logo
Ukrainian drone attack kills two in Russia's Belgorod region, governor says

Ukrainian drone attack kills two in Russia's Belgorod region, governor says

Straits Times29-04-2025

MOSCOW - A Ukrainian drone slammed into a car on Tuesday on a highway in Russia's border Belgorod region, killing two people and injuring three, the first of a series of attacks during the day, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Gladkov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, later wrote that five people were injured in cars in three incidents in areas near the Ukrainian border.
Drones later in the day attacked six localities in Belgorod region, Gladkov wrote. An apartment building, a house and a business were damaged, but no casualties were reported.
Later in the evening, the governor of neighbouring Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, said drones attacked the town of Rylsk, injuring three people and damaging three apartment buildings, a private house and a kindergarten.
Reuters could not independently verify any of the assertions from local officials.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian forces last weekend on what he said was the expulsion of the last Ukrainian forces from Kursk region more than eight months after Kyiv's forces launched a cross-border incursion. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Hong Kong leader says national security scrutiny of restaurants is necessary
Hong Kong leader says national security scrutiny of restaurants is necessary

Straits Times

time30 minutes ago

  • Straits Times

Hong Kong leader says national security scrutiny of restaurants is necessary

Hong Kong leader says national security scrutiny of restaurants is necessary HONG KONG - Hong Kong will toughen screening of catering premises for potential violations of national security, which civil servants should accord top priority in deciding on licence approvals, the city's leader said on Tuesday. Critics see the move as targeting the territory's many businesses, including cafes and restaurants, that have displayed posters, symbols or images expressing solidarity with its embattled pro-democracy movement. Such businesses, widely called the "yellow economic circle", have faced growing pressure from authorities, such as tax inspectors, at a time when they are reeling from a broader economic and retail downturn. "Food and environmental hygiene officers ... should place national security as the most important consideration and make appropriate assessments," John Lee told reporters. He called the move "appropriate and necessary", saying all civil servants were expected to rate security as the highest priority under the national security law. The city's food and hygiene department would follow the law in considering new licences and renewing existing ones, he added. In recent years, authorities in the Asian financial hub have made use of sweeping national security laws imposed after mass anti-government protests in 2019 to systematically crack down on many of its liberal pockets. In May, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department sent letters to thousands of food and entertainment premises, obliging them to accept new terms related to national security. In one document seen by Reuters, the government told business owners to ensure no activity in which they were engaged or involved in "may constitute or cause the occurrence of an offence endangering national security". The former British colony's crackdown on dissent, from arresting democratic activists to shuttering liberal media and civil society groups, has drawn criticism from countries such as Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Israel set to deport Greta Thunberg, other activists, ministry says
Israel set to deport Greta Thunberg, other activists, ministry says

Straits Times

time30 minutes ago

  • Straits Times

Israel set to deport Greta Thunberg, other activists, ministry says

Gaza-bound British-flagged yacht \"Madleen\" approaches Ashdod port following a take over last night by the Israeli army, in Ashdod, Israel, June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY An Israeli solider passes water to those onboard the Gaza-bound British-flagged yacht \"Madleen\" after Israeli forces boarded the charity vessel as it attempted to reach the Gaza Strip in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade, in this screengrab from video released on June 9, 2025. Israel Foreign Ministry via X/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY MANDATORY CREDIT An Israeli solider passes a bun to Greta Thunberg onboard the Gaza-bound British-flagged yacht \"Madleen\" after Israeli forces boarded the charity vessel as it attempted to reach the Gaza Strip in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade, in this still image released on June 9, 2025. Israel Foreign Ministry via X/Handout via REUTERS JERUSALEM - Greta Thunberg and other pro-Palestinian activists have been taken to Tel Aviv airport ahead of their deportation, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, after the Israeli navy prevented them from sailing to Gaza. Israeli forces boarded the charity vessel as it neared Gaza early on Monday, trying to break through a years-old naval blockade of the coastal enclave, and seized the 12-strong crew, including Swedish campaigner Thunberg. The British-flagged yacht was taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod and the foreign ministry said the activists were transferred overnight to Ben Gurion airport. "Some of the 'Selfie Yacht' passengers are expected to leave within the next few hours," the ministry said in a statement. "Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority, in accordance with Israeli law, to authorize their deportation." Consular representatives from the passengers' home countries met them at the airport, it added. The activists had been carrying a small cargo of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula, and said they wanted to raise international awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has been devastated by months of war. Israel dismissed the voyage as a pro-Hamas publicity stunt. 'The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the 'celebrities' will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,' the Foreign Ministry said. Thunberg accused Israel of kidnapping her in international waters. "I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible," she said in a video that was recorded ahead of the Israeli navy action. U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed Thunberg's claim of being kidnapped. 'I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg,' he said. 'She's a young, angry person ... I think she has to go to an anger management class.' Israel has imposed a naval blockade on the coastal enclave since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, saying it aims to stop weapons from reaching Hamas. The blockade has remained in place through conflicts including the war, which began when Hamas-led militants rampaged through southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, by Israeli tallies. Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Hamas-run Gaza, and destroyed most of the homes of its 2.3 million residents. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

What is the High Seas Treaty to protect world oceans?
What is the High Seas Treaty to protect world oceans?

Straits Times

timean hour ago

  • Straits Times

What is the High Seas Treaty to protect world oceans?

The third UN Ocean Conference is currently underway in Nice, with the High Seas Treaty only five signatures away from being ratified as of the conference's first day on June 9. PHOTO: REUTERS What is the High Seas Treaty to protect world oceans? LONDON - While many countries have agreed to take steps to protect the vast, ungoverned swathes of the world's oceans, they have yet to see the High Seas Treaty go into effect. This week's United Nations (UN) Oceans Conference in the French city of Nice hopes to change that. What is the High Seas Treaty? The treaty, signed in 2023, provides a legal framework for creating marine protected areas on the "high seas", or the ocean areas that lie beyond any national jurisdiction. Currently, less than 3 per cent of the oceans are under some form of protection, although altogether the world's oceans cover two-thirds of the planet. The treaty contains 75 points covering areas such as protecting, caring for and ensuring responsible use of marine resources, and includes a provision for requiring environmental impact assessments of any economic activities in international waters. The treaty also aims to ensure that all countries have fair and equitable access to the ocean's resources. While it is widely referred to as the High Seas Treaty, officially it is called the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty. As of June 9, French President Emmanuel Macron said 55 countries had ratified the treaty, with 60 needed for it to go into effect. Separate to the High Seas Treaty, countries agreed under a 2022 UN biodiversity pact to put 30 per cent of their territorial waters under conservation. Why do we need an ocean treaty? Oceans support coastal economies and livelihoods through tourism, fishing, shipping, mining, offshore energy and more. Oceans also absorb about a third of the world's carbon dioxide, or CO2 - the primary gas driving climate change - while ocean-swimming phytoplankton provide about half of the world's oxygen. But marine life is now struggling, and human industry and development are almost entirely to blame. More than 1,500 ocean plants and animals are now at risk of extinction, and that number is expected to rise amid ongoing pollution, overfishing, ocean warming and acidification, according to scientists at the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Additionally, new threats to ocean organisms and ecosystems could emerge in coming years in the form of deep-sea mining for rare-earth minerals. In Nice, Mr Macron is expected to urge countries to support postponing seabed exploration while researchers work to understand deep sea ecosystems. Scientists are also concerned about the possibility that governments could look to modify ocean chemistry to boost its capacity for absorbing CO2 - a scenario that researchers say could help to limit global warming but could also have unintended consequences. What are the next steps for the treaty? Mr Macron's news on June 9 of 55 governments having ratified the treaty means it is still short by five signatures. The treaty will enter into force 120 days after 60 countries have ratified it. Work then begins on setting up institutions and committees to implement the treaty, while its signatories expect to hold a first conference within a year. Despite its involvement in the original treaty negotiations, the US under current President Donald Trump is not expected to ratify the treaty. What else is happening at the UN Oceans Conference? Mr Macron is co-hosting this third UN Oceans conference with Costa Rica, and with at least 55 heads of state, business leaders and civil society groups expected to attend the five-day event. Aside from discussions to advance the treaty, delegates are also expected this week to discuss overfishing, water pollution and other threats to marine life. They'll also be looking for fresh ideas on how to pay for it all - with ocean-linked financing lagging far behind other sustainable investment areas. For the five years spanning 2015 to 2019, ocean-related spending totalled US$10 billion (S$12.9 billion). By comparison, the UN estimates that every year at least US$175 billion is needed for marine protection. The last UN oceans summit was held in Lisbon and co-hosted by Kenya in 2022. The next, co-hosted by Chile and Korea, is set for 2028. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store