KYIV: Russian shelling of Ukraine’s Kherson region killed two people, local officials said, as the two countries exchanged drone attacks overnight into Saturday.
Two others were wounded in the attack close to the regional capital, said Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of the partly occupied Kherson region.
In Russia’s southwestern Rostov region, an oil depot in the Tsimlyansky District, deep inside the region, was set ablaze in the early hours of Saturday following a Ukrainian drone attack — the latest long-range strike by Kyiv’s forces on a border region.
Ukraine has in recent months stepped up aerial assaults on Russian soil, targeting refineries and oil terminals in an effort to slow down the Kremlin’s war machine. Moscow’s army is pressing hard along the front line in eastern Ukraine, where a shortage of troops and ammunition in the third year of war has made defenders vulnerable.
Rostov regional Gov. Vasily Golubev said the drone attack had caused a fire spanning 200 square meters (2,100 square feet), but there were no casualties. Some five hours after he reported the fire on Telegram, Golubev said the fire had been extinguished.
In addition to two drones being intercepted over the Rostov region, Russian air defense systems overnight destroyed two drones over the country’s western Kursk and Belgorod regions, the Russian Ministry of Defense said Saturday.
Ukraine’s air defenses, meanwhile, intercepted four of the five drones launched by Russia overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Saturday morning. Mykola Oleschuk, commander of Ukraine’s Air Forces, said the fifth drone left Ukrainian airspace in the direction of Belarus.
In other developments, Vadym Filashkin, the Ukrainian governor of the partly occupied eastern Donetsk region, said Saturday that Russian attacks on Friday had killed six people and wounded a further 22.
Shelling kills 2 in the Kherson region, as a drone attack sparks fire at oil depot in Russia’s southwest
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Shelling kills 2 in the Kherson region, as a drone attack sparks fire at oil depot in Russia’s southwest
- Two others were wounded in the attack close to the regional capital, said Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of the partly occupied Kherson region
- In Russia’s southwestern Rostov region, an oil depot in the Tsimlyansky District was set ablaze on Saturday following a Ukrainian drone attack
Nigeria’s anti-graft agency recovers nearly $500 mln in one year
LAGOS: Nigeria’s economic crimes commission said it recovered nearly $500 million in proceeds of crime last year and secured more than 4,000 criminal convictions, its highest since the agency’s inception more than two decades ago.
Africa’s biggest energy producer, Nigeria has struggled for decades with endemic corruption, which many Nigerians say contributes to widespread poverty in the country.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which investigates and prosecutes corruption in Nigeria, said in a report on Monday that some of the recovered money was reinvested in government projects.
Nigeria is ranked 140 out of 180 on Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perception Index.
Besides cash, the EFCC said it also seized 931,052 metric tons of petroleum products, 975 real estate properties and company shares.
Russia says expelling two British ‘diplomats’ on spying charges
- Foreign ministry has revoked their accreditations and ordered them to leave Russia within two weeks
- The ministry also summoned an embassy representative in connection with the allegations
MOSCOW: Russia said Monday it was expelling two British “diplomats” on suspicion of carrying out espionage activities.
Announcing the expulsion of the embassy’s second secretary and husband of the first secretary, Russia’s FSB security service said “counterintelligence work had revealed an undeclared British intelligence presence under the cover of the national embassy.”
It said the two “deliberately provided false information when obtaining a permit to enter our country, thus violating Russian legislation.”
The UK did not immediately respond to the allegation.
The Russian foreign ministry has revoked their accreditations and ordered them to leave Russia within two weeks, the FSB said.
The ministry also summoned an embassy representative in connection with the allegations, it said in a post on Telegram.
Relations between Moscow and London have been strained by intelligence scandals throughout Russian President Vladimir Putin’s quarter-century in power.
The UK accused Moscow of being behind the 2006 assassination of former Russian agent and Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in a London poisoning attack.
And in 2018, Britain and its allies expelled dozens of Russian embassy officials they said were spies over the attempted poisoning of former double agent, Sergei Skripal, with Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok.
Monday’s announcement came as Russia shifts blame for the Ukraine conflict away from the United States to Europe, as US President Donald Trump’s administration seeks closer ties with the Kremlin.
Floodwaters still threaten parts of Australia’s east coast as tropical storm cleanup begins
- Around 200,000 homes and businesses still without power in the region on Monday afternoon
- Workers whose livelihoods were hampered by the storm will be eligible for welfare payments
WELLINGTON: Australia’s prime minister cautioned that the fallout from a vicious tropical storm over the weekend was “far from over” as parts of two states remained inundated with perilous floodwaters on Monday, even as the initial threat from the deluge continued to recede.
One person was killed and several others injured after heavy rain lashed Australia’s east coast on Saturday, toppling trees and power lines and inundating some parts of Queensland and New South Wales with record downpours. The two states escaped the level of chaos forecast from the tropical low weather system, which was earlier expected to make landfall as the first tropical cyclone to hit south east Queensland in 51 years – before weakening as it approached.
Still, 200,000 homes and businesses were without power in the region on Monday afternoon – after the storm prompted the biggest blackout in Queensland’s history – and more than 700 schools were closed for the day.
Those living near rivers and creeks were urged to evacuate or stay indoors as water levels continued to rise in some areas – with more rain forecast triggering further warnings during the day. Disaster was declared for the city of Ipswich, west of Brisbane, where a river was expected to flood overnight. People in surrounding suburbs were ordered to leave their homes.
Meanwhile, in other towns where floodwaters began to recede a cleanup began as power was restored for tens of thousands of people. The scale of the damage was not immediately clear.
Workers whose livelihoods were hampered by the storm will be eligible for welfare payments for up to 13 weeks beginning Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Monday.
In the city of Lismore in New South Wales, two military trucks helping with the rescue efforts on Saturday rolled over, injuring 13 of the 36 personnel traveling in them. One remained in hospital on Monday with injuries that were not life-threatening, Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles said.
The single casualty of the crisis was a 61-year-old man who disappeared in a flooded river near the New South Wales town of Dorrigo, police said. His body was recovered on Saturday.
Albanese warned residents of the two stricken states not to be “complacent” as flood warnings lingered.
“If it’s flooded, forget it,” he said, referring to traveling in or entering inundated areas.
Cyclones are common in Queensland’s tropical north but are rare in the state’s temperate and densely populated southeast corner that borders New South Wales. Tropical Cyclone Alfred was last week expected to become the first cyclone since 1974 to cross the Australian coast near Queensland’s state capital of Brisbane, Australia’s third-most populous city.
But it weakened Saturday to a tropical low, defined as carrying sustained winds of less than 63 kph (39 mph).
Authorities had feared similar scenes to those eastern Australia experienced during massive floods in 2011 and in a series of 2022 events – in which more than 20 people died.
India clashes injure four in cricket win celebrations
- Clashes erupted as revelers in Indore town lit firecrackers outside a mosque
- Clashes during cricket win celebrations are not uncommon in Hindu-majority India
NEW DELHI: At least four people were injured in the central Indian town of Dr. Ambedkar Nagar on Sunday in clashes that erupted when revellers celebrating India’s Champions Trophy win lit firecrackers outside a mosque, officials said.
India won the Champions Trophy title on Sunday evening after beating New Zealand by four wickets in the final in Dubai, claiming its second successive global title.
The clashes in Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, earlier known as Mhow, involved stone pelting from both sides, officials said, and several cars, shops, and bikes were also vandalized and torched.
The town is located about 200 km (124 miles) from Madhya Pradesh state’s capital Bhopal.
“Some processions were being taken out in which some people lit firecrackers outside the masjid (mosque), after which there was a disagreement between both sides,” senior police officer Hitika Vasal told reporters.
Police used tear gas shells to quell the violence, local media reported.
Video footage showed deserted lanes with police personnel in riot gear, as some cars with shattered windows and others blackened as a result of being torched stood by the side.
The footage also showed glass shards on the road and shops that had been vandalized.
“The situation is currently under control,” another senior police officer, Nimish Agarwal, told reporters, adding that police patrols had been started in sensitive areas.
Hindu-majority India houses the world’s third-largest Muslim population and clashes during celebrations of cricketing victories are not uncommon.
Police in the western state of Maharashtra had to similarly use force to control crowds celebrating India’s win over arch-rival Pakistan in the same tournament last month, local media had reported.
Activists, opposition groups, and some governments have accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led federal government of discriminating against Muslims, and failing to act against those targeting them.
Modi and his government have denied the allegations.
Canada’s next PM Mark Carney vows to ‘win’ US trade war
- Mark Carney warns the US under Trump was seeking to seize control of Canada
- ‘The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country’
OTTAWA: Canada’s incoming prime minister Mark Carney struck a defiant note Sunday against the United States, as the former central banker vowed to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Carney lost no time standing up for “the Canadian way of life” after the Liberal Party overwhelmingly elected him to succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“We didn’t ask for this fight. But Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,” Carney told a boisterous crowd of party supporters in Ottawa.
“So the Americans, they should make no mistake, in trade as in hockey, Canada will win,” added the 59-year-old, who will take over from Trudeau in the coming days.
Carney may not have the job for long.
Canada must hold elections by October but could well see a snap poll within weeks. Current polls put the opposition Conservatives as slight favorites.
In his victory speech, Carney warned the United States under Trump was seeking to seize control of Canada.
“The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country,” he said.
“These are dark days, dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust.”
He accused Trump of “attacking Canadian workers, families and businesses,” adding: “We cannot let him succeed.”
“We’re all being called to stand up for each other and for the Canadian way of life.”
Carney, who previously led both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, soundly defeated his main challenger, Trudeau’s former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, who held several senior cabinet positions in the Liberal government that was first elected in 2015.
Carney won 85.9 percent of the nearly 152,000 votes cast. Freeland took just eight percent of the vote.
Carney campaigned on a promise to stand up to Trump.
The US president has repeatedly spoken about annexing Canada and thrown bilateral trade, the lifeblood of the Canadian economy, into chaos with dizzying tariff actions that have veered in various directions since he took office.
Delivering a farewell address, Trudeau said “Canadians face from our neighbor an existential challenge.”
Celebrating the outcome in Ottawa, party loyalist Cory Stevenson said “the Liberal party has the wind in its sails.”
“We chose the person who could best face off against (Tory leader) Pierre Poilievre in the next election and deal with Donald Trump,” he said.
Carney has argued that his experience makes him the ideal counter to the US president. He has portrayed himself as a seasoned economic crisis manager who led the Bank of Canada through the 2008-2009 financial crisis and the Bank of England through the turbulence that followed the 2016 Brexit vote.
Data released from the Angus Reid polling firm on Wednesday shows Canadians see Carney as the favorite choice to face off against Trump, potentially offering the Liberals a boost over the opposition Conservatives.
Forty-three percent of respondents said they trusted Carney the most to deal with Trump, with 34 percent backing Poilievre.
Before Trudeau announced his plans to resign in January, the Liberals were headed for an electoral wipeout, but the leadership change and Trump’s influence have dramatically tightened the race.
“We were written off about four months ago, and now we’re right back where we should be,” former MP Frank Baylis, who also ran for the leadership, said.
Carney made a fortune as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before entering the Canadian civil service.
Since leaving the Bank of England in 2020, he has served as a United Nations envoy working to get the private sector to invest in climate-friendly technology and has held private sector roles.
He has never served in parliament nor held an elected public office.
Analysts say his untested campaign skills could prove a liability against a Conservative Party already running attack ads accusing Carney of shifting positions and misrepresenting his experience.
“It is absolutely a risk. He is unproven in the crucible of an election,” said Cameron Anderson, a political scientist at Ontario’s Western University.
But he said Carney’s tough anti-Trump rhetoric “is what Canadians want to hear from their leaders.”
“The average Canadian in the country is viewing these things in an existential way.”
