MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks on Tuesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is visiting Russia, state news agency TASS reported.
Putin to hold talks with Palestinian president Abbas on Tuesday, says TASS
EU’s Borrell in Kyiv to reassure Ukraine of Europe’s backing
- ‘The message is a clear one — the Europeans will continue to support Ukraine’
- Europe together has spent around $125 billion on supporting Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion
KYIV: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell arrived Saturday in Kyiv to reassure Ukraine of Europe’s backing in the first visit by a top Brussels official after Donald Trump’s poll win.
The volatile Republican’s victory in the United States election has set nerves jangling in Ukraine and Europe that Trump could end Washington’s support for Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invasion.
“The message is a clear one — the Europeans will continue to support Ukraine,” Borrell, who is set to leave office next month, told an AFP journalist accompanying him.
“We have been supporting Ukraine since the beginning, and on this my last visit to Ukraine, I convey the same message, we will support you as much as we can.”
On the campaign trail, Trump cast doubt on maintaining the vast US military and financial aid to Ukraine and said he could cut a quick deal to end the war.
“Nobody knows exactly what the new administration is going to do,” Borrell said, pointing out that incumbent Joe Biden still has two months in power to make decisions.
“But we Europeans have to use this opportunity in order to build a stronger and united Europe, and one of the manifestations of being united and being stronger and able to act is our role in supporting Ukraine.”
Europe together has spent around $125 billion on supporting Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, while the United States alone has coughed up more than $90 billion, according to a tracker from the Kiel Institute.
Keeping the US, Ukraine’s single biggest donor, on board is seen by most as key for ensuring Kyiv stays afloat, especially at a time of political uncertainty in major European powers Germany and France.
On the battlefield, Ukraine’s fatigued troops are struggling to stave off Russia’s advances as they approach three years of full-scale combat.
Borrell, who will meet top Ukrainian officials on his visit, said it was up to EU countries to decide “when and how to increase” their support if needed.
But he said that at a meeting of EU leaders in Budapest Friday “most of the member states were insisting on the same line, continue supporting Ukraine.”
Iran foreign ministry says Trump assassination plot claim ‘totally unfounded’
- The US Justice Department on Friday disclosed an Iranian murder-for-hire plot to kill Donald Trump
- Investigators learned of the plan to kill Trump from Farhad Shakeri, an Iranian government asset
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry on Saturday described as “totally unfounded” US accusations of a plot by Tehran to assassinate president-elect Donald Trump.
The foreign ministry “rejects allegations that Iran is implicated in an assassination attempt targeting former or current American officials,” spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement, after US prosecutors announced charges over the alleged plot.
The Justice Department on Friday disclosed an Iranian murder-for-hire plot to kill Donald Trump, charging a man who said he had been tasked by a government official before this week’s election with planning the assassination of the Republican president-elect.
Investigators learned of the plan to kill Trump from Farhad Shakeri, an accused Iranian government asset who spent time in American prisons for robbery and who authorities say maintains a network of criminal associates enlisted by Tehran for surveillance and murder-for-hire plots.
Shakeri told investigators that a contact in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed him this past September to set aside other work he was doing and assemble a plan within seven days to surveil and ultimately kill Trump, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Manhattan.
The official was quoted by Shakeri as saying that “We have already spent a lot of money” and that “money’s not an issue.” Shakeri told investigators the official told him that if he could not put together a plan within the seven-day timeframe, then the plot would be paused until after the election because the official assumed Trump would lose and that it would be easier to kill him then, the complaint said.
Shakeri is at large and remains in Iran. Two other men were arrested on charges that Shakeri recruited them to follow and kill prominent Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who has endured multiple Iranian murder-for-hire plots foiled by law enforcement.
“I’m very shocked,” said Alinejad, speaking by telephone to The Associated Press from Berlin, where she was about to attend a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the tearing down of the wall. “This is the third attempt against me and that’s shocking.”
In a post on the social media platform X, she said: “I came to America to practice my First Amendment right to freedom of speech — I don’t want to die. I want to fight against tyranny, and I deserve to be safe. Thank you to law enforcement for protecting me, but I urge the US government to protect the national security of America.”
Lawyers for the two other defendants, identified as Jonathan Loadholt and Carlisle Rivera, did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Iran’s UN Mission declined to comment.
Shakeri, an Afghan national who immigrated to the US as a child but was later deported after spending 14 years in prison for robbery, also told investigators that he was tasked by his Revolutionary Guard contact with plotting the killings of two Jewish-Americans living in New York and Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka. Officials say he overlapped with Rivera while in prison as well as an unidentified co-conspirator.
The criminal complaint says Shakeri disclosed some of the details of the alleged plots in a series of recorded telephone interviews with FBI agents while in Iran. The stated reason for his cooperation, he told investigators, was to try to get a reduced prison sentence for an associate behind bars in the US
According to the complaint, though officials determined that some of the information he provided was false, his statements regarding a plot to kill Trump and Iran’s willingness to pay large sums of money were determined to be accurate.
The plot, disclosed just days after Trump’s defeat of Democrat Kamala Harris, reflects what federal officials have described as ongoing efforts by Iran to target US government officials, including Trump, on US soil. Last summer, the Justice Department charged a Pakistani man with ties to Iran in a murder-for-hire plot targeting American officials.
“There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Friday. FBI Director Christopher Wray said the case shows Iran’s “continued brazen attempts to target US citizens,” including Trump, “other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran.”
Iranian operatives also conducted a hack-and-leak operation of emails belonging to Trump campaign associates in what officials have assessed was an effort to interfere in the presidential election.
Intelligence officials have said Iran opposed Trump’s reelection, seeing him as more likely to increase tension between Washington and Tehran. Trump’s administration ended a nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, an act that prompted Iran’s leaders to vow revenge.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said the president-elect was aware of the assassination plot and nothing will deter him “from returning to the White House and restoring peace around the world.”
Reeking mud sparks health fears in Spain flood epicenter
SEDAVI, Spain: The sea of mud and stagnant water submerging Spanish towns more than 10 days after the country’s worst floods in decades has sparked a sickening stench and health fears.
“That’s the rotten meat,” said Toni Marco, pointing to a destroyed supermarket in the devastated town of Sedavi from which a disgusting odour wafted when AFP visited.
The meat was only removed recently, well after the floods cut the refrigerators’ electricity supply, added Marco, a 40-year-old employee of a private cleaning company.
The nearby town of Catarroja also remains a mud bath after the October 29 disaster that has claimed 219 lives, with a powerful reek compounding the woes of survivors.
The diversity of matter decomposing under the mud produces a spectrum of smells ranging from the mildly unpleasant to the outright repulsive.
“Each decomposition of an element smells differently,” which explains why the odours vary from street to street, said Angel Aldehuela, a 51-year-old firefighter from the southern Seville region.
Dead animals may also lie buried under the mud, he told AFP.
When the mud dries, the organic matter decomposes without oxygen and “that’s where those smells we’re not used to start to appear,” explained Miguel Rodilla, a biologist at Valencia’s Polytechnic University.
“There aren’t necessarily bodies nearby, but simply organic matter decomposing.”
FEARS OF AN OUTBREAK
In scenes reminiscent of the Covid-19 pandemic, rescuers, volunteers and residents have worn facemasks and gloves during the clean-up, while some people have complained of the stink causing headaches and dizziness.
Breathing in the pestilential miasma “isn’t ideal for health,” but “higher concentrations” of decomposing matter would be necessary to make it toxic, said Rodilla.
Stagnant water can trigger gastrointestinal disorders or pneumonia, Health Minister Monica Garcia told public radio RNE, but she ruled out the possibility of an “outbreak.”
The health board of the Valencia region, particularly crippled by the floods, has also reported no outbreak of infectious diseases or a major threat to public health.
Even so, regional health authorities have asked local councils to apply measures to control and prevent the proliferation of mosquitoes and other insects capable of spreading diseases.
Aldehuela warned that the foetid fumes enveloping Catarroja “will get worse, without a doubt,” predicting they would linger for up to a week more.
But in towns where the muck has been cleared swiftly, an aroma of bread or fruit has replaced the stench, the head of the army’s emergencies unit Javier Marcos said on Friday.
At least 16 killed, 30 injured in blast hitting Pakistan railway station
- The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army has claimed the bomb attack in Balochistan’s capital of Quetta
- It comes amid a spike in militant attacks in Balochistan, home to a long-running insurgency, in recent months
QUETTA: At least 16 people were killed and 30 others injured in a bomb blast at a railway station in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, officials said on Saturday, in the latest violence to hit the restive Balochistan province.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has been the site of a decades-long separatist insurgency by ethnic Baloch militants. The province has lately seen an increase in attacks by separatist militants.
Saturday’s blast occurred at a time when the railway station was crowded with passengers, who were waiting for the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express train, according to Muhammad Baloch, senior superintendent of police (SSP).
“Around 150 passengers were gathered at the platform,” Baloch told Arab News. “We are investigating whether it was a suicide attack or any explosive device was placed at the platform.”
The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most prominent of several separatist groups in Balochistan, claimed responsibility for the bomb attack.
Bilal Safdar, an eyewitness who was standing some 500 meters away from the site of the blast, told Arab News people were crowded under a shed, when he heard a powerful explosion at the platform.
“There was a plume of smoke at the station and people were screaming for help, bodies and injured were laying down on the ground,” he told Arab News. “We just ran away from the site and my feet was injured.”
SSP Baloch shared the injured persons had been shifted to Civil Hospital in Quetta, while officials were awaiting footage from security cameras installed at the railway station to ascertain the exact nature of the blast.
Balochistan, home to major China-led projects such as a strategic port and a gold and copper mine, has seen a surge in militants attacks in recent months.
Last month, 21 miners working at privately run coal mines in Balochistan’s Dukki were killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen, while five people were killed in an attack by armed men on the construction site of a small dam in Balochistan’s Panjgur district Oct. 29. In August, separatist militants killed more than 50 people, including civilians and security men, in a string of coordinated attacks in various districts of Balochistan, with the BLA claiming most of them.
The separatists accuse the central government of exploiting Balochistan’s mineral and gas resources. The Pakistani state denies the allegation and says it is working to uplift the region through development initiatives.
Cavs ride huge first half to crushing win over Warriors and perfect 10-0
- Atkinson: Ten-0 is a magic number
- In Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 33 points to lead the Celtics in a 107-102 overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets
LOS ANGELES: The Cleveland Cavaliers continued their perfect start to the NBA season in sensational style on Friday, seizing a 41-point halftime lead on the way to a 136-117 rout of the Golden State Warriors.
The Cavs improved to 10-0, ending the Warriors’ five-game winning streak and handing them their first road defeat of the season.
The damage was done early, the Cavs’ 83 first-half points tying a franchise record for most scored in any half and their 41-point halftime lead the biggest in team history.
Against the Warriors’ second-ranked defense, the Cavs posted their fifth game of the young season with at least 130 points.
That ties a team record for the most 130-plus point games for an entire season.
“Ten-0 is a magic number,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We’re playing really good basketball and I’m just really pleased where the group is.
“I was worried about tonight — they’re 7-1 and rolling and they’re coming in here, they’re champions and they’re going to try and knock our block off.”
Darius Garland scored 27 points, Evan Mobley added 23 and Ty Jerome chipped in 20 off the bench as six Cavs players scored in double figures against a Warriors defense that came in ranked second in the league.
Meanwhile, they kept the potentially explosive Warriors offense in check, opening the game on a 20-2 scoring run.
“The way we came out tonight — that surprised me, how ready we were, how hungry we were,” Atkinson said.
Andrew Wiggins with nine points and Stephen Curry with seven were the only Warriors starters to score before the break.
Golden State were able to adjust after the break, out-scoring the Cavs 41-29 in the third quarter.
“First half, can’t play much better than that,” Atkinson said. “But second half, way we came out, they scored 13 points in the first three minutes. It was a little frustrating.”
The Warriors, however, were in too deep a hole.
Jonathan Kuminga led Golden State with 21 points off the bench, Curry finished with 12 on five-of-10 shooting, making just one from three-point range.
“We’ve got to execute better,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Thirteen turnovers in the first half — we were completely disorganized.”
In Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 33 points to lead the Celtics in a 107-102 overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who led by as many as 14 in the first half and didn’t surrender the lead until the fourth quarter.
In Detroit, Cade Cunningham drove for the go-ahead basket with 8.5 seconds left to play in the Pistons’ 122-121 victory over Atlanta, then sealed the victory with a block on a driving Onyeka Okongwu.
Cunningham finished with a triple-double of 22 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists with a steal and the game-saving block.
Jusuf Nurkic’s free throw with eight-tenths of a second remaining lifted the Phoenix Suns to a 114-113 victory over the Mavericks in Dallas.
Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Nurkic added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who notched a seventh straight victory to improve to 8-1.
“It’s been fun,” Durant said of the Suns start. “(It has) definitely been nerve-wracking with the tight games we’ve been in, but I think that’s great for our team to understand what it’s like in crunch time.”
Luka Doncic scored 30 points and Kyrie Irving added 29 for Dallas, who have now lost twice this season to Phoenix.
In New York, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 32 points for the Knicks, who led by as many as 30 in a 116-94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Milwaukee, who trailed all the way.
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