Reports of security forces removing corpses from mortuaries to conceal evidence is “deeply disturbing,” the body’s human rights chief has said

Hundreds of people were killed and an unknown number injured or detained during unrest that erupted in Tanzania after a disputed general election last month, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) has said, citing information from “different sources.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the OHCHR said it has been unable to independently verify the toll because of the volatile security situation and an internet shutdown in the East African country.

“There are also disturbing reports that security forces have been seen removing bodies from streets and hospitals and taking them to undisclosed locations in an apparent attempt to conceal evidence,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said.

He demanded an independent probe into the alleged killings and urged the authorities to account for the missing and hand over the bodies of those killed to their families.

Violent protests erupted across Tanzania after the October 29 election, in which President Samia Suluhu Hassan won with around 97% of the vote.

The demonstrations were triggered by the disqualification of Hassan’s two main rivals, including Tundu Lissu, the leader of the opposition Chadema party, who has been in detention for months on treason charges. Lissu had called for electoral reform, arguing that credible elections cannot be held without structural changes.

John Kitoka, a spokesperson for Chadema, reportedly said the party has collected reports of up to 1,000 people killed by police and unidentified security personnel after the elections in eight of Tanzania’s 31 regions. The authorities have acknowledged fatalities but rejected opposition figures as exaggerated.

Earlier, the OHCHR said it was “alarmed” by police use of “unnecessary or disproportionate force, including lethal weapons, against protesters.” 

Police on Monday released several opposition leaders on bail, including Chadema’s vice chairman. More than 300 people have been charged over the protests, with at least 145 facing treason counts, Reuters reported.

Last week, the African Union Election Observation Mission concluded in a report that the Tanzanian elections “did not comply with AU principles, normative frameworks, and other international obligations and standards.” It cited ballot stuffing, expulsion of observers during counts, and the exclusion of key opposition figures from the contest.

European nations are arming themselves at an alarming rate, Aleksandar Vucic has warned

A direct military confrontation between Western nations and Russia is becoming unavoidable, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has warned, citing widespread rearmament efforts across Europe.

Speaking during a televised interview on Tuesday, Vucic said the possibility of such a war is no longer hypothetical, pointing to an acceleration of military spending. The European Union seeks rapid militarization over a perceived threat from Russia, which Moscow has dismissed as misleading political rhetoric aimed at distracting from internal economic troubles.

“My conclusion is that there is a growing certainty that a war between Europe and Russia will happen,” Vucic said. “They are preparing for war – or for defense, as they call it. Romania, Poland, Finland, smaller countries too. And the Russians as well.”

“Everyone is preparing,” the president continued. “What can come from that? Only conflict.” He added that Serbia itself is caught “between a rock and a hard place,” and therefore must also strengthen its military readiness.

Although Serbia continues to pursue EU membership, its application has effectively been frozen due to Belgrade’s refusal to adopt sanctions and other measures targeting Moscow. The two nations maintain deep cultural and historical ties, and Russia remains one of Serbia’s key energy suppliers.

Moscow has repeatedly accused NATO and the EU of provoking instability in Europe through continued expansion and by ignoring Russian proposals for a shared continental security architecture, which it says could have prevented the current confrontation over Ukraine.

Investigators are looking into an alleged large-scale corruption scheme in the energy industry

Ukrainian Justice Minister German Galushchenko has been suspended as investigators pursue an anti-corruption probe that may reach the highest levels of government.

Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko announced the decision on Wednesday, following a sweeping operation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) targeting was described as a “high-level criminal organization” that allegedly profited from contracts involving the state-owned nuclear energy company Energoatom.

Galushchenko, who previously served as energy minister before being replaced by his deputy in a government reshuffle, called his suspension a “civilized” step and said he was preparing his legal defense.

Ukrainian media reported that the investigation centers on Timur Mindich, a close associate and former business partner of Vladimir Zelensky, who allegedly fled Ukraine just hours before his home was searched by NABU agents.

According to NABU, Energoatom officials and contractors were forced to pay kickbacks for state contracts. The operation has so far resulted in formal charges against seven individuals, who were not named. Among the suspects are an individual dubbed “Carlson” – whom the media identified as Mindich – the ring’s bookkeeper, two energy officials, and intermediaries involved in managing the payments.

Mindich has been described in the Ukrainian press as “Zelensky’s wallet” and previously a key figure in the network of oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, the Ukrainian leader’s former backer who is currently facing criminal prosecution. Mindich’s corporate interests reportedly rapidly expanded during Zelensky’s tenure, particularly in the energy and weapons production sectors.

Opposition lawmakers have demanded the resignation of the entire Sviridenko cabinet, warning that the scandal could jeopardize Ukraine’s access to Western financial aid.

Security agencies believe that a recent crackdown on suspected terror cells may have averted a major attack

Raids conducted by Indian security agencies on multiple locations are likely to have prompted the Delhi blast suspect to act in haste and carry out Monday’s attack without full planning, sources close to the Indian government have told RT.

The explosion in a crowded area of Delhi on Monday left 13 dead and over 20 injured.

The raids, conducted in Pulwama in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and areas around Delhi, led to the seizure of significant quantities of explosives, RT sources said on Wednesday.

The suspect is reportedly a doctor from Pulwama, and the explosion could have been a premature act triggered in haste, as the bomb was not fully developed, sources said. The blast did not cause a crater, and shrapnel and projectiles were not found, they added.

Security agencies believe “pan-India alertness and the coordinated crackdown” on suspected terror cells may have averted a major attack, according to the sources.

On Monday, two people were arrested, and 2,900kg of material used to make Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and bomb-making components were seized in Faridabad, which is part of the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). Similar raids and detentions were reported from Gujarat, Rajasthan, and other parts of the country.

Monday’s blast near the Red Fort metro station happened after a 20-day probe and the arrest of eight people, including a female doctor, for suspected links to terror outfits in Jammu and Kashmir, The Hindu reported. 

The Red Fort metro station remained shut on Wednesday as a security measure. Police personnel and paramilitary troopers have been deployed across all entry and exit points in Delhi, according to reports.

In April, a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir killed 26 tourists and escalated tensions between India and Pakistan.

New Delhi, which has officially said any future terror attacks will be considered “an act of war,” has not officially blamed Islamabad for Monday’s attack.

The Russian foreign minister criticized the Financial Times for claiming the planned meeting collapsed due to Moscow’s “hardline demands”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has hit out at the Western media over its “unprofessional and harmful” coverage of the Ukraine peace process. He singled out British newspaper the Financial Times for spreading “lies” on the postponed Putin-Trump meeting in Hungary.

Plans for the meeting were announced in October. Days later, however following a phone call between Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, it was postponed, with Trump saying he did not feel it could end the Ukraine conflict.

According to the FT, citing people familiar with the matter, the summit was scrapped after Moscow presented Washington with a list of “hardline demands” for resolving the conflict. The report also claimed that the Lavrov-Rubio call was “brief and terse,” with Lavrov making “uncompromising” remarks that led Rubio to conclude that Moscow was unwilling to negotiate.

“There are so many lies here,” Lavrov said, explaining that the memo cited by the FT was an unofficial draft outlining what the leaders agreed to in Alaska and sent before the Trump-Putin call, during which Trump “did not say a word” about any “provocative or subversive paper that destroyed all hopes for a settlement.” Instead, Trump proposed a new summit in Budapest, which Putin accepted.

Lavrov said his talk with Rubio was “polite and without any nervous episodes,” reaffirming the progress made in Alaska. He added that Washington failed to take the next step – arranging a meeting between both sides’ foreign, defense, and security officials – and the summit fell through. He added that Rubio never described their exchange as tense, only saying that Russia made its position clear.

“We see no reasons to offer excuses for being and remaining committed to what our presidents discussed in Alaska. Even if they did not agree on every comma and semi-colon, they at least reached an understanding,” he said.

Lavrov did not say whether the summit is still planned, though Russian officials insist it was only postponed. Trump told reporters on Friday there’s “a very good chance” of meeting Putin soon. Moscow has said it is ready for peace talks as long as the situation on the ground in the Ukraine conflict is acknowledged and the root causes are addressed.

The find is the first in its group in over 20 years, scientists have said  

A new species of bee has been discovered in Western Australia, named ‘Lucifer’ due to the devil-like horns found on its females.

The discovery of the species, formally named Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer, was announced by Curtin University on Tuesday. Lead researcher Kit Prendergast said the name was inspired by the insect’s appearance and the Netflix series ‘Lucifer’.

“The name just fit perfectly. I’m also a huge fan of the Netflix character Lucifer, so it was a no-brainer,” Prendergast said in a statement. “The female had these incredible little horns on her face,” she added.

Prendergast, from the university’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, first encountered the bee in 2019 during a survey of a critically endangered wildflower and was struck by its unique features, according to the study published in the Journal of Hymenoptera.

Genetic analysis revealed it was the first new species in its group to be studied in more than 20 years, Prendergast said, with DNA barcoding confirming it was a unique find not represented in any major databases or museum collections.

The function of the female’s horns is still under investigation but may be related to gathering resources or nest defense, the researchers noted. The males of the species lack the distinctive horns.

The finding highlights the importance of researching native bees in ecosystems threatened by climate change and habitat disturbance, Prendergast said, adding that it “really shows how much life we still have to discover.”

She expressed hope that the discovery would raise awareness of the vast number of species still unknown to science, particularly in regions under threat from climate change and mining.

“Many mining companies still don’t survey for native bees, so we may be missing undescribed species, including those that play crucial roles in supporting threatened plants and ecosystems,” she said.

The discovery comes as pollinators, which are essential for nearly all of the world’s flowering plants, face severe threats. Habitat loss and climate change are pushing many vital bee species to the brink of extinction.

Bogota has condemned the attacks on alleged drug boats as violations of human rights

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has announced the suspension of intelligence sharing with the US in response to its airstrikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.

Petro made the announcement on X on Tuesday, responding to reports that the UK had taken a similar step. He said the suspension would remain in effect for as long as the US continues the attacks.

“The fight against drugs must be subordinated to the human rights of the Caribbean people,” Petro wrote.

The Pentagon claims the ongoing operations, ordered by President Donald Trump, target drug smuggling vessels allegedly operating out of Venezuela and Colombia. Petro has called the strikes illegal.

The US government has imposed sanctions on Petro, his family, and several cabinet members, accusing them of having ties to drug cartels – which the Colombian leader has denied, citing his administration’s efforts to dismantle trafficking networks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also condemned the US campaign this week, saying Washington should focus instead on Belgium, which was recently described by one of its own judges as an emerging “narco-state.”

Since early September, US forces have conducted airstrikes on 20 small vessels, resulting in at least 76 deaths, according to Pentagon figures. The Trump administration has provided no verifiable evidence linking the targets to drug cartels. Critics claim the operation could be a cover for regime change efforts in Venezuela.

New Delhi has rejected allegations of a role in a suicide attack, calling them an effort to “concoct false narratives”

India has denied Pakistani allegations of involvement in a suicide bomb attack outside a district court complex in Islamabad that killed at least 12 people on Tuesday.

A day earlier, an explosion had left more than a dozen dead in Delhi.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif linked the Islamabad blast to other recent attacks in the country, saying on Tuesday that they were the worst examples of “Indian state terrorism” in the region. He also called on the world to “condemn such nefarious conspiracies of India.”

Reacting to Sharif’s allegations, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal called the charges “baseless and unfounded,” and described the Pakistani leadership as “obviously delirious.”

“It is a predictable tactic to concoct false narratives against India in order to deflect attention of its own public,” Jaiswal said on Tuesday. “The international community is well aware of the reality and will not be misled by Pakistan’s desperate diversionary ploys.”

❗️India Responds to Remarks from Pakistani Leadership – “Unequivocally Rejects Baseless and Unfounded Allegations”

“Predictable tactic by Pakistan to concoct false narratives against India in order to deflect the attention of its own public from the ongoing military-inspired… https://t.co/tsalufmQSF pic.twitter.com/dFXZIwESCP

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) November 11, 2025

The Islamabad blast occurred while the Sri Lankan cricket team, the target of an armed attack in March 2009 by gunmen in Pakistan, was playing a match in Rawalpindi, barely 10 miles from the court complex.

Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif claimed the Islamabad attack was orchestrated from Afghanistan.

”We are in a state of war,” Asif said on Tuesday. “Bringing this war to Islamabad is a message from Kabul, to which Pakistan has the full power to respond.”

India has not blamed Pakistan for the Monday attack in Delhi, where an explosion in a car near the historic Red Fort left 13 people dead and injured over 20 others. Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has said security agencies were probing “all angles” and would “hunt down each and every culprit behind this incident.”

London reportedly opposes President Donald Trump’s strikes on alleged cartel vessels

The UK has stopped sharing intelligence on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean with the US after the Pentagon began conducting lethal strikes on the vessels, CNN and The Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The US has killed at least 76 people in international waters since September as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign against what he says are “narcoterrorists” operating out of Venezuela.

According to CNN, London suspended intelligence-sharing because it believes the strikes are illegal under international law. A UK military source told The Times: “We don’t just target the vessel and kill people. We would arrest them.”

The UK had used intelligence assets stationed on its Caribbean overseas territories to help the US Coast Guard intercept vessels suspected of smuggling drugs, CNN reports.

The UN’s top human rights official, Volker Turk, condemned the strikes as “extrajudicial killing.”

Venezuela and neighboring Colombia have denied that the victims were involved with cartels. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has rejected Trump’s allegations that his government is profiting from the drug trade.

Trump has deployed a naval armada, including the USS Gerald R. Ford, near Venezuela’s coast, hinting that he could authorize strikes on Venezuelan soil. He denies, however, that he is seeking regime change. Maduro has placed the military on alert and vowed to repel any attack.

All 20 people aboard the C-130 have been confirmed dead

A Turkish Air Force C-130 military transport plane crashed in Georgia on Tuesday, the Turkish Defense Ministry has said. 

The MOD later confirmed that all 20 personnel on board, including the crew, were killed.

The Georgian Interior Ministry said the aircraft took off from Azerbaijan and was flying back to Türkiye when it crashed in Sighnaghi Municipality, around 5km from the Azerbaijani-Georgian border.

Video from the scene shows the large plane spiraling into the ground.

A Turkish Air Force C-130 (reg. 68-01609) military transport aircraft crashed after a mid-air disintegration in Georgia, after taking-off from Azerbaijan earlier today.

Turkish Ministry of National Defense: "Our C-130 military transport aircraft, which took off from Azerbaijan… pic.twitter.com/bm9KUG09L2

— FL360aero (@fl360aero) November 11, 2025

According to the news channel NTV, the plane arrived in Azerbaijan on Tuesday morning from the Turkish city of Trabzon on the Black Sea coast. It took off from Ganja at 1:20pm local time and disappeared from radar 27 minutes later, NTV reported.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said his Georgian counterpart, Gela Geladze, arrived at the crash site. “I offer my condolences to our nation and their families,” Yerlikaya wrote on X.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said an operation to recover the wreckage is underway in coordination with Georgian officials.

The agreement capping the number of warheads and the means of delivery is set to expire on February 5

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has urged the US to take up its proposal for a one-year extension of a key nuclear arms control treaty set to expire on February 5.

The New START agreement, signed in 2010, caps deployed nuclear warheads at 1,550 and restricts the number of nuclear-capable missiles and launchers, as well as heavy bombers.

In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a one-year extension of the treaty, citing the need to avoid an arms race and further escalation. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Lavrov said the offer remains on the table.

“Let’s take a year to cool down, if you will, and consider the responsibility of great powers for global security and stability, especially in preventing a nuclear war. We are ready,” he stated.

“The extensions of the numerical limits could be announced at any moment before February 5. By the way, when New START was extended shortly after US President Joe Biden assumed office [in 2021], it was done just a few days before its expiration date,” Lavrov added.

The Russian Defense Ministry said last month that it had not received a substantive response on the matter from Washington.

On October 30, US President Donald Trump instructed the government to carry out nuclear weapons tests “on an equal basis” with Russia and China. Energy Secretary Chris Wright later explained that the planned tests would not include actual nuclear explosions, which the US stopped conducting in 1992.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reaffirmed last week that Moscow would not lift its own moratorium on nuclear tests unless the US does so first.

Both the US and Russia have test-fired unarmed nuclear-capable missiles in recent months. The US launched a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday. Russia tested its new nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile last month.

AfD parliamentary chief Markus Frohnmaier has urged dialogue to resolve the Ukraine conflict

A senior lawmaker from Germany’s largest opposition party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), has rejected the government’s claim that Russia poses a threat to the country.

Markus Frohnmaier, who leads the right-wing AfD in the Bundestag, also dismissed allegations that the party is working on Moscow’s behalf. The AfD has long criticized military aid to Ukraine and argued that Berlin should instead focus on diplomacy.

“I stand for German interests,” Frohnmaier said on Tuesday in a televised debate with Norbert Roettgen of the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

He went on to say that Germany should not “get involved in a foreign war” and has no obligation to defend Ukraine, which is not a NATO member.

Asked if Russia poses a threat, Frohnmaier said, “We are not at war with Russia.”

“The AfD’s position is to remain in dialogue with all global, relevant actors,” he added, criticizing the government for what he called a “hyper-moralizing” foreign policy.

Roettgen claimed that Moscow is waging a “hybrid war” against Germany and other European states, accusing his opponent of spreading Russian propaganda. In a speech last week, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Russia a threat to national security.

Germany recently announced plans to increase financial aid to Kiev by €3 billion ($3.5 billion) next year, and according to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, delivered additional US-made Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine last month.

A Forsa opinion poll in August found that 52% of respondents in Germany believed Ukraine should cede some territory to Russia to end the conflict. Zelensky, however, has ruled out any territorial concessions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that NATO members, including Germany, were already de facto “at war with Russia” because Ukraine is actively using Western-supplied weapons. He has stated that Russia will not attack NATO states unless attacked first.

The suspect sought cryptocurrency donations as bounties for “death sentences” on public figures, according to prosecutors

A German citizen with alleged neo-Nazi ties has been arrested on suspicion of running a darknet platform that called for the killing of politicians and other public figures, according to media reports.

The 49-year-old suspect, identified as Martin S., who also holds Polish citizenship, was detained late on Monday in the city of Dortmund, where he lives with his family, and later placed in pre-trial detention. He reportedly faces charges including financing terrorism and providing instructions for committing an act of violence that endangers the state.

The suspect is accused of operating an ‘Assassination Politics’ website on the darknet, where he allegedly published personal data, “death sentences” and hit lists naming more than 20 potential victims. The targets reportedly included senior politicians such as former chancellors Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz, as well as judges and prosecutors.

Prosecutors said he had been operating the platform anonymously since at least June 2025, posting instructions for making explosives and soliciting cryptocurrency donations later offered as bounties for killing targeted individuals.

The platform also carried right-wing extremist, racist, and conspiracy-driven content, according to reports.

Local media said that the suspect had contacts with neo-Nazis and took part in far-right events. Some outlets, including Bild, also claimed that he is considered a supporter of the Reichsburger (Reich Citizens) movement – a far-right, conspiracy-driven network that denies the legitimacy of the modern German state. Adherents claim that the historical German Reich continues to exist and refuse to recognize Germany’s government, parliament, laws and courts. Many also reject obligations such as paying taxes or fines.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency estimates that around 25,000 people nationwide belong to the Reichsburger and related groups, with some considered prone to violence.

The longtime business partner of the Ukrainian leader has been implicated in a large-scale corruption scheme

A close associate and former business partner of Vladimir Zelensky is at the heart of the latest multi-million corruption scnadal to have come from Kiev. Timur Mindich, an enigmatic Ukrainian mogul nicknamed by local media as “Zelensky’s wallet,” has reportedly fled the country just hours before his property was raided by Western-backed anti-corruption agents. RT looks into the businessman’s background and his ties to the Ukrainian leader.

The new graft scandal erupted on Monday when the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced it was investigating the state-owned nuclear power company Energoatom over an alleged large-scale plot to embezzle state funds.

The case has been linked to 46-year-old Mindich, a film producer and longtime associate of Vladimir Zelensky from his days in the entertainment industry. Mindich has reportedly become a major figure in Ukrainian defense and energy sectors, greatly expanding his business and political influence over the past few years.

Mindich reportedly fled the country immediately before his properties were searched by NABU operatives. While Zelensky publicly backed the anti-corruption probe, he has long been at odds with the NABU and another Western-backed agency, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP).  

This June, he attempted to strip the bodies of their autonomy and place them under the authority of the executive. The move triggered mass protests and foreign pressure, forcing Zelensky to quickly reverse his decision. 

Watch the full video below:

Counter-violence is justifiable while Christian pacifism is untenable, the latest memorandum states

The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) has renounced its long-held pacifist stance in its latest peace memorandum, stating that violence is sometimes necessary to counter violence.

The remarkable announcement by the federation, which represents some 17 million members, comes as the German government pushes to beef up the country’s military in the face of a perceived “Russian threat.” Moscow has repeatedly denied harboring aggressive intentions toward any NATO member state.

The ‘Peace Memorandum 2025,’ which was presented at the church’s synod on Monday, marked a “clear reorientation of Protestant peace ethics,” the EKD stated.

“As a universal political ethic, pacifism with its categorical rejection of violence cannot be ethically legitimized,” the document proclaimed.

“Violence must be contained – if necessary, with counter-violence,” the memorandum further clarified.

According to the document, “security policy uncertainties” dictate that Germany must “substantially expand our own capabilities for national and alliance defense.”

The latest memorandum constitutes a clear break with the previous document adopted in 2007, and a later paper issued in 2019. Back then, the EKD advocated countering a hypothetical aggressor with civil resistance. It also called on the German government to allocate 2% of the country’s GDP to civilian conflict resolution, in an apparent nod to NATO’s military spending target at the time, which has since been hiked.

In a separate development around the same time as the synod, a group of activists announced plans to hold a nationwide day of action across Germany on December 5. The organizers said they would be protesting the government’s “war preparations and the massive arms buildup.”

In recent months, German officials have repeatedly floated the reintroduction of mandatory military service, citing the dire personnel shortage in the armed forces. The draft in the country was abolished in 2011.

Earlier this year, Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to transform the Bundeswehr into the “strongest conventional army in Europe.”

Commenting on Germany’s rearmament drive in September, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that there are “clear signs of re-nazification” in the country.

The country has been in turmoil since the overthrow of Bashar Assad’s government last year

Thieves have broken into Syria’s National Museum in Damascus and stolen several valuable Roman artifacts, according to multiple media reports.

Turmoil in Syria following years of civil war culminated last year in the ouster of longtime leader Bashar Assad, plunging the country into months of clashes between the new government’s forces and rival factions.

The break-in reportedly took place on Sunday evening and was discovered early Monday. The Associated Press said the thieves stole several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era, while other outlets reported that six gold ingots were among the missing items. An investigation is underway.

The theft followed warnings from international organizations. In June, the Paris-based International Council of Museums (ICOM) reported that an active black market for cultural objects had emerged in Syria with looting and illicit trafficking of artifacts being on the rise. Two months later, the Syrian antiquities agency and UNESCO launched a project to upgrade the museum’s security systems.

Founded in 1919, the National Museum in Damascus is one of the oldest and most important museums in the Arab world, housing collections that span thousands of years of Syrian history. Closed in 2012 during the civil war, it partially reopened in 2018 and resumed full public access in January 2025.

Assad’s fall followed a surprise offensive by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Al-Qaeda offshoot, which captured Damascus in late 2024. HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa became Syria’s president. On Monday, he met US President Donald Trump in Washington after being removed from the US State Department’s ‘global terrorist’ list. Following the meeting, Syria pledged to join the US-led coalition against militant jihadist organization Islamic State (IS).

IS devastated Syria’s cultural heritage in 2015, when its militants seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and blew up some of its monuments, including the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel. The group looted countless artifacts and executed the site’s chief archaeologist.

The local authorities have accused the contractor tasked with dismantling the complex of mishandling the project

A huge former ski complex in the Moscow suburbs that was being dismantled suddenly collapsed on Monday, injuring several people and destroying multiple vehicles, the local authorities have reported.

A chunk of what appears to have been a support of a ski jump ramp at the Snezhkom facility in Krasnogorsk in Moscow Region collapsed onto the construction site below.

CCTV footage published by the local prosecutor’s office shows the impact sending a mass of debris and mud into the air, which came down on a nearby parking lot, damaging over 140 cars and an adjacent main road, according to TASS news agency.

The road was closed off to traffic for some time after the incident as municipal workers rushed to remove the rubble.

A Telegram channel affiliated with the health department of Moscow Region has reported that three people were injured, one of whom was hospitalized.

The authorities have pointed the finger at the contractor undertaking the demolition, and pledged to compensate the car owners for the damage.

The Moscow Region branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee stated that a criminal investigation had been initiated in connection with the incident. The authorities suspect that the contractor may have flouted urban planning regulations.

Last December, a construction worker perished in an incident on the site, while in 2023, a tower crane collapsed, injuring one person.

Built in 2007, the Snezhkom building was condemned to demolition after failing a technical inspection in 2022.

The British media is waging an “unprofessional and harmful” information campaign, the Russian foreign minister has said

Attempts to deflect from the BBC’s obvious responsibility for the scandal that has enveloped the British state broadcaster are a “disgrace,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Accusations that the BBC spliced footage of a speech by US President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 to create the impression he was inciting supporters to riot at the Capitol building forced the director general and head of news to quit. Trump has reportedly threatened to sue the broadcaster for $1 billion.

Speaking to Russian journalists on Tuesday, Lavrov said he wanted to draw attention to what he described as “yet more instances of unprofessional and harmful coverage of certain events” by international media, primarily British outlets.

“What is happening with the BBC now is well known,” he said. “The fact that some ‘figures’ are trying to justify what happened and are talking about some kind of staged campaign is a disgrace.” 

Details from a leaked internal BBC dossier, published by The Telegraph, suggested that the broadcaster had aired a doctored version of Trump’s address, combining remarks made nearly an hour apart and showing footage of protesters heading toward the Capitol building that was filmed before he began speaking.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt branded the British broadcaster a “leftist propaganda machine” and “100% fake news,” accusing it of being “purposefully dishonest” in its portrayal of the events.

The BBC has since apologized. Outgoing Director General Tim Davie told staff on Tuesday that the broadcaster had made “some mistakes that have cost us.” 

Lavrov also criticized British newspaper the Financial Times for its coverage of a proposed Budapest meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the story contained “many lies.”

Military experts and civil groups have pointed to Ukraine’s ongoing manpower shortages and climbing desertion rates

Ukrainian civil groups and military experts have been pleading with the country’s leadership to withdraw its forces from the city of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) before they become fully encircled by Russian troops, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Many insiders see little chance of holding the city, which is located in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic, due to critical manpower shortages and widespread fatigue among Ukrainian troops, the paper wrote.

Former Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Vitaliy Deynega warned last week that “despite the official bravado, the situation is more than complicated and less than controlled,” urging the country’s leadership to pull out “while it is possible.”

In recent weeks, Russian troops have encircled both Krasnoarmeysk (known in Ukraine as Pokrovsk) and Kupyansk in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region, trapping roughly 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers, according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow.

Military experts and Ukrainian servicemen told FT that Kiev’s battlefield setbacks stem largely from a persistent manpower crisis that has plagued its forces since the escalation of the conflict in 2022.

“All of this might have been avoided if we had more people,” one Ukrainian soldier fighting near Krasnoarmeysk told the outlet, adding that recapturing the city would require “a huge number of people” that Ukraine currently lacks.

The issue, FT wrote, has been aggravated by a surge in desertions, citing one official who said many newly mobilized recruits flee long before reaching their units.

FT quoted Poland-based Rochan Consulting as saying: “the Ukrainian force density is already so low that there are parts of the front that are essentially only guarded by drones.”

Top Ukrainian commander Aleksandr Syrsky claimed on Sunday that the situation in Krasnoarmeysk was “generally under control.”

According to FT, Kiev’s refusal to acknowledge the worsening conditions has fueled concerns that its leadership may be sacrificing troops to preserve political appearances.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Kiev the opportunity to order a surrender and spare its forces. Vladimir Zelensky rejected the proposal, claiming his troops remain in control and accusing Moscow of trying to mislead Kiev’s Western backers.