Russia Launches Drone Attack on Kyiv

This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on November 21, 2024 shows Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an air-attack, in Dnipro, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / State Emergency Service of Ukraine / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on November 21, 2024 shows Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an air-attack, in Dnipro, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / State Emergency Service of Ukraine / AFP)
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Russia Launches Drone Attack on Kyiv

This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on November 21, 2024 shows Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an air-attack, in Dnipro, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / State Emergency Service of Ukraine / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on November 21, 2024 shows Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an air-attack, in Dnipro, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / State Emergency Service of Ukraine / AFP)

Ukraine's air defense units destroyed more than 10 Russia drones that were targeting Kyiv in an overnight drone attack, Ukraine's military said on Sunday.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries as result of the attack, Kyiv's military administration posted on the Telegram messaging app. It said that the information on the full scale of the attack will be released later on Sunday.
"The UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were flying in different directions towards Kyiv," said Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration. "The air raid alert in the city lasted for more than three hours."
Reuters witnesses heard explosions in Kyiv in what sounded like air defense units in operation.
There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attack.



ICC Warrants are Binding, EU Cannot Pick and Choose, Borrell Says

23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
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ICC Warrants are Binding, EU Cannot Pick and Choose, Borrell Says

23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)

European Union governments cannot pick and choose whether to execute arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against two Israeli leaders and a Hamas commander, the EU's foreign policy chief said on Saturday.

The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged crimes against humanity.

All EU member states are signatories to the ICC's founding treaty, called the Rome Statute.

Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.

"The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It's not optional," Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.

Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.

"It would be very funny that the newcomers have an obligation that current members don't fulfil," he told Reuters.

The United States rejected the ICC's decision and Israel said the ICC move was antisemitic.

"Every time someone disagrees with the policy of one Israeli government - (they are) being accused of antisemitism," said Borrell, whose term as EU foreign policy chief ends this month.

"I have the right to criticize the decisions of the Israeli government, be it Mr Netanyahu or someone else, without being accused of antisemitism. This is not acceptable. That's enough."

Israel's 13-month campaign in Gaza has killed about 44,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly all the enclave's population while creating a humanitarian crisis, Gaza officials say.

In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".

The warrant for Masri lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Israel says it has killed Masri.