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Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Three killed, two wounded in Russian attacks on east Ukrainian towns

Three killed, two wounded in Russian attacks on east Ukrainian towns
Local residents walk past a heavily damaged building following a Russian strike in the city of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, on Sept. 24, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 24 September 2024
Reuters
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Three killed, two wounded in Russian attacks on east Ukrainian towns

Three killed, two wounded in Russian attacks on east Ukrainian towns
  • An artillery strike on the strategic hub of Pokrovsk hit a residential area and killed two
  • Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians
Updated 24 September 2024
Reuters
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KYIV: Russian attacks on two towns in Ukraine’s east killed three people and wounded two more, regional authorities said.
An artillery strike on the strategic hub of Pokrovsk hit a residential area and killed two middle-aged men, according to Donetsk regional prosecutors.
Russia has long been pressing on the Pokrovsk front and stepped up its assaults in recent months, getting as close to its outskirts as 8 kilometers (5 miles).
Earlier in the day, Russian guided aerial bombs damaged two unspecified infrastructure facilities in Kostiantynivka, the Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram. One person was killed and two wounded, he added.
Kostiantynivka lies some 12 km from Chasiv Yar, a town on high ground where Ukrainian forces are attempting to stave off Russian westward advances.
Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians, although thousands have been killed since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. It says its strikes on infrastructure are legitimate and aimed at reducing Ukraine’s ability to fight.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict artillery strike Pokrovsk

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US envoy says Mexico not safe, blames ex-president for failed security

Updated 4 sec ago
Reuters
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US envoy says Mexico not safe, blames ex-president for failed security

US envoy says Mexico not safe, blames ex-president for failed security
  • Salazar criticizes Lopez Obrador’s security policy
  • Sheinbaum to follow Lopez Obrador’s security strategy
Updated 4 sec ago
Reuters
MEXICO CITY: The US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, said on Wednesday that the country is not safe and criticized the previous president for a failed security policy and refusing to accept American assistance.
“The reality is that at the moment Mexico is not safe,” Salazar said during a press conference at his residence in Mexico City.
The ambassador criticized former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador directly, saying security coordination between Mexico and the US had suffered during his term.
“Unfortunately this coordination has failed in the last year, in great part because the previous president did not want to receive help from the United States,” he said.
Lopez Obrador’s attempt to address the root causes of violence, a strategy he called “hugs not bullets,” did “not work,” Salazar said.
He added he hoped that President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office last month, would have greater success in fighting crime and violence by investing more in security.
Sheinbaum, who belongs to the same party as Lopez Obrador, has stressed that her security policy will follow closely that of the previous president.
The comments come as relations between Lopez Obrador and Salazar have become increasingly fraught in recent months, after the ambassador criticized a judicial overhaul being driven by the former president.
It marks a distinct change from the earlier part of Lopez Obrador’s presidency when the two were regarded as having a close working relationship — a proximity that some US diplomats privately criticized.
Mexico has suffered a recent wave of violence with hundreds killed in intra-cartel warfare in the state of Sinaloa as well as massacres in other states such as Queretaro where 10 people were killed in a bar over the weekend.

US prosecutors seek pause in Trump documents appeal

US prosecutors seek pause in Trump documents appeal
Updated 6 min 24 sec ago
Reuters
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US prosecutors seek pause in Trump documents appeal

US prosecutors seek pause in Trump documents appeal
Updated 6 min 24 sec ago
Reuters

WASHINGTON: US prosecutors asked a federal appeals court on Wednesday to pause their bid to revive the criminal case accusing President-elect Donald Trump of illegally handling classified documents, citing his election victory.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, in a brief court filing, asked the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to “hold this appeal in abeyance” to allow prosecutors time to assess the impact of Trump’s impending return to the White House on the case.
Trump was accused of illegally holding onto classified documents after he left office in 2021. A federal judge appointed to the bench by Trump dismissed the case in July after ruling that Smith was improperly appointed to the special counsel role, prompting prosecutors to appeal.
Smith’s prosecutors asked to weigh in by Dec. 2 on how to proceed in the case. They have already secured a similar pause in another federal case accusing Trump of attempting to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.

Trump picks divisive ally to lead Justice Department

Trump picks divisive ally to lead Justice Department
Updated 42 min 52 sec ago
AFP
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Trump picks divisive ally to lead Justice Department

Trump picks divisive ally to lead Justice Department
Updated 42 min 52 sec ago
AFP

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump announced firebrand lawmaker Matt Gaetz as his pick for attorney general Wednesday, naming a fierce defender who would be well-placed to make good on the president-elect’s threats of revenge against political foes.
“Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System,” Trump posted on social media. “Matt will end Weaponized Government... and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department.”
Gaetz, a Floridian and a US congressman since 2017, is among Trump’s most controversial nominations as he looks to fill out his cabinet after victory against Democrat Kamala Harris in last week’s presidential election.
Trump has called for retribution against many perceived political foes whom he baselessly accuses of wielding the might of the Justice Department against him in politically motivated prosecutions.
Democrats fear that Gaetz, 42, will help him weaponize the department to launch exactly those types of “show trial” prosecutions.
As attorney general, Gaetz would drive all aspects of the work of the Justice Department, which for years has carried out an investigation into sex trafficking and obstruction of justice allegations involving him.
Gaetz, who denies all wrongdoing, was told last year that there would be no charges against him, but he remains the subject of a House ethics investigation.
Police began looking at Gaetz as they were investigating his friend, former tax collector Joel Greenberg, who was sentenced in 2022 to a prison term of 11 years after admitting to sex trafficking a minor and other charges.
In September, Gaetz said in a statement he would no longer help congressional investigators, accusing them of leading a “political payback exercise” and calling the probe “uncomfortably nosy.”
Republican and Democratic senators immediately voiced doubts that Gaetz’s nomination would survive the confirmation process, which can involve intense questioning during difficult, fraught hearings.
Gaetz will likely only be able to lose three Republicans and still get the green light from the Senate.
CNN, citing unnamed sources reported that House Republicans were meeting behind closed doors when news of Gaetz’s nomination emerged — prompting “an audible gasp from the members in the room.”
Republican Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said Gaetz would have “his work cut out for him,” according to Scripps News, which also reported that the party’s Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said: “Do you think he’s a serious candidate? Not as far as I’m concerned.”
A third senator from the party’s political middle, Susan Collins, told reporters she was “shocked” by the announcement.
“That shows why the advice and consent process is so important, and I’m sure that there will be a lot of questions raised at his hearing.”

Topics: Trump Returns

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Students occupy defense firm Leonardo’s Turin headquarters to protest over Gaza

Students occupy defense firm Leonardo’s Turin headquarters to protest over Gaza
Updated 14 November 2024
Reuters
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Students occupy defense firm Leonardo’s Turin headquarters to protest over Gaza

Students occupy defense firm Leonardo’s Turin headquarters to protest over Gaza
  • Students say company supports Israel by providing remote technical assistance and spare parts to Israel’s air force
Updated 14 November 2024
Reuters

MILAN: Around a hundred students occupied Leonardo’s Turin headquarters to denounce what they say is the Italian defense group’s complicity in Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
The students, who unfurled a flag of the Palestinian territories from the roof of Leonardo’s offices, said the company was supporting Israel by providing remote technical assistance and spare parts to Israel’s air force.
Leonardo declined to comment.
Images released by the students show them in Leonardo’s offices waving Palestinian flags and carrying spray cans. Outside they hung banners on the buildings saying ‘no arms to Israel’ and accusing the group of complicity in genocide.
They also clambered on top of a plane in the grounds of the company’s headquarters.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto condemned the protest, saying on X that the students were “destroying and defacing” the offices where an “important meeting with the staff of the defense ministry” was taking place.
“These people must be treated for what they are, dangerous subversives. Criminals have no political color, they are just criminals,” he said.
Crosetto said in March that Italy had continued to export arms to Israel, despite government assurances last year that it was blocking such sales following the Israeli army’s campaign in Gaza triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel.
In March the minister said only previously signed orders were being honored after checks had been made to ensure the weaponry would not be used against Gazan civilians.
Through its US subsidiary, Leonardo provides Israel with aircraft and owns an Israeli radar company called RADA.
Under Italian law, arms exports are banned to countries that are waging war and those deemed to be violating international human rights.

Topics: Gaza War in Gaza Italy

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Sri Lanka president eyes parliament win in snap election

Sri Lanka president eyes parliament win in snap election
Updated 14 November 2024
AFP
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Sri Lanka president eyes parliament win in snap election

Sri Lanka president eyes parliament win in snap election
  • The 55-year-old leader is seeking a two-thirds majority in the 225-member legislature to press ahead with reforms after the country’s economic meltdown in 2022
Updated 14 November 2024
AFP

OLOMBO: Sri Lanka votes Thursday in a second national election in as many months with a deeply divided opposition struggling to recover from a crushing defeat at presidential polls.
The snap parliamentary election was called by the new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake — the South Asian island’s first leftist leader — after he won polls on a promise to combat graft and recover the country’s stolen assets.
Dissanayake’s party is widely tipped to sweep Thursday’s parliamentary vote with analysts saying the opposition is in disarray.
The 55-year-old leader is seeking a two-thirds majority in the 225-member legislature to press ahead with reforms after the country’s economic meltdown in 2022, when then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted.
Polls for 17.1 million voters choosing between 8,800 candidates, open at 7:00 am (0130 GMT) on Thursday and close at 4:00 pm, with initial results expected Friday.
Dissanayake’s JVP, or the People’s Liberation Front, is the main constituent of the National People’s Power (NPP) coalition of professionals seeking to form the next government.
The NPP held just three seats in the outgoing assembly.
Dissanayake had been an MP for nearly 25 years and was briefly an agriculture minister, but he distanced himself from traditional politicians accused of leading the country to its worst economic crisis two years ago.
His JVP party led two insurrections in 1971 and 1987, leading to the loss of at least 80,000 lives, but Dissanayake took power peacefully in elections on September 21.
Despite previous promises to renegotiate a controversial $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout secured by his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe, Dissanayake has chosen to maintain the agreement with the international lender.
The country’s main private sector lobby, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, is tacitly supporting Dissanayake and expects him to press ahead with reforms.
“Continuing reforms... could encourage both investor confidence and fiscal discipline, setting a foundation for sustainable growth,” CCC Secretary Bhuwanekabahu Perera told AFP ahead of voting.
He said Dissanayake’s approach to governance “may lean toward a balanced socialist-democratic model that acknowledges market realities.”
An IMF delegation is due in Colombo on Thursday to review economic progress before releasing the next tranche of $330 million of the bailout loan.
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, who had campaigned to take part in a coalition government, vowed in his final campaign rally he would “put pressure” on Dissanayake to honor promises of tax cuts.
Poll monitors and analysts note that Thursday’s election had failed to generate the level of enthusiasm — or violence — seen at previous polls.
Political analyst Kusal Perera said there was little campaigning by opposition parties.
“The opposition is dead,” Perera said. “The result of the election is a foregone conclusion.”
Over 60 senior politicians from the previous administration have opted to stay out.
The outgoing parliament was dominated by the party of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa — the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), or the People’s Front — but it has since splintered.
Rajapaksa is not contesting, but his son Namal, a former sports minister, is seeking re-election.

Topics: Sri Lanka Snap Election Anura Kumara Dissanayake National People’s Power (NPP)

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