WORLD BRIEFING: August 15, 2024
The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) says Ukraine has a "clear right" to use weapons donated by Britain for its self defence – and that "does not preclude operations inside Russia.” An MoD spokesman says the equipment "is to be used in line with international law.” The latest move comes as Kyiv says it is making deeper inroads into Russian territory, as its incursion into the Kursk region enters a tenth day - BBC
Ukraine deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said there were plans for a "security zone" in Kursk to protect Ukraine's borders. She added that there were Russian civilians within the zone - who are under the protection of humanitarian law. In a Telegram post she outlined that humanitarian corridors would be created for civilian evacuation both towards Russia and towards Ukraine. International humanitarian organisations would also be admitted into the zone, she added. In a subsequent post, published last night, she referred to a 24 hour hotline for Kursk residents who need humanitarian aid or who want to evacuate to Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin has banked on Alexei Dyumin, his one time head of security and de facto creator of Wagner, to lead the operation in the Kursk region. “This is a high-stakes bet. If he fails, there are few remaining cards for Putin domestically,” says investigative journalist Christo Gruzev. He adds: “One of the mystical feats attributed to Dyumin in the coping collective psyche is that he stopped (the later Wagner chief Yevgeni) Prigozhin's advance on Moscow".
Russian civilians fleeing Ukraine’s advance in the Kursk region claim the Kremlin has abandoned them, the Financial Times reported. “According to several residents there was no organized evacuation: people left however they could, often leaving behind all their belongings.” More than 133,000 people have been reportedly moved, including to occupied parts of Ukraine
A Russian rocket slammed into the port area of Odesa yesterday, injuring three people. The daylight strike could be heard through the city center and a large smoke cloud was visible. Officials have not detailed the damage to what was described as critical infrastructure.
International mediators were set to hold a new round of talks Thursday aimed at halting the Israel-Hamas war and securing the release of scores of hostages, with a potential deal seen as the best hope of heading off an even larger regional conflict. The United States, Qatar and Egypt were to meet with an Israeli delegation in Qatar as the Palestinian death toll from the 10-month-old war nears 40,000, according to local health authorities. Hamas has not said whether it will participate, accusing Israel of adding new demands to a previous proposal that had U.S. and international support and to which Hamas had agreed in principle. A cease-fire in Gaza would likely calm tensions across the region. Diplomats hope it would persuade Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to hold off on retaliating for the killing of a top Hezbollah commander in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut and of Hamas’ top political leader in an explosion in Tehran
The World Health Organization has declared the mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency, with cases confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries and a new form of the virus spreading. Few vaccine doses are available on the continent. Earlier this week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the mpox outbreaks were a public health emergency, with more than 500 deaths, and called for international help to stop the virus’ spread. “This is something that should concern us all ... The potential for further spread beyond Africa and beyond is very worrying,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The Africa CDC previously said that mpox, also known as monkeypox, has been detected in 13 countries this year, and that more than 96% of all cases and deaths are in Congo. Cases are up 160% and deaths are up 19% compared with the same period last year. So far, there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 people have died.
At least 1.4 million girls in Afghanistan have been denied access to secondary education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural agency, said on August 15. "In just three years, the de facto authorities have almost wiped out two decades of steady progress for education in Afghanistan, and the future of an entire generation is now in jeopardy," the agency said in a statement. It comes as the Taliban marked three yearssince its forces seized Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, on August 15, 2021, after the U.S.-backed government collapsed and its leaders fled into exile. Since the Taliban's return to power, women have been squeezed from public life -- banned from many jobs as well as parks and gyms -- and barred from secondary and higher education. The restrictions amount to what the United Nations has described as "gender apartheid." - RFE/RL
And here in Sicily, another eruption of Mt. Etna near Catania has led to the cancellation of several incoming and outgoing flights this morning. Other delays throughout Europe have been caused by a lack of trained staff in European air traffic control centers, said low cost carrier Ryanair.
