India's Kerala state on high alert as vessel with hazardous cargo sinks off its coast
NEW DELHI — India's southern state of Kerala on Monday issued a high alert along its coastal areas and asked fishermen not to venture near the site of an accident where a container ship carrying hazardous cargo sank off its coast in the Arabian Sea.
The Liberia-flagged MSC ELSA 3 was sailing between the Indian ports of Vizhinjam and Kochi when it sank about 38 nautical miles off Kerala early Sunday. All 24 crew members were rescued, India's defense ministry said.
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Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Spain cancels contract for anti-tank missiles built by Israeli subsidiary
MADRID — Spain has canceled a deal for anti-tank missile systems that were to be manufactured in Madrid by a subsidiary of an Israeli company, in a bid to move away from Israeli military technology, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday. The decision will affect the license for 168 SPIKE LR2 anti-tank missile systems with an estimated value of $325 million. The systems would have been developed in Spain by Pap Tecnos, a Madrid-based subsidiary of Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, according to local press. 'The goal is clear...a total disconnection from Israeli technology,' government spokesperson Pilar Alegría told reporters, adding the government is studying 'the effects of the cancellation.' Israel's Defense Ministry referred questions on the decision to Rafael, which told the Associated Press it wasn't aware of the cancellation. Pap Tecnos, located on the outskirts of Madrid, did not comment. Spain approved the deal on Oct. 3, 2023, four days before an insurgent assault led by Hamas on southern Israel that sparked a devastating war in Gaza. Authorities argued at the time that the systems used by the Spanish forces were obsolete and should be replaced for up-to-date versions like those used by allied armies. Spain's leftist government says it stopped exporting arms to Israel as of Oct. 2, 2023, but there where reports some shipments slipped through. United States late last year opened an investigation into whether NATO ally Spain denied port entry to at least three cargo vessels reportedly transporting U.S. weapons to Israel. Spain formally recognized a Palestinian state in May 2024 in a coordinated effort with Norway and Ireland. A month later, Spain became the first European country to ask the top United Nations court, the International Court of Justice, permission to join a case mounted by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza. Israel strongly denies the charge. Medrano writes for the Associated Press. AP journalist Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, contributed to this report.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ukraine claims new underwater bomb attack on Russia's Crimean Bridge
LONDON -- The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Tuesday claimed to have conducted a new attack on Russia's Kerch Strait Bridge -- which links occupied Crimea to Russia's Krasnodar Krai region -- two days after the service's dramatic drone strikes on Russia's strategic bomber fleet. The SBU posted a video, photograph and statement to its official Telegram channel detailing the operation, which it said "lasted several months." "SBU agents mined the supports of this illegal facility," the statement read. "And today, without any civilian casualties, at 4:44 am the first explosive device was activated." "The underwater supports of the piers were severely damaged at the bottom level -- 1,100 kg of explosives in TNT equivalent contributed to this," the SBU said. "In fact, the bridge is in a state of emergency." SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk said in a statement, "Previously, we hit the Crimean Bridge twice in 2022 and 2023. So, today we continued this tradition under water." The official account for the bridge said the structure was "temporarily closed" after the explosion. The Russian Defense Ministry and government are yet to comment. Meanwhile, at least seven people were killed and 27 were injured across Ukraine overnight into Tuesday as Russia continued long-range attacks on multiple cities, local officials said. Ukraine's air force said it recorded 112 Russian drones launched into the country overnight, 75 of which were either shot down or neutralized in flight. The air force reported impacts in 11 locations across the country. Most of the reported deaths were clustered in two northeastern regions of Ukraine, close to the front lines. Three people were killed and 20 were injured by a Russian cluster rocket attack on the city of Sumy, local authorities said. At least five rockets landed in open areas of the city center, the Sumy Regional Administration said, including along a busy road filled with cars and morning commuters. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post to social media that the "savage strike" was a "fully deliberate attack on civilians." Another three people were killed and six were injured in the Kharkiv region as a result of Russian shelling, the regional military administration said. One person was killed and 13 were injured by Russian fire in the southern Kherson region, said Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the local military administration. Five people were also injured by strikes in the northern city of Chernihiv and five others in the southern Black Sea coast city of Odesa, according to officials there. In his Tuesday morning message, Zelenskyy said the ongoing Russian attacks indicate that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no genuine interest in peace, despite the Kremlin's participation in ongoing U.S.-brokered talks to end its 3-year-old invasion. Ukrainian and Russian representatives met in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday for a second round of direct negotiations, the two sides having previously gathered in the city for the first round in May. That meeting allowed the first face-to-face peace talks between the two sides since the spring of 2022. Ukraine is demanding a full 30-day ceasefire during which time peace negotiations can take place. Zelenskyy also said ahead of Monday's meeting that Kyiv wants the release of all prisoners and the return of Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia during Moscow's invasion. Zelenskyy also suggested direct future talks with Putin. In a "peace memorandum" delivered to Ukraine's negotiating team on Monday, Russia set out similar maximalist demands to those issued during the opening days of its spring 2022 invasion. Among the demands are a Ukrainian withdrawal from all four Ukrainian regions that Russia claims -- Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk -- including areas that Russian troops do not occupy. Moscow said it would accept a ceasefire if Ukraine agreed to stop receiving foreign weapons and end mobilization -- two demands Kyiv has rejected. MORE: Following peace talks, Zelenskyy says Ukraine will continue attacks unless Russia halts offensive Moscow is also demanding limitations on the size of Ukraine's armed forces, a permanent block on Ukrainian NATO accession, international recognition of Russian control over the areas of Ukraine it claims, the lifting of all sanctions and Ukraine to abandon its demand for war reparations to be paid by Moscow. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday that there was no significant breakthrough during Monday's talks. "It would be wrong to expect any immediate decisions or breakthroughs here," he said. "But work is ongoing." A meeting between Putin, Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump "is unlikely in the near future," Peskov continued. Dmitry Medvedev -- the former Russian president and prime minister now serving as the deputy chairman of the country's Security Council -- wrote on Telegram that the talks "are not meant to achieve a compromise peace based on some imaginary and unrealistic conditions invented by others, but rather to secure our swift victory and the complete destruction" of Zelenskyy's government. Zelenskyy on Tuesday said it is "obvious: without global pressure -- without decisive actions from the United States, Europe, and everyone in the world who has the power -- Putin will not agree even to a ceasefire." "Not a single day goes by without Russia striking Ukrainian cities and villages," the president continued. "Every day, we lose our people to Russian terror. Every day, Russia gives new reasons for tougher sanctions and stronger support for our defense. I am grateful to everyone around the world who is promoting exactly this agenda: sanctions for aggression and the killing of people, and assistance in defending the lives of Ukrainians." Ukraine continued its own long-range strike campaign into Russia overnight. The Defense Ministry in Moscow said its forces downed eight Ukrainian drones on Monday night into Tuesday morning. Monday's Istanbul talks were held despite Ukraine's audacious covert operation targeting Russian strategic bombers on Sunday, in which drones concealed in the back of trucks attacked at least five airfields deep inside Russian territory. Zelenskyy told ABC News' Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz that the attack was a "strategic operation" that "is definitely reducing Russia's potential, and demonstrates that Ukraine is working on certain steps." "Unless they will stop, we will continue," he said. Asked whether he was satisfied with the Trump administration's involvement, Zelenskyy told Raddatz, "We are looking for very strong steps on the part of President Trump to support the sanctions and to force President Putin to stop this war, or at least proceed with the first stage of putting an end to this war -- that is the ceasefire." ABC News' Will Gretsky, Oleksiy Pshemyskiy and Patrick Reevell contributed to this report. Ukraine claims new underwater bomb attack on Russia's Crimean Bridge originally appeared on
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Russian forces advance in northern Ukraine, within range of major city of Sumy
Russian forces have continued to advance in the northern Ukrainian region of Sumy, bringing the regional capital within range of their drones and artillery, according to Ukrainian officials and analysts. A spokesman for the Ukrainian military in the area, Ivan Shevtsov, said that in addition to trying to advance towards Sumy city, Russian forces were constantly shelling the area and more evacuations of civilians were taking place. 'At the moment, the territory that the enemy has already occupied is about 15 kilometers along the front line and about 6-7 kilometers deep,' Shevtsov said. He added that the Russians were trying to advance towards the town of Yunakivka, within a few kilometers of their current positions. The Sumy military administration said that Russian troops had carried out almost 150 shelling attacks on 47 settlements in the region in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning. For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed Tuesday that its forces had captured the village of Andriivka as they broadened the front, according to the official TASS news agency. Shevtsov said that with further advances the Russians would be able to launch more coordinated attacks on Sumy city. Its current population is unknown, but before the war began it was home to about a quarter of a million people. The unofficial Ukrainian group DeepState, which monitors the frontlines, reported that Russian forces had occupied another settlement in northern Sumy, putting them about 20 kilometers from Sumy city. It said: 'The situation in the north of the Sumy region continues to deteriorate due to constant pressure from the enemy and large numbers of infantry.' 'The threat of the enemy's advance is that it will reach a distance of 20-25 kilometers, which will allow FPV drones to fly to the city of Sumy,' DeepState said. It added that Ukrainian forces were unable to combat the Russians' use of fiber-optic drones, which are capable of evading jamming. 'A separate issue is the lack of personnel to hold back the enemy, which is severely lacking,' DeepState said. The Russians have reinforced their units in the area over recent weeks, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), since President Vladimir Putin visited the adjacent Russian region of Kursk in mid-May and ordered the creation of a buffer zone within Sumy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned last month that Russia had amassed more than 50,000 troops near the Sumy region. Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, are stretched across multiple points on the front lines, from the northern border to the Black Sea. ISW said Monday that Russian forces had recently intensified ground assaults and brought in several experienced brigades, including airborne troops. Shevstov, the Ukrainian military spokesman, said Russian forces aimed 'not just to enter and create a so-called buffer zone 20-30 kilometers deep, but to completely capture the Sumy region.' Sumy city was targeted Tuesday by a rocket attack, which killed three people and injured about 20, according to the local military administration. Zelensky described it as 'a savage strike…directly targeting the city and its ordinary streets with rocket artillery.' On Monday, Zelensky described northern Sumy as one of the 'hottest' parts of the front line. Capturing Sumy's regional capital is probably beyond the Russians – the terrain is thickly forested. But through their attacks, the Russian military can prevent the Ukrainians from redeploying units to Donetsk and elsewhere on the front line. ISW noted Monday that 'Russian forces have not seized a Ukrainian city with a pre-war population greater than 100,000 since July 2022.'
