Russian missiles kill 37 in Ukraine, gut Kyiv children’s hospital

Russian missiles kill 37 in Ukraine, gut Kyiv children’s hospital
Smoke rises up after Russia’s massive missile attack in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50 on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large childrens hospital in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency crews searched rubble for casualties. (AP)
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Updated 09 July 2024
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Russian missiles kill 37 in Ukraine, gut Kyiv children’s hospital

Russian missiles kill 37 in Ukraine, gut Kyiv children’s hospital
  • President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched dozens of missiles toward five towns and cities in southern and eastern Ukraine as well as the capital
  • At least 37 people were killed, including three children, with more than 170 wounded, Zelensky sai

Kyiv: Russia attacked cities across Ukraine on Monday with a missile barrage that killed more than three dozen people and ripped open a children’s hospital in Kyiv, an assault condemned as a ruthless attack on civilians.
Dozens of volunteers including hospital staff and rescue workers dug through debris from the Okhmatdyt paediatric hospital in a desperate search for survivors after the rare day-time bombardment, AFP journalists on the scene saw.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched dozens of missiles toward five towns and cities in southern and eastern Ukraine as well as the capital.
At least 37 people were killed, including three children, with more than 170 wounded, Zelensky said.
The strikes damaged nearly 100 buildings, including multiple schools and a maternity hospital, he added.
The air force said air defense systems downed 30 projectiles.
“It is necessary to shoot down Russian missiles. It is necessary to destroy the Russian combat aircraft on its bases. It is necessary to take strong steps that will not leave any security deficit,” Zelensky said ahead of a NATO summit where arming Ukraine’s air defenses is expected to top the agenda.
Zelensky called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council over the barrage and urged Ukraine’s allies to deliver “a stronger response” to Russia’s attack.
Following the strikes, US President Joe Biden on Monday promised “new measures” to boost Ukraine’s air defenses.
“Together with our allies, we will be announcing new measures to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses to help protect their cities and civilians from Russian strikes,” Biden said.
UN rights chief Volker Turk condemned the “abominable” Russian strikes, while the body’s chief Antonio Guterres said attacking medical facilities was “particularly shocking,” according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The United States denounced “another savage missile attack on civilians,” while the European Union slammed Moscow for its “ruthless” actions.
France’s foreign ministry called the bombardment of a children’s hospital “barbaric,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the attack as “abhorrent” and Japan’s government spokesman “strongly condemned” the strike.
Kyiv said the children’s hospital had been struck by a Russian cruise missile with components produced in NATO member countries and announced a day of mourning in the capital.
Russia hit back claiming the extensive missile damage in Kyiv was caused by Ukrainian air defense systems.
Moscow said its forces had struck their “intended targets,” which it added were only defense industry and military installations.
Medical staff acted quickly to move patients and personnel to the facility’s basement after air raid sirens rang out over Kyiv on Monday.
“For some reason, we always thought that Okhmatdyt was protected,” said Nina, a 68-year-old hospital employee.
“We were 100 percent sure that they would not hit here,” she told AFP, describing the frantic rush as staff moved children with IV drips to the bunker.
Officials said the attack had also damaged several residential buildings and an office block in Kyiv where AFP reporters saw cars on fire and shredded trees in charred courtyards.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said three of its electrical substations had been destroyed or damaged in Kyiv. Russian strikes on electricity infrastructure have already halved Ukrainian generation capacity in recent weeks compared to one year ago.
Russian forces have repeatedly targeted the capital with massive barrages since invading Ukraine in February 2022, and the last major attack on Kyiv with drones and missiles was last month.
The emergency services said 22 people were killed in Kyiv on Monday, including at both medical facilities hit in the attack, and that another 72 had been wounded.
In Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rig, which has been repeatedly targeted by Russian bombardment, the strikes killed at least 10 and wounded more than 41, officials there said.
In Dnipro, a city of around one million people in the same region, one person was killed and six more were wounded, the region’s governor said, when a high-rise residential building and petrol station were hit.
And in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russian forces have taken a string of villages in recent weeks, the regional governor said three people were killed in Pokrovsk — a town that had a pre-war population of around 60,000 people.
“This shelling targeted civilians, hit infrastructure, and the whole world should see today the consequences of terror, which can only be responded to by force,” the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, wrote on social media.
Zelensky and other officials in Kyiv have been urging Ukraine’s allies to send more air defense systems, including Patriots, to help fend off deadly Russian aerial bombardment.
“Russia cannot claim ignorance of where its missiles are flying and must be held fully accountable for all its crimes,” Zelensky said in another post on social media.


Salman Rushdie’s ‘Satanic Verses’ can be imported in India as court told 1988 ban order untraceable

Salman Rushdie’s ‘Satanic Verses’ can be imported in India as court told 1988 ban order untraceable
Updated 1 min 25 sec ago
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Salman Rushdie’s ‘Satanic Verses’ can be imported in India as court told 1988 ban order untraceable

Salman Rushdie’s ‘Satanic Verses’ can be imported in India as court told 1988 ban order untraceable
  • India-born British author’s novel was banned by India in 1988 after some Muslims viewed it as blasphemous
  • Salman Rushdie’s fourth fictional novel ran into a global controversy shortly after its publication in September 1988
NEW DELHI: India’s three-decade ban on importing author Salman Rushdie’s controversial ‘The Satanic Verses’ book has effectively been lifted after a court said the government was unable to produce the original notification that imposed the ban.
The India-born British author’s novel was banned by India in 1988 after some Muslims viewed it as blasphemous. The Delhi High Court was hearing a 2019 case challenging the import ban of the book in India.
According to a Nov. 5 court order, India’s government told the Delhi High Court that the import ban order “was untraceable and, therefore could not be produced.”
As a result, the court said it had “no other option except to presume that no such notification exists.”
“The ban has been lifted as of Nov. 5 because there is no notification,” Uddyam Mukherjee, lawyer for petitioner Sandipan Khan, said.
India’s interior and finance ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Khan’s plea said he approached the court after being told at bookstores that the novel could not be sold or imported in India and then when he searched, he could not find the official import ban order on the government websites.
Even in court the government has been unable to produce the order, he said.
“None of the respondents could produce the said notification ... in fact the purported author of the said notification has also shown his helplessness in producing a copy,” the Nov. 5 order noted, referring to the customs department official who drafted the order.
Rushdie’s fourth fictional novel ran into a global controversy shortly after its publication in September 1988, as some Muslims saw passages about Prophet Muhammad as blasphemous.
It sparked violent demonstrations and book burnings across the Muslim world, including in India, which has the world’s third largest Muslim population.
In 1989, Iran’s then supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling on Muslims to assassinate Rushdie, sending the Booker Prize-winning author into hiding for six years.
In August 2022, about 33 years after the fatwa, Rushdie was stabbed on stage during a lecture in New York, which left him blind in one eye and affected the use of one of his hands.

Israel’s PM aware of ‘very violent incident’ against Israelis in Amsterdam, his office says

Israel’s PM aware of ‘very violent incident’ against Israelis in Amsterdam, his office says
Updated 50 sec ago
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Israel’s PM aware of ‘very violent incident’ against Israelis in Amsterdam, his office says

Israel’s PM aware of ‘very violent incident’ against Israelis in Amsterdam, his office says
  • Netanyahu directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to assist citizens there

TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been informed of the details of “a very violent incident” targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam, his office said on Friday.
He directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to assist citizens there, it added in a statement.
Israel’s national security ministry has also urged its citizens in Amsterdam to stay in their hotel rooms following the attacks, the prime minister’s office said in a second statement.
“Fans who went to see a football game, encountered anti-Semitism and were attacked with unimaginable cruelty just because of their Jewishness and Israeliness,” Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a post on X.
The nature of the attacks not immediately clear.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has asked the Dutch government to help Israeli citizens arrive safely at the airport, Saar told his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp in a phone call on Friday.


Indonesia’s Prabowo heads to China at start of multi-country trip

Indonesia’s Prabowo heads to China at start of multi-country trip
Updated 5 min 27 sec ago
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Indonesia’s Prabowo heads to China at start of multi-country trip

Indonesia’s Prabowo heads to China at start of multi-country trip
  • Prabowo Subianto has signaled he is keen to play an active role on the international stage
  • Prabowo’s agenda for China is unclear, but he is expected to meet President Xi Jinping

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s new leader Prabowo Subianto set off for China on Friday for his first international trip as president, kicking off a tour that will include stops in the United States, Britain, and South America for the APEC and G20 summits.
Prabowo, who won the presidency in February at his third attempt, has signaled he is keen to play an active role on the international stage, demonstrated by his visits to 21 countries during the time he was president-elect.
“It shows that Indonesia is well respected and its presence is needed in bilateral and multilateral meetings to discuss important issues, not only the economy but also the current rising geopolitical tensions,” he told a press conference before flying to China.
“I think all parties are waiting to hear about Indonesia’s stance and role.”
The former defense minister and special forces commander has said that under his presidency, Indonesia would continue its long-held foreign policy of non-alignment.
Prabowo’s agenda for China is unclear, but he is expected to meet President Xi Jinping. He is due to meet US counterpart Joe Biden in Washington and Prabowo’s office has said it was possible he could meet president-elect Donald Trump.
He will go to Britain to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and may also visit several countries in the Middle East, he said. His office has not provided dates for any of the visits.
The trip will include stops in Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and to Brazil for the summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies.
Prabowo is expected to strengthen ties with both the United States and China as Indonesia’s main partners, said Prasetyo Hadi, the state secretariat minister, adding he would discuss potential partnerships in trade, energy, housing and marine sectors.


US says Israel to open new Gaza crossing as aid deadline looms

US says Israel to open new Gaza crossing as aid deadline looms
Updated 9 min 38 sec ago
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US says Israel to open new Gaza crossing as aid deadline looms

US says Israel to open new Gaza crossing as aid deadline looms
  • US has given Israel until Nov. 13 to improve humanitarian situation in Gaza
  • The letter calls for a minimum of 350 trucks per day to be allowed into Gaza

WASHINGTON: Israel has informed the United States that it will open an additional crossing for aid into Gaza, the State Department said Thursday, as a US-imposed deadline looms next week.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have given Israel until November 13 to improve the humanitarian situation in the war-besieged Gaza Strip or risk the withholding of some military assistance from the United States, Israel’s biggest supporter.
They made the demands in a letter before Tuesday’s election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to give freer rein to Israel.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Israel, after recently reopening the Erez crossing, has informed the United States that they “hope to open an additional new crossing at Kissufim” in “the next few days.”
“We have continued to press them, and we have seen them, including in the past few days since the election, take additional steps,” Miller told reporters.
He stopped short of saying how the United States would assess Israel’s compliance with the aid demands.
In the letter, Blinken and Austin had urged Israel to “consistently” let aid through four major crossings and to open a fifth crossing.
Kissufim, near a kibbutz across from southern Gaza that was attacked in the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault that sparked the war, has mostly been in disuse except by the military since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
The letter called for a minimum of 350 trucks per day to be allowed into Gaza. Miller said 229 trucks entered on Tuesday.
Outgoing President Joe Biden has repeatedly pressed Israel to improve humanitarian aid and protect civilians, while mostly stopping short of using leverage such as cutting off weapons.
Miller said Blinken hoped to keep using the rest of his term to press for an end to the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.


Peru arrests the country's football boss as part of a criminal investigation into fraud

Peru arrests the country's football boss as part of a criminal investigation into fraud
Updated 12 min 34 sec ago
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Peru arrests the country's football boss as part of a criminal investigation into fraud

Peru arrests the country's football boss as part of a criminal investigation into fraud
  • Agustin Lozano is the second Peruvian football boss to be detained since 2018
  • Prosecutors said football boss and others tried to wrest lucrative broadcast rights from Peru's first division soccer teams

LIMA, Peru: Peruvian police arrested the head of the country's football federation Thursday as part of an investigation into allegations that he abused his position to extort local clubs into ceding their television rights.

Agustin Lozano is the second Peruvian football boss to be detained since 2018 when his predecessor was investigated for his alleged role in two murders for which he was later absolved.

Lozano was escorted handcuffed into a police vehicle outside his home in the capital, Lima, as several journalists stood by. He promised to clear up any misunderstanding and asked that the public reserve judgements.

Six other people connected to the suspected conspiracy were also arrested.

Prosecutors, in a 140-page court filing seeking Lozano's arrest, said the football boss and others tried to wrest lucrative broadcast rights from Peru's first division soccer teams. Clubs that didn't cede control were threatened with being relegated from the top tier of Peru's soccer clubs, according to the document obtained by The Associated Press.

Lozano is also suspected of illegally spending $1.8 million in federation funds to transport 142 people not associated with the football organization to Doha in 2022 for a playoff match between Peru and Australia to see which side qualified for the World Cup in Qatar that year, according to the court filing.

A prosecutor overseeing the case told local radio that Lozano had been under investigation for over a year. Although he has not been criminally charged, authorities ordered his arrest because they deemed he is a flight risk and could obstruct their investigation.

Lozano has had run-ins with the law before. In 2023, prosecutors sought his arrest as part of an embezzlement investigation from his days as mayor of the northern city of Chongoyape.

Under Lozano's leadership, Peru's national football team is in second to last place among South American men's teams seeking to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.