NewsTensions rise globally with canal disputes and territorial seizures
Tensions rise globally with canal disputes and territorial seizures
It happened while you were sleeping. Here's what global agencies recorded during the night from Saturday to Sunday.
ed. Maciej Zubel
- US President Donald Trump declared on Saturday that American warships and merchant vessels should be able to use both the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal free of charge. In a post shared on the Truth Social platform, President Trump stated that he has instructed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to address this issue promptly.
- The Chinese army has seized the disputed Sandy Cay reef, which is part of the Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea and is located just "a few miles" from a crucial military outpost of the Philippines, Titu Island, reports the "Financial Times", citing Chinese media.
- The fire in the port of Shahid Rajaee in the Iranian city of Bandar-e Abbas, which broke out on Saturday, has spread, local media reported. According to the Ministry of Interior, the death toll from the explosion has risen to at least 14, with more than 750 people injured.
- The President of the Palestinian Authority and head of the Palestine Liberation Organization Mahmoud Abbas appointed Hussein al-Sheikh as the vice-chairman of the PLO on Saturday. While this does not guarantee he will succeed the 89-year-old Abbas, it does make him a favourite, assessed the AP agency.
- The Interpol National Bureau in Gaborone, Botswana has launched an investigation into the Alabuga Start programme, advertised in Africa as a project combining work with studies in Russia for young women, who in reality are being forced to produce military drones in Russia's Tatarstan. Interpol suspects that human trafficking is behind the Russian programme. The head of Interpol in Gaborone, Senior Inspector Selebatso Mokgosi, stated that the investigation began after his office noted posts by a Russian recruitment company on social media. In the Tatarstani factory where the recruited African women are sent, Iranian Shahed drones are produced. As thousands of Russians have been killed or injured due to the attack on Ukraine, the Kremlin, grappling with a labour shortage, is attempting to replace them with individuals from the poorest African countries.
- According to the Nigerian newspaper "Daily Post", an attack on the Yanriwa market in Benue state occurred on Saturday during peak hours, when it was filled with dozens of buyers and sellers. One of the journal's interviewees, Lawrence Akerigba, said that the attackers were shooting at anyone they saw, causing chaos and bloodshed.
- At least 15 emergency rooms were closed in Portugal over the weekend due to a lack of medical staff. The paralysis of hospital operations, which has already occurred in recent weeks, mainly affects the Lisbon metropolitan area, the capital of the country.
