Greek border guard shot in abdomen while patrolling border with Turkiye
Updated 21 July 2024
AP
THESSALONIKI, Greece: A Greek border guard was shot in the abdomen Saturday while patrolling an area of the Greek-Turkish border where undocumented migrants seek to enter the European Union, Greek police said. The injuries are not life-threatening.
Four Greek border guard officers were on duty along the Evros River, the land border with Turkiye, shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday, when three or four shots rang out from the Turkish side, police said.
A bullet hit one of the border guards in the lower abdomen. The injured man was taken to a hospital in the town of Didymoteicho, where he was operated on, police said.
Police added that the injured officer was in stable, non-life-threatening condition.
Greek media reported that police officials believe the shooter or shooters were probably human traffickers. Officials are not allowed to speak about cases under investigation and the officials requested anonymity.
A police statement said the bullet was fired from a pistol.
The patrolling officers had detected some movement on the Turkish side, but could not tell how many people were there because their view was blocked by thick vegetation. With several more border guards converging on the site, no crossing was made.
The border guards are a special unit of Greece’s police.
Philippines draws defense firms as military modernizes amid South China Sea tension
Updated 13 sec ago
Reuters
MANILA: Global defense contractors put their advanced hardware on display as the Philippines embarks on the latest phase of a multi-billion-dollar effort to modernize its military at a time of rising tension in the South China Sea. From Lockheed Martin of the United States to Sweden’s Saab, Israel’s Rafael, and the India-Russia joint venture BrahMos, a total of 291 firms showcased military technology and weapons systems at an exhibition in Manila last week. “The Philippines is an emerging market for the defense industry,” said Chester Cabalza, president of a Manila-based think tank, International Development and Security Cooperation. Manila has allocated $35 billion for the buildup, spread over the next decade, as it has faced off with China in sea and air confrontations over contested areas of the busy South China Sea waterway. “Our strategic issues with China have caught the attention of defense firms, and the exhibit demonstrates support from like-minded nations, many of whom are our partners and allies,” Cabalza added. Under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the Philippines has looked beyond traditional ally the United States to step up security partnerships with nations, such as Japan and Australia, also concerned at China’s increasing regional influence. “The goal of modernization is to develop a credible defense force, whether there’s the China issue or not,” said Jesus Avilla, a former assistant defense secretary, while visiting the biennial Asia Defense and Security (ADAS) exhibition. In the third phase of a decades-long effort to beef up territorial defense and maritime security, the Philippine military is looking to buy advanced assets such as fighter jets, submarines and missile systems. While long-standing military ties ensure the United States is a key supplier, the Philippines has widened defense procurement to nations such as India, Israel, Poland, South Korea and Turkiye. Reflecting Manila’s expanding role in regional security, the exhibition featured new companies, and participating nations such as Britain, France and Japan. Avilla stressed the urgency of modernization as strategic challenges now stretch to encompass economic and food security, as the South China Sea holds crucial resources. China claims almost the entire waterway, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, despite overlapping claims by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. However, in 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration said its claims had no legal basis, a decision China rejects. “Our enemy is not joking because they can see that our equipment is not enough,” said Philippine navy officer Alandel Drilon, while inquiring about a multiple rocket launcher system. “That’s our weakness at the moment, our vessels, they are old, so this exhibit is a good chance for our officers to see how they can improve our equipment.” In 2022, the Philippines bought a $375-million BrahMos anti-ship missile system, and the firm is now offering a ship-mounted version. “We hope for a positive outcome soon,” added Praveen Pathak, its director for market promotion and export. State-run Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which has earlier supplied advanced surveillance capabilities, such as electro-optic systems, is also ready to provide items from reconnaissance aircraft to coastal radar, said Maxim Zemer, a senior marketing official for Asia and Africa. The Philippines is also evaluating offers for 40 multirole fighter aircraft. Though it has not disclosed specific bidders, Saab, with its Gripen jets, is widely considered a contender. “We want to deliver credible, sustainable, cost-efficient, offensive air power to the Philippines,” said Jussi Halmetoja, air operations adviser and test pilot at Saab. Saab has had “fruitful negotiation” with the Philippine defense ministry, Halmetoja added, and was ready to meet the needs of its air force. A Gripen E fighter jet on display outside the exhibition drew throngs of visitors, some from the military, who sat in its cockpit, posing for photographs. “Modernizing our forces will take time due to the resources needed, but ADAS allows us to explore the capabilities available,” said Lt. Gen. Charlton Sean Gaerlan, the Philippine armed forces’ deputy chief of staff. “It also gives us the opportunity to engage with defense companies to ensure we select the best systems for our needs.”
Australia charges woman over pro-Hezbollah protest
Other attendees at the pro-Palestine protests, which took place in Sydney and Melbourne last week, also waved Hamas flags or placards with slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
Updated 35 min 52 sec ago
AFP
SYDNEY: Australian police on Wednesday charged a 19-year-old woman after an investigation into Hezbollah flags flown at a Sydney demonstration.
“She was arrested and charged with cause public display of prohibited terrorists organization symbol,” said New South Wales Police.
Other attendees at the pro-Palestine protests, which took place in Sydney and Melbourne last week, also waved Hamas flags or placards with slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The protest has divided politicians, police and community leaders on what constitutes free speech or illegal activity.
Authorities remain on high alert ahead of two planned protests this week that will mark the one year anniversary since the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel that triggered the Gaza conflict.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday the two protests — set for October 6 and 7 — should not go ahead and that any demonstration would be seen “as incredibly provocative.”
“It would not advance any cause. It would cause a great deal of distress,” he told national broadcaster ABC. Albanese added he would attend a vigil instead.
Police have indicated they would seek to stop the demonstrations from going ahead.
New South Wales Police said Tuesday despite discussions with organizers, they were “not satisfied that the protest can proceed safely” and had decided to apply to the NSW Supreme court to prohibit them.
The matter will be heard in court later this week.
Protest organizers, the Palestine Action Group Sydney, said the police action was “an attack on fundamental democratic rights.”
“We intend on defending our right to protest and are determined to continue standing for justice for Palestine and Lebanon,” the group said in a statement.
NEW DELHI: A private helicopter crashed in western India on Wednesday, killing three people on board, a fire official said.
The chopper burst into flames in hilly terrain after crashing on the outskirts of Pune city, southeast of financial hub Mumbai, at around 6:45 am (0115 GMT).
Two pilots and an engineer died in the crash, chief fire officer Devendra Potphode told reporters.
“When we reached the spot, we saw that the chopper had crashed and all its parts were scattered,” he said.
“We were able to extract three casualties, and these were handed over to the police.”
The helicopter had been chartered by the opposition Nationalist Congress Party and was headed to Mumbai.
While the cause of the crash has not yet been identified, local media reports said there was dense fog in the area at the time.
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping has congratulated new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, state media reported Wednesday, the day after he took office in Tokyo.
Relations between the countries have worsened as China builds its military presence around disputed territories in the region, and as Japan boosts security ties with the United States and its allies.
Xinhua news agency said that Xi on Tuesday told Ishiba he hoped the “neighbors separated by a strip of water” could find common ground to “build a constructive and stable” relationship.
“It is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples to follow the path of peaceful coexistence, friendship for all generations, mutually beneficial cooperation and common development,” Xi told Ishiba, according to Xinhua.
Japan and China have had diplomatic relations for more than 50 years, but the key trading partners have seen ties sour significantly.
Beijing last week reacted angrily and lodged a complaint with Tokyo after a Japanese warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait for the first time.
The United States and its allies are increasingly crossing through the 180-kilometer (112-mile) Taiwan Strait to reinforce its status as an international waterway, vexing China.
Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China was “highly vigilant about the political intentions of Japan’s actions.”
Japan’s new Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said on Wednesday that Tokyo also wanted a “constructive and stable relationship” with China based on common interests.
But “what we need to assert will be asserted,” and “as a major country, we seek China to behave responsibly,” said Iwaya, who was nominated by Ishiba on Tuesday.
“We are seeing attempts to unilaterally change the status quo in the East Asia region, so we need to build a system that can firmly deter such attempts,” Iwaya added.
The minister said he hoped to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi “as soon as possible” for “frank exchanges and dialogue,” but a date had not yet been decided.
Nerves are running high in Japan on national security matters following the first confirmed incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into Japanese airspace in August.
A Chinese aircraft carrier also recently steamed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time, and the fatal stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen has further frayed ties.
Ishiba, 67, visited Taiwan in August and backs the creation in the region of a military alliance along the lines of NATO, with its tenet of collective defense.
He outlined his policies at a news conference late Tuesday, warning that “the security environment surrounding our country is the most severe since the end of World War II.”
Beijing and Tokyo were at loggerheads last year after Japan began discharging treated water from the disabled Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean — an operation the UN atomic agency said was safe.
But the release generated a fierce backlash from China, which branded it “selfish” and banned all Japanese seafood imports.
However, China last month said it would “gradually resume” importing the seafood.
Ukraine says it downed 11 drones during Russia’s overnight attack
Updated 02 October 2024
Reuters
KYIV: Ukraine’s forces destroyed 11 out of 32 Russian attack drones launched overnight, Ukraine’s air force said on Wednesday.
Another four drones left Ukrainian airspace in the direction of Russia and 10 drones were lost in northern and central Ukrainian regions as a result of electronic warfare countermeasures, it said.
Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian Izmail district near the Danube river in the southern Odesa region, local governor Oleh Kiper said on the Telegram messenger.
“The Russians targeted the port and border infrastructure,” Kiper said, adding that two lorry drivers, including a Turkish citizen, were injured.
He said the Ukrainian-Romanian crossing of Orlivka had temporarily suspended crossing operations due to the shelling.
