Dozens Moscow Metro Passengers Detained on Russia Flag Day

Moscow police have detained dozens of metro passengers in what appeared to be a raid to prevent mass actions on Russia’s National Flag Day on Monday at a time when anti-war activism has been virtually outlawed, an independent watchdog reported. OVD-Info, a police-monitoring website that runs a legal hotline for those detained, said 33 activists and journalists have been apprehended across the Russian capital’s metro system. Some of them were flagged for detention by the Moscow Metro’s facial recognition technology, according to the watchdog.  One journalist held in a southern Moscow police station said at one point police sirens went off “once a minute” with the detention of another person. Three detained passengers had been previously charged under Russia’s laws that virtually choked off anti-war speech since the country invaded Ukraine in February, according to OVD-Info. At least one activist was detained twice in the morning and evening.

Most of the activists and journalists have been released later without being charged, OVD-Info reported later Monday evening. One was reportedly charged with “discrediting the Russian military” for wearing clothes that said “I’m against war.” Criticizing the war or sharing non-Kremlin-approved information about it are both punishable under new laws passed shortly after the invasion. More than 15,000 anti-war protesters have been detained across Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Prominent Putin critics Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza were put in pre-trial jail for denouncing Moscow's Ukraine offensive. They are among 212 mostly private citizens facing criminal prosecution for voicing opposition to the war. All of Russia’s independent media has either been blocked or shut down since February, with many journalists fleeing the country to escape prosecution.  Russian authorities have blocked some 138,000 websites and also outlawed Facebook and Instagram as “extremist” organizations, as well as restricted access to Twitter, since the war began. National Flag Day detentions follow similar police actions on Victory Day and Russia Day in Moscow and around the country in May and June. National Flag Day has been celebrated every year on Aug. 22 since then-President Boris Yeltsin re-introduced it in 1994.

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Rain-triggered floods, landslides kill dozens in India

At least 50 people were killed as rains overwhelmed hundreds of villages, sweeping away houses and leaving residents stranded in northern and eastern India.

Heavy showers followed by landslides and flooding in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh over the past three days killed at least 36 people, a state government official told Reuters. (Reuters)

Floods and landslides triggered by intense monsoon rains have killed at least 50 people in northern and eastern India over the last three days, officials said. The rains overwhelmed hundreds of villages, sweeping away houses and leaving residents stranded as rescue crews raced to evacuate survivors on Sunday. Earlier this month the federal weather office had predicted that India was likely to receive an average amount of rain in August and September, pointing to overall good crop yields in Asia's third-biggest economy that relies on farming to boost growth and generate jobs. Farming contributes around 15 percent to India's $2.7 trillion economy while sustaining more than half the population of 1.3 billion. Heavy showers followed by landslides and flooding in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh over the past three days killed at least 36 people, a state government official told Reuters. In the neighbouring mountainous state of Uttarakhand, an official government release said that four were dead and 13 were missing due to continuous rainfall. READ MORE: More than a dozen dead in northern India from monsoon rains [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp5-2QN7B0c[/embed] Rescue operation in 'full swing' "We have deployed choppers to rescue people who are stuck in remote areas due to rain related incidents. The rescue operation is happening on full swing," said Ranjit Kumar Sinha, an official in Uttarakhand's disaster management department. In the eastern state of Odisha, at least six people were dead amid ongoing torrential rains, a state official said.  Floods have affected nearly 800,000 people and displaced thousands from their homes in Odisha, with rains disrupting electricity and water supply, and damaging road infrastructure. The state has evacuated 120,000 people so far from the affected areas. Authorities in the Ramgarh district of the eastern state of Jharkhand said five people had been swept away by the waters of the swollen Nalkari river on Saturday.  Four bodies have been recovered so far, said Madhvi Mishra, a district official in Ramgarh. READ MORE: Several dead, missing after flash floods in northwest China Source: Reuters

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Algeria firefighters rein in blazes that left dozens dead

Sixteen fires are still burning across seven districts but those in worst-hit eastern areas, El Tarf and Souk Ahras, are under control, officials say.

Residents inspect the damaged area of El Tarf region, near the northern Algerian-Tunisian border. (AP)

Algerian firefighters have brought under control a string of forest blazes that have killed at least 38 people including 12 who died in a bus trapped by the flames.

Fire service spokesman Farouk Achour told the AFP news agency late on Thursday that 16 fires were still burning across seven districts but that those in the worst-hit eastern areas, El Tarf and Souk Ahras, were under control.

In Souk Ahras, a large crowd gathered to mourn five members of the same family who perished in the flames.

At least 38 people have been killed including more than 10 children and 10 firefighters, according to multiple sources, including local journalists and the fire service.

Most were in the El Tarf region near Algeria's eastern border with Tunisia, an area which has been sweltering in 48 degree Celsius heat.

At least 200 more people have suffered burns or respiratory problems, according to various Algerian media.

Annual scourge

Deadly fires have become an annual scourge in Algeria, where the climate crisis has turned large areas of forest into a tinderbox in the blistering summer months.

Authorities have been accused of being ill-prepared, with few firefighting aircraft available despite record casualties in last year's blazes and a cash windfall from gas exports amid soaring global energy prices.

Algeria had agreed to buy seven such aircraft from Spanish firm Plysa, but cancelled the contract following a diplomatic row over the Western Sahara in late June, according to specialist website Mena Defense.

Authorities have rented a Russian water bomber, but it broke down and is not expected to be operational again until Saturday, Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud said. The civil protection service and the army have access to several firefighting helicopters.

'The forest is weakened' 

On Thursday, Prime Minister Aimene Benabderrahmane defended the government's response, saying that the country had ordered four new firefighting aircraft –– but that they would not be available until December.

He added that strong winds had exacerbated the blazes and said authorities were "deploying all their means" to extinguish them.

Retired academic and forestry expert Rafik Baba-Ahmed said in a video published on social media that "winds of over 90 kilometres per hour make the work of water bombers difficult if not impossible".

He said bad land management had added to the problem, adding, "today, the forest is weakened. It has been chipped away at."

Source: AFP

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Israeli forces kill Palestinian youth, wound dozens in occupied West Bank

Fast News

Eighteen-year-old Waseem Khalifa was shot dead in Nablus city, medics say, adding occupying Israeli forces also wounded 30 Palestinians, three of whom critically.

Scouts gather around names carved in the sand of the children who were killed during the recent Israeli aggression on Gaza. (AFP)

Israeli troops have killed a Palestinian youth in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Nablus and wounded dozens of others.

Palestinian medics identified the man who was killed early on Thursday as Waseem Khalifa, 18, from Balata, the largest refugee camp in the West Bank.

At least 30 Palestinians were wounded, four of whom were shot with live ammunition and three of whom were in critical condition, the Palestine Red Crescent said.

Witnesses said clashes erupted when Israeli forces arrived to protect Jewish worshippers visiting Joseph's Tomb, a site that has been a flashpoint.

The Israeli military told the Reuters news agency it was checking on the incident.

Killings in Gaza

The fresh killing of a Palestinian comes after Israeli jets pounded the besieged Gaza enclave that saw Palestinian fighters responding with hundreds of rockets that wounded 70 Israelis.

At least 49 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, including civilians and children, and hundreds more were wounded during 56 hours of fighting.

Israeli forces have carried out near-daily raids in the occupied West Bank in recent months.

Source: Reuters

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3 Dead, Dozens Injured at Armenian Market Explosion

An explosion that set off a fire at a market in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Sunday killed three people and injured dozens of others, officials announced.

The fire ripped through the market at Surmalu, said the first reports.

"After preliminary data, an explosion happened which set off a fire," said the emergency situations ministry in a statement, giving a toll of three dead and around 40 people hospitalized. 

They also reported that a nearby building had collapsed and published the names of 25 people loved ones were trying to contact, saying they might be trapped under its ruins.

As the search for survivors continued, rescue workers were using a digger to clear away rubble, an AFP journalist at the scene reported.

They had so far pulled 10 survivors from the rubble and recovered one body, said the ministry statement.

The wholesale market at Surmalu is normally very busy on Sunday afternoons, which is when the blast happened.

The cause of the fire has not yet been established, but local news reports, citing witnesses, said the explosion happened at a place that stored fireworks. The authorities have so far made no statement on what might have caused the fire.

Photos and videos posted on social media showed a thick column of black smoke over the market and what appeared to be a series of detonations can be heard.

Bomb scare

A number of volunteers were also helping at the scene, scrambling to move piles of twisted concrete blocks and metal bars with their bare hands.

Nearby, firefighters kept their hoses trained on the smoking ruins, soaking them down with water.

In all, 200 firefighters and medical workers were sent to the scene, as well as fire engines and construction site equipment.

The disaster comes at a time when the country is already going through a difficult period.

Armenia, a small country with around 3 million inhabitants, is still recovering from the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, which ended in a heavy defeat which in turn sparked a political crisis.

Reflecting the current tensions, the Yerevan metro system was evacuated shortly after the blast following a bomb scare, officials said, adding that no device had been find.

Armenia's neighbor, Russia, said via its embassy that it was trying to establish if any of its citizens were victims of the blast.

It offered its condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in the disaster.

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WATCH: Flash floods wash away dozens of cars in China

Flash floods trapped residents in their homes and washed away dozens of cars in northwest China as torrential rain hit the region.
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Sudan floods kill dozens, thousands affected

Fast News

Torrential rains and floods kill 52, injure 25 and destroy thousands of homes in North African country, state media report.

Sudan usually faces heavy rain between May and October, which cause damages to facilities and properties. (AFP)

Flooding caused by torrential rains in Sudan have killed at least 52 people and damaged or destroyed thousands of homes.

"A total of 52 people have been killed and 25 others wounded due to torrential rains and floods since the beginning of the fall season," state media reported, quoting Abdel Jalil Abdelreheem, spokesperson for Sudan's National Council for Civil Defense.

Abdelreheem said 5,345 houses had been destroyed and 2,862 damaged across Sudan. Other public facilities, shops, and agricultural lands were also damaged.

North and South Kordofan states, River Nile state, and South Darfur were among the most affected across Sudan, he noted.

Nearly 40,000 affected

Heavy rains usually fall in Sudan between May and October, and the country faces severe flooding every year, wrecking properties, infrastructure, and crops.

In a Monday report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that around 38,000 people across Sudan had been affected by rains and floods since the start of the rainy season.

About 314,500 people were affected across Sudan during the rainy season of 2021, according to OCHA.

Source: AFP

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Dozens of economists urge US to free Afghanistan's frozen assets

Some 71 economists, including Nobel prize winners, ask Washington to return $7 billion to Kabul, saying over half of the poor country's population faces acute food insecurity and three million children are at risk of malnutrition.

"Seventy percent of Afghan households are unable to meet their basic needs," economists tell US. (AP)

Several dozen prominent US and international economists have urged the United States to release Afghanistan's $7 billion reserves that Washington froze after the Taliban took over control of the South Asian country a year ago.

"We are deeply concerned by the compounding economic and humanitarian catastrophes unfolding in Afghanistan, and, in particular, by the role of US policy in driving them," seventy-one economists and development experts said on Wednesday in a letter to US President Joe Biden and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

"Without access to its foreign reserves, the central bank of Afghanistan cannot carry out its normal, essential functions," they wrote.

"Without a functioning central bank, the economy of Afghanistan has, predictably, collapsed."

The signatories included Nobel economics prize winners Joseph Stiglitz and Yanis Varoufakis, who served as Greece's minister of finance when the country was negotiating with creditors after the 2008 economic collapse.

READ MORE: US, Taliban discuss foreign reserves, aid for earthquake-hit Afghanistan

'It belongs to Afghan people'

In the letter, they argued the United States could not justify holding onto the reserves, which it froze in American banks as the prior Washington-backed government in Kabul collapsed allowing the Taliban to take control in August 2021.

The economists said the plunge in economic activity and the sharp cuts to foreign aid by previous supporters of the country after the US military withdrawal have sent the Afghan economy into a tailspin.

"Seventy percent of Afghan households are unable to meet their basic needs," they wrote. 

"Some 22.8 million people –– over half the population –– face acute food insecurity, and three million children are at risk of malnutrition."

This is worsened by the refusal of the US to return the funds, as well as $2 billion blocked by Britain, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates, they said.

"These reserves were critical to the functioning of the Afghan economy, in particular, to manage the money supply, to stabilise the currency and to pay for the imports –– chiefly food and oil –– on which Afghanistan relies," they wrote.

The economists said a recent US offer to give the Taliban access to half the money by setting up a trust with international oversight was not enough.

"By all rights, the full $7 billion belong to the Afghan people," they said.

"Returning anything less than the full amount undermines the recovery of a devastated economy."

READ MORE: US urged to return Afghan foreign funds as quake survivors wait for aid

Source: AFP

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Suspected Daesh attack kills dozens of Mali soldiers

Sophisticated weekend attack involving drones, explosives, car bombs and artillery leaves 42 soldiers dead and 22 others wounded, say officials of the troubled African country.

Heavy fighting took place in the troubled "three-border" region where the frontiers of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso converge. (Reuters)

Forty-two Malian soldiers have been killed and 22 others wounded in an attack near the town of Tessit, a sophisticated attack blamed on Daesh affiliate in the landlocked West African country.  

"The Malian army units of Tessit... reacted vigorously to a complex and coordinated attack by armed terrorist groups, presumably from Islamic State [Daesh] in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), characterised by the use of drones, explosives, car bombs, and artillery," the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

 The attack took place on Sunday and was one of the deadliest attacks in recent years for the Malian army which has been battling a decade-long insurgency across the Sahel region.

 Soldiers killed 37 militants during several hours of heavy fighting in the troubled "three-border" region where the borders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso converge.

 The army had previously said that 17 soldiers had been killed in the attack and that nine had gone missing.

 Deadly tri-junction 

Thousands have fled Tessit to the nearest large town of Gao, which is located some 150 kilometres to the north.

 The last time Mali's armed forces sustained heavy losses was in a string of attacks in the same region between late 2019 and early 2020.

During those attacks, hundreds of soldiers were killed in assaults on nearly a dozen bases. These attacks are typically carried out by militants on motorbikes.

The attacks also prompted the Malian, Nigerien and Burkinabe forces to fall back from forward bases and hunker down in better-defended locations.

Mobile phone connections to the area have been frequently cut over the last few years and access to the area is difficult during the mid-year rainy season.

 Mali is ruled by a military junta that overthrew the democratic government in 2020, in part over frustration at its failure to rein in the violence, but attacks have remained common.

Source: AFP

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17 missing, dozens hurt as fire rages in Cuban oil tank farm

HAVANA -- A fire set off by a lightning strike at an oil storage facility raged uncontrolled Saturday in the city of Matanzas, where four explosions and flames injured nearly 80 people and left 17 firefighters missing, Cuban authorities said.

Firefighters and other specialists were still trying to quell the blaze at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, where the fire began during a thunderstorm Friday night, the Ministry of Energy and Mines tweeted. The governmeht said later that it had asked for help from international experts in “friendly countries” with experience in the oil sector.

The official Cuban News Agency said lightning hit one tank, starting a fire, and the blaze later spread to a second tank. As military helicopters flew overhead dropping water on the blaze, dense column of black smoke billowed from the facility and spread westward more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) toward Havana.

The Facebook page of the provincial government of Matanzas said the number of injured had reached 77, while 17 people were missing. The Presidency of the Republic said the 17 were “firefighters who were in the nearest area trying to prevent the spread.”

The accident comes as Cuba struggles with fuel shortages. There was no immediate word on how much oil had burned or was in danger at the storage facility, which has eight giant tanks that hold oil used to fuel electricity generating plants.

“I was in the gym when I felt the first explosion. A column of smoke and terrible fire rose through the skies,” resident Adiel Gonzalez told The Associated Press by phone. “The city has a strong smell of sulfur.”

Authorities said the Dubrocq neighborhood closest to the fire was evacuated, while Gonzalez added that some people decided to leave the Versailles district, which is a little farther from the tank farm.

Many ambulances, police and fire engines were seen in the streets of Matanzas, a city with about 140,000 inhabitants that is on Matnzas Bay.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel traveled to the area of the fire early Saturday, officials said.

Local meteorologist Elier Pila showed satellite images of the area with a dense plume of black smoke moving from the point of the fire westward and reaching east to Havana.

“That plume can be close to 150 kilometers long,” Pila wrote on his Twitter account.

———

Andrea Rodríguez on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP

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Firefighters missing, dozens hurt as fire rages in Cuban oil tank farm

Cuban authorities say lightning struck a crude oil storage tank at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, causing a fire that led to four explosions which left dozens missing and injured.

The accident comes as Cuba struggles with fuel shortages. (AP)

A fire set off by a lightning strike at an oil storage facility has raged uncontrolled in the Cuban city of Matanzas, where four explosions and flames injured nearly 80 people and left 17 firefighters missing.

Firefighters and other specialists were still trying to quell the blaze at the Matanzas Supertanker Base on Saturday, where the fire began during a thunderstorm on Friday night, the Ministry of Energy and Mines tweeted.

The government said later that it had asked for help from international experts in “friendly countries” with experience in the oil sector.

The official Cuban News Agency said lightning hit one tank, starting a fire, and the blaze later spread to a second tank.

As military helicopters flew overhead dropping water on the blaze, dense column of black smoke billowed from the facility and spread westward more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) toward Havana.

The Facebook page of the provincial government of Matanzas said the number of injured had reached 77, while 17 people were missing.

The Presidency of the Republic said the 17 were “firefighters who were in the nearest area trying to prevent the spread.”

It’s been a bad week in Cuba. Currency devaluation and poor living conditions sparked nationwide protests. Now, lightning has struck an oil warehouse in Matanzas. This just confirms my School Boys Theory of History: It’s just one damn thing after another.pic.twitter.com/0G3UD4OpQN

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) August 6, 2022

'Smell of sulphur'

The accident comes as Cuba struggles with fuel shortages.

There was no immediate word on how much oil had burned or was in danger at the storage facility, which has eight giant tanks that hold oil used to fuel electricity generating plants.

“I was in the gym when I felt the first explosion. A column of smoke and terrible fire rose through the skies,” resident Adiel Gonzalez said. “The city has a strong smell of sulphur.”

Authorities said the Dubrocq neighbourhood closest to the fire was evacuated, while Gonzalez added that some people decided to leave the Versailles district, which is a little farther from the tank farm.

Many ambulances, police and fire engines were seen in the streets of Matanzas, a city with about 140,000 inhabitants that is on Matnzas Bay.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel traveled to the area of the fire early on Saturday, officials said.

Local meteorologist Elier Pila showed satellite images of the area with a dense plume of black smoke moving from the point of the fire westward and reaching east to Havana.

“That plume can be close to 150 kilometres long,” Pila wrote on his Twitter account. 

READ MORE: Death toll of Havana hotel explosion rises as rescue operations continue

Source: AP

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Ethiopia ‘destroys’ dozens of Al Shabab militants

A three-day operation left more than 100 members of the terror group dead and destroyed 13 vehicles, Ethiopian authorities said.

Attacks beyond Somalia's borders are rare and have mostly targeted Kenya. (Enes Danis / TRTWorld)

Authorities in the Ethiopian region of Somali said they had "destroyed" Al Shabaab militants, in a rare attack from neighbouring Somalia.

Somali's state communication bureau in a statement on Saturday said an armed Al Shabaab group that crossed into the southeastern region on Tuesday "was surrounded in a sub-locality called Hulhul and completely destroyed".

A three-day operation left more than 100 members of the terror group dead and destroyed 13 vehicles, it added.

The authorities said the armed group was seeking to pass through El-Kere district in the Somali region, more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Somalia-Ethiopian border.

On Thursday, officials and residents of Bakool region, on the border with neighbouring Somalia, reported Al Shabaab attacks the previous day against bases hosting a special Ethiopian police unit which helps protect the frontier.

READ MORE: Al Shabab attacks African Union base in Somalia

'Heaviest fighting ever'

Mohamed Malim, a local official in Somalia's Hudur district, told AFP news agency on Thursday that "this was the heaviest fighting ever" around the towns of Ato and Yeed in the country's west.

"It continued about six hours before the militants had been repelled, there are dead and wounded combatants from both sides, but we don't have the details so far," he said.

Al Shabaab, the group linked to Al Qaeda, has led an insurrection against Somalia's federal government for 15 years.

An African Union force with soldiers from five countries including neighbours Ethiopia and Kenya has supported the government in its fight against the militants.

The movement has been ousted from Somalia's main urban areas, including the capital Mogadishu in 2011, but remains entrenched in vast swathes of the countryside.

Attacks beyond Somalia's borders are rare and have mostly targeted Kenya, notably a bloody assault on Nairobi's Westgate shopping centre in 2013 which left 67 people dead.

An attack on Garissa University in 2015 killed 148 people and another incident at a Nairobi hotel complex in 2019 left 21 dead.

READ MORE: Suspected Al Shabab attack targets Kenya's Lamu region

Source: AFP

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