Russia launches several waves of drone attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s military says
Russia launches several waves of drone attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s military says/node/2573298/world
Russia launches several waves of drone attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s military says
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In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire after Russia attacked the city with guided bombs overnight in Zaporizhzhia on Sept. 29, 2024. Russian forces later struck Kyiv early Monday. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
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Residents react as they stand next to a damaged residential building following a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhzhia, southern Ukraine, September 29, 2024. Russian forces later struck Kyiv early Monday. (AFP)
Russia launches several waves of drone attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s military says
The attack followed Sunday's strikes targetting civilian homes in Zaporizhzhia, southern Ukraine, killing at least 11 people
Updated 36 sec ago
Reuters
KYIV: Russia launched several waves of drone attacks targeting Kyiv early on Monday, with air defense units engaged in repelling the strikes for several hours, Ukraine’s military said.
Reuters’ witnesses heard numerous blasts in Kyiv in what sounded like air defense systems in operation and saw objects being hit in the air.
Kyiv, its surrounding region and all eastern part of Ukraine have been under air raid alerts since around 1 a.m. on Monday (2200 GMT on Sunday).
“Several enemy UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) are over and near the capital,” Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv’s mayor said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine’s air force said earlier on Telegram that several groups of Russian drone attacks were heading toward Kyiv and Ukraine’s west. It also said it detected the launch of several guided bombs from Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine at around 04:40 a.m. (0140 GMT).
There was no immediate comment from Moscow, which has launched multiple air attacks on Kyiv and Ukraine throughout September, targeting Ukraine’s energy, military and transport infrastructure in which dozens of civilians have died.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties as a result of the attacks.
‘Angry’ Trump escalates attacks on Harris’ mental fitness and suggests she should be prosecuted
Trump, who has lost his composure when Harris became the Democratic nominee, said he is "very angry at Harris" because of "what she’s done to the country”
The Republican nominee has brushed aside concerns raised by his partymates to just stick to issues and avoid personal insults
Updated 6 sec ago
AP
ERIE, Pennsylvania: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump escalated his personal attacks on his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, on Sunday by repeating an insult that she was “mentally impaired” while also saying she should be “impeached and prosecuted.”
Trump’s rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, took on similar themes as an event one day earlier that he himself described as a “dark speech.” He told a cheering crowd Sunday that Harris was responsible for an “invasion” at the US-Mexico border and “she should be impeached and prosecuted for her actions.”
“Crooked Joe Biden became mentally impaired,” he added. “Sad. But lying Kamala Harris, honestly, I believe she was born that way. There’s something wrong with Kamala. And I just don’t know what it is, but there is definitely something missing. And you know what, everybody knows it.”
With just over a month until the election, Trump is intensifying his use of personal and offensive attacks, even as some Republicans say he’d be better off sticking to the issues.
His suggestions that political enemies be prosecuted are particularly notable for their departure from norms in the US in which the justice system is supposed to be protected from political influence. In recent weeks, Trump has threatened prosecutions of Google for allegedly giving priority to “good stories” about Harris and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Trump has long threatened legal action against his rivals, including President Joe Biden and his 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton. This month he vowed to jail those “involved in unscrupulous behavior” this election, including election workers, lawyers, political operatives, donors, and voters, yet again attempting to sow doubt about the integrity of the election.
But he also has many legal problems of his own. He was convicted in May of falsifying business records in a hush money case in New York, with a sentencing scheduled for Nov. 26. Two other cases are pending — a federal case for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, and a state case in Georgia for his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss there to Biden. Prosecutors are appealing a federal judge’s dismissal of a case involving his handling of classified documents.
Trump argues federal and state prosecutors are targeting him for political reasons, though there is no evidence to suggest that is true. If he wins the election, Trump could potentially pardon himself on the federal cases or order the Justice Department to shut down their investigations of him.
On Sunday, he acknowledged he might lose in November: “If she wins, it’s not going to be so pleasant for me, but I don’t care.”
Trump has derided Harris, the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to lead a major party ticket, as “stupid,” “weak,” “dumb as a rock” and “lazy.” His allies have pushed him publicly and privately to talk instead about the economy, immigration and other issues.
“I just think the better course to take is to prosecute the case that her policies are destroying the country,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday when asked about Trump’s comments. “They’re crazy liberal.”
When asked whether he approved of the personal attacks on Harris, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota, sidestepped during an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”
“I think Kamala Harris is the wrong choice for America,” said Emmer, who is helping Trump’s running mate JD Vance prepare for Tuesday’s vice presidential debate. “I think Kamala Harris is actually as bad or worse as the administration that we’ve witnessed for the last four years.”
When pressed, Emmer said: “I think we should stick to the issues. The issues are, Donald Trump fixed it once. They broke it. He’s going to fix it again. Those are the issues.”
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, running for the Senate as a moderate Republican, brought up Trump’s false claims that Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, had previously played down her Black heritage. Harris attended Howard University, a historically Black institution, and has identified as both Black and South Asian consistently throughout her political career.
“I’ve already called him out when he had the one interview where he was questioning her racial identity, and now he’s questioning her mental competence,” Hogan told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “And I think that’s insulting not only to the vice president but to people who actually do have mental disabilities.”
Harris has not commented on Trump’s recent attacks but has said when asked about other comments that it was the ” same old show. The same tired playbook we’ve heard for years with no plan on on how he would address the needs of the American people.”
Ahead of the rally on Sunday, some of Trump’s supporters said he often makes offensive remarks. Still, they support his proposals to restrict immigration and said he would have a better handle on the economy.
“He says what’s on his mind, and again, sometimes how he says it isn’t appropriate,” said Jeffrey Balogh, 56, who attended the rally with two friends. “But he did the job. He did very well at it.”
Tamara Molnar said she thinks Trump is very strong on immigration. As for his insults, Molnar said: “I think everybody has to have some decorum when speaking about other candidates, and I don’t think either side is necessarily innocent on that. There’s a lot of slinging both ways.”
At the rally in Erie, Trump said the “invasion” would end and deportations would begin if he took office.
“Thousands of migrants from the most dangerous countries are destroying the character of small towns and leaving local communities in anguish and in despair,” he said, talking about communities in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Last month, the GOP leader said he was “entitled” to personal attacks against Harris.
“As far as the personal attacks, I’m very angry at her because of what she’s done to the country,” he told a news conference then. “I’m very angry at her that she would weaponize the justice system against me and other people, very angry at her. I think I’m entitled to personal attacks.”
Red Cross urges states to recommit to international law
The ICRC is the caretaker of the Geneva Conventions which strives to act as a neutral intermediary in conflicts
Updated 30 September 2024
AFP
GENEVA: The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross sounded the alarm over the blatant disregard shown for the Geneva Conventions in conflicts worldwide, in an interview published Sunday.
Mirjana Spoljaric called on countries to urgently recommit to respecting international law in an interview with Swiss daily Le Temps.
International humanitarian law (IHL) was being “systematically trampled underfoot by those who lead military operations,” she said.
She pointed to “the number of wounded and dead during the conflicts in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine,” which she said was “beyond our imagination.”
The ICRC is the caretaker of the Geneva Conventions which strives to act as a neutral intermediary in conflicts.
But it was finding its access to populations in need “increasingly constrained (and) instrumentalized,” said Spoljaric.
It is “indispensible to act now,” she said, in support of international humanitarian law — the function of which is to limit the effects of armed conflict and protect civilians.
On Friday the ICRC launched an initiative with six countries — Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan and South Africa — in a bid to galvanizing political support for IHL.
The Geneva Conventions, adopted in 1949 in the wake of World War II, “embody humanity’s shared conscience, values that transcend borders and creeds,” they said in a joint statement.
“Yet, the suffering we witness today in armed conflicts around the world is proof that respect for and compliance with their most fundamental rules are not being upheld.”
The initiative will strive to develop concrete recommendations for ways to prevent IHL violations and promote increased protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, said the IHRC.
It is working toward a high-level international meeting in 2026 focused on how to “Uphold Humanity in War,” ICRC said.
“The current situation is extremely dangerous,” said Spoljaric. “The trauma created by ongoing conflicts risks haunting us for decades.”
She added: “The idea is not reinvent the Geneva Conventions, which remain solid legal texts, but to urge States to apply them.”
“Countries must make the implementation of IHL a political priority.”
US boosts air support and hikes troop readiness to deploy for Middle East
Israel struck more targets in Lebanon on Sunday, pressing Hezbollah with new attacks after killing the group’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and a string of its other top commanders in an escalating military campaign
Updated 29 September 2024
Reuters
WASHINGTON: The US military said on Sunday it was increasing its air support capabilities in the Middle East and putting troops on a heightened readiness to deploy to the region as it warned Iran against expanding the ongoing conflict.
The announcement came two days after President Joe Biden directed the Pentagon to adjust US force posture in the Middle East amid intensifying concern that Israel’s killing of the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah could prompt Tehran to retaliate.
“The US is determined to prevent Iran and Iranian-backed partners and proxies from exploiting the situation or expanding the conflict,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement.
He also cautioned that if Iran or groups Tehran backs “use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the US will take every necessary measure to defend our people.” The Pentagon statement offered few clues as to the size or scope of the new air deployment, saying only that “we will further reinforce our defensive air-support capabilities in the coming days.”
Israel struck more targets in Lebanon on Sunday, pressing Hezbollah with new attacks after killing the group’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and a string of its other top commanders in an escalating military campaign.
The strikes have dealt a stunning succession of blows to Hezbollah after almost a year of cross-border fire, killing much of its leadership and revealing gaping security holes.
However, it has also raised questions about Washington’s publicly declared goals of containing the conflict and safeguarding US personnel throughout the Middle East.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday that the US was watching to see what Hezbollah does to try to fill its leadership vacuum “and is continuing to talk to the Israelis about what the right next steps are.”
The US State Department has yet to order an evacuation from Lebanon.
But last week, US officials told Reuters the Pentagon was sending a few dozen additional troops to Cyprus to help the military prepare for scenarios including an evacuation of Americans from Lebanon.
The Pentagon said US forces were being made ready to deploy if needed.
“(Austin) increased the readiness of additional US forces to deploy, elevating our preparedness to respond to various contingencies,” Ryder said in a statement.
Nepal closes schools as deaths from heavy rains hit 151
The floods brought traffic and normal activity to a standstill in the Katmandu valley, where 37 deaths were recorded
Authorities say students and parents face difficulties as university and school buildings damaged by rains need repair
Updated 29 September 2024
Reuters
KATMANDU: Nepal has shut schools for three days after landslides and floods triggered by two days of heavy rain across the Himalayan nation killed 151 people, with 56 missing, officials said on Sunday.
The floods brought traffic and normal activity to a standstill in the Katmandu valley, where 37 deaths were recorded in a region home to 4 million people and the capital.
Authorities said students and their parents faced difficulties as university and school buildings damaged by the rains needed repair.
“We have urged the concerned authorities to close schools in the affected areas for three days,” Lakshmi Bhattarai, a spokesperson for the education ministry, told Reuters.
Some parts of the capital reported rain of up to 322.2 mm (12.7 inches), pushing the level of its main Bagmati river up 2.2 m (7 ft) past the danger mark, experts said.
But there were some signs of respite on Sunday morning, with the rains easing in many places, said Govinda Jha, a weather forecaster in the capital.
“There may be some isolated showers, but heavy rains are unlikely,” he said.
Television images showed police rescuers in knee-high rubber boots using picks and shovels to clear away mud and retrieve 16 bodies of passengers from two buses swept away by a massive landslide at a site on the key route into Katmandu.
Weather officials in the capital blamed the rainstorms on a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal extending over parts of neighboring India close to Nepal.
Haphazard development amplifies climate change risks in Nepal, say climate scientists at the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
“I’ve never before seen flooding on this scale in Katmandu,” said Arun Bhakta Shrestha, an environmental risk official at the center.
In a statement, it urged the government and city planners to “urgently” step up investment in, and plans for, infrastructure, such as underground stormwater and sewage systems, both of the “grey,” or engineered kind, and “green,” or nature-based type.
The impact of the rains was aggravated by poor drainage due to unplanned settlement and urbanization efforts, construction on floodplains, lack of areas for water retention, and encroachment on the Bagmati river, it added.
The level in the Koshi river in Nepal’s southeast has started to fall, however, said Ram Chandra Tiwari, the region’s top bureaucrat.
The river, which brings deadly floods to India’s eastern state of Bihar nearly every year, had been running above the danger mark at a level nearly three times normal, he said.
NEW DELHI: Standing in the rain at the Shyam Bazar, Koushik Das joined another 500 residents of Kolkata trying to save an iconic piece of the city’s heritage: India’s oldest operating trams.
Introduced in 1873, during the days of the British Raj, when Kolkata was the center of colonial rule, trams were initially horse-drawn and then steam-powered. Electric ones took to the streets in 1900.
From Kolkata, they were brought to other major Indian cities, including Patna, Chennai, and Mumbai, but it is only in the capital of West Bengal where they are still in service.
“Nowhere in India do you have a tram service except in Kolkata, and we want to preserve and save it,” Das told Arab News.
“We will not allow the tram to be stopped in Kolkata. It will remain our heritage.”
The protest he was part of on Thursday came in reaction to last week’s announcement by Snehasis Chakraborty, the state transport minister, that trams would be removed from the streets of Kolkata to help decongest its traffic.
For Das and other tram users who have mobilized under his “Save Heritage, Save Tram” social media campaign, the announcement was a blow, as if someone was “trying to snatch” his identity.
“The tram is the identity of Bengal … We will launch a wider protest,” the 20-year-old journalism student said.
“We want the tram to run on all routes. It is economically viable for people and environmentally friendly.”
In this archival photo, a tram car in Kolkata, India, is pulled by horses. (Facebook/Calcutta Tram Users Association)
Over the past few years, Kolkata’s tram network has been slowly disappearing. Only two routes remained in operation out of 37 in 2011. At the same time, the track has shrunk from 61 km to only 12, according to Calcutta Tram Users Association data.
The number of passengers has also dropped — tenfold to the current 7,000.
Dr. Debasish Bhattacharyya, a biochemist and the association’s founder, has been working to revive the heritage mode of transport over the past eight years.
“Calcuttans have been familiar with their tramway for the last 151 years. The city grew up along the tracks so that citizens could reach any point using the tramways. Because of the extreme usage of the people, the tramway has penetrated all aspects of the life and culture of the Bengalis,” he told Arab News.
“We do not view the tramways as a means of transport but rather a part of our soul. We inherited this asset from our ancestors. Thus, it is a living heritage of the city. It is a signature of the city, too.”
The state government plans to operate only a short single route: from Esplanade at the heart of the city, past some landmark monuments. It will end at Maidan, Kolkata’s largest urban park, offering a nostalgic experience, which the transport minister said would be a “pleasant and environment-friendly ride.”
But the environmental aspect is what motivates the protesting residents as well.
“Beyond its poetic beauty, we cannot ignore the usefulness of trams as the green, eco-friendly mass transport system,” said Sreeparna Sen, a banker and blogger.
“Kolkata is fortunate to have a wonderful intricate network of tram lines, which, if used tactically, will solve the transport problem and decrease the pollution. For every sane reason, trams should be preserved.”
In a last-ditch effort, protesters have appealed to the Kolkata High Court against the discontinuation of tram services and are waiting for its ruling. Until then, the state government also cannot proceed with dismantling the remaining tracks.
Kolkata’s tram system has outlived others by decades. In Mumbai and Delhi, trams stopped operations in the 1960s. In Chennai, in the early 1950s.
“It is a pocket-friendly means of transportation, it’s environment-friendly. Tram is the pride of Kolkata,” said Tarun Patra, a student involved in the Save Heritage, Save Tram campaign.
“We are waiting for the high court order on this issue. We want our voice to reach the high court, and the court should know the sentiments of the people.”
