DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ U.S. Accuses Russia of Using Chemical Weapons in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The United States has accused Russia of using chemical weapons, including poison gas, “as a method of warfare” against Ukrainian forces, in violation of a global ban on the use of such weapons. The State Department said in a statement on Wednesday that Russia had used chloropicrin, a “choking agent” widely used during World War I, as well as tear gas, against Ukrainian troops. The use of these gases in warfare is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, an arms control treaty ratified by more than 150 countries, including Russia. Russia this year has been slowly but steadily pushing through Ukrainian defenses in the east, capturing several towns and villages. The State Department also said that the United States would impose sanctions on three state entities linked to Russia’s chemical and biological weapons programs and four companies that support them.

Organizations: Ukrainian, State Department, Chemical Weapons Convention Locations: States, Russia, United States

☆ U.S. accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine, in breach of global ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine undergo training to storm enemy trenches using simulation equipment as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues in Kharkiv Region, Ukraine on February 29, 2024. The U.S. has formally accused Russia of using chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops and announced late Wednesday that it is imposing more sanctions on Russian individuals and entities. The U.S. State Department released a statement late Wednesday in which it accused Russia of violating the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which bans the production and use of chemical weapons, by using the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces. Chloropicrin was used as a poison gas in World War I but is now more commonly used in agriculture as an insecticide. "When inhaled, these agents cause alveoli, air sacs in the lungs, to secrete fluid, essentially drowning those affected," the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons states.

Persons: Chloropicrin Organizations: National Guard, Ukrainian, U.S . State Department, Chemical Weapons Convention, CWC, Russian, Chemical Weapons Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Kharkiv Region, U.S

☆ US imposes sanctions on more than a dozen companies in China for support of Russia’s war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | Samantha Waldenberg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The United States imposed sanctions on more than a dozen companies in China and Hong Kong for their support of Russia’s war in Ukraine as part of a tranche of nearly 300 new sanctions unveiled Wednesday. “The almost 300 targets being sanctioned by both Treasury and the Department of State include sanctions on dozens of actors that have enabled Russia to acquire desperately needed technology and equipment from abroad,” the Treasury Department said in a news release. The sanctions also hit targets within Russia, as well as Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The sanctions are aimed at cracking down on sanctions evasion and support for Russia’s military-industrial base and its biological and chemical weapons programs. The Treasury Department also targeted those involved in providing precursor materials to Russia used in explosives.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Antony Blinken, “ Organizations: CNN, Ukraine, Treasury, Department of State, Treasury Department, United, United Arab Emirates Locations: United States, China, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey, United Arab

☆ US says Russia used choking agents against Ukrainian troops, breaching chemical weapons ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Jessie Yeung | Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is probably driven by Russian forces’ desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield,” it said. Russia has previously denied using chemical weapons. The US has previously warned Russia against chemical warfare in Ukraine; in March 2022, a month after the invasion began, President Joe Biden said that NATO would respond if Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine. The use of chemical weapons is banned by international law. Russia has signed those treaties and claims it doesn’t have chemical weapons, but the country has already been linked to the use of nerve agents against critics in recent years.

Persons: Ukraine’s, Chloropicrin, Joe Biden, Mallory Stewart, Sergei Skripal, Alexey Navalny –, Vladimir Putin, Navalny Organizations: CNN, US State Department, Ukrainian, Chemical Weapons Convention, CWC, Russian Embassy, CDC, State Department, United, United Arab Emirates, US, NATO Locations: United States, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Netherlands, China, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey, United Arab, Moscow, Ukrainian, Siberia

☆ Live Updates: Iran State-Run Media Reports Explosions
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Farnaz Fassihi | Patrick Kingsley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

The next year, Palestine was granted the lesser status of observer at the United Nations, a level shared by the Holy See. With the war raging in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority asked the United Nations to take up its bid a second time. The Vatican has also recognized Palestinian statehood. But as the death toll has climbed in Gaza, the push for Palestinian statehood has intensified. But some have in recent months suggested that they might recognize a Palestinian state sooner.

Persons: Mahmoud Abbas, Timothy A, Clary, Riyad Mansour, ”, Israel —, Lynsey Addario, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Biden, David Cameron, Emmanuel Macron, Macron, “ Organizations: West Bank, . Security, Palestinian, Security, United Nations, United Nations Palestine, UNESCO, Observers, General, International Court of Justice, Organization for, Chemical Weapons, General Assembly, Agence France, Palestinian Authority, Union, The New York Times Locations: Hebron, West, United, Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Palestine, United States, Russia, China, Ramallah, Canada, France, Britain, Spain, Ireland, Malta, Slovenia

☆ Russia is using chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops to create panic before it attacks: report
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia is using chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces, The Telegraph has reported. The report says Russia is using the weapons to create panic before launching attacks. AdvertisementRussia is launching daily attacks on Ukrainian positions using prohibited chemical weapons, The Telegraph has reported. The report, citing front-line Ukrainian troops, says Russian forces are using the weapons in a bid to create panic before launching attacks on Ukrainian positions. It says Russia is using drones to drop grenades filled with CS gas, a chemical agent whose use in war is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Persons: —, Marc, Michael Blum, Russia's, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: Ukrainian, Telegraph, Service, CS, Chemical, Convention, 810th Naval Infantry Brigade, Kyiv Post, Republicans Locations: Russia, Ukrainian, Chasiv Yar, Donetsk, Ukraine, Russian, Kyiv

☆ Ukraine says Russian drones have dropped grenades packed with chemical agents hundreds of times in the last month
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Ella Sherman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Russian drones are increasingly dropping chemical grenades in Ukraine, says Ukraine's Armed Forces. These chemical bombings violate the United Nations' Chemical Weapons Convention, Ukraine cites. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementUkraine's military is tracking how often Russian drones drop grenades containing dangerous chemical agents. The number of chemical weapons being dropped from unmanned aerial vehicles is becoming a systemic issue, the Command of the Support Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted on Facebook on Friday.

Persons: — Organizations: Armed Forces, United Nations ' Chemical Weapons Convention, Service, Command, Support Forces, Facebook, Business Locations: Ukraine

☆ Drones have ushered in a brutal new phase of Syria's civil war
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewDrones are increasingly shaping warfare in the Syrian civil war that entered its 14th year in March. Kasim Rammah/Getty ImagesHowever, unlike drones, Syrian Air Force aircraft require significant support from Russia. Advertisement"The Russians might not want to spend any more jet fuel and Soviet-designed bombs on Assad just to help him blow up hospitals and marketplaces in Idlib," Lund said. Advertisement"It seems well within the means of Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant jihadi militia in Idlib, to manufacture and use kamikaze drones," Lund said. Even though many of these opposition drones are often described as crude, low-tech, and DIY, Lund also does not rule out the possibility that Syrian opposition groups have received state backing for some attacks.

Persons: —, Bashar al, Assad, Freddy Khoueiry, RANE, Khoueiry, Aron Lund, Lund, Kasim Rammah, Moscow's, they're, RANE's Organizations: Service, Business, Century International, Syrian Air Force, embroilment, Scientific Studies, Research Center, Ministry of Defense, Hezbollah, Russia Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Damascus, Hayat Tahrir, Idlib, Homs, East, North Africa, Syria, Aleppo, Soviet, Iran, Yemen, Lebanon, Hmeimim, Latakia, Tahrir, Turkey

☆ Opinion: This election, Americans are shedding an ugly stereotype
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Increasingly, 2024 is becoming a foreign policy election. Even on domestic policy, one of the top issues is immigration, an area where foreign and domestic policy intersect. But foreign policy has still managed to emerge as a key concern. In 2013, when President Barack Obama launched his second term, I listened to his inaugural speech looking for clues about foreign policy. Americans worry about what’s happening in the world and about the role the United States will play in directing that trajectory.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Jim Hoge, ” It’s, Joe Biden’s, “, Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, Trump, Vladimir Putin, Biden, disparages Putin, Pew, ”, Harris, Barack Obama, …, Bashar al, Assad Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Foreign Affairs, Democratic, Israel, Republican, NATO, Biden, Trump, Hamas, Gallup, Harvard, Islamic, ISIS, West Locations: Michigan, Russia, United States, Ukraine, Israel, China, Taiwan, Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan

☆ Live updates: Russia advances in Ukraine as Navalny's family demand answers
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Christian Edwards | Antoinette Radford | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Yulia Navalnaya, wife of late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, attends the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on February 16. Kai Pfaffenbach/ReutersYulia Navalnaya said Monday that the Russian authorities are hiding her husband's body and “lying pathetically,” while waiting for traces of poisoning to disappear. A CNN and Bellingcat investigation later uncovered that a Russian intelligence service squad planted the poison on his underwear. Navalny returned to Russia in 2021 after being treated in Germany for Novichok poisoning. Even today, no country outside of Russia is known to have developed the substance.

Persons: Yulia Navalnaya, Alexey Navalny, Kai Pfaffenbach, Reuters Yulia Navalnaya, Vladimir, Putin’s, Navalny, ” Organizations: Reuters, CNN Locations: Munich, Germany, Russian, Russia, Soviet Union, Soviet

☆ ChatGPT probably won't help create biological weapons, OpenAI says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewOpenAI thinks there's only a slight chance that ChatGPT could be used to help create biological threats. Experts have warned that AI could be used to facilitate biological terror attacks, either by helping terrorists create biological and chemical weapons or by helping them plan their attacks. The GPT-4 group was given access to a research-only version of the model that, unlike ChatGPT, has fewer "security guardrails in place" it said. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

Persons: —, there's, Dario Amodei, Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI Organizations: Service, Business, Rand Corporation

"While it's Syrians that are calling for it, for the use of chemical weapons in Syria, if states so wish, it could be far beyond Syria," Olabi told Reuters. The Exceptional Chemical Weapons Tribunal proposal was launched on Nov. 30, the day victims of chemical attacks are remembered worldwide. 'SOME KIND OF JUSTICE'The use of chemical weapons is banned under the Geneva Conventions that codified the laws of war. That ban was strengthened by the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, a non-proliferation treaty joined by 193 states which is overseen by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The OPCW has the power to investigate claims of chemical weapons use and in some cases identify alleged perpetrators, but it has no prosecutorial powers.

Persons: Safaa Kamel, We'll, Ibrahim Olabi, Olabi, Bashar al, Akande, Mohamad Salim Namour, IIIM, Catherine Marchi, Uhel, Maya Gebeily, Stephanie van den Berg, Anthony Deutsch, Mahmoud Hasano, Angus MacSwan, Bernadette Baum Organizations: HAGUE, Reuters, Diplomats, Convention, Organisation, Chemical Weapons, United Nations, United Nations International Law Commission, ICC, UN, Islamic, TEN, International, Thomson Locations: Eastern Ghouta, Syria, Syrian, Afrin, BEIRUT, The Hague, Jobar, Syria's, Damascus, Ghouta, British, Geneva, France, Balkans, Rwanda, Lebanon, Douma, Russia, Beirut

Paris CNN —France has issued an arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the alleged use of banned chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, a judicial source told CNN on Wednesday. This is the first international arrest warrant against Assad. “All Interpol member states should then comply with the arrest warrant,” Chammas told CNN. “We have never used our chemical arsenal in our history,” Assad said in 2017. He added that “morally” the Syrian government would never do this “because it’s not acceptable.”

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, Maher al, Michael Chammas, ” Chammas, “, Mazen Darwish, ” Darwish, Hadi al Khatib, ” Assad, it’s, ” Organizations: Paris CNN —, CNN, Interpol, Syrian Centre for Media, Open Society Justice Initiative, Eastern Ghouta, Syrian Center for Media Locations: Paris CNN — France, Syria, Germany, Douma, Eastern, Ghouta, Damascus, France

☆ Israel, Gaza and What We Get Wrong - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Nicholas Kristof | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

We’ve reached a searing milestone: In just five weeks of war, half of 1 percent of Gaza’s population has been killed. The second myth is that Palestinians can be put off indefinitely, strung along by Israel, the United States and other countries. I’m all for surgical strikes against Hamas and I would be delighted if Israel managed to end extremism in Gaza. It also means renouncing what Netanyahu called “mighty vengeance” that transforms entire neighborhoods of Gaza into rubble, with bodies buried underneath. If you weep only for Israeli children, or only for Palestinian children, you have a problem that goes beyond your tear ducts.

Persons: —, We’ve, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Isaac Herzog, Israel, Roy Grow, Mohammed Alshannat, ”, Netanyahu, don’t Organizations: Hamas, Health Ministry, United Nations, Bank, Carleton College Locations: Gaza, Yemen, Syria, Western Sahara, Xinjiang, Israel, United States, Palestinian, Palestine, Saudi Arabia

☆ French Judges Issue Warrant for Assad in Syria War Crimes Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Marlise Simons | More About Marlise Simons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

French investigative judges have issued an international arrest warrant for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria that accuses him of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity over the deadly use of chemical weapons against his own people, a judicial official said on Wednesday. The move was a major step to hold Mr. al-Assad and his circle accountable for some of the worst atrocities committed in the yearslong Syria conflict. In the absence of any international court or tribunal that has jurisdiction over Syrian crimes, a patchwork of efforts for accountability has been underway for some time. Several countries, including Germany, Sweden and France, have launched prosecutions of individuals — mostly of low-level members of the Syrian security forces. A special war crimes unit in the French judiciary has been investigating a complaint against Mr. al-Assad and his close associates that was filed in March 2021 by three international human rights groups.

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, al Locations: Syria, Germany, Sweden, France

☆ France issues arrest warrant against Syria's President Assad - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Nov 15 (Reuters) - French judges have issued arrest warrants for Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad, and two other senior officials over the use of banned chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, a judicial source said on Wednesday. It is the first international arrest warrant that has been issued for the Syrian head of state, whose forces responded to protests that began in 2011 with a brutal crackdown that U.N. experts have said amount to war crimes. It is the first time international arrest warrants have been issued over the chemical weapons attack in Ghouta in 2013, says Mazen Darwish, lawyer and founder of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), which filed the case in France. In October, French judges issued warrants for two former defence ministers over a 2017 bomb that killed a French-Syrian man at his home in Daraa. Reporting by Layli Foroudi and Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Richard LoughOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, Maher al, Mazen Darwish, Darwish, Layli Foroudi, Dominique Vidalon, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Richard Lough Organizations: Eastern Ghouta, Syrian Center for Media, United Nations, Organisation, Chemical Weapons, Thomson Locations: Syria, Douma, Eastern, Syrian, Ghouta, France, Daraa

☆ China has a sweeping vision to reshape the world — and countries are listening
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +23 min

All this coincides with longstanding calls from countries across the developing world for an international system where they have more say. Beijing, he added, sees the US as merely “paying lip service” to the “liberal order” to hurt other countries. Sergei Savostyanov/Sputnik/ReutersIn recent years, even some countries that have for decades embraced a close partnership with the US have drawn closer to China and its vision. “Is China really trying to promote multipolarity — or does China just want to (become a) substitute (for) US influence over the world?” he asked. They also raise questions about how a more militarily and economically powerful China would behave globally, if left unchecked.

Persons: Xi Jinping, —, Xi, Vladimir Putin, General Antonio Guterres, ” Xi, , Shen Hong, they’d, ”, Yun Sun, liberalize, Sanjit Das, Shen Dingli, ‘, ’ ”, Russia’s Putin, Bashar al, Assad —, Assad’s, Sergei Savostyanov, Ali Sarwar Naqvi, “ We’ve, James Marape, ’, Rubens Duarte, Li Zhiquan, “, Tong Zhao, Zhao, Ted Aljibe, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Zhang Youxia, Beijing’s, Gilberto Teodoro Jr, BRICS, Weeks, Joe Biden, Sergio Lima, ” — Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, United Nations, Forum, China, Communist, CNN, Beijing, Washington, Getty, Stimson, Bank, World Trade Organization, . Riot, Bloomberg, Initiative, Asian, Global, Sputnik, Reuters, Center for International Strategic Studies, Papua New Guinea, multipolarity, China News Service, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, Global Security Initiative, NATO, Russia, Philippine Defense, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, United, New, Seven, Ministry, Global Security, Group, UN, Communist Party Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beijing, United States, Ukraine, Gaza, Russian, Xinhua, Washington, South, Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, America, Shanghai, West, Hangzhou, Israel, Pakistan, Pakistani, Islamabad, Papua New, Brazil, Indonesia, Europe, Asia, Scarborough, South China, AFP, Moscow, Russia, “, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Palestine, India, South Africa, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates, New Delhi, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Caribbean, ” Beijing

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attends an in-conversation event with Tesla and SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk in London, Britain, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. Risks around rapidly-developing AI have been an increasingly high priority for policymakers since Microsoft-backed Open AI (MSFT.O) released ChatGPT to the public last year. "It was fascinating that just as we announced our AI safety institute, the Americans announced theirs," said attendee Nigel Toon, CEO of British AI firm Graphcore. China’s vice minister of science and technology said the country was willing to work with all sides on AI governance. Yoshua Bengio, an AI pioneer appointed to lead a "state of the science" report commissioned as part of the Bletchley Declaration, told Reuters the risks of open-source AI were a high priority.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Tesla, Elon Musk, Kirsty Wigglesworth, Sam Altman, Kamala Harris, Ursula von der Leyen, China –, Sunak, Finance Bruno Le Maire, Vera Jourova, Jourova, Harris, Nigel Toon, Wu Zhaohui, Musk, you’ve, Martin Coulter, Paul Sandle, Matt Scuffham, Louise Heavens Organizations: British, Elon, U.S, European Commission, Microsoft, of, Finance, EU, Reuters, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, China, Bletchley, U.S, South Korea, France, United States

☆ Opinion | Could the Next Republican President Take Us to War With Mexico?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Greg Grandin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

war horses, like Senator Lindsey Graham, want to bomb Mexico. Ron DeSantis of Florida said he would send special forces into Mexico on “Day 1” of his presidency, targeting drug cartels and fentanyl labs. This move targeted Mexican cartels and Chinese companies, which are accused of providing the ingredients to the cartels to manufacture fentanyl. Of course, the United States is already fighting, and has been for half a century, a highly militarized drug war — in the Andes, Central America and, yes, Mexico — a war as ineffective as it has been cruel. Hitting fentanyl labs won’t do anything to slow the bootlegged versions of the drug into the United States but could further destabilize northern Mexico and the borderlands, worsening the migrant refugee crisis.

Persons: Donald Trump, Mark Esper, Mr, Trump, Mike Waltz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lindsey Graham, Ron DeSantis, Michael McCaul, It’s, Vance, MAGA Organizations: Gov, “, Chemical, Convention, Republican, Senate, Democratic Locations: Mexico, Florida, United States, Central America, West Virginia, Maine, House

☆ Biden’s Rule of Engagement: Don’t
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Lauren Camera | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +14 min

Leaders of Egypt and Jordan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called off a planned summit with President Joe Biden. “Don’t,” he said, warning Iran as well as the U.S.-designated terror group Hezbollah that runs Lebanon and any others from intensifying the crisis by escalating their involvement. But perhaps most effective of all, experts say, is the single word Biden continues to repeat: Don’t. “When the president says, ‘Don't,’ and then moves an aircraft carrier, that looks good. Middle East analysts go back to the point that Hezbollah and Iran likely don’t want to escalate the war either.

Persons: Biden, Mahmoud Abbas, Joe Biden, ”, Mark Montgomery, –, Benjamin Netanyahu, “, ” Montgomery, “ Will, Matthew McInnis, “ That’s, ” McInnis, McInnis, Lloyd Austin, Gerald R, Ford, Dwight D, Antony Blinken, Israel, ” Biden, Barack Obama, Syria’s Bashar al, Assad, ‘, Alex Vatanka, Carney, Hashem Safieddine, Netanyahu, “ It’s Organizations: Hamas, Intelligence, Defense Department, Israel, U.S, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, organization’s, Technology, Institute for, Eisenhower, Israel Defense Forces, United Arab, West Bank, Treasury, Foreign Assets Control, Target, Middle, Middle East Institute, Navy, “ Locations: Gaza, Israel, U.S, Jihad, Hamas, Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Jerusalem, Afghanistan, Syria, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, China, Sudan, Turkey, Algeria, Tel Aviv, United States, Iraq, Eastern, Yemen, Red, Ukraine

☆ Fact Check: Old Syria photograph used alongside real claims of Palestinian child deaths
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Israel hit Gaza with retaliatory air strikes after a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. As of Oct. 17, at least 3,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israel’s bombing campaign, according to Gaza’s Hamas authorities. The picture being shared shows the bodies of at least seven children, wrapped in white fabric. Reuters reported that hundreds of people were killed in a sarin gas attack on Aug. 21, 2013, in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta. Claims that hundreds of Palestinian children have died since the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated are true, according to authorities.

Persons: VEREDICT, Read Organizations: Israeli IOF Forces, Palestinian, Syrian Shaam News Network, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Syria, Israel, Gaza, PALESTINE, AFP, Damascus, Ghouta

☆ Videos show Israel's military used incendiary bombs in Gaza that can cause horrific burns
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Human Rights Watch has confirmed that Israel used white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and along the Israel-Lebanon border. White phosphorus is a chemical that ignites when it's exposed to oxygen and causes severe burns when it comes in contact with human skin. AdvertisementAdvertisementHuman Rights Watch confirmed on Thursday that Israel used white phosphorus in military operations in the Gaza Strip and along the Israel-Lebanon border. White phosphorus is a chemical that ignites when it's exposed to oxygen and can cause severe burns when it comes into contact with human skin. In addition to verifying the two videos, HRW also interviewed two people who described the use of the munitions over Gaza.

Persons: —, Ali Shoeib 🇱🇧 ( Organizations: Rights Watch, Service Locations: Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Gaza City

☆ A PhD student in the UK has been found guilty of 3D-printing a chemical weapon drone in his bedroom for a terrorist attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A PhD engineering student in the UK built a bomb-capable drone for ISIS, authorities said. The drone was designed to mimic the Tomahawk missile, and was built in his bedroom, police said. Al-Bared manufactured the drone "specifically to transport an explosive or chemical weapon into enemy territory for ISIS," the statement added. AdvertisementAdvertisementBut the police said they found records of al-Bared researching how to get his drone sent to a war zone. "He had researched chemical weapons including ricin, sarin, and mustard gas," said Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Payne, who leads the counter-terrorism police department in the West Midlands.

Persons: Mohamad al, Bared, —, Al Bared's, Alistair Webster, Webster, Mark Payne, Payne, Michelle Heeley, Heeley Organizations: ISIS, Service, Islamic, BBC, Birmingham University, Birmingham, UK, Sky Locations: Islamic State, Coventry, West Midlands

CNN —Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is facing an even longer stint in jail after being sentenced to 19 years in prison on extremism charges, Russian media report, a fresh blow to a fierce critic of Russia’s President Putin that comes amid an intensifying crackdown on dissent. Navalny was accused of creating an extremist community, financing extremist activities and a number of other crimes. Navalny is already serving sentences totaling 11-and-a-half years in a maximum security facility on fraud and other charges that he says were trumped up. Putin himself said in December 2020 that if Russian security services had wanted to kill Navalny, they “would have finished” the job. Peaceful protests were quickly shut down and thousands arrested after Moscow’s invasion.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Russia’s, Putin, Navalny, Mr Navalny, ” Navalny, Novichok, ” Organizations: CNN, IK, European Union, Reuters, Russian Security Service, Facebook Locations: Russian, Melekhovo, Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Soviet, Berlin, Siberian, Omsk, Navalny, Siberia

☆ US destroys all of its supply of toxic nerve agent, the military's last chemical weapons
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US military has destroyed the last of its chemical weapons, President Joe Biden announced. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the Nobel peace prize-winning organization that oversees the treaty, confirmed in a statement that the last chemical weapons declared by the convention's parties were destroyed. "The end of all declared chemical weapons stockpiles is an important milestone for the organization," said Fernando Arias, the director-general of the OPCW. "It is a critical step towards achieving its mission to permanently eliminate all chemical weapons." "I continue to encourage the remaining nations to join the Chemical Weapons Convention so that the global ban on chemical weapons can reach its fullest potential," Biden said in a statement.

Persons: Joe Biden, —, Fernando Arias, OPCW, Arias, Biden Organizations: Service, Blue Grass Army, Guardian, Centers for Disease Control, Chemical, Convention, Chemical Weapons, Pueblo Chemical, Chemical Weapons Convention Locations: Wall, Silicon, Kentucky, Colorado, Egypt, North Korea, South Sudan, Russia, Syria, Douma

Search resuls for: "Chemical Weapons"

25 mentions found