SRINAGAR, India: Three Indian soldiers and their two civilian porters were killed in a rebel ambush in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said Friday.
Police said rebels sprayed bullets at an army vehicle carrying troops close to the highly militarized line of control near the resort town of Gulmarg on Thursday night. The de facto frontier divides the disputed Kashmir between India and Pakistan, which they both claim in its entirety.
Two soldiers and two civilians working as porters with the Indian military were killed and three other soldiers were wounded, police said. One soldier later died at a hospital, they said. The military said it was a brief firefight and gave no other details.
There was no independent confirmation of the incident.
On Sunday, gunmen fatally shot at least seven people and injured five others working on a strategic tunnel project near another resort town of Sonamarg. Police blamed militants fighting against Indian rule for decades for the attack.
Militants in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
3 Indian soldiers and 2 civilians are killed in an alleged rebel ambush in Kashmir
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3 Indian soldiers and 2 civilians are killed in an alleged rebel ambush in Kashmir
- Two soldiers and two civilians working as porters with the Indian military were killed and three other soldiers were wounded, police said.
- One soldier later died at a hospital, they said. The military said it was a brief firefight and gave no other details
EU chief cancels meeting with Serbian PM over Russia minister: ambassador
- Vucevic had met earlier with Maxim Reshetnikov, Russia’s Minister of Economic Development.
- The statement said that Vucevic spoke with Reshetnikov and a Russian delegation
BELGRADE: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen canceled talks with Serbia’s Prime Minister Milos Vucevic on Friday because of his earlier meeting with a Russian minister, the EU’s ambassador said.
“We canceled the meeting... following the prime minister meeting with the minister of economy of the Russian federation,” the EU’s ambassador in Belgrade, Emanuele Giaufret, told AFP.
Vucevic had met earlier with Maxim Reshetnikov, Russia’s Minister of Economic Development.
Giaufret said that according to a statement published on the Serbian government’s website, which he said was later removed, there was an “indication of Serbia’s intention to strengthen economic relations in other areas with the Russian Federation.”
“In that light the president of the Commission felt that there were no reasons to hold the meeting with the prime minister,” he added.
The statement, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, said that Vucevic spoke with Reshetnikov and a Russian delegation, about the “further strengthening of economic and overall cooperation between the two countries.”
Von der Leyen had arrived in Belgrade earlier Friday as part of a tour of six Balkan nations, and duly met with President Aleksandar Vucic.
The latter did not take part at this week’s summit of the BRICS group — an alliance of emerging economies — in Russia.
“My presence here today, in the context of my fourth trip to the Balkans since I took office, is a very clear sign that Serbia’s future is in the European Union,” von der Leyen told a joint press conference with Vucic.
“The partnership between the European Union and Serbia is getting stronger,” she added.
Serbia, which aspires to join the 27-nation bloc, has maintained friendly ties with Russia and has refused to sanction Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
On Friday, Vucic stressed his country’s commitment to joining the EU.
“We will continue on our European path,” he said, but added that Serbia will “try to preserve our friendship and partnership with all the others also.”
During her four-day Balkan tour, which started on Wednesday, von der Leyen pledged that membership expansion would be high on the Brussels agenda.
Discussions around EU enlargement in the Balkan region of almost 18 million people stretch back 20 years.
The six countries — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are in different stages on their path toward membership of the bloc.
The EU Commission chief will visit Montenegro and Kosovo on Saturday.
Nearly 400 authors call for boycott of Israeli cultural institutions
- Writers including Sally Rooney and Arundhati Roy say those who stay silent over Gaza are ‘complicit in genocide’
- Author Lee Child warns boycott will hit Israel’s ‘only voices for peace and common sense’
LONDON: A group of almost 400 authors have called for a boycott of Israeli cultural institutions.
The writers, including Sally Rooney and Arundhati Roy, say Israeli publishers, book festivals and literary agencies that have not spoken out against the war in Gaza are “complicit in genocide.”
The unpublished letter, organized by the Palestine Festival of Literature, claims that the “genocide … is the biggest war on children this century.”
It adds: “Culture has played an integral role in normalizing these injustices. Israeli cultural institutions, often working directly with the state, have been crucial in obfuscating, disguising and art-washing the dispossession and oppression of millions of Palestinians for decades.
“We cannot in good conscience engage with Israeli institutions without interrogating their relationship to apartheid and displacement.”
The Fossil Free Books pressure group, which worked to get literary festivals to cut ties with sponsors such as Baillie Gifford over the war earlier this year, is supporting the letter, alongside a number of Booker prize nominees. A full list of signatories is set to be released next week.
“We will not work with Israeli cultural institutions that are complicit or have remained silent observers of the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians,” the letter, seen by The Times, said.
“We will not cooperate with Israeli institutions including publishers, festivals, literary agencies and publications that are complicit in violating Palestinian rights.”
The move to boycott Israeli cultural institutions has also been criticized, including by “Jack Reacher” author Lee Child, who said writers should not “attack the very people whose hearts are still in the right place,” including Israel’s “only voices for peace and common sense.”
Child said: “They are firm allies in the struggle for an equitable outcome, and to demonise them is to shoot the Palestinian cause in the foot. Personally, I support a full two-state solution, and I’m a pragmatic person, so my instinct is to partner with Israelis who think the same way. Building bridges with them is the way to go. Canceling them is nuts.”
Larry Finlay, a former publishing chief at Transworld books, told The Times: “The target of (the signatories’) ire is just wrong because the people who will suffer from this will be Israelis who are on the left and anti-Netanyahu.
“There is no wisdom for this boycott, which is born out of hatred and antisemitism.”
UK surveillance missions over Gaza could support ICC war crimes investigation, Defense Ministry says
UK surveillance missions over Gaza could support ICC war crimes investigation, Defense Ministry says
- Spokesperson for MOD said while primary mission remains hostage rescue, UK would consider requests from international authorities for evidence
LONDON: The UK’s Ministry of Defense has confirmed that intelligence gathered by Royal Air Force surveillance flights over Gaza could be shared with the International Criminal Court to support potential investigations into war crimes.
The RAF has reportedly flown more than 600 missions since December, using Shadow R1 aircraft, to gather intelligence aimed exclusively at aiding in the recovery of hostages taken during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, the MOD said.
A spokesperson for the MOD explained that, while the primary mission remains hostage rescue, the UK would consider requests from international authorities for evidence that might aid war crimes investigations.
“In line with our international obligations, we would consider any formal request from the International Criminal Court to provide information relating to investigations into war crimes,” the spokesperson said, affirming the UK’s commitment to international humanitarian law.
The intelligence collected by the RAF may provide critical insight into conditions in Gaza amid escalating hostilities.
The MOD underscored, however, that UK armed forces are not combatants in the conflict.
“Our mandate is narrowly defined to focus on securing the release of the hostages only, including British nationals,” the spokesperson added.
“The RAF routinely conducts unarmed flights for this sole purpose, and any intelligence provided to our allies is shared only where we are satisfied it will be used in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
Recent reports have drawn attention to the scale of these intelligence operations, with data from a Canadian researcher suggesting over 250 sorties had been completed by mid-2024. Al Jazeera reported that more than 600 flights have been conducted, reflecting the UK’s concerted effort to locate hostages amid an intensifying conflict.
The ICC has expressed interest in addressing alleged war crimes on both sides.
In May, the ICC prosecutor announced intentions to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of “starvation of civilians as a method of warfare” and “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population” since Oct. 8, 2023, one day after Hamas’ initial attack.
Arrest warrants were also sought for senior Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, who were accused of crimes against humanity. Both leaders were killed in recent Israeli strikes.
The UK Defense Journal highlighted the continuing scale of RAF missions in the region, indicating that British intelligence efforts remain focused on securing the safe release of hostages, with no involvement in direct combat or provision of weaponry.
This approach, the MOD emphasized, reflects a humanitarian mission with strict adherence to international legal standards.
Man admits arson attack on Ukraine-linked business in London
- Dylan Earl, 20, admitted a charge of aggravated arson on the premises belonging to a “Mr X” on an industrial estate in east London
- Earl denied a further charge under the NSA of assisting a foreign intelligence service
LONDON: A man pleaded guilty on Friday to carrying out an arson attack on a London commercial property linked to Ukraine and an offense under the National Security Act in a case prosecutors have linked to Russia.
Dylan Earl, 20, admitted a charge of aggravated arson on the premises belonging to a “Mr X” on an industrial estate in east London in March, with the intent of destroying the building and being reckless as to whether lives would be endangered.
He also pleaded guilty to engaging in preparations for “an act endangering the life of a person or an act creating serious risk to the health or safety of the public in the United Kingdom” contrary to the new National Security Act (NSA) brought in to crack down on hostile activity by foreign states.
Earl denied a further charge under the NSA of assisting a foreign intelligence service. Three other men denied the aggravated arson charge.
Prosecutor Duncan Penny said the third charge against Earl would not be pursued, telling London’s Old Bailey court that the sentence for the other NSA offense attracted a longer maximum prison term of a life sentence.
He said the allegation would be taken into account when Earl was sentenced for the other offense.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement when the men were charged that Earl was “alleged to have engaged in conduct targeting businesses which were linked to Ukraine in order to benefit the Russian state.”
Deadliest storm for Philippines in 2024 wreaks havoc in country’s northeast
- At least 46 dead, 320,000 displaced, most in southeastern parts of Luzon
- Trami is the 11th and deadliest tropical cyclone for the Philippines in 2024
MANILA: A tropical storm has wreaked havoc in the Philippines, leaving dozens of people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
Trami, locally known as Kristine, has caused severe flooding and landslides across Luzon, the country’s most populous island, as well as in Visayas islands and parts of Mindanao, along the Philippines’ eastern coast.
Even before it made landfall in the province of Isabela on Thursday, the storm was already bringing torrential rains, pummeling several regions, especially in the southeastern parts of Luzon such as Bicol and Calabarzon, where most of the casualties have been reported.
At least 46 people have been killed, while 20 remain missing, according to the latest data from the Philippines Office of Civil Defense. Most of the deaths were caused by drowning, electrocution, and landslides.
Nearly 320,000 people have been displaced, sheltering in evacuation centers or staying with relatives and friends.
Most of the casualties have been reported in Naga City and Albay and Caramoran municipalities.
Ray Anthony Austria, resident of Guinobatan in Albay, said government emergency responders have not been able to reach some areas, as landslides have blocked access.
“It seems that no one was really prepared for this amount of rain … There is still confusion, there is still lack of communication. I think everyone is just overwhelmed with the situation,” he told Arab News over the phone.
“There are so many communities waiting for help, but their local governments are helpless. It would endanger a lot of rescuers if they (went into) those communities … We did it on foot, and we were able to reach them. Some of them need a lot of food, water, and clothes because many of them were not able to save any of their belongings.”
The Philippines is the country most at risk from natural disasters, according to the 2024 World Risk Report.
Every year, millions of Filipinos are affected by storms and typhoons, which have lately been more unpredictable and extreme due to the changing climate.
Trami is the 11th and deadliest tropical cyclone to hit the country in 2024.
Last month, more than a dozen people were killed when Typhoon Yagi, locally known as Enteng, also hit the country’s east.
Austria, who witnessed both, said that Trami was much worse.
“In Naga and neighboring towns, many areas, houses are still submerged in waters, some at least waist-deep … In the town of Tinago, the water reached the second floor in some houses or around 15 feet,” he said.
“During Typhoon Enteng, there was also flooding, and some areas were underwater for a few days, but it is worse now … There were many people who never had to evacuate before, but this time they were forced to because of the amount of water. It’s worse.”
