MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) -Russia on Tuesday sentenced a journalist to four years in prison for working with a foreign media outlet and allegedly helping prepare content that “discredits” the Russian army. Since launching its offensive on Ukraine, Moscow has aggressively ramped up its crackdown on domestic critics and independent media outlets.

Russia’s FSB security service accused the woman — identified by rights groups as Nika Novak — of “cooperating on a confidential basis with a representative of a foreign media outlet,” the Interfax news agency reported, citing the regional court. It said she “assisted in preparing inaccurate materials that discredited the Russian armed forces and state institutions,” adding the work was “aimed at causing reputational damage to the Russian Federation” and “destabilising” the country amid the Ukraine campaign. She was arrested in December 2023 in Moscow and put on trial in the Siberian region of Zabaykalsky Krai, where she worked. The trial was held behind closed doors and the court did not state which foreign media outlet she was accused of working with. (Jamaicaobserver)

SENEGAL – Interpol arrested 1,006 suspects in Africa during a two-month operation clamping down on cybercrime that left tens of thousands of victims, including some who were trafficked, and produced millions in financial damages, the global police organisation said Tuesday. ‘’Operation Serengeti’’, a joint operation with Afripol, the African Union’s police agency, ran from September 2 to October 31 in 19 African countries and targeted criminals behind ransomware, business email compromise, digital extortion and online scams, the agency said in a statement.

“From multi-level marketing scams to credit card fraud on an industrial scale, the increasing volume and sophistication of cybercrime attacks is of serious concern,” said Valdecy Urquiza, the Secretary General of Interpol. Interpol pinpointed 35,000 victims, with cases linked to nearly $193 million in financial losses worldwide, stating that local police authorities and private sector partners, including Internet service providers, played a key role in the operation. “Through Serengeti, Afripol has significantly enhanced support for law enforcement in African Union Member States,” Jalel Chelba, Afripol’s Executive Director, said in the statement. (Jamaica Gleaner)

Photo: People walk on the Interpol logo at the international police agency headquarters in Lyon, France. (AP)

GERMANY – German leaders raised the possibility that a fiery cargo plane crash in Lithuania on Monday was the result of sabotage or hybrid warfare. The cargo plane was flying from Leipzig, Germany, and was due to land at Vilnius Airport when it crashed a few kilometers from the runway. The plane skidded on the ground for several hundred meters before hitting a residential home, authorities in Lithuania said.

Asked on Monday evening whether the crash was the result of hybrid warfare, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told public broadcaster ZDF: “We are looking at this closely, we can’t say at the moment, but it could be so – there are very many bad forms of hybrid warfare that we are seeing in Germany.” Scholz said the cause of the crash “needs to be investigated closely. But we won’t make an accusation until we can prove it”. His comments follow similar remarks by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock who, according to Reuters, told reporters at a G7 summit: “The fact that we, together with our Lithuanian and Spanish partners, must now seriously ask ourselves whether this was an accident (or) another hybrid incident shows what volatile times we are currently living in, even in the center of Europe.”

On Tuesday, Baerbock added that several recent incidents fit Russia’s pattern of “destabilization and division,” noting that “thousands of propaganda bots, disrupted GPS signals or even a data cable in the Baltic Sea that is cut – those cannot all be coincidences at the same time.” Meanwhile, Lithuanian authorities downplayed the prospect of nefarious activity, insisting that no evidence pointing to sabotage had yet been uncovered. “Our initial information does not indicate that we need to be investigating more serious actions,” Prosecutor Arturas Urbelis said in a Tuesday statement, according to Reuters. “We might find signs of activities of other kinds as we investigate,” he added. (CNN)

Photo: CCTV video shows moment of deadly plane crash in Lithuania.

EUROPE – Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) democracies on Tuesday expressed their support for Ukraine and condemned what they described as Russia’s “irresponsible and threatening nuclear rhetoric”. They also warned that North Korean support for Russia marked a dangerous expansion of the conflict, with serious consequences for European and Indo-Pacific security, and called on China, a long-standing ally of North Korea, to act against it. “Russia’s use of an intermediate range ballistic missile on 21 November is further evidence of its reckless and escalatory behaviour,” they said in a draft statement at the conclusion of their meeting. “Our support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence will remain unwavering,” they added. Russia has been making a major push along the frontlines in Ukraine’s east, where Russian forces have made some of their biggest territorial gains since 2022. (Jpost)

Photo: Ukrainian and Russian flags are seen on a table before the talks between officials of the two countries in the Brest region, Belarus. (Reuters)

7 people still missing

EGYPT – Four bodies were recovered on Tuesday from a tourist boat which capsized off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, and rescue teams were still searching for seven missing people, the Red Sea Governorate said in a statement. Provincial governor Amr Hanafi said rescue teams had found five people alive, two Belgian tourists, one Swiss, one Finn and an Egyptian, bringing the total number of survivors to 33.

The boat, the Sea Story, capsized on Monday near the Sataya Reef while carrying 31 tourists and 13 crew on a multi-day diving trip. It was struck by high waves and sank in five to seven minutes. Twenty-eight people were rescued with minor injuries. They are staying in a hotel in Marsa Alam, where authorities are working with embassies to provide assistance and documentation. Hanafi said the boat had passed its last safety inspection in March with no technical issues reported. Owned by an Egyptian national, the vessel was 34 meters long and had received a one-year safety certificate from the Maritime Safety Authority.

The incident occurred during rough weather conditions. The Egyptian Red Sea Ports Authority reported wave heights of 3-4 meters (10-13 feet) and wind speeds of 34 knots in the area on Sunday, leading to the closure of maritime traffic. The Sea Story was the second boat to sink in the area this year. A vessel suffered severe damage from strong waves in June, though no casualties were reported. The Red Sea, renowned for its coral reefs and marine life, is a major hub for Egypt’s tourism industry, which plays a critical role in the country’s economy. (CNN)

Photo: Rescuers and ambulance cars wait on the beach for possible survivors after a boat sank at a harbor in Marsa Alam, Egypt. (AP)