WORLD BRIEFING: September 22, 2023
A Ukrainian missile strike has been launched on Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters, the Russian Defence Ministry says. The ministry initially said one servicemember was killed but then issued a subsequent statement saying he was missing. Photos and video footage of the attack show large plumes of smoke over a building in Sevastopol in annexed Crimea. Sevastopol's Russian-installed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said no-one was injured outside the burning headquarters, and he didn't provide information on other casualties. Firefighters attempted to tackle the blaze, and more emergency forces are understood to have been brought in - ITV
Ukraine's prime minister has accused Russia of starting a new stage of what he calls"energy terror" as winter approaches. Denys Shmyhal says a large-scale Russian missile attack caused power cuts in parts of central and western Ukraine for the first time in six months - Russia hasn’t commented on these accusations. On the battlefield, video footage analysed by a US think tank indicates Ukrainian armoured vehicles have been seen operating beyond a multi-layered system of Russian defences in one part of the Zaporizhzhia region - BBC
The Biden administration says it’s granting temporary legal status to 500,000 Venezuelan migrants who are already in the country to make them eligible for work quickly.
Congo's president has called for an accelerated departure of the world's second-largest United Nations peacekeeping force from the country, beginning in December. He contended that the force has been ineffective in quelling conflicts in the eastern regions of the country. President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi in an address at the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders on Wednesday accused the 17,000-strong peacekeeping mission of being unable to confront the fighting in eastern Congo that is "tearing apart” the central African nation. After a quarter-century of peacekeeping efforts, "it’s time for our country to take its destiny fully in hand” and become the leading security force in Congo, he said - Daily Sabah
The Pentagon will exempt its Ukraine operations from a potential shutdown if lawmakers can’t agree on a deal to fund the government by the end of the month, allowing key training and other activities in support of Kyiv’s forces to move ahead uninterrupted, according to a Defense Department spokesperson. Washington is more resigned to the looming government shutdown every day. As the Sept. 30 deadline approaches, congressional leaders showed little progress this week in moving a stopgap funding bill to avert that scenario. The House was in chaos on Thursday as a group of GOP hardliners tanked a vote that could have offered a path to fund the government - Politico
India has called Canada a “safe haven for terrorists” following its suspension of visas for Canadian citizens, as the fallout grows over Ottawa’s accusation that New Delhi is potentially behind the assassination of a Sikh separatist activist on its soil. In a strongly worded statement to reporters Thursday, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Canada needed to “worry about its international reputation” in the wake of its explosive allegations. He added: “If you’re talking about reputational issues and reputational damage, if there’s any country that needs to look at this, I think it’s Canada and its growing reputation as a place, as a safe haven for terrorists, for extremists, and for organized crime.” - CNN