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2 nabbed for possession of shabu, explosives, guns in Zamboanga City
The police arrested two men after authorities discovered explosives, firearms and shabu from their hideout in Barangay Quiniput, Zamboanga City on Wednesday afternoon......»»
Cebu City buy-bust: Over P12M ‘shabu’ seized from 2 HVIs
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Police confiscated over P12 million worth of suspected shabu from the possession of two men during a bust-bust operation in Brgy. Bulacao, Cebu City on Tuesday evening, March 26. The buy-bust operation was conducted at around 10 p.m. in Lower Sario in Brgy. Bulacao. One of the suspects was identified as.....»»
Shabu dealer linked to Dawlah Islamiya busted in Marawi
Another drug trafficker identified with the Dawlah Islamiya was arrested after selling P102,000 worth of shabu to non-uniformed policemen in a sting operation Thursday in Barangay Cabasaran in Marawi City......»»
Israel urges evacuation of Gaza hospital, five schools: aid groups
Israel warned humanitarian groups in the Gaza Strip on Friday to evacuate a major hospital and five schools ahead of a potential strike, aid agencies said. The Al-Quds Hospital is in northern Gaza, which has borne the brunt of Israeli air raids since Hamas staged their biggest ever attacks on Israel on October 7. The Palestine Red Crescent launched an "urgent appeal" saying it had "received a threat from the occupying authorities to bombard Al-Quds Hospital". The Israeli warning "demanded" the hospital's evacuation, which would affect more than 400 patients and 12,000 displaced people who have sought "safe haven", the group said. "We call upon the international community to take immediate and urgent action to prevent another massacre similar to what occurred at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital," the statement added. A rocket attack on the Al-Ahli hospital killed hundreds of people, Gaza's Hamas authorities said. Hamas blamed Israeli jets, while Israel blamed misdirected fire by militants inside Gaza. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said in parallel that Israel had told it to evacuate five schools "as fast as possible". All of the schools are in Gaza City, close to the hospital. "We did what we could to protest and reject this decision, but this means that from now these facilities are no longer safe," said an UNRWA statement, calling on thousands of people in and around the hospitals to flee. The Red Crescent said last Saturday that it had received a similar evacuation order for Al-Quds Hospital. Palestinian media said a rocket attack hit near the hospital on Wednesday. Gaza authorities say more than 4,100 people have been killed in Israeli raids since the Hamas attacks that left 1,400 people dead. The attacks were the worst suffered by Israel since its creation 75 years ago. The post Israel urges evacuation of Gaza hospital, five schools: aid groups appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
US sanctions China-based drug network over fentanyl
The United States announced sanctions Tuesday on a China-based network for producing and distributing chemicals used to make drugs including those fueling a deadly national fentanyl crisis. President Joe Biden's administration has made the fight against fentanyl a priority, with the synthetic opioid blamed for tens of thousands of deaths in recent years. The sanctions targets include 25 individuals and entities based in China, alongside three other parties in Canada, the Treasury Department said in a statement. In a separate notice, the Justice Department announced eight indictments charging China-based chemical manufacturing firms and staff with crimes related to drug production and distribution. "We know that this global fentanyl supply chain, which ends with the deaths of Americans, often starts with chemical companies in China," Attorney General Merrick Garland told a press briefing. He said it was "critical" that Beijing stops the "unchecked flow" of precursor chemicals coming from the country, adding that US officials will also raise the manufacturing and trafficking of fentanyl with their Mexican counterparts. Tuesday's actions are aimed at exposing and disrupting a network "responsible for manufacturing and distributing illicit drugs," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. The China-based network is "responsible for the manufacturing and distribution of ton quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and MDMA precursors," according to the Treasury. The parties designated are also allegedly involved in trafficking xylazine -- a veterinary sedative known as "tranq" -- and nitazenes, which are often mixed with fentanyl or other drugs, posing a higher risk of a fatal overdose. Via Mexico cartels US authorities have noted that fentanyl is often coming from Mexican drug cartels that use precursor chemicals from China. The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on cartels, although some politicians call for tougher actions. Among the individuals designated on Tuesday are Wang Shucheng and Du Changgen -- members of a Chinese "syndicate" -- as well as their affiliates. Wang was said to have directed others to establish companies used as cover to move pharmaceutical goods globally, while Du maintains the most influence over the organization, Treasury said. The network is the "source of supply" for many US-based narcotics traffickers, dark web vendors, virtual currency money launderers and Mexico-based criminal organizations, Treasury added. "Du Changgen and persons operating under him have been responsible for approximately 900 kilograms of seized fentanyl and methamphetamine precursors shipped to the United States and Mexico," the department said. Companies Du owns have also been designated. Hanhong Pharmaceutical Technology Co, found to be linked to several members of the network, was targeted -- alongside three representatives who were involved in its sale of fentanyl precursors and protonitazene. Among others impacted were punch and die manufacturer Jinhu Minsheng Pharmaceutical Machinery and its part-owner, as well as other illicit drug distributors. The United States has also blocked over a dozen virtual currency wallets. The sanctions effectively stop those named from using the US financial system, and US citizens are barred from transacting with them. The post US sanctions China-based drug network over fentanyl appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
100 die in wedding party inferno
A newly-wed couple were among at least 100 people killed when their Christian wedding party venue caught fire on Tuesday night in the northern Iraqi town of Hamdaniyah. Health authorities in Nineveh province, where the town is located, said more than 150 attendees to the wedding were also badly injured when flames quickly engulfed the reception hall after fireworks were launched as the bride and groom were slow-dancing. Victims were being taken by ambulances to the main hospital in Hamdaniyah, a predominantly Christian town east of Mosul. “The majority of the injured suffer from burns and asphyxiation,” health ministry spokesperson Saif Al-Badr said, adding that there had also been crowd crushes at the scene. In a statement, civil defense authorities blamed the fire to “highly flammable” and low-cost ceiling panels that also released toxic gases while burning. The prefabricated panels inside the wedding party hall also contravened safety standards, according to the statement. Wedding attendee Rania Waad, who sustained a burn to her hand, said that as the bride and groom “were slow dancing, the fireworks started to climb to the ceiling, the whole hall went up in flames.” “We couldn’t see anything,” the 17-year-old said, choking back sobs. “We were suffocating, we didn’t know how to get out.” The ministry of health announced that “medical aid trucks” had been dispatched to the area from Baghdad and other provinces, adding that its teams in Nineveh had been mobilized to care for the injured. The post 100 die in wedding party inferno appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Fires kill 42 in Benin, Sicily, Taiwan
At least 34 people died in Benin near Nigeria’s border on Saturday when a contraband fuel depot exploded into flames, leaving dozens of charred bodies at the site, a government official and residents said. The blaze erupted at a warehouse for smuggled fuel in the southern Benin town of Seme Podji, where cars, motorbikes and tricycle taxis came to stock up on fuel, according to local residents. Nigeria is a major oil producer and fuel smuggling is common inside the country and along its borders, with illegal refineries, fuel dumps and pipelines sometimes causing fires. In Taiwan, a fire at a golf ball factory killed at least six people, three of them firefighters who died in an explosion, authorities said Saturday. The fire, which began Friday evening and raged all night, injured more than 100 people, most of them workers, the Pingtung county government told local media. One firefighter and three other people are missing. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen visited the scene on Saturday morning and expressed condolences to the victims’ families. She said an investigation into the cause of the tragedy is underway. In Sicily, Italy, wildfires were blamed for the death of two people and sent 700 tourists fleeing from their hotel overnight. A 42-year-old woman died after trying to save her horses in Cefalu, east of Palermo, the local civil protection agency said late on Friday evening. She was with her father and brothers but is believed to have become disorientated by the heat and smoke and slipped into a gully, it said. A 68-year-old man also died after fleeing his burning home near Balestrate, west of Palermo, the ANSA news agency said Saturday. The estimated 700 guests from the Hotel Costa Verde near Cefalu were evacuated to a local sports hall late Friday as fires approached, although they returned around 2 a.m. after the danger passed, ANSA said. Firefighters reported a busy night across the whole of northern Sicily, although relief was expected from rain forecast later Saturday, due to last several days. WITH AFP The post Fires kill 42 in Benin, Sicily, Taiwan appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Escudero to BOC: File charges vs. rice smugglers, hoarders
Senator Francis Escudero challenged the Bureau of Customs to immediately file charges against traders susceptibly involved in smuggling and hoarding rice. Escudero said such illegal activities have caused an artificial shortage of food staples and rice price spikes in recent months. The senator then slammed the BOC for its failure to disclose to the public the “names of traders and operators whose warehouses were raided by government authorities for tons of suspected smuggled rice.” “Ang dami nang raids na ginawa nitong mga nakaraang linggo, bakit hanggang ngayon, wala pang kasong isinasampa sa mga taong sangkot? (You have done so many raid activities this past weeks, why is it until now you haven’t filed cases to anyone involved?),” he said. Escudero stressed the need to file charges and ‘bring these economic saboteurs to court” so it could “serve as a warning” that the Marcos administration is indeed serious in its campaign against smugglers and hoarders. He said the authorities should not stop by just conducting a series of raids, instead, the efforts should showcase strong results. The Republic Act 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016 considers large-scale smuggling of agricultural products as economic sabotage, with "at least P1 million worth of sugar, corn, pork, poultry, garlic, onion, carrots, fish, and cruciferous vegetables, in their raw state, or which have undergone the simple processes of preparation and preservation for the market, or a minimum of P10 million worth of rice, as valued by Bureau of Customs." “Why haven't I heard anyone sued for economic sabotage or something? Who owns these warehouses? Who are the people involved?" Escudero asked, citing that the BoC-Port of Zamboanga seized some 42,180 sacks of rice worth P42 million in Barangay San Jose Gusu on 15 September. The local bureau inspected the warehouse on 19 May after receiving information that smuggled rice was being stored in the area. Two weeks prior, the BOC inspected three warehouses in Bulacan and found these stocked with suspected smuggled imported rice worth P505 million. It temporarily sealed and guarded these warehouses located inside the Intercity Industrial Complex in Balagtas, Bulacan. Aside from filing charges, Escudero said the government should also update the public on the development of these cases “in the spirit of transparency.” "Ito ang mga dapat nilang masagot ngayon (this what they should answer now): who oversees the disposition and how will it be disposed? Ano ang gagawin nila sa mga bigas na nakumpiska? (What will happen to confiscated rice?),“ Escudero said. In a news forum last Saturday, BOC Port of Zamboanga chief, Benito Lontok, said the agency is planning to donate the smuggled rice for the implementation of the Department of Agriculture’s Kadiwa Program and the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s assistance programs. However, Lontok said the plan is still “subject to approval” of BoC Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio and Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno. 'DA should step up' Meanwhile, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano urged DA to take more proactive measures to address the price hike in rice. Cayetano lamented the prices of rice remain high despite the government’s implementation of a price cap on the product. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier blamed smugglers and hoarders for causing the increasing prices of rice in the country. Hence, issuing the executive Order No. 39 on 31 August, mandated price ceilings for regular-milled rice at P41 per kilogram and well-milled rice at P45 per kilogram. The EO 39 will be implemented nationwide beginning 5 September. Marcos vowed the government would continue going after the rice smugglers and hoarders, including the imposition of penalties for those found guilty of violating the mandated price cap for rice. Cayetano lauded Marcos for this effort and for being a “sincere Agriculture Secretary” with a primary intent on the country’s food situation. However, he stressed that other DA officials should not rely on the Chief Executive for solutions. “The DA to seek long-term solutions to stabilize food prices, emphasizing that temporary measures may not address the root causes of the problem,” he said. The post Escudero to BOC: File charges vs. rice smugglers, hoarders appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Greek fires rage unabated for a week
Greek firefighters struggled on Friday to contain scores of blazes stretching nationwide -- the largest fires in the European Union this year. The biggest fire front was in the Evros region close to the Turkish border, near the northern port city of Alexandroupoli, where a mega blaze that erupted on Saturday raged untamed. "Unfortunately Evros is the most active part of all the fronts we are facing at the moment and perhaps the most difficult section that we will face today," fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios told state television ERT on Friday. The fire was consuming the Dadia forest, one of the major areas in Europe for birds of prey. The Alexandroupoli wildfires are now the largest in the EU on record for 2023 and the second largest since 2000, according to the bloc. The bodies of 19 people believed to be migrants, two of them children, were found in the area this week. "At the moment there is no big active front on Mount Parnitha," near Athens, Artopios said. A third large fire was still blazing in Boeotia, north of Athens, but the conditions were improved. A shepherd lost his life in the fires in this area on Monday. Authorities blamed arsonists for the multiple fronts that have emerged simultaneously in the country during the past few days. Artopios said investigations into the arsons now involve thed national intelligence service and the fire prevention department. A very high fire risk is forecast on Friday for central Greece and Athens. Fires had scorched more than 120,000 hectares (nearly 30,000 acres) of land across Greece in 2023 until Wednesday, according to estimates from the National Observatory. This year's burned land area is three times larger than the average annually since 2006, according to the European Observatory of Forest Fires. nks/ach © Agence France-Presse Add to cart Print Download The post Greek fires rage unabated for a week appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Russia attacks Odesa port
Russia fired missiles and sent explosive drones to Ukraine’s Odesa port Tuesday, a day after President Vladimir Putin vowed a response to Kyiv’s deadly bombing of a bridge in annexed Crimea. Ukraine’s military claimed downing six Kalibr missiles and 21 Iran-built attack drones, but said debris and the blast wave from the destroyed projectiles damaged parts of the port and several private homes. A total 36 drones were launched by Russia overnight and 31 of these were shot down by air defenses, Ukraine’s military southern command said in a statement. An “industrial facility” in the southern port city of Mykolaiv was also hit in the overnight attack according to local governor Vitaliy Kim. A fire had subsequently broken out before being extinguished, he said on Telegram, adding there were no casualties. Kyiv’s navy and SBU security service carried out the bombing of the Kerch bridge linking Crimea to Russia, using seaborne drones, a security service source told Agence France-Presse. Russian authorities said a civilian couple was killed and their daughter wounded in the attack on the bridge, which was also damaged last year in a blast Moscow blamed on Kyiv. Local officials said traffic across the bridge had been halted and encouraged holidaymakers stranded in Crimea to drive home through occupied Ukraine. Vehicle traffic was later “restored in reverse mode on the far right lane” of the bridge, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said. WITH AFP The post Russia attacks Odesa port appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Getaway car on journo ambush recovered
The Quezon City Police District on Thursday revealed that the getaway vehicle used in the shooting of Remate Online News staff Joshua Abiad was recovered in Nueva Ecija. QCPD director P/Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III said that the vehicle — a Toyota Vios with plate number NFE 5678 — was recovered at Purok 4 in Barangay San Anton, San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija on Wednesday evening. “An informant tipped it off,” Torre told the Daily Tribune regarding the authorities’ lead on the whereabouts of the vehicle. He added that the plate number attached to the getaway vehicle was discovered hidden at the left side corner underneath the matting of the car’s compartment and it was found out that the plate number was registered to a different vehicle. The development comes after one of the gunmen Eduardo Almario Legazpi II, also known as “Bingbong” was nabbed by authorities. Legazpi also claimed that a certain Nanad, a former barangay chairperson, is allegedly the mastermind behind the ambush. Torre said the village chairperson blamed Abiad as the source of negative information against him. Manhunt operations are still being conducted by joint operatives of Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit; District Anti Carnapping Unit; District Intelligence Division and District Special Operations Unit that also recovered the suspects’ get-away vehicle. The post Getaway car on journo ambush recovered appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Lawyers seek De Lemos head for NBI blunder
A group of lawyers who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal blamed the recent significant mistakes of the National Bureau of Investigation on overstaying Director Medardo de Lemos and called for his immediate resignation. The Department of Justice confirmed that Jose Adrian “Jad” Dera, a co-accused of former senator Leila de Lima in her remaining drug case, was arrested by authorities on Wednesday, 21 June, after he allegedly went out from and came back to the NBI Detention Center. Dera’s lawyer says his medical condition necessitates his leaving the NBI premises, even as the NBI has its medical doctor. DoJ Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said that “firearms, cash, and other contraband” were confiscated from Dera. Six NBI security personnel were arrested together with Dera. Dera is also implicated in the slaying of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo last 4 March 2023. Lawyer Levito Baligod, legal counsel for the Degamo family, said that aside from Jad Dera, alleged co-mastermind Marvin Miranda also enjoys furlough from corrupt NBI officials, leaving the NBI Detention Center as he pleases. A reliable source inside the bureau revealed that the Degamo witnesses’ recantation started with the arrest of Marvin Miranda, the alleged recruiter of the killers of Gov. Degamo. The same source said that he is an asset/informant of a newly-appointed Chief of a District Office of a province near Metro Manila, promoted by the NBI Director De Lemos himself. The same source said that unknown to the public, it was kept from the Department of Justice officials’ knowledge that Miranda is an asset/informant of a newly-installed Chief of a District Office of a province near Metro Manila. The same Chief of the District Office is married to a lady agent who also was a newly-installed Bureau Chief. The same person is rumored to be the paramour of the NBI Director. She was reported to have been with the latter during a foreign trip. “Miranda is a Trojan horse who has a connection with the top officials of the Bureau. And this is just one of the many things that are eroding the morale of the career officers and personnel of the NBI,” the source said in dismay. The widow of Governor Degamo, Pamplona, Negros Oriental Mayor Janice Degamo, in her Facebook post, said; “I have lost my trust in the NBI… It is in this facility that all gunmen recanted (their testimonies). Paano nangyari yun?” She added that “as if the Bureau has no IDEA at all how things like this could happen. Tapos nangyari ito na nahuli si Dera??? Tapos wala itong kinalaman sa recantation? Hanggang saan sa NBI umabot ang P25 million?” “We would request another agency of the government to handle the Degamo case, wag na sa NBI (expletive),” Mayor Janice emphatically said. An NBI source said the recantation of testimonies of all 10 gunmen in the Degamo case is a first in the history of the Bureau. The same group of lawyers said De Lemos might as well resign. He should have retired weeks ago as he reached the age of compulsory retirement last 8 June having reached the age of 65. “The compulsory retirement age of the NBI Director is sixty-five (65). Said position cannot be reappointed because the position is technical and not confidential,” as stated in the description of the position of the NBI Director. Extended term A copy of a memorandum from the Office of the President circulated on social media dated 9 June 2023, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin to Secretary of Justice Crispin Remulla, states “… Mr. De Lemos, who holds a coterminous appointment as Director (Director VI) of the NBI, is considered automatically extended in the service upon reaching the compulsory retirement age of 65 years on 8 June 2023, until the expiry date of his appointment which is until the end of the term of the President, unless his services are earlier terminated”. Executive Order 136 series of 1999 or the law Requiring Presidential Approval of Requests for Extension of Services of Presidential Appointees Beyond the Compulsory Retirement Age, however, states: “That Officials or employees who have reached the compulsory retirement age of 65 years shall not be retained in the service, except for exemplary meritorious reasons.” “The blunders at the NBI is surely not a meritorious reason for De Lemos to be extended in office,” one of the lawyers said. Also cited was a memorandum from Executive Secretary Salvador Madialdea, under then-President Rodrigo Duterte, dated 18 February 2021, and addressed to the heads of departments, agencies, offices, and instrumentalities of government, including Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations or GOCCs. “To ensure the effective and efficient delivery of service, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has instructed the strict adherence of all concerned to Republic Act 8921, otherwise known as the Government Service Insurance System Act 1997, which provides that the compulsory retirement age of government employees is sixty-five (65) years. As such, the extension of service of government officials and employees who have reached the compulsory retirement age will no longer be allowed,” the memorandum read. The post Lawyers seek De Lemos head for NBI blunder appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Sudan capital sees heavy fighting on eve of Muslim holiday
Fighting raged in the Sudanese capital on Tuesday, the eve of the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday, after paramilitaries seized Khartoum's main police base. Fighting in the city between the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces is now concentrated around military bases. At the same time in Sudan's west, the conflict is worsening to "alarming levels" in Darfur, the United Nations warned. Since the war erupted on April 15, the RSF has established bases in residential neighborhoods of the capital while the army has struggled to gain a foothold on the ground despite its air superiority. As the RSF fights to seize all of Khartoum, millions of people are still holed up despite being caught in the crossfire without electricity and water in the oppressive heat. Late Sunday the RSF announced they had seized the headquarters, on Khartoum's southern edge, of the paramilitary Central Reserve police sanctioned last year by Washington for rights abuses. On Tuesday the RSF attacked army bases in central, northern, and southern Khartoum, witnesses said. Mawaheb Omar, who has been stuck at home with her four children, told AFP that she expected Eid celebrations, normally a major event in Sudan, to be "miserable and tasteless as we can't even buy mutton". Looting On Saturday the UN urged "immediate action" to stop killings of people fleeing El Geneina, the West Darfur state capital, by Arab militias aided by the paramilitaries. Washington has blamed the "atrocities" in Darfur primarily on "the RSF and affiliated militia". The RSF is descended from the Janjaweed militia unleashed by Khartoum in response to a 2003 rebel uprising in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges. In the current fighting, the RSF has been accused of looting humanitarian supplies, factories, and houses abandoned by those displaced by the fighting or taken by force. Daglo responded to these accusations on Tuesday in an audio recording posted online. "The RSF will take swift and strict action" against those in its ranks who have carried out such abuses, he said. The RSF had announced on Monday evening that it was beginning to try some of its "undisciplined" members, as well as the release of "100 prisoners of war" from the army. Since the beginning of the conflict, both sides have regularly announced prisoner swaps through the Red Cross, without ever giving the exact number of those captured. Daglo, a native of Darfur, also spoke of the fate of this gold-rich area where more than one in four Sudanese live. We must "avoid plunging into civil war", he said. The UN and African blocs have warned of an "ethnic dimension" to the conflict in Darfur, where on Tuesday Raouf Mazou, the UN refugee agency's assistant high commissioner for operations, told a briefing in Geneva there is a "worsening situation" in West Darfur state. "According to reports from colleagues on the ground, the conflict has reached alarming levels, making it virtually impossible to deliver life-saving aid to the affected populations," he said. New fronts The army is not only faced with difficulties in Khartoum. New fronts have opened against it from a rebel group in Kordofan state, south of the capital, as well as in Blue Nile state on the border with Ethiopia. In South Kordofan, authorities have decreed a night-time curfew to curb the violence. The UN mission in Sudan, which withdrew almost all its staff from the country at the start of the war, expressed "grave concern" about the violence in Kurmuk, near the Ethiopian border. Fighting there has caused hundreds of civilians to flee to Ethiopia, it said. Since the conflict flared, around two million people have been displaced within Sudan, while another 600,000 have fled across the borders, mainly to Egypt in the north and Chad in the west. Aid has reached at least 2.8 million people in Sudan, the UN said, but agencies report major hurdles to their work, from visas for foreign humanitarians to securing safe corridors, and a lack of funds. A record 25 million people in Sudan need humanitarian aid and protection, the UN says. The post Sudan capital sees heavy fighting on eve of Muslim holiday appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Wagner chief to leave Russia in deal to ease crisis
The chief of the rebel Wagner mercenary force will leave Russia and won't face charges after calling off his troops' advance on Saturday, Moscow said, easing Russia's most serious security crisis in decades. The feud between Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russia's military brass came to a violent head in the past day, with his forces capturing a key army headquarters in southern Russia and then heading north to threaten the capital. Within hours of Prigozhin's about-face, the Kremlin announced he would leave for Belarus and Russia would not prosecute either him or the group's members. It had been a dramatic day of developments, with President Vladimir Putin warning against civil war, Moscow telling locals to stay off the streets and Kyiv revelling in the chaos engulfing its enemy. The tide shifted suddenly when Prigozhin made the stunning announcement that his troops were "turning our columns around and going back to field camps" to avoid bloodshed in the Russian capital. Prigozhin, who has feuded bitterly with Moscow's military leadership even as his outfit led parts of Russia's Ukraine offensive, said he understood the importance of the moment and did not want to "spill Russian blood". - Wagner troops cheered - By early Sunday Wagner had pulled fighters and equipment from Rostov-on-Don, where they had seized the military headquarters, said the regional governor. But before they left, dozens of residents were cheering and chanting "Wagner! Wagner!" outside the military headquarters they had captured. Authorities in the southern Lipetsk region announced the lifting of restrictions after earlier reporting Wagner fighters in their territory, where the local capital is just 420 kilometres (260 miles) south of Moscow. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said he had negotiated a truce with Prigozhin, drawing thanks from Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later told reporters that the "criminal case against him (Prigozhin) will be dropped. He himself will go to Belarus." Peskov also said that members of Wagner who had taken part in what authorities termed an "armed rebellion" will not be prosecuted. "Avoiding bloodshed, internal confrontation, and clashes with unpredictable results was the highest goal," Peskov added. Kyiv revelled in the chaos that engulfed its enemy. "Prigozhin humiliated Putin/the state and showed that there is no longer a monopoly on violence," presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter. While Russia claimed the rebellion had no impact on its Ukraine campaign, Kyiv said the unrest offered a "window of opportunity" as the nation pressed its long-awaited counter-offensive. - Moscow's warning - The United States and its allies publicly stayed on the sidelines as officials waited to see how the revolt would play out. US President Joe Biden spoke with the leaders of France, Germany and Britain amid concerns that Putin's control over the nuclear-armed country could be slipping. Moscow issued a stiff warning to the United States and allies to stay back. "The rebellion plays into the hands of Russia's external enemies," the foreign ministry said. Before Prigozhin's climbdown, Russian regular forces had launched what one regional governor called a "counter-terrorist operation" to halt the Wagner advance northwards up a main highway towards Moscow. In the capital, the mayor urged Muscovites to stay indoors and declared Monday a day off work. Security was tightened in the city centre, with armed men in flak jackets guarding the parliament building and Red Square closed off to the public. "I don't know how to react. In any case it's very sad this is happening," 35-year-old Yelena told AFP, declining to give her last name. The measures came after Prigozhin announced his troops had taken control of the military command centre and airbase in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, the nerve centre of Russia's offensive in Ukraine. - 'A blow to Russia' - Responding to the challenge in a televised address, Putin accused Prigozhin of a "stab in the back" that posed a threat to Russia's very survival. "Any internal turmoil is a deadly threat to our statehood and to us as a nation. This is a blow to Russia and to our people," Putin said, demanding national unity. "Extravagant ambitions and personal interests led to treason," Putin said, referring to Prigozhin, who began building his power base as a catering contractor. Another Putin ally, Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, declared that he had dispatched his own units to help quash the Wagner rebellion. Armed Wagner fighters deployed around administrative buildings in Rostov and tanks were seen in the city centre. As the insurrection force headed north through Voronezh and Lipetsk towards Moscow, the capital's mayor announced that "anti-terrorist" measures were being taken. Critical facilities were "under reinforced protection", TASS reported, citing a law enforcement source. While Prigozhin's outfit fought at the forefront of Russia's offensive in Ukraine, he repeatedly blamed Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, for his fighters' deaths. bur-jmm/jj © Agence France-Presse The post Wagner chief to leave Russia in deal to ease crisis appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Fear, grief after 41 dead in ‘brutal’ Uganda school attack
Grieving families buried their dead in western Uganda on Sunday while others searched desperately for missing loved ones after militants killed dozens of students in a "brutal" school attack. Officials say at least 41 people, mostly students, were massacred Friday in the worst attack of its kind in Uganda since 2010. President Yoweri Museveni, in his first statement since the attack, vowed to hunt the militants "into extinction". Victims were hacked, shot and burned in the late-night raid on Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe, which lies less than two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Pope Francis offered a prayer on Sunday for "the young student victims of the brutal attack" that has shocked Uganda and drawn condemnation from around the globe. Ugandan authorities have blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militia based in DR Congo, and are pursuing the attackers who fled back toward the border with six abductees. "Their action -- the desperate, cowardly, terrorist action -- will not save them," said Museveni. Fifteen others from the community, including five girls, were still missing, said Eriphaz Muhindi, chairman of Kasese district, which shares a long and forested border with DR Congo. - 'Great pain' - Families desperate for news waited all night in the cold outside a mortuary in nearby Bwera. Those able to identify loved ones embraced and wept as they took away the bodies in coffins. "We flocked (to) the hospital and found many bodies -- of boys and girls, some cut with pangas (machetes), others hit with hammers on the head," Roti Masereka, a farmer, told AFP. He left with the body of his brother -- 35-year-old Mbusa Kirurihandi, a security guard at the school -- and his 17-year-old son. But a third son, aged 15, is missing, and the family is distraught. "Today we have buried two bodies, the father and his son. But we are still looking for the missing child," he said. The government said Sunday it would assist with funeral arrangements and support the injured. Seventeen victims were burned beyond recognition when the attackers set a dormitory ablaze, frustrating efforts to identify the dead and account for the missing. Muhindi said they had been taken away for DNA testing, a process that could take some time. "This is a great pain to their families," he told AFP. - 'They wore military camouflage' - Officials said 37 students were killed -- 17 in the torched men's dormitory, and 20 female students who ran but were hacked to death. Elias Kule, an 18-year-old survivor, said the boys locked their dormitory door when they heard gunshots and saw armed men entering the school. "They wore military camouflage. Each had a hammer, a hoe, knives, pangas (machetes) and guns with magazines," he told AFP. He said the attackers started firing through the windows and doors, hitting at least one student, before lobbing a "bomb" into the dormitory that started a fire. "I ran out of oxygen, I covered my mouth and nose with a cloth... I got blood and smeared myself on the head and ears to claim I was dead," he said, waiting until the coast was clear to escape. Four non-students, including the security guard Kirurihandi, were also killed. - 'Appalling act' - The African Union, France and the United States, a close ally of Uganda, offered their condolences and condemned the bloodshed. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: "Those responsible for this appalling act must be brought to justice." Questions have been raised about how the attackers managed to evade detection in a border region with a heavy military presence. Major General Dick Olum told AFP that intelligence suggested the presence of the ADF in the area at least two days before the attack, and an investigation would be needed to establish what went wrong. Uganda and DR Congo launched a joint offensive in 2021 to drive the ADF out of their Congolese strongholds, but the measures have failed to blunt the group's violence. Originally insurgents in Uganda, the ADF gained a foothold in eastern DRC in the 1990s and have since been accused of killing thousands of civilians. The Islamic State group claims the ADF as its Central African affiliate. Attacks in Uganda are rare but in June 1998, 80 students were burnt to death in their dormitories in an ADF raid on Kichwamba Technical Institute near the DR Congo border. More than 100 students were abducted. The attack was the deadliest in Uganda since 2010, when 76 people were killed in twin bombings in Kampala by the Somalia-based group Al-Shabaab. gm-np/bp © Agence France-Presse The post Fear, grief after 41 dead in ‘brutal’ Uganda school attack appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Trump pleads not guilty
Former United States president Donald Trump’s attorneys pleaded not guilty on his behalf to charges of mishandling secret documents as he ranted against his prosecution after leaving the courtroom in Miami, Florida on Tuesday. “Today we witnessed the most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country,” Trump told supporters at his summer residence in New Jersey hours after being released on bond. On the eve of his 77th birthday, Trump was formally presented with 37 counts under seven charges. The US government — which has never before prosecuted a former president — accuses him of violating the Espionage Act and other laws when he removed classified documents upon leaving office in 2021 and failed to give them up to the National Archives. Authorities say he conspired to thwart investigators and knowingly shared national security secrets with people who did not have the requisite clearance. The runaway frontrunner in the 2024 Republican primary blamed President Joe Biden for his prosecution. “A corrupt sitting president had his top political opponent arrested on fake and fabricated charges — of which he and numerous other presidents would be guilty — right in the middle of a presidential election, in which he’s losing very badly,” Trump said, speaking from the front of the clubhouse, at a podium flanked by American flags. The day before his court appearance, Trump said he would appoint a special prosecutor on his return to office to investigate Biden, who is not facing any credible accusations of criminality. Tuesday's court appearance came and went without any major security incidents, as supporters and protesters lined the streets surrounding the courthouse of the Southern District of Florida, CNN reported. The post Trump pleads not guilty appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Wayward US plane’s pilot was slumped over, apparently unconscious: report
US aviation officials on Monday were investigating the fatal crash of an "unresponsive" private plane that strayed over the nation's capital and prompted the scrambling of F-16 fighter jets. The Cessna Citation slammed into mountainous terrain Sunday afternoon in Virginia, some 170 miles (275 kilometers) southwest of Washington, killing all four people aboard, officials said. The crash came shortly after the North American Aerospace Defense Command dispatched F-16s to intercept an "unresponsive" Cessna 560 Citation V aircraft over Washington, whose airspace is tightly restricted. According to The Washington Post, the pilot of one of the F-16s could see the pilot of the Cessna slumped over in the cockpit -- suggesting a loss of consciousness due to depressurization of the aircraft. NORAD said flares were deployed to try to draw the attention of the pilot but there was no response and the private plane eventually crashed near the George Washington National Forest in Virginia. "NORAD attempted to establish contact with the pilot until the aircraft crashed," it said in a statement. The F-16s triggered a sonic boom across Washington and its suburbs, startling residents and rattling windows for miles. "The NORAD aircraft were authorized to travel at supersonic speeds and a sonic boom may have been heard by residents of the region," NORAD said. Aviation experts speculated that the pilot of the Cessna may have become incapacitated due to depressurization of the aircraft, which can cause a rapid loss of consciousness at altitudes above 10,000 feet (3,000 meters). A loss of cabin pressure was blamed for a high-profile 1999 Learjet accident that killed golfer Payne Stewart and four other people. In that case, the Learjet, which was on a flight from Florida to Texas, flew for thousands of miles on autopilot before eventually running out of fuel and crashing in South Dakota. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board said they were investigating Sunday's accident. Virginia State Police said first responders reached the crash site near the town of Staunton by foot some four hours after the Cessna plummeted to the ground. "No survivors were located," police said in a statement. The Cessna had taken off from Elizabethton, Tennessee, bound for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York, the FAA said. But it turned around after flying over Long Island and headed back south over Washington and into Virginia, climbing as high as 34,000 feet according to flight tracking website Flightradar24. The Post said contact with the plane was lost about 15 minutes after its departure from Elizabethton and the aircraft may have continued to fly for hours on autopilot before exhausting its fuel and crashing. My family is gone President Joe Biden, who was at the White House and also played golf Sunday, was briefed on the incident, an official said without specifying whether any emergency precautions were implemented. US authorities have yet to officially identify those on board, but comments by two relatives of people believed to have been on the plane provided some information. Public records showed the aircraft was registered to Florida-based company Encore Motors of Melbourne, whose owner John Rumpel told the Post his daughter, a grandchild, and her nanny were on board. In response to condolence messages on her Facebook page, Rumpel's wife, Barbara, wrote on the platform Sunday night: "My family is gone, my daughter and granddaughter." The post Wayward US plane’s pilot was slumped over, apparently unconscious: report appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
What we know about India’s worst rail tragedy in decades
India's deadliest train disaster in decades killed at least 275 people and injured hundreds more, a tragedy officials have said was linked to an electronic signal system. While a final report has not been released into Friday night's crash near Balasore in the eastern state of Odisha, local media quoting preliminary investigations have pointed to human error connected to the signaling system. Trains resumed operations on tracks past the crash site on Monday. Here is what we know so far: What happened? The Coromandal Express, a passenger train travelling from Kolkata to Chennai, was diverted onto a loop line on Friday evening and slammed into a stationary goods train loaded with tons of iron ore. The collision flipped the carriages of the Coromandal Express onto another track. The derailed compartments then struck the rear carriages of another fast train, the Howrah Superfast Express from India's tech hub Bengaluru, which was passing in the opposite direction. The two fast trains were carrying more than 2,000 passengers. Trains in India are usually packed at this time of year, with many people travelling during school holidays. What went wrong? Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's railway minister, has suggested the crash happened due to the "change that occurred during electronic interlocking". That refers to a complex signal system designed to stop trains colliding by arranging their movement on the tracks. "We have identified the cause of the accident and the people responsible for it," Vaishnaw said, but added it was "not appropriate" to give details before a final investigation report was completed. Local media have quoted a preliminary investigation report, with the Times of India saying a "human error in signaling may have caused the collision between three trains". India's Railway Board has recommended a high-level probe into the disaster by the federal investigating agency. How many died? The death toll has been revised several times since the crash. Officials had initially reported it stood at 288 but the Odisha state government has since revised the toll downwards to 275 after some bodies were mistakenly counted twice. Of the 1,175 injured, 382 were still being treated in hospitals, authorities said Sunday. However, many fear the death toll could still rise because medical centres are overwhelmed by the number of casualties. It is the worst crash since 1999, when 285 were killed when two passenger trains collided at Gaisal in West Bengal, an accident blamed on human error. India's worst crash was in 1981, when an overcrowded passenger train plunged into a river during a cyclone in Bihar state, killing about 800 people. India's safety record India has launched a $30 billion railway infrastructure modernization in a bid to boost the economy and connectivity, and Vaishnaw said last month tracks were being "upgraded very rapidly". In 2022, India built 5,200 kilometers (3,230 miles) of new tracks, and upgraded or replaced about another 7,500-8,000 kilometres, Vaishnaw said. But analysts say that while accidents have reduced over time, India's antiquated rail system still has a long way to go. An average of 20,000 people died each year between 2017 and 2021 in rail accidents -- collisions, derailments and other causes -- according to official records. A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the country's top audit authority, said derailment was the reason for 69 percent of the accidents. Defective tracks, poor maintenance and old signaling kit combined with human error were the main cause, it said. Indian Railways, the world's fourth-largest rail network, runs some 14,000 trains daily with 8,000 locomotives over a vast system of tracks some 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) long. The trains carry more than 21 million people each day. The post What we know about India’s worst rail tragedy in decades appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
60 killed in Burkina Faso ‘by men in army uniform’
About 60 civilians were killed in a village in northern Burkina Faso by men wearing military uniforms, the local prosecutor said late Sunday, announcing an investigation into the latest bloodshed in the insurgency-hit country. Landlocked and in the heart of West Africa's Sahel, the country is one of the world's most volatile and impoverished. Attacks blamed on suspected jihadists are on the rise in Burkina Faso, which is battling an insurgency that spilled over from neighboring Mali. "About 60 people were killed by people wearing the uniforms of our national armed forces" on Thursday in the village of Karma, in northern Yatenga province, Ouahigouya High Court prosecutor Lamine Kabore told AFP in a statement, citing the gendarmerie. "The wounded have been evacuated and are currently being taken care of within our health facilities," he said, adding that the perpetrators had "taken various goods". The village of Karma is near the Malian border and attracts many illegal gold miners. According to residents contacted by AFP, survivors said more than 100 people on motorbikes and pick-up trucks raided the village. Dozens of men and young people were killed by the men, dressed in military uniforms, they said. Survivors gave a toll of "around 80 dead". The latest bloodshed occurred a week after 34 defense volunteers and six soldiers were killed in an attack by suspected jihadists near the village of Aorema, about 15 kilometers (10 miles) from provincial capital Ouahigouya and 40 kilometers from Karma. Following that attack, Burkina Faso's military junta declared a "general mobilization" to give the state "all necessary means" to combat a string of bloody attacks blamed on jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. The decree states that anyone over 18 years old and physically fit who is not in the armed forces will be "called to enlist according to the needs expressed by the competent authorities". The government had already announced a plan to recruit 5,000 more soldiers to battle the insurgency that has gripped the country since 2015. Captain Ibrahim Traore, Burkina's transitional president, has declared a goal of recapturing the 40 percent of the country's territory which is controlled by jihadists. The violence has left more than 10,000 people dead, according to non-governmental aid groups, and displaced two million people from their homes. Anger within the military at the mounting toll sparked two coups in 2022, the most recent of which was in September, when Traore seized power. He is standing by a pledge made by the preceding junta to stage elections for a civilian government by 2024. The post 60 killed in Burkina Faso ‘by men in army uniform’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Beijing hospital fire death toll rises to 29
Chinese authorities said on Wednesday they had detained a dozen people over a hospital fire in Beijing that left at least 29 dead and forced desperate survivors to jump out of windows to escape. The blaze, which broke out on Tuesday afternoon at the Changfeng Hospital in China's capital, killed mostly patients, and left scores of other people injured. Dramatic footage posted to social media showed people clinging to ropes and jumping from the building, while others perched on external air conditioning units in a desperate bid to shelter from the flames. The Fengtai district's deputy mayor expressed his "deep condolences" over the deaths of the 16 women and 13 men killed in the inferno, the deadliest in Beijing in over two decades. "We feel deep remorse and guilt," Li Zongrong told journalists as he announced the toll at a press conference on Wednesday. "I hereby express our deep condolences for the victims, and express our sincere respects to the victims' families, the injured and their relatives, and apologise to the people of the whole city," he said. Twelve people, including the hospital's director, have been detained in connection with the fire, said Sun Haitao from Beijing's public security bureau, adding that representatives from a company renovating the facility were among those being held. A preliminary probe revealed the blaze had been caused by "sparks generated during the internal renovation and construction of the inpatient department of the hospital", according to Zhao Yang from the city fire brigade. The sparks "ignited the volatile elements of the flammable paint on the site", Zhao said. 39 hospitalized State broadcaster CCTV reported that out of the dead, 26 were patients at the hospital, two were hospital staff and one was a patient's family member. State-run People's Daily reported that as of Wednesday morning 39 people were being treated in hospital with injuries, and another three had been discharged. Top city officials visited the hospital shortly after the fire, which broke out at around 1 pm on Tuesday and was extinguished half an hour later. Beijing party secretary Yin Li vowed to "quickly identify the cause of the accident and hold the relevant responsible persons accountable", according to the Beijing Daily. AFP journalists on Wednesday saw dozens of people outside the entrance to the hospital, where a large number of police officers were stationed. Some of the hospital's windows appeared blackened and at least one was broken. The facade of one of the hospital buildings was completely blackened by soot. AFP journalists saw people who appeared to be investigators taking photos from inside the blackened building, with the interior visibly damaged by the flames. Many family members lost contact with patients in the aftermath of the disaster, the China Youth Daily said in a separate report on Wednesday, adding that many of them were elderly people with mobility problems. A police officer on the scene on Wednesday told AFP the city "will probably make the appropriate arrangements" to take care of victims' relatives. The hospital is located in the capital's western urban area, about 25 minutes by car from Tiananmen Square. Deadly fires are common in China due to weak safety standards and lax enforcement. Tuesday's tragedy was the deadliest in the Chinese capital since a June 2002 fire at an internet cafe killed 25 students. Ten people died in an apartment block blaze in northwestern Xinjiang in November, sparking protests against Covid-19 lockdowns blamed for hindering rescue efforts. And 38 people were killed in a fire at a factory in central China, also in November, with authorities blaming workers for illegal welding. The post Beijing hospital fire death toll rises to 29 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»