Russian airport in Dagestan closed as huge crowd of protesters storm runway ‘in search for Israeli flight’
At least 60 people have been detained after a huge crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters stormed an airport in Russia's Dagestan region, reportedly in search of a flight arriving from Israel. The crowd of hundreds broke through security barriers and poured out onto the airfield and runway of Makhachkala airport on Sunday evening, with videos on social media showing many young men among the protesters carrying Palestinian flags. Investigators have identified 150 people who were the most active protesters, the RIA news agency reported early on Monday morning. Nine police officers sustained injuries in the incident, two of whom were being treated in hospital, the authorities said. Russian media showed one group attempting to approach an aircraft on the runway after the identification number on the tail of the plane indicated it had arrived from Israel. Local authorities said 20 people were injured before airport security contained the protest and resumed control of the airfield, adding that no passengers on the plane from Israel were harmed. The unrest followed several other anti-Israel incidents in the North Caucasus triggered by Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza, which has killed over 8,000 Palestinians, with 40 per cent of the deaths being children. More than 1,400 people have been killed on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians during Hamas’s initial terror attack on southern Israel on 7 October. Videos emerging from the incident show the protesters, mostly young men, waving Palestinian flags and breaking down glass doors to enter the airport Antisemitic slogans were reportedly heard being yelled and some in the crowd aggressively examined the passports of arriving passengers. The Russian Aviation Authority closed the airport until it completed security checks and diverted flights, while investigation agencies ordered a criminal probe into the incident. Sergei Melikov, the head of Muslim-majority Dagestan, said the incident was a gross violation of the law, even as Dagestanis "empathise with the suffering of victims of the actions of unrighteous people and politicians, and pray for peace in Palestine". "There is no courage in waiting as a mob for unarmed people who have not done anything forbidden," Mr Melikov said on the Telegram messaging app. The Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia said the protesters had been cleared by 10.20pm local time (7.20pm GMT), but the airport would remain closed pending “normalisation” of the situation. According to The Guardian, posts on the social media platform Telegram had circulated saying that flights from Tel Aviv would be arriving on Sunday evening with refugees from Israel. “The situation is very difficult in Dagestan, people from the community are afraid, they call, and I do not know what to advise,” Ovadya Isakov, a government representative of the local Jewish community, told the Podyom news outlet. Israel urged Russian authorities to protect Israelis and Jews in their jurisdictions following the reports. A statement by the foreign ministry in Jerusalem said the Israeli ambassador in Moscow was working with Russian authorities. “The State of Israel views gravely attempts to harm Israelis citizens and Jews anywhere,” it said. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis”. While voicing support for a ceasefire in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, the regional Dagestani government appealed to citizens to remain calm and not take part in such protests. “We urge residents of the republic to treat the current situation in the world with understanding. Federal authorities and international organisations are making every effort to bring about a ceasefire against Gaza civilians — we urge residents of the republic not to succumb to the provocations of destructive groups and not to create panic in society,” the Dagestani government wrote on Telegram. The supreme mufti of Dagestan, Sheikh Akhmad Afandi, called on residents to stop the unrest at the airport. “You are mistaken. This issue cannot be resolved in this way. We understand and perceive your indignation very painfully. We will solve this issue differently. Not with rallies, but appropriately. Maximum patience and calm for you,” he said in a video published to Telegram. The protest poses another challenge for Russian president Vladimir Putin, who launched a war on Ukraine in February 2022. Mr Putin earlier condemned the bombing of Gaza, warning that the war could spill well beyond the Middle East. Moscow has tried to maintain contact with all sides in the Israel-Hamas conflict, but has angered Israeli authorities by inviting a Hamas delegation to Moscow. Israel’s foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador on Sunday. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky blamed the events on Russia’s “widespread culture of hatred toward other nations, which is propagated by state television, pundits, and authorities”. Read More Hundreds storm airport in Russia in antisemitic riot over arrival of plane from Israel Yousaf says in-laws still alive in Gaza after days without contact Ukraine bombards Russia with drones as Putin suffers losses in fight for Avdiivka Ukraine bombards Russia with drones as Putin suffers losses in fight for Avdiivka Russia-Ukraine war: Putin ally Lukashenko warns of ‘serious stalemate’ Trade tops the agenda as Germany's Scholz meets Nigerian leader on West Africa trip
2023-10-30 14:50
Toyota Global Sales, Output Hit Record 5.6 Million Vehicles
Toyota Motor Corp.’s global sales climbed 8.3% in April to September from a year earlier to a record
2023-10-30 14:45
Ukraine bombards Russian forces with drones as Putin suffers losses in fight for Avdiivka
Ukrainian forces fired more than 30 drones in a renewed assault over the weekend as Russian forces lost at least an entire brigade in their push for the eastern town of Avdiivka, officials said. The Russian air defence systems destroyed 36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, its defence ministry wrote on Telegram on Sunday, accusing Kyiv of carrying out a “terrorist attack”. In a separate incident, local officials in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region near the Black Sea said an oil refinery was hit and set ablaze in the early hours of Sunday but did not explain what caused the fire. Several local media outlets said that the fire was caused by a drone strike or a crashed drone’s debris. Officials in Kyiv have not issued a comment on the Russian defence ministry’s claims. The war-hit nation rarely acknowledges responsibility for attacks on Russia and Russian-occupied territories but has admitted that striking targets there helps its counteroffensive. The recent months have seen drone strikes and shelling on the Russian border regions and illegally annexed Crimea peninsula as a regular part of the continuing military offensive. This comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Vladimir Putin has lost “at least a brigade” of troops in his offensive push towards the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka. “The invaders made several attempts to surround Avdiivka, but each time our soldiers stopped them and threw them back, causing painful losses. In these cases, the enemy lost at least a brigade,” Mr Zelensky said. Avdiivka, about 25km (16 miles) from Russian-occupied Donetsk, is surrounded by Russian-held territory to the north, east and south, leaving only its west for Kyiv’s troops to resupply and evacuate people. In its latest push for the coke town, Ukraine claimed that Russia is pouring a huge number of forces. The offensive from Russia was renewed in mid-October as tanks and heavy military vehicles were seen heading for the town. Russian forces have since tried to shell Ukrainian positions with constant barrages of artillery, waves of troops and fighting vehicles. But these losses being borne by Mr Putin are likely among some of the highest Russia has seen this year, the British Ministry of Defence said in its intelligence update on the war, claiming that Moscow has probably committed elements of up to eight brigades to the fighting which is “heavy but inconclusive”. The British intelligence claimed that the Russian military bloggers have been “harshly critical” of the tactics Russia has deployed in the Avdiivka operation. Elsewhere on the war front, the Ukraine’s Air Force said its forces shot down five Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones fired by Russia overnight. Another four police officers were wounded when a shell fired by Russian troops exploded near their car in the city of Siversk, located in the partly occupied Donetsk province close to the front line in the country’s east where Ukrainian and Russian forces were locked in a battle for control. Read More Russia-Ukraine war: Putin ally Lukashenko warns of ‘serious stalemate’ If Putin dies, this is what would happen in Russia War-weary mothers, wives and children of Ukrainian soldiers demand a cap on military service time
2023-10-30 13:23
Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin ally Lukashenko warns of ‘serious stalemate’ as he urges fighting to ‘stop’
The Russia and Ukraine war is now “seriously stalemate” Alexander Lukashenko has warned as he urged the two sides to “come to an agreement”. The Belarus leader and Vladimir Putin ally, who has provided his country’s territory as a launch pad for Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, said that Ukraine‘s demands for Russia to quit its territory needs to be resolved at the negotiating table “so nobody dies”. He said: “There are enough problems on both sides and in general the situation is now seriously stalemate: no one can do anything and substantively strengthen or advance their position,” Lukashenko said. “They’re there head-to-head, to the death, entrenched. People are dying.” Speaking in a question and answer video posted on the website of the Belarusian state news agency BelTA, he added: “We need to sit down at the negotiating table and come to an agreement. “As I once said: no preconditions are needed. The main thing is that the ‘stop’ command is given.” Read More Thousands of Ukrainians run to commemorate those killed in the war Russians commemorate victims of Soviet repression as a present-day crackdown on dissent intensifies Russia accuses Ukraine of damaging a nuclear waste warehouse as the battle for Avdiivika grinds on Moscow succession: What would happen if Putin dies?
2023-10-30 13:17
Oil Drops After Israel’s Gaza Ground Offensive Starts Cautiously
Oil fell after Israel committed military forces to Gaza with a more cautious approach than it initially vowed,
2023-10-30 10:50
Israel Latest: Netanyahu Under Pressure; US Aid Plan Advancing
Israel widened its ground offensive in Gaza as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came under criticism over his unwillingness
2023-10-30 09:26
Australia Walks Away from Trade Talks With EU Over Agriculture
Australia has walked away for the second time in three months from talks with the European Union toward
2023-10-30 01:25
Rallying-Rovanpera clinches his second successive world title
Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera clinched his second successive world rally championship on Sunday after the Finn was runner-up in
2023-10-29 22:17
US Job Growth Is Expected to Cool as the Fed Looks to Pause Again
Employers in the US probably tempered their pace of hiring this month after beefing up payrolls by the
2023-10-29 21:47
Hedge Funds Pile Into Uranium Stocks Poised for ‘Dramatic’ Gains
Several hedge fund managers have started ratcheting up their exposure to uranium stocks, as they bet on significant
2023-10-29 15:59
BOE Likely to Highlight Recession Risk Ahead of Next UK Election
Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast. The Bank
2023-10-29 15:17
Live updates | Israeli military intensifies strikes on Gaza including underground targets
Internet and phone connectivity disrupted by Israel's heavy bombardment of Gaza were restored for many people on Sunday, even as the Israeli military intensified its strikes on the besieged enclave from the land, air and sea. The Israeli strikes had knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday and largely cut off its 2.3 million people from the world. Communications were restored to many in Gaza early Sunday, according to the telecoms company Paltel, Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmation on the ground. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday called the 3-week-old Israel-Hamas war a fight for Israel’s existence and said “‘Never again’ is now.” The Palestinian death toll passed 7,700, most of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 110 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids. More than 1,400 people were slain in Israel during a surprise incursion by Hamas militants, including at least 310 soldiers, according to the Israeli government. At least 229 hostages were taken into Gaza, and four hostages have been released. Currently: 1. Spider web of Hamas tunnels raises risks for Israeli ground offensive in Gaza Strip 2. Horror, hopelessness take hold with Palestinians cut off from outside world. 3. Mass graves, unclaimed bodies and overcrowded cemeteries replace funeral rites 4. AP Photos: Scenes of sorrow and despair on both sides of Israel-Gaza border on week 3 of war 5. U.S. Republican presidential candidates unbridled in support of Israel. 6. Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war. Here’s what is happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war: ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES HIT AREAS NEAR GAZA'S LARGEST HOSPITAL, RESIDENTS SAY CAIRO — Israeli airstrikes have hit areas around Gaza’s largest hospital, residents say, destroying roads leading to the facility, which is a major shelter for Palestinians fleeing Israeli bombardment. The Israeli military has renewed longstanding allegations in recent days that top Hamas leaders and operatives have built underground bunkers below Shifa hospital and accused the militant group of using civilians as human shields. Israel has not presented evidence, and Hamas denies the claims. “Reaching the hospital has become increasingly difficult,” Mahmoud al-Sawah, who was sheltering in the hospital, said over the phone on Sunday. “It seems they want to cut off the area.” Another Gaza resident, Abdallah Sayed, described the Israeli air and land attacks in the past two days as “the most violent and intense” since the war started. UN SECURITY COUNCIL SCHEDULES EMERGENCY MEETING ON MONDAY UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza on Monday afternoon at the request of the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council. INTERNET AND TELEPHONE CONNECTIVITY RESTORED FOR MANY IN GAZA CAIRO — Internet and telephone connectivity has been restored for many people in Gaza, according to the telecoms company Paltel, Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmation on the ground. The besieged Gaza Strip had suffered a communication blackout since late Friday, leaving its 2.3 million residents cut off from the outside world amid heavy Israeli air and land bombardment. RED CRESCENT SAYS BLACKOUT KEEPING AID OUTSIDE GAZA JERUSALEM — No international aid entered the Gaza Strip on Saturday, as the communications blackout created by Israel continued. Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, told The Associated Press that no aid trucks entered Gaza on Saturday because communication was impossible and teams inside Gaza couldn't connect with Egyptian Red Crescent or United Nations personnel. Before Saturday, a total of 84 aid trucks were let into Gaza, a tiny amount for a population of 2.3 million people in need of power, food, medical supplies and clean drinking water. 2nd US AIRCRAFT CARRIER GROUP MOVES INTO MEDITERRANEAN WASHINGTON — The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and its strike group has moved through the Strait of Gibraltar, putting two American carriers in the Mediterranean Sea, a rare sight in recent years. The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is already in the eastern Mediterranean, part of a buildup of forces as the U.S. supports Israel in its war against Hamas. The Eisenhower sailed into the Mediterranean on Saturday and is slated to move through the Suez Canal to the U.S. Central Command region as the American forces expand their presence in the Middle East to deter Iran and its proxy militant groups from trying to widen the war. COMMUNICATIONS BLACKOUT HAS PALESTINIANS PANICKING Now that Israeli bombs have cut off cellular and internet service for most of the 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip, it has fallen to a rare few Palestinians with international SIM cards or powered-up satellite phones to get the news out. They described scenes of panic and confusion as Israel’s military attacks from the air, land and sea in the most intense bombing yet in the three week war. Without social media to share their plight with the world, many seem consumed with fear and hopelessness. Reached by WhatsApp, freelance photojournalist Ashraf Abu Amra in northern Gaza said the international community must intervene to save the people of Gaza from immediate death. Palestinian journalist Hind al-Khoudary reported that some 50,000 people have converged on Gaza’s largest hospital, where doctors are exhausted from operating on patient after patient using dwindling fuel and medical supplies. GOP CANDIDATES OFFER UNBRIDLED SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL LAS VEGAS — Republican presidential candidates are professing unbridled support for Israel in speeches to an influential GOP Jewish group in Las Vegas. The campaign stop came as Israel entered a new phase of its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Former Vice President Mike Pence suspended his campaign and used his last speech as a candidate to called on Democratic President Joe Biden to unconditionally support Israel’s response to a Hamas attack that killed more than 1,000 Israelis. Candidates Tim Scott and Vivek Ramaswamy also said Israel’s right to defend itself is unequivocal. Nikki Haley noted that former President Donald Trump had lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Hamas attack and referred to the militant group Hezbollah as “very smart.” Trump, the frontrunner, called himself “the best friend Israel ever had.” ISRAEL CALLS HAMAS PRISONER SWAP OFFER ‘PSYCHOLOGICAL TERROR’ JERUSALEM — Hamas’s top leader in Gaza Yehia Sinwar said the Palestinian militant groups are ready to release Israeli hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s jails. “We are ready immediately to have an exchange deal that includes releasing all prisoners in the prisons of the Zionist occupation enemy in return for the release of all prisoners held by the resistance,” he said in a comment posted Saturday evening on Hamas media groups. The Israeli military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, dismissed the offer as “psychological terror” andsaid Israel is working on multiple channels to free the hostages. ISRAEL SAYS ITS WARPLANES HIT 150 UNDERGROUND TARGETS JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said Saturday that its warplanes struck 150 underground Hamas targets in northern Gaza, including tunnels, combat spaces and other infrastructure. But the extensive labyrinth of tunnels built by Hamas is believed to stretch for hundreds of miles (kilometers), hiding fighters, an arsenal of rockets and now more than 200 Israeli hostages. Clearing and collapsing those tunnels is crucial to dismantling Hamas. But Israeli’s military could be at a serious disadvantage underground. Urban warfare experts say the militants can be hiding in millions of places, choosing when and where to ambush their enemies. Former Israeli soldier Ariel Bernstein described urban combat in northern Gaza as a mix of ambushes, traps, hideouts and snipers in tunnels so disorienting that it was like he was fighting ghosts. ISRAELI PM SAYS GAZA WAR IS EXISTENTIAL, ‘NEVER AGAIN IS NOW’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war against Hamas will be “long and difficult,” calling it a battle of good versus evil and a struggle for Israel’s existence. Netanyahu told the nation in a televised news conference Saturday night that Israel has opened a “new phase” in the war – by sending ground forces into Gaza and expanding attacks from the ground, air and sea. He said these activities would only increase as Israel prepares for a broad ground invasion. The goal, he said, is the complete destruction of Hamas. “We always said, ‘Never again,’” he said. “'Never again' is now.” ROCKETS, AIR STRIKES AND ANOTHER HOSPITAL HIT A Palestinian militant group in Gaza said it fired barrage of rockets Saturday evening on Tel Aviv and on Ashkelon and Ashdod in southern Israel. The rockets by Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was the latest in a series of rocket attacks on Israel on Saturday. Israeli forces continued a relentless bombardment. One Israeli airstrike late Saturday afternoon damaged the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, according to freelance journalist Anas al-Sharif, one of the few journalists in Gaza able to connect to the outside world. He shared images of the hospital's damaged roof. The Israeli strikes cut off telecommunications and internet access for Gaza's 2.3 million people, disrupting ambulances and aid groups and enabling Israel to control the narrative in the new stage of fighting. Earlier Saturday, Israeli videos showed columns of armored vehicles moving slowly inside Gaza, the first visual confirmation of ground troops. PROTESTS SPREAD, CALLING ON ISRAEL TO STOP GAZA WAR PARIS — Police encircled hundreds of people who defied a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration Saturday in central Paris. The officers tried to contain the protest but fired tear gas when tensions rose as a breakaway group tried to march. The protest collective known as Urgence Palestine called for a cease-fire in the increasingly intense war between Israel and Hamas. Other pro-Palestinian demonstrations were held in Marseille and Strasbourg in the east. Demonstrations also took place Saturday in Turkey, London, Indonesia, Pakistan, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and New York, where protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge a day after filling Grand Central Station, many wearing black T-shirts saying “Jews say cease-fire now” and “Not in our name.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a rally of hundreds of thousands that Western nations are responsible and that “Israel, we will proclaim you as a war criminal to the world." ISRAEL DISMISSES CALLS FOR CEASE-FIRE AND HOSTAGE-SWAP JERUSALEM — As Israeli airstrikes and an intensified ground attack pounded northern Gaza on Saturday, a representative for the families of the hostages held by Hamas told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu they support a prisoner swap. “As far as the families are concerned, a deal of a return of our family members immediately in the framework of “all for all” is feasible, and there will be wide national support for this,” said MeIrav Gonen, the representative. Her daughter, RoMi, is one of the hostages. Israel’s government has not yet commented on Hamas’s offer to free all the hostages in exchange for Israel releasing all Palestinians held in Israeli jails. It was unclear if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the possibility of a prisoner swap during the meeting with the families, or if he specified any military or diplomatic plan to achieve the release of hostages. Israel’s military has said it will be able to continue its devastating campaign on Gaza while rescuing the hostages, and has dismissed the possibility of a Hamas-proposed cease-fire deal in exchange for their release. Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Saturday that by proposing the cease-fire, Hamas was engaged in a “cynical exploitation” of their famililes' anxieties. NETANYAHU MEETS FAMILIES OF HOSTAGES AS TUNNELS ARE BOMBED TEL AVIV, Israel -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he told representatives of the families of hostages that Israel will exhaust every possibility to bring them home. The Israeli military says Hamas militants kidnapped more than 200 people on Oct. 7 and took them into a network of tunnels inside the densely populated Gaza Strip. In the night from Friday to Saturday, Israeli war planes bombed Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers in dozens of strikes, heightening the concerns of relatives of hostages over the fate of their loved ones. Netanyahu and his wife Sara told the families in Tel Aviv that getting abductees released is one of the goals of the war and that the greater the pressure, the greater the chances for bringing them home. Hundreds of family members had demonstrated in Tel Aviv earlier Saturday, expressing fears that military leaders are being cavalier with the lives of the hostages. “The families feel like they’re they’re left behind and no one is really caring about them," said Miki Haimovitz, a former lawmaker. UN LEADER RENEWS CEASE-FIRE PLEA: ‘HISTORY WILL JUDGE US ALL’ CAIRO — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has reiterated his appeal for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, the unconditional release of hostages and a delivery of humanitarian aid the strip’s 2.3 million people. “This situation must be reversed,” he said Saturday in a statement following his meeting in Doha with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani. “This is the moment of truth. Everyone must assume their responsibilities. History will judge us all.” He warned that the ongoing escalation, including relentless Israeli bombardment and a communication blackout, would have devastating impacts and undermine “the referred humanitarian objectives.” Read More What the papers say – October 29 Ministers review extremism label as police arrest protesters for ‘hate crimes’ Israel says its war can both destroy Hamas and rescue hostages. Their families are less certain Israel enters ‘second stage’ of war in Gaza with troops and tanks Israel-Hamas war: Gaza blackout eases as ground invasion entering ‘second stage’ What would a ground invasion of Gaza look like?
2023-10-29 14:27