Dagestan attack reignites terrorism fears in Russia
A seemingly coordinated attack killed at least 20 people in Russia’s southern Dagestan region on Sunday. It was the deadliest attack in the region in 14 years.
Russian authorities have characterized the attack as a terrorist act, but it is not yet clear who is responsible. Gunmen attacked police stations as well as synagogues and Orthodox churches. Fifteen of the victims were police officers. One of them, an Orthodox priest, was killed inside the church. It’s unclear whether the attackers specifically targeted law enforcement officers.
Five attackers were eventually killed by security forces, officials said.
The attack was reminiscent of the severe violence that engulfed the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus in the late 1990s and early 2000s. That bloodshed was caused by a combination of Islamic fundamentalism and organized crime. Suppressing it became one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s main boasting points after he came to power in 1999.
This legacy is now threatened by a resurgence of violence. In March, four gunmen killed 145 people at a concert hall near Moscow. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
analyze: Sunday’s attack cast a spotlight on Russia’s growing challenges as the war in Ukraine places a heavy burden on the country’s economy and security apparatus.
Israel says Gaza war is about to enter new phase
Recent comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant suggest that the country may soon reduce its operations in Gaza and shift its focus to Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that “the intense phase of the war with Hamas is coming to an end,” although he added that did not mean the war was ending and dismissed the idea of a ceasefire.
Grant was in Washington yesterday to talk Gaza and Hezbollah with the CIA director and other U.S. officials as the U.S. struggles to head off a new Israeli military offensive against Lebanon.
In Gaza City: A senior official responsible for coordinating ambulance operations in Gaza was killed in an Israeli attack, the enclave’s health ministry said yesterday.
Court: A lawsuit filed in New York accuses senior officials at the U.N. Palestinian aid agency of knowing that Hamas had misappropriated $1 billion in aid funds. The case faces high legal hurdles.
Heat death exposes underworld of hajj industry
More than 1,300 people have died in sweltering heat this month during the Islamic pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca.
It’s unclear whether this year’s death toll is higher than in previous years – statistics that Saudi Arabia does not regularly share. Officials said most of the dead had not yet registered to perform the hajj. Pilgrims with permits travel in air-conditioned buses and rest in air-conditioned tents, while those without permits have little protection against the heat.
The figures expose the vulnerability of scammers and smugglers who profit from Muslims eager to travel.
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Artificial intelligence is rapidly advancing in creating realistic faces and lifelike photos that fool many people. But there are some telltale signs that can help you tell the difference between real and fake images.
Reporter learns about father’s past
My colleague Edward Wong, who first worked as a reporter in China and later as Beijing bureau chief for The Times, knew that his father had served in the Chinese military. But it wasn’t until he was researching his new book, “The Edge of Empire: One Family’s Reckoning with China,” that Ed revealed the full story.
Ed’s father, Yook Kearn Wong, was stationed in Xinjiang, northwest China, in 1952. Later, after he survived the famine, he knew he had to escape China. He arrived in the United States in 1967.
“I was amazed,” Ed wrote, “that my family’s story was like a Möbius strip, looping around generations and China’s history.”
