2024-08-03 20:18

CAIRO, Aug 3 (Reuters) - A merchant vessel was hit by a missile 125 nautical miles east of Yemen's port of Aden, but "no fires, water ingress, or oil leaks were observed," and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call, British maritime agency UKMTO and British security firm Ambrey both confirmed on Saturday. Earlier reports from UKMTO and Ambrey indicated that the vessel might have been hit by an unknown explosive, potentially causing a fire on board. There were no injuries and all crew were reported safe, UKMTO and Ambrey said in their advisory notes. UKMTO added that it was the same vessel it identified as the MV GROTON involved in an incident it reported earlier, 170 nautical miles also east of Aden. Ambrey also reported the incident saying that it "assessed that the vessel had been targeted earlier today and reported a close-proximity explosion." Earlier on Saturday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it destroyed a Houthi missile and launcher in Yemen. If the Houthis claim responsibility, the incidents would be their first since Israel carried out a retaliatory airstrike against the group in the port of Hodeidah. The Houthi attacks have drawn U.S. and British retaliatory strikes and disrupted global trade as ship owners reroute vessels away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal to sail the longer route around the southern tip of Africa. Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since last November in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/uk-agency-reports-explosion-near-ship-east-yemens-aden-2024-08-03/

2024-08-03 14:03

KYIV, Aug 3 (Reuters) - The Ukrainian military said on Saturday that it had sunk a Russian submarine and damaged an S-400 anti-aircraft missile system in the illegally-occupied Crimean peninsula. The military said its attack had significantly damaged four launchers of the 'Triumf' air defence system on Friday. Ukrainian forces also successfully hit and sank the Russian "Rostov on Don" submarine in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, the military said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-military-says-it-sank-russian-submarine-damaged-anti-aircraft-missile-2024-08-03/

2024-08-03 12:55

Aug 3 (Reuters) - An al Qaeda affiliate in West Africa's Sahel region has taken two Russian citizens hostage in Niger, according to a video released by the group on Friday. The video from the media foundation of Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) includes what appears to be on-camera statements by the two captives, who say they were working for a Russian company in southwest Niger when they were taken prisoner. Speaking in Russian-accented English, both identified themselves as Russians and said they were taken hostage in Mbanga, an area about 60 km (40 miles) west of the capital Niamey. They did not say when this happened. One called himself Yuri and said he was a geologist, the other gave his name as Greg and said he came to work in Niger a month ago. It was not clear when the video was filmed or where. The pair spoke in front of a backdrop made out of traditional West African cloth. The video did not include a ransom demand. Russia's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A security source in Niger, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the pair were taken about a week ago while visiting gold mines. Mbanga is located in the gold-rich Tillaberi region, where Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State are active in insurgencies that have destabilised swathes of territory in Niger, and in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso. Since seizing power in a coup last year, the Niger junta, like the military rulers in Mali and Burkina Faso, has kicked out Western forces, and forged closer military and business ties with Russia. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/al-qaeda-affiliate-says-it-has-taken-two-russians-hostage-niger-2024-08-03/

2024-08-03 10:03

Aug 3 (Reuters) - A fire at a fuel storage depot in the Kamensky district of Russia's Rostov region, caused by a Ukrainian drone attack, has been extinguished, the head of the district administration said on Saturday. No one was injured in the attack, he said. According to the regional governor, 55 Ukrainian drones attacked the region overnight. A state of emergency has been introduced in the Morozovsky district, also in Rostov, where schools, kindergartens and residential buildings and production facilities were damaged, he added. Ukraine-launched drones also attacked an oil storage depot in Russia's Belgorod region, the regional governor said earlier on Saturday, adding that the fire was quickly extinguished and no one was injured. Ukraine's military said on Saturday it had attacked Russia's Morozovsk airfield and a number of oil depots and fuel storage facilities in three Russian regions overnight. Ukraine has dramatically stepped up its use of long-range drones this year to attack Russian oil facilities, attempting to damage sites fueling Russian forces and the country's economy. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/fire-fuel-depot-russias-rostov-region-after-drone-attack-extinguished-2024-08-03/

2024-08-03 08:43

KYIV, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Ukraine's military said on Saturday it had sunk a submarine in Russian-controlled Sevastopol, attacked a southern Russian airfield and hit oil depots and fuel and lubricant storage facilities in Belgorod, Kursk and Rostov regions. "A Russian submarine went to the bottom of the Black Sea," the defence ministry said in a post on X, naming the vessel as the B-237 Rostov-on-Don attack submarine. The military's general staff said the attack on Sevastopol port also significantly damaged four launchers of the S-400 anti-aircraft "Triumf" defence system. There was no immediate comment by Russia on the Sevastopol attack. In other, overnight attacks, the military said it hit an ammunition depot at Morozovsk airfield where Russian forces stored guided aerial bombs among other equipment and a number of oil depots and fuel storage facilities. "Russian combat aviation must be destroyed wherever it is, by all effective means. It is also quite fair to strike at Russian airfields. And we need this joint solution with our partners - a security solution," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app. The Ukrainian president has repeatedly called on his Western allies for permission to use their weapons for long-range attacks on Russia, in addition to striking military targets close to the border. He said on Saturday that Russian forces had used over 600 guided aerial bombs to attack Ukraine in the past week. The attack on oil depots and fuel and lubricant storage facilities in Belgorod, Kursk and Rostov regions set fire to at least two oil tanks, according to the Ukrainian military report. In Russia, local officials reported that tanks at a fuel storage depot in the Kamensky district of Rostov region caught fire as a result of a drone attack. The regional governor of Belgorod also said Ukraine-launched drones caused a fire at an oil storage depot there, adding that the fire was extinguished and no one was injured. Ukraine has dramatically stepped up its use of long-range drones this year to attack Russian oil facilities, attempting to damage sites fueling Russian forces and the country's economy in Moscow's 29-month-old invasion. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-military-says-it-attacked-russian-airfield-oil-depots-2024-08-03/

2024-08-03 06:30

SHANGHAI, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Floods and mudslides destroyed village homes and part of a highway in China's southwestern province of Sichuan on Saturday, killing at least two people and leaving 17 missing in two incidents, state media reported on Saturday. Overnight in Kangding, a mountainous region in Sichuan's western highlands, mudslides took down some homes in a village, killing two, while 12 were missing, national broadcaster CCTV reported. A bridge connecting two tunnels on an expressway linking Kangding and Ya'an collapsed on Saturday morning, causing three vehicles to fall off the highway. One of the six passengers has been rescued, CCTV said. It did not specify whether they had fallen off the bridge. China has been roiled by record rain and heatwaves this summer as scientists warn of more extreme weather fuelled by climate change. In the past decade, Sichuan and Hunan in the south have suffered the most damage from storms and floods, reporting cumulative economic losses of more than 100 billion yuan ($14 billion) each, according to some estimates. In Zixing, a city in Hunan province, 30 residents died after Typhoon Gaemi lashed the region with record rains in late July. Local officials said on Friday that 35 people were still missing. Across Hunan, the rains induced by China's most powerful typhoon so far this year have affected 1.15 million people and caused direct economic losses of about 6 billion yuan. A highway bridge collapse triggered by flash floods in the northwestern province of Shaanxi killed 38 people, local authorities said on Friday in their latest tally of fatalities. Despite search and rescue work in the past two weeks, 24 people remained missing after the Shaanxi bridge collapse, which plunged 25 vehicles into a river. ($1 = 7.1600 Chinese yuan renminbi) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/floods-mudslides-kill-2-southwest-china-destroy-homes-bridge-2024-08-03/