Massive Russian Air Attack Hits Ukraine Overnight, Including Kyiv And Other Cities
RFE/RL’s Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia’s full-scale invasion, Kyiv’s counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said the Russian attacks included hypersonic, cruise, and ballistic missiles that are difficult to intercept, as well as drone strikes. At least two people were reported killed and 15 more injured in airborne strikes on the city of Odesa, in the south. Another person was reported killed in the western city of Lviv and others injured, amid reports from the mayor of ongoing explosions. Air defenses were operating in Kyiv, according to the capital’s military administration, and debris had fallen on the city.
Source:GNN Liberia
December 29, 2023 09:00 UTC
US shoots down Houthi drone and missile in Red Sea
The US military said it shot down a drone and missile reportedly fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday. Guided missile destroyer the USS Mason downed a drone and an anti-ship ballistic missile in the Southern Red Sea, said US Central Command. Houthi rebels said they would block Israeli ships from travelling through the Red Sea after Israel’s siege on Gaza. The waterway and the Gulf of Aden is economically vital as 10 per cent of annual global trade moves through the Red Sea. Also on Thursday, the US issued sanctions aimed at an individual and exchange houses allegedly involved in Iranian financing of the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Source:GNN Liberia
December 29, 2023 08:51 UTC
China Sanctions US Firm Kharon, Provider of Research on Xinjiang
BEIJING — China’s foreign ministry said it had sanctioned Kharon, a U.S. firm founded by former Treasury Department officials that provides data to companies on alleged forced labor in the Xinjiang region to help them comply with U.S. laws. A former researcher of the U.S.-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies will also be subject to sanctions. The affected individuals will be banned from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau, and the property of Kharon in China will be frozen, the ministry said. Kharon said companies depend on its forced labor data to comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). U.S. officials say they believe Chinese authorities have established labor camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.
Source:GNN Liberia
December 28, 2023 18:30 UTC
President Weah Expresses Sympathy To Families Of Fuel Tanker Accident
His Excellency, Dr. George Manneh Weah has expressed his profound sympathy to the families of those who lost their lives in a major fire incident in the Central Liberian Town of Totota on Tuesday, December 26. Liberia’s Chief Medical officer, Dr. Francis Kateh, has said so far more than 40 deaths have been recorded since a tanker transporting fuel made an accident and later exploded. It is reported that some locals in the area attempted to scoop the content of the trapped tanker when the explosion happened. He calls on the families of those who lost their lives to take solace in the Lord. Visited 26 times, 26 visit(s) today
Source:GNN Liberia
December 28, 2023 16:21 UTC
“Liberia Will Be A Different Country Under My Leadership”
— President-elect Boakai declares as NEC certificates him and Koung as the winning presidential ticketPresident-elect Joseph Nyumah-Boakai has assured the Liberian people that their votes will not go in vain, promising to make Liberia a different country under his leadership. With the official certification of his victory in the November 2023 Presidential run-off election, President-elect Boakai stated, “We want to renew our commitment to our people. I pledge that Liberia will be a different country under my leadership. “We want to thank our political adversaries and particularly President Weah, who conceded even before the last vote was counted. By this certification, I pledge that Liberia will be different under my leadership.”In the 2023 elections, President-elect Boakai emerged victorious, defeating incumbent President George Weah by a narrow margin of 50.1% to 49%, restricting Weah to a single-term presidency.
Source:Daily Observer
December 28, 2023 12:34 UTC
Jeety Kind Gestures Overwhelm Weala Citizens, Gives Rise To Be Honored
The entire Monrovia and its environ have been overly swarmed by the patriotic level of Jeety’s humanitarian support towards the people of Liberia, especially the disadvantaged youths and the elderly who cannot afford to feed themselves but live by the humanitarian gestures of Mr. Jeety. During the Christmas season, one of the benefiting communities of Jeety’s humanitarian services, residents of Weala, Margibi County graciously honored Indian Businessman, Upjit Singh Sachdeva for his outstanding humanitarian gestures in Liberia especially Margibi County over the years. Jeety received the honored-on Christmas Day, when he and his team feed over 3,000 children in commemoration of Christmas, demonstrating his commitment to creating a positive impact on the Liberian society. In respond, Jeety thanked the citizens for the gift and honor bestowed upon him, and emphasized the need for those he described as the country’s future leader to be celebrated and cater to. According to information gathered by the GNN-Liberia, this feeding program by Jeety started since 2017, targeting over 1,000 individuals daily.
Source:GNN Liberia
December 28, 2023 03:55 UTC
Some 200 Indonesian students protest against Rohingya refugees
ROHINGYA refugees who have fled violence in Myanmar faced protests in Indonesia today. Around 200 students held a rally today in front of the parliament building in provincial capital Banda Aceh to demand that the government drive the refugees away. The students claimed that the presence of the Rohingya would bring social and economic upheaval to the community. Teuku Wariza, one of the protest organisers, said: “We urged the parliament speaker to immediately take a firm action to remove all Rohingya refugees from Aceh.”The protesters marched on a local community hall where about 135 Rohingya were sheltering and threw out clothes and household items belonging to the refugees, forcing authorities to relocate them. Today, police in Banda Aceh named two suspected human smugglers from Bangladesh and Myanmar following the arrival of one boat of refugees on December 10.
Source:GNN Liberia
December 27, 2023 19:15 UTC
DR Congo police fire tear gas at banned election protest
By Rédaction Africanews with AFP |Congo police fired tear gas on Wednesday to disperse a protest by opposition supporters in the capital Kinshasa calling for a re-run of last week’s chaotic presidential and legislative elections. The demonstration against the electoral process had been banned by the authorities, AFP earlier reported. It “aims to undermine the electoral process, the government of the Republic cannot accept this,” he declared. Partial results of the presidential election place the outgoing head of state, Félix Tshisekedi , well in the lead, with some 79% of the votes. Tensions are feared when the winner of the presidential election is announced, in a country with a turbulent and often violent political history, with a subsoil immensely rich in minerals but with a predominantly poor population.
Source:GNN Liberia
December 27, 2023 17:22 UTC
Putin Moved His nuclear weapons
Russian President Vladimir Putin moved some of his tactical nuclear weapons this week amid the war with Ukraine. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed on Tuesday that a shipment of tactical nuclear weapons from Russia was completed, the Associated Press reported. The announcement this week comes a few months after Russia first announced it was planning to station some tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, an ally of Putin and Moscow. “The movement of the nuclear weapons has already begun,” Lukashenko said in May while meeting with reporters in Moscow, Reuters reported. He was asked about the movement of nuclear weapons to Belarus and if Russia has considered the possibility of using them.
Source:GNN Liberia
December 26, 2023 17:00 UTC
‘Zombie deer disease’ concerns scientists over possible spread to humans
By Fox NewsThe discovery of Yellowstone National Park’s first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) last month has raised concerns that the fatal brain disease may someday spread to humans, according to some scientists. It has been spotted in deer, elk, reindeer and moose in areas of North America, Canada, Norway and South Korea. And now scientists are sounding the alarm that it could infect humans, although no known case has ever been recorded. Epidemiologists say the absence of a “spillover” case yet does not mean it will not happen. Anderson is a program co-director at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP).
Source:GNN Liberia
December 26, 2023 16:15 UTC
Navy begins investigation into attack on merchant vessel off India’s west coast
The Indian Navy has launched an investigation into a suspected drone strike on a Mangalore-bound cargo vessel off India’s west coast in the Arabian Sea even as the merchant ship is on its way to Mumbai, officials familiar with the matter said on December 24. The Liberian flagged vessel is now on its way to Mumbai and Indian Coast Guard ship ICGS Vikram is providing security to it, the officials said. Late last night, the Indian Coast Guard said MV Chem Pluto started making way towards Mumbai port undertaking damage assessment and repairs on its power generation systems. “The Coast Guard Dornier aircraft has sanitised the area and established communication with Chem Pluto. The vessel has started making way towards Mumbai post undertaking damage assessment and repairs on its power generation systems,” it said.
Source:GNN Liberia
December 25, 2023 18:38 UTC
A Digital World Needing More Humanity
By Paul Ejime |Our digital World with the accompanying advanced technology has unleashed innumerable benefits on humanity. Yes, it is a digital age where information/news travels faster than ever and tasks are easily facilitated. The World had not fully recovered from the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Not even the United Nations, the organisation set up for World peace, has been able to negotiate a ceasefire, from numerous unbinding Resolutions. From disheartening images of the carnage in the theatres of World conflicts, it is obvious that humanity has lost its soul and moral compass.
Source:GNN Liberia
December 25, 2023 18:32 UTC
DRC polls: Results begin to trickle in, Tshisekedi leads in diaspora votes
Provisional results for the DRC’s 26 provinces will be released in the coming days. Didi Manara, from the Ceni, said that “at least 97 percent” of the roughly 75,000 polling stations in the DRC had been able to open. In 24 polling stations, its observers identified technical problems with electronic voting devices, the US-based group added. Ceni is set to start announcing provisional results for the DRC’s 26 provinces on Saturday. Tshisekedi, 60, is considered the front-runner in the first-past-the-vote presidential vote, especially given that he is facing a divided opposition.
Source:GNN Liberia
December 24, 2023 19:13 UTC
U.S. officials celebrate Armed Forces of Liberia accomplishments at MINUSMA conclusion ceremony
Over eight rotations, the Armed Forces of Liberia deployed approximately 800 of their 2,000 total personnel to Mali. In 2006, the U.S. government began tireless work to rebuild Liberia’s entire military and supported Liberia’s entrance in the peacekeeping realm. U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Rogers, adjutant general of the Michigan National Guard, offered congratulations to the AFL by correspondence. The Michigan National Guard has been Liberia’s committed partner under the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program (SPP) since 2009 and was involved in Liberia’s Security Sector Reform through the U.S. AFRICOM-sponsored Operation Onward Liberty (OOL). “The credit goes mainly to the people of Liberia, for the confidence they have in our new armed forces,” said Liberian Maj. Gen.
Source:GNN Liberia
December 24, 2023 08:12 UTC
Drone Strikes Tanker Carrying Oil for India
New Delhi: An Israel-affiliated merchant vessel, MV Chem Pluto, that was moving towards India with crude oil was hit by a drone on Saturday in the Arabian Sea off India’s west coast. The Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard rushed their aircraft and ships to aid the merchant vessel. AdvertisementThe Liberian-flagged oil tanker had last called Saudi Arabia and was destined for India at the time of the incident, as per another maritime body. “The Indian Navy had dispatched an aircraft, which arrived overhead the merchant vessel. A warship has also been dispatched to provide any assistance as required,” said sources in the Indian Navy.
Source:GNN Liberia
December 24, 2023 08:12 UTC