News in Brief (2023-05-25)

More drone attacks in Russian border region
MOSCOW, May 24 (AFP): A Russian official in the southern Belgorod region bordering Ukraine said Wednesday that the territory was targeted by numerous drones overnight, following an armed incursion into the territory from Ukraine. "The night was not entirely calm. There were a large number of drone attacks. Air defence systems handled most of them," governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a post on social media, adding: "The most important thing is that there are no casualties." — AFP
Chinese hackers attack Kenyan govt offices
NAIROBI, May 24: Chinese hackers targeted Kenya's government in a widespread, years-long series of digital intrusions against key ministries and state institutions, according to three sources, cybersecurity research reports and analysis of technical data related to the hackings. Two of the sources assessed the hacks to be aimed, at least in part, at gaining information on debt owed to Beijing by the East African nation: Kenya is a strategic link in the Belt and Road Initiative - President Xi Jinping's plan for a global infrastructure network. — Reuters
Republican DeSantis to launch WH bid
WASHINGTON, May 24: Ron DeSantis is to announce his While House (WH) bid for the 2024 Republican nomination in a livestreamed Twitter chat with the platform's billionaire owner Elon Musk on Wednesday, touting his ultra-conservative record as governor of Florida as a blueprint for the nation. DeSantis will be banking on borrowing some of the tech mogul's star power to outshine clear frontrunner Donald Trump, who has swept all before him in the early stages of the contest and is polling in greater numbers than all the other contenders combined."I will be interviewing Ron DeSantis and he has quite an announcement to make," Musk confirmed on Tuesday, promising the 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) event would be unscripted, with "real time questions and answers." — AFP
Driver arrested for trying to kill Biden
WASHINGTON, May 24: A man who crashed a U-Haul truck containing a Nazi flag near the White House has been arrested and charged with trying to kill or harm the president, police said Tuesday. The driver apparently drove deliberately into bollards outside Lafayette Park just before 10:00 pm (0200 GMT) on Monday, the US Park Police said, adding that no one was injured. TV images showed a red and black swastika banner that had been found during a police search of the truck. President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation Tuesday morning, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. — AFP
6 die, 100 homes destroyed in Afghan flood
HERAT, May 24: Six people have been killed and dozens of homes washed away in flooding in central Afghanistan, local authorities said Wednesday. Abdul Wahid Hamas, a spokesman for the Taliban governor in central Ghor province, said three women and a child were killed when their house in the town of Firozkoh was washed away on Tuesday. In Pasaband district, in the same province, a man and a woman were also swept away and later found dead, while a further person remains missing, Hamas said. More than 100 houses and about 200 hectares (500 acres) of agricultural land were destroyed, with canals used to irrigate the fields damaged, he said. — AFP
Greek party leaders hold coalition talks
ATHENS, May 24: Greek parties that made it to the parliament after last weekend's inconclusive elections are expected to meet on Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to form a coalition government. But the process is not expected to succeed as the top three parties have already rejected separate mandates to form a coalition, opening the way for new elections next month. President Katerina Sakellaropoulou invited the leaders of the five parties whose share of votes surpassed the threshold of 3% for talks. The conservative New Democracy party of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which romped to victory polling 40.1%, but fell short of an outright majority, has turned down a mandate for a governing coalition. — Reuters