US Air Force designed drone system specifically to meet Ukrainian requirements, Pentagon says
The US Air Force developed the new Phoenix Ghost drone system to meet Ukrainian needs, according to a Pentagon spokesperson.
The new US aid package for Ukraine includes more than 121 Phoenix Ghost systems, the Pentagon said.
“This was rapidly developed by the Air Force in response specifically to Ukrainian requirements," said Pentagon press secretary John Kirby in off-camera remarks to reporters.
“It provides similar capabilities to the Switchblade series of unmanned systems — similar capabilities, but not exact,” Kirby said. “There’s differences in the scope of capability for the Phoenix Ghost.”
But Kirby would not say what the differences in capabilities are between the Switchblade and Phoenix Ghost systems.
Serbia ‘sliding towards autocracy’ as president secures second term
Amid claims of dirty tricks, Aleksandar Vučić has held on to the presidency, but activists are saying he is silencing opponents
Democracy watchdogs and civil society activists in Serbia have warned that the country is sliding towards autocracy under President Aleksandar Vučić, who was elected for a second term this month with a large majority.
After a campaign marred by reports of widespread bribery, intimidation and gerrymandering, Vučić won 60% of the presidential vote. The outcome of the parliamentary and Belgrade city elections, however, is still unclear. The opposition is waiting for courts to decide whether balloting will be repeated in areas where they have raised complaints of severe irregularities. As a result, a new government will not be formed for several months.
Cracking down on peace: How Russian anti-war protesters face persecution
Russian authorities are attempting to intimidate opponents of the war in Ukraine. Courageous activists in Kazan report what they have been doing and what consequences they face. A report from Tatarstan.
A law prohibiting the "discrediting the Russian Armed Forces" has been in force for a little more than a month now. Since then, courts across Russia have investigated more than 300 allegations. Criminal prosecutions have been brought in at least 21 cases. In some instances, the defendants had boisterously called for peace and an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine, in others they held silent protests against the war.
"There is a police station that I always pass on my way to and from work. I have been doing so for the last year-and-a-half and no police officer has ever taken any notice of me. That was also the case for a month after I tied a green ribbon on my backpack," says Alexei from Kazan, whose name has been changed at his request.
Honduras ex-president bound for US for drug trafficking trial
Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez was set to be extradited to the United States Thursday, the government said, to stand trial for allegedly aiding the smuggling of hundreds of tons of cocaine to America.
The 53-year-old, whose 2014-2022 stint as president was plagued by allegations of corruption, risks spending the rest of his life in prison if convicted.
Hernandez is accused of having facilitated the smuggling of some 500 tons of cocaine -- mainly from Colombia and Venezuela -- to the United States via Honduras since 2004, starting long before his presidency.
LDP panel backs enemy base attack under different name
By NAOKI MATSUYAMA/ Staff Writer
A ruling Liberal Democratic Party panel decided to propose allowing Japan to attack an enemy missile base but under terminology that removes impression of pre-emptive strikes, according to sources.
Itsunori Onodera, chairman of the LDP’s Research Commission on Security, revealed that "counterattack capability" would be the new term at a meeting on April 21.
The possibility of the Self-Defense Forces’ striking an enemy base about to launch a missile against Japan was first broached by Shinzo Abe when he was prime minister.
Why is East Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate a hotspot for tensions?
Damascus Gate is a centre of Palestinian cultural life, but Israeli forces regularly attack Palestinians in the plaza.
The Damascus Gate, or Bab al-Amud – as it is known in Arabic, has re-emerged as a flashpoint between Palestinians and Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem.
Since the start of Ramadan on April 2, Israeli forces, including undercover units, have assaulted and arrested Palestinian residents in the Damascus Gate area on an almost daily basis. Hundreds of others were arrested from Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Similar scenes were documented last Ramadan during protests against Israeli attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood and Israel’s 11-day war on Gaza.
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