World
Freeing Ukraine’s food supply to help feed the world will be difficult and dangerous.
DAVOS, Switzerland — Fears of a worldwide meals disaster are swelling as a Russian blockade of Ukrainian seaports and assaults on its grain warehouses have choked off one of many world’s breadbaskets, deepening fears that President Vladimir V. Putin is utilizing meals as a robust new weapon in his three-month-old struggle.
World leaders referred to as for worldwide motion to ship 20 million tons of grain trapped in Ukraine. Some warned that except the port of Odesa is opened quickly, there’s a risk of famine in some nations and political unrest in others, in what may very well be the gravest international repercussion but of Russia’s assault on its neighbor.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Fee, accused Russian troops of confiscating Ukrainian grain shares and agricultural equipment, Russian artillery of bombarding grain warehouses, and warships within the Black Sea of trapping Ukrainian cargo vessels laden with wheat and sunflower seeds.
“On high of this, Russia is now hoarding its personal meals exports as a type of blackmail, holding again provides to extend international costs, or buying and selling wheat in change for political assist,” Ms. von der Leyen mentioned to an annual gathering of political and enterprise leaders within the Swiss ski resort of Davos.
The European Union, she mentioned, was working to open different routes for shipments overland, linking Ukraine’s borders to European ports. However with the West reluctant to danger a direct navy confrontation with Russia and the world’s meals distribution community already creaky due to pandemic-related provide disruptions, releasing up Ukraine’s meals exports might be tough and harmful.
Among the many proposals circulating, based on a number of information experiences, was one from a Lithuanian authorities official during which a flotilla of ships, escorted by vessels from non-NATO nations, would attempt to break the Russian naval blockade off Odesa and escort Ukrainian cargo ships. Nations most affected by meals shortages, like Egypt, would provide the escort ships.
On the World Financial Discussion board, the place worries in regards to the struggle’s ripple results have already eclipsed virtually each different international challenge, political leaders and meals safety specialists reached for apocalyptic language to explain the risk.
“It’s an ideal storm inside an ideal storm,” mentioned David Beasley, the manager director of the World Meals Program, a United Nations company. “If we don’t get the port of Odesa open, it’ll compound our issues.” Calling the state of affairs “completely essential,” he warned, “We can have famines all over the world.”
World
Israel strikes site in Iran in retaliation for weekend assault: source
Israel carried out limited strikes in Iran early Friday in retaliation for Tehran firing a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel late Saturday.
Fox News Digital has confirmed there have been explosions in Isfahan province where Natanz is located though it is not clear whether it has been hit. Natanz is the site of one of Iran’s nuclear facilities, though state television has described all sites in the area as “fully safe.”
A well-placed military source has told Fox that the strike was “limited.” Sources familiar said the U.S. was not involved and there was pre-notification to the U.S. from the Israelis.
Pentagon officials have not confirmed the strike. The White House and the National Security Council (NSC) have declined to comment on the unfolding situation.
Commercial flights, meanwhile, began diverting their routes early Friday morning over western Iran without explanation as one semiofficial news agency in the Islamic Republic claimed there had been “explosions” heard over the city of Isfahan, Reuters reported.
The semiofficial Fars news agency reported on the sound of explosions over Isfahan near its international airport. It offered no explanation for the blast. However, Isfahan is home to a major airbase for the Iranian military, as well as sites associated with its nuclear program.
Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting around western Iran about 4:30 a.m. local time. They offered no explanation, though local warnings to aviators suggested the airspace may have been closed.
Iran later announced it grounded commercial flights in Tehran and across areas of its western and central regions. Loudspeakers informed customers of the incident at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, online videos purported to show.
Iranian state television began a scrolling, on-screen alert acknowledging a “loud noise” near Isfahan, without immediately elaborating.
Iran attacked Israel over the weekend in retaliation for Israel’s deadly strike on Iran’s consulate earlier this month that killed a dozen people, including a top general.
ISRAEL’S ADVANCED MILITARY TECHNOLOGY ON FULL DISPLAY DURING IRAN’S ATTACK
The weekend attack by Iran marked a major escalation of violence. Despite decades of hostilities between the two nations, Iran has never directly attacked Israel, instead relying on proxy forces in Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Iranian media says three drones downed after explosions heard in Isfahan
ABC News earlier reported Israel had launched a missile attack on a target in Iran, citing a senior US official.
Iranian state media said the country’s air defences brought down three drones over the central city of Isfahan, hours after US broadcasters, citing senior US officials, reported Israeli missiles had hit an Iranian site.
Iranian state television reported explosions in Isfahan, as air defences were activated and flights across several areas including Tehran and Isfahan were suspended.
Airspace was reopened about four and a half hours after the incident and there were no reports of casualties.
The state broadcaster reported that at “around 1230 AM GMT” three drones were seen in the sky over Isfahan, air defence was activated and they “destroyed these drones in the sky.”
ABC News reported earlier, citing a senior US official, that Israel had launched missiles at a site in Iran. CBS News also reported that an Israeli attack had taken place.
Israel promised to respond after Iran last Saturday launched a barrage of drones and missiles on the country, after a suspected Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate compound in Damascus killed two senior generals.
Iran’s space agency spokesman Hossein Dalirian said “several” drones had been “successfully shot down”.
“There are no reports of a missile attack for now,” Dalirian said on social media platform X.
Isfahan is considered a strategically important city and one that is host to several important sites, including military research and development facilities, as well as bases. The nearby city of Natanz is the location of one of Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites.
Nuclear facilities in Isfahan were reported to be “completely secure”, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported, citing “reliable sources”.
There were also reports of explosions in Iraq and Syria.
“There were strikes on a Syrian army radar position,” Rayan Maarouf, who runs the Suwayda24 anti-government website that covers news from Sweida province in the south, told the AFP news agency.
The United States and a number of European countries had been calling on Israel not to respond to Iran’s attack last week. There was no immediate comment from the White House or Pentagon.
On Thursday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres painted a dark picture of the situation in the Middle East, warning that spiralling tensions over the war in Gaza and Iran’s attack on Israel could descend into a “full-scale regional conflict.”
“The Middle East is on a precipice. Recent days have seen a perilous escalation — in words and deeds,” Guterres told the Security Council.
“One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable — a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved,” he said, calling on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint.”
World
They Graduated Into Gaza’s War. What Happened to Them?
These college graduates in Gaza finished training just one week before the war began.
We reached out to everyone in the class WhatsApp group to see how they were doing.
It’s difficult to reach anybody in Gaza. Blackouts are common, and internet access is sporadic. But 34 responded.
They were among Gaza’s most ambitious students.
The dentistry program at Al-Azhar University was very selective, and very demanding, and they had big plans. “We dream a lot — more than a brain can imagine,” one said.
But instead of starting new jobs, they found themselves plunged into endless days of burying the dead and fearing for the living.
The students had hired a videographer to capture their celebrations on the final day of exams, about a year before they finished their internships, in 2022. “The most wonderful day in our lives,” one said. That was before the Israeli assault in the Gaza Strip began.
We reached members of the class of 117 students through Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. They wrote or talked to us from tents and balconies. Some even climbed on water tanks or walked long distances to grab a phone signal.
All told us they had lost loved ones. Two of their classmates were dead. And many feared they would be next.
Most of their homes lay in ruins. Many described being hungry, and losing drastic amounts of weight.
The survivors described how their loved ones were killed. The New York Times was not able to verify every attack or the circumstances of every death.
This is not the first time war has come to Gaza. Israel and the Hamas militants who made the territory their stronghold have fought repeatedly over the years, but Gaza has never seen this degree of destruction and death. Israel says that it is doing what is needed to defeat Hamas, and that it takes great efforts to protect civilians, but even its allies have begun to characterize the bombing as indiscriminate.
The graduates spoke with anger, desperation and bewilderment about how much Israel’s bombardment, now in its seventh month, has taken from them.
“We had a lot of wars before, but this one is just different,” one said. “Usually it would affect people, but not people that you know. This war took everyone.”
Lost Classmates
The class WhatsApp group was how most of the graduates learned that two of their classmates were dead.
On Dec. 2, Aseel Taya was at home with her family, including her father, Sofyan Taya, a prominent researcher in physics and applied mathematics, when Israeli warplanes struck, the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education said. They were all killed.
“Why Aseel? What did she do to deserve that?” Mirna recalled feeling. “At that time it’s not easy to cry,” she said. “You only think that this is a lie and I will see her again.”
In February came word of another classmate’s death.
Noor Yaghi was sheltering with her family in central Gaza when Israeli airstrikes hit their home. She was “like a flower,” said Asmaa Dwaima, who described her “laughing and making fun of herself and us in the labs.” The Feb. 22 strikes killed at least 40 people, according to local media.
Noor’s remains were never found, said her cousin Asil Yaghi. “Her body seems to have become small pieces,” she said. “My heart is squeezing and my tears don’t stop.”
For many of the students, the talk is of bodies and body parts.
Muhammad Abdel Jawad was visiting an injured cousin at the hospital when he heard that the residential tower where he lived with his family had been hit. He returned home to find his sisters with “burns all over their bodies,” he said.
His father was missing.
Two days later, Muhammad went back to the remains of his home. “I found my father’s body in front of me,” he said. “I tried everything I could to get him out.” His 16-year-old sister was also killed, he said.
-
News1 week ago
Video: Election Officials Continue To Face Violent Threats
-
World1 week ago
Hope and anger in Gaza as talks to stop Israel’s war reconvene
-
News1 week ago
Arizona Supreme Court rules that a near-total abortion ban from 1864 is enforceable
-
Midwest1 week ago
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot hired to investigate so-called 'worst mayor in America' at $400 an hour
-
Technology1 week ago
Adobe overhauls Frame.io to make it a little more Trello-like
-
World1 week ago
EU migration reform faces tight vote as party divisions deepen
-
Politics1 week ago
Billionaire who helped Trump with $175M bond says he 'probably didn't charge enough'
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Civil War Movie Review: Alex Garland Offers ‘Dystopian’ Future