Two Russian oil tankers wrecked in Black Sea
Tom Bennett
Two Russian oil tankers with 29 crew members on board have been heavily damaged in the Black Sea, triggering an oil spill, authorities in Russia have said.
Footage released by Russia's Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office showed one of the tankers broken in half and sinking amid a heavy storm, with streaks of oil visible in the water.
At least one crew member was reportedly killed. The second ship was said to have drifted after sustaining damage and conflicting reports suggested it may have later run aground.
Israel to close Dublin embassy after Ireland supports ICJ genocide petition
Israeli foreign minister says move was prompted by Irish government’s ‘extreme anti-Israeli policies’
Sun 15 Dec 2024 14.50 GMT
Israel has announced it will close its embassy in Ireland, citing Dublin’s decision last week to support a petition at the international court of justice accusing Israel of “genocide”.
The move was announced by the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, who said it was prompted by the Irish government’s “extreme anti-Israeli policies”, noting its decision to join the ICJ petition last week.
The Irish taoiseach, Simon Harris, said on X: “This is a deeply regrettable decision from the Netanyahu government. I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel. Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law.
Libya: Armed clashes close key oil refinery as fires erupt
The second-largest oil refinery in Libya has suspended operations after gunfighting caused fires in storage units. Armed clashes are common in the western area where the refinery is situated.
Armed groups from two factions clashed around a key oil refinery in western Libya on Sunday, causing fires to break out in several storage units and forcing a suspension of operations at the facility.
Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) declared a state of "force majeure" amid the incident, which exempts it from having to fulfill oil delivery contracts in the event that production has to be reduced.
The Zawiya refinery, some 45 km (28 miles) from the capital, Tripoli, is the only one that supplies fuel products to the local market.
Cape Flats farmers fight to preserve a South African breadbasket eyed by developers
In the middle of Cape Town’s Cape Flats lies the Philippi Horticutural Area, an agricultural zone that produces more than half of the city’s fresh produce. It sits on top of an aquifer that allows for “drought-proof” farming in a region where intensifying droughts have become the norm. But due to rezoning proposals by developers, the land is under threat.
Achmad Binkhuis’s father was not allowed to buy his own farm under Apartheid rules. After the fall of the regime, Binkhuis turned two chickens into 35,000 and now runs a poultry and vegetable vendor, Chamomile Farm. Now, proposed rezoning threatens his land.
“Before, it was based on the colour of your skin. Now it’s economic,” Binkhuis said.
Chamomile Farm is situated in the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA) in the heart of Cape Flats, about 20km from Cape Town. Almost five million people live in the Cape Flats, often in densely populated townships plagued by gang violence and unemployment.
Vietnam pays hefty price for Mekong dam projects
A delta ecosystem at risk of collapse
by Maïlys Khider
A drought in spring 2016 ruined 160,000 hectares of Vietnam’s crops, much of it rice. The state issued an urgent request for China to open the Jinghong dam so it could irrigate. The request was granted and water flowed for three weeks – proof that China, rather than Vietnam, the Mekong river’s last stop on its journey to the sea, controls the water supply. The river rises in the Himalayas, 5,000m above sea level, passing through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia before finally reaching Vietnam. The Vietnamese stretch of the Mekong carries 500 billion cubic metres of water annually: 480 billion flow from the upper Mekong and just 20 billion come from rainfall.
Inside Syria’s notorious Palestine detention centre in Damascus
Palestine detention center, known in Arabic as Fare’a Falstine, is one of the prisons where its detainees were tortured physically and psychologically and without any clear charges against them, according to insurgents. It’s among many detention centres where prisoners have been freed after Bashar Assad’s government was toppled last weekend.
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