TALLINN, Estonia: An explosion Wednesday on the grounds of a factory north of Moscow that makes optical equipment for Russia’s security forces wounded 45 people, six of them severely, officials said.
The blast occurred at a warehouse storing fireworks, though it was on the grounds of the Zagorsk optics manufacturing plant, according to Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the region surrounding the Russian capital.
Vorobyov said the company had rented out the warehouse for storage, but later claimed the plant itself was mostly producing pyrotechnics. He said the facility “has had nothing to do with optics or mechanics for a long time,” even though the company’s website says it still manufactures those products, as well as medical apparatus.
Whatever the cause, the explosion produced a tall plume of black smoke and added to Russian jitters over nighttime drone attacks on Moscow, as well as alarm about smoke over the port of Sevastopol in Crimea on Wednesday.
The Zagorsk plant explosion blew out windows in nearby apartment buildings and prompted the evacuation of the surrounding area, the regional governor said. Five people were feared trapped under rubble.
Some Russian media reported that the blast was caused by a drone attack, but multiple Russian officials — including Vorobyov and Russia’s Investigative Committee — denied that. The Investigative Committee, Russia’s top law enforcement agency, said in a statement it has launched a criminal inquiry on charges of violating industrial safety requirements at hazardous production facilities.
A 1995 report by the US Department of Commerce described the factory as “a producer of precision optical equipment for the military.”
Earlier, officials said Russian air defenses shot down two drones aimed at Moscow overnight, in what they described as Ukraine’s latest attempt to strike the Russian capital in an apparent campaign to unnerve Muscovites and take the war to Russia.
The drones were intercepted on their approach to Moscow and there were no casualties, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The Russian Defense Ministry described the incident as a “terrorist attack.”
One of the drones came down in the Domodedovo district south of Moscow, and the other fell near the Minsk highway west of the city, according to Sobyanin. Domodedovo airport is one of Moscow’s busiest.
It wasn’t clear where the drones were launched, and Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. Ukraine usually neither confirms nor denies such attacks.
Flights were briefly halted at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on July 30 and Aug. 1, when drones smashed into Moscow’s business district after being jammed by air defenses in two separate incidents.
In May, Russian authorities accused Ukraine of attempting to attack the Kremlin with two drones in an effort to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. Recent drone attacks have aimed at targets from the Russian capital to the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
In another incident that caused alarm, Ukrainian media reported social media blogs as saying that a thick plume of smoke billowed over Sevastopol.
The Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozzhayev, said the smoke came from a “fleet training exercise” and urged local residents not to worry.
“Yes, the smell is unpleasant, but it is absolutely safe,” he said on Telegram. “Everything is calm in the city.”
Those incidents occurred against the backdrop of Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive, which Ukrainian and Western officials have warned will be a long slog against the Kremlin’s deeply entrenched forces.
Russia is pushing back against the Ukrainians in eastern areas, where tough battles are taking place, Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, said Wednesday on her official Telegram channel.
“In some parts of the front-line multiple changes in position take place within a day,” she said.
She claimed that Ukraine’s efforts had achieved “partial success” in the south. She gave no details.
It wasn’t possible to independently verify either side’s claims.
Huge blast at Moscow area factory adds to Russian jitters as new drone attacks are blamed on Ukraine
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Huge blast at Moscow area factory adds to Russian jitters as new drone attacks are blamed on Ukraine
- Explosion produced a tall plume of black smoke and added to Russian jitters over nighttime drone attacks on Moscow
- Earlier, officials said Russian air defenses shot down two drones aimed at Moscow overnight
Jakarta refutes reports of Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians in Gaza to Indonesia
- NBC news report claims that relocating residents of Gaza is part of rebuilding efforts
- Any attempts to move Palestinians in Gaza is ‘entirely unacceptable,’ Jakarta says
JAKARTA: Jakarta was never involved in any discussion to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to Indonesia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday following reports that new US President Donald Trump’s team was considering the controversial move.
Before his inauguration on Monday, Trump and his transitional team had been discussing Israel’s war on Gaza and the recent ceasefire agreement, according to a report by NBC News.
Citing an anonymous source from Trump’s transition team, Indonesia was named as one of the locations considered for Palestinians to relocate to when rebuilding efforts began for the enclave.
However, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has refuted the report.
“The government of Indonesia has never received any information from anyone, nor any plans regarding the relocation of some of Gaza’s 2 million inhabitants to Indonesia as part of post-conflict reconstruction efforts,” Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Roy Soemirat said.
“Indonesia’s stance remains unequivocal: Any attempts to displace or remove Gaza’s residents is entirely unacceptable. Such efforts to depopulate Gaza would only serve to perpetuate the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and align with broader strategies aimed at expelling Palestinians from Gaza.”
Indonesia is among the staunchest supporters of Palestine, with its government repeatedly calling for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and for a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders.
Since the beginning of Israel’s deadly invasion of Gaza in October 2023, Jakarta has also been vocal on the international stage, demanding an end to military support and weapons sales to Tel Aviv.
As the first phase of a long-awaited ceasefire began on Sunday, Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Arrmanatha Nasir said the UN Security Council “must safeguard the agreement” to ensure that every part of the three-phase agreement is upheld.
“The ceasefire is a vital first step towards attaining peace in the Middle East,” Nasir said during a UN Security Council open debate in New York on Monday.
After the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, Nasir said the international community must address the immediate humanitarian needs and work toward a “just and comprehensive political plan” with a two-state solution at its core.
“Any other alternative will only lead to apartheid and subjugation. That is why the international community must unite to foster genuine dialogue and negotiation that addresses the root cause of colonialism and historical injustices in Palestine including the right of return of the Palestinian refugees.”
After 15 months, the war on Gaza has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians and led the International Court of Justice to consider genocide claims against Israel.
However, a study published this month by medical journal The Lancet shows that the real death toll in Gaza during the first nine months — when the number stood at around 37,000 – of Israel’s deadly invasion was about 40 percent higher than recorded by the enclave’s Health Ministry.
‘No winners in a trade war’: Chinese vice premier tells Davos
Davos, Switzerland: A top Chinese official warned Tuesday that no country would emerge victorious from a trade war, in a speech to the Davos forum as Donald Trump returned to the White House.
“Protectionism leads nowhere, and there are no winners in a trade war,” Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said in a speech to the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps.
At Davos, EU vows pragmatism with Trump
- The EU’s first priority will be to engage early, discuss common interests, and be ready to negotiate with Trump
DAVOS: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen declared Tuesday that Europe was ready to negotiate with US President Donald Trump but the bloc will also seek to improve ties with China and other nations as global competition heats up.
Von der Leyen insisted that the United States remains an important partner, taking a conciliatory tone in a speech to the annual meeting of global elites in Davos, Switzerland.
The EU’s “first priority will be to engage early, discuss common interests, and be ready to negotiate” with Trump, she said.
“We will be pragmatic, but we will always stand by our principles. To protect our interests and uphold our values,” she said.
Trump returned to the White House on Monday, bringing with him fears he will deliver on promises to slap heavy tariffs on China and US allies including Canada and the European Union.
After his inauguration, Trump said he may impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico as early as February 1.
He also announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, which the European Commission president defended as the “best hope for all humanity” and vowed “Europe will stay the course.”
China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang — also a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s apex of power that rules the country — will speak immediately after von der Leyen.
The EU chief reiterated her commitment to free trade during her speech, pointing to recent deals with Switzerland, the Latin American bloc Mercosur and Mexico.
Von der Leyen also said she and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to “upgrade” their partnership.
She stressed that Europe “must engage constructively with China — to find solutions in our mutual interest” despite escalating trade tensions between the two.
“2025 marks 50 years of our Union’s diplomatic relations with China. I see it as an opportunity to engage and deepen our relationship with China, and where possible, even to expand our trade and investment ties,” she said.
China is taking a cautious approach to Trump.
After Chinese President Xi Jinping’s conversation with Trump by phone on Friday, he said he hoped for a “good start” to relations with the new administration.
Although Trump said he would undertake sweeping trade penalties against China, he has also indicated he wants to improve ties — and even stepped in to reverse a US ban of Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok on national security grounds.
Ukraine is also keeping a very close eye on what Trump’s second mandate will involve.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to call on world leaders and company executives to maintain — and even ramp up — their support for his country’s fight against Russia.
Zelensky on Monday said he is hopeful Trump will help achieve a “just peace.”
Embattled German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also address the forum, likely his last as leader ahead of elections next month.
Also speaking on Tuesday will be conservative leader Friedrich Merz, the favorite to succeed him as chancellor.
Europeans are fretting the most about Trump’s return while countries from Brazil to China and India to Turkiye believe he will be good for their countries and global peace, according to a survey last week from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
The report accompanying the survey of over 28,500 people across 24 countries serves as a warning for European leaders to act cautiously.
“Europeans will struggle to find internal unity or global power in leading an outright resistance to the new administration,” the ECFR report’s authors said.
Middle East conflicts will also be high on the agenda as Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani speak in separate sessions during the first full day of the forum.
As a fragile ceasefire holds in the Israel-Hamas war, the WEF will host a discussion on how to improve aid delivery to the Palestinian territory of Gaza and how to kickstart the reconstruction and recovery after heavy bombardment.
Despite suggestions Trump’s return would overshadow the forum that began on the same day as his inauguration in Washington, WEF President Borge Brende said the president had brought fresh interest to the gathering.
“It has increased the interest in Davos because people feel they need to come together to better understand what’s on its way,” Brende told AFP in an interview.
Germany calls Trump’s vow to take Panama Canal ‘unacceptable’
- ‘Any threat against a NATO member or other states is of course completely unacceptable’
- ‘It’s not about how President Trump says something... but we should look at why he says something’
BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Tuesday criticized Donald Trump’s “unacceptable” pledge to seize the Panama Canal, which the returning US president repeated in his inaugural address.
Baerbock was asked in an interview about Trump’s comments Monday on the waterway and on his desire to control Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
“Any threat against a NATO member or other states is of course completely unacceptable,” Baerbock told German broadcaster RBB.
Baerbock however said that Germany needed to “play it smart,” when responding to the president’s statements.
“It’s not about how President Trump says something... but we should look at why he says something,” Baerbock said.
The focus should be on “what interests are behind (Trump’s statements) ... and then standing up for our own interests,” she said.
In the case of the Panama Canal, the message was about China “investing massively in ports and other important infrastructure around the world,” Baerbock said.
In his inaugural address on Monday, Trump complained that China was effectively “operating” the key trading route, which the United States transferred to Panamanian control in 1999.
“We didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we’re taking it back,” Trump said.
It was not the first time that Trump has expressed his intention to reestablish US control over the canal, with the president repeatedly refusing to rule out using military means.
Germany has no illusions about Trump as he begins his second term in office, Baerbock said.
“The USA is one of our most important allies. We want to and will continue to work closely together,” she said.
“But we have positioned ourselves more intensively and even more strongly strategically.”
Xi, Putin hold video call: Chinese state media
- State broadcaster did not immediately give details of what was discussed during the call
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday held a video call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Beijing’s state media reported.
Xi and Putin “held a video meeting at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the afternoon of January 21,” state broadcaster CCTV said.
The broadcaster did not immediately give details of what was discussed during the call.
China has sought to depict itself as a neutral party since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
But it remains a close political and economic partner of Moscow and has never condemned the war, leading some NATO members to brand Beijing an “enabler” of the conflict.
Both sides have made much of Xi and Putin’s supposedly strong personal bond, with Xi calling the Russian leader his “best friend” and Putin lauding his “reliable partner.”
In a New Year’s message to Putin last month, Xi vowed to promote “world peace and development,” according to a contemporary CCTV report.
“In the face of rapidly evolving changes not seen in a century and the turbulent international situation, China and Russia have consistently moved forward hand-in-hand along the correct path of non-alignment, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party,” the broadcaster reported Xi as saying.
