Russia’s air defense systems destroyed 36 drones that Ukraine launched overnight targeting several regions in Russia’s southwest, the Russian defense ministry said on Sunday.
Fifteen drones were destroyed over the Kursk region that borders Ukraine and nine over the Lipetsk region, several hundred kilometers south of Moscow, the defense ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
Four drones were destroyed each over the Voronezh and Bryansk regions in southwestern Russia and two each over the nearby Oryol and Belgorod regions.
The governors of the Lipetsk and Bryansk regions said on their Telegram channels that there were no injuries or extensive damage as a result of the attacks.
Russian officials often do not disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Kyiv has said attacks on Russia’s military, transport and energy infrastructure are in response to Moscow’s attacks on Ukraine’s territory since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russia downs 36 Ukraine-launched drones
https://arab.news/p8jr7
Russia downs 36 Ukraine-launched drones
- Ukrainian drones launched overnight targeting Russian territory
North Korea brags of new missile with ‘super-large warhead’
- Pyongyang’s claim quickly disputed by South Korean officials and experts
- Monday’s test involved the Hwasongpho-11 Da-4.5 missile, which can carry a 4.5 tonne-class warhead
It’s the second time that South Korea has questioned North Korea’s claim on the development of new weapons in recent days, as the rivals are locked in heightened animosities over the North’s testing activities.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said that Monday’s test involved the Hwasongpho-11 Da-4.5 missile, which can carry a 4.5 tonne-class warhead. It said the test was meant to verify the weapon’s flight stability and hit accuracy at the maximum range of 500 kilometers and the minimum range of 90 kilometers.
The test apparently refers to the two ballistic missile launches that South Korea said North Korea performed Monday.
Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung Joon said at a briefing later Tuesday that the second North Korean missile was found to have fallen on an uninhabited area near Pyongyang, the North’s capital. He said he could find few previous test-launches by North Korea that have aimed at ground target sites.
“Regarding the North Korean assessment, we’re weighing a possibility of deception,” Lee said.
The South Korean military has said the second North Korean missile possibly traveled abnormally during the initial stage of its flight. It said if the missile exploded, its debris would likely have scattered on the ground.
The KCNA dispatch didn’t say from where it launched the new missile and where it landed. Unlike previous weapons tests, North Korea also didn’t publicize any photos of Monday’s test. The fact that it tested both the missile’s maximum and minimum ranges suggested North Korea performed two launches.
KCNA, citing North Korea’s Missile Administration, reported that North Korea will test-fire the missile again later in July to verify the performances of its simulated warhead at the medium range of 250 kilometers.
Some experts say test-firing missiles at ground targets could be related to efforts to test how powerful warheads are to destroy underground bunkers and structures.
But Shin Jongwoo, a Seoul-based military expert, said the fact that North Korea hasn’t disclosed any photos on the launches means that it’s highly likely the North is trying to deceive the outsiders to cover up Monday’s failed launches. He said North Korea likely launched an existing missile on Monday, not the new missile at it claimed.
Yang Uk, an analyst at Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said that Monday’s tests reflected North Korea’s push to acquire a variety of conventional weapons. But he also said if North Korea truly succeeded in hitting a ground target, it probably would have already published related images to brag about its achievements as it’s done in the past.
Since 2022, North Korea has sharply accelerated weapons testing activities to enlarge its arsenal of nuclear-capable weapons designed to strike key sites in the mainland United States, South Korea and Japan. The North Korea-claimed ranges of the newly tested missile imply it targets South Korea. Experts say North Korea would ultimately want to use an expanded nuclear arsenal to increase its leverage in future diplomacy with the US.
Monday’s missiles test came a day after North Korea vowed “offensive and overwhelming” responses to a new US military drill with South Korea and Japan. Five days before that test, on June 26, North Korea launched what it called a new multiwarhead missile in the first known test of a developmental weapon aimed at penetrating its rivals’ missile defenses. North Korea said the launch was successful, but South Korea dismissed the North’s claim as deception to cover up a failed launch.
Firefighters battle wildfires on 2 Greek islands as premier warns of a dangerous summer
- Greece saw 52 wildfires breaking out in the previous 24-hour period, 44 of which were tackled in the early stages
ATHENS: Firefighters battled wildfires that broke out on the eastern Aegean islands of Chios and Kos Monday and injured five people, as Greece’s prime minister warned of a dangerous summer ahead and said the public’s help was essential in limiting the impact of wildfires.
Emergency services issued evacuation orders for those in the Metohi area of western Chios on Monday morning, urging them to head to a nearby beach. By the evening, more than 140 firefighters, along with eight teams of firefighters specializing in wildfires, seven water-dropping planes and three helicopters were fighting the blaze.
Fire department spokesman Vasilis Vathrakoyiannis said two firefighters had been lightly injured, while dozens more firefighters were heading to the island by boat from the nearby island of Lesbos and from Athens. State-run ERT television later reported that another two firefighters and a volunteer had suffered non life-threatening burns.
“The situation remains difficult in Chios, and all Civil Protection forces will make great efforts to limit it,” Vathrakoyiannis said during an evening briefing.
Another fire broke out further to the south in the Aegean, on the resort island of Kos, and by late Monday had forced the evacuation of several people, including tourists from hotels, as a precaution. That blaze was being tackled by more than 100 firefighters, including reinforcements sent from Athens, as well as six water-dropping planes and two helicopters, Vathrakoyiannis added.
In total, Greece saw 52 wildfires breaking out in the previous 24-hour period, 44 of which were tackled in the early stages, Vathrakoyiannis said. Authorities were still battling a total of eight fires by Monday evening.
The blazes come a day after the fire department managed to tame two large forest fires near Athens that had been fanned by strong winds.
“We have had an exceptionally difficult June regarding weather conditions, with high levels of drought and unusually strong winds for this season,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Monday during a Cabinet meeting. This year’s summer, he said, “is predicted to be particularly dangerous” for wildfires.
Mitsotakis said the use of drones as part of an early warning system for wildfires had been particularly useful this year and credited better coordination between authorities and volunteer firefighters for limiting the extent of fire damage so far.
“We are entering the tough core of the anti-fire period, and this will certainly not be won without the help of the public as well, particularly in the field of prevention,” Mitsotakis said.
Hot, dry weather combined with strong winds helped fan fires in both Greece and Turkiye last month. This year’s summer is expected to be particularly prone to blazes following a particularly mild, dry winter. Last year, extensive wildfires in Greece killed more than 20 people.
Hurricane Beryl pummels Caribbean, strengthens to Category 5
- Beryl is now the earliest category 5 storm in the Atlantic on record, and has developed into a “potentially catastrophic” hurricane
Bridgetown/St. George’s: Hurricane Beryl strengthened into a top-level category 5 storm late Monday after it swept across several islands in the southeastern Caribbean, dumping heavy rain and unleashing devastating winds.
Beryl is now the earliest category 5 storm in the Atlantic on record, and has developed into a “potentially catastrophic” hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 160 miles (260 kilometers) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Early in the day, Grenada’s Carriacou Island took a direct hit from the storm’s “extremely dangerous eyewall,” with sustained winds at upwards of 150 miles, the NHC said.
Nearby islands, including St. Vincent and the Grenadines, also experienced “catastrophic winds and life-threatening storm surge,” according to the NHC.
“In half an hour, Carriacou was flattened,” Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told a press conference.
“We are not yet out of the woods,” Mitchell added, noting that while no deaths had been reported so far, he could not say for sure that none had occurred.
Video obtained by AFP from St. George’s in Grenada showed heavy downpours with trees buffeted by gusts.
Later on social media, Mitchell said the government was working to get relief supplies to both Carriacou and the island of Petite Martinique on Tuesday.
“The state of emergency is still in effect. Remain indoors,” he wrote on Facebook.
Beryl became the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season on Saturday and quickly gathered strength.
Experts say that such a powerful storm forming this early in the Atlantic hurricane season — which runs from early June to late November — is extremely rare.
It is the first hurricane since NHC records began to reach the Category 4 level in June, and the earliest to reach Category 5 in July.
“Only five major (Category 3+) hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic before the first week of July,” hurricane expert Michael Lowry posted on social media platform X.
Barbados appeared to be spared from the worst of the storm but was still hit with high winds and pelting rain, though officials reported no injuries so far.
Barbados seems to have “dodged a bullet,” Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams said in an online video, but nonetheless “gusts are still coming, the storm-force winds are still coming,” he said.
Homes and businesses were flooded in some areas, and fishing boats were damaged in Bridgetown.
The storm prompted the cancelation of classes on Monday in several of the islands, while a meeting this week in Grenada of the Caribbean regional bloc CARICOM was postponed.
Jamaica has issued a hurricane warning, ahead of the storm’s expected arrival on Wednesday. The NHC also warned the Cayman Islands and areas on the Yucatan Peninsula to monitor the storm’s progress.
A Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale is considered a major hurricane.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in late May that it expects this year to be an “extraordinary” hurricane season, with up to seven storms of Category 3 or higher.
The agency cited warm Atlantic Ocean temperatures and conditions related to the weather phenomenon La Nina in the Pacific for the expected increase in storms.
Extreme weather events including hurricanes have become more frequent and more devastating in recent years as a result of climate change.
Australia police arrests 14-year-old boy after stabbing at Sydney university
SYDNEY: Australian police said on Tuesday it had arrested a 14-year-old boy after a stabbing at the University of Sydney.
Emergency crews treated a 22-year-old man, who was taken to a hospital in a serious but stable condition, New South Wales state police said in a statement.
There is no ongoing risk to the community, it said.
A University of Sydney spokesperson said a police operation was underway on its Camperdown campus and that police would remain on campus while investigations continue.
Biden blasts landmark Supreme Court ruling on Trump immunity
- This is a fundamentally new principle, and it’s a dangerous precedent,” Biden said in a speech at the White House
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden warned Monday that the US Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on presidential immunity sets a “dangerous precedent” that Donald Trump would exploit if elected in November.
The conservative-dominated high court ruled earlier that day that Trump — and all presidents — enjoy “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for “official acts” taken while in office, but can still face criminal penalties for “unofficial acts.”
Trump is facing criminal charges over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, but that trial had been put on hold while the Supreme Court considered his immunity claims.
“For all practical purposes today’s decision almost certainly means there are no limits to what a president can do. This is a fundamentally new principle, and it’s a dangerous precedent,” Biden said in a speech at the White House.
The 6-3 ruling on Monday, split along ideological lines, is set to further delay proceedings in Trump’s case as lower courts work through myriad questions raised in the Supreme Court decision.
With only four months left until the presidential election, the delays likely mean the case will not reach trial before voters head to the polls.
“The American people must decide if they want to entrust... once again, the presidency to Donald Trump, now knowing he’ll be more emboldened to do whatever he pleases, whenever he wants to do it,” Biden said.
Trump was quick to revel in what he called a “big win.”
Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, in his majority opinion, said a president is “not above the law” but does have “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for official acts taken while in office.
“The president therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers,” Roberts said.
“As for a President’s unofficial acts, there is no immunity,” the chief justice added, sending the case back to a lower court to determine which of the charges facing Trump involve official or unofficial conduct.
Both a District Court and an appeals court panel had previously rejected Trump’s immunity claims in a historic case with far-reaching implications for executive power.
Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States as well as obstruction of an official proceeding — when a violent mob of his supporters tried to prevent the January 6, 2021, joint session of Congress held to certify Biden’s victory.
The 78-year-old former president is also charged with conspiracy to deny Americans the right to vote and to have their votes counted.
The three liberal justices dissented from Monday’s ruling with Justice Sonia Sotomayor saying she was doing so “with fear for our democracy.”
“Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law,” Sotomayor said. “In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”
“Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune,” she said.
Trump, in posts on Truth Social, welcomed the decision calling it a “big win for our Constitution and democracy.”
“Today’s Historic Decision by the Supreme Court should end all of Crooked Joe Biden’s Witch Hunts against me,” he said.
Trump’s original trial date in the election subversion case had been March 4.
But the Supreme Court — dominated by conservatives, including three appointed by Trump — agreed to hear his argument for absolute immunity, putting the case on hold while they considered the matter in April.
Steven Schwinn, a law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, said the ruling means the case “is going to drag on more and more and longer and longer and well beyond the election.”
“To the extent that Trump was trying to drag his feet and extend this beyond the election, he has succeeded wildly,” Schwinn said.
The opinion also provides a “roadmap” for a US leader to avoid prosecution for a particular action “simply by intertwining it with official government action,” he added.
“That’s going to seriously hamstring the prosecution of a former president because the president’s official actions and unofficial actions are so often intertwined,” he said.
Facing four criminal cases, Trump has been doing everything in his power to delay the trials until after the election.
Trump was convicted in New York in May of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal in the final stages of the 2016 campaign, making him the first former US president ever convicted of a crime.
His sentencing will take place on July 11.
By filing a blizzard of pre-trial motions, Trump’s lawyers have managed to put on hold the three other trials, which deal with his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and hoarding top-secret documents at his home in Florida.
If reelected, Trump could, once sworn in as president in January 2025, order the federal cases against him closed.
