International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Russia’s Shoigu and Gerasimov/node/2537201/world
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Russia’s Shoigu and Gerasimov
FILE — Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, right, gestures as he speaks to Russian Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov prior to a meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin with the top military brass in Moscow. (AP)
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Russia’s Shoigu and Gerasimov
The Hague-based court said Shoigu and Gerasimov were suspected of having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity
Updated 25 June 2024
Reuters
THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Sergei Shoigu, the former Russian defense minister, and leading Russian general Valery Gerasimov on Tuesday for alleged crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Shoigu was removed from his post of defense minister last month, and appointed Secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council, in the most significant changes Russian President Vladimir Putin made to his military command since the start of the war in 2022.
The Hague-based court said Shoigu and Gerasimov were suspected of having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity for directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects in Ukraine.
Judges had found there were “reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023,” the ICC said in a press release.
Russia, which is not a member of the ICC, has repeatedly said Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is a legitimate military target and denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure.
Ukraine is also not a member, but has granted the ICC jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed on its territory.
The warrants for Shoigu and Gerasimov bring the total of arrest warrants issued against senior Russian suspects since the beginning of the invasion to eight. These include Putin, suspected of a war crime over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
The tribunal has no police force of its own and relies on member states to make arrests.
During the timeframe mentioned in the latest warrants Russia is suspected of having carried out strikes against numerous electric power plants and sub-stations all over Ukraine.
According to ICC judges, there were reasonable ground to believe the strikes targeted mostly civilian objects “and for those installations that may have qualified as military objectives at the relevant time, the expected incidental civilian harm and damage would have been clearly excessive to the anticipated military advantage,” making the attacks war crimes
109 Ukrainian drones in a day over several regions, claims Russian defense ministry
Updated 28 October 2024
AFP
MOSCOW: Russia said Sunday its military had advanced further in east Ukraine, capturing a frontline village just a few kilometers north of a key Ukrainian-held industrial hub.
Moscow has made steady gains on the battlefield for months, pressing its advantage against overstretched and outmanned Ukrainian forces.
Russian army units “liberated the settlement of Izmailovka,” the Russian defense ministry said in a daily briefing, using the Russian spelling for the village.
Izmailivka had a population of just under 200 people before the conflict.
It lies eight kilometers (five miles) north of the key industrial hub of Kurakhove and just a few kilometers north of Kurakhivka, a small town on a stretch of frontline Moscow is trying to surround.
The announcement was followed by Russia on Monday claiming it downed 109 Ukrainian drones in a day over several of its regions, including near the border.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that Moscow would “respond” if the West allowed Ukraine to use longer-range weapons against his territory.
“It’s too early to say yet, but of course our military department is thinking about it and will offer various responses,” Putin told a state TV reporter in remarks aired Sunday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has for months been asking his Western allies for permission to use long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russian territory, arguing the move would “motivate” Moscow to seek peace.
The United States and Britain signalled a decision on the matter was imminent last month, but later delayed the move after Putin warned they risked putting NATO “at war” with Moscow.
Putin said on Sunday he hoped the West had listened to that warning.
“They didn’t tell me anything about it, but I hope they heard,” the Russian leader said.
109 drones downed
In a statement, Russia's defense ministry said a total of 45 drones were intercepted in the Briansk region, which borders Ukraine and Belarus, while 26 were destroyed to the south in Russia's Belgorod region.
Eighteen were downed in the Tambov region, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Five were intercepted in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been conducting a ground offensive since August and control several hundred square kilometres of Russian territory.
One person was lightly wounded when a drone crashed and caught fire at an industrial facility in Russia's western city of Voronezh, governor Alexander Gusev said.
More drones were downed elsewhere in Russia, which announces almost daily that it has destroyed Ukrainian UAVs.
Kyiv says the strikes, which often target energy infrastructure, are in response to Russian bombardments of Ukrainian territory.
Zelensky says ‘Ukraine plus Northern Europe’ co-operation format gaining speed
The five Nordic countries — Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland — are all now NATO countries and have all been staunch supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion
Updated 45 min 47 sec ago
Reuters
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that cooperation within the ‘Ukraine plus Northern Europe’ format is gaining speed with more steps that can increase pressure on Russia expected in the coming week.
Why it's important
The five Nordic countries — Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland — are all now NATO countries and have all been staunch supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
Sweden and Finland joined the alliance earlier this year, with Stockholm saying that Russia is the main international security threat to Sweden. Finland and Norway share a border with Russia.
Moscow said that the NATO expansion was a dangerous historic mistake that would force Moscow to take counter-measures.
Today, we are preparing to work with our partners throughout the week, particularly with our European allies who support us in a principled and effective manner. We have established a new format of cooperation—Ukraine plus the countries of Northern Europe. Within this framework,… pic.twitter.com/1PYNhE1woU
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 27, 2024
By the numbers
The Nordic nations told Zelensky last year that they would support his country “for as long as it takes” in its struggle to drive out Russian forces and that they were ready to continue giving extensive military, economic and humanitarian aid.
Zelensky said in May that joint military assistance from the Nordic countries would amount to six billion euros this year under separate security agreements.
This comes atop the some 11 billion euros provided by the five countries by the end of 2023.
Key quotes
“They understand that it is necessary to create problems for the aggressor, so that Russia loses the opportunity to spoil the life of the world,” Zelensky said in his daily video address on Sunday.
“We will talk (in the coming week) with the ‘Nordics’ about new fundamental steps that can increase the pressure on Russia for this war and for the sake of honest diplomacy.”
Latin superstar Bad Bunny is supporting Harris for president
Bad Bunny has been vocal about criticizing Puerto Rico’s electric system, which was razed by Hurricane Maria
Updated 28 October 2024
AP
Bad Bunny is throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris by sharing a video of the Democratic presidential nominee to his more than 45 million followers on Instagram.
Bad Bunny, whose official name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is one of the most famous artists of the moment. His backing could be a boost for the Harris campaign as it tries to bolster its support with Latino voters, among whom Trump has been working to gain ground.
The 30-year-old Puerto Rican reggaeton artist, who has popular songs such as “Dakiti” and “Titi Me Preguntó,” has won three Grammy Awards. He was the most streamed artist on Spotify in 2020, 2021 and 2022, and was only surpassed by Taylor Swift in 2023. He was named Artist of the Year by Apple Music in 2022.
The video shared by Bad Bunny on Instagram shows Harris saying “there’s so much at stake in this election for Puerto Rican voters and for Puerto Rico.” A representative of the artist confirmed that Bad Bunny is supporting Harris.
The artist then shared several times another part of the clip where Harris says, “I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader,” she says.
His endorsement came shortly after a comedian who spoke at the opening of Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” The remarks by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe were immediately criticized by Harris’ campaign and were also criticized by Puerto Rican star Ricky Martin, who was among the first to support Harris as she launched her presidential bid in July.
“That’s what they think of us,” Ricky Martin shared on Instagram, and encouraged followers to vote for Harris.
The Puerto Rican vote is sizable in Pennsylvania, which is arguably the hardest fought of the swing states in the 2024 election. Other Puerto Rican singers such as Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony had already expressed support for Harris. Trump has also attracted support from other popular stars from the island such as Anuel AA and Nicky Jam.
Bad Bunny has been vocal about criticizing Puerto Rico’s electric system, which was razed by Hurricane Maria. In a 2022 music video for his song “El Apagon,” the artist called out the company Luma Energy, which handles transmission and distribution, for the constant power outages that plague the island.
One of his most recent songs, “Una Velita,” is also a protest against the government response following Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017.
A year after the storm, public health experts estimated that nearly 3,000 perished because of the effects of Hurricane Maria. But Trump, whose efforts to help the island territory recover have been persistently criticized, repeatedly questioned that number saying it rose “like magic.”
His visit to the island after the hurricane elicited controversy such as when he tossed paper towels. His administration released $13 billion in assistance years later, just weeks before the 2020 presidential election. And a federal government watchdog found that officials hampered an investigation into delays in aid delivery.
Bad Bunny also shared a part of the clip showing Harris saying that Trump “abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.”
Harris visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in North Philadelphia earlier on Sunday and released her policy related to the island saying she wants to create a task force to attract investment to fix the electrical grid. And Trump is headed on Tuesday to Allentown, Pennsylvania, where more than half of its population is Hispanic and a majority of them from Puerto Rico.
In 2020, Bad Bunny allowed the Biden campaign to use one of his hits “Pero Ya No” in a TV ad.
Trump’s Madison Square Garden event turns into a rally with crude and racist insults
Trump’s childhood friend David Rem referred to Trump rival Kamala Harris as “the Antichrist” and “the devil”
Astand-up comedian made lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jews and Black people, all key constituencies in the election just nine days away
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson called Harris “a Samoan, Malaysian, low-IQ former California prosecutor”
Updated 28 October 2024
AP
NEW YORK: Donald Trump took the stage Sunday night at New York’s Madison Square Garden to deliver his campaign’s closing argument with the election nine days away after several of his allies used crude and racist insults toward Vice President Kamala Harris and other critics of the former president.
The Republican nominee began by asking the same questions he’s asked at the start of every recent rally: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” The crowd responded with a resounding “No!”
“This election is a choice between whether we’ll have four more years of gross incompetence and failure, or whether we’ll begin the greatest years in the history of our country,” he said after being introduced by his wife, Melania Trump, whose rare surprise appearance comes after she has been largely absent on the campaign trail.
Several speakers earlier on Sunday crudely insulted Harris, who is vying to become the first woman and Black woman to win the presidency. And a stand-up comedian made lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jews and Black people, all key constituencies in the election just nine days away.
“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” said comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, whose joke was immediately criticized by Harris’ campaign as it competes with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. Shortly after Hinchcliffe’s appearance, music superstar Bad Bunny, who is from Puerto Rico, endorsed Harris.
A person dressed like a viking walks outside of Madison Square Garden during a rally for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in New York on Oct. 27, 2024. (REUTERS)
Trump’s childhood friend David Rem, meanwhile, referred to Harris as “the Antichrist” and “the devil.” Businessman Grant Cardone told the crowd that Harris ”and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.” And former Fox News host Tucker Carlson called Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, “a Samoan, Malaysian, low-IQ former California prosecutor.” Trump’s closing argument turns to spectacle
The event was a surreal spectacle, turning what his campaign had advertised as the event where he would deliver his closing message in the campaign’s final days to an illustration of what turns off his critics. The lineup included House Speaker Mike Johnson, TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, and someone who painted a picture of Trump hugging the Empire State Building.
And that was all before the Republican presidential nominee took the stage more than two hours late.
Trump on Sunday added a new proposal to his list of tax cuts aimed at winning over older adults and blue-collar workers, which already includes vows to end taxes on Social Security benefits, tips and overtime pay: A tax credit for family caregivers.
This comes after Harris has talked about the “sandwich generation” of adults caring for aging parents while raising their children at the same time. Harris has proposed federal funding to cover home care costs for older Americans.
Trump otherwise repeated familiar lines about foreign policy and immigration, calling for the death penalty for any migrant who kills a US citizen and saying that the day he takes office, “The migrant invasion of our country ends.”
The rally was an amped-up version of the RNC
Many of the speakers Sunday appeared on stage at the Republican National Convention. This time, the same speakers shouted and railed more against Democrats.
Hogan, returning to the venue where he performed years ago as a professional wrestler, seemed to reprise his character, emerging wearing a giant red, orange and yellow boa and violently waving a large American flag as he posed and danced. He spat on the stage during his speech, flexed his muscles repeatedly and told the audience: “Trump is the only man that can fix this country today.”
Hulk Hogan takes the stage during a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, 2024 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
While some Democrats and pundits have questioned Trump’s decision to hold what they dismiss as a vanity event in his hometown, the rally guarantees Trump what he most craves: the spotlight, wall-to-wall coverage and a national audience.
The closing message he will deliver Sunday, according to his campaign, is that Harris “broke” the country and that Trump “will fix it.” Rallygoers hours beforehand waved signs with the words “Trump will fix it.”
Some Democrats, arguing that Trump is a “fascist,” have compared his Sunday event to a pro-Nazi rally at the Garden in February 1939. Several speakers on Sunday ripped Hillary Clinton, the Democrat defeated by Trump eight years ago, for saying recently that Trump would be “reenacting” the 1939 event.
“Hey guys, they’re now scrambling and trying to call us Nazis and fascists,” said Alina Habba, one of Trump’s attorneys, who draped a sparkly “MAGA” jacket over the lectern as she spoke. “And you know what they’re claiming, guys? It’s very scary. They’re claiming we’re going to go after them and try and put them in jail. Well, ain’t that rich?”
Declared Hogan in his characteristic raspy growl: “I don’t see no stinkin’ Nazis in here.”
Trump has denounced the four criminal indictments brought against him as politically motivated. He has ramped up his denunciations in recent weeks of “enemies from within,” naming domestic political rivals, and suggested he would use the military to go after them. Harris, in turn, has called Trump a “fascist.”
The arena was full hours before Trump was scheduled to speak. Outside the arena, the sidewalks were overflowing with Trump supporters in red “Make America Great Again” hats. There was a heavy security presence. Streets were blocked off and access to Penn Station was restricted.
In the crowd was Philip D’Agostino, a longtime Trump backer from Queens, the borough where Trump grew up. The 64-year-old said it was appropriate for Trump to be speaking at a place bills itself as “the world’s most famous arena.”
“It just goes to show ya that he has a bigger following of any man that has ever lived,” D’Agostino said. A New Yorker returns home
New York has not voted for a Republican for president in 40 years. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from continuing to insist he believes he can win.
Trump routinely uses his hometown as a foil before audiences in other states, painting a dark vision of the city that bears little resemblance to reality. He’s cast it as crime-ridden and overrun by violent, immigrant gangs who have taken over Fifth and Madison avenues and occupied Times Square.
Trump has a complicated history with the place where he built his business empire and that made him a tabloid and reality TV star. Its residents indicted him last year on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He was found guilty in that case, and also found liable in civil court for business fraud and sexual abuse.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump looks on during a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, in New York on Oct. 27, 2024. (REUTERS)
The rally is one of a series of detours Trump has made from battleground states, including a recent rally in Coachella, California — best known for the famous music festival named after the town — and one in May on the Jersey Shore. This summer he campaigned in the South Bronx.
To reach them, Trump has spent hours appearing on popular podcasts. And his campaign has worked to create viral moments like his visit last weekend to a McDonald’s restaurant, where he made fries and served supporters through the drive-thru window. Video of the stop posted by his campaign has been viewed more than 40 million times on TikTok alone.
Harris has also traveled to non-battleground states for major events intended to drive a national message. She appeared in Houston Friday with music superstar Beyoncé to speak about reproductive rights, and will deliver her own closing argument Tuesday from the Ellipse in Washington, where Trump spoke ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Beyond the national spotlight and the appeal of appearing on one of the world’s most famous stages, Republicans in the state say the rally will also help down-ballot candidates. New York is home to a handful of competitive congressional races that could determine which party controls the House next year.
Block by block, Kamala Harris storms Philadelphia in 11th hour vote push
With barely a week to go, Harris is leaving nothing to chance in Philadelphia, where she must run up her vote tally to win the ultimate battleground state of Pennsylvania
Updated 28 October 2024
AFP
PHILADELPHIA: In the home stretch of an extraordinarily tight US presidential race, Kamala Harris is courting support in the largest city of the largest battleground state — one voter at a time.
Locked in a political duel with Republican Donald Trump, the vice president took to the streets of Philadelphia on Sunday for a frantic ground-game of campaigning.
In multiple stops across ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the City of Brotherly Love, Harris hugged voters, cuddled babies, wooed patrons at local establishments, and quoted scripture in a predominantly Black church.
With barely a week to go, Harris is leaving nothing to chance in Philadelphia, where she must run up her vote tally to win the ultimate battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Harris rolled up to Philly Cuts barber shop in the largely Black neighborhood of West Philadelphia to meet residents, before ducking into the African-American-themed Hakim’s Bookstore & Gift Shop.
“I’m so happy to see you,” Harris told an elderly woman, Ann Hughes, before embracing her and confiding: “They’re working me to the bone.”
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, from left, hugs Ann Hughes as her son State Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, looks on at Hakim's Bookstore and Gift Shop during a campaign stop on Oct. 27, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
It’s been a frantic pace in the waning days of a bitter presidential race that has seen both candidates use confrontational language, with Trump in particular accused of toxic attacks on Harris.
“She’s boots to the ground,” 43-year-old African-American woman Myrda Scott, who runs a financial firm, told AFP as she awaited Harris at a youth basketball rec center rally.
“Especially here in Philadelphia we like touching, feeling, hearing, seeing the people and being personable with them.”
Trump has repeatedly campaigned in Pennsylvania too. While he courts his bread-and-butter voters including white males, Christian conservatives, and rural residents, he has also sought to peel away Black male support from Harris.
Rosa Jones, a Black woman recently laid off from her customer service job, is stressed because her son is voting for Trump.
While Scott expressed confidence about a Harris victory, “I have some jitters” about the election, 68-year-old Jones told AFP.
But she believes Harris needs to keep at it with “these little gatherings here, where she’s sitting with everyday people up close.”
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris greets youth basketball players at The Alan Horwitz "Sixth Man" Center on Oct.27, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Getty Images/AFP)
Harris’s route took her through a working class Puerto Rican neighborhood to Freddy and Tony’s Restaurant, where she spoke with voters, snapped selfies and addressed diners.
“Truly the path to victory runs through Philly and through Pennsylvania,” she said. “It runs through all of you.”
Awilda Cubero, a Puertorriquena who moved to Philadelphia two decades ago, was glowing about Harris’s round of intimate get-out-the-vote stops.
“She has to come, in person, to talk to the people,” she told AFP. “That’s politics,” added, Cubero, 66, rubbing the fingers of one hand together. “That’s the connection.”
At the Church of Christian Compassion, Harris hugged supporters in the predominantly Black congregation and then preached at the pulpit.
“Yes these next nine days will test us,” Harris said, urging Philadelphians to vote early and knock on doors.
“Joy cometh in the morning,” she added, as congregants lept to their feet.
