Israel kept pounding the shattered Gaza Strip on Tuesday while Yemen's pro-Palestinian Houthi movement vowed to defy a U.S.-led naval mission and keep hitting Israeli targets in the Red Sea.
Israel's campaign to eradicate Hamas militants behind an Oct. 7 massacre has left the coastal enclave in ruins, brought widespread hunger and homelessness, and killed nearly 20,000 Gazans, according to a Palestinian tally.
The conflict has spread beyond Gaza into the Red Sea where Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group has been attacking vessels with missiles and drones. That has prompted the creation of a multinational naval operation to protect commerce in the area, but the Houthis said they would carry on anyway.
"Our position will not change in the direction of the Palestinian issue, whether a naval alliance is established or not," Houthi official Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters, saying only Israeli ships or those going to Israel would be targeted.
"Our position in support of Palestine and the Gaza Strip will remain until the end of the siege, the entry of food and medicine, and our support for the oppressed Palestinian people will remain continuous."
Senior Houthi member Mohammad Abdulsalam said in a statement on X that the attacks aim to support Palestinians as they face Israel's "aggression and siege" in Gaza.
*The Yemeni Armed Forces announce that they will target all of the following types of ships:
He added that the Yemeni operations were not a challenge to another party, but stressed that any side seeking to expand the conflict "must bear the consequences of its actions."
"The US-formed coalition is to protect Israel and a militarization of the (Red) Sea without any justification, and it won't stop Yemen from continuing its legitimate operations in support of Gaza," the senior Houthi member said.
"As the US allowed itself to back Israel ... the peoples of the region have full legitimacy to back the Palestinian people," Abdulsalam said. "Yemen has taken it upon itself to stand by the Palestinian right."
Houthi military spokesman, Brigadier Yahya Saree on December 15, 2023 [MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images]
On Monday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the creation of a multinational mission under the name, Operation Prosperity Guardian to counter Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
Austin described the move as "an important new multinational security initiative under the umbrella of the Combined Maritime Forces and the leadership of its Task Force 153, which focuses on security in the Red Sea."
The Red Sea is one of the world's most frequently used sea routes for oil and fuel shipments.
Iran-backed Houthi in Yemen have significantly stepped up their involvement in the current conflict in the Gaza Strip by targeting vessels in the southern Red Sea and warning of attacking all Israel-bound ships.
Yemen’s Houthi say they have launched a drone attack targeting two cargo vessels in the Red Sea, the latest in a series of assaults that have disrupted maritime trade as freight companies seek to avoid the area.
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sarea on Monday identified the vessels as the MSC Clara and Norwegian-owned Swan Atlantic and said the attacks were carried out after their crews failed to respond to calls from the group.
The Swan Atlantic’s owner said the ship was struck by an unidentified object but none of the crew was hurt.
The MSC Clara is a Panama-flagged vessel, according to London Stock Exchange Group data. Details of the attack on the vessel were not immediately clear.
The Iran-backed Houthis have attacked numerous vessels over recent weeks, saying they are targeting ships in the Red Sea with links to Israel in protest against its military offensive in Gaza. The group has warned against sailing towards the area.
Water tank damaged
All of the Swan Atlantic’s systems were operating normally although its water tank was damaged in the attack, said Oystein Elgan, chief executive of owner Inventor Chemical Tankers.
Inventor Chemical Tankers has no Israeli ties, Elgan said.
The vessel’s operator, Uni-Tankers, said the attack caused a small fire, which the crew brought under control, and the ship, carrying vegetable oils, continued to Reunion Island.
A British maritime authority said it had received a report of a vessel that “experienced an explosion” on its port side in an attack 24 nautical miles (44km) northwest of Yemen’s al-Makha (Mocha) port.
The vessel and crew were reported safe, it said in an advisory. The incident described by a United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) advisory was similar to the attack on the Swan Atlantic.
The UKMTO said in a separate advisory it had received a report of a vessel 24 nautical miles southeast of al-Makha that was approached by a craft with several armed people on board.
A magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted Jishishan County in northwest China's Gansu Province, at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, with a depth of 10 kilometers, according to China Earthquake Networks Center.
The earthquake has killed 100 people in Gansu and another 11 in the neighboring Qinghai Province.
The State Council's earthquake relief headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management have upgraded the national earthquake emergency response to Level II
A Y-20 large transport plane of the PLA Western Theatre Command sent rescue work teams to Lanzhou City after a magnitude-6.2 earthquake hit Jishishan County in northwest China's Gansu Province at a depth of 10 kilometers. Thousands of cotton tents, tens of thousands of cotton coats and quilts and other disaster relief supplies have been sent to the areas where the minimum temperature in the county will reach minus 10 degrees Celsius, according to local meteorological authorities.
Videos of the earthquake-hit area taken by rescue workers who arrived in Northwest China’s Gansu, where a 6.2-magnitude earthquake has claimed at least 111 lives in Gansu and Qinghai provinces as of Tuesday morning. Courtesy: Blue Sky Rescue Team pic.twitter.com/uKVYNmKJ8O
Professor Liu Kai, associate dean of the School of National Safety and Emergency Management at Beijing Normal University, told CGTN that rescue efforts remain the top priority in earthquake-hit Gansu Province. She added that authorities should also pay attention to preventing secondary disasters, as temperatures in northwest China are quite low in December.
The death toll has risen to 118 from the earthquake in northwest China's Gansu Province late Monday evening. Over 2,000 responders have been sent to help with rescue and relief efforts. CGTN's Guo Tianqi has the latest on the rescue operations from Lanzhou, the provincial capital of Gansu.
China's independently-developed Wing Loong-2H large unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has swiftly rushed to support emergency rescue work after a magnitude-6.2 earthquake that jolted northwest China's Gansu Province late Monday, according to its developer.
The Wing Loong-2H large civil UAV has rushed to the earthquake-hit areas to carry out rescue missions in response to the call of emergency management authorities, said the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the country's leading planemaker.
A Y-20 large transport plane of the PLA Western Theatre Command sent rescue work teams to Lanzhou City after a magnitude-6.2 earthquake hit Jishishan County in northwest China's Gansu Province at a depth of 10 kilometers. Thousands of cotton tents, tens of thousands of cotton coats and quilts and other disaster relief supplies have been sent to the areas where the minimum temperature in the county will reach minus 10 degrees Celsius, according to local meteorological authorities.
Rescue teams rush to quake-hit areas, build resettlement sites for victims
The Chinese People's Armed Police Force (PAP) Gansu Corps rushed to the quake-hit areas in Jishishan County for emergency rescue after a magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted Gansu Province.
At 9:30 a.m. on December 19, the military built a temporary resettlement site for the affected people.
The first batch of relief material arrived at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday in the quake-hit town of Dahejia in Jishishan County, northwest China's Gansu Province to provide makeshift shelters for affected people. Four mobile emergency hospital vehicles have also come to the earthquake zone.
Power restored to 88.36% of users in quake-hit Jishishan County
Power has been restored to 88.36 percent of users in quake-hit Jishishan County in northwest China's Gansu Province and power supply in the county is stable, State Grid said on Tuesday.
A magnitude-6.2 quake struck northwest China's Gansu Province at midnight on Monday. At 8:46 a.m., two trapped people were rescued and transferred by rescue workers in the fourth community of Dahejia Village, Dahejia Town in Jishishan County, the area worst hit by the earthquake. Rescue efforts are underway.
Earthquake death toll rises to 13 in China's Qinghai Province
Medical personnel rush to treat rescued victims after a magnitude-6.2 quake strikes Gansu Province, northwest China, December 19, 2023. /Xinhua
Search and rescue and relief work is underway on Tuesday after a magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck Jishishan County in northwest China's Gansu Province at a depth of 10 kilometers, killing at least 118 people and damaging local infrastructure.
The quake, which hit at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, was followed by 306 aftershocks, with the largest registering a magnitude of 4.1 as of noon on Tuesday. According to the local departments at a press conference on the earthquake on the same day, strong aftershocks measuring up to a magnitude 5 are still possible in the coming days.
So far, the earthquake has killed 105 people in Gansu and 13 people in neighboring Qinghai Province. It has damaged houses, roads and other infrastructure. Several villages in the county have suffered power failure and water supply disruption.
China has upgraded the national earthquake emergency response to Level II, the second highest in its four-tier system, and has dispatched a work team and thousands of rescuers, including 1,440 firefighters, armed police and hundreds of doctors to the quake-affected areas, with another 1,603 firefighters already assembled and ready for cross-regional reinforcements. Forty-five people have been rescued as of 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Thousands of cotton tents, tens of thousands of cotton coats and quilts and other disaster relief supplies have been sent to the areas where the daily minimum temperature in the county will reach minus 10 degrees Celsius, according to local meteorological authorities.
Armed police search through rubble for people who are trapped in Jishishan County in northwest China's Gansu Province, December 19, 2023. /CMG
After the earthquake, parts of the local power system broke down, affecting 34,070 users. After four hours of all-out repairs, power was restored to 12,991 users as of 5 a.m. on Tuesday.
Emergency rescue channels have been opened to ensure the free and rapid passage of rescue vehicles. According to the Ministry of Transport, cracks have appeared on National Highway 310, and rescue and small vehicles are currently passing normally. However, large vehicles are prohibited.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management allocated 200 million yuan (about $28 million) in relief funds to the Gansu and Qinghai provinces to support local disaster relief work.
China allocates 200m yuan to quake-hit Gansu, Qinghai Provinces
China's Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Emergency Management on Tuesday allocated 200 million yuan in natural disaster relief funds to quake-hit Gansu and Qinghai Provinces, including 150 million yuan for Gansu and 50 million yuan for Qinghai, to support local earthquake relief efforts.
The first batch of relief material arrived in quake-hit Dahejia town, Jishishan County in northwest China's Gansu Province, to provide makeshift shelters for affected people.
Earthquake death toll rises to 105 in NW China's Gansu Province
The magnitude-6.2 earthquake that jolted Jishishan County in northwest China's Gansu Province late Monday evening has killed 105 people in the province, governmental authorities said on Tuesday.
At least 110 killed after M6.2 earthquake jolts northwest China
China has upgraded the national earthquake emergency response to Level II after a magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted northwest China on December 18, killing more than 110 people.
The quake jolted Jishishan County in Gansu Province, five kilometers from the border between Gansu and Qinghai provinces. The earthquake so far has killed 100 people in Gansu and 11 people in neighboring Qinghai.
Xi Jinping urges all-out search, rescue, relief efforts after 6.2-magnitude earthquake
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged all-out search and rescue efforts and proper arrangements for those affected to ensure the safety of people's lives and property after a magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted Jishishan County in northwest China's Gansu Province at midnight on Monday.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, gave the instruction after the quake, calling for minimizing casualties.
The earthquake has left at least 100 people dead in Gansu Province and 11 people in neighboring Qinghai Province, causing damage to infrastructure facilities, such as the water and electricity supply, transportation and telecommunications.
Noting that the disaster area is in a high-altitude region where the weather is cold, Xi highlighted the importance of closely monitoring the post-earthquake situation and changes in the weather to prevent secondary disasters.
He also stressed organizing the allocation of rescue and relief supplies as soon as possible and repairing damaged infrastructure facilities such as electricity, telecommunications, transportation and heating.
The Chinese president also called for efforts to properly accommodate those affected, safeguard people's basic livelihood and appease the families of the victims.
While calling for utmost efforts to ensure the safety of people's lives and property, the State Council is requested to send teams to the disaster area to guide the relief work and the People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police Force should actively assist local disaster relief efforts.
Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, urged all-out rescue and medical treatment efforts and a swift evaluation of the situation. Li also urged locals to stay alert for secondary disasters in the meantime, and called for efforts to fix damaged infrastructure as quickly as possible, accommodate people from the quake-hit areas and ensure the timely release of information to maintain social stability in the affected areas.
In accordance with Xi and Li's instructions, China's State Council has dispatched a work team to the earthquake-stricken areas. The Gansu and Qinghai provinces have organized personnel to carry out disaster relief missions and sent tents, quilts, folding beds and other resources to the quake-hit areas.
At least 110 killed after M6.2 earthquake jolts northwest China
China has upgraded the national earthquake emergency response to Level II after a magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted northwest China late Monday evening.
The quake jolted Jishishan County in northwest China's Gansu Province, five kilometers from the border between Gansu and Qinghai provinces. So far, it has reportedly killed 100 people in Gansu and 11 in neighboring Qinghai.
The earthquake relief headquarters of China's State Council and the Ministry of Emergency Management have dispatched a work team to the earthquake-stricken areas.
The Gansu and Qinghai provinces have organized relief support, including the immediate allocation of relief supplies such as camps and folding beds to the affected areas.
The integration of first-person view (FPV) drones in modern warfare has revolutionized the way military operations are carried out. These drones, equipped with cameras and real-time video transmission technology, provide soldiers with a bird's-eye view of the battlefield, enabling them to make informed decisions and execute precise maneuvers.
The first night version of the Russia's Gastello attack FPV drone has been successfully tested in the special military operation zone.
"The first night FPV drone Gastello has been tested in the special operation zone. It was created based on the wishes of Russian FPV drone operators, who operate directly in various areas of the special operation zone. The drone is equipped with a highly sensitive night camera," a representative of the developer said.
According to him, the new development will allow fighters to effectively work on targets in the dark, when conventional drones can't be used.
The UAV is named in honor of Nikolai Gastello, Hero of the Soviet Union. In the early days of the Great Patriotic War, the crew of a DB-3F (Il-4) aircraft under his command carried out a combat mission in which they had to attack a cluster of German equipment. The Nazis shot down the plane, as a result of which it caught fire, and Gastello made a "fiery ram" by directing the aircraft at the enemy column.
The Gastello FPV drone entered production in Russia in August 2023.
In the midst of the special military operation launched by Moscow, Russian artillery emerged as the undisputed “god of war.” With unwavering determination, Russian artillery units are relentlessly decimating Ukrainian fortifications and military equipment.
The 2S19 Msta-S, a formidable 152.4mm self-propelled howitzer, has taken center stage. This precision-engineered military powerhouse was designed and produced by Uraltransmash during the Soviet era and later adopted by Russia. Officially commissioned in 1989, the 2S19 Msta-S proudly takes the mantle from its predecessor, the 2S3 Akatsiya.
The sheer devastation unleashed by Russia's Msta-S units as they obliterate Ukrainian military strongholds on the Kupyansk front can leave anyone speechless.
The footage, which captures the intense and calculated firepower of the Msta-S howitzers, shows the devastating impact on Ukrainian military fortifications in the ongoing battle for control of the region.
Tingginya intensitas hujan dari hari Minggu, 17/12/2023, hingga hari Senin pagi, 18/12/2023, membuat sejumlah wilayah pada beberapa kecamatan di Kabupaten Limapuluh Kota, Sumatera Barat (Sumbar) mengalami banjir dan tanah longsor.
"Tingginya intensitas hujan sejak hari Minggu, 17/12/2023, pukul 23.00 WIB hingga hari Senin, 18/12/3024, pukul 10.00 WIB, mengakibatkan luapan sungai di beberapa wilayah di Kabupaten Limapuluh Kota," kata Kepala Pelaksana Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) Kabupaten Limapuluh Kota Rahmadinol, di Padang, Senin.
Ia mengatakan terdapat empat kecamatan yang terkena banjir yakni Kecamatan Pangkalan Koto Baru, Kecamatan Harau, Kecamatan Gunuang Omeh, dan Kecamatan Mungka.
Untuk Kecamatan Pangkalan Koto Baru banjir terjadi di Nagari Gunuang Malintang Jorong Lubuak Omeh, yang sempat menutup jalan Pangkalan - Kapur IX.
Sementara untuk Kecamatan Harau terjadi di Nagari Tarantang, Nagari Harau, Nagari Sarilamak, dan Nagari Solok Bio-Bio. Banjir juga terjadi di Kecamatan Mungka tepatnya di Nagari Simpang Kapuak.
"Terakhir banjir terjadi di Kecamatan Gunuang Omeh yaitu di Nagari Koto Tinggi dan Nagari Pandam Gadang," ungkapnya.
Selanjutnya, kata dia, juga terjadi longsor di Kabupaten Limapuluh Kota seperti longsor ruas jalan Tungka-Situmbuak Nagari Tungkar, Kecamatan Situjuah Limo Nagari dan longsor ruas jalan Nagari Ladang Laweh.
"Hingga saat ini BPBD, Kodim 03/06 50 Kota, Polres Limapuluh Kota, Basarnas, Dinas Damkar, Dinas Kesehatan, Dinas Sosial, dan relawan, masih di lapangan melakukan evakuasi korban banjir dan pembersihan material longsor," ujarnya.
Rahmadinol juga mengimbau agar masyarakat Kabupaten Limapuluh Kota, khususnya yang kediamannya di pelantaran sungai maupun di lokasi-lokasi rawan longsor, meningkatkan kewaspadaan. Demikian pula dengan pengendara saat musim penghujan.
“Hati-hati dalam berkendara, jika terjadi hujan dengan intensitas tinggi dan akan melewati ruas jalan yang rawan longsor, kami sarankan untuk beristirahat terlebih dahulu,” ujarnya.
This is the first video released since that ceasefire came to a very abrupt halt after Israel accused Hamas of not abiding by the deal made between them, in terms of who should be released.
Now, the video shows three elderly Israelis. It’s quite different in that there’s a Hebrew song playing in the background.
Also, one of the family members of an 84-year-old captive said that her abducted relative looks a lot older.
What we do know is that some of them have medical conditions.
It’s not clear when the video was filmed. But seeing that the three elderly people are potentially alive is a welcome development for relatives.
Clearly, this will put a lot of pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the military, especially that it comes just a few days after three Israeli captives were killed by Israeli forces, an incident which very much angered the public.
One man, who identified himself as 79-year-old Haiem Bery, was seated in the middle of two others, around the same age, speaking in Hebrew into the barrel of the camera. He said he was being held with other elderly hostages with chronic illnesses, and that all of them were living in very harsh conditions.
“We are the generation who built the foundation for the creation of Israel. We are the ones who started the IDF military. We don’t understand why we have been abandoned here,” he said.
“You have to release us from here. It does not matter the cost. We don’t want to be casualties as a direct result of the IDF military airstrikes. Release us with no conditions. Don’t let us grow old here,” he added.
The video ends with all three men repeating the phrase in unison, “Don’t let us grow old here.”
Israel calls the distribution of the video a criminal act, while Israel itself is a real criminal against humanity.
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin dismissed as complete nonsense remarks by U.S. President Joe Biden that Russia would attack a NATO country if it won the war in Ukraine, adding that Russia had no interest in fighting the NATO military alliance.
The war in Ukraine has triggered the deepest crisis in Moscow's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and Biden warned last year that a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia would trigger World War Three.
In a plea to Republicans not to block further military aid earlier this month, Biden warned that if Putin was victorious over Ukraine then the Russian leader would not stop and would attack a NATO country.
"It is complete nonsense - and I think President Biden understands that," Putin said in an interview published on Sunday by Rossiya state television, adding that Biden appeared to be trying to justify his own "mistaken policy" on Russia.
"Russia has no reason, no interest - no geopolitical interest, neither economic, political nor military - to fight with NATO countries," Putin said.
The U.S.-led NATO alliance was founded in 1949 to provide Western security against the Soviet Union. After the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, it was enlarged to include some former Soviet and Warsaw Pact countries.
Putin has repeatedly cast the post-Cold War expansion of NATO as evidence of the West's arrogant way of dealing with Russia's security concerns.
Under Article 5 of the NATO treaty, "the Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all".
Putin said that Finland's entry into NATO in April would force Russia to "concentrate certain military units" in northern Russia near their border.
COLD WAR?
The failure of Ukraine's counteroffensive this year has raised questions in the West and inside Ukraine about just how realistic the Ukrainian and Western aims of defeating Russian forces in Ukraine are.
Officials in Moscow and the West have repeatedly spoken of a "new Cold War", with Russia and China on one side and the West on the other.
Asked about how common ground could be found with the West given the rhetoric on both sides, Putin said: "They will have to find common ground because they will have to reckon with us."
A senior U.S. State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said last month that Putin would not make peace before he knows the results of the November election in the United States.
The West, Putin said, had failed to understand the extent of the changes ushered in by the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, which he said had removed any genuine ideological basis for a confrontation between Russia and the West.
"I really did have a naive impression," Putin, a former KGB spy who rose to power in 1999, said of his impressions of the world in 2000.
"The reality is that after the fall of the Soviet Union, they considered that they just had to wait for a bit to completely destroy Russia," Putin said.
Putin casts the war as part of a much bigger struggle with the United States, which the Kremlin elite says aims to cleave Russia apart, grab its vast natural resources and then turn to settling scores with China.
The West, which presents Russia and China as its main threats, says it has no plan to destroy Russia. Ukraine says it will not rest until every last Russian soldier is ejected from its territory.
West wanted Russia’s disintegration – Putin
The West was determined to break Russia apart after the collapse of the Soviet Union, believing that multiple states based on the country’s ruins would be too weak to resist outside influence, President Vladimir Putin has said.
In an interview with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin aired on Sunday, Putin admitted that he was a “naive” leader early in his political career even though he had a solid background in Soviet intelligence.
The Russian president said that he had believed that the West understood that Russia had become a completely different country after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and that there were no further ideological differences warranting a serious stand-off.
According to Putin, even when he saw Western efforts to support terrorism and separatism in Russia two decades ago, he thought that it was the “inertia of thinking” that was to blame. “They had just got used to fighting the Soviet Union,” he believed.
In reality, however, the West was deliberately trying to undercut Russia, the president said. “After the collapse of the Soviet Union they thought they just had to wait a little longer, and then they would break Russia apart as well.”
According to Putin, the West saw no need for the existence of the world’s largest country, with its large population. “It would be better, as suggested by… [former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew] Brzezinski, to divide it into five parts, and subjugate them one by one.”
This alleged Western plan, he explained, hinged on the premise that several smaller states “would have no weight or voice of their own, and would have no chance to defend their national interests in the way that the united Russian state has.”
The Russian leader was apparently referring to a 1997 article penned by Brzezinski, an ardent supporter of Soviet containment who died in 2017, which suggested at the time that Moscow should abandon “a futile effort to regain its status as a global power.” The former White House adviser also opined that “a loosely confederated Russia, composed of a European Russia, a Siberian Republic, and a Far Eastern Republic” would have an easier time fostering economic relations with its neighbors.
Putin has repeatedly said that the West was planning to split Russia into several states, warning that the Russian people could cease to exist if this happens, and naming its continued unity as the key condition for the country’s success.
