Two dead in Russian ‘double tap’ attack on town near Ukraine’s Kharkiv

Two dead in Russian ‘double tap’ attack on town near Ukraine’s Kharkiv
A view shows a damaged police car at the site of a Russian missile strike in the village of Budy, Kharkiv region, Ukraine on Jul. 13, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 13 July 2024
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Two dead in Russian ‘double tap’ attack on town near Ukraine’s Kharkiv

Two dead in Russian ‘double tap’ attack on town near Ukraine’s Kharkiv
  • Prosecutors said the mid-afternoon missile attack targeted the railway station in Budy, southwest of Kharkiv
  • After rescue teams arrived, a second missile hit the area, injuring 23 people

KYIV: Russian forces launched a “double tap” missile attack on Saturday on a small town near Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, killing two people, an emergency services official and a police officer, officials said.
Officials also reported two dead in Russian attacks on the Donetsk region to the southeast.
Prosecutors said the mid-afternoon missile attack targeted the railway station in Budy, southwest of Kharkiv. After rescue teams arrived, a second missile hit the area.
They said 23 people were injured in the incidents.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the head of the Kharkiv district emergency services was killed, along with a police officer from a rapid reaction unit. Among the injured were three emergency workers, a policeman and about 20 civilians.
Reuters could not verify independently the accounts and Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians. But Russian forces have used the “double tap” tactic to devastating effect.
Kharkiv remained out of Russian hands in the initial advance of the Kremlin’s forces after the February 2022 invasion.
The city and surrounding area have since come under constant attack, though Ukrainian officials say the frequency has diminished since US supplies of weaponry to Ukraine resumed after a break of several months.
Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin said an attack by multiple rocket launchers hit a multi-story apartment building in Chasiv Yar — a town targeted by Russian forces as a key staging point in moving forward through Ukraine’s east.
And a guided bomb killed one person near the town of Kurakhove, where some of the heaviest fighting is taking place along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front.


Indonesia, Malaysia urge UN to unite against Israel after latest massacre in Gaza

Indonesia, Malaysia urge UN to unite against Israel after latest massacre in Gaza
Updated 8 sec ago
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Indonesia, Malaysia urge UN to unite against Israel after latest massacre in Gaza

Indonesia, Malaysia urge UN to unite against Israel after latest massacre in Gaza
  • Southeast Asian nations have been critical of Israel and vocal supporters of Palestine
  • Israel has killed at least 274 people in string of attacks on schools in Gaza since July, UN says

JAKARTA: Indonesia and Malaysia have called on the UN to unite against Tel Aviv to stop the mass killing of civilians in Gaza, after the latest Israeli attack on a school — at least the 21st in the past 40 days — left more than 100 people dead.

At least three Israeli missiles struck the Al-Tabin school in Gaza City — which was sheltering displaced Palestinians – in the early hours of Saturday, targeting people performing dawn prayers at a mosque inside the educational facility.

Early reports citing paramedics and witnesses said that identification of the victims was impossible as “bodies were ripped to pieces” in the attack.

Following the massacre, Indonesia and Malaysia, both of which are vocal supporters of Palestine and have been critical of Israel since the beginning of its invasion of Gaza in October, called on the international community to hold Tel Aviv accountable.

“The international community should no longer tolerate and accept the belligerence of Israel,” the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.

“Malaysia continues to call for Israel’s allies to compel Israel to immediately stop the killings of innocent Palestinians, and to stop providing Israel with the tools to continue this genocide. An immediate, urgent and decisive action by the UN Security Council is needed to enforce a permanent ceasefire.”

Malaysia said that Israel has shown “that it has no desire for peace” and urged other Muslim countries under the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation to come together and work with UN member states to demand Tel Aviv comply with the UN Security Council resolution passed in June, which called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel’s ground and air attacks over more than 300 days have killed almost 40,000 Palestinian citizens in the besieged strip, according to official estimates, though a study published in the Lancet journal last month estimated that the actual death toll could exceed 186,000.

Israel’s airstrike on Saturday has sparked a new wave of international condemnation, with the UN Human Rights Office saying that it was at least the 21st attack on schools-turned-shelters that it has recorded since July 4. The strikes have killed at least 274 Palestinians in total, including women and children, the agency added.

Israel has defended its latest operation and claimed that the school was a “command and control center” that “served as a hideout for Hamas terrorists and commanders.”

Indonesia has also joined growing calls for the UN Security Council to “immediately conduct a comprehensive investigation” into the Al-Tabin school massacre.

“Indonesia also calls upon the international community to unite in stopping the crimes against humanity and genocide committed by Israel,” the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

“Israel must be held accountable for all these crimes, and all forms of impunity must be brought to an end.”


Thousands of Ukrainian troops on incursion to ‘destabilize’ Russia: official

Thousands of Ukrainian troops on incursion to ‘destabilize’ Russia: official
Updated 11 August 2024
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Thousands of Ukrainian troops on incursion to ‘destabilize’ Russia: official

Thousands of Ukrainian troops on incursion to ‘destabilize’ Russia: official
  • President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged the offensive for the first time in his nightly address on Saturday
  • Ukrainian units stormed across the border Tuesday in what so far has been the largest and most successful such offensive

KYIV: Thousands of Ukrainian troops are taking part in an incursion aiming to destabilize Russia by showing up its weaknesses, a top Ukrainian official has told AFP as the assault entered its sixth day.
“We are on the offensive. The aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilize the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border,” the security official said on condition of anonymity.
The Russian army had said about 1,000 Ukrainian troops were deployed in the cross-border incursion which began on Tuesday and appeared to catch the Kremlin off guard, allowing Ukrainian forces to penetrate Russian defensive lines.
Asked whether the 1,000 figure was right, the official said: “It is a lot more... Thousands.”
After days of official silence, President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged the offensive for the first time in his nightly address on Saturday, saying that Kyiv was “pushing the war into the aggressor’s territory.”
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and has waged an unrelenting offensive, occupying swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine and subjecting Ukrainian cities to daily missile and drone attacks.
After re-capturing large areas in 2022, Ukrainian forces have largely been on the backfoot and are increasingly struggling with manpower and arms supplies.
But Ukrainian units stormed across the border Tuesday in what so far has been the largest and most successful such offensive by Kyiv in the conflict.
Its troops have advanced several kilometers forcing Russia’s army to rush in reserves and extra equipment — though neither side has given precise details on the forces committed.
Russia has evacuated tens of thousands of civilians from the area and Ukraine has also evacuated thousands of people from the Sumy region across the border.
Ukraine on offensive
The operation has “greatly raised our morale, the morale of the Ukrainian army, state and society,” the Ukrainian official said, speaking late Saturday after weeks of Russian advances in eastern Ukraine.
“This operation has shown that we can go on the offensive, move forward,” the official said.
“It seems that the Russians have problems with coordination, preparedness for action,” he said.
But he said there had been little effect so far on fighting in the east.
“The situation is basically unchanged. Their pressure in the east continues, they are not pulling back troops from the area,” he said, adding only that “the intensity of Russian attacks has gone down a little bit.”
The official said Ukrainian troops would respect international humanitarian law while on Russian territory and had no plans to annexe areas they currently hold.
“There is no idea of annexation... We are operating in strict accordance with international law,” he said, contrasting this with alleged violations by Russian troops in occupied territory.
Asked whether capturing the Kursk nuclear power plant near the border was an aim, he said: “We will see how the Kursk operation will develop.”
“We absolutely will not cause problems for nuclear security. This we can guarantee,” he said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has urged both sides “to exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid a nuclear accident with the potential for serious radiological consequences.”
US weapons
The White House said Wednesday it was contacting Ukraine to learn more about the “objectives” of the incursion.
President Joe Biden in May allowed Kyiv to use American-supplied weapons against targets just across the Russian border to repel Moscow’s push on the Kharkiv region.
But White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has said that “nothing had changed” about US policy discouraging broader strikes or attacks inside Russia.
Asked whether Western partners had been kept in the dark about Ukraine’s offensive, the official said this was “incorrect.”
“Judging by how actively Western arms are being used, our Western partners played a part indirectly in the planning,” he said.
The official said he expected Russia would “in the end” manage to stop Ukrainian forces in Kursk and retaliate with a large-scale missile attack including “on decision-making centers” in Ukraine.
There has already been more intense bombardment of Ukraine’s Sumy region just across the border from Kursk.
And an overnight missile attack near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv killed a man and his four-year-old son, emergency services said.
Explosions rang out Saturday night in the center and east of Kyiv after Ukraine’s air force said two Russian missiles were headed toward the city.


Austria chancellor urges more comms monitoring after Taylor Swift plot

Austria chancellor urges more comms monitoring after Taylor Swift plot
Updated 11 August 2024
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Austria chancellor urges more comms monitoring after Taylor Swift plot

Austria chancellor urges more comms monitoring after Taylor Swift plot
  • Swift’s three planned concerts were canceled after Austrian authorities got wind of a plot led by a 19-year-old youth to launch an Daesh-inspired suicide attack
  • ews of the planned attack has reanimated debate over the tight restrictions Austria has in comparison to other western nations on the monitoring of messaging communications

VIENNA: Austria’s chancellor said on Sunday his country’s intelligence agencies should have greater power to monitor communications on messaging apps to stop extremists after a planned suicide attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna was thwarted this week.
Swift’s three planned concerts were canceled after Austrian authorities got wind of a plot led by a 19-year-old youth to launch an Daesh-inspired suicide attack at a soccer stadium where tens of thousands of fans were planning to attend the shows.
News of the planned attack has reanimated debate over the tight restrictions Austria has in comparison to other western nations on the monitoring of messaging communications just as the country gears up for an election on Sept. 29.
“We really need our agencies to be upgraded technically so they’re on an equal footing with terrorists, with organized crime, so we can combat them,” Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in an interview with Germany’s Bild newpsper.
“It’s vital that messenger services like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram can be decrypted for security authorities, under judicial oversight, while upholding the rule of law,” added Nehammer, who is seeking re-election next month.
Nehammer, who said Austria received a tip from a foreign intelligence service over the planned Swift attack, said the main suspects so far in the case had been captured.
But he spoke of more arrests being made as police continue investigations among criminal networks. More Daesh supporters had been identified, he said.


After Olympic dream, a rude political awakening for Macron?

After Olympic dream, a rude political awakening for Macron?
Updated 11 August 2024
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After Olympic dream, a rude political awakening for Macron?

After Olympic dream, a rude political awakening for Macron?
  • France still does not have a new prime minister five weeks after the elections that ended with three major blocs in parliament, with the left as the largest

PARIS: The success of the Olympic Games has surpassed the wildest dreams of many in France but in the next weeks President Emmanuel Macron still will have to face the reality of the deadlocked politics created by his calling of snap legislative elections.
With the Games just around the corner, the polls left France with three major blocs in parliament — the left as the largest followed by Macron’s centrist forces and the far right — with none of them close to mustering the numbers for an overall majority.
The former government of Macron allies, under Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, has carried on in a caretaker capacity throughout the Games, but five weeks after the elections, the country still does not have a new prime minister.
Macron may be hoping that the Games boost his embattled fortunes in the same way that France’s winning and hosting of the 1998 football World Cup dragged up former president Jacques Chirac’s popularity ratings.
But even with Paris set to continue basking in the limelight while hosting the Paralympics from August 28 to September 8, Macron faces a potentially fraught return to reality.
While the Games have lifted what was a morose mood in France, it is far from certain this will give a new impulse to the remaining three years of the unpopular president’s mandate.

“The fact that things are going well, that we are seen as beautiful and successful abroad, has struck a chord in a country that was experiencing decline and was no longer capable of doing great things collectively,” said prominent political commentator Emmanuel Riviere.
“This changes the collective climate but not the political situation: the situation remains blocked, many voters are frustrated... The French are putting things into perspective and remain very angry with Emmanuel Macron.”
Macron’s approval ratings remain well under 30 percent, with the president keeping a low profile during the election campaign and the Games, spending most of the Olympics ensconced in the Mediterranean holiday residence of the French president and making only occasional visits to Paris.
“The country needed this moment of coming together. In terms of the political impact, I remain very reserved,” one minister from the outgoing government, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
When it comes to the Olympics, “we cannot make it a partisan success,” added another.

The number one priority for Macron will be naming, and winning approval for, a new prime minister and government, a process that appears to remain as blocked as it was before the Games.
The left-wing New Popular Front, which emerged as the largest faction post-election, has said it wants the economist Lucie Castets to be the new premier.
Macron’s forces have shown little interest in the idea, preferring an alliance with the traditional right, with the name of former Chirac-era minister and current head of the northern Hauts de France region, Xavier Bertrand, frequently cited as a candidate to lead a center-focused coalition.
Outgoing equality minister Aurore Berge named Bertrand as a possible candidate alongside the likes of former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and Senate speaker Gerard Larcher, saying he had “solid experience of government, parliament and compromise.”
Naming him would be an “aberration,” objected Castets, while Greens leader Marine Tondelier accused Macron of exploiting the political “truce” he called for the Olympics.
“This Olympic truce is not just because Emmanuel Macron is tired, it is because he wants time” and “to obstruct any attempt at political change,” she said.

There had been expectation that Macron could name the new premier in the window between the Olympics, which close on Sunday, and the opening of the Paralympics on August 28.
But as visitors and Parisians gasp in awe for a last time at the Olympic cauldron tethered to a balloon, sources within the executive are playing down the prospects of a rapid breakthrough.
“It (the Olympics) will calm things down in the sense that the idea that we work together will be less absurd,” said a senior figure close to Macron, asking not to be named.
“But it’s not because we went to take selfies in front of the cauldron with half of Paris that we’re suddenly going to form a coalition.”
Macron, known to use his vacations at the Fort de Bregancon holiday residence for deep reading and reflection, is “still thinking,” according to a person close to him.


Australia spy chief accuses friendly nations of foreign interference

Police officers walk in Kings Park in Perth on June 18, 2024. (AFP)
Police officers walk in Kings Park in Perth on June 18, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 11 August 2024
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Australia spy chief accuses friendly nations of foreign interference

Police officers walk in Kings Park in Perth on June 18, 2024. (AFP)
  • In 2022, Burgess revealed ASIO had foiled a foreign interference plot by a wealthy person — named only as “the puppeteer” — with deep connections to a foreign government

SYDNEY: Australia’s spy chief on Sunday accused some friendly nations of running foreign interference operations in the country, saying their identities would surprise people if revealed.
Canberra last year named Iran as having engaged in foreign interference, adding that Australian intelligence had disrupted “individuals” conducting a surveillance operation on an Iranian-Australian’s home.
But other countries are also secretly attempting to interfere in Australia’s political system and in its diaspora communities, said Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO).
“I can think of at least three or four that we’ve actually actively found involved in foreign interference in Australian diaspora communities,” Burgess said in an interview with public broadcaster ABC.
“Some of them would surprise you. Some of them are also our friends,” he said.
Burgess declined to identify the countries involved beyond confirming the government’s allegation of Iran’s involvement.
Foreign interference, espionage and politically motivated violence are Australia’s principal security concerns, Burgess said.
“In diaspora communities, there are multiple countries that attempt to threaten and intimidate Australians living in this country,” he said.
“When we find it, we deal with it effectively.”
In 2022, Burgess revealed ASIO had foiled a foreign interference plot by a wealthy person — named only as “the puppeteer” — with deep connections to a foreign government.
That person had funnelled hundreds of thousands of dollars to an employee to try to influence an election, he said at the time, without specifying which vote was targeted.
ASIO this month raised Australia’s terrorism threat level to “probable,” saying a homegrown rise in extreme ideologies had increased the likelihood of a violent act in the next 12 months.
Burgess said Sunday the spread of misinformation on social media made it harder to tackle the threat of politically motivated violence, with minors notably “locked in their bedrooms on their devices” and increasingly exposed to violent extremism.
The spy chief said ASIO would be keeping an eye on such risks surrounding Australia’s next general election, widely expected to be held in 2025, because it would be a “focal point” for robust debate on social issues.