Putin using chemical weapons in Ukraine? German and Dutch intel make shocking claim against Russia
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Time of India
43 minutes ago
- Time of India
‘Worrying disappearance': 18-year-old French national missing in Iran; 20 Europeans under detention in country
Representative AI image An 18-year-old Frenchman, who also holds German citizenship, has gone missing in Iran during a cycling trip that began on June 16, a French diplomatic source was quoted as saying to news agency AFP on Sunday. The missing teen has been identified as Lennart Monterlos, based on social media posts, particularly from Instagram. 'This disappearance is worrying. We are in contact with the family about this,' the source said, referring to missing person alerts shared online. However, the source could not confirm if Lennart is among the Europeans recently detained in Iran on suspicion of spying for Israel. According to the French diplomat, Iran is carrying out 'a deliberate policy of taking Western hostages,' and French citizens are strongly advised not to travel to Iran. The official also warned that Iran is 'targeting French nationals passing through the country, accusing them of espionage and detaining them in appalling conditions,' which, in some cases, fall under the definition of torture under international law. Iran is believed to be holding around 20 European nationals, many in cases that have not been made public. Several Western countries, including France, accuse Tehran of using these arrests to pressure them for diplomatic concessions. Among those detained are three more people, currently unidentified, who have also been arrested recently. Iranian authorities claim two of them are Israeli spies, possibly linked to the recent Gaza conflict. Iran is also holding two French nationals, Cecile Kohler, 40, and her partner Jacques Paris, 72, since 2022. The Iranian government has accused them of spying for Israel, a charge strongly denied by French officials. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has demanded their 'immediate, unconditional release', and said Iran never officially informed France about the charges. 'We are extremely worried about their psychological state and the trauma of the bombings,' Kohler's sister Noemie said in an interview with BFM TV.
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First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
Russia and Ukraine trade massive drone attacks amid new arms deals
The Ukrainian attacks came just days after Russia pummelled Kyiv with waves of drones and missiles overnight into Friday, in what Ukrainian officials called the largest such strike since Moscow's all-out invasion read more A service member of a drone unit of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo of the Ukrainian Armed Forces controls a heavy combat drone while it flies over positions of Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine. File image/ Reuters Shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced agreements with Western partners that would allow Kyiv to expand up drone manufacturing, Russia and Ukraine fired hundreds of drones at one other on Sunday, causing chaos in Russian air travel. According to Russia's Transport Ministry, hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled on Saturday and overnight due to Ukrainian drone strikes, with photos spreading on social media showing masses huddling at Russian airports, including important international hubs in Moscow and St. Petersburg. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The flight interruptions occurred at Moscow's Sheremetyevo and St. Petersburg's main Pulkovo airports. Other airports in western and central Russia experienced difficulties. Russian air defenses shot down 120 Ukrainian drones during the nighttime attacks, and 39 more before 2 p.m. Moscow time (1100 GMT) on Sunday, Russia's Defense Ministry said. It did not clarify how many had hit targets, or how many had been launched in total. Early on Sunday, Ukrainian drones injured two civilians in Russia's Belgorod region near the border, its Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said Sunday. Russia pounded Kyiv last week The Ukrainian attacks came just days after Russia pummelled Kyiv with waves of drones and missiles overnight into Friday, in what Ukrainian officials called the largest such strike since Moscow's all-out invasion. The seven-hour onslaught killed at least two civilians, wounded dozens more and caused widespread damage, Ukraine said, while Moscow ramped up its push to capture more of its neighbor's land. In total, Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine that night, according to the country's air force. The barrages have coincided with a concerted Russian effort to break through parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where Ukrainian troops are under severe pressure. Large-scale Russian drone strikes on Sunday injured three civilians in Kyiv and at least two in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city in the northeast, officials said. A Russian attack involving Shahed drones also targeted port infrastructure in Mykolaiv in central Ukraine, according to local Gov. Vitaliy Kim. He reported warehouses and the port's power grid were damaged but there were no casualties. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Hours later, Russia launched a glide bomb and a drone at the front-line town of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine, killing four civilians and injuring a fifth, the prosecutor's office said. The drone struck a car in which a married couple were travelling, killing the 39-year-old woman and 40-year-old man on the spot, it said. Ukraine seeks to ramp up drone production Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Ukraine had inked deals with European allies and a leading US defense company to step up drone production, ensuring Kyiv receives 'hundreds of thousands' more this year. Zelenskyy did not name the US business in his nightly video address to Ukrainians, but said Ukraine and Denmark have also agreed to co-produce drones and other weapons on Danish soil. His remarks came days after the US paused some shipments of military aid to Ukraine, including crucial air defense missiles. Ukraine's main European backers are considering how they can help pick up the slack. Zelenskyy said plans are afoot to build up Ukraine's domestic arms industry, but scaling up will take time. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Ukraine has previously used homemade drones to hit high-value military targets deep inside Russia, demonstrating its capabilities and denting Moscow's confidence. Last month, Kyiv said it destroyed more than 40 Russian planes stationed at several airfields deep inside Russia in a surprise attack. Outmanned and outgunned, Ukraine's army has also turned to drones to compensate for its troop shortage and shore up its defenses. While Russia has ramped up offensives this summer on two fronts in Ukraine, analysts say the front isn't about to collapse. On Friday, Zelenskyy said he had a 'very important and productive' phone call that day with US President Donald Trump, discussing possible joint drone production alongside U.S-led efforts to end the war. Trump said his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday left him 'very disappointed,' adding he did not think Putin was serious about ending the fighting.
New Indian Express
2 hours ago
- New Indian Express
BRICS summit opens in Brazil with an eye on Trump's tariff policies, Middle East tensions
Three joint statements expected The restraint expected in Rio de Janeiro marks a departure from last year's summit hosted by Russia in Kazan, when the Kremlin sought to develop alternatives to US-dominated payment systems which would allow it to dodge Western sanctions imposed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A source involved in the negotiations told journalists Friday that some members of the group want more aggressive language on the situation in Gaza and Israel's attack on Iran. The source spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter publicly. 'Brazil wants to keep the summit as technical as possible,' said Oliver Stuenkel, a professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank and university. Consequently, observers expect a vague final declaration regarding Russia's war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East. As well as suiting Brazil, a watered-down and non-controversial statement may be made easier by the absences of Putin and Xi, Stuenkel said. Those two countries have pushed for a stronger anti-Western stance, as opposed to Brazil and India that prefer non-alignment. A Brazilian government official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the group is expected to produce three joint statements and a final declaration, 'all of which less bounded by current geopolitical tensions.' The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the summit's preparations. João Alfredo Nyegray, an international business and geopolitics professor at the Pontifical Catholic University in Parana, said the summit could have played a role in showing an alternative to an unstable world, but won't do so. 'The withdrawal of Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the uncertainty about the level of representation for countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are confirming the difficulty for the BRICS to establish themselves as a cohesive pole of global leadership,' Nyegray said. 'This moment demands high level articulation, but we are actually seeing dispersion.' Avoid Trump's tariffs Brazil, the country that chairs the bloc, has picked six strategic priorities for the summit: global cooperation in healthcare; trade, investment and finance; climate change; governance for artificial intelligence; peace-making and security; and institutional development. It has decided to focus on less controversial issues, such as promoting trade relations between members and global health, after Trump returned to the White House, said Ana Garcia, a professor at the Rio de Janeiro Federal Rural University. 'Brazil wants the least amount of damage possible and to avoid drawing the attention of the Trump administration to prevent any type of risk to the Brazilian economy,' Garcia said. While Brazil advocated on Sunday for the reform of Western-led global institutions, a cornerstone policy of the group, the country's government wants to avoid becoming the target of tariffs — a predicament it has so far largely escaped. Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs against the bloc if they take any moves to undermine the dollar. 'Best opportunity for emerging countries' BRICS was founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but the group last year expanded to include Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. As well as new members, the bloc has 10 strategic partner countries, a category created at last year's summit that includes Belarus, Cuba and Vietnam. That rapid expansion led Brazil to put housekeeping issues — officially termed institutional development — on the agenda to better integrate new members and boost internal cohesion. Despite notable absences, the summit is important for attendees, especially in the context of instability provoked by Trump's tariff wars, said Bruce Scheidl, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo's BRICS study group. 'The summit offers the best opportunity for emerging countries to respond, in the sense of seeking alternatives and diversifying their economic partnerships,' Scheidl said. For Lula, the summit is a welcome pause from a difficult domestic scenario, marked by a drop in popularity and conflict with Congress. The meeting also represents an opportunity to advance climate negotiations and commitments on protecting the environment before November's COP 30 climate talks in the Amazonian city of Belem.
