ANKARA, Dec. 13  — Türkiye expressed concern on Friday after a missile struck a Turkish-owned civilian ship at Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port near Odesa, causing damage but no reported casualties, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry stated that the crew and drivers had been evacuated, and no Turkish citizens were reported injured.

It added that Türkiye’s consulate general in Odesa was monitoring the situation and providing support. Ankara reiterated its concerns about the Russia-Ukraine conflict spreading into the Black Sea.

It called for measures to prevent escalation, including suspending attacks targeting navigation safety, as well as energy and port infrastructure.

The vessel, the M/V CENK T, operated by Cenk Denizcilik, was hit by a ballistic missile around 1600 local time (1400 GMT) after berthing at the Chornomorsk terminal, the operator confirmed.

The ship operates on the Karasu-Odesa route carrying trucks. The strike sparked a fire in the bow section, which was quickly extinguished by tugboats, port firefighting teams, and the ship’s crew.

The company said the damage appeared limited to material losses, with no injuries among the crew or truck drivers. Ukrainian authorities said the ship was targeted by “a Russian attack.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted photos showing a large fire aboard a ship in Chornomorsk port, with firefighters tackling the blaze.

He accused the Russian side of continuing to “destroy normal life in Ukraine.” There was no immediate comment from the Russian side. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

GAZA, Dec. 12 — At least 14 people were killed in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours as homes collapsed and tents sheltering displaced families were flooded during a powerful winter storm, Gaza’s Civil Defense said on Friday.

The fatalities included three children who died from hypothermia, while others were found under the rubble of homes destroyed by heavy rain and strong winds, particularly in Gaza City and northern areas of the enclave, the Civil Defense said.

Rescue teams responded to 13 collapsed or partially collapsed houses, saving 52 people and moving them to safer locations.

Search operations are ongoing after more than 15 homes were damaged across the territory. Gaza’s health authorities warned the enclave “is heading toward catastrophe” as storm-related casualties continue to rise. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 12– UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Friday warned that escalation of fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) risks the fragmentation of the country with regional consequences.

The new offensive launched in recent days by the AFC/M23 (Congo River Alliance/March 23 Movement) in South Kivu has revived the specter of a regional flare-up with incalculable consequences, Lacroix told the Security Council in a briefing.

He said that “recent developments pose a serious risk of the gradual fragmentation of the DRC, particularly its eastern part.”

The territorial expansion of the AFC/M23, the establishment of parallel administrations, and the weakening of state presence in certain areas fuel a dynamic that directly threatens DRC’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, he warned.

The conflict is becoming increasingly regionalized, Lacroix said, adding that the direct or indirect involvement of armed forces and groups from neighboring countries, as well as the cross-border movement of displaced populations and combatants, significantly increases the risk of a regional conflagration.

He noted that the prompt implementation of Security Council Resolution 2773, which calls for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, remains essential if diplomatic progress is finally to translate into tangible improvements in the situation on the ground.

While recent diplomatic progress has generated genuine hope, persistent ceasefire violations and the resumption of hostilities pose a real risk of the collapse of ongoing diplomatic efforts, Lacroix said.

He said that the humanitarian situation is alarming, adding that continued hostilities, repeated waves of displacement, the ongoing closure of Goma and Kavumu airports, and shrinking humanitarian access have compounded an already severe crisis.

Humanitarian agencies are facing crippling funding shortfalls, Lacroix noted, saying that the humanitarian response plan for the DRC for 2025 is currently only 22 percent funded. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 13 — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said Saturday that he had a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the Cambodian-Thai border conflict.

The phone talks, held Friday night local time, aimed to find ways to have a ceasefire and to return to the implementation of the Kuala Lumpur Joint Declaration between Cambodia and Thailand, the prime minister said on social media.

He also said he had a phone conversation with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday. “Cambodia has always been adhering to peaceful means for dispute resolutions, in accordance with the KL Joint Declaration,” he said.

The Cambodia-Thailand border conflict reignited on Sunday afternoon. Both sides accused each other of initiating the attack and confirmed casualties.

Trump said Friday on social media that Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to cease all shooting “effective Friday evening.” (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 13 — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply alarmed by a reported drone strike that killed at least 30 civilians in Sudan’s South Darfur state, his deputy spokesman said Friday.

The attack reportedly took place approximately 150 km southwest of the state capital, Nyala, on Monday, said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman.

The attack comes as the toll of escalating violence on civilians across the Darfur and Kordofan regions, particularly through increasing drone strikes, continues to grow rapidly.

Further civilian casualties were reported in another strike on the town of Kutum in North Darfur on the same day, said Haq.

The secretary-general condemns all attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and demands that all parties abide by their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, across all areas of active conflict in Sudan, said the spokesman.

Haq said that as the 1,000-day mark of the Sudan civil war approaches, the secretary-general reiterates his call on all states with influence over the parties to take immediate action and use their leverage to compel an immediate halt to the fighting and stop the arms flows that are fueling the conflict.

Guterres also calls on the parties to agree on an immediate cessation of hostilities and to resume talks to reach a lasting ceasefire and a comprehensive, inclusive and Sudanese-owned political process, said Haq, adding that the United Nations stands ready to support genuine steps to end the fighting in Sudan and chart a path toward a durable peace.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launched attacks on government targets in April 2023. The conflict has led to the killing of tens of thousands of people and displaced millions more, triggering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

HAVANA, Dec. 13 — The Cuban government said on Friday that the assault on a Venezuelan oil tanker in international waters constitutes a serious incident marking a dangerous escalation in the economic war and “maximum pressure” campaign waged by the United States against the Caribbean nation.

Cuba’s Foreign Ministry described the action, which occurred on Wednesday, as “an act of piracy and maritime terrorism” and a “serious violation of international law,” including the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation.

“This action is part of the U.S. escalation aimed at hampering Venezuela’s legitimate right to freely use and trade its natural resources with other nations, including the supplies of hydrocarbons to Cuba,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry recalled that during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term, measures were adopted to obstruct the free trade of Venezuelan oil resources and to pursue vessels transporting fuel to Cuba.

“This situation persists and has been worsened now with the use of military force in an attempt to impose the U.S. domain on Our America,” it said.

The ministry stressed that these actions “negatively affect Cuba and intensify the United States’ policy of maximum pressure and economic suffocation policy,” with a direct and severe impact on the national energy system and, consequently, on the daily lives of the Cuban people.

It also described the episode as “a clear act of application of the Trump corollary of the Monroe Doctrine,” which it said violates the declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.

In response, Cuba demanded “universal condemnation” from the international community. On Wednesday, Venezuela denounced what it called the “blatant theft” of an oil tanker by the United States amid its military deployment in the Caribbean, an incident the U.S. government described only as a “seizure.” (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

BEIRUT, Dec. 12 — The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has recorded more than 10,000 violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 by Israeli forces since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on Nov. 27, 2024, UNIFIL Spokesperson Candice Ardell told Xinhua on Friday.

“Since Nov. 27, 2024, UNIFIL has recorded more than 10,000 violations of Resolution 1701, including more than 8,100 air violations, over 2,600 activities by Israeli forces north of the Blue Line, and more than 1,000 firing trajectories that crossed the Blue Line,” the spokesperson said.

At the same time, she said, Israeli soldiers remain inside Lebanese territory, “while we continue to record daily land and air violations of Resolution 1701 and of Lebanon’s sovereignty.”

She added that peacekeepers have discovered “more than 360 weapons caches inside Lebanese territory, most of which are likely linked to non-state actors, and none of them appear to be new.”

“Since Nov. 27, 2024, peacekeepers have not observed any military movements or the establishment of new military infrastructure by non-state actors in southern Lebanon,” Ardell noted.

Despite the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli army has occasionally carried out strikes in Lebanon, which it says are meant to eliminate Hezbollah “threats,” and it has maintained forces at five key points in the Lebanese border area after the deadline for its full withdrawal expired in February. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)