عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Russian-Installed Official Accuses Ukraine of Shelling Region Affected by Flooding 

A local resident stands with his bicycle in a flooded street in the town of Kherson, following flooding caused by damage sustained at the Kakhovka HPP dam, on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
A local resident stands with his bicycle in a flooded street in the town of Kherson, following flooding caused by damage sustained at the Kakhovka HPP dam, on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
TT
TT

Russian-Installed Official Accuses Ukraine of Shelling Region Affected by Flooding 

A local resident stands with his bicycle in a flooded street in the town of Kherson, following flooding caused by damage sustained at the Kakhovka HPP dam, on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
A local resident stands with his bicycle in a flooded street in the town of Kherson, following flooding caused by damage sustained at the Kakhovka HPP dam, on June 6, 2023. (AFP)

The Russian-installed governor of part of Ukraine's Kherson region controlled by Moscow said on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces were still shelling it despite widespread flooding caused by the destruction of the area's huge Nova Kakhovka dam.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the claim by Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor. There was no immediate response to the allegation from Ukraine.

"Ukrainian armed forces continue shelling. The shelling is more chaotic than targeted. Sometimes infrastructure is damaged," Saldo told Russia's Rossiya 24 state TV channel.

He said Russia should respond by "maximizing the destruction" of Ukrainian military hardware deployed on the right (west) bank of the Dnipro river, which Ukraine controls.

Moscow controls the left (east) bank.

Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia claimed to have unilaterally annexed last year, a move rejected as illegal by Kyiv and the West. Russia does not fully control any of the four regions and was forced to retreat from the west bank of the Dnipro last November.

About 42,000 people are at risk from flooding in Russian- and Ukrainian-controlled areas along the Dnipro after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed.

Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the destruction of the dam, which has sent floodwaters across a war zone and forced thousands to flee. Some independent experts say the dam may have collapsed due to earlier damage and intense pressure on it.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Trump Administration to Cancel Student Visas of Pro-Palestinian Protesters

The Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses. (AFP)
The Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses. (AFP)
TT
TT

Trump Administration to Cancel Student Visas of Pro-Palestinian Protesters

The Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses. (AFP)
The Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Wednesday to combat antisemitism and pledge to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests, a White House official said.

A fact sheet on the order promises "immediate action" by the Justice Department to prosecute "terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews" and marshal all federal resources to combat what it called "the explosion of antisemitism on our campuses and streets" since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

"To all the resident aliens who joined in the protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you," Trump said in the fact sheet.

"I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before."

The Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses, with civil rights groups documenting rising antisemitic, anti-Arab and Islamophobic incidents.

The order will require agency and department leaders to provide the White House with recommendations within 60 days on all criminal and civil authorities that could be used to fight antisemitism, and would demand "the removal of resident aliens who violate our laws."

The fact sheet said protesters engaged in pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, blocked Jewish students from attending classes and assaulted worshippers at synagogues, as well as vandalizing US monuments and statues.

Many pro-Palestinian protesters denied supporting Hamas or engaging in antisemitic acts, and said they were demonstrating against Israel's military assault on Gaza, where health authorities say more than 47,000 people have been killed.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a large Muslim advocacy group, accused the Trump administration of an assault on "free speech and Palestinian humanity under the guise of combating antisemitism," and described Wednesday's order as "dishonest, overbroad and unenforceable."

During his 2024 election campaign, Trump promised to deport those he called "pro-Hamas" students in the United States on visas.

On his first day in office, he signed an executive order that rights groups say lays the groundwork for the reinstatement of a ban on travelers from predominantly Muslim or Arab countries, and offers wider authorities to use ideological exclusion to deny visa requests and remove individuals already in the country.