KYIV: At least nine people were injured, including an 11-year-old girl, and several apartments were on fire after a Russian drone attack on Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday.
Falling debris from a destroyed drone sparked a fire in a multi-story apartment building in the Solomianskyi district in Kyiv’s west, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on his Telegram messaging app.
“So far, nine people have been injured,” Klitschko said. “All of them were treated by medics on the spot.”
The military administration of Kyiv posted a photo of flames bursting out of a flat in an apartment building.
It also said that another fire broke out in a multi-story administrative building in the Solomianskyi district.
Reuters witnesses heard a series of explosions in Kyiv in what sounded like air defense units in operation.
Kyiv, its surrounding region and nearly the whole eastern half of Ukraine were under air raid alerts from around 0130 GMT.
Nine injured in Russian drone attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s officials say
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Nine injured in Russian drone attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s officials say
- Kyiv, its surrounding region and nearly the whole eastern half of Ukraine were under air raid alerts
China, asked about Trump comments, says Taiwan could become a ‘discarded child’
Trump, the Republican candidate who is neck and neck in the polls with Vice President Kamala Harris, has made several comments on the campaign trail saying Chinese-claimed Taiwan should pay to be protected and accusing the island of stealing American semiconductor business.
Asked about Trump’s remarks earlier this month where said he would impose additional, massive tariffs on China if China were to “go into Taiwan” and remarks on Taiwan having to pay for protection, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Taiwan’s people had a clear understanding of US policy.
“Whether the United States is trying to protect or harm Taiwan, I believe most of our Taiwan compatriots have already made a rational judgment and know very clearly that what the United States pursues is always America first,” Zhu Fenglian told a regular news briefing, referring to a common expression Trump uses about prioritising US interests.
Taiwan’s people know that “Taiwan at any time may turn from a pawn to a discarded child,” she added, without directly using Trump’s name.
The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself even in the absence of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei.
Trump, in a weekend interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, repeated his claims about Taiwan “stealing” US chip business and needing to pay to be protected.
Taiwan Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei told reporters in Taipei on Wednesday he would not be commenting given the US election campaign was ongoing.
“I wish the United States well for a successful democratic election,” he added.
Taiwan received strong backing from Trump’s 2017-2021 administration, including arms sales, which have continued under the government of President Joe Biden.
The US government on Friday announced a news arms package for Taiwan worth almost $2 billion for missile systems, which, like all weapons sales to Taipei, angered Beijing.
“I sternly warn the Lai Ching-te administration that buying weapons won’t buy security,” Zhu said, referring to Taiwan’s president who China detests as a “separatist.”
Taiwan’s democratically elected government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
Albania’s opposition blocks roads in a protest to demand a caretaker Cabinet
- The conservative Democrats led by former Prime Minister Sali Berisha have long accused Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialists of corruption
TIRANA, Albania: Albanian opposition activists blocked major roads for several hours Tuesday in a nationwide rally demanding that the government be replaced by a technocratic caretaker Cabinet before the 2025 parliamentary election.
Lawmakers led hundreds of opposition supporters in rallies that blocked traffic at a main highway into the capital, Tirana, and at five other major roads around the country.
“Civil blockade, today or never!” was the motto of the protest on the website of the main opposition Democratic Party. In Tirana, opposition lawmakers parked their cars to block traffic for three hours. In other places, opposition supporters staged sit-ins at the roadside or burned tires.
The conservative Democrats led by former Prime Minister Sali Berisha have long accused Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialists of corruption, manipulating earlier elections and usurping the powers of the judiciary.
Thousands of police were deployed to protect government buildings, traffic and the rule of law, and there were sporadic clashes between officers and activists before the rallies ended in the late evening.
The opposition activists lifted their blockades when their leaders pledged to take unspecified anti-government action later.
Democrats and their supporters in an opposition coalition have been holding protests over the arrests of Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. Another Democratic lawmaker, Ervin Salianji, has also been convicted of slander and imprisoned.
The Democrats have staged violent protests against the government since 2013, when they left power.
Albania holds parliamentary elections next spring, which Rama’s Socialists are poised to win, partly because the opposition is divided.
The United States and the European Union have urged the opposition to resume dialogue with the government, saying violence won’t help the country integrate into the 27-nation EU bloc.
In 2020, the EU decided to launch full membership negotiations with Albania. Earlier in October, Tirana started discussions with the bloc on how the country aligns with EU stances on the rule of law, the functioning of democratic institutions and the fight against corruption.
Australia launches plan to build long-range guided missiles
- Australia will partner with US-based weapons giant Lockheed Martin to make “guided multiple launch rocket systems (GMLRS),”
Sydney: Australia will ramp up missile manufacturing under a plan unveiled Wednesday by a top defense official, who said bolstering weapons stockpiles would help keep would-be foes at bay.
Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said Australia would establish a homegrown industry to produce long-range guided missiles and other much-needed munitions.
“Why do we need more missiles? Strategic competition between the United States and China is a primary feature of Australia’s security environment,” he said in a speech.
“That competition is at its sharpest in our region, the Indo-Pacific.”
Australia will partner with US-based weapons giant Lockheed Martin to make “guided multiple launch rocket systems (GMLRS),” Conroy said, one of the first such facilities outside the United States.
The $200 million “advanced weapons manufacturing complex” would eventually produce up to 4,000 missiles each year.
“This equates to more than a quarter of current global GMLRS production and more than 10 times current Australian Defense Force demand,” Conroy said.
Australia had also contracted French weapons maker Thales to domestically manufacture M795 artillery rounds, which are commonly used in howitzer batteries.
“We all wish that acquiring new weapons and munitions was not necessary,” Conroy said.
“But in a world marked by crisis and disorder, a well-equipped military is an essential part of national defense.
“In this environment, Australia needs credible military capability to support a strategy of deterrence by denial.”
The announcement follows China’s recent test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Pacific, the first such test in four decades.
Concerns about China’s massive defense spending and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have led many US allies to voice concern about a shortfall in munitions manufacturing capabilities.
Australia is among several Asia-Pacific nations dramatically increasing defense spending.
In April, Australia unveiled a defense strategy that envisaged a sharp rise in spending to counter its vulnerability to foes interrupting trade or preventing access to vital air and sea routes.
Besides rapidly developing its surface fleet, Australia plans to deploy stealthy nuclear-powered submarines in a tripartite agreement with the United States and Britain known as AUKUS.
Nearly 30 injured in Bolivia clashes between police, Morales supporters
- Twenty-nine people were hurt, all but two of them police, said Health Minister Maria Rene Castro
La Paz: Nearly 30 people were injured Tuesday in clashes between Bolivian police and supporters of ex-president Evo Morales, the government said.
The violence unfolded in the central town of Mairana, one of many places where protesters have been blocking roads since October 14 in solidarity with Morales, hoping to prevent his arrest.
Twenty-nine people were hurt, all but two of them police, said Health Minister Maria Rene Castro.
The police chief of Santa Cruz department, which includes Mairana, told reporters the police came under attack by some of the protesters.
Morales, who governed Bolivia from 2006 to 2019, is under investigation for rape, human trafficking and smuggling over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2015.
He claims the charges were trumped up to try prevent him returning to power. His mainly Indigenous base of supporters say he is the victim of judicial persecution by President Luis Arce, a former ally who has become a political rival.
They are also protesting the spiralling prices of fuel and food in the South American country.
The standoff between Morales and Arce escalated dramatically on Sunday after Morales accused state agents of trying to assassinate him while driving near the central city of Cochabamba.
A video posted on social media showed the pick-up truck in which he was traveling riddled with bullet holes and the driver with blood on his head.
The government says police fired on his vehicle after it ran a checkpoint and police came under gunfire from a vehicle in Morales’s convoy.
Flash floods in Spain sweep away cars, disrupt trains and leave several missing
- Rushing mud-colored waters caused havoc in a huge arc of the European country
BARCELONA, Spain: Several people were reported missing by Spanish authorities after flash floods swept cars through village streets and disrupted rail service in large areas of eastern and southern Spain on Tuesday.
Rushing mud-colored waters caused havoc in a huge arc of the European country, running from the provinces of Malaga in the south to Valencia in the east. Images shot by people with smartphones reproduced on Spain’s national broadcaster RTVE showed frighteningly swift waters carrying away cars and rising several feet into the lower level of homes.
A high-speed train with nearly 300 people on board derailed near Malaga, although rail authorities said no one was hurt. The high-speed train service between Valencia city and Madrid was interrupted as were several commuter lines.
The national government office for the Castilla La Mancha region told radio channel Cadena Ser that six people in the region were missing.
Spanish news agency EFE said that one truck driver was missing in L’Alcudia, a town in Valencia. Also in Valencia, the mayor of Utiel, Ricardo Gabaldón, told RTVE that several people were trapped in their homes.
Police and rescue services used helicopters to lift people from homes and cars which were in danger of drowning. An emergency rescue brigade of Spain’s army deployed to help rescue efforts.
Storms were forecast to continue through Thursday, according to Spain’s national weather service.
Spain has experienced similar autumn storms in recent years. The country has recovered somewhat from a severe drought this year thanks to rainfall. Scientists say that increased episodes of extreme weather are likely linked to climate change.
