Military Aid and Arms for Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers handle equipment outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, February 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
Ukrainian soldiers handle equipment outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, February 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
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Military Aid and Arms for Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers handle equipment outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, February 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
Ukrainian soldiers handle equipment outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, February 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)

Several Western countries have provided Ukraine with military aid and weapons, since Russia invaded its neighbor on February 24.

Announced deliveries have mainly involved defensive weapons, but the situation is evolving fast, AFP said.

Among the offensive weapons which are playing an important role are US-made Javelin missile launchers capable of piercing the most sophisticated armor, such as T-90 Russian tanks, and Turkish drones.

Often the aid includes protective gear like helmets and body armor, and food rations.

Here is a panorama of announced military aid. It is not exhaustive and some of the promised aid has still to be delivered.

- United States -US President Joe Biden announced on April 21 a new package of $800 million in military aid for Ukraine.

The Pentagon said the newest round of US support will include 72 155mm howitzers, 72 armored vehicles to tow them, 144,000 rounds of ammunition, and more than 120 "Phoenix Ghost" tactical drones recently developed by the US Air Force specifically to address Ukraine's needs.

The new package follows another $800 million in military assistance announced by the White House on April 13, including helicopters, howitzers and armored personnel carriers.

Previously the United States had supplied or promised Ukraine 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 5,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles, several thousand rifles with ammunition and a range of other equipment.

- Turkey - Kyiv had before the Russian invasion around 20 Bayraktar TB2 drones, built by the Turkish military.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in early March Kyiv had received new drones, which some experts number at 16.

Kyiv also said a TB2 acted as decoy, distracting the defenses of the Russian warship Moskva with a TB2, while it pounded it with missiles on the other side before sinking it last week.

Some experts say that Turkish drones continue to be delivered to Ukraine, something not confirmed by Ankara.

- United Kingdom -The UK says it has distributed more than 200,000 items so far, including 4,800 NLAW anti-tank missiles, and a small number of Javelin missiles.

It also announced it was sending 6,000 other missiles, consisting of anti-tank and high explosive weapons.

It has also sent Starstreak high-velocity anti-aircraft missiles and according to reports is planning to send Stormer armored missile launchers, on which Starstreak can be mounted.

It has also vowed to send 120 Mastiff, Wolfhound and Husky armored vehicles and a new anti-ship missile system.

It has also sent Poland a Sky Sabre medium-range, anti-air missile system.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on April 22 the UK is considering sending tanks to Poland so that Warsaw can send its own to Ukrainian forces fighting against Russia.

- Canada -Canada has since 2015 committed over $141 million Canadian dollars ($112.6 million) for defensive military equipment for Ukraine. Some $118 million of that has come since February 2022.

Since February Ottawa has announced that it is sending defensive military aid, weapons and ammunition, hand grenades, rocket launchers, surveillance and detection equipment.

This week, it sent for the first time to Ukraine heavy artillery -- M777 howitzers -- and munitions. It also said it was planning to send armored vehicles.

- Germany -At the beginning of the conflict, Germany announced it was sending 1,000 anti-tank weapons, 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles, around 2,700 Strela anti-aircraft missiles, and ammunition to Ukraine.

According to media reports, Germany has also sent around 100 machine guns, 100,000 grenades, 2,000 mines, 15 bunker busting bombs, detonators and explosive charges.

Germany also has a say in where weapons that used to belong to the former East German army end up. Berlin has approved requests from other countries (Estonia, Czech Republic) to send some of those ex-East German, Soviet-era weapons to Ukraine, including howitzers and armored personnel carriers.

- Spain -Spain has shipped 200 tons of military equipment, including 30 trucks, several special heavy transport vehicles, and 10 small vehicles loaded with the military material to Ukraine.

- France -France has delivered more than 100 million euros of military equipment to Ukraine, according to Defense Minister Florence Parly.

France is sending several heavy artillery pieces to Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron said on April 22.

"We are delivering significant equipment, from Milan (anti-tank missiles) to Caesar (self-propelled howitzers)," Macron told regional newspaper Ouest-France.

- Nordic countries -Norway has sent 100 French-made Mistral anti-air missiles to Ukraine as well as 4,000 M72 anti-tank weapons.

Sweden announced in late February it would send 5,000 single use anti-tank launchers (internationally known as AT-4), then another 5,000 anti-tank launchers in March, along with demining equipment.

Finland announced in February it would send 2,500 assault rifles, 150,000 rounds of ammunition, and 1,500 single use anti-tank launchers. On March 24 the country said it would send another shipment of arms to Ukraine but did not provide specifics of what that would entail.

Denmark announced on February 27 that it would send 2,700 anti-tank launchers. On April 21, Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen, while on a visit to Kyiv, announced that her country would contribute another 600 million Danish kroner ($88 million) for weapons.

- Ukraine's neighbors - Poland has sent Ukraine drones, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Grot assault rifles, 60 mm mortars, and MANPADs short range surface to air missiles

There are also unconfirmed reports of Poland sending 40 T-72 tanks and 60 BMP-1 armored personnel carriers

Slovakia has so far contributed military material worth around 62.5 million euros and also provided an S-300 air defense system.

The EU member is also negotiating with Ukraine on the possibility of sending over Zuzana howitzers.

Romania said in late February it was sending fuel, ammunition and other military equipment totaling three million euros.

- Baltic states -Latvia has contributed military material worth more than 200 million euros -- including ammunition, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and their launch pads, unmanned aircraft and drones.

Lithuania said it has sent military aid to Ukraine worth "tens of millions" of euros. This includes Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, mortars, rifles, ammunition and other military equipment.

Estonia has given 227.5 million euros of military aid, including Javelin anti-tank missile system missiles, 122 mm howitzers, anti-tank mines and anti-tank guns, and handguns along with ammunition.

- Central and Eastern Europe -Slovenia announced in late February it was sending Kalashnikovs and ammunition.

According to German media Slovenia will send a large number of its assault tanks in return for German Marder tanks and Fuchs armored troop carriers.

Bulgaria is not officially providing military equipment to Ukraine due to opposition from pro-Russian socialists. But the country's exports of military equipment to EU countries almost tripled between February 20 and April 13 compared to the same period of 2021.

The Czech Republic has donated military material worth 45.2 million euros, including small arms and missiles. Local media have reported that Prague sent over Dana self-propelled howitzers and RM-70 Grad rocket launchers, Soviet-made T-72 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. The defense ministry has also announced that Czech companies will repair the Ukrainian army’s tanks.

- Belgium, Netherlands, Greece, Italy -Belgium says it has sent 5,000 automatic rifles and anti tank weapons to Ukraine.

The Netherlands in late February promised the delivery of 200 Stinger missiles.

Greece has provided defensive aid, including 400 Kalashnikovs, launchers and ammunition.

Italy is keeping its arms deliveries to Ukraine under a veil of secrecy.

- Japan - Japan has announced it will send electric generators and drones to Ukraine.



Russia Says It Destroyed 17 Drones Launched by Ukraine

Communal workers operate at the site of a rocket attack on a regional psychiatric hospital in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 27 April 2024. (EPA)
Communal workers operate at the site of a rocket attack on a regional psychiatric hospital in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 27 April 2024. (EPA)
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Russia Says It Destroyed 17 Drones Launched by Ukraine

Communal workers operate at the site of a rocket attack on a regional psychiatric hospital in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 27 April 2024. (EPA)
Communal workers operate at the site of a rocket attack on a regional psychiatric hospital in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 27 April 2024. (EPA)

Russia's air defense systems destroyed 17 drones launched by Ukraine over its territory, Russia's defense ministry said on Sunday, with a regional official saying the attack targeted an oil storage facility in the Kaluga region.

The defense ministry said on the Telegram messaging app that three of the Ukraine-launched drones were downed over the Kaluga region, south of Moscow.

Vladislav Shapsha, regional governor of Kaluga, said the drones fell near an oil depot near the town of Lyudinovo.

"There were no casualties or damage," Shapsha said in a statement on Telegram.

The Russian defense ministry also said nine of the Ukraine-launched drones were destroyed over the Bryansk region, three over the Kursk region and two over the Belgorod region.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Russia rarely discloses information about the full impact of Ukraine's attacks on its territory or infrastructure.

Kyiv officials say targeting Russia's military, energy and transport infrastructure undermines Moscow's war effort.


Chants of ‘Shame on You’ Greet Guests at White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shadowed by War in Gaza

 A makeshift memorial to slain Palestinian journalists is set up on a sidewalk as pro-Palestinian protestors demonstrate outside the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner at the Washington Hilton, in Washington, DC, on April 27, 2024. (AFP)
A makeshift memorial to slain Palestinian journalists is set up on a sidewalk as pro-Palestinian protestors demonstrate outside the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner at the Washington Hilton, in Washington, DC, on April 27, 2024. (AFP)
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Chants of ‘Shame on You’ Greet Guests at White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shadowed by War in Gaza

 A makeshift memorial to slain Palestinian journalists is set up on a sidewalk as pro-Palestinian protestors demonstrate outside the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner at the Washington Hilton, in Washington, DC, on April 27, 2024. (AFP)
A makeshift memorial to slain Palestinian journalists is set up on a sidewalk as pro-Palestinian protestors demonstrate outside the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner at the Washington Hilton, in Washington, DC, on April 27, 2024. (AFP)

The war in Gaza spurred large protests outside a glitzy roast with President Joe Biden, journalists, politicians and celebrities Saturday but went all but unmentioned by participants inside, with Biden instead using the annual White House correspondents’ dinner to make both jokes and grim warnings about Republican rival Donald Trump’s fight to reclaim the US presidency.

An evening normally devoted to presidents, journalists and comedians taking outrageous pokes at political scandals and each other often seemed this year to illustrate the difficulty of putting aside the coming presidential election and the troubles in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Biden opened his roast with a direct but joking focus on Trump, calling him "sleepy Don," in reference to a nickname Trump had given the president previously.

Despite being similar in age, Biden said, the two presidential hopefuls have little else in common. "My vice president actually endorses me," Biden said. Former Trump Vice President Mike Pence has refused to endorse Trump’s reelection bid.

But the president quickly segued to a grim speech about what he believes is at stake this election, saying that another Trump administration would be even more harmful to America than his first term.

"We have to take this serious — eight years ago we could have written it off as ‘Trump talk’ but not after January 6," Biden told the audience, referring to the supporters of Trump who stormed the Capitol after Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election.

Trump did not attend Saturday's dinner and never attended the annual banquet as president. In 2011, he sat in the audience, and glowered through a roasting by then-President Barack Obama of Trump's reality-television celebrity status. Obama's sarcasm then was so scalding that many political watchers linked it to Trump's subsequent decision to run for president in 2016.

Biden’s speech, which lasted around 10 minutes, made no mention of the ongoing war or the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

One of the few mentions came from Kelly O’Donnell, president of the correspondents’ association, who briefly noted some 100 journalists killed in Israel's 6-month-old war against Hamas in Gaza.

In an evening dedicated in large part to journalism, O’Donnell cited journalists who have been detained across the world, including Americans Evan Gershkovich in Russia and Austin Tice, who is believed to be held in Syria. Families of both men were in attendance as they have been at previous dinners.

To get inside Saturday's dinner, some guests had to hurry through hundreds of protesters outraged over the mounting humanitarian disaster for Palestinian civilians in Gaza. They condemned Biden for his support of Israel's military campaign and Western news outlets for what they said was undercoverage and misrepresentation of the conflict.

"Shame on you!" protesters draped in the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh cloth shouted, running after men in tuxedos and suits and women in long dresses holding clutch purses as guests hurried inside for the dinner.

"Western media we see you, and all the horrors that you hide," crowds chanted at one point.

Other protesters lay sprawled motionless on the pavement, next to mock-ups of flak vests with "press" insignia.

Ralliers cried "Free, free Palestine." They cheered when at one point someone inside the Washington Hilton — where the dinner has been held for decades — unfurled a Palestinian flag from a top-floor hotel window.

Criticism of the Biden administration's support for Israel's military offensive in Gaza has spread through American college campuses, with students pitching encampments and withstanding police sweeps in an effort to force their universities to divest from Israel. Counterprotests back Israel's offensive and complain of antisemitism.

Biden’s motorcade Saturday took an alternate route from the White House to the Washington Hilton than in previous years, largely avoiding the crowds of demonstrators.

Saturday's event drew nearly 3,000 people. Celebrities included Academy Award winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Scarlett Johansson, Jon Hamm and Chris Pine.

Both the president and comedian Colin Jost, who spoke after Biden, made jabs at the age of both the candidates for president. "I’m not saying both candidates are old. But you know Jimmy Carter is out there thinking, ‘maybe I can win this thing,’" Jost said. "He’s only 99."

Law enforcement, including the Secret Service, instituted extra street closures and other measures to ensure what Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said would be the "highest levels of safety and security for attendees."

Protest organizers said they aimed to bring attention to the high numbers of Palestinian and other Arab journalists killed by Israel's military since the war began in October.

More than two dozen journalists in Gaza wrote a letter last week calling on their colleagues in Washington to boycott the dinner altogether.

"The toll exacted on us for merely fulfilling our journalistic duties is staggering," the letter stated. "We are subjected to detentions, interrogations, and torture by the Israeli military, all for the ‘crime’ of journalistic integrity."

One organizer complained that the White House Correspondents' Association — which represents the hundreds of journalists who cover the president — largely has been silent since the first weeks of the war about the killings of Palestinian journalists. WHCA did not respond to a request for comment.

According to a preliminary investigation released Friday by the Committee to Protect Journalists, nearly 100 journalists have been killed covering the war in Gaza. Israel has defended its actions, saying it has been targeting militants.

"Since the Israel-Gaza war began, journalists have been paying the highest price — their lives — to defend our right to the truth. Each time a journalist dies or is injured, we lose a fragment of that truth," CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna said in a statement.

Sandra Tamari, executive director of Adalah Justice Project, a US-based Palestinian advocacy group that helped organize the letter from journalists in Gaza, said "it is shameful for the media to dine and laugh with President Biden while he enables the Israeli devastation and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza."

In addition, Adalah Justice Project started an email campaign targeting 12 media executives at various news outlets — including The Associated Press — expected to attend the dinner who previously signed onto a letter calling for the protection of journalists in Gaza.

"How can you still go when your colleagues in Gaza asked you not to?" a demonstrator asked guests heading in. "You are complicit."


Raisi Says Iran Not Seeking Nuclear Weapons

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi arrives at Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake near Colombo on April 24, 2024. (AFP)
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi arrives at Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake near Colombo on April 24, 2024. (AFP)
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Raisi Says Iran Not Seeking Nuclear Weapons

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi arrives at Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake near Colombo on April 24, 2024. (AFP)
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi arrives at Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake near Colombo on April 24, 2024. (AFP)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday his country was not seeking to develop nuclear weapons despite assertions from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it was close to acquiring enough material to develop a bomb.

“Iran is not planning on acquiring nuclear weapons because Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had issued a fatwa against them,” said Raisi according to the Arab World Press.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi had recently stated that Iran was weeks rather than months away from obtaining enough enriched uranium to develop a nuclear bomb.

“This does not mean that Iran possesses or will possess a nuclear weapon in that period of time,” he added in a report earlier this week.

Raisi, meanwhile, claimed that Tehran’s “nuclear ideology” does not at all include the development of nuclear arms.

He stressed that Iran was seeking to use nuclear technology for peaceful means.

He called for lifting the sanctions imposed on his country, declaring that they will not yield their desired results.

Vienna has hosted numerous rounds of talks between Iran and western powers with the aim of reviving Tehran’s 2015 nuclear agreement that the United States withdrew from in 2018.

An informed source denied claims that Iran was pursuing direct negotiations with the US to restore the deal, reported Iran’s IRNA news agency last week.

It said Tehran and Washington were still exchanging messages “within specific frameworks” and that top Iranian negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani was following up on the negotiations.

Iran is enriching uranium to up to 60%, close to the roughly 90% that is weapons grade, at its Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP) in its sprawling Natanz complex and at its Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP), which is dug into a mountain.


US Intelligence Believes Putin Probably Didn't Order Navalny to be Killed

FILE PHOTO: People lay flowers at the grave of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny following his funeral at the Borisovskoye cemetery in Moscow, Russia, March 1, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People lay flowers at the grave of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny following his funeral at the Borisovskoye cemetery in Moscow, Russia, March 1, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo
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US Intelligence Believes Putin Probably Didn't Order Navalny to be Killed

FILE PHOTO: People lay flowers at the grave of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny following his funeral at the Borisovskoye cemetery in Moscow, Russia, March 1, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People lay flowers at the grave of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny following his funeral at the Borisovskoye cemetery in Moscow, Russia, March 1, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo

US intelligence agencies have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin probably didn't order opposition politician Alexei Navalny killed at an Arctic prison camp in February, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
Navalny, 47 when he died, was Putin's fiercest domestic critic. His allies, branded extremists by the authorities, accused Putin of having him murdered and have said they will provide proof to back their allegation.
The Kremlin has denied any state involvement. Last month, Putin called Navalny's demise "sad" and said he had been ready to hand the jailed politician over to the West in a prisoner exchange provided Navalny never return to Russia. Navalny's allies said such talks had been under way.
The Journal, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, said on Saturday that US intelligence agencies had concluded that Putin probably didn't order Navalny to be killed in February.
It said Washington had not absolved the Russian leader of overall responsibility for Navalny's death however, given the opposition politician had been targeted by Russian authorities for years, jailed on charges the West said were politically motivated, and had been poisoned in 2020 with a nerve agent.
The Kremlin denies state involvement in the 2020 poisoning.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday he had seen the Journal's report, which he said contained "empty speculation.”
"I've seen the material, I wouldn't say it's high quality material that deserves attention," Peskov told reporters when asked about the matter.
Reuters could not independently verify the Journal report, which cited sources as saying the finding had been "broadly accepted within the intelligence community and shared by several agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the State Department’s intelligence unit."
The US assessment was based on a range of information, including some classified intelligence, and an analysis of public facts, including the timing of Navalny's death and how it overshadowed Putin’s re-election in March, the paper cited some of its sources as saying.


Russia Arrests Another Suspect in Deadly Concert Hall Attack

FILED - 25 March 2024, Russia, Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a video conference with the heads of the government, regions, special services and law enforcement agencies on measures taken after the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert complex. Photo: -/Kremlin/dpa
FILED - 25 March 2024, Russia, Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a video conference with the heads of the government, regions, special services and law enforcement agencies on measures taken after the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert complex. Photo: -/Kremlin/dpa
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Russia Arrests Another Suspect in Deadly Concert Hall Attack

FILED - 25 March 2024, Russia, Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a video conference with the heads of the government, regions, special services and law enforcement agencies on measures taken after the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert complex. Photo: -/Kremlin/dpa
FILED - 25 March 2024, Russia, Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a video conference with the heads of the government, regions, special services and law enforcement agencies on measures taken after the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert complex. Photo: -/Kremlin/dpa

A Moscow court has detained another suspect as an accomplice in the attack by gunmen on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed 144 people in March, the Moscow City Courts Telegram channel said Saturday.

Dzhumokhon Kurbonov, a citizen of Tajikistan, is accused of providing the attackers with means of communication and financing. The judge at Moscow's Basmanny District Court ruled that Kurbonov would be kept in custody until May 22 pending investigation and trial, The Associated Press reported.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said Kurbonov was reportedly detained on April 11 for 15 days on the administrative charge of petty hooliganism. Independent Russian media outlet Mediazona noted that this is a common practice used by Russian security forces to hold a person in custody while a criminal case is prepared against them.
Twelve defendants have been arrested in the case, including four who allegedly carried out the attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, according to RIA Novosti.
Those four appeared in the same Moscow court at the end of March on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing. The court ordered that the men, all of whom were identified in the media as citizens of Tajikistan, also be held in custody until May 22.
A faction of ISIS has claimed responsibility for the massacre in which gunmen shot people who were waiting for a show by a popular rock band and then set the building on fire. But Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin have persistently claimed, without presenting evidence, that Ukraine and the West had a role in the attack.
Ukraine denies involvement and its officials claim that Moscow is pushing the allegation as a pretext to intensify its fighting in Ukraine.


20 Cambodian Soldiers Killed in Ammunition Explosion

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, holds talk with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, right, in Peace Palace, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AKP via AP)
In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, holds talk with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, right, in Peace Palace, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AKP via AP)
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20 Cambodian Soldiers Killed in Ammunition Explosion

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, holds talk with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, right, in Peace Palace, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AKP via AP)
In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, holds talk with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, right, in Peace Palace, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AKP via AP)

Twenty soldiers were killed and several others injured in an ammunition explosion at a base in the west of Cambodia on Saturday afternoon, Prime Minister Hun Manet said.

Hun Manet said in a Facebook post that he was “deeply shocked” when he received the news of the explosion at the base in Kampong Speu province.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion and Hun Manet did not say in his post on Facebook.
According to The Associated Press, he offered condolences to the soldiers’ families and promised the government would pay for their funerals and provide compensation both to those killed and those injured.
Pictures from the scene showed a destroyed building still smoldering, and soldiers receiving treatment in a hospital.


Tornadoes Collapse Buildings and Level Homes in the US

Gopala Penmetsa walks past his house after it was leveled by a tornado near Omaha, Neb., on Friday, April 26, 2024. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
Gopala Penmetsa walks past his house after it was leveled by a tornado near Omaha, Neb., on Friday, April 26, 2024. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
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Tornadoes Collapse Buildings and Level Homes in the US

Gopala Penmetsa walks past his house after it was leveled by a tornado near Omaha, Neb., on Friday, April 26, 2024. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
Gopala Penmetsa walks past his house after it was leveled by a tornado near Omaha, Neb., on Friday, April 26, 2024. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

Tornadoes wreaked havoc Friday in the US Midwest, causing a building to collapse with dozens of people inside and destroying and damaging hundreds of homes, many around Omaha, Nebraska.
As of Friday night, there were several reports of injuries but no immediate deaths reported. Tornado warnings continued to be issued into the night in Iowa.
Three people were hurt in Nebraska’s Lancaster County when a tornado hit an industrial building, causing it to collapse with 70 people inside. Several were trapped, but everyone was evacuated and the injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.
One of the most destructive tornadoes moved for miles Friday through mostly rural farmland before chewing up homes and other structures in the suburbs of Omaha, a city of 485,000 people with a metropolitan area population of about 1 million, The Associated Press reported.
Photos on social media showed the small city of Minden, Iowa, about 30 miles (48.3 kilometers) northeast of Omaha also sustained heavy damage.
The forecast for Saturday was ominous. The National Weather Service issued tornado watches across parts of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. Forecasters warned that large hail and strong wind gusts were possible.
“It does look like a big outbreak again tomorrow,” said Becky Kern, the warning coordination meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Omaha office. “Maybe slightly farther south.”
Hundreds of houses sustained damage in Omaha on Friday, mostly in the Elkhorn area in the western part of the city, Omaha police Lt. Neal Bonacci said.
“You definitely see the path of the tornado,” Bonacci said, adding that many of the homes were destroyed or severely damaged.
Police and firefighters went door-to-door to help people, going to the “hardest hit area” with a plan to search anywhere someone could be trapped, Omaha Fire Chief Kathy Bossman said.
“We'll be looking throughout properties in debris piles, we'll be looking in basements, trying to find any victims and make sure everybody is rescued who needs assistance,” Bossman said.
In one area of Elkhorn, dozens of newly built, large homes were damaged. At least six were wrecked, including one that was leveled, while others had their top halves ripped off. Dozens of emergency vehicles responded to the area.
Three people, including a child, were in the basement of the leveled home when the tornado hit but got out safely, according to Dhaval Naik, who said he works with home's owner.
KETV-TV video showed one woman being removed from a demolished home on a stretcher in Blair, a city just north of Omaha.
Two people were transported for treatment, both with minor injuries, Bonacci said.
Crews were doing a second search of homes. Fire crews would work throughout the night to check all the unsafe structures and make sure no one is inside, Bonacci said.
“People had warnings of this and that saved lives," Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said of the few serious injuries.
The tornado warning was issued in the Omaha area on Friday afternoon just as children were due to be released from school. Many schools had students shelter in place until the storm passed. Hours later, buses were still transporting children home.
“Was it one long track tornado or was it several tornadoes?” Kern of the National Weather Service said.
The agency planned to send out multiple crews over the next several days to determine the number of tornadoes and their strength, which could take up to two weeks, she said.
“Some appeared to be violent tornadoes,” Kern continued. “There were tornadoes in different areas. And so it’s like forensic meteorology, we call it, like piecing together, all the damage indicators.”
Another tornado hit an area on the eastern edge of Omaha, passing directly through parts of Eppley Airfield, the city's airport. Officials halted aircraft operations to access damage but then reopened the facility, Omaha Airport Authority Chief Strategy Officer Steve McCoy said.
The passenger terminal wasn't hit by the tornado but people rushed to storm shelters until the twister passed, McCoy said.
After passing through the airport, the tornado crossed the Missouri River and into Iowa, north of Council Bluffs.
Nebraska Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Katrina Sperl said Friday afternoon that damage reports were just starting to come in. Taylor Wilson, a spokesperson for the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said they hadn’t seen any injuries yet.
In Lancaster County, where three people were injured when an industrial building collapsed, sheriff's officials also said they had reports of a tipped-over train near Waverly, Nebraska.
Two people who were injured in the county were being treated at the trauma center at Bryan Medical Center West Campus in Lincoln, the facility said in a news release. The hospital said the patients were in triage and no details were released on their condition.
The Omaha Public Power District reported nearly 10,000 customers were without power in the Omaha area. The number had dropped to about 7,300 by Friday night.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen posted on the social platform X that he had ordered state resources to be made available to help with the emergency response and to support first responders as they assess the damage.
“Nebraskans are no strangers to severe weather and, as they have countless times before, Nebraskans will help Nebraskans to rebuild,” Pillen said.


North Korea Accuses US of Politicizing Human Rights Issues

FILED - 20 April 2024, North Korea: A picture released by the North Korean State News Agency (KCNA) on 20 April 2024 shows a "super-large warhead" power test for a strategic cruise missile and a test-fire of a new anti-aircraft rocket near the Yellow Sea. Photo: -/YNA/dpa
FILED - 20 April 2024, North Korea: A picture released by the North Korean State News Agency (KCNA) on 20 April 2024 shows a "super-large warhead" power test for a strategic cruise missile and a test-fire of a new anti-aircraft rocket near the Yellow Sea. Photo: -/YNA/dpa
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North Korea Accuses US of Politicizing Human Rights Issues

FILED - 20 April 2024, North Korea: A picture released by the North Korean State News Agency (KCNA) on 20 April 2024 shows a "super-large warhead" power test for a strategic cruise missile and a test-fire of a new anti-aircraft rocket near the Yellow Sea. Photo: -/YNA/dpa
FILED - 20 April 2024, North Korea: A picture released by the North Korean State News Agency (KCNA) on 20 April 2024 shows a "super-large warhead" power test for a strategic cruise missile and a test-fire of a new anti-aircraft rocket near the Yellow Sea. Photo: -/YNA/dpa

North Korea accused the United States on Saturday of politicizing human rights in the East Asian country, denouncing what it called political provocation and conspiracy.
Pyongyang will make stern and decisive choices to protect its sovereignty and safety in response to Washington using human rights as a tool for invasion and hostile, anti-North Korea behavior, state media KCNA quoted a foreign ministry spokesperson as saying.
The spokesperson cited a special envoy on human rights in the administration of President Joe Biden. The envoy on North Korean human rights issues, Julie Turner, visited Seoul and Tokyo in February to discuss North Korea.
An annual report this week by the State Department described "significant human rights issues" in North Korea, Reuters reported.
It cited credible reports of "arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearance; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by government authorities.”
North Korea also criticized the US for urging it to stop launching missiles and other rockets for what Washington calls violations of UN resolutions, KCNA said, mentioning a South Korean satellite launch in April.
"We will carry out our critical mission as planned to enhance our space reconnaissance capabilities to ensure the security of our country," KCNA said in a statement citing a spokesperson for North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration.


Russian Missiles Hit Ukrainian Energy Facilities

Ukrainian rescuers work on the site after a glide bomb hit a private building in Derhachi city in the Kharkiv area, northeastern Ukraine, 26 April 2024, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV
Ukrainian rescuers work on the site after a glide bomb hit a private building in Derhachi city in the Kharkiv area, northeastern Ukraine, 26 April 2024, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV
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Russian Missiles Hit Ukrainian Energy Facilities

Ukrainian rescuers work on the site after a glide bomb hit a private building in Derhachi city in the Kharkiv area, northeastern Ukraine, 26 April 2024, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV
Ukrainian rescuers work on the site after a glide bomb hit a private building in Derhachi city in the Kharkiv area, northeastern Ukraine, 26 April 2024, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV

Russia launched a barrage of missiles at Ukrainian power facilities on Saturday, hitting locations in the center and west of the country, damaging equipment and injuring at least one energy worker, officials said.

Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on the Telegram messaging app that the Russian strikes targeted the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine and the western regions of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk.
DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, said its four thermal power stations were hit.

"The enemy again massively shelled the Ukrainian energy facilities," DTEK said in a statement. "The company's equipment was seriously damaged. At this very moment, energy workers are trying to eliminate the consequences of the attack."

According to Reuters, Galushchenko said one energy worker had been injured. DTEK also said there were casualties but provided no other details.
The commander of the Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched combined overnight strikes using a total of 34 cruise and ballistic missiles of which Ukrainian air defense shot down 21.
Since March 22, Russian forces have ramped up their bombardments of the Ukrainian power sector, attacking thermal and hydropower stations and other energy infrastructure almost daily.
Ukraine has lost about 80% of its thermal generation and about 35% of its hydropower capacity, officials said. Its energy system was already weakened by a Russian air campaign in the first winter of the war that Russia launched in February 2022.
Despite mild spring weather in recent weeks, Ukraine has faced an electricity deficit and the government had to introduce scheduled blackouts in several regions and turn to emergency electricity imports.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukrainian air defense shot down 13 Russian missiles, said Governor Serhiy Lysak.
"Unfortunately, we could not avoid the consequences. Energy facilities in Dnipropetrovsk and Kryvyi Rih regions were damaged, fires broke out."
Lysak said the water supply was disrupted in the city of Kryvyi Rih.
In the western regions of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk, firefighters were also extinguishing massive fires at several energy facilities, regional officials said.
"It is difficult for the energy system to maintain the production and consumption balance. We have to help," said Maksym Kozytskyi, Lviv regional governor, urging residents to save electricity, especially during the peak evening hours.


US to Withdraw Troops from Chad in Wake of Niger Exit

Nigeriens gather to protest against the US military presence, in Agadez, Niger, April 21, 2024 (Reuters)
Nigeriens gather to protest against the US military presence, in Agadez, Niger, April 21, 2024 (Reuters)
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US to Withdraw Troops from Chad in Wake of Niger Exit

Nigeriens gather to protest against the US military presence, in Agadez, Niger, April 21, 2024 (Reuters)
Nigeriens gather to protest against the US military presence, in Agadez, Niger, April 21, 2024 (Reuters)

The Defense Department announced on Friday that the US will pull dozens of special forces soldiers from Chad, days after announcing it would also withdraw troops from neighboring Niger.

Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder said a portion of the US troops in Chad would reposition out of the country.

He said it was a “temporary step” as part of an ongoing review of security cooperation with Chad, which would resume after the country's May 6 presidential election.

The US military is maintaining about 100 soldiers stationed in Chad to serve the strategy of dealing with extremist armed groups in the Sahel region.

In the letter dated April 4 to Chad's minister of armed forces, Air Force Chief of Staff Idriss Amine Ahmed said he had told the US defense attache to halt US activities at Adji Kossei Air Base after “Americans” had failed to provide documents justifying their presence there.

Chadian government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said the presence of US troops in the country stems from a shared commitment to combat terrorism. But, he added, “concerns have arisen from the army's General Staff about such presence.”

Koulamallah said, “The US government decided to temporarily withdraw troops from Chad to acknowledge this concern.”

He affirmed that the US move does not represent a severance of cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism.

Chad is the second country in Africa where the US announced the withdrawal of its troops, after neighboring Niger.

US political and diplomatic efforts have failed to come up with a form of security cooperation with the military authorities, currently ruling in Niger.

The US State Department announced that discussions have begun this week and will continue next week between the two sides for the orderly withdrawal of US forces from the country.

The US military has hundreds of troops stationed at a major airbase in northern Niger to fight terrorism in the Sahel region.

Niger's ruling junta, which ousted the democratically elected government in July 2023, announced its decision last month to immediately revoke a 2012 military cooperation deal with the US following contentious meetings between high-level officials on both sides in Niamey.

Spokesperson for Niger's junta, Col. Amadou Abdramane, justified his country’s decision to revoke the military cooperation deal, accusing the US of “condescending attitude combined with the threat of reprisals against the people of Niger.”