![Community banner](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/8621e1cf-3bf5-4df6-b0d9-44f1007a746b.png)
-
Exclusive: Russia deploys cheap drones to locate Ukraine's air defences
> Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones, which fly to their target and detonate on impact, have become a staple of Russian aerial attacks since they began being used in the first year of Russia's full-scale invasion launched in February 2022.
> The new Russian drones with cameras do not carry explosives but closely resemble regular Shahed drones and fly with groups of them, Cherniak said. The second new type of drone contains no explosive charge or only a small one and is being used as a decoy, Cherniak added.
- apnews.com A Russian Navy research vessel is suspected of violating Finnish territorial waters
The Finnish defense ministry says a Russian vessel is suspected of a territorial violation of Finland’s marine area in the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea.
A Russian vessel is suspected of a territorial violation of Finland’s marine area in the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea, the Finnish defense ministry said on Friday.
The suspected violation, which the Finnish Border Guard is currently investigating, took place in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland Friday afternoon, a brief government statement said.
The ministry didn’t disclose further details of the incident but the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat said, citing information from border officials, that the suspected vessel is the Russian Navy’s hydrographic survey ship, the Mikhail Kazansky.
The Russian vessel, used among other things for underwater topography and repair work, entered into Finnish territorial waters south of the town of Hamina without authorization just after noon Friday, and the violation lasted about seven minutes, the newspaper said.
-
US Healthcare Workers Back From Gaza Tell Harris and Biden: 'End This Madness Now'
www.commondreams.org US Healthcare Workers Back From Gaza Tell Harris and Biden: 'End This Madness Now' | Common DreamsDozens of American healthcare workers who recently volunteered in the Gaza Strip urged the U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to do everything in their power to end Israel's assault on Gaza.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17975216
> "Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered with our bullets."
- www.independent.co.uk Bangladesh PM accused of ‘crocodile tears’ over railway station after 150 killed
Sheikh Hasina was seen wiping away tears in pictures taken during her visit to a metro station in Mirpur
Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina is under fire for “shedding crocodile tears” over damage caused to a railway station during a protest against her government that left more than 150 people dead.
Ms Hasina was seen wiping away tears in pictures taken during her visit to a metro station in Mirpur, as social media users lambasted her for what they saw as her apparent lack of empathy for the victims of violence.
Police fired rubber bullets, released teargas, and threw sound-grenades in an effort to disperse tens of thousands of protesters who came out onto the streets to rail against job quotas. The government denied that any live rounds had been fired, but hospital sources said dead and injured people had wounds from bullets and shotgun pellets.
Rights groups and critics accuse Ms Hasina of becoming increasingly autocratic during her 15 years in power. They say her time in office has been marked by mass arrests of political opponents and activists, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. She denies all of these charges.
- www.theguardian.com Britain drops its challenge to ICC arrest warrants for Israeli leaders
Labour government says it will not pursue questions on court’s jurisdiction over Netanyahu and Gallant
- www.iranintl.com Hijab enforcement to continue despite Pezeshkian’s promises
Masoud Pezeshkian promised voters to stop hijab patrols and violence against women for violations, but the acting chief of police insists the same policies will continue under the new government.
- www.theguardian.com ‘I did it as quietly as I could’: the navy chief who wrecked his ship to scupper China’s ambitions
Vice Admiral Eduardo Santos was in charge of the Philippine navy at a time of ‘creeping invasion’ by China. Then along came an unusual idea
Vice Admiral Eduardo Santos was in charge of the Philippine navy at a time of ‘creeping invasion’ by China. Then along came an unusual idea
More than 25 years ago, the BRP Sierra Madre was sent off for one final, secret voyage. In the darkness of night, the Philippine navy ship sailed from Manila Bay into the remote waters of the South China Sea. Then, to the surprise of many, it ran aground, and hasn’t moved since.
“I did it as quietly as I could, so I would not raise any hackles among anybody,” says retired Vice Adm Eduardo Santos, who was chief of the navy at the time. To him, it was a case of mission accomplished. His plan had been to run the ship on to a small reef known as Second Thomas Shoal, one of the world’s most fiercely contested maritime sites, without China knowing. The move would help the Philippines defend the area for decades to come.
“The first reaction was the Chinese ambassador knocking at my office early in the morning when they heard about it … I said, ‘well, it was supposed to be on the way [to a mission], and it ran aground’,” says Santos. With hindsight, Santos, who is now 80, can smile about it, though he, more than most, is keenly aware of how delicate the issue remains.
If the shoal had been left unoccupied, it would have been lost to Beijing, he says, because the Philippines was already facing a “creeping invasion” by China.
Beijing had already seized Mischief Reef, an atoll just 21 nautical miles away, despite being within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) – an area that stretches 200 nautical miles from a state’s coast, giving it special rights to build or exploit resources in the area. Second Thomas Shoal is also with the Philippines’ EEZ.
- www.politico.eu ‘Coordinated arson attack’ brings French trains to a halt hours before Olympics opening ceremony
Fires on French railway tracks have delayed journeys for 800,000 travelers in what the transport minister described as “coordinated attacks of malicious intent.”
Fires on French railway tracks have delayed journeys for 800,000 travelers in what the transport minister described as “coordinated attacks of malicious intent.”
A co-ordinated arson attack on the French rail system is turning the first weekend of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris into a nightmare for hundreds of thousands of travelers.
French rail company SNCF announced on Friday its high-speed train system had been hit by "deliberate arson attacks to damage \[its] facilities" causing delays and cancellations which are expected to last all weekend.
The disruptions are affecting trains heading East, North and West of Paris, and travelers have been asked to postpone their plans.
- www.straitstimes.com US told Philippines it made ‘missteps’ in secret anti-vax propaganda effort
The Pentagon distributed social media content on the safety and efficacy of China's Sinovac vaccine. Read more at straitstimes.com.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/18426493
-
Rushdie attacker charged with supporting militant group Hezbollah
www.bbc.com Salman Rushdie attacker charged with supporting militant group HezbollahHadi Matar plans to plead not guilty to the federal charges of providing material support to a terrorist group.
- apnews.com French minister thanks Belgium for detaining 7 terror suspects on eve of Olympics opening ceremony
On the eve of the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris, France's interior minister thanked Belgium for a string of raids that led to the detention of seven people for questioning over suspected terrorist activities.
- apnews.com 95 Libyan nationals arrested in South Africa at suspected secret military training camp
South African police say they have arrested 95 Libyan nationals on suspicion of receiving training at a secret military camp in the north of the country.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African police arrested 95 Libyan nationals in a raid on a suspected secret military training camp on Friday and authorities said they were investigating whether there were more illegal bases in other parts of the country.
The camp was discovered at a farm in White River in the Mpumalanga province, about 360 kilometers (220 miles) northeast of Johannesburg, police said.
National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said in a post on the social media site X that the Libyans stated they had entered the country on study visas to train as security guards, but police investigations suggest they have received military training.
- apnews.com Gang kills at least 26 villagers in remote Papua New Guinea, officials say
Officials say at least 26 people have been killed by a gang in three remote villages in Papua New Guinea’s north, and eight villagers remain missing.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — At least 26 people were killed by a gang in three remote villages in Papua New Guinea’s north and eight villagers remained missing Friday in the latest violence in the South Pacific island nation relating to contested land ownership and sorcery allegations, officials said.
“It was a very terrible thing … when I approached the area, I saw that there were children, men, women. They were killed by a group of 30 young men,” the acting police commander in East Sepik province, James Baugen, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Friday.
-
Philippines 'racing against time' after oil tanker capsizes
www.dw.com Philippines 'racing against time' after oil tanker capsizes – DW – 07/26/2024The Philippines Coast Guard is setting up a massive operation to contain an oil spill after the Terra Nova tanker sank in Manila Bay with 1.4 million liters of industrial oil on board.
The Philippines Coast Guard is setting up a massive operation to contain an oil spill after the Terra Nova tanker sank in Manila Bay with 1.4 million liters of industrial oil on board.
Philippines' authorities on Friday were racing to contain an oil spill from a tanker that sank in Manila Bay on Thursday.
The ship, transporting some 1.4 million liters (370,000 gallons) of industrial oil, faced stormy seas as Typhoon Gaemi passed by the Philippines on the day before.
The tanker's crew was hoping to steer the vessel to port, but the ship capsized and sank.
-
Philippines plans to siphon off oil cargo from sunken tanker to avert ‘environmental catastrophe’
apnews.com Philippines plans to siphon off oil cargo from sunken tanker to avert 'environmental catastrophe'The Philippine coast guard says there has been no indication that a big cargo of industrial fuel oil stored in a tanker that sank in stormy weather in Manila Bay has started to leak out.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — There is no indication that a big cargo of industrial fuel oil stored in a tanker that sank in stormy weather in Manila Bay has started to leak, the Philippine coast guard said Friday, and plans are being firmed up to try to siphon off the highly toxic shipment to prevent a major spill that could reach the bustling capital.
The tanker Terra Nova had left Bataan province en route to the central province of Iloilo with about 1.4 million liters (370,000 gallons) of industrial fuel oil stored in watertight tanks when it got lashed by huge waves and took on water. The crew struggled to steer the tanker back to port but it eventually sank shortly after midnight Thursday. The coast guard rescued 16 crewmembers but one drowned, coast guard spokesperson Rear Adm. Armando Balilo said.
“We’re racing against time to siphon off the oil to avoid an environmental catastrophe,” Balilo told reporters, adding that the plans could be hampered if the weather turns bad.
- apnews.com 2 years after Ukrainian POW deaths, survivors and leaked UN analysis point to Russia as the culprit
Former Ukrainian prisoners of war who survived the explosions two years ago in the Russian-held barracks at Olenivka still puzzle over the strange events leading up to that night.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The former prisoners of war still puzzle over the strange events leading up to the night now seared into their memories, when an explosion ripped through the Russian-controlled Olenivka prison barracks and killed so many comrades two years ago.
Among the survivors: Kyrylo Masalitin, whose months in captivity and long beard age him beyond his 30 years. Arsen Dmytryk, the informal commander of the group of POWs that was shifted without explanation to a room newly stocked with bare bunks. And Mykyta Shastun, who recalled guards laughing as the building burned, acting not at all like men under enemy attack.
“Before my eyes, there were guys who were dying, who were being revived, but it was all in vain,” said Masalitin, who is back on the front line and treated as a father-figure by the men he commands.
- apnews.com A mysterious pile of bones could hold evidence of Japanese war crimes, activists say
Bones dug up from a wartime Army Medical School site in Tokyo decades ago and linked to victims of human experiments by Unit 731, Japan’s germ and biological warfare outfit, remain in a repository still waiting to find their home.
TOKYO (AP) — Depending on who you ask, the bones that have been sitting in a Tokyo repository for decades could be either leftovers from early 20th century anatomy classes, or the unburied and unidentified victims of one of the country’s most notorious war crimes.
A group of activists, historians and other experts who want the government to investigate links to wartime human germ warfare experiments met over the weekend to mark the 35th anniversary of their discovery and renew a call for an independent panel to examine the evidence.
Japan’s government has long avoided discussing wartime atrocities, including the sexual abuse of Asian women known as “comfort women” and Korean forced laborers at Japanese mines and factories, often on grounds of lack of documentary proof. Japan has apologized for its aggression in Asia, but since the 2010s it has been repeatedly criticized in South Korea and China for backpedalling.
Around a dozen skulls, many with cuts, and parts of other skeletons were unearthed on July 22, 1989, during construction of a Health Ministry research institute at the site of the wartime Army Medical School. The school’s close ties to a germ and biological warfare unit led many to suspect that they could be the remains of a dark history that the Japanese government has never officially acknowledged.
- apnews.com India and China agree to work urgently to achieve the withdrawal of troops on their disputed border
India says it has agreed with China to work urgently to achieve the withdrawal of tens of thousands of troops stationed along their disputed border in a long-running standoff.
NEW DELHI (AP) — India and China have agreed to work urgently to achieve the withdrawal of tens of thousands of troops stationed along their disputed border in a long-running standoff, India’s government said.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Thursday on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings in Laos, where they stressed the need for an early resolution of outstanding issues along the disputed Line of Actual Control, the long Himalayan border shared by the two Asian giants.
-
A year has passed since Niger’s dramatic coup. Life has become more dangerous and desperate
apnews.com A year has passed since Niger's dramatic coup. Life has become more dangerous and desperateOne year has passed since a dramatic coup in Niger. Coup leaders said they deposed the West African nation’s elected government for two key reasons: its security and economic crises.
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — When a group of military officers appeared on state television in Niger one year ago to make a dramatic announcement of a coup, they said they deposed the West African nation’s elected government for two key reasons: its security, and economic crises.
But those challenges have persisted, even worsened. The country’s 26 million people — among the world’s youngest and poorest — are struggling after the junta severed ties with key international partners, who have imposed sanctions and suspended security and development support affecting close to half of Niger’s budget.
The coup was the latest and perhaps most significant of the recent military takeovers in Africa’s Sahel, the vast, arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert that has become a global hot spot for extremist violence. Niger had been the West’s last reliable partner in the region in battling jihadists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
Now, a crucial U.S. drone base is going, along with U.S. forces vacating ahead of a September deadline. More than 1,000 French troops also pulled out after being told to leave. A key China-backed pipeline once meant to turn Niger into an oil exporter has stalled with the insecurity and uncertainty.
- apnews.com A Russian man accused of staging a car bombing on Ukrainian orders has been arrested
Russia’s top security agency says it has arrested a man accused of staging a car bombing on Ukrainian orders.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top security agency said Friday that it arrested a man accused of staging a car bombing on Ukrainian orders.
The Federal Security Service, or FSB, showed a video of the handcuffed suspect walking off a plane from Turkey escorted by masked officers.
Turkish authorities said that they detained the suspect, Yevgeniy Serebryakov, on Russia’s request on Wednesday. He arrived in Turkey’s resort of Bodrum hours after a car bomb went off in Moscow.
- apnews.com Venezuelan voters face crucial choice: Reelect Maduro or give opposition a chance after 25 years
Venezuelans have a crucial decision ahead of them. On Sunday, they decide whether to give President Nicolas Maduro a third six-year term in office or to allow the opposition a chance to deliver on their promise to undo the policies that caused economic collapse and forced millions to emigrate.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The future of Venezuela is on the line. Voters will decide Sunday whether to reelect President Nicolas Maduro, whose 11 years in office have been beset by crisis, or allow the opposition a chance to deliver on a promise to undo the ruling party’s policies that caused economic collapse and forced millions to emigrate.
Historically fractured opposition parties have coalesced behind a single candidate, giving the United Socialist Party of Venezuela its most serious electoral challenge in a presidential election in decades.
Maduro is being challenged by former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, who represents the resurgent opposition, and eight other candidates. Supporters of Maduro and Gonzalez marked the end of the official campaign season Thursday with massive demonstrations in the capital, Caracas.
- www.standard.co.uk France's rail network hit by 'huge arson attack' ahead of Olympics opening ceremony
Eurostar said journey times in both directions between London and Paris were expected to be delayed by up to 90 minutes
- apnews.com Search for people missing after Ethiopia mudslides continues as death toll rises to 257
Search teams were still digging at the site of deadly mudslides in southern Ethiopia on Friday, as the death toll rose to 257, according to the U.N. humanitarian office.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Search teams were still digging at the site of deadly mudslides in southern Ethiopia on Friday, as the death toll rose to 257, according to the U.N. humanitarian office.
Heavy rain triggered deadly slides on Sunday and Monday in a remote part of the country. The U.N. humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said in an update Thursday that the death toll could rise to as many as 500, citing local officials.
- www.bbc.com Philippines 'prepares for worst' after oil spill
Authorities are racing to contain the oil spill and prevent it from reaching the capital, Manila.
The Philippine Coast Guard has deployed floating barriers and started to clean up an oil spill to prevent it from reaching the capital, Manila.
Authorities are racing to stop the oil spill from the 65-metre-long (213 feet) MT Terra Nova, which capsized on Thursday as monsoon rains battered large swathes of the country.
The leak appeared to be coming from the ship's engine, not its cargo tank, which was carrying close to 1.5 million litres of industrial fuel, officials said.
There are fears that the spill, which stretches out over several kilometres, could be the worst in the country's history if it is not contained.
- www.theguardian.com Kamala Harris says ‘I will not be silent’ on suffering in Gaza after Netanyahu talks
Democratic presidential contender strikes tough tone in public remarks following meeting with Israeli prime minister on US visit
-
French rail lines disrupted by ‘coordinated sabotage’ ahead of Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony
www.cnn.com French rail lines disrupted by ‘coordinated sabotage’ ahead of Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony | CNNFrance’s high-speed train lines were targeted by multiple “malicious” acts including arson on Friday, in what has been described as “coordinated sabotage” to disrupt travel ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
- apnews.com Wounded in a strike that killed her family, a 2-year-old joins Gaza's ranks of thousands of orphans
Israel’s campaign of bombardment and offensives in Gaza has left thousands of orphans.
The 2-year-old toddler lay on a foil blanket, her face covered with salve for her burns and her little body riddled with scars from shrapnel. She squirmed, her breath heaving, as doctors examined her and the tube in her chest.
Siwar Abdel-Hadi is now an orphan. She’s the lone survivor of an Israeli strike that hit their family home in central Gaza, killing her parents, her two sisters and her brother, along with a brother of her mother.
“The whole family was gathered around a table for lunch” when the missile struck Tuesday in the Bureij refugee camp, said Nour Abdel-Hadi, one of Siwar’s paternal aunts. She spoke at nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where the overwhelmed staff rushed around her dealing with influxes of wounded.
Israel’s campaign of bombardment and offensives in Gaza has left thousands of orphans. Cases like Siwar’s have become so common, doctors created an acronym for it: WCNSF, “wounded child, no surviving family.” The United Nations estimated in February that some 17,000 children in the territory are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since.
- www.theguardian.com ‘Smoking gun’ evidence points to UAE involvement in Sudan civil war
Exclusive: Discovery of Emirati passports in wreckage suggest covert boots on the ground, despite Gulf state’s denials
Passports recovered from battlefields in Sudan suggest the United Arab Emirates is covertly putting boots on the ground in the country’s devastating civil war, according to leaked documents.
A 41-page document, sent to the UN security council and seen by the Guardian, contains images of Emirati passports allegedly found in Sudan and linked to soldiers of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the African nation’s notorious paramilitary.
The UAE has previously denied all accusations of supplying arms to the RSF, which is holding the city of El Fasher under siege in a wider campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur.
However, the suggestion that the Emirates has deployed personnel to assist the fighting in Sudan would be an escalation, further inflaming the geopolitical complexities of the 15-month long civil war between the RSF and Sudanese military.
-
India wants to be China's gateway to the West
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/18427024
-
Israeli Snipers Firing at 'Anyone Who Is Moving' in Khan Younis
www.commondreams.org Israeli Snipers Firing at 'Anyone Who Is Moving' in Khan Younis | Common DreamsThe southern Gaza city is the latest region where Israeli forces have issued an evacuation order, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
- apnews.com China issues rare praise to Philippine president for his ban on Chinese online gambling operators
China has issued a rare compliment to the administration of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for his order banning widespread and Chinese-run online gaming operations.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/18418065
- www.cbsnews.com Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, leader of Mexico's notorious Sinaloa cartel, arrested in Texas, officials say
The leader and co-founder of Mexico's notorious Sinaloa cartel, along with a son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, were arrested in El Paso.
The leader and co-founder of Mexico's notorious Sinaloa cartel, along with a son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, were arrested Thursday by the FBI, federal authorities announced.
The Justice Department confirmed that Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez were arrested in El Paso, Texas. One senior official familiar with the arrest told CBS News that Zambada was taken into custody by the FBI without incident along the U.S. border.
- apnews.com Sri Lanka will hold presidential election on Sept. 21, its first since declaring bankruptcy in 2022
The date was announced by the independent elections commission, which said nominations will be accepted on Aug. 15.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka will hold a presidential election on Sept. 21 that will likely be a test of confidence in President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s efforts to resolve the country’s worst economic crisis.
The date was announced by the independent elections commission Friday, which said nominations will be accepted on Aug. 15.
Wickremesinghe is expected to run while his main rivals will be opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Anura Dissanayake, who is the leader of a leftist political party that has gained popularity after the economic debacle.
It will be the first election in the South Asian island nation after it declared bankruptcy in 2022 and suspended repayments on some $83 billion in domestic and foreign loans.
That followed a severe foreign exchange crisis that led to a severe shortage of essentials such as food, medicine, fuel and cooking gas, and extended power outages.
The election is largely seen as a crucial vote for the island nation’s efforts to conclude a critical debt restructuring program and as well as completing the financial reforms agreed under a bailout program by the International Monetary Fund.
- www.theguardian.com Australia imposes sanctions on Israeli settlers and youth group over violent attacks on Palestinians
Penny Wong says settler violence in West Bank includes ‘beatings, sexual assault and torture’ as she announces Magnitsky-style sanctions
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/18410042
- apnews.com Chinese and Russian bombers patrolling off Alaska raise concerns about growing military cooperation
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says that Russian and Chinese bombers flying together for the first time in international airspace off the coast of Alaska is a new show of expanding military cooperation tand it raises concerns.
- www.newsweek.com Chinese students arrested over drone footage of U.S. aircraft carrier
Three Chinese suspects in South Korea claimed to local police that they were using a drone to film a U.S. aircraft carrier "out of curiosity."
Three Chinese students are under investigation over footage captured by a drone of a United States aircraft carrier and naval facilities in South Korea in June, local police said on Wednesday.
The suspects are aged between 30 and 49 and are studying in Busan, a port city located on the southeastern coast of South Korea, where U.S. Navy aircraft carriers frequently visit.
The Chinese nationals were caught flying a drone toward South Korea's Naval Operations Command in Busan where aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was docked on June 25, local police said. They are accused of illegally filming the vessel and military facilities.