Russia claims more advances after Ukraine ground offensive

Update Russia claims more advances after Ukraine ground offensive
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Ukrainian residents from Vovchansk and nearby villages wait for buses amid an evacuation to Kharkiv due to Russian shelling on May 10, 2024. (REUTERS)
Update Russia claims more advances after Ukraine ground offensive
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Ukrainian residents from Vovchansk and nearby villages wait for buses amid an evacuation to Kharkiv due to Russian shelling on May 10, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 11 May 2024
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Russia claims more advances after Ukraine ground offensive

Russia claims more advances after Ukraine ground offensive
  • Russia’s defense ministry said its troops had ‘liberated’ five border villages in the Kharkiv region
  • The Kharkiv region has been mostly under Ukrainian control since September 2022

UKRAINE: Russia on Saturday said it had captured six villages in Ukraine’s east after launching a surprise ground offensive that prompted mass evacuations.

The defense ministry said its troops had “liberated” five villages in the Kharkiv region near the border with Russia — Borisivka, Ogirtseve, Pletenivka, Pylna and Strilecha — “as a result of offensive actions.”

The village of Keramik in the Donetsk region was also now under Russian control, it said.

Ukrainian officials said Russian forces made small advances in the area it was pushed back from nearly two years ago, the latest in a series of gains as Ukrainian forces find themselves outgunned and outmanned.

“A total of 1,775 people have been evacuated,” Kharkiv governor Oleg Synegubov wrote on social media.

He reported Russian artillery and mortar attacks on 30 settlements over the past 24 hours.

Groups of people could be seen coming in vans and cars with as many bags as they could carry at an evacuation arrival point outside the city of Kharkiv.

Evacuees — many of them elderly — registered and received food and medical assistance in makeshift tents.

“We must disrupt Russian offensive operations and return the initiative to Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.

Ukrainska Pravda quoted military sources saying the Russian assault had resumed on Saturday near the village of Glyboke in Kharkiv.

The report could not be independently verified.

The Kharkiv region has been mostly under Ukrainian control since September 2022.

A senior Ukrainian military source said on Friday that Russian forces had advanced one kilometer into Ukraine and were trying to “create a buffer zone” in the Kharkiv and neighboring Sumy regions to prevent attacks on Russian territory.

Ukrainian forces have multiplied attacks inside Russia and Russian-held areas of Ukraine, particularly on energy infrastructure.

Moscow-installed authorities in the Russian-occupied Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine said four people were killed by a Ukrainian strike with US-made missiles on an oil depot in Rovenky.

Governor Leonid Pasechnik said the strike “enveloped the oil depot in fire and damaged surrounding homes.”

In Russia, two people were reported killed by Ukrainian strikes in the Belgorod and Kursk regions.

Ukrainian officials also reported a total of six civilians killed in Russian shelling in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions over the past day.

Officials in Kyiv had warned for weeks that Moscow might try to attack its northeastern border regions, pressing its advantage as Ukraine struggles with delays in Western aid and manpower shortages.

Ukraine’s military said it had deployed more troops and Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were using artillery and drones to thwart the Russian advance.

“Reserve units have been deployed to strengthen the defense in this area of the front,” it said.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said on Friday that Russia had made “tactically significant gains.”

But the main aim of the operation was “drawing Ukrainian manpower and material from other critical sectors of the front in eastern Ukraine,” it said.

ISW said it did not appear to be “a large-scale sweeping offensive operation to envelop, encircle and seize Kharkiv” — Ukraine’s second biggest city.

Washington announced a new $400 million military aid package for Kyiv hours after the offensive began, and said it was confident Ukraine could repel any fresh Russian campaign.


Lahore primary schools shut over record pollution: Pakistan officials

Lahore primary schools shut over record pollution: Pakistan officials
Updated 6 sec ago
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Lahore primary schools shut over record pollution: Pakistan officials

Lahore primary schools shut over record pollution: Pakistan officials

LAHORE: Pakistan’s second city of Lahore will close primary schools for a week over record levels of pollution, authorities said Sunday.
“Because the direction of the wind from India is toward Lahore... Montessori, playgroup and primary schools up to Grade 5 are being given a week off,” Punjab senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb told a news conference, adding that smog counters have been established in hospitals.


Spanish royals to visit flood-hit region as fresh downpours loom

Spanish royals to visit flood-hit region as fresh downpours loom
Updated 9 min 13 sec ago
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Spanish royals to visit flood-hit region as fresh downpours loom

Spanish royals to visit flood-hit region as fresh downpours loom

VALENCIA: Spain’s king and queen are due on Sunday to visit the Valencia region, Spanish media reported, where devastating floods have killed more than 200 people with more rain on the horizon.
Hopes of finding survivors ebbed five days after torrents of muddy water wrecked towns and infrastructure in Spain’s worst such disaster in decades.
Nearly all the deaths have been in the Valencia region, where thousands of security and emergency services frantically cleared debris and mud in the search for bodies.
Describing “the worst natural disaster in the recent history of our country,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said it was the second deadliest flood in Europe this century.
Sanchez was expected to accompany King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia as well as the Valencia region leader Carlos Mazon on a visit to the areas affected by the floods on Sunday, according to the premier’s office. The exact program of their visit has not yet been made public.
The monarchs’ visit comes as Spain’s meterological agency issued a fresh warning for heavy downpours in the Valencia region.
Up to 100 liters per square meter (22 gallons per square yard) of water could fall in the province of Castellon and the area surrounding the city of Valencia, the agency forecast.
It also sounded the alarm for torrential rain that may cause flooding in the southern province of Almeria, advising residents not to travel unless strictly necessary.
Restoring order and distributing aid to destroyed towns and villages — some of which have been cut off from food, water and power since Tuesday’s torrent — is a priority.
With Spain deploying an extra 10,000 troops, police and civil guards to the Valencia region, the country was carrying out its largest deployment of military and security force personnel in peacetime, Sanchez said.
Officers made around 20 arrests on Saturday evening for thievery and acts of looting, police said, with the authorities pledging to crack down on those taking advantage of the disaster to commit crimes.
Authorities — including Mazon — have come under fire over the warning systems before the floods, and some stricken residents have complained that the response to the disaster has been too slow.
“I am aware the response is not enough, there are problems and severe shortages... towns buried by mud, desperate people searching for their relatives... we have to improve,” Sanchez said.
In the ground-zero towns of Alfafar and Sedavi, AFP reporters saw no soldiers while residents shovelled mud from their homes and firefighters pumped water from garages and tunnels.
“Thank you to the people who have come to help us, to all of them, because from the authorities: nothing,” a furious Estrella Caceres, 66, told AFP in Sedavi.
In Chiva, a town west of Valencia which Spanish media reported may be visited by the monarchs, Danna Daniella said she had been cleaning her restaurant for three days straight and was still in shock.
“It feels like the end of the world,” the woman in her 30s said.
She said she was haunted by memories of the people trapped by the raging floodwaters “asking for help and there was nothing we could do.”
“It drives you crazy. You look for answers and you don’t find them.”
With telephone and transport networks severely damaged, establishing a precise figure of missing people is difficult.
Sanchez said electricity had been restored to 94 percent of homes affected by power outages and that around half of the cut telephone lines had been repaired.
Transport Minister Oscar Puente told El Pais daily that certain places would probably remain inaccessible by land for weeks.
Ordinary citizens carrying food, water and cleaning equipment have continued their grassroots initiative to assist the recovery, although authorities have urged people to stay at home to avoid congestion on the roads that would hamper the work of emergency services.
On Sunday, the Valencian government limited the number of volunteers authorized to travel to the city’s southern suburbs to 2,000 and restricted access to 12 localities.
The storm that sparked the floods on Tuesday formed as cold air moved over the warm waters of the Mediterranean and is common for this time of year.
But scientists warn climate change driven by human activity is increasing the ferocity, length and frequency of such extreme weather events.
Emergency services late on Saturday issued an updated toll of 213 people confirmed killed — 210 in the Valencia region, two in neighboring Castilla-La Mancha and one in Andalusia in the south.
Authorities have warned the toll could yet rise, as vehicles trapped in tunnels and underground car parks are cleared.


Grenade attack wounds several in Indian-run Kashmir: police

Grenade attack wounds several in Indian-run Kashmir: police
Updated 10 min 24 sec ago
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Grenade attack wounds several in Indian-run Kashmir: police

Grenade attack wounds several in Indian-run Kashmir: police
  • The Press Trust of India (PTI) showed dozens of armed police and soldiers cordoning off the area in the Himalayan city
  • At least 500,000 Indian troops are deployed in Kashmir, battling an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels since 1989
Srinagar: Indian-run Kashmir’s chief minister on Sunday condemned a “deeply disturbing” grenade attack on a busy market in the main city of Srinagar, which police and media reported left several wounded.
“A grenade attack on innocent shoppers at the ‘Sunday market’ in Srinagar is deeply disturbing,” Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said in a statement.
“There can be no justification for targeting innocent civilians.”
Abdullah did not say how many were wounded, but a senior police officer, who was not authorized to speak to journalists, said nine people were wounded, all civilians.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) showed dozens of armed police and soldiers cordoning off the area in the Himalayan city.
The Hindustan Times quoted Tasneem Showkat, a doctor at Srinagar’s SMHS Hospital, as saying at least eight injured had been taken for treatment.
“The injured include eight men and one woman,” Showkat said, the newspaper reported. “All are so far stable.”
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947 and is home to a long-running insurgency.
At least 500,000 Indian troops are deployed in Kashmir, battling an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels since 1989.
The grenade attack comes a day after Indian troops killed three suspected militants in two separate firefights.
In October, gunmen ambushed an army vehicle and killed five people, including three soldiers.
That came a week after seven people were shot dead near a construction site for a strategic road tunnel to Ladakh, a high-altitude Himalayan region bordering China.
New Delhi regularly blames Pakistan for arming militants and helping them launch attacks, an allegation Islamabad denies.
“The security apparatus must do everything possible to end this spurt of attacks at the earliest so that people can go about their lives without any fear,” Abdullah added.

US bomber joins air drill with S. Korea, Japan

US bomber joins air drill with S. Korea, Japan
Updated 03 November 2024
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US bomber joins air drill with S. Korea, Japan

US bomber joins air drill with S. Korea, Japan

SEOUL: South Korea, Japan, and the United States on Sunday conducted a joint air drill involving a heavy bomber, Seoul’s military said, in response to North Korea’s latest long-range missile test.
The exercise took place three days after Pyongyang launched one of its most powerful and advanced solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), which experts say could reach targets in the mainland US.
The drill mobilized the US’ B-1B bomber, South Korea’s F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets, and Japan’s F-2 jets, Seoul’s military said.
“The exercise demonstrates the commitment of the ROK-US alliance to integrated extended deterrence in response to the advancing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea,” said South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff in a press release.
During the aerial maneuver, South Korea and Japan’s jets escorted the US strategic bomber to a designated location south of the Korean peninsula, “demonstrating an overwhelming capability to swiftly and accurately strike simulated targets,” it added.
The B-1B Lancer is a supersonic heavy bomber known for its high-speed performance with a payload of 75,000 pounds (34,000 kilograms) of munitions, including both conventional and precision-guided weapons.
It was the fourth time this year the bomber was deployed to the Korean peninsula, the military said, and the second time for a trilateral aerial exercise to counter Pyongyang’s military threats.
The North’s latest ICBM launch is said to have flown higher and further than any previous missile, according to North Korea as well as Seoul and Tokyo’s militaries, which tracked it in real-time.
The official Korean Central News Agency hailed it as “the world’s strongest strategic missile,” and leader Kim “expressed great satisfaction” at the successful launch.
North Korea “would never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces,” the agency said.
The launch came amid growing international scrutiny over Pyongyang’s purported deployment of thousands of troops to Russia to support Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine, raising concerns North Korean soldiers in Russian uniforms could soon engage in combat.


Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island

Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island
Updated 03 November 2024
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Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island

Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island
  • China has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years as Beijing pressures Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty over the island

Taipei: Taiwan said it detected 37 Chinese fighter jets, drones and other aircraft near the self-ruled island on Sunday as Beijing carried out “long-distance” training flights.
China has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years as Beijing pressures Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty over the island.
The Chinese aircraft were spotted from 9:00 am (0100 GMT) and 35 of them crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which separates mainland China and Taiwan, and entered Taiwanese airspace on their way to the Western Pacific Ocean, the defense ministry said.
Taiwan’s military responded by deploying aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems, the ministry said.
The exercise came a day after Taiwan said it had detected a Chinese military “joint combat readiness patrol” around the island involving fighter jets and warships.
Taiwan spotted 27 Chinese aircraft and six warships in the 24 hours to 6:00 am on Sunday, the ministry said earlier.
China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has refused to rule out the use of force to bring the democratic island under its control.
Beijing held large-scale military drills around Taiwan last month, which were condemned by Taipei and its key backer the United States.
The Chinese military conducted long-distance training flights in late September, the ministry said previously, when Beijing also fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean.