14/01/2026

WEDNESDAY | JAN 14, 2026

9

Russia strikes kill four

TEL AVIV: Police issued an arrest warrant for a former aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, accusing him of being implicated in two cases involving the premier’s office. Israel Einhorn, a former campaign adviser to Netanyahu who now lives in Serbia, appeared on a list of people whom the police suspect of involvement in the “Bild affair” and are prevented from communicating with the prime minister’s office. Next to Einhorn’s name a line was added saying there is a “pending arrest warrant against him”, according to a document submitted to the court. The Bild affair involved the leaking of classified intelligence from the Israeli military to the German tabloid Bild in September 2024. Two other Netanyahu aides were arrested and indicted for the leak. The document aimed to prove that Hamas was not interested in a ceasefire deal, and to support Netanyahu’s claim that the hostages captured on Oct 7, 2023 could only be released through military pressure rather than negotiations. Einhorn has not returned to Israel since the investigation was opened, but he was questioned by Israeli investigators in Serbia last year. He is also a suspect in the “Qatargate” scandal, in which he and other associates of Netanyahu are suspected of being recruited by Qatar to promote its image in Israel. The news of the warrant came after the police detained a senior aide to Netanyahu suspected of obstructing an investigation, with local media reporting that it was the premier’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman. – AFP Netanyahu’s former aide faces arrest

CHILD MALNUTRITION CASES RISE IN GAZA HAMILTON (Canada): The UN on Monday warned that child malnutrition in the Gaza Strip has reached alarming levels, with nearly 95,000 cases identified in 2025. Its spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: “Our humanitarian partners report they screened over 76,000 children last month and identified around 4,900 cases of acute malnutrition, including more than 820 cases of severe acute malnutrition.” He said “1.1 million people urgently need help as rainstorms continue to destroy shelters. Our partners stress that tents remain a temporary solution and more supplies, including toolkits, cement and heavy machinery to clear debris, as well as sustained funding, are needed to transition from emergency to early recovery efforts. – Bernama HAMAS SEEKS NEW LEADERSHIP GAZA CITY: Hamas is preparing to hold internal elections to rebuild its leadership. “Preparations are ongoing to hold the elections in areas where conditions allow it,” said a Hamas leader. The process includes the formation of a new 50-member Shura Council, a consultative body dominated by religious figures. Its members are selected every four years by Hamas’ three branches in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank and the movement’s external leadership. Hamas prisoners in Israeli prisons are also eligible to vote. The council is responsible for electing the 18 member political bureau and its chief, who serves as overall leader. – AFP FRENCH FARMERS STAGE NEW PROTEST PARIS: French farmers drove tractors into Paris yesterday for the second time in a week to protest against an EU-Mercosur trade deal they say threatens local agriculture by creating unfair competition with cheaper South American imports. Farmers in France, the European Union’s largest agricultural producer, and other member states have been protesting for months over the EU-Mercosur deal and local grievances. The demonstration yesterday was organised by the FNSEA, which is one of France’s largest farm unions. “The Mercosur agreement was approved even though the European Parliament hasn’t had its say. – Reuters POLAND TOLD TO FREE DETAINED HISTORIAN MOSCOW: Russia said yesterday it had summoned Poland’s ambassador to protest over the detention of a Russian archaeologist and demand that he be immediately released instead of extradited to Ukraine. Poland arrested archaeologist Alexander Butyagin last month at the request of Ukraine, which accuses him of conducting unauthorised excavations and plundering historical artefacts in Crimea. The Russian Foreign Ministry said it had called in Polish ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski on Monday and told him that the Ukrainian charges were “absurd”. Butyagin had been working in Crimea for decades. – Reuters

BR I E F S

of a building occupied by postal company Nova Poshta, in a video posted by the regional prosecutor’s office. Within Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said a Russian long-range drone struck a medical facility for children, causing a fire. No casualties were reported. The strikes hit other regions as well, including southern city Odesa. Residential buildings, a hospital and a kindergarten were damaged, with at least five people wounded in two waves of attacks, regional governor Sergiy Lysak said. Russia’s use last week of a nuclear-capable Oreshnik ballistic missile on Ukraine sparked condemnation from Kyiv’s allies, including Washington, which called it a “dangerous and inexplicable escalation of this war”. Moscow on Monday said the missile hit an aviation repair factory in the Lviv region and that it was fired in response to Ukraine’s attempt to strike one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residences – a claim Kyiv denies and that Washington has said it does not believe happened. – AFP

surrounding region rolled out emergency power cuts in the hours after the attack, saying freezing temperatures were complicating their work. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest energy provider, said Russian forces had struck one of its power plants, saying it was the eighth such attack since October. The operator did not reveal which of its plants was struck, but said Russia had attacked its power plants over 220 times since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022. Moscow has pummelled Ukraine with daily drone and missile barrages in recent months, targeting energy infrastructure and cutting power and heating in the frigid height of winter. The Ukrainian air force said that yesterday’s bombardment included 25 missiles and 247 drones. The Kharkiv governor gave the death toll and added that six people were wounded in the overnight hit outside the region’s main city, also called Kharkiv. White helmeted emergency workers could be seen clambering through the still-smoking wreckage

o Power and heat cut

KHARKIV: Russia battered Ukraine with more than two dozen missiles and hundreds of drones early yesterday, killing four people and pummelling another power plant, piling more pressure on Ukraine’s brittle energy system. An AFP journalist in the eastern Kharkiv region, where four people were killed, saw firefighters battling a fire at a postal hub and rescue workers helping survivors by lamp light in freezing temperatures. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “several hundred thousand” households near Kyiv were without power after the strikes, and again called on allies to bolster his country’s air defence systems. “The world can respond to this Russian terror with new assistance packages for Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media. “Russia must come to learn that cold will not help it win the war.” Authorities in Kyiv and the

Trump threatens Iran allies with 25% tariff indiscriminate imposition of tariffs is consistent and clear. Tariff wars and trade wars have no winners, and coercion and pressure cannot solve problems,” said a spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in Washington. WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Monday any country that does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25% on any trade with the US, as Washington weighs a response to the situation in Iran. “Effective immediately, any “This order is final and conclusive,” Trump said without providing any further detail. There was no official

documentation from the White House of the policy on its website, nor information about the legal authority Trump would use to impose the tariffs, or whether they would be aimed at all of Iran’s trading partners. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The Chinese embassy in Washington criticised Trump’s approach, saying China will take “all necessary measures” to safeguard its interests and opposed “any illicit unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction”. “China’s position against the

country doing business with Iran will pay a tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Tariffs are paid by US importers of goods from those countries. Opec member Iran has been heavily sanctioned by Washington for years. It exports much of its oil to China, with Turkiye, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and India among its other top trading partners.

Japan and South Korea, which agreed on trade deals with the US last year, said yesterday they are closely monitoring the development. Iran is seeing its biggest anti government demonstrations in years. It said on Monday it was keeping communication channels with Washington open as Trump considered how to respond. – Reuters

GAZA TREATS ... Boxes of sweets known as ‘al Shatwi’ (Winter) Crimbo sweets, are ready for the local market, as the Al-Arees factory in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip,

gradually resumes operations. – AFPPIC