Russian victory ‘inevitable’ – Lavrov

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends the 79th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN Headquarters, in New York City, the United States.
©Sputnik/Sergey Guneev

Moscow will achieve victory in Ukraine because that is the only language the West understands, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Lavrov flew to New York on Wednesday to take part in the 79th plenary session of the UN General Assembly and hold a series of bilateral meetings. Before his departure from Moscow, he spoke to TASS about the current situation in the world.

“Wherever the West infiltrates to ‘fix’ a crisis,” Lavrov told the news agency, “things only get much worse: thousands of victims, devastation and socio-economic problems follow. In my years of work in the international arena, there has not been a single case of the West’s intervention resulting in anything good. And now we’re seeing the same thing with Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Asked what the solution to that problem might be, Lavrov was direct.

“Victory. They don’t understand any other language."

"And that victory will be achieved, we have no doubt whatsoever,” the veteran Russian diplomat said. “We have truly united in the face of the war that the West unleashed against us with Ukrainian hands.”

According to Lavrov, the collective West seeks to “subjugate” the entire world to its “rules-based international order,” a notion conjured up by the US and its allies about a decade or so ago.

No one has ever spelled out what these “rules” might be, Lavrov said, aside from letting Washington do whatever it wants in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, the Balkans, Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, or in the South China Sea.

“They have tried to act everywhere like a hegemon, like an elephant in a china shop,” Lavrov told TASS. “In Afghanistan, they declared the mission of fighting terrorism. When they fled after 20 years, there were many more terrorists there. In Iraq, they destroyed a normal, stable country. Not to mention Libya, which was prosperous,” he added.

To illustrate how the West has trampled the UN Charter, Lavrov pointed to the 2008 declaration of independence by ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, a province of Serbia which has been under NATO control since 1999. The US backed the declaration, calling it self-determination, and pressured the top UN court to rule that such declarations did not require the consent of the central government, the Russian diplomat explained. But when Crimea held a referendum – unlike Kosovo – following the 2014 US-backed coup in Kiev, the West rejected the principle of self-determination and insisted that “territorial integrity of Ukraine” was paramount instead.

Hezbollah’s Nasrallah says Israel attacks on Lebanon an ‘act of war'

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah calls the pager and walkie-talkie attacks “a terrorist act” and a declaration of war against the people of Lebanon and the country’s sovereignty.

“The enemy transgressed all boundaries and red lines,” Nasrallah said in a widely anticipated speech Thursday evening local time about the attacks, which killed at least 37 people and injured nearly 3,000 when pagers, walkie-talkies and other devices exploded simultaneously on Tuesday and Wednesday across Lebanon. The attacks were “a major assault on Lebanon, its security and sovereignty, a war crime — an act of war,” he added, and they dealt an “unprecedented blow” to Hezbollah and Lebanon.

As he spoke in a televised address, the rumble of planes and large sonic booms could be heard over the Lebanese capital. But Nasrallah also struck a note of defiance, saying the group’s operations would not stop until Israel ended its war in Gaza.

“They will face a severe reckoning and just retribution, whether they expect it or not,” Nasrallah said of Israel. The nature, size and location of any retaliatory attack would be kept secret, he said.

“Because we are in a delicate, sensitive and important battle,” he said.

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad says the death toll from the two waves of attacks across the country has risen to 37 while 287 people are in a critical condition.

Nasrallah says the attacks did not shake Hezbollah’s faith, conviction or preparedness.

“On the contrary, this turned us more resolved, more robust and more adamant,” he said in translated remarks.

If Israel’s objective was to separate Hezbollah from what is taking place in Gaza, then that’s failed, he said. And if the goal was to drive a wedge among the Lebanese, that was also foiled, Nasrallah added.

20 orang alami luka akibat gempa Bandung Rabu pagi - BPBD Jabar

Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG) mendeteksi gempa 5,0 magnitudo mengguncang Kabupaten Bandung, Jawa Barat, Rabu pukul 09.41 WIB.

Dalam peringatan dini yang diekspose melalui sistem aplikasi infoBMKG di Jakarta, Rabu, melaporkan pusat gempa tersebut terletak di darat pada kedalaman 10 kilometer dengan koordinat 7.19 LS,107.67 BT atau berjarak 24 kilometer dari arah tenggara Kabupaten Bandung.

Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) Jawa Barat (Jabar) mengungkapkan untuk sementara dilaporkan 20 orang mengalami luka ringan, sedang, dan berat, akibat gempa bumi yang terjadi di Kabupaten Bandung pada Rabu pagi.

Kasi Kedaruratan Pusdalops BPBD Jabar Hadi Rahmat mengatakan saat ini pihaknya bersama BPBD kabupaten/kota terkait, masih terus melakukan asesmen mengenai jumlah korban dan bangunan yang rusak akibat gempa bumi berkekuatan 5.0 magnitudo pada pukul 09.41 WIB tersebut.

"Sementara ada 20 orang yang luka, dengan satu satu luka ringan, 14 luka sedang, dan lima luka berat, yang dirujuk ke Rumah Sakit Kertasari dan Puskesmas Kertasari," tulis Hadi dalam pesan singkatnya di Bandung, Rabu.

Berdasarkan data yang masuk pukul 12.50 WIB itu, Hadi menyebutkan dampak dari gempa itu terpantau terjadi di Desa Tarumajaya, Cihawuk, dan Cibeureum (Kecamatan Kertasari), kemudian Desa Margamukti (Kecamatan Pangalengan), Desa Cikawao (Kecamatan Pacet); Desa Pinggirsari (Kecamatan Arjasari); dan Desa Bojongmanggu (Kecamatan Pameungpeuk) di Kabupaten Bandung.

Kemudian Desa Barusari, Pasirwangi, Sarimukti, dan Talaga (Kecamatan Pasirwangi), Desa Sirnajaya (Kecamatan Tarogong Kaler), dan Desa Mekarjaya (Kecamatan Sukaresmi) di Kabupaten Garut.

Gempa ini menyebabkan sebanyak delapan rumah, dua fasilitas kesehatan, dua bangunan fasilitas umum, satu sarana pendidikan, dan satu tempat ibadah di Kabupaten Bandung mengalami kerusakan. Sementara di Kabupaten Garut, tujuh rumah dan satu sarana pendidikan rusak.

BPBD Jabar dan BPBD kabupaten/kota terus berkoordinasi melakukan asesmen atas korban dan kerusakan dampak dari gempa itu.

Berdasarkan laporan BPBD Jabar, getaran gempa tersebut terasa mulai dari Kabupaten Bandung, Kota Bandung, Kota Cimahi, Kabupaten Bandung Barat, Kabupaten Garut, bahkan seluruh Jabar.

Warga korban gempa pagi ini masih berada di tenda pengungsian yang berada di Lapang Sari Ds. Cibeureum, Kec. Kertasari Bandung, Jawa Barat, sementara petugas dari SAR Brimob Polda Jabar masih melakukan pemeriksaan kondisi kesehatan para pengungsi, Kamis (19/9) pagi. 🎥Ens… pic.twitter.com/0r9vUirLqF

— Radio Elshinta (@RadioElshinta) September 19, 2024

Gempa yang terasa beberapa detik saja itu, membuat warga di kawasan Bandung Raya sempat panik.

"Gempa dirasakan kuat selama 3-5 detik. Masyarakat panik dan sempat keluar rumah. Kami imbau tenang dan cari tempat aman," ucapnya.

Selain itu, gempa ini juga mengganggu perjalan 11 kereta api yang harus berhenti luar biasa dan pembatalan perjalanan 14 jadwal Kereta Cepat Woosh.

Pemerintah Tetapkan Status Tanggap Darurat Bencana, Whoosh Kembali Beroperasi

Pemerintah Kabupaten Bandung dan Garut menetapkan status tanggap darurat bencana atas terjadinya gempa bermagnitudo 5.0 yang terjadi pada Rabu, 18 September 2024, pukul 09.41 WIB. Sebanyak 491 rumah dan fasilitas umum di Kabupaten Bandung rusak ringan hingga berat, dan di Kabupaten Garut sebanyak 209 bangunan rumah dan fasilitas rusak.

Bupati Bandung Dadang Supriatna mengatakan penetapan status tanggap darurat ini dilakukan untuk mempermudah pemberian bantuan kepada korban dengan menggunakan dana Belanja Tak Terduga (BTT).

“Hari ini juga saya minta untuk diadakan rapat gabungan dengan Forkopimda Kabupaten Bandung untuk memutuskan dalam kategori tanggap darurat sehingga secara anggaran kita bisa luncurkan," kata Dadang di Kabupaten Bandung, Rabu.

Dia menyebutkan pemberlakuan status tanggap darurat bencana akibat gempa ini dilakukan selama dua pekan mulai dari 18 September sampai 2 Oktober 2024.

Dia menambahkan keputusan ini akan membuat pemerintah daerah lebih fokus terhadap penanganan masyarakat yang terdampak oleh bencana tersebut.

“Dan tentunya kita akan panggil semua para kepala dinas yang kaitannya dengan penyelamatan untuk bisa menanggulangi kebencanaan ini,” katanya.

Dia mengatakan hingga saat ini terdapat enam desa terdampak gempa dengan ratusan rumah yang mengalami rusak ringan, rusak berat dan sedang. Ia menyebut korban gempa akan terlebih dahulu dievakuasi.

"Imbauan sementara ini, kita menyiapkan tempat evakuasi. Saya sarankan bagi warga di sekitar Kecamatan Kertasari kalau bisa langsung ke tempat evakuasi yang sudah disediakan oleh tim," kata dia.

Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) Jawa Barat melaporkan jumlah korban luka-luka dari kejadian tersebut berjumlah 82 orang. Mereka yang luka-luka teridentifikasi di Kabupaten Bandung 81 orang, dan satu orang warga Kabupaten Garut.

“Dengan rincian 59 warga mengalami luka ringan dan 23 orang luka berat. Hingga kini tidak ada laporan adanya korban jiwa dampak gempa magnitudo 5.0 tersebut,” kata Humas BPBD Jabar Hadi Rahmat.

Penjabat Bupati Garut Barnas Adjidin mengatakan status tanggap darurat bencana untuk memudahkan penanganan korban selama 14 hari ke depan.

"Tentu ada fase-fase yang harus kita lalui yang pertama fase tanggap darurat, di mana masyarakat itu harus aman dulu, jangan sampai masyarakat tinggal di tempat yang rawan," kata Barnas saat meninjau rumah warga yang terdampak gempa bumi di Desa Barusari, Kecamatan Pasirwangi, Rabu malam.

Barnas bersama jajaran Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) Garut, dan sejumlah instansi lainnya meninjau langsung kondisi bangunan rumah warga yang rusak akibat gempa bumi.

Pemkab Garut, kata Barnas, selanjutnya menetapkan bencana gempa bumi Bandung itu berstatus tanggap darurat, sehingga bisa melakukan langkah untuk membantu penanggulangan warga yang menjadi korban gempa.

"Selama 14 hari kita lihat apa yang bisa dilakukan, dan langkah ke depannya harus bagaimana, terutama perbaikan rumah-rumah," katanya.

Pusat Pengendalian Operasi BPBD Jawa Barat mencatat sampai dengan pukul 15.00 WIB jumlah korban terdampak di Kabupaten Bandung sebanyak 491 keluarga dan 209 keluarga di Garut. Sebanyak 450 orang di Kabupaten Bandung mengungsi di tenda darurat di halaman Kantor Camat Kertasari.

Para korban itu berasal dari Kecamatan Kertasari, Pangalengan, Ibun, Pacet, Arjasari, dan Pameungpeuk, di Kabupaten Bandung. Sementara untuk Kabupaten Garut berasal dari Kecamatan Pasirwangi, Tarogong Kaler, dan Sukaresmi.

Kereta cepat Whoosh kembali beroperasi pada Rabu sore pukul 15.02 WIB setelah 16 jadwal dibatalkan usai gempa mengguncang wilayah Kabupaten Bandung pada pukul 09.41 WIB.

General Manager Corporate Secretary PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China, Eva Chairunisa, mengatakan mulai pukul 15.02 WIB perjalanan Whoosh dari Stasiun Halim Jakarta dan Tegalluar, Kabupaten Bandung kembali beroperasi setelah pemeriksaan dilakukan dan jalur dinyatakan dapat dilalui dengan kecepatan terbatas.

"Saat ini secara bertahap perjalanan Whoosh Sudah dapat dioperasikan dengan kecepatan terbatas yaitu maksimum 160 kilometer per jam tujuannya untuk lebih memastikan keselamatan perjalanan Whoosh usai pemeriksaan,” kata Eva dalam keterangan yang diterima di Bandung, Rabu. Pada operasi normal, keceatan Whoosh bisa mencapai 350 km per jam.

KCIC menyampaikan permohonan maaf atas ketidaknyamanan yang terjadi setelah sebelumnya beberapa jadwal Whoosh sempat dihentikan sementara akibat gempa susulan yang terjadi di wilayah jalur kereta cepat Whoosh.

“Pemeriksaan ini untuk memastikan tidak ada faktor eksternal yang dapat mengganggu kereta cepat seperti longsoran bukit batu di kanan dan kiri trase, longsoran tanah atau dampak alam lainnya,” kata dia.

Untuk sementara, perjalanan kereta cepat masih melakukan penyesuaian waktu tempuh yakni dari Stasiun Halim menuju Padalarang menjadi 55 menit dan tiba di Tegalluar menjadi 75 menit. Dalam keaadan normal, waktu tempuh Halim-Tegalluar 46 menit.

Nine killed, thousands injured as pagers explode across Lebanon - VIDEO

Civil Defense first-responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. © AP Photo

Nine people were killed and 3,000 injured across Lebanon on Tuesday when their pagers exploded, local media have reported. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has stated that hundreds of its members were affected by the incident, which it is blaming on Israel Terrorist. West Jerusalem has not commented on the developments.

People were allegedly mostly affected in the southern suburbs of the country’s capital, Beirut, an area considered a Hezbollah stronghold, as well as in the east and south of the country. More than 2,800 people were injured in the detonations, which have killed eight, including a child, Al Manar news media outlet reported, citing Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad.

Abiad confirmed the numbers of injured across the country. His ministry also put hospitals on alert and told them to be ready to respond to health emergencies, Al Manar said. All health specialists were also requested to “go to their workplaces,” digital media outlet Naharnet reported.

The moment Hezbollah pagers exploded throughout Lebanon pic.twitter.com/CwEQCSwFlh

— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) September 17, 2024

Iranian ambassador to Beirut Mojtaba Amani was also allegedly injured in a pager blast, the Iranian Mehr news agency reported. The diplomat, who reportedly sustained minor injuries, was hospitalized. Two other embassy staff are believed to have been affected by the series of detonations.

#Breaking: hundreds of #Hezbollah operatives injured by the explosion of their beeper/communication devices, across #Lebanon, including in #Beirut.#October7Massacre #Israel #Hamas #Iran #BringThemAllHome pic.twitter.com/jmqzAXfrwK

— Erez Neumark 🇮🇱🇧🇪 (@ErezNeumark) September 17, 2024

Photos and videos of people across Lebanon having their pagers exploding in their pockets and hands have surfaced on social media. Some clips also show injured persons being treated in a hospital.

فيديوهات تظهر بعض اصابات عناصر حزب الله اثر انفجار أجهزة اتصال لاسلكية تُعرف بالـ pager أم الـ Beeper في يد اصحابها pic.twitter.com/M2L3ges3if

— LBCI Lebanon News (@LBCI_NEWS) September 17, 2024

Hezbollah called the incidents “the biggest security breach” in nearly a year and blamed it on Israel Terrorist. The group switched from using smartphones to pagers in its communications after a conflict between West Jerusalem and Gaza broke out last year, due to the concerns about Israel Terrorist potentially hacking the devices

Israeli Terrorist officials have reportedly threatened Hezbollah with a devastating military response in case of further escalation. Iran threatened Israel with “an obliterating war” if it attacks Lebanon. Hezbollah issued a stark warning last week, warning that an all-out war would lead to “large losses on both sides” and to more refugees.

How did Hezbollah’s pagers explode in Lebanon?

Hundreds of pagers belonging to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah have simultaneously exploded across Lebanon.

At the time of publishing, at least nine people have been killed and 2,750 wounded, according to security services and the Lebanese health minister.

Pagers are small communication devices used commonly before mobile phones became widespread.

Pager [GettyImages]

The devices display a short text message for the user, relayed by telephone through a central operator.

Unlike mobile phones, pagers work on radio waves, the operator sending a message by radio frequency – rather than the internet – unique to the recipient’s device.

It is thought that the basic technology used in pagers as well as their reliance upon physical hardware means they are harder to monitor, making them popular with groups such as Hezbollah where both mobility and security are paramount.

What happened?

The series of explosions began at about 4:45pm and lasted for around an hour.

Casualty numbers are still being confirmed.

One eight-year-old girl has been confirmed among the dead.

Mohammad Mahdi Ammar, the son of Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar, has also been reported killed.

Hezbollah confirmed that two of its fighters had been killed.

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera: “About 2,750 people were injured, … more than 200 of them critically” with injuries mostly reported to the face, hands and stomach.

Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was also injured in the explosions.

Lebanese Civil Defense first-responders carry a man who was wounded when his handheld pager exploded in the southern port city of Sidon on September 17, 2024 [AP Photo]

Who carried out the attack?

Many people, including Hezbollah, are pointing to Israel.

Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in a mostly low-level exchange of fire over the Lebanon-Israel border since October 8, the day after Hamas-led attacks on Israel killed 1,139 people, saw about 240 taken captive and set off Israel’s war on Gaza.

Recently, Israeli politicians and media have increasingly talked of military action against Lebanon to drive Hezbollah back from the border to allow for the return of about 60,000 Israelis evacuated right after the attacks began.

“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression,” Hezbollah said in a statement, adding that Israel “will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression”.

Despite a similar condemnation from Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary, Israel itself – in keeping with previous situations – remains tight-lipped.

Why didn’t similar blasts occur in Gaza?

According to Hamza Attar from the Department of Defence at King’s College in London, “They cannot use the same method in Gaza because Hamas is very cyber-aware compared to Hezbollah.

“They are very capable when it comes to telecommunications,” he said of Hamas, stressing the efforts the group goes to to encrypt communications.

“They don’t use phones or cellphones. They have their own network and internet and communication and don’t need anything above ground,” he said.

How did the pagers explode? We still don’t know.

Some speculation has focused on the radio network that pagers rely on, suggesting that it may have been hacked, causing the system to emit a signal that triggered a response within the already doctored pagers.

“What I think happened [is that] every Hezbollah [member] who was at a specific level was attacked,” data analyst Ralph Baydoun told Al Jazeera.

Civil Defense first responders transport a man injured in the pager blasts to Al Zahraa Hospital University Medical Center in Beirut on September 17, 2024 [Hussein Malla/AP]

ever received the corrupted signal but it could gather valuable intelligence after the detonations.

“If they had the satellites on, … they would know the names and locations of all operatives who were attacked … immediately when [they asked] for help. They would disclose [their] locations,” he speculated.

Other analysts, such as former British army officer and chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, suggested that Hezbollah’s pagers may have been tampered with along the supply chain and “wired to explode on command”.

OK, but how could a pager blow up? If the pager’s lithium battery was triggered to overheat, this would kick-start a process called thermal runaway.

Essentially, a chemical chain reaction would occur, leading to an increase in temperature and eventually the battery’s violent explosion.

However, triggering that chain reaction within multiple devices that have never been connected to the internet is far from straightforward.

“You have to have a bug in the pager itself [so that] it will overheat as a result of certain circumstances,” Baydoun said, speculating that those circumstances would most likely be a trigger introduced into the pager through doctored code.

Latest assassination attempt on Donald Trump: What we know so far

FILE PHOTO: Ryan Routh, the suspect in the second attempted assassination of Donald Trump, takes part in a rally in Kiev in 2022. ©AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

Former US President Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term in the White House, appears to have been the target of an attempted assassination for a second time in three months.

The suspect is reportedly a Ukraine-obsessed man who was involved in recruiting foreign fighters for Kiev.

The incident

What the US Secret Service described as a possible attempt on the life of the Republican presidential candidate took place shortly before 2pm on Sunday at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Agency personnel fired several gunshots at an armed man who they spotted near the property line, it said.

The suspect fled but was caught later in the day in neighboring Martin County. The sheriff’s office confirmed that it had arrested a suspect who was driving north on I-95. Deputies were acting on information shared by their counterparts from West Palm Beach County.

The FBI has taken charge of the investigation.

Sniper nest

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has shared images of the location where the suspect was hiding, in bushes on the perimeter of the golf club. Items recovered reportedly include an AK-47-style assault rifle with a scope, two backpacks with ceramic tiles, which were hanging on the fence, and a GoPro camera, he said.

Officials release an image of the gun found after the Trump shooting.

Looks like an AK-styled rifle laying barrel-up against a chain link fence. pic.twitter.com/befzc3s0QE

— Jon Michael Raasch (@JMRaasch) September 15, 2024

The sheriff said a Secret Service agent had spotted the barrel of a rifle sticking out of the bushes and engaged the gunman, forcing him to flee. The man and his vehicle were spotted by an eyewitness, who confirmed the suspect’s identity after he was arrested, Bradshaw added.

Pro-Kiev suspect

Multiple media outlets identified the would-be shooter as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, originally from North Carolina and residing in Hawaii. Photos of a man wearing a pink T-shirt and sitting inside a police cruiser are circulating online.

Routh has previously spoken to US media about his pro-Kiev stance and his role in recruiting foreign fighters who he thought the Ukrainian government could use.

Second Trump assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, was connected to Rep Adam Kinzinger through his support of Ukraine. Here he’s being interviewed by Newsweek about his effort to recruit mercenaries to fight in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/6SnLYFkHv7

— @amuse (@amuse) September 15, 2024

In June 2022, he told Newsweek that he considered the Ukraine conflict to be “definitely black and white,” and “about good versus evil.”

He had initially intended to join the ranks of the Ukrainian military but apparently failed to do so. He reportedly went on to other projects, including an attempt to recruit and send Afghan commandos who had fled the Taliban to the front line in Ukraine.

”We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he told the New York Times in March 2023.

In an interview with Semafor the same month, Routh expressed his frustration with Kiev, which was suspicious about his proposal. He was identified by the outlet as the head of the International Volunteer Center (IVC) in Ukraine, a pro-Kiev non-profit.

🚨BREAKING: Ryan Routh was featured in an AZOV propaganda video in 2022. For those unaware, AZOV is a violent, far-right Ukrainian militia with neo-Nazi origins, notorious for its anti-Russian extremism—and supported by the CIA. Yet the media stays silent. pic.twitter.com/kfHvo6vZWx

— Dr. Simon Goddek (@goddeketal) September 16, 2024

In May 2022, his face briefly appeared in a video, which appealed to the international community to pressure Russia on behalf of the Azov Battalion, the infamous Ukrainian unit with ties to white nationalist groups around the world. Hundreds of its fighters were captured in the city of Mariupol that month, after they surrendered a heavily fortified former steel mill, which they used as a base. Supporters wanted them released as soon as possible.

Reaction

Public figures across the political aisle have condemned the latest apparent attempt to kill Trump.

”As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running against Trump in the November election, said she was “deeply disturbed” by the incident, and thankful that her opponent was safe.

Trump has expressed his gratitude to the Secret Service, Sheriff Bradshaw and his office for the “incredible job done.” He remarked that “it was certainly an interesting day!”

Brush with death in July

In mid-July, a sniper fired at Trump during a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. One shot grazed Trump's ear, while further shots killed one of the ex-president’s supporters and wounded several others. The shooter was killed by return fire from a Secret Service agent.

The incident subjected the Secret Service to intense criticism over perceived lapses in security provided to Trump. Then Director Kimberly Cheatle stepped down from her position following bipartisan pressure. Ronald L. Rowe Jr. succeeded her as acting head of the agency.

Ukraine Suffers Over 13,800 Troop Losses During Kursk Operation

©AP Photo

The Russian armed forces have eliminated more than 13,800 Ukrainian servicemen and 115 tanks during military operations in the border areas of the Kursk Region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

In total, during the fighting in the Kursk direction, Ukrainian troops lost more than 13,800 servicemen, 115 tanks, 44 infantry fighting vehicles, 91 armored personnel carriers, 729 armored combat vehicles, 439 cars, the ministry said in a statement.

Over the past day, Kiev has lost more than 350 soldiers and 13 pieces of military equipment, including two tanks, in the Kursk direction, the ministry added.

The Russian troops have repelled five counterattacks in the Kursk Region, as well as have taken control of settlements of Uspenovka and Borki, the ministry said, adding that the Ukrainian forces lost up to 40 people.

The Russian armed forces have also repelled three attempts by Ukrainian troops to break through the Russian border in the three directions in the Kursk region, eliminating up to 50 Ukrainian troops and a tank.

Ukrainian forces driven out of more Russian settlements – MOD

Russian forces responding to the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Region are pushing Kiev’s troops back in multiple directions, the Defense Ministry in Moscow reported on Monday.

The update reported the liberation of two Russian settlements from Ukrainian troops. One of them, Uspenovka, is located 24km west of the town of Sudzha, the central hub for Kiev’s incursion. The other settlement, Borky, is 14km southeast of Sudzha.

The ministry also listed seven other villages, near to which Ukrainian units have reportedly been defeated over the past 24 hours, including one just 11km to the south of Sudzha.

Kiev sent thousands of troops across its northern border with Russia in August. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that the operation is part of a “victory plan,” which he intends to submit this month to the US government for consideration. American support is understood to be crucial for implementing Kiev’s strategy.

Russian estimates of Ukrainian casualties in its Kursk Region operation have reached 13,800, according to the latest update.

Last week, the Russian military reported liberating ten settlements in Kursk Region. Zelensky confirmed the Russian counteroffensive, claiming that Ukraine had planned accordingly for it.

Earlier on Monday, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed that Kiev is considering staging a false flag attack on a children’s facility on its soil. Accusing Russia of the “inhumane provocation” would help the Ukrainian government put pressure on the US and its allies to allow the use of their weapons for long-range strikes deep inside Russia, the agency claimed.