SYRIA
US attack leaves 40 dead
US forces attacked militant leaders in northwestern Syria on Saturday, the Pentagon said, in what a battlefield monitor called a missile strike that left at least 40 dead. The US strike came as renewed Syrian regime bombardment of Idlib Province killed one civilian in a first breach of a Russian-backed truce for the region that came into effect just hours before, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The US Department of Defense said its own attack targeted leaders of al-Qaeda in the north of the same province, but did not say what kind of weapon was used. That attack targeted leaders of militant groups and allied factions near Idlib city, the observatory said.
SYRIA
Islamic State militant caught
An Islamic State militant suspected of beheading more than 100 people in Raqa and with possible links to the Paris and Brussels attacks has been captured in Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Saturday. Anouar Haddouchi, who is of Belgian origin, was captured in the eastern Deir Ezzor region, about 100km from the Iraqi border, SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali said on Twitter. Bali also confirmed Belgian media reports, which said the capture took place in March. Haddouchi was being held by the SDF, which is dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) milita.
MYANMAR
‘Weak’ soldiers face court
The army plans to court-martial soldiers after a new finding in an inquiry into atrocities in Rakhine State, from which more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled a 2017 army-led campaign the UN says was executed with “genocidal intent.” On Saturday, the Web site of Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing said a military court that visited the northern state found soldiers had shown “weakness in following instructions in some incidents” at a village said to have been a Rohingya massacre site.
TUNISIA
Jailed man to run in election
A jailed media magnate is among the 26 candidates authorized on Saturday to run in Tunisia’s presidential election next month, a crucial test for the North African country’s fragile young democracy. The Tunisian election authority announced the list of candidates who qualified for the Sept. 15 first round of voting. Those who accumulate the most votes advance to a second round two weeks later. Businessman Nabil Karoui was allowed to maintain his candidacy while in custody on accusations of money laundering and tax evasion. Karoui and another candidate accused of money laundering can run as long as they have not been convicted, the electoral authority said.
ISRAEL
PM pledges annexation
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reaffirming his pledge to impose Israeli sovereignty on West Bank settlements. Speaking yesterday at a ceremony opening the new school year in the settlement of Elkana, Netanyahu said there “will be no more displacements” and all the communities will be “part of the state of Israel.” Such a move would be a sharp departure from long-standing Israeli government policy. With just more than two weeks to go to repeat elections, Netanyahu looks to be seeking to shore up his right-wing base again.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of