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Iran denies involvement in drone attack that killed 3 US troops in Jordan

Iran denies involvement in drone attack that killed 3 US troops in Jordan

Tehran says it has ‘no connection’ to attack on logistics support base near Jordan-Syria border. Iran has denied involvement in a drone attack in Jordan that killed three US military personnel and injured dozens of others, state media has reported. US President Joe Biden and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron have blamed Iran-backed groups for Sunday’s attack near the border with Syria. “As we have clearly stated before, the resistance groups in the region are responding [to] the war crimes and genocide of the child-killing Zionist regime and… they do not take orders from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nasser Kanaani was quoted saying by IRNA on Monday. “These groups decide and act based on their own principles and priorities as well as the interests of their country and people.” Kanaani said claims of Iranian involvement were motivated by “specific political goals to reverse the realities of the region” and were “influenced by third parties, including the child-killing Zionist regime”. Iran’s mission to the United Nations also said in a statement carried by IRNA that Tehran had “no connection and had nothing to do” with the attack, which it blamed on “conflict between US forces and resistance groups in the region”. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organisation of Iran-backed armed groups, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The drone strike on Tower 22, a logistics support base, marked the first loss of American life by enemy fire since the start of the war in Gaza. Biden, who has staunchly backed Israel’s war in Gaza, condemned the “despicable and wholly unjust attack” and has vowed to hold all those responsible “to account at a time and in a manner [of] our choosing”. Washington has accused Iranian-backed groups of carrying out dozens of attacks on US military installations in Iraq and Syria since the start of the war. Adblock test (Why?)

Australia’s pro-Palestinian activists to continue targeting Israeli ships

Australia’s pro-Palestinian activists to continue targeting Israeli ships

Melbourne, Australia – Ports have emerged as the centre of pro-Palestine rallies in Australia as protesters target Israeli ships, and vessels alleged to have links with the country. Last week, dozens of people attempted to stop the ZIM Ganges container ship from reaching the Port of Melbourne, with police eventually deploying pepper spray to break up the blockade against a backdrop of shipping containers and cranes, the familiar symbols of a global industrialised world. Dozens were arrested after the picket blocked access to the wharf and forced the Victorian International Container Terminal (VICT) to close. Voluntary legal observers (MALS) who were accompanying the protesters say they were met by about 200 police, some of whom were on horseback. Tasnim Mahmoud Sammak of the community organisation Free Palestine Melbourne was at the blockade, which lasted for four days. “I have family in Gaza and they have nowhere to go in the bombarded prison it has become,” she said. Sofia Sabbagh, a prolific Melbourne-based Palestinian artist, was also there for the final showdown. “They circled us forming lines, intimidating us,” she told Al Jazeera, saying the group complied with a request to move on to avoid arrest. The legal observers say the crowd was not threatening and people were just chanting. “Once we were on public property, police pushed us away from our medical supplies and gear, pulling one person out of a wheelchair and pushing over a lot of other people, pepper spraying over 20 people,” Sabbagh added. “I was traumatised seeing a person being dragged out of their wheelchair.” Victoria Police said the use of pepper spray was in response to the “dynamic nature” of the blockade and the threat of “aggressive” protesters. After the dozen or so arrests, the exhausted enclave of activists descended onto Sandridge Beach. There, Declan Furber Gillick, a representative from the revolutionary group the Black People’s Union gave an impassioned final speech calling for the continued disruption of the military-industrial complex through the use of “peaceful, people-powered, revolutionary tactics” before the group disbanded and went home. The blockade was established at the port on the afternoon of January 19, a few hours before the ZIM Ganges, which sails under the Portuguese flag, was scheduled to dock in Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city. Police deployed pepper spray against the people blockading the port [Leo Mace/Al Jazeera] ZIM shipping was founded in 1945 as part of Israel’s quest for statehood, initially helping Holocaust survivors travel to the new state of Israel. Currently Israel’s 10th-largest shipping company, ZIM has drawn protests since Chief Executive Eli Glickman promised to fulfil all of Israel’s needs after the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7 and Israel’s declaration of war on Gaza. Port Melbourne handles about 8,850 containers a day and is Australia’s largest commercial port. The protests had “effectively halted operations” for almost four days, VICT said in a press release after the police ended the picket. Tradition of radical action The ragtag gang of activists worked in shifts, blocking six consecutive shifts of port workers from entering the terminal and forcing the ZIM Ganges to anchor in the bay until it was finally able to enter the port at about midnight on January 21. The blockade was originally organised by a group called Unionists for Palestine (U4P) but, as the days went by, attracted wider interest. By January 20, it had become a broad coalition of Palestinian, First Nations and antiwar groups. U4P member Fiona Healey said the picket was aimed at disrupting the company’s supply chain as it continued to “support and supply an apartheid regime”. This was reiterated by fellow community organiser John Smith. “We targeted the port of Melbourne in solidarity with Palestinians call to disrupt all companies complicit with the ongoing genocide in Gaza – and that includes ZIM shipping,” Smith said. Maritime Union Australia (MUA) members, such as dock workers, were advised not to cross the picket due to health and safety concerns. Many dock workers, who would have been escorted onto the terminal by police, refused to cross the picket line. An online fundraiser raised more than 25,000 Australian dollars ($16,469) for the workers, who were initially not paid for the days they did not work, but the money was redirected to Gaza relief efforts after the union secured pay for the dock workers. Ben Hjorth from U4P told Al Jazeera that the movement was linked to a broader “anti-war” cause within the Australian trade union movement. ZIM’s chief executive promised the company would do all it could to support Israel after the war on Gaza began [Briana Charles/Al Jazeera] He referenced Nelson Mandela’s 1990 speech in Melbourne, thanking Australian workers for leading the world in boycotting ships to apartheid-era South Africa. Hjorth cited those radical but successful MUA industrial actions as a source of inspiration, adding: “Sometimes you have to break the law to change it.” VICT Chief Executive Bruno Porchietto told Australian media outlet Channel 7 that the four-day picket had probably cost the port about “50,000 containers”, and Victoria “millions of dollars”. But the state’s treasurer, Tim Pallas, downplayed the blockade’s financial impact, saying the brief protest would only “minimally affect” the economy in the long run. As the ZIM Ganges finally came into the dock, some protesters were following it online through the vesselfinder.com tracking site. They say the ship disabled its GPS tracking as it came into port, noting the two tug boats accompanying it did not, leaving a gap where the ZIM Ganges was. “This is highly unusual behaviour,” said U4P’s Hjorth. Under Australian maritime law, ships can only disable their GPS tracking for safety and security reasons. Since the protests, other ships have been able to dock in Melbourne without disruption. But the threat of action remains. Hjorth said the group aims to disrupt Israeli supply chains until there is a “permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the occupation”. On Monday, the ZIM Ganges was due to arrive in Sydney, where protesters held

China’s property giant Evergrande ordered to liquidate as debt talks fail

China’s property giant Evergrande ordered to liquidate as debt talks fail

Hong Kong court orders developer to wind up after finding company has no viable restructuring plan. China’s troubled real-estate giant the Evergrande Group has been ordered to liquidate, a move likely to deal a new blow to confidence in the world’s second-largest economy. A Hong Kong court made the ruling on Monday after the company failed to convince a judge it had a workable plan to restructure some $300bn in debts. “It would be a situation where the court says enough is enough,” Judge Linda Chan said. “I consider that it is appropriate for the court to make a winding up order against the company, and I so order.” The ruling follows 18 months of legal wrangling after creditor Top Shine, in 2022, filed a petition to wind up the developer in a bid to recoup its losses. Evergrande, the world’s most indebted developer, had been granted a brief reprieve in December after arguing it needed time to refine its restructuring plan. Chan said the court had in December “made it very clear it expected to see a fully formulated and viable proposal”. Evergrande’s lawyer Jose-Antonio Maurellet defended the revised plan and denied that the developer had acted in bad faith. Evergrande’s default on repayments to international investors in 2021, after Beijing began cracking down on excessive borrowing for real estate, sent shockwaves through China’s property sector, which accounts for an estimated 15-30 percent of the economy. More than 50 Chinese real-estate developers have defaulted or missed payments during the past three years, according to credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P). Hong Kong-listed shares in Evergrande plunged by more than 20 percent following the ruling on Monday, before the city’s stock exchange halted trading in the stock. The move is the latest in a series of warning signs for China’s $18 trillion economy, whose post-COVID recovery is facing challenges ranging from crackdowns on private industry to a declining population and an exodus of foreign capital. China’s official gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.2 percent last year was the worst performance in decades, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic. After Monday’s ruling in Hong Kong, the fate of Evergrande’s asset sheet is uncertain. While China signed an agreement with Hong Kong to recognise insolvency and restructuring proceedings in the Chinese cities of Shenzhen, Shanghai and Xiamen, it is unclear whether mainland courts would sanction liquidators seizing the developer’s assets in the country. Hong Kong’s common law system, adopted during the British colonial era, is distinct from China’s Communist Party-controlled courts. Chinese mainland courts have so far only recognised one liquidation order granted in Hong Kong. In 2022, a Shenzhen court ordered the recognition of liquidators for paper manufacturing firm Samson Paper. Adblock test (Why?)

North Korea’s Kim ‘guided’ submarine-launched cruise missile test: KCNA

North Korea’s Kim ‘guided’ submarine-launched cruise missile test: KCNA

Second test of weapon in days as North Korea accelerates efforts to modernise its navy. North Korean state media say the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, oversaw the launch of two submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCM), the second test of the weapon within days. The newly-developed Pulhwasal-3-31 missiles “flew in the sky above the East Sea … to hit the island target”, the KCNA news agency reported on Monday, adding that Kim “guided” the launch. It shared photos of Kim at an undisclosed location pointing at a missile in the sky and laughing with members of the military. In other images, huge clouds of white smoke obscured the actual launch platform. South Korea’s military announced on Sunday that multiple missiles had been launched from waters near the North Korean port of Sinpo, where Pyongyang operates a shipyard that manufactures naval assets including submarines. It did not go into further detail. The Pulhwasal-3-31 is a new generation of nuclear-capable cruise missile that Pyongyang first tested last Wednesday, as it seeks to enhance the weapons capability of the country’s navy. The testing of cruise missiles, which are jet-propelled and fly at lower altitudes, is not banned under United Nations sanctions imposed over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme that outlaw ballistic missile testing. KCNA said the SLCMs were in the air for 7,421 seconds and 7,445 seconds – approximately two hours – but did not say how far they flew. North Korea’s exact sea-based launch capabilities remain unclear, and previous tests have been carried out from older vessels, including from a submerged platform, rather than an actual submarine. Kim expressed “great satisfaction” over Sunday’s test, according to KCNA, noting North Korea’s determination to build a “powerful naval force”. The North Korean leader separately inspected “the building of a nuclear submarine” and discussed issues related to the construction of other new warships, the report added without giving details. “They will focus on improving naval power in the East Sea and test weapons systems that can be mounted on submarines, with the first attempt being this strategic cruise missile,” Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies told the AFP news agency. “In the future, it will lead to the development of submarine-launched ballistic missiles and nuclear-powered submarines, which will have a much higher impact than SLCMs,” he added. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chatting with military officials at the submarine-launched cruise missile test [KCNA via Reuters] Proven SLBM capability would take North Korea’s arsenal to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean Peninsula and a second-strike capability in the event of an attack. Choi Il, a retired South Korean Navy submarine captain, said once a nuclear-tipped SLCM becomes operational, it will pose a “new threat” to South Korea. “North Korea will be equipped with a two-track nuclear attack means, with the capabilities of mass destruction of a SLBM and precision strike of a SLCM,” he said. In recent months, North Korea has tested a variety of weapons, including ballistic missile systems under development and an underwater drone. Last September, Kim launched the country’s first nuclear attack submarine, which analysts said was probably designed to carry ballistic and cruise missiles and appeared to be modified from an existing diesel-powered submarine. KCNA said the submarine marked the beginning of a new chapter for North Korea’s navy. Adblock test (Why?)