"Tit-for-tat attacks on shipping between Ukraine and Russia have ratcheted of late in the Black Sea. At least half a dozen commercial vessels have been attacked in these waters over the past two weeks alone. The situation is almost becoming akin to a Hormuz crisis in its own right, asoil transit slows.
Tragically, there's a mounting death toll among crew members caught in the crossfire. One of the biggest single casualty events - if not the biggest - was the result of a Russian attack on the Golden Leo, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship, on Sunday. Three cruise missiles reportedly hit the vessel, killing ten people, including four Indian citizens. The other dead were from Syria, and one Ukrainian, and the incident has outraged these countries, especailly India. New Delhi further expressed "grave concerns and unequivocal condemnation" of the attack and told Ladanov to convey to the Kremlin that "the targeting of commercial shipping and the resulting loss of innocent civilian lives are unacceptable and must be avoided."" ZH
"The Russian military launched a missile strike on a civilian cargo vessel flying the flag of
Guinea-Bissau. Five crew members were killed, eight were evacuated, and the fate of another five remains unknown. Units of the Ukrainian Navy and the Maritime Search and Rescue Service were involved in the rescue operation." Ukrin
"A group of military officers has seized power in Guinea-Bissau and claimed to have arrested the president.The coup came a day before the West African nation, one of the poorest in the world, with a booming cocaine trade, was scheduled to announce the provisional results of its presidential election.
At about 1pm GMT on Wednesday, heavy gunfire rang out near the presidential palace and national electoral commission headquarters in Bissau, the capital, lasting for about an hour.
There were scenes of pandemonium, with hundreds fleeing on foot and in vehicles amid fears of mass casualties.
Gen Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, then appeared on state television to announce that Umaro Embaló, the president who had been favoured to win Sunday’s election, had been arrested.
In his speech, flanked by heavily armed soldiers, Gen N’Canha claimed to have uncovered a plan to destabilise the country “involving national drug lords” that had included “the introduction of weapons into the country to alter the constitutional order”. msn
"Guinea-Bissau's army announced on Friday that it had detained the leader of the security forces unit responsible for overnight clashes in the capital and asserted that the situation was now under control. Throughout the night and into Friday morning, gunfire erupted in Bissau during confrontations between members of the national guard and presidential guard special forces.
The gunfire ensued following the release of two government members by national guard soldiers, who had been questioned by the police on Thursday.
The two men had been summoned by the judiciary on the same day and taken into custody. The reinforcement of presidential security comes at a time when coups or attempted coups are multiplying in West Africa, including in Gabon, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and, last week, Sierra Leone." AN
