Earthquake in Eastern China Knocks Down Houses, Injures at Least 21

An earthquake in eastern China before dawn Sunday knocked down houses and injured at least 21 people, according to state media, but no deaths were reported.

The magnitude 5.5 quake occurred near the city of Dezhou, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Beijing, the Chinese capital, at 2:33 a.m., according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.4.

The quake caused 126 homes to collapse and 21 people were injured, government broadcaster China Central Television and other news outlets reported.

TV broadcasters showed Dezhou residents who ran outdoors after the quake sitting on sidewalks in the predawn darkness. Video on social media showed bricks that had fallen from cracked walls.

Train lines were being inspected for possible damage, the official China News Service said. CCTV said gas service was shut off in some areas due to damage to pipes.

Dezhou and the surrounding area administered by the city have about 5.6 million people, according to the city government website.

The quake was centered about 10 kilometers (six miles) below the surface, according to the CENC.

“The closer to the surface the earthquake is, the stronger you are going to feel it,” said Abreu Paris, a geophysicist at the US Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center.

Tremors were felt in parts of Beijing, but authorities said no damage from the earthquake was found in the capital.

Niger’s new military junta has asked for help from the Russian mercenary group Wagner as the deadline nears for it to release the country’s ousted president or face possible military intervention by the West African regional bloc, according to an analyst.

The request came during a visit by a coup leader, Gen. Salifou Mody, to neighboring Mali, where he made contact with someone from Wagner, Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, told The Associated Press. He said three Malian sources and a French diplomat confirmed the meeting first reported by France 24.

“They need (Wagner) because they will become their guarantee to hold onto power,” he said, adding that the group is considering the request. A Western military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, told the AP they have also heard reports that the junta asked for help from Wagner in Mali.

Niger’s junta faces a Sunday deadline set by the regional bloc, known as ECOWAS, to release and reinstate the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who has described himself as a hostage.

Defense chiefs from ECOWAS member states finalized an intervention plan on Friday and urged militaries to prepare resources after a mediation team sent to Niger on Thursday wasn’t allowed to enter the capital or meet with junta leader Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani.

On Saturday, Nigeria's Senate advised the nation’s president, the current ECOWAS chair, to further explore options other than the use of force to restore democracy in Niger, noting the “existing cordial relationship between Nigeriens and Nigerians.”

The legislators had deliberated on the president's request informing them of ECOWAS’ decisions and Nigeria’s involvement, as required by law.

Final decisions by ECOWAS, however, are taken by a consensus among its member countries.

After his visit to Mali, run by a sympathetic junta, Mody warned against a military intervention, vowing that Niger would do what it takes not to become “a new Libya,” Niger’s state television reported Friday.

Niger has been seen as the West’s last reliable counterterrorism partner in a region where coups have been common in recent years. Juntas have rejected former colonizer France and turned toward Russia. Wagner operates in a handful of African countries, including Mali, where human rights groups have accused its forces of deadly abuses.

It isn't possible to say Russia is directly involved in Niger's coup, but “clearly, there's an opportunistic attitude on the part of Russia, which tries to support destabilization efforts wherever it finds them,” French foreign affairs ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre told broadcaster BFM on Friday. For days after Niger's junta seized power, residents waved Russian flags in the streets.

The spokeswoman described Wagner as a “recipe for chaos.”

Some residents rejected the junta's approach.

“It’s all a sham,” said Amad Hassane Boubacar, who teaches at the University of Niamey. “They oppose foreign interference to restore constitutional order and legality. But on the contrary, they are ready to make a pact with Wagner and Russia to undermine the constitutional order ... They are prepared for the country to go up in flames so that they can illegally maintain their position."

On Saturday, France’s foreign affairs minister, Catherine Colonna, said the regional threat of force was credible and warned the putschists to take it seriously. “Coups are no longer appropriate ... It’s time to put an end to it,” she said.

The ministry said France supported the ECOWAS efforts “with firmness and determination” and called for Bazoum and all members of his government to be freed.

But Algeria, which borders Niger to the north, told another visiting ECOWAS delegation that it opposed a military intervention, though it too wants a return to constitutional order.

Niger’s military leaders have been following the playbook of Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso, also run by a junta, but they're moving faster to consolidate power, Nasr said: “(Tchiani) chose his path, so he’s going full on it without wasting time because there’s international mobilization.”

One question is how the international community will react if Wagner comes in, he said. When Wagner came into Mali at the end of 2021, the French military was ousted soon afterward after years of partnership. Wagner was later designated a terrorist organization by the United States, and international partners might have a stronger reaction now, Nasr said.

And much more is at stake in Niger, where the US and other partners have poured hundreds of millions of dollars of military assistance to combat the region’s growing extremist threat. France has 1,500 soldiers in Niger, though coup leaders say they have severed security agreements with Paris. The US has 1,100 military personnel in the country.

It’s unclear what a regional intervention would look like, when it would begin or whether it would receive support from Western forces. Niger’s junta has called on the population to watch for spies, and self-organized defense groups have mobilized at night to monitor cars and patrol the capital.

“If the junta were to dig in its heels and rally the populace around the flag — possibly even arming civilian militias — the intervention could morph into a multifaceted counterinsurgency that ECOWAS would not be prepared to handle,” said a report by the Hudson Institute, a conservative US think tank.

While some in Niger are bracing for a fight, others are trying to cope with travel and economic sanctions imposed by ECOWAS. Land and air borders with ECOWAS countries have been closed, while commercial and financial transactions have been suspended.

Residents said the price of goods is rising and there’s limited access to cash.

“We are deeply concerned about the consequences of these sanctions, especially their impacts on the supply of essential food products, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, petroleum products and electricity,” said Sita Adamou, president of Niger’s Association to Defend Human Rights.

Flames engulfed a university building's wooden roof in Donetsk following Ukrainian shelling on Saturday, said an emergency official in the Russia-controlled city in eastern Ukraine.

"As a result of the latest attack on Donetsk, the first building of the University of Economics and Trade is on fire," Alexei Kulemzin, the Russia-installed mayor, said on Telegram.

"We are using 12 water tanks, three ladders and 100 fire fighters," said Alexei Kostrubitsky, the Russia-installed emergency minister for the region that Moscow calls the Donetsk People's Republic.

"The whole roof is on fire."

Kostrubitsky said Ukrainian forces used cluster munitions in the shelling that caused the blaze. Reuters could not independently verify the information. Both sides have used cluster munitions in the course of Russia's 17-month invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine, which received supplies of US cluster munitions last month, has vowed to use them only to dislodge concentrations of enemy soldiers.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the alleged shelling. Both sides deny targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Kostrubitsky said there were no people inside the building during the shelling.

"The most difficult thing is that the roof is wooden, so the fire spreads fast."

Russia's RIA state news agency cited Kostrubitsky and emergency services as saying the fire spread to an area of about 1,800 sq m (19,400 sq ft) before being contained early on Sunday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has instructed factories making missile engines, artillery and other weapons to boost capacity as an important part of bolstering the country's defense capabilities, state media said on Sunday.Kim's inspections from Thursday to Saturday included the production of engines for strategic cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as shells for super large-caliber multiple-rocket launchers and transporter-erector-launchers, said state news agency KCNA.His unusual visits to multiple arms production facilities over several days come as Pyongyang pushes to develop various strategic and conventional weapons and holds prominent displays of a range of arms, Reuters said.The launchers Kim inspected are normally used to fire ballistic missiles.North Korea has tested rocket launchers for larger caliber shells, advanced cruise missiles and last month its newest ballistic missiles, including a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.Kim cited improved precision processing and modernized automation in the production of large-caliber multiple-rocket launcher shells, KCNA said.He called for the mass production of "various kinds of cutting-edge strategic weapon engines... and thus make a great contribution to bringing about a revolution in developing new strategic weapons of our style," the agency said.Photos showed Kim firing different types of assault rifles, with fiery blasts coming off the muzzle as he took aim at a target that was out of frame.Cheong Seong-chang, an expert on North Korea's political strategy at the Sejong Institute near Seoul, said Kim is likely focused on modernization and technical innovation of weapons that will help with the export of arms to Russia.Marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War on July 27, Pyongyang held a major military parade displaying its newest nuclear-capable missiles and attack and spy drones, with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and a senior Chinese official joining Kim in the reviewing stand.At a large defense exhibition, Kim gave Shoigu a tour of the display of ballistic missiles and what appeared to be a new drone.The United States has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia for its war in Ukraine, including a "significant" number of artillery shells, as well as a shipment of infantry rockets and missiles to Russia's mercenary Wagner Group.Russia and North Korea have denied those claims.

Russia launched a multi-wave overnight attack on Ukraine, using 70 air-assault weapons, including cruise and hypersonic missiles and Iranian-made drones, Kyiv's Air Force said on Sunday.

The Air Force - which is celebrated in a holiday on Sunday - said on the Telegram messaging channel that Ukraine's air defense destroyed 30 out of 40 cruise missiles and all 27 of the Shahed drones that Russia launched overnight.

"In total, in several waves of attacks, from the evening of Aug. 5 to the morning of Aug. 6, 2023, the enemy used 70 means of air assault weapons," the Air Force said.

It also said Russia launched three Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, but would not disclose further information on them.

Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

It was not immediately clear whether there was any damage from the overnight attack or what happened to the 10 cruise missiles that were not shot down.

Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told the national Ukrainian broadcaster that one of the key targets for Russia's overnight attack was the Khmelnytskiy region.

"Now, it is the Starokostiantyniv airfield that haunts the enemy," Ihnat said.

Russia had earlier targeted the Starokostiantyniv military airfield in the Khmelnytskiy region at the end of July.

The Philippines on Sunday accused China's coast guard of blocking and water-cannoning a Philippine military supply boat in the South China Sea, condemning the "excessive and offensive actions" against its vessels.

China's coast guard countered that it had implemented necessary controls in accordance with the law to deter Philippine ships, which it accused of trespassing and carrying illegal building materials.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, an assertion rejected internationally, while Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines have various claims to certain areas.

Beijing often irks its neighbors with maritime actions they call aggressive and with longer-term activities like building islands on reefs and equipping them with missiles and runways.

A Chinese coast guard vessel on Saturday blocked and water-cannoned the chartered Philippine boat on a routine troop rotation and resupply mission, "in wanton disregard of the safety of the people on board and in violation of international law", the Armed Forces of the Philippines said.

It said in a statement the incident occurred near the Second Thomas Shoal, which Manila calls Ayungin Shoal, a submerged reef where a handful of its troops live on a rusty World War Two-era US ship that was intentionally grounded in 1999.

The Chinese coast guard's "dangerous maneuvers" prevented a second boat from unloading the supplies and completing the mission, it said.

"We call on the China Coast Guard and the Central Military Commission to act with prudence and be responsible in their actions to prevent miscalculations and accidents that will endanger peoples' lives," the armed forces said.

China Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu responded that China has "indisputable" sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and their adjacent waters, including the Second Thomas Shoal.

"We urge the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringing activities in these waters," Gan posted on the coast guard's WeChat social media account.

The Philippine Coast Guard said the Chinese actions violated laws including two international conventions and a ruling from a global tribunal.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague concluded in 2016 that Beijing's expansive claim to the South China Sea was groundless. China maintains it does not accept any claim or action based on the ruling.

The Philippine Coast Guard "calls on the China Coast Guard to restrain its forces, respect the sovereign rights of the Philippines in its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, refrain from hampering freedom of navigation, and take appropriate actions against the individuals involved in this unlawful incident", said a spokesman, Commodore Jay Tarriela.

After the incident, the US State Department said China's "repeated threats to the status quo in the South China Sea (were) directly threatening regional peace and stability" and that Washington stands with its Philippine allies in the face of such "dangerous actions".

"The United States reaffirms an armed attack on Philippine public vessels, aircraft, and armed forces - including those of its Coast Guard in the South China Sea - would invoke US mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 US Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty," it said in a statement.

Japan's prime minister hit out at Russian threats to use nuclear weapons as the country marked the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Sunday.

Around 140,000 people died in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and 74,000 in Nagasaki three days later, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on the two Japanese cities days before the end of World War II.

"Japan, as the only nation to have suffered atomic bombings in war, will continue efforts towards a nuclear-free world," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a ceremony in Hiroshima.

"The path towards it is becoming increasingly difficult because of deepening divisions in the international community over nuclear disarmament and Russia's nuclear threat," he said.

"Given this situation, it is all the more important to bring back international momentum towards realization of a nuclear-free world," he said.

"Devastation brought to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by nuclear weapons can never be repeated," said Kishida, whose family comes from Hiroshima.

Kishida's comments echoed those of UN chief Antonio Guterres, who issued a statement on the Hiroshima anniversary saying that "some countries are recklessly rattling the nuclear saber once again, threatening to use these tools of annihilation’, AFP said.

"In the face of these threats, the global community must speak as one. Any use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable," Guterres said.

At the ceremony, thousands of people -- survivors, relatives and foreign dignitaries from a record 111 countries -- prayed for those killed or wounded in the bombing and called for world peace.

Hiroshima however did not invite Russia or Belarus to the ceremony for the second-straight year because of the Ukraine crisis.Participants, many dressed in black, offered a silent prayer at 8:15 am (2315 GMT Thursday) when the first nuclear weapon used in wartime was dropped.

Kishida hosted the G7 summit in the city earlier this year.

Kishida has tried to move nuclear disarmament up the agenda, having taken leaders of the wealthy democracies to Hiroshima's peace park memorials and museum.

However, there is little appetite to reduce stockpiles with Russia repeatedly issuing thinly veiled warnings that Moscow could use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, as well as repeated North Korean missile tests and stalling efforts towards non-proliferation.

Earlier this month, more than 100 medical journals across the world issued a rare joint call for urgent action to eliminate nuclear weapons, warning that the threat of nuclear catastrophe was "great and growing."

Moscow promised retaliation Saturday after Ukrainian drones hit a Russian tanker in the Black Sea near Crimea late Friday, the second sea attack involving drones in one day. Ukraine struck a major Russian port earlier on Friday.

Moscow strongly condemned what it sees as a Ukrainian “terrorist attack” on a civilian vessel in the Kerch Strait, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

“There can be no justification for such barbaric actions, they will not go unanswered and their authors and perpetrators will inevitably be punished,” she wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

As Kyiv’s naval capabilities grow, the Black Sea is becoming an increasingly important battleground in the war.

Three weeks ago, Moscow withdrew from a key export agreement that allowed Ukraine to ship millions of tons of grain across the Black Sea for sale on world markets. In the wake of that withdrawal, Russia carried out repeated strikes on Ukrainian ports, including Odesa.

An official with Ukraine’s Security Service confirmed to The Associated Press that the service was behind the attack on the tanker, which was transporting fuel for Russian forces. A sea drone, filled with 450 kilograms of TNT, was used for the attack, added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements.

“The Sig tanker ... suffered a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side, presumably as a result of a sea drone attack,” Russia’s Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport wrote on Telegram, adding that there were no casualties among the 11 crew members.Vladimir Rogov, a Kremlin-installed official in Ukraine’s partially occupied southern Zaporizhzhia region, said several members of the ship’s crew were wounded because of broken glass.

Without specifying that Ukraine was responsible for the drone strike, Vasyl Malyuk, who leads Ukraine’s Security Service, said that “such special operations are conducted in the territorial waters of Ukraine and are completely legal.” Any such explosions, he said, are “an absolutely logical and effective step with regard to the enemy.”

The attack briefly halted traffic on the Kerch Bridge, as well as ferry transport.

Tugboats were deployed to assist the tanker, which is under United States sanctions for helping provide jet fuel to Russian forces fighting in Syria, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.

Ukraine's earlier strike on Novorossiysk halted maritime traffic for a few hours and marked the first time a commercial Russian port has been targeted in the nearly 18-month-old conflict. The port has a naval base, shipbuilding yards and an oil terminal, and is key for exports. It lies about 110 kilometers east of Crimea.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev earlier on Saturday suggested Moscow would launch more strikes against Ukrainian ports in response to Kyiv's attacks on Russian ships in the Black Sea, and threatened to hand Ukraine "an ecological catastrophe.”

Police arrested Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday after a court sentenced the opposition leader to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts.

Legal experts say the guilty verdict reached by a district court could end Khan's chances of contesting national elections that have to be held before early November.

"Police have arrested Imran Khan from his residence," Khan's lawyer Intezar Panjotha told Reuters. "We are filing a petition against the decision in high court.

Lahore's Police Chief Bilal Siddique Kamiana confirmed the arrest and told Reuters the politician was being transferred to the capital, Islamabad.

Khan's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said in a statement they had already filed another appeal to the Supreme Court earlier on Saturday.

The conviction came just a day after Pakistan's high court had temporarily halted the district court trial. It was not immediately clear why the trial had proceeded despite the high court decision.

Khan's arrest and detention for several days in May over a separate case had sparked intense political turmoil and deadly clashes had erupted between Khan supporters and police.

The latest arrest comes in the lead up to an election expected to take place in the next three months. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has proposed that parliament be dissolved on Aug. 9, three days before the end of its term, according to political, paving the way for a general election by November.

Pakistani media and a Reuters witness described police surrounding Khan's residence in Lahore on Saturday after verdict was released.

The sentence relates to an inquiry conducted by the election commission, which found Khan guilty of unlawfully selling state gifts during his tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

Khan has denied any wrongdoing.

The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was accused of misusing his premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees ($635,000).

Iran's judiciary said that a wildfire caused by very hot weather flared for a short time on Friday in the grasslands surrounding Evin prison, detonating landmines in a security area around the facility, according to Reuters.

The judiciary's Mizan news agency reported that the fire, which lasted only "a few minutes," was immediately controlled, and no damage was caused to the prison facilities.

The agency added, "The fire spread to the protected hills around Evin Prison and caused several mines to explode."

The agency did not mention any human casualties or details about the type of landmines.

A sea drone attack damaged a Russian tanker near the strategic bridge linking Russia to the annexed peninsula of Crimea, Russian authorities said on Saturday.Russian media said the SIG vessel, approaching the Kerch Strait linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, was hit by Ukrainian drones. Ukraine's Interfax agency, citing an unnamed Ukrainian security service source, also said Ukraine's navy was behind the attack with drones in its territorial waters.Reuters could not immediately verify the reports.No one was hurt, but the Crimean Bridge and ferry transport were suspended for several hours, according to Russian-installed officials in Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.Kyiv seldom claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine, but has said that destroying Russia's military infrastructure boosts its counteroffensive chances in the 17-month-old war.A drone attack on Russia's navy base at Novorossiysk damaged a Russian warship on Friday, the first time the Ukrainian navy has projected its power so far from its shores.The SIG had been supplying oil to Russian troops in Syria, according to Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed official in Ukraine's southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia.The United States sanctioned the tanker and its owner, St. Petersburg-based Transpetrochart, in 2019 for helping provide jet fuel in Syria.

Rogov posted on Telegram an audio clip in which the SIG requested a tow from tugboats. He also posted pictures of what he described as shattered fixtures and equipment inside the vessel."The SIG tanker... received a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side, preliminarily as a result of a sea drone attack," Russia's Federal Marine and River Transport agency said in a statement on Telegram.Russia's Novorossiysk Maritime Rescue Coordination Center was cited by the RIA news agency as saying that water had stopped pouring into the SIG and that recovery work was underway with two tugboats nearby.There was no fuel spill, it added, as the ship had been carrying only technical ballast.The Moscow-installed authorities in Crimea said the bridge, which was completed by Russia in 2018 and has come under serious attack twice in the war, was not targeted.Ukraine's UNIAN news agency said three explosions had been reported in the area. There was no immediate comment on the incident from Ukraine's government.

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