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Russia-Ukraine Conflict
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Anti-aircraft units intercept drone south of Moscow, no damage or injuries, mayor says

Anti-aircraft units intercept drone south of Moscow, no damage or injuries, mayor says
Fireworks explode over the historical building of the Moscow State University on the Vorobyovy Gory (the Sparrow Hills) during Victory Day, the 79th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Moscow, Russia. (AP)
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Updated 10 May 2024
Reuters
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Anti-aircraft units intercept drone south of Moscow, no damage or injuries, mayor says

Anti-aircraft units intercept drone south of Moscow, no damage or injuries, mayor says
Updated 10 May 2024
Reuters
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Russian anti-aircraft units intercepted a drone south of Moscow and there were no injuries or damage from falling debris, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said early on Friday.
Sobyanin, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the drone, headed for Moscow, was downed in Podolsk district, just south of the capital. Emergency crews and specialists were on the scene.
The governor of Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, said anti-aircraft units had downed three Ukrainian drones overnight with no damage or injuries.
And in Belgorod region, also on the border, two Ukrainian drones were downed, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on oil processing facilities in different regions of Russia since the start of the year, disrupting 15 percent of Russia’s oil refining capacity, according to an estimate by a NATO official at the beginning of April.
One such strike on Thursday hit a major oil processing plant in Bashkortostan region some 1,500 km (930 miles) away, a Kyiv intelligence source said, the longest-range such attack since the start of the war in February 2022.
Drone attacks targeting Moscow are rarer occurrences.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Trump warns ‘hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not freed before his inauguration

Trump warns ‘hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not freed before his inauguration
Updated 3 sec ago
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Trump warns ‘hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not freed before his inauguration

Trump warns ‘hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not freed before his inauguration
Updated 3 sec ago
WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday warned Gaza militants of massive repercussions if hostages are not released by the time he takes office.
The threat comes after exhaustive diplomacy by outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration that has so far failed to secure a deal that would both end Israel’s war in Gaza and free hostages seized 14 months ago.
“If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!“
Trump has vowed staunch support for Israel and to dispense with Biden’s occasional criticism, but has also spoken of his desire to secure deals on the world stage.
Hamas staged the deadliest ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The assault resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Militants seized 251 hostages during the attack, some of whom were already dead. Of those, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 35 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 44,429 people in Gaza, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Philippine navy tracks Russian submarine spotted in South China Sea  

Philippine navy tracks Russian submarine spotted in South China Sea  
Updated 02 December 2024
Ellie Aben
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Philippine navy tracks Russian submarine spotted in South China Sea  

Philippine navy tracks Russian submarine spotted in South China Sea  
  • Manila has faced increasing territorial confrontations in disputed waters
  • Russia’s Kilo-class submarines are known to be among the stealthiest  
Updated 02 December 2024
Ellie Aben

MANILA: A warship and aircraft were deployed by the Philippine military to track a Russian submarine that passed through the South China Sea off the country’s western coast last week, a navy official said on Monday. 

The Russian Kilo-class submarine was sighted in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone on Nov. 28, about 80 nautical miles off the western province of Occidental Mindoro, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. 

“At the onset, we were surprised. We were concerned why there was a submarine,” Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy spokesman for the South China Sea, told Arab News. 

“We sent four different aircraft over a span of four days, we made several sorties and we also dispatched a frigate, and we established communications.” 

The Russian submarine, which identified itself as UFA 490, said it was waiting for improved weather conditions and was en route home to the eastern city of Vladivostok after wrapping up an exercise with the Malaysian navy. 

It has since left the Philippines’ EEZ and was moving slowly in surface mode, which was “unusual,” Trinidad said. 

Russia’s Kilo-class submarines are considered some of the stealthiest and have been regularly refined since the 1980s. 

The Russian Embassy in Manila could not be reached for comment.

The submarine, like other foreign ships, has the right to pass through the Philippines’ EEZ under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea’s freedom of navigation. 

But the Russian vessel’s presence still raised concerns in Manila, which has dealt with increasing territorial confrontations in the disputed South China Sea, particularly between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces. 

“All of that is very concerning. Any intrusion into the West Philippine Sea, of our EEZ, of our baselines, is very worrisome. So yes, it’s just another one,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told reporters on Monday.

The Philippines, China and several other countries have overlapping claims in the disputed waters, a strategic waterway through which billions of dollars of goods pass each year. 

Beijing has maintained its expansive claims of the area, despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling the historical assertion to it had no basis.

In 2022, China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing. The two countries carried out live-fire naval exercises in the South China Sea in July.

Topics: China Philippines Russia South China Sea

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International Criminal Court chief lashes out at US, Russia over threats and accusations

International Criminal Court chief lashes out at US, Russia over threats and accusations
Updated 02 December 2024
AP
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International Criminal Court chief lashes out at US, Russia over threats and accusations

International Criminal Court chief lashes out at US, Russia over threats and accusations
  • Judge Tomoko Akane: ‘The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions by another permanent member of the Security Council as if it was a terrorist organization’
Updated 02 December 2024
AP

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The president of the International Criminal Court lashed out at the United States and Russia for interfering with its investigations, calling threats and attacks on the court “appalling.”
“The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions by another permanent member of the Security Council as if it was a terrorist organization,” Judge Tomoko Akane, in her address to the institution’s annual meeting, which opened on Monday.
Akane was referring to remarks made by US Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose Republican party will control both branches of Congress in January, and who called the court a “dangerous joke” and urged Congress to sanction its prosecutor. “To any ally, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, we’re going to sanction you,” Graham said on Fox News.
This marks the first time the global court of justice calls out a sitting leader of a major Western all.
Graham was angered by an announcement last month that judges had granted a request from the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief for crimes against humanity in connection with the nearly 14-month war in Gaza.
The decision has been denounced by critics of the court and given only milquetoast approval by many of its supporters, a stark contrast to the robust backing of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin last year over war crimes in Ukraine.
Graham’s threat isn’t seen as just empty words. President-elect Donald Trump sanctioned the court’s previous prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, with a travel ban and asset freeze for investigating American troops and intelligence officials in Afghanistan.
Akane on Monday also had harsh words for Russia. “Several elected officials are being subjected to arrest warrants from a permanent member of the Security Council,” she said. Moscow issued warrants for Khan and others in response to the investigation into Putin.
The Assembly of States Parties, which represents the ICC’s 124 member countries, will convene its 23rd conference to elect committee members and approve the court’s budget against a backdrop of unfavorable headlines.
The ICC was established in 2002 as the world’s permanent court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the most heinous atrocities — war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. The court only becomes involved when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute those crimes on their territory. To date, 124 countries have signed on to the Rome Statute, which created the institution. Those who have not include Israel, Russia and China.
The ICC has no police force and relies on member states to execute arrest warrants.
US President Joe Biden called the warrants for Netanyahu and the former defense minister “outrageous” and vowed to stand with Israel. A year ago, Biden called the warrant for Putin “justified” and said the Russian president had committed war crimes. The US is not an ICC member country.
France said it would “respect its obligations” but would need to consider Netanyahu’s possible immunities. When the warrant for Putin was announced, France said it would “lend its support to the essential work” of the court. Another member country, Austria, begrudgingly acknowledged it would arrest Netanyahu but called the warrants “utterly incomprehensible.” Italy called them “wrong” but said it would be obliged to arrest him. Germany said it would study the decision. Member Hungary has said it would stand with Israel instead of the court.
Global security expert Janina Dill worried that such responses could undermine global justice efforts. “It really has the potential to damage not just the court, but international law,” she said.
Milena Sterio, an expert in international law at Cleveland State University, told the AP that sanctions against the court could affect a number of people who contribute to the court’s work, such as international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney. Clooney advised the current prosecutor on his request for the warrants for Netanyahu and others.
“Sanctions are a huge burden,” Sterio said.
Also hanging heavy over the meeting in the Hague, are the internal pressures that Khan faces. In October, the AP reported the 54-year-old British lawyer is facing allegations he tried to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship and groped her.
Two co-workers in whom the woman confided reported the alleged misconduct in May to the court’s independent watchdog, which says it interviewed the woman and ended its inquiry after five days when she opted against filing a formal complaint. Khan was never questioned. He has denied the claims.
The Assembly of States Parties has announced it will launch an external probe into the allegations. It’s not clear if the investigation will be addressed during the meeting.
The court, which has long faced accusations of ineffectiveness, will have no trials pending after two conclude in December. While it has issued a number of arrest warrants in recent months, many high-profile suspects remain at large.
Member states don’t always act. Mongolia refused to arrest Putin when he visited in September. Sudan’s former President Omar Al-Bashir is wanted by the ICC over accusations related to the conflict in Darfur, but his country has refused to hand him over. Last week, Khan requested a warrant for the head of Myanmar’s military regime, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, for attacks against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Judges have yet to decide on that request.
“It becomes very difficult to justify the court’s existence,” Sterio said.

Topics: International Criminal Court US Russia

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‘Stampedes’ kill 56 at Guinea football match: government

‘Stampedes’ kill 56 at Guinea football match: government
Updated 02 December 2024
AFP
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‘Stampedes’ kill 56 at Guinea football match: government

‘Stampedes’ kill 56 at Guinea football match: government
  • Local media said the match in the southeastern city was part of a tournament organized in honor of Guinea’s junta leader
Updated 02 December 2024
AFP

CONAKRY: Stampedes at a football match killed 56 people in Guinea’s second-largest city of N’Zerekore, the junta-controlled government said Monday.
“Protests of dissatisfaction with refereeing decisions led to stone-throwing by supporters, resulting in fatal stampedes” at Sunday’s match, the government statement said, which was published as a news ticker on national television.
“Hospital services have put the provisional death toll at 56,” it added.
Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah condemned the “incidents that marred the match between the teams of Labe and N’Zerekore,” in a post on Facebook.
“The government is following the situation and reiterates its call for calm so as not to impede hospital services from aiding the injured,” he added.
Local media said the match in the southeastern city was part of a tournament organized in honor of Guinea’s junta leader, Mamady Doumbouya, who seized power in a 2021 coup and has installed himself as president.
Such tournaments have become common in the West African nation as Doumbouya eyes a potential run in presidential elections expected next year and political alliances form.

Topics: football Guinea

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Migrant arrests at US borders with Mexico and Canada fell in November, senior official says

Migrant arrests at US borders with Mexico and Canada fell in November, senior official says
Updated 02 December 2024
Reuters
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Migrant arrests at US borders with Mexico and Canada fell in November, senior official says

Migrant arrests at US borders with Mexico and Canada fell in November, senior official says
  • US Border Patrol arrested some 47,000 migrants illegally crossing the US-Mexico border in November
  • At the border with Canada, about 700 migrants were caught crossing illegally, down from 1,300 in October
Updated 02 December 2024
Reuters

WASHINGTON: The number of migrants caught illegally crossing the US borders with Mexico and Canada fell in November, a senior US border official said, part of a months-long trend that undercuts President-elect Donald Trump’s claim illegal immigration is out of control.
US Border Patrol arrested some 47,000 migrants illegally crossing the US-Mexico border in November, according to a preliminary tally, the US Customs and Border Protection official said on Sunday, requesting anonymity to share unpublished data. The figure is a decrease from nearly 57,000 in October and the lowest monthly total since July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic and when Trump was still in office.
At the border with Canada, about 700 migrants were caught crossing illegally, down from 1,300 in October, the official said.
Trump, a Republican who recaptured the White House last month, has promised to crack down on illegal immigration and criticized Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for record numbers of migrants caught illegally crossing during Biden’s administration. In a Truth Social post last week, Trump vowed to impose 25 percent tariffs on all goods from Mexico and Canada unless the countries stop migrants and illicit fentanyl from entering the US, a move that could trigger a trade war if Trump follows through when he takes office on Jan. 20. In response, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum warned the tariffs would have dire consequences for both countries and suggested possible retaliation. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Friday. US arrests of migrants at the Mexico border have fallen dramatically since Biden imposed restrictions in June that blocked most people crossing illegally from claiming asylum. At the same time, Mexico has stepped up immigration enforcement, stopping hundreds of thousands of migrants en route to the US since January.
“We really think these sustained reductions demonstrate the continued success of our work to strengthen international collaboration to address migration,” the official said.
In his Nov. 25 Truth Social post, Trump said a migrant caravan moving through Mexico appeared to be “unstoppable in its quest to come through our currently Open Border.”
However, the group, which had totaled several thousand migrants in southern Mexico, has seen its numbers and momentum decrease in recent days.
“Usually by the time they make it even 100 miles (161 km) north into Mexico, they’ve effectively been dissipated by the Mexican government,” the Customs and Border Protection official said.
Biden also has opened up new legal pathways in recent years that have allowed some 1.4 million migrants to enter by air or schedule an appointment to request entry at the US-Mexico border as of October. Trump has criticized Biden’s asylum restrictions, which mirror policies from Trump’s first term, as too lax and is expected to immediately roll back the legal entry programs.
The official said the US had taken steps in November to more quickly return migrants to Canada under an existing “safe third country” asylum agreement, which had led to a dropoff in illegal crossings.

Topics: US Mexico Canada Migration illegal migrants

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