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Ukrainian attacks kill six in Russia’s Belgorod region, officials say

Ukrainian attacks kill six in Russia’s Belgorod region, officials say
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Rescuers remove debris following the collapse of a section of a multi-story apartment block that was hit by a Ukrainian missile strike in the town of Shebekino in the Belgorod region, Russia, on June 14, 2024. (Russian Emergencies Ministry/Handout via REUTERS)
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Updated 15 June 2024
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Ukrainian attacks kill six in Russia’s Belgorod region, officials say

Ukrainian attacks kill six in Russia’s Belgorod region, officials say
  • On the Ukrainian side of the border, military officials in Sumy region said a Russian air strike on Friday killed one person in the town of Shostka
Updated 15 June 2024
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KYIV: Ukrainian attacks on southern Russia’s Belgorod region killed six people on Friday, officials said.
Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said four bodies had been pulled from the rubble of a multi-floor apartment building hit by Ukrainian shelling in the border town of Shebekino.
A ministry statement posted after midnight said 50 percent of the rubble from the site had been cleared. Pictures on the ministry’s Telegram channel showed a crane clearing debris and the building’s facade shattered, with one stairwell collapsed.
Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a Ukrainian drone had struck a car in a village near Shebekino, killing the driver. He said a woman was killed in her home when it was struck by rocket fire in the village of Oktyabrsky, further west.
Ukraine has staged frequent attacks on Belgorod and other Russian border regions in recent months.
President Vladimir Putin cited attacks on Belgorod as grounds for a cross-border incursion last month into Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
The Russian military said its troops seized about a dozen settlements, while Ukrainian officials say the advance has been contained.
On the Ukrainian side of the border, military officials in Sumy region said a Russian air strike on Friday killed one person in the town of Shostka, about 45 km (28 miles) inside Ukrainian territory.
Towns and villages in Sumy region, west of Belgorod, are subject to daily Russian attacks.

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Lebanese, Syrian defense ministers ink deal after border security talks

Lebanese, Syrian defense ministers ink deal after border security talks
Updated 24 sec ago
Arab News
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Lebanese, Syrian defense ministers ink deal after border security talks

Lebanese, Syrian defense ministers ink deal after border security talks
  • Defense ministers of Lebanon and Syria met in Jeddah on Thursday to coordinate and enhance cooperation on security and military issues
  • Two sides will form legal and specialized committees in a number of fields, and will activate bilateral coordination mechanisms
Updated 24 sec ago
Arab News

RIYADH: Syria and Lebanon signed an agreement emphasizing the strategic importance of demarcating the borders between the two countries, Al Ekhbariya reported early on Friday.

The defense ministers of Lebanon and Syria met in Jeddah on Thursday to coordinate and enhance cooperation on security and military issues.

The Syrian delegation was headed by Murhaf Abu Qasra and the Lebanese delegation was led by Michel Menassa.

The sides will form legal and specialized committees in a number of fields, and will activate bilateral coordination mechanisms to deal with security and military challenges, especially those that may arise on the border area.

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, who facilitated the talks, said he hoped the agreement marks a new phase in relations between the two neighbors.

The ministers expressed satisfaction with the discussion and agreed to hold a follow-up meeting in Saudi Arabia.

Border tensions flared up earlier in March after the new authorities in Syria accused Lebanese armed group Hezbollah of kidnapping three soldiers into Lebanon and killing them.

The Iran-backed group, which fought alongside the forces of toppled Syrian president Bashar Assad, denied involvement.

Cross-border clashes that followed left seven Lebanese dead.

In a statement, Saudi Arabia said it supported Syria and Lebanon resolving their differences through political and diplomatic dialogue while upholding sovereignty, stability, and international law, according to Asharq.

Saudi Arabia affirmed its full support for all that achieves security and stability in Syria and Lebanon and contributes to preserving security and stability in the region, Al Ekhbariya reported.

Suspected US strikes pummel Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen

Suspected US strikes pummel Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen
Updated 5 min 48 sec ago
AP
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Suspected US strikes pummel Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen

Suspected US strikes pummel Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen
  • The extent of the damage and possible casualties wasn’t immediately clear
  • The US military’s Central Command, which now has authority from the White House to strike offensively in Yemen without pre-approval, did not immediately acknowledge conducting any strikes.
Updated 5 min 48 sec ago
AP

DUBAI: Suspected US airstrikes pummeled sites across Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels early Friday, including neighborhoods in the capital, Sanaa.
The extent of the damage and possible casualties wasn’t immediately clear, though the number of strikes appeared particularly intense compared to other days in the campaign that began March 15.
An Associated Press review has found the new American operation under President Donald Trump appears more more extensive than those under former President Joe Biden, as the US moves from solely targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel as well as dropping bombs in cities.
Initial reports from the Houthis described at least seven people being hurt in the attacks Friday in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital that the rebels have held since 2014. Other strikes hit around the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, the rebel’s stronghold of Saada and in Yemen’s Al-Jawf, Amran and Marib governorates.
The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge what at those sites had been targeted, other than Sanaa International Airport, which is used for both civilian and military traffic. Neighborhoods in the capital also are home to military and intelligence service sites — as well as crowded with civilians.
An Associated Press video showed one bomb dropping into Sanaa, with a huge plume of smoke rising into the night sky as many people were awake in the final days of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Other areas hit included mountainous terrain north of Sanaa in Amran, where military camps and other installations are believed to be. The Houthis’ Al-Masirah satellite news network described communication networks going down after the attacks, which included at least 19 strikes there alone.
The US military’s Central Command, which now has authority from the White House to strike offensively in Yemen without pre-approval, did not immediately acknowledge conducting any strikes. The command, which under Biden offered details on individual strikes, has not provided that information in this campaign.
The new campaign of airstrikes, which the Houthis say have killed at least 57 people, started after the rebels threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip. The rebels in the past have had a loose definition of what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning other vessels could be targeted as well.
The Houthis had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors during their campaign targeting ships from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships, though none have been hit so far.
The attacks greatly raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic problems and launched a crackdown targeting any dissent and aid workers at home amid Yemen’s decadelong stalemated war that has torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation.

Topics: Yemen Houthi US

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Israel intercepts projectiles launched from Lebanon

Israel intercepts projectiles launched from Lebanon
Updated 15 min 50 sec ago
Reuters
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Israel intercepts projectiles launched from Lebanon

Israel intercepts projectiles launched from Lebanon
  • Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel holds Lebanon responsible for missile fire on the Galilee area and will respond strongly to threats to its security
Updated 15 min 50 sec ago
Reuters

The Israeli military said on Friday it intercepted one of two projectiles launched from Lebanon with the other landing inside Lebanon.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel holds Lebanon responsible for missile fire on the Galilee area and will respond strongly to threats to its security.
“We will ensure the security of the residents of Galilee and will act forcefully against any threat,” he said in a statement.
Israeli artillery and airstrikes hit southern Lebanon on Saturday after Israel said it intercepted rockets fired from across the border, killing at least eight people and straining a fragile truce that ended a year-long war with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah denied responsibility for the rocket fired on Saturday, saying it had ‘no link’ to the launches and remained committed to the ceasefire.

Topics: Battlefield Lebanon

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Sudan army says it has taken full control of Khartoum

Sudan army says it has taken full control of Khartoum
Updated 14 min 31 sec ago
AFP
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Sudan army says it has taken full control of Khartoum

Sudan army says it has taken full control of Khartoum
  • Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan had on Wednesday declared the capital “free” from the RSF
  • While the army holds the north and east, the RSF controls much of the south and nearly all of Darfur
Updated 14 min 31 sec ago
AFP

Khartoum: The Sudanese army said it has wrested back full control of the capital Khartoum, capping a weeklong offensive that saw it recapture the presidential palace, the airport, and other key sites in a decisive push against rival paramilitaries.
“Our forces today have successfully and forcibly cleansed the last pockets of the remnants of the Dagalo terrorist militia in Khartoum locality,” army Spokesman Nabil Abdullah said in a statement late Thursday, using the government’s term for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been battling the military since April 2023.
From inside the recaptured presidential palace, Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan had on Wednesday declared the capital “free” from the RSF.
Following a year and a half of defeats at the hands of the RSF, the army began pushing through central Sudan toward Khartoum late last year.
Since the army recaptured the presidential palace on Friday, witnesses and activists have reported RSF fighters in retreat across the capital.
An army source told AFP on Wednesday that RSF fighters were fleeing across the Jebel Awliya bridge, their only route out of greater Khartoum.
The RSF, however, vowed there would be “no retreat and no surrender,” saying its forces had only repositioned.
“We will deliver crushing defeats to the enemy on all fronts,” it said in a statement.
The war has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 12 million, according to the UN.
While the army holds the north and east, the RSF controls much of the south and nearly all of Darfur.

Topics: Sudan Unrest

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Pakistani charities report modest recovery in Ramadan despite easing inflation

Pakistani charities report modest recovery in Ramadan despite easing inflation
Updated 19 min 57 sec ago
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Pakistani charities report modest recovery in Ramadan despite easing inflation

Pakistani charities report modest recovery in Ramadan despite easing inflation
  • Alamgir Welfare Trust expects up to 10 percent increase in donations as it aims to expand services
  • Pakistan’s largest charity Edhi Foundation says donations have only marginally improved
Updated 19 min 57 sec ago
Ismail Dilawar

KARACHI: Two main charities in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi have reported a modest recovery in the collection of donations this Ramadan despite easing inflation, top officials at the organizations said this week, as the annual inflation rate slowed to 1.5 percent in February, the lowest in nearly a decade. 

Major welfare organizations such as the Edhi Foundation, Pakistan’s largest charity known for its extensive network of ambulances and shelters, and the Alamgir Welfare Trust (AWT), another main social welfare body, said they expected either stable or slightly higher contributions this year compared to the last two years when high inflation rates had curtailed donations. 

Pakistan’s inflation peaked at 38 percent in May 2023 before gradually easing, with the government expecting it to remain within 1–3 percent in the coming months.

Every year, Edhi and AWT collectively gather and spend as much as Rs4 billion ($14.4 million) on initiatives like sheltering orphans, burying unclaimed dead bodies and providing free food, health and education facilities to thousands of vulnerable families across Pakistan.

“This year we will hopefully see 10 percent extra donations toward our annual budget of Rs3 billion,” Chohdry Nisar Ahmed, the chairman of AWT, told Arab News.

Headquartered in the Bahadurabad neighborhood of Karachi, the organization operates on a daily budget of around Rs10 million ($36,000). 

Ahmed said inflation had adversely affected the charity’s work in recent years, though the situation was now beginning to improve.

“Earlier, the effect of inflation was significant. Now that impact has reduced a bit,” he said “But as the gold price has increased now, so people are bound to pay more Zakat. We did experience a little up and down in donations but not much.”

Zakat is a mandatory form of almsgiving in Islam, calculated as a percentage of one’s wealth, including gold holdings. This means the higher the price of gold, the greater the amount eligible individuals are required to pay.

The AWT chief said he wanted to expand his network of services by constructing a 14-story building in Karachi, the commercial capital of Pakistan. To start the construction work on acquired land, he said, AWT needed at least Rs1.5 billion ($5.4 million). The organization also wants to enroll at least 50,000 children in schools in addition to the 40,000 it is already educating.

The chairman of the Edhi Foundation, which runs the world’s largest volunteer ambulance service, also reported a modest hike in donations this year.

“Charity in the first twenty days of Ramadan is almost the same as compared to last year,” Faisal Edhi told Arab News. “The increase [this year] is very little, not much. We cannot call it a substantial increase.”

Edhi Foundation is preparing to expand its 2,000-vehicle ambulance fleet amid growing demand for emergency response services across Pakistan. It already runs a shelter home that houses 5,000 homeless people, including women and children.

“Our annual budget ranges from Rs3-4 billion that we cover from donations,” Edhi said, adding that a part of the donations came from the Pakistani community living in Britain and the United States, but most came from Pakistani donors belonging to the middle or working classes.

“Seeing the inflation, it seems like the [total] charity will be same as last year and our last year was not very promising either,” Edhi said. “The group that gives us charity, they belong to middle and lower-middle classes or the working class and the working class has been affected the most [by inflation] at the moment.”

Topics: charities Ramadan 2025 donations Inflation

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