Russia attacks energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region overnight, governor says

Russia attacks energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region overnight, governor says
A local market burns after a Russian strike in Mykolaiv, Ukraine Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP)
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Russia attacks energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region overnight, governor says

Russia attacks energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region overnight, governor says

KYIV: Russian forces attacked energy infrastructure in the southern region of Mykolaiv as they launched 56 drones and one missile in an overnight assault on Ukraine.
Mykolaiv regional governor Vitaliy Kim said the attack had cut power to some consumers and said there were no casualties in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
The Ukrainian air force also reported five hits to infrastructure facilities in regions near the front line.
It said 22 drones were shot down and that it lost track of 27 drones that likely fell into Ukrainian territory following active electronic warfare measures. Two more drones went to Belarus.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said drone debris fell on the land of a kindergarten in the capital.
The authorities in Kyiv and the surrounding region reported no damage to critical infrastructure or casualties following the attack.
Regional authorities in the northeastern Sumy region said a drone attack caused a fire at an administrative building and damaged two cars.
Russian forces have pummelled critical infrastructure in Ukrainian cities ahead of the winter months, prompting Kyiv leadership to intensify pleas for additional air defense from its allies.
Russia denies targeting civilians, although it has killed thousands during more than 2 1/2 years of war.


Australia gives 49 aging Abrams tanks to Ukraine

Australia gives 49 aging Abrams tanks to Ukraine
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Australia gives 49 aging Abrams tanks to Ukraine

Australia gives 49 aging Abrams tanks to Ukraine
  • They will be replaced in Australia by a fleet of 75 next-generation M1A2 tanks
  • The tanks bring the total value of Australia’s military assistance to Ukraine to over $866 million
MELBOURNE: Australia will give 49 of its aging M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine months after Kyiv requested the redundant fleet, Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday.
The Australian government was giving Ukraine most of its American-made M1A1 tanks, which are valued at 245 million Australian dollars ($163 million), Marles said. They will be replaced in Australia by a fleet of 75 next-generation M1A2 tanks.
In February, Marles said that giving Ukraine the tanks as they were phased out was not on his government’s agenda. But on Thursday he said he did not regard the donation as a backflip on his government’s previous position.
“We talk with the Ukrainian government consistently around how best we can support them,” Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“We look at the material that we have; its effectiveness, ... the shape that it’s in, to be frank, whether it would be able to make a difference, whether it can be sustained and maintained so that it can be kept in the fight. And the Abrams tanks fit all of those criteria,” he added.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, would not be drawn on opposition lawmakers’ criticisms that the tanks should have been donated earlier.
“This is a very timely, a very substantial and very fit-for-purpose announcement,” Myroshnychenko said. “We respect the decision of the government. It was not an easy one and I’m very happy that it was a positive one.”
The tanks bring the total value of Australia’s military assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion to over AU$1.3 billion ($866 million).
The United States agreed to send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine in January 2023 after an aggressive monthslong campaign by Kyiv arguing that the tanks were vital to its ability to breach Russian lines.

India slams ‘cavalier’ Trudeau in Sikh separatist murder row

India slams ‘cavalier’ Trudeau in Sikh separatist murder row
Updated 54 min 52 sec ago
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India slams ‘cavalier’ Trudeau in Sikh separatist murder row

India slams ‘cavalier’ Trudeau in Sikh separatist murder row
  • Canada has alleged that India arranged the killing of a Sikh separatist, naturalized Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar
  • He had been wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder

NEW DELHI: India slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday as “cavalier” over his handling of the disastrous diplomatic fallout following the 2023 killing of a Sikh separatist in Canada.
New Delhi held firm its defiant stance toward Ottawa — an approach in sharp contrast to its compliant attitude this week toward the United States, where India is also accused of directing a separate assassination plot.
Canada has alleged that India arranged the killing of a Sikh separatist, naturalized Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, murdered in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in Vancouver in June 2023.
India has called the allegations “preposterous.”
But Trudeau, at a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday, said Canada had “clear... indications that India had violated Canada’s sovereignty.”
Canada’s top envoy to New Delhi, Stewart Wheeler, who India has ordered to leave by Saturday night, has said Ottawa had provided “credible, irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the Government of India and the murder of a Canadian citizen.”
India’s foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal on Thursday said they had not seen that evidence.
“Canada has presented us (India) no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats,” he said in a statement.
“The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behavior has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone.”
Nijjar — who immigrated to Canada in 1997 and became a citizen in 2015 — had advocated for a separate Sikh state, known as Khalistan, carved out of India.
He had been wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder.
Four Indian nationals have been arrested in connection with Nijjar’s murder.
Last year, the Indian government briefly curbed visas for Canadians and this week both countries expelled each other’s ambassadors.
New Delhi’s response to Washington has been very different, with the US State Department on Wednesday saying India had told it that an intelligence operative accused of directing an assassination plot on US soil was no longer in government service.
US prosecutors charged an Indian citizen last November over a foiled attempt in New York to kill an advocate for a separate Sikh homeland.
The indictment described an “Indian government employee,” who was not publicly named, as recruiting the hitman and directing the assassination plot remotely, including by arranging the delivery of $15,000 in cash.
India’s Hindustan Times, quoting an unnamed US official, said Monday that India not only removed but arrested the employee on “local charges.”
The State Department did not confirm the arrest.


Hong Kong policemen jailed over harassment of homeless

Hong Kong policemen jailed over harassment of homeless
Updated 17 October 2024
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Hong Kong policemen jailed over harassment of homeless

Hong Kong policemen jailed over harassment of homeless
  • Judge Kathie Cheung sentences police officers to prison terms ranging from 25 to 41 months
  • The charges are related to a 2020 incident in which the officers raided the tents of two homeless Vietnamese men

HONG KONG: A judge in Hong Kong jailed six policemen on Thursday for harassing homeless people, following a rare criminal conviction of law enforcement in the Chinese financial hub.
Judge Kathie Cheung sentenced the police officers to prison terms ranging from 25 to 41 months over multiple charges of “perverting the course of justice.”
The charges are related to a 2020 incident in which the officers raided the tents of two homeless Vietnamese men, Nguyen Van Son and Le Van Muoi, arresting them on suspicion of possessing a knife as well as illegal drugs.
In a judgment issued last month, Cheung found that the officers had deliberately covered surveillance cameras near the tents.
Footage of the incident showed the empty hands of one of the homeless men during his arrest, contradicting the written account by police that he had been holding illegal drugs.
“I found the sole reasonable inference is that they had decided to trump up a charge against [Le],” Cheung said in her judgment.
The judge said the officers had “abused their powers ... breached the public trust in the police and damaged the public confidence in the judicial system.”
Following his arrest, Le was held in a psychiatric center, where he died.
Homelessness is a growing problem in the wealthy city, with the official number of people living on the streets rising from 595 to 1,470 over the past decade.
Being chased away or having their belongings seized were among the major concerns of homeless people, according to a 2021 survey, but officials were seldom held accountable.


UN report says 1.1 billion people in acute poverty

UN report says 1.1 billion people in acute poverty
Updated 17 October 2024
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UN report says 1.1 billion people in acute poverty

UN report says 1.1 billion people in acute poverty

United Nations: More than one billion people are living in acute poverty across the globe, a UN Development Program report said Thursday, with children accounting for over half of those affected.
The paper published with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) highlighted that poverty rates were three times higher in countries at war, as 2023 saw the most conflicts around the world since the Second World War.
The UNDP and the OPHI have published their Multidimensional Poverty Index annually since 2010, harvesting data from 112 countries with a combined population of 6.3 billion people.
It uses indicators such as a lack of adequate housing, sanitation, electricity, cooking fuel, nutrition and school attendance.
“The 2024 MPI paints a sobering picture: 1.1 billion people endure multidimensional poverty, of which 455 million live in the shadow of conflict,” said Yanchun Zhang, chief statistician at the UNDP.
“For the poor in conflict-affected countries, the struggle for basic needs is a far harsher and more desperate battle,” Zhang told AFP.
The report echoed last year’s findings that 1.1 billion out of 6.1 billion people across 110 countries were facing extreme multidimensional poverty.
Thursday’s paper showed that some 584 million people under 18 were experiencing extreme poverty, accounting for 27.9 percent of children worldwide, compared with 13.5 percent of adults.
It also showed that 83.2 percent of the world’s poorest people live in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Sabina Alkire, director of the OPHI, told AFP that conflicts were hindering efforts for poverty reduction.
“At some level, these findings are intuitive. But what shocked us was the sheer magnitude of people who are struggling to live a decent life and at the same time fearing for their safety — 455 million,” she said.
“This points to a stark but unavoidable challenge to the international community to both zero in on poverty reduction and foster peace, so that any ensuing peace actually endures,” Alkire added.
India was the country with the largest number of people in extreme poverty, which impacts 234 million of its 1.4 billion population.
It was followed by Pakistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The five countries accounted for nearly half of the 1.1 billion poor people.


Pentagon chief speaks to Israel after letter on Gaza humanitarian situation

Pentagon chief speaks to Israel after letter on Gaza humanitarian situation
Updated 17 October 2024
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Pentagon chief speaks to Israel after letter on Gaza humanitarian situation

Pentagon chief speaks to Israel after letter on Gaza humanitarian situation
  • Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, where it says it is targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, has killed over 2,000 people and displaced over a million

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday and discussed Israel’s operations in Lebanon and the humanitarian situation in Gaza after a letter earlier this week to Israel from Washington that urged improvement of Gaza’s humanitarian situation.
“The Secretary encouraged the Government of Israel to continue taking steps to address the dire humanitarian situation, noting the recent action by Israel to increase the amount of humanitarian assistance entering Gaza,” the Pentagon said in a statement on Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Austin wrote to Israeli officials on Sunday demanding concrete measures to address the worsening situation in the Palestinian enclave, or face potential restrictions on US military aid. The Pentagon readout after the Wednesday call did not mention the letter.
Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed almost 42,000 Palestinians in the last year, caused a hunger crisis, displaced nearly the entire 2.3 million population and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.
Israel says it is acting in self-defense after an Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian Hamas militants. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 with about 250 also taken as hostage and triggered the latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Austin and Gallant also discussed an advanced US anti-missile system that Washington has deployed to bolster Israel’s air defenses, the Pentagon said.
“Austin and Minister Gallant discussed the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery as an operational example of the United States’ ironclad support to the defense of Israel,” the Pentagon said.
Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, where it says it is targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, has killed over 2,000 people and displaced over a million.
The region has been on edge over an expected Israeli response to Iran for a missile attack that Tehran carried out in retaliation for Israel’s escalations in Lebanon.