials in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, said on Tuesday that drones hit populated areas of the city and one drone destroyed two floors of a college dormitory.

One person was injured in the city centre, said Kharkiv’s chief of police, Volodymyr Tymoshko.

We’ll have more on these stories shortly. In other news:

• At least six people, including a 10-year-old child, have been killed and more than 50 people injured when Russia struck a high-rise apartment in Kryvyi Rih. Authorities said people were trapped under rubble. Oleksiy Kuleba, the deputy head of Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, called for revenge, saying: “Every day, Ukrainian cities are under fire from Russian terrorists. Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kharkiv. This is only for the last few days.” He said targeting civilians was a sign of “the despair and defeat of the Russian Federation at the front”.

• Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, said: “This is how the week begins in a Ukrainian city that just wants a quiet, normal life. Russia wants to take peace and life away.” She offered condolences to the victims and their families. The city is the home town of both Zelenska and her husband.

• Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza on Monday lost an appeal against his 25-year jail sentence, the RIA state news agency reported. Kara-Murza, who holds Russian and British citizenship, was jailed for 25 years in April for treason and spreading “false information” about Russia’s war in Ukraine, Reuters reports. Britain added six new designations to its Russia sanctions list, an update to the government website showed on Monday, targeting judges and officials involved in the trial of Kara-Murza.

• Ukraine and Croatia have agreed on the possibility of using Croatian ports on the Danube and the Adriatic Sea for the export of Ukrainian grain, Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said after talks with his Croatian counterpart on Monday, according to Reuters.

• Russian airstrikes destroyed an estimated 180,000 metric tonnes of grain crops in the space of nine days this month, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said on Monday.

• Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, said Russia lost 87 units of equipment last week, including 33 strongholds, 26 armoured combat vehicles and 15 tanks.

• The Kremlin on Monday described a drone attack on Moscow as an “act of desperation” by Ukraine after setbacks on the battlefield. AFP reported that Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said it had been “very difficult” for Ukrainian forces on the frontline since they launched their counteroffensive in June.

• Ukrainian forces have recaptured nearly 15 sq km (5.8 sq miles) of land from Russian troops in the east and south over the past week during their counteroffensive, a senior defence official said on Monday. Kyiv’s forces have now retaken 204.7 sq km in the south since they launched a major push back against Russian forces early last month, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram.

• Denis Pushilin, the Russian-imposed acting governor of occupied Donetsk, has claimed that at least two people have been killed and at least six injured after a Ukrainian strike hit a bus in the city, which had been capital of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic since 2014, and which Russia claimed to have annexed last year.

• Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin appears to have said in a voice message published on Monday that his Wagner group was not currently recruiting fighters but was likely to do so in future. Prigozhin said in the voice message that “unfortunately” some of his fighters had moved to other “power structures”, but he said they were looking to return.

• Saudi Arabia will host a Ukrainian-organised peace summit in early August seeking a way to start negotiations over the war, the Associated Press has reported, citing Saudi officials. One, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia was not invited to the talks in Jeddah.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqQFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVndWFyZGlhbi5jb20vd29ybGQvbGl2ZS8yMDIzL2F1Zy8wMS9ydXNzaWEtdWtyYWluZS13YXItbGl2ZS1tb3Njb3ctaGl0LWJ5LXNlY29uZC1kcm9uZS1hdHRhY2staW4tdHdvLWRheXMtcnVzc2lhbi1zdHJpa2UtaGl0cy1jb2xsZWdlLWRvcm1pdG9yeS1pbi1raGFya2l20gGpAWh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLnRoZWd1YXJkaWFuLmNvbS93b3JsZC9saXZlLzIwMjMvYXVnLzAxL3J1c3NpYS11a3JhaW5lLXdhci1saXZlLW1vc2Nvdy1oaXQtYnktc2Vjb25kLWRyb25lLWF0dGFjay1pbi10d28tZGF5cy1ydXNzaWFuLXN0cmlrZS1oaXRzLWNvbGxlZ2UtZG9ybWl0b3J5LWluLWtoYXJraXY?oc=5

2023-08-01 08:03:55Z
2257612095

Typhoon Doksuri: At least 11 dead in Beijing as heavy rains cause floods and force thousands from their homes - Sky News

At least 11 people have died in Beijing after one of the strongest storms to hit the country in years.

Dozens more are missing in the Chinese capital due to days of heavy rainfall, brought by the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri, which has turned roads into rivers.

It has caused widespread flooding in northern China and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate in several cities, including Beijing.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

0:45

Cars submerged after storm hits Beijing

As of Monday night, the city had closed over 100 roads, suspended some underground and overground rail services, and evacuated more than 52,000 people from their homes.

Though the storm is weakening as it moves inland, authorities have warned there is a risk of further flooding.

Thunderstorms and strong winds are forecast for Beijing on Tuesday, as well as for neighbouring city Tianjin and Hebei province, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Image: Cars are partially submerged due to the heavy rainfall and flooding in Beijing, China

Image: People gather near a collapsed road in Mentougou District in western Beijing. Pic: AP

Image: Pic: AP

The rainfall during the past few days has exceeded records from a severe storm in July 2012, when the city recorded 190.3mm (7.5in) of rain in one day.

Beijing recorded an average of 260mm (10.2in) of rainfall from Saturday to early Monday, with the Changping Wangjiayuan Reservoir logging the largest reading at 738.3mm (29in).

Read more:
Zoo denies its bears are humans in costume
School gym roof collapses on girls' volleyball team

Advertisement

Image: A swollen Yongding river floods the banks near Shougang park. Pic: Kyodo via AP

Image: Flood defences in one neighbourhood in Beijing

South of Beijing, in Hebei province, one local weather station said the rainfall amounted to 1,003mm (3.3ft) over the three-day period from Saturday to Monday - more than the amount normally seen over half a year. Rainfall in the province averages 605mm (1.9ft) a year.

Doksuri also caused widespread flooding in the southeastern coastal province of Fujian last week, driving 562,000 from their homes and destroying more than 18,000 houses.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikAFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS90eXBob29uLWRva3N1cmktYXQtbGVhc3QtMTEtZGVhZC1pbi1iZWlqaW5nLWFzLWhlYXZ5LXJhaW5zLWNhdXNlLWZsb29kcy1hbmQtZm9yY2UtdGhvdXNhbmRzLWZyb20tdGhlaXItaG9tZXMtMTI5MzE1MjjSAZQBaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLnNreS5jb20vc3RvcnkvYW1wL3R5cGhvb24tZG9rc3VyaS1hdC1sZWFzdC0xMS1kZWFkLWluLWJlaWppbmctYXMtaGVhdnktcmFpbnMtY2F1c2UtZmxvb2RzLWFuZC1mb3JjZS10aG91c2FuZHMtZnJvbS10aGVpci1ob21lcy0xMjkzMTUyOA?oc=5

2023-08-01 06:01:50Z
2299644602

Islamic State says it carried out Pakistan suicide bombing that killed 54 - The Guardian

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 54 people in Pakistan, as the country battles a rising tide of militant attacks.

The bombing took place at a rally for a pro-Taliban party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province bordering Afghanistan that has faced a rapidly declining security situation due to attacks from militant groups including the Pakistan Taliban and Islamic State’s regional affiliate.

More than 1,000 people were at the rally for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), an ultra-conservative Islamist party that is part of the ruling coalition and known for its close ties to the Taliban in Afghanistan, and several regional party leaders were killed. Doctors at local hospitals said they were unable to deal with the scale of the approximately 200 injured, and dozens had to be taken in helicopters to other provinces for treatment.

Authorities had indicated that the jihadist group IS in Khorasan province (ISKP) was behind Sunday’s attack, which was confirmed by Islamic State’s Amaq news agency on Monday night who published a photographer of the suicide bomber.

“A suicide attacker from the Islamic State … detonated his explosive jacket in the middle of a crowd,” said the news outlet.

ISKP, a branch of Islamic State centred in Afghanistan, has declared itself an enemy of the Afghan Taliban, accusing them of not imposing a strict enough Islamic regime, and has been behind several recent deadly attacks targeting clerics, diplomats and schools in Afghanistan. It has also condemned and targeted JUI-F for associating with the Taliban and the Pakistani government, accusing the party of betraying its Islamic principles.

The Pakistan Taliban, known as the TTP, had quickly distanced themselves from the bombing, with their spokesperson saying that “such crimes cannot be justified in any way”.

Hafiz Hamdullah, a senator and spokesperson for JUI-F, said he had closely missed being present at the rally and condemned what he said was a major security failure by the security forces and the government.

Hamdullah was adamant that JUI-F’s political activity would not be halted in the buildup to Pakistan’s general election, which is due to take place by October. “These attacks will not stop us from rallying and taking part in election rallies,” he said.

The bombing was the latest violent incident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a region that in recent months has been subjected to near weekly militant attacks, mostly carried out by TTP fighters, which the government and military have struggled to bring under control.

During the previous government under the then prime minister, Imran Khan, hundreds of TTP fighters were brought back from Afghanistan into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as part of a failed programme of rehabilitation. Since then, growing numbers of Taliban militants have carried out consistent attacks on military and police posts in the state, including in January when TTP militants killed more than 80 people in a suicide blast at a mosque in Peshawar, the capital of the province.

A US state department report in March warned that the TTP and ISKP were growing in presence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the TTP were trying to take over the state government and establish sharia law. ISKP was established in 2015 but has emerged as a prominent jihadist force in the region only in the past few years.

Zahid Hussain, a political analyst, said ISKP had been taking advantage of the growing instability in the border region to establish itself more firmly in Pakistan.

Hussain said it was an indicator that Pakistan was facing militancy on multiple fronts in the region, which continued to spiral out of control. Many fear that more attacks by militant groups could take place in the build up to the election, due to be held in the next three months, which will be held amid significant political turbulence.

“The rising instability and militant attacks provide a window to all militant organisations, including ISKP, to ramp up their attacks,” he said. “These attacks on police, political rallies and security forces have ended the brief illusion of peace in Pakistan.”

Speaking hours before the attack on Sunday, Mohsin Dawar, a politician who heads the National Democratic Movement in Pakistan and is from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, warned that the militancy threatened to spill out beyond state borders. “This is a raging fire. It must be put out now or it will burn everyone, across Pakistan,” he said.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiXGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWd1YXJkaWFuLmNvbS93b3JsZC8yMDIzL2p1bC8zMS9pc2xhbWljLXN0YXRlLXBha2lzdGFuLXN1aWNpZGUtYm9tYmluZy10YWxpYmFu0gFcaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAudGhlZ3VhcmRpYW4uY29tL3dvcmxkLzIwMjMvanVsLzMxL2lzbGFtaWMtc3RhdGUtcGFraXN0YW4tc3VpY2lkZS1ib21iaW5nLXRhbGliYW4?oc=5

2023-07-31 16:06:00Z
2268957780