UNITED NATIONS: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is denouncing what he says are "baseless accusations" of Russian interference in foreign affairs and lashing out at US policies in Iran, Syria and Venezuela.
Lavrov used Russia's speech at the annual UN General Assembly to vigorously defend multilateral organizations like the United Nations and warn against unilateral moves by the U.S. or other countries.
Lavrov accused unnamed forces of "endeavors to undermine democratically elected governments," in an apparent reference to US and EU support for Russia's neighbors and the Syrian opposition.
Russia has denied widespread evidence tying it to meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, a nerve agent attack in Britain and other actions abroad.While Russian President Vladimir Putin skipped this year’s UN gathering, Lavrov has made sure Russia’s voice was heard, holding more than 20 meetings with world leaders and top diplomats already this week.
Among them: the presidents of Venezuela, Iran and Turkey, the chiefs of NATO, the UN and EU, and North Korea’s foreign minister.
Russia seeks to counter US weight as Lavrov takes UN stage
Russia seeks to counter US weight as Lavrov takes UN stage
- Lavrov accused unnamed forces of "endeavors to undermine democratically elected governments," in an apparent reference to US and EU support for Russia's neighbors and the Syrian opposition
Indonesia nursing home fire kills 16: official
JAKARTA: A fire at a nursing home on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi killed more than a dozen people, with three others injured, a local official said Monday.
Firefighters received the report of the blaze at 8:31 p.m. Sunday at a nursing home in the North Sulawesi provincial capital Manado, said the city’s fire and rescue agency chief Jimmy Rotinsulu.
“There were 16 deaths; three (people) had burn injuries,” he told AFP.
Many bodies of the victims were found inside their rooms, Jimmy said, adding that many of the elderly residents were likely resting in their rooms in the evening when the fire broke out.
Authorities managed to evacuate 12 people — all unhurt — and transfer them to a local hospital, he said.
Footage aired by local broadcaster Metro TV showed the fire engulfing the nursing home, while locals helped to evacuate an elderly person.
Deadly fires are not uncommon in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands.
A fire tore through a seven-story office building in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta this month, killing at least 22 people.
In 2023, at least 12 people were killed in the country’s east after an explosion at a nickel-processing plant.
