Official at Finnish intelligence service says espionage attempts have increased since Ukraine invasion
Finland has had increased online espionage attempts from Russia since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, security services have said.
Supo, the Finnish security and intelligence service, said the country faced various threats from Russia, including cyberattacks and disinformation.
Continue reading...Ukraine starts using Atacms missiles from US, with Russian-held airfield targeted; $14bn damage toll from destruction of Kakhovka dam
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has confirmed that Kyiv used US-provided long-range army tactical missile systems (Atacms) missiles. “Today, special thanks to the United States. Our agreements with President Biden are being implemented. Very accurately – Atacms missiles proved themselves,” he said. This marks the first officially confirmed use in Ukraine of Atacms, which can fly up to 190 miles.
Ukrainian forces struck airfields in Russian-held territory in eastern and southern Ukraine overnight, destroying helicopters, knocking out an air defence missile launcher and damaging runways, Kyiv’s military said. The military said its forces had carried out “well-aimed strikes on enemy airfields” near the eastern city of Luhansk and the southern city of Berdiansk. Atacms are thought to have been used.
A telecommunication cable connecting Sweden and Estonia has been damaged, Sweden’s civil defence minister has said. Carl-Oskar Bohlin said it appeared to have occurred at the same time as a subsea gas pipeline and a telecom cable connecting Finland and Estonia were damaged on 8 October.
China’s president, Xi Jinping, welcomed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to Beijing, which is to host representatives of 130 countries for a forum on Xi’s belt and road initiative.
The lower house of the Russian parliament has reportedly given preliminary approval to a bill revoking the ratification of a global nuclear test ban treaty.
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam in south-eastern Ukraine in June caused $14bn worth of damage and losses, according to a report by the Ukrainian government and the UN.
Grant Shapps, the UK defence secretary, is due to visit the US on Tuesday for urgent talks over conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Canada is targeting nine individuals and six TV stations in new sanctions against Russian collaborators in Moldova. Those targeted are associated with influential oligarchs, such as Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Mironovich Shor, while the TV stations promote and disseminate Russian disinformation, the Canadian foreign ministry said.
US, South Korean and Japanese officials have met in Jakarta to discuss North Korea’s engagement with Russia, including arms transfers violating UN security council resolutions.
A convoy of British ambulances has arrived in Lviv in western Ukraine and will be delivered to hospitals on the frontline. Five vehicles donated by the charity Medical Life Lines Ukraine are being sent to the southern city of Kherson – which is under intense Russian attack – as well as the towns of Kupiansk and Vorozhba in the war-torn north-east of the country. Since last year’s full-scale invasion the group has donated 43 vehicles.
Continue reading...Brexit trade deal gave UK and EU carmakers until 1 January 2024 to source batteries from within Europe or face 10% tariffs
The UK car industry has said incoming tariffs between the UK and the EU could raise the price of imported electric cars by as much as £3,400 unless a solution is found by the end of the year.
The Brexit trade deal between the UK and EU gave carmakers until 1 January 2024 to source batteries from within Europe or face 10% tariffs when exporting to each other. However, the supply of European-made batteries has failed to meet demand, meaning carmakers face the new tariffs from next year under these “rules of origin”.
Continue reading...Health officials say blast killed hundreds as footage shows fire engulfing medical centre owned by Anglican church
Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed in a massive explosion at a crowded hospital in Gaza City, in the biggest single loss of life in the blockaded territory in all the five wars between Hamas and Israel since the militants took over the strip in 2007.
The Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said at least 500 people were killed on Tuesday night in what it said was an Israeli airstrike on al-Ahli al-Arabi, also known as the Baptist hospital. A spokesperson for the Gaza civil defence put the number of killed at about 300.
Continue reading...Police say extremist ADF rebels carried out ‘cowardly terrorist attack’ near border with DRC
Two tourists from the UK and South Africa and their Ugandan guide were killed when assailants attacked their vehicle near a national park in south-west Uganda.
Bashir Hangi, spokesperson for the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), said the attackers set fire to the vehicle in which the group were travelling just outside Queen Elizabeth national park.
Continue reading...Letter signed by 178 members of US’s most prestigious law faculties calls Israeli reaction to Hamas attack ‘a moral catastrophe’
Israel’s bombardment and intensifying blockade of Gaza in response to this month’s attack by Hamas has been condemned by 178 legal scholars from some of the US’s most prestigious law faculties in a letter to Joe Biden.
Sent on the eve of the US president’s highly sensitive trip to Israel, the letter calls the Israeli reaction “collective punishment” and “a moral catastrophe” and urges Biden to seek an immediate ceasefire.
Continue reading...Long-range weapon ‘executed very accurately’ in strike on two airbases in Russian-held territory
Ukraine’s military has used US-provided long-range ATACMS missiles for the first time, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who said they were deployed on the battlefield against Russia and “executed very accurately”.
“Today, special thanks to the United States. Our agreements with President Biden are being implemented,” Zelenskiy said, adding that the missiles “have proven themselves”.
Continue reading...Heads of MI5 and FBI say Jewish communities and other groups may face danger from lone actors, Iran or militants
The heads of MI5 and the FBI have issued an unprecedented joint warning that the threat of a domestic terrorist attack could rise as a result of the crisis in the Middle East.
The counter-terror chiefs said Jewish communities and organisations, as well as other groups, may face a heightened danger from lone actors, Hamas militants and Iran on British or US soil.
Continue reading...Even before the war in Gaza, authorities have been warning of rise in Islamist terrorism on the continent
For months now, authorities charged with keeping Europe safe from Islamist extremist violence have been sounding the alarm. In May, Dutch security services warned that the terrorist threat from Islamic State to Europe had increased. The same month, the French interior minister said the risk of Islamist terrorism was rising again and that his own country was being targeted, as well as its neighbours.
In recent days, these pessimistic forecasts appear to have been vindicated. France is deploying 7,000 extra troops on to its streets after a teacher was fatally stabbed on Friday in an attack that Emmanuel Macron condemned as “barbaric Islamic terrorism”. The suspected attacker swore an oath of allegiance to IS in an audio recording on his phone shortly before the killing, prosecutors have said.
Continue reading...Ukrainian military used US-supplied longer-range army tactical missile systems to strike nine Russian helicopters in eastern Ukraine
Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, approved revoking the ratification of the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty in the first of three readings on Tuesday.
The vote was passed by 412 votes to zero, with no abstentions. Vyacheslav Volodin said Russia was revoking the treaty because of the irresponsible attitude of the US to global security, Reuters reports.
Continue reading...Congressional investigation into failed rightwing insurrection on 8 January calls for former president to be charged with four crimes
Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro was the mentor of “a wilful and premeditated coup attempt” that sought to plunge Latin America’s largest democracy into political mayhem and perhaps even civil war, a congressional inquiry investigating the 8 January insurrection has alleged.
The dramatic assertion was made on Tuesday as the senator Eliziane Gama read the inquiry’s final report into January’s failed rightwing uprising in which thousands of radical Bolsonaro supporters rampaged through the capital, Brasília, after their leader failed to win re-election.
Continue reading...Russian president due to hold in-depth talks with Chinese leader on sidelines of trade forum
The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, has welcomed his “dear friend” Vladimir Putin to Beijing, kicking off a multilateral summit overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war.
Beijing this week hosts representatives of 130 countries for a forum on Xi’s vast trade and infrastructure project, the belt and road initiative (BRI).
Continue reading...Representatives of the south-east Asian country stated that the event, the world’s largest, has allied itself with Israel in its war with Hamas, after an award due to be presented to a Palestinian writer was cancelled
Malaysia’s education ministry has pulled out of the Frankfurt book fair, citing the organisation’s pro-Israel stance in the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel.
In a statement published on Monday, the Malaysian ministry said that it “will not compromise with Israel’s violence in Palestine, which clearly violates international laws and human rights”. This came after an awards ceremony celebrating Palestinian author Adania Shibli that was due to be held at the world’s largest book fair was called off.
Continue reading...Climate crisis blamed for extreme heat in African country, which has recorded temperatures of 43C
Malawians endured the country’s hottest weekend on record, with temperatures reaching nearly 20C above the seasonal average.
The heatwave began last Thursday with the government warning people to stay out of the sun, to keep hydrated, and avoid alcohol and caffeine. Some school buildings in the south of the country were evacuated, and children were taught in the shade of playground trees.
Continue reading...Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 36, does not meet age requirement of 40 but constitutional court – headed by president’s brother-in-law – makes exception
An Indonesian court has made a controversial exception allowing the eldest son of outgoing President Joko Widodo to run for vice-president in the 2024 election.
In a decision that outraged critics of the president, the constitutional court ruled that candidates under the required age of 40 can seek the presidency or vice-presidency in the 14 February ballot provided they have previously held elected regional office.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. You can find all of our coverage of the Israel-Hamas war here.
Japan will provide $10 million in emergency aid for civilians in Gaza, foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa said on Tuesday.
Japan is the current president of the Group of 7 developed nations and Kamikawa said it was monitoring the situation in Gaza “with concern”, adding that Japan expects the situation to be calmed down as soon as possible.
Kamikawa said she was also making final preparations for talks with her Iranian counterpart.
More from that AP analysis now:
Continue reading...Health ministry run by Hamas says more than 500 were killed, while civil defence official puts figure at above 300
Hundreds of people are reported to have died in a massive explosion at a hospital in Gaza City, on the eve of Joe Biden’s arrival for a visit that was intended to fend off the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and prevent the conflict escalating into a regional war.
The Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, claimed that more than 500 people had been killed an Israeli airstrike on the al-Ahli Arabi Baptist hospital which, if confirmed, would make it the deadliest single bombing of all the five wars Israel and Hamas have fought over Gaza.
Continue reading...Emergency meeting called after a week of rows including over Ursula von der Leyen’s trip to Israel
An emergency meeting of the heads of EU member states has been called on Tuesday in an effort to “harmonise” the bloc’s response to the conflict in Israel and Gaza after a week of dysfunction and division.
As fears grow over the risk of a wider war and a humanitarian catastrophe in the region, EU member states admit they have struggled to put on a united front as they did in February 2023 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
Continue reading...Forensic anthropologists say many of the 350 human remains they are examining may never be identified
On a table, a jumble of bones and fragments are laid out carefully, some grey, others charred black. A skeleton hangs at the side of the room for reference.
Three forensic anthropologists peer over them with the intent focus of professionals trying to solve the most tragic of puzzles. Their job is to identify some of the most badly damaged remains of victims of the Hamas massacres of 7 October.
Continue reading...The European Commission aims to cut plastic pellet pollution by 74% by the end of the decade
The EU has announced further plans to crack down on microplastics after its ban on glitter came into force.
The proposal, which tackles tiny pellets used in nearly all plastic products, aims to cut plastic pellet pollution by 74% by the end of the decade. Overall, it would lead to a 7% reduction in Europe’s microplastic pollution, according to the European Commission.
Continue reading...