Beirut, Lebanon (DT/AP) — Lebanon experienced another wave of explosions today, just one day after a targeted pager attack on Hezbollah.
Israel’s defense minister has declared the start of a “new phase” of the war as Israel turns its focus toward the northern front against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Yoav Gallant made no mention of the mysterious explosions of electronic devices in Lebanon in recent days. But he praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, saying “the results are very impressive.”
He said that after months of war against Hamas militants in Gaza, “the center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces.”
“We are at the start of a new phase in the war — it requires courage, determination and perseverance,” he said.
Explosions went off in Beirut and multiple parts of Lebanon in an apparent second wave of detonations of electronic devices, Hezbollah officials and state media said Wednesday, reporting walkie-talkies and even solar equipment being targeted a day after hundreds of pagers blew up. At least nine people were killed and 300 were wounded, the Health Ministry said.
Lebanese security officers standı next ofapartly damaged cara afters whati is believed to be ther result ofs a walkie- talkiee exploding inside it, in the s southern port city of S sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday,- Sept 18, 2024. (AP Phot o Mothammed Zaatari)
Several blasts were heard at the funeral in Beirut for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene. An AP photographer in the southern coastal city of Sidon saw a car and a mobile phone shop damaged after devices exploded inside of them.
A Hezbollah official told the AP that walkie-talkies used by the group exploded. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Lebanon’s official news agency reports that solar energy systems exploded in homes in several areas of Beirut and in southern Lebanon, wounding at least one girl.
Algiers, Algeria (DT/APS) — President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been inaugurated for a second term after winning a landslide election, securing 84% of the vote in a poll marked by voter apathy and concerns about the transparency of the vote count.
Tebboune expressed gratitude to the Algerian people for their confidence in him and announced plans to consult broadly with various political parties. He aims to initiate a national dialogue and develop a comprehensive roadmap for Algeria’s progress in multiple sectors.
Amnesty International has criticized his leadership for maintaining a strict stance against dissent and curtailing civic freedoms. His government has faced ongoing condemnation for its human rights record since he first took office in 2019, following the resignation of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika amid a political crisis.
Last Saturday, the Constitutional Court announced the final results of the September 7, 2024 presidential election, won by Abdelmadjid Tebboune with 84.30% of the votes cast.
Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian drones struck a large military depot in a town deep inside Russia overnight, causing a huge blaze and prompting the evacuation of some local residents, a Ukrainian official and Russian news reports said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a senior U.S. diplomat said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently said he has a plan for winning the war that “can work” and help end the conflict, which is now in its third year. But the Ukrainian leader hasn’t publicly spelled out the plan.
Ukraine claimed the strike destroyed Russian military warehouses in Toropets, a town in Russia’s Tver region about 380 kilometers (240 miles) northwest of Moscow and about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border with Ukraine.
The attack was carried out by Ukraine’s Security Service, along with Ukraine’s Intelligence and Special Operations Forces, a Kyiv security official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the operation.
According to the official, the depot housed Iskander and Tochka-U missiles, as well as glide bombs and artillery shells. He said the facility caught fire in the strike and was burning across an area 6 kilometers (4 miles) wide.
Among the destroyed ammunition were North Korean KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, another official, in Ukraine’s Intelligence Office, told The AP. He was not authorized to comment publicly and didn’t provide evidence to support his claim.
Russia and North Korea signed a landmark pact last June that envisioned mutual military assistance between Moscow and Pyongyang.
More than 100 domestically-produced kamikaze drones were deployed in the attack on the depot, the Ukrainian Intelligence Office official added.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted regional authorities as saying air defense systems were working to repel a “massive drone attack” on Toropets, which has a population of around 11,000. The agency also reported a fire and the evacuation of some local residents.
There was no immediate information about whether the strikes had caused any casualties.
Successful Ukrainian strikes on targets deep inside Russia have become more common as the war has progressed and Kyiv developed its drone technology.
Zelenskyy is also seeking approval from Western nations for Ukraine to use the sophisticated weapons they are providing to hit targets inside Russia. Some Western leaders have balked at that possibility, fearing they could be dragged into the conflict.
Ukraine’s targeting of Russian military equipment, ammunition and infrastructure deep inside Russia, as well as making Russian civilians feel some of the consequences of the war that is being fought largely inside Ukraine, is part of Kyiv’s strategy.
On Tuesday, Putin ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million by Dec. 1.
Zelenskyy last month said his plan for victory includes not only battlefield goals but also diplomatic and economic wins. The plan has been kept under wraps but the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said during a news conference Tuesday that Washington officials have seen it.
“We think it lays out a strategy and a plan that can work,” she said, adding that the United States will bring it up with other world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week. She did not comment on what the plan contained.
Taipei, Taiwan (AP) — A company based in Hungary was responsible for manufacturing the pagers that exploded in an apparent Israeli operation targeting Hezbollah, another firm said Wednesday. The attack marked a new escalation in the conflict between the two foes that has often threatened to escalate into all-out war.
Pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah exploded nearly simultaneously a day earlier in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least 12 people, including two children, and wounding around 2,800. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel.
An American official said Israel briefed the United States on Tuesday after the attack, in which small amounts of explosive hidden in the pagers were detonated. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information publicly.
The sophisticated apparently remote attack renewed fears that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza could spill into a wider regional conflict.
Hamas’ ally Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged fire nearly daily since Oct. 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led assault in southern Israel triggered the war. Since then, hundreds have been killed in the strikes in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, while tens of thousands on each side of the border have been displaced.
Despite periodic cycles of escalation, Hezbollah and Israel have carefully avoided an all-out war, but Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks that they might increase operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, according to an official with knowledge of the movements who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The AR-924 pagers used Tuesday’s attack were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, according to a statement released by Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm that authorized the use of its brand on the pagers.
BAC appeared to be a shell company.
Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the Taiwan company’s communication products at the headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)
“According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” Gold Apollo said in a statement.
The company’s chair, Hsu Ching-kuang, told journalists Wednesday that the firm has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years.
BAC Consulting Kft., a limited liability company, was registered in May 2022, according to company records. It has 7,840 euros in standing capital, the records showed, and had revenue of $725,768 in 2022 and $593,972 in 2023.
At the headquarters in a building in a residential neighborhood of Budapest, Associated Press journalists saw the names of multiple companies, including BAC Consulting, posted on pieces of paper on a window.
A woman who emerged from the building and declined to give her name said the site provides headquarter addresses to various companies.
BAC is registered to Cristiana Rosaria Bársony-Arcidiacono, whose describes herself on her LinkedIn page as a strategic advisor and business developer. Among other positions, Bársony-Arcidiacono says on the page that she has served on the board of directors of the Earth Child Institute, a sustainability group. The group does not list Bársony-Arcidiacono as among its board members on its website.
The AP has attempted to reach Bársony-Arcidiacono via the LinkedIn page and has been unable to establish a connection between her or BAC and the exploding pagers.
The attack in Lebanon started Tuesday afternoon, when pagers in their owners’ hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding — leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders.
It appeared that most of those hit were members or linked to members of Hezbollah — whether fighters or civilians — but it was not immediately clear if people with no ties to Hezbollah were also hit.
People gather outside the American University hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bassam Masri)
The Health Ministry said health care workers and two children were among those killed. In the village of Nadi Sheet in the Bekaa Valley, dozens gathered to mourn the death of one of the children, 9-year-old Fatima Abdullah. The Health Ministry had previously given her age as 8.
Her mother, wearing black and donning a yellow Hezbollah scarf, wept alongside other women and children as they gathered around the little girl’s coffin before her burial.
Hezbollah said in a statement Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally, Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza.
A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
The AR-924 pager, advertised as being “rugged,” contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications advertised on Gold Apollo’s website before they were removed after the attack.
It claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. That would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common after years of economic collapse. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies — one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them.
For Hezbollah, the pagers also provided a means to sidestep what’s believed to be intensive Israeli electronic surveillance on mobile phone networks in Lebanon.
“The phone that we have in our hands — I do not have a phone in my hand — is a listening device,” warned Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a February speech.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said from the beginning of 2022 until August 2024, Gold Apollo has exported 260,000 sets of pagers, including more than 40,000 sets between January and August of this year. The ministry said that it had no records of direct exports of Gold Apollo pagers to Lebanon.
This story has been updated to correct the age of one of the children killed. She was 9, not 8.
Spike reported from Budapest and Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press journalists Abby Sewell and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; Melanie Lidman and Josef Federman in Jerusalem; Zeke Miller in Washington; and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Astana, Kazakhstan( AA/DT) – Kazakhstan on Tuesday hosted the second Germany-Central Asia summit in the capital Astana, which saw the participation of all five presidents from the region and visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Ahead of the meeting, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev welcomed Scholz to the Independence Palace hosting the summit, in addition to his Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek counterparts.
Speaking in an opening address to the summit, Tokayev thanked Scholz and his Central Asian counterparts for their participation in the meeting, and that dialogue in the format, which was first launched in Berlin last September, has “become regular and trusting,” said a statement by the press service of the Kazakh presidency.
“I consider this evidence of the interest and desire of the Central Asian states and Germany to comprehensively develop a regional strategic partnership,” Tokayev was quoted as saying.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on September 16, 2024. Photo : UZBEK PRESIDENCY / HANDOUT
Expressing that Germany’s socio-economic, scientific, and technological progress is a good example for many countries, Tokayev said they highly appreciate Germany’s commitment to developing an equal partnership with all countries in Central Asia.
He further said that increasing trade turnover and expanding cooperation in energy are two major priorities for them, indicating that Kazakhstan is ready to increase oil exports to the German market and develop green energy.
“Our country, together with Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, is developing a project to build a line for the transmission of green energy along the bottom of the Caspian Sea and further to European countries. We invite German partners to consider the possibility of participating in this strategic project,” Tokayev also said.
He went on to note the bolstering of industrial cooperation, strengthening transport and logistics interconnectivity, and the development of scientific and educational ties as other key priorities.
“Our countries closely interact in a multilateral format, including within the framework of the United Nations. We intend to continue to resolutely support the efforts of this uncontested universal organization in the fight against terrorism, extremism, illegal migration and climate change, and peacekeeping and disarmament,” he added.
The statement said a joint statement was adopted following the talks.
Scholz arrived in Astana as part of a three-day official visit to Central Asia, which commenced with a visit to neighboring Uzbekistan on Sunday.
RUSSIA (RFE) – Russia’s Investigative Committee said on September 17 that nine people were arrested in the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk after the deaths of three people who died while receiving IV treatments.
Those arrested were charged with providing illegal medical services at home for fees. According to the officials, the suspects illegally used strong and psychotropic substances through IV drips to people suffering from alcoholism or drug addiction without proper diagnoses. A search of the suspects’ homes allegedly uncovered a large amount of illegal medical substances.
New Delhi, India (DT) – Prime Minister of India will be traveling to the United States to participate in the Quad Summit, scheduled to take place from September 21 to 23.
During the visit, Prime Minister will take part in the fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, which is being hosted by the President of the United States of America, H.E. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on 21 September 2024.
The summit, which brings together leaders from the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) nations—India, the United States, Japan, and Australia—will focus on strengthening cooperation and addressing regional and global challenges.
This high-profile visit underscores India’s commitment to bolstering strategic partnerships and engaging in crucial discussions on security and economic issues.
Following the request of the US side to host the Quad Summit this year, India has agreed to host the next Quad Summit in 2025.
At the Quad Summit, the leaders will review the progress achieved by the Quad over the last one year and set the agenda for the year ahead to assist the countries of the Indo-Pacific region in meeting their development goals and aspirations.
India will host the next Quad Summit in 2025
On 23 September, Prime Minister will address the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The theme of the Summit is ‘Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow’.
A large number of global leaders are expected to participate in the Summit. On the sidelines of the Summit, Prime Minister would be holding bilateral meetings with several world leaders and discuss issues of mutual interest.
While in New York, Prime Minister will address a gathering of the Indian community on 22 September.
Prime Minister would also be interacting with CEOs of leading US-based companies to foster greater collaborations between the two countries in the cutting-edge areas of AI, quantum computing, semiconductors and biotechnology. Prime Minister is also expected to interact with thought leaders and other stakeholders active in the India-US bilateral landscape.
New Delhi, India (Reuters/DT) – India has condemned comments made by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the treatment of Muslims in the South Asian nation, calling his remarks “misinformed and unacceptable”.
“We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in Myanmar, Gaza, India, or any other place,” Khamenei said in a social media post on Monday.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs issued this statement on their website and social media accounts
We strongly deplore the comments made regarding minorities in India by the Supreme Leader of Iran. These are misinformed and unacceptable. Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others.
“Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others,” the foreign ministry spokesperson said.
The two countries have typically shared a strong relationship, and signed a 10-year contract in May to develop and operate the Iranian port of Chabahar.
India has been developing the port in Chabahar on Iran’s south-eastern coast along the Gulf of Oman as a way to transport goods to Iran, Afghanistan and central Asian countries, bypassing the ports of Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan.
Khamenei, however, has been critical of India in the past over issues involving Indian Muslims and the troubled Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (DT/AP) — During a live debate on Sunday, Brazilian mayoral candidate José Luiz Datena, 67, violently struck his opponent, Pablo Marçal, 37, with a chair.
The altercation occurred amid a heated exchange and was broadcast by TV Cultura, with coverage from outlets including CNN, NBC, and The Washington Post. Datena, a news anchor, and Marçal, a far-right influencer, were two of the six candidates vying to become the next mayor of São Paulo, one of the world’s largest cities.
Datena, who has denied the allegations, then came over toward Marçal’s podium with the chair above his head and slammed it into Marçal’s side as the influencer put up his arms. The moderator of the TV Cultura debate then quickly interrupted and cut to commercials, and the debate resumed later Sunday night without Marçal.
Marçal’s team shared video of him subsequently rushing to a hospital in an ambulance while receiving respiratory support. He explained on social media channels Monday that he had felt pain while breathing, and had suffered a fracture at the bottom of his rib cage.
Marçal suffered “trauma to the right chest region and right wrist, without major associated complications,” the Syrian-Lebanese hospital said in a statement Monday, adding that he had been discharged.
A video on social media shows a doctor talking to Marçal in the hospital bed, telling him that he has “a little line of a fracture.” Marçal referred to the incident on social media as “attempted homicide,” and compared it to the assassination attempt against Donald Trump earlier this year and to the stabbing of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in the lead up to the 2018 presidential election.
Marçal has parlayed his internet fandom and fiery rhetoric into a nascent political movement, shooting up in the polls in recent months and now running neck-and-neck with incumbent Ricardo Nunes and leftist lawmaker Guilherme Boulos. That has drawn even greater attention to the mayoral race in Brazil’s biggest city.
An inquiry into the alleged misconduct by Datena never resulted in any charges, and it was shelved when the accuser retracted her statements.
Speaking to reporters after the debate, Datena explained that the episode had been especially painful for him because he believes it prompted his mother-in-law to suffer a series of strokes and pass away.
On Monday, Datena said in a statement that he had made a mistake, but that he did not regret it “at all.”
“If the circumstances were the same, I would not refrain from repeating the gesture, an extreme response to a history of aggression perpetrated against me and many others by my adversary,” his statement said.
Marçal’s campaign team said the debate shouldn’t have continued without him, and that it hopes appropriate legal measures will be taken against Datena.
A statement from Sao Paulo’s public security agency said the incident was registered as “bodily injury and insult” at a local police station on Sunday night, indicating that an investigation was under way.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is backing Boulos. Bolsonaro endorsed Nunes, but many supporters of the former president have rallied behind Marçal, enthralled by his persona.
BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded near simultaneously across Lebanon and in parts of Syria on Tuesday, killing at least eight people, including members of the militant group Hezbollah and a girl, and wounding the Iranian ambassador, government and Hezbollah officials said.
Officials pointed the finger at Israel in what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack that wounded more than 2,700 people at a time of rising tensions across the Lebanon border. The Israeli military declined to comment.
A Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that the new brand of handheld pagers used by the group first heated up, then exploded, killing at least two of its members and wounding others.
Lebanon’s health minister, Firas Abiad, said at least eight people were killed and 2,750 wounded — 200 of them critically.
Iranian state-run IRNA news agency said that the country’s ambassador, Mojtaba Amani, was superficially wounded by an exploding pager and was being treated at a hospital.
Photos and videos from Beirut’s southern suburbs circulating on social media and in local media showed people lying on the pavement with wounds on their hands or near their pants pockets.
Police officers inspect a car inside of which a hand-held pager exploded, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group’s members not to carry cellphones, saying that they could be used by Israel to track their movements and to carry out targeted strikes.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry called on all hospitals to be on alert to take in emergency patients and for people who own pagers to get away from them. It also asked health workers to avoid using wireless devices.
AP photographers at area hospitals said the emergency rooms were overloaded with patients, many of them with injuries to their limbs, some in serious condition.
The state-run National News Agency said hospitals in southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs — all areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence — had called on people to donate blood of all types.
The news agency reported that in Beirut’s southern suburbs and other areas “the handheld pagers system was detonated using advanced technology, and dozens of injuries were reported.”
The Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media said the explosions were the result of “a security operation that targeted the devices.”
“The enemy (Israel) stands behind this security incident,” the official said, without elaborating. He added that the new pagers that Hezbollah members were carrying had lithium batteries that apparently exploded.
Lithium batteries, when overheated, can smoke, melt and even catch on fire. Rechargeable lithium batteries are used in consumer products ranging from cellphones and laptops to electric cars. Lithium battery fires can burn up to 590 C (1,100 F).
The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between Lebanon and Israel. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing near-daily for more than 11 months against the backdrop of war between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas in Gaza.
The clashes have killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border. On Tuesday, Israel said that halting Hezbollah’s attacks in the north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official war goal.
Israel has killed Hamas militants in the past with booby trapped cellphones and it’s widely believed to have been behind the Stuxnet computer virus attack on Iran’s nuclear program in 2010.
Abby Sewell and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, and Josef Federman, in Jerusalem, contributed to this report.
