Top Putin Ally Visits Geneva as Italy and France Waive Flight Ban
Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the upper house of parliament, ranks third in Russia's hierarchy behind only President Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. She's leading a Russian delegation at conferences in Geneva organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, even as she's under US, EU, UK and Swiss sanctions for her role in the war.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US envoy meets Israeli hostage families in Tel Aviv
US envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday met the anguished families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, as fears for the captives' survival mounted almost 22 months into the war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack. Witkoff was greeted with some applause and pleas for assistance from hundreds of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, before going into a closed meeting with the families. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum confirmed the meeting was underway and videos shared online showed Witkoff arriving as families chanted "Bring them home!" and "We need your help." The visit came one day after Witkoff visited a US-backed aid station in Gaza, to inspect efforts to get food into the devastated Palestinian territory. Yotam Cohen, brother of 21-year-old hostage Nimrod Cohen, told AFP in the square: "The war needs to end. The Israeli government will not end it willingly. It has refused to do so. "The Israeli government must be stopped. For our sakes, for our soldiers' sakes, for our hostages' sakes, for our sons and for the future generations of everybody in the Middle East." After the meeting, the Forum released a statement saying that Witkoff had given them a personal commitment that he and US President Donald Trump would work to return the remaining hostages. The United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, had been mediating ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel that would allow the hostages to be released and humanitarian aid to flow more freely. But talks broke down last month and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is under increasing domestic pressure to come up with another way to secure the missing hostages, alive and dead. He is also facing international calls to open Gaza's borders to more food aid, after UN and humanitarian agencies warned that more than two million Palestinian civilians are facing starvation. - 'Without rest' - But Israel's top general warned that there would be no respite in fighting in Gaza if the hostages were not released. "I estimate that in the coming days we will know whether we can reach an agreement for the release of our hostages," said army chief of staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, according to a military statement. "If not, the combat will continue without rest," he said, during remarks to officers inside Gaza on Friday. Of the 251 people who were kidnapped from Israel during Hamas's attack in October 2023, 49 remain in Gaza, 27 of them dead, according to the military. Palestinian armed groups this week released two videos of hostages looking emaciated and weak. Zamir denied that there was widespread starvation in Gaza. "The current campaign of false accusations of intentional starvation is a deliberate, timed, and deceitful attempt to accuse the IDF (Israeli military), a moral army, of war crimes," he said. "The ones responsible for the killing and suffering of the residents in the Gaza Strip is Hamas." Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures. A total of 898 Israeli soldiers have also been killed, according to the military. Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed at least 60,332 people, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, deemed reliable by the UN. - Civilian deaths - Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed 21 people in the territory on Saturday. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said two people were killed and another 26 injured after an Israeli strike on a central Gaza area where Palestinians had gathered before a food distribution point run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). He added that Saturday's bombings mostly targeted the areas near the southern city of Khan Yunis and Gaza City in the north. Witkoff visited another GHF site for five hours on Friday, promising that Trump would come up with a plan to better feed civilians. Adnan Abu Hasna, of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, told AFP that the agency had "approximately 6,000 trucks ready for the Gaza Strip, but the crossings are closed by political decision. There are five land crossings into the Strip through which 1,000 trucks can enter daily." The UN human rights office in the Palestinian territories on Friday said at least 1,373 Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza had been killed since May 27, most of them by the Israeli military. Israel's military insist that soldiers never deliberately target civilians and accuses Hamas fighters of looting UN and humanitarian aid trucks. fa-dc/jsa
CNN
44 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump says two US Navy subs are moving ‘closer to Russia.' Here are the subs in the American fleet
Russia Federal agencies US military Donald Trump FacebookTweetLink US President Donald Trump said Friday he was ordering two US Navy nuclear submarines to positions closer to Russia, in response to remarks by Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president and current deputy chairman of its Security Council. In what he called an effort to be 'prepared,' Trump said in a Truth Social post that he had 'ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.' The president did not specify what type of submarines were being moved or where to, and the Pentagon usually reveals little about any of its subs' movements. The US Navy has three types of submarines, all of which are nuclear-powered, but only one of which carries nuclear weapons. Here's a look at the US submarine fleet: The US Navy has 14 Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines (SSBNs), often referred to as 'boomers.' SSBNs 'are designed specifically for stealth and the precise delivery of nuclear warheads,' a Navy fact sheet on them says. Each can carry 20 Trident ballistic missiles with multiple nuclear warheads. Tridents have a range of up to 4,600 miles (7,400 kilometers), meaning they wouldn't need to move closer to Russia to hit it – in fact, they could do so from the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian or Arctic oceans. SSBNs are strong nuclear deterrents as they are expected to survive an adversary's first strike. Their movements are among the Navy's most closely guarded secrets. At 560 feet (170 meters) long, the Ohio-class subs displace almost 19,000 tons submerged and have a crew of 159. They can reach a speed of 23 miles per hour. In the 1990s, the Pentagon determined the Navy didn't need as many Ohio-class SSBNs in the nuclear deterrent role, converting four of them into guided-missile submarines (SSGNs). Retaining the same overall specs as the boomers, the SSGNs carry Tomahawk cruise missiles instead of the Trident ballistic missiles. Each can carry 154 Tomahawks with a high-explosive warhead of up to 1,000 pounds, and a range of about 1,000 miles. They can also transport troops, who can be clandestinely deployed from lockout chambers in former ballistic-missile tubes, according to the Navy. Movements of the SSGNs are also highly classified, but in recent years the Navy made occasional note of their presence near military hotspots, to send a message of deterrence. These form the bulk of the US Navy's submarine fleet and are designed to hunt and destroy enemy subs and surface ships with torpedoes. They can also strike land-based targets with Tomahawk missiles, though they carry the Tomahawks in much smaller numbers than the SSGNs. Fast-attack subs come in three forms: the Virginia, Los Angeles and Seawolf classes. The Virginia class is the newest, with 23 commissioned as of July 1, according to a Navy fact sheet. They are 377 to 461 feet long, depending on their configuration, displace up to 10,200 tons, and have a crew of 145. The Los Angeles class is the oldest of the Navy's fast-attack subs, with 23 still in service. They are 360 feet long, displace 6,900 tons and carry a crew of 143. Finally, the Seawolf class is the smallest in the US fleet. Two of the subs, USS Seawolf and USS Connecticut – measuring 353 feet and displacing 9,100 tons – are more in line with standard attack boats, carrying torpedoes and cruise missiles. The third in the Seawolf class, the USS Jimmy Carter, is one of the most specialized craft in the Navy, with a hull extended 100 feet longer than the other two subs. 'This hull section provides for additional payloads to accommodate advanced technology used to carry out classified research and development and for enhanced warfighting capabilities,' the Navy says.
CNN
44 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump says two US Navy subs are moving following comments by an ex-Russian president. Here are the subs in the American fleet
US President Donald Trump said Friday he was ordering two US Navy nuclear submarines to 'appropriate regions,' in response to remarks by Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president and current deputy chairman of its Security Council. In what he called an effort to be 'prepared,' Trump said in a Truth Social post that he had 'ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.' The president did not specify what type of submarines were being moved or where to, and the Pentagon usually reveals little about any of its subs' movements. The US Navy has three types of submarines, all of which are nuclear-powered, but only one of which carries nuclear weapons. Here's a look at the US submarine fleet: The US Navy has 14 Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines (SSBNs), often referred to as 'boomers.' SSBNs 'are designed specifically for stealth and the precise delivery of nuclear warheads,' a Navy fact sheet on them says. Each can carry 20 Trident ballistic missiles with multiple nuclear warheads. Tridents have a range of up to 4,600 miles (7,400 kilometers), meaning they wouldn't need to move closer to Russia to hit it – in fact, they could do so from the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian or Arctic oceans. SSBNs are strong nuclear deterrents as they are expected to survive an adversary's first strike. Their movements are among the Navy's most closely guarded secrets. At 560 feet (170 meters) long, the Ohio-class subs displace almost 19,000 tons submerged and have a crew of 159. They can reach a speed of 23 miles per hour. In the 1990s, the Pentagon determined the Navy didn't need as many Ohio-class SSBNs in the nuclear deterrent role, converting four of them into guided-missile submarines (SSGNs). Retaining the same overall specs as the boomers, the SSGNs carry Tomahawk cruise missiles instead of the Trident ballistic missiles. Each can carry 154 Tomahawks with a high-explosive warhead of up to 1,000 pounds, and a range of about 1,000 miles. They can also transport troops, who can be clandestinely deployed from lockout chambers in former ballistic-missile tubes, according to the Navy. Movements of the SSGNs are also highly classified, but in recent years the Navy made occasional note of their presence near military hotspots, to send a message of deterrence. These form the bulk of the US Navy's submarine fleet and are designed to hunt and destroy enemy subs and surface ships with torpedoes. They can also strike land-based targets with Tomahawk missiles, though they carry the Tomahawks in much smaller numbers than the SSGNs. Fast-attack subs come in three forms: the Virginia, Los Angeles and Seawolf classes. The Virginia class is the newest, with 23 commissioned as of July 1, according to a Navy fact sheet. They are 377 to 461 feet long, depending on their configuration, displace up to 10,200 tons, and have a crew of 145. The Los Angeles class is the oldest of the Navy's fast-attack subs, with 23 still in service. They are 360 feet long, displace 6,900 tons and carry a crew of 143. Finally, the Seawolf class is the smallest in the US fleet. Two of the subs, USS Seawolf and USS Connecticut – measuring 353 feet and displacing 9,100 tons – are more in line with standard attack boats, carrying torpedoes and cruise missiles. The third in the Seawolf class, the USS Jimmy Carter, is one of the most specialized craft in the Navy, with a hull extended 100 feet longer than the other two subs. 'This hull section provides for additional payloads to accommodate advanced technology used to carry out classified research and development and for enhanced warfighting capabilities,' the Navy says.
