By LORNE COOK, Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — Russia is waging a “targeted gray zone campaign” against Europe, including airspace violations, sabotage and cyberattacks that will only escalate if the Kremlin is not challenged, the European Union’s top official warned on Wednesday.

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that in just two weeks, fighter jets breached Estonia’s airspace, while drones overflew military bases and critical infrastructure sites in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Poland and Romania.

“Europe must respond. We must investigate every incident, and we must not shy away from attributing responsibility because every square centimeter of our territory must be protected and safe,” von der Leyen told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France.

“If we hesitate to act, the gray zone will only expand,” she said.

The EU’s executive branch, under von der Leyen’s guidance, is preparing a plan for Europe to be ready to confront such challenges by 2030. EU officials believe that Russia could be capable of launching an attack on another European country within three to five years.

The plan includes the development of a “drone wall” of high-tech systems linked to equipment that can detect, track and destroy drones, as well as strike their operating systems or pilots on the ground.

In two weeks, von der Leyen will submit a “road map” for bolstering Europe’s defenses by the end of the decade to the 27-nation bloc’s heads of state and governments for their approval.

Von der Leyen said that it’s simply not affordable for European countries to continue to scramble the latest-generation fighter jets to counter relatively cheap drones, as happened when several of them entered Polish airspace a month ago.

“This is absolutely not sustainable. We need an anti-drone system that is affordable and fit for purpose. For swift detection, swift interception, and when needed, swift neutralization,” she said, adding that Europe has much to learn in this from Ukraine.

The commission believes that the best way to encourage European countries to invest more in defense is to ensure that it creates jobs and is good for business in Europe. It insists that at least 65% of any project funded with EU money should be based on the continent.

In recent years, the member nations have placed about two-thirds of their orders with U.S. defense companies.

“Most investment goes outside Europe. In other words these are jobs outside Europe. This is absolutely not sustainable,” von der Leyen said. “This is European money and we want to see a return on this investment in jobs here in Europe.”

At a summit in Copenhagen last week, the position of some EU leaders toward the drone incidents, acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and sanction-busting appeared to have hardened. Denmark has not directly attributed a series of drone flights over the country in recent weeks to Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that Europe must take a more aggressive approach with Russia by shooting down drones that enter European airspace and boarding shadow fleet ships illicitly transporting oil to deprive Moscow of war revenue.

A 44-year-old man has admitted to groping a teenager at a community pool in a Hugo housing development.

Jeremy John Miller, of Hugo, pleaded guilty Friday in Washington County District Court to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct of a minor in connection with the July 28 incident in the Water’s Edge housing development.

Jeremy John Miller (Courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office)

A second count involving another teenager will be dismissed at sentencing as part of a plea deal he reached with prosecutors. It also calls for a stay of imposition, which means the felony conviction will be considered a misdemeanor if he successfully completes probation. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 10.

According to the criminal complaint, a 14-year-old girl told deputies July 28 that a man approached her at the pool in the 15000 block of Farnham Avenue North and made comments about wanting a girlfriend. He told her he should “pay her” and touched himself. He also gave her a “creepy” look as he spoke, the girl reported.

Shortly afterward he swam underwater toward her and groped her. When she kicked to get away from him, he followed her and grabbed her foot.

The girl said she got out of the pool and told him to stop doing what he was doing. She said he responded that he was trying to get his daughter, who was also in the pool.

Video footage at the pool showed Miller then approached the girl and, as she tried to back away and told him to stop, he grabbed her and threw her into the water.

A 13-year-old boy at the pool that day said the man also came up to him from behind and “bear hugged” him, running his hands down the boy’s body and grabbing his crotch, the complaint says. Also, when the boy was playing football in the pool with others, the man had groped him several times while “tackling” him.

Adults at the pool described the man as “acting creepy toward the kids” and identified him as Miller.

Deputies were not able to make contact with Miller that day. The next day, authorities were told the man was back at the pool and he was arrested.

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By JEAN-YVES KAMALE

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Over 200 health facilities in eastern Congo are experiencing shortages of medicines as a result of fighting in the region and a lack of humanitarian funding, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Wednesday.

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The Red Cross said it assessed 240 health centers and clinics in North and South Kivu, two provinces where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels made an unprecedented advance earlier this year, further deepening one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

The difficulties in crossing front lines in the war-hit regions have prevented health facilities from getting access to medicine, even when it is available, the ICRC said.

“The lives of thousands of people are at stake,” due to the shortage of essential medicine against malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, and other diseases, François Moreillon, the head of the ICRC’s delegation in Congo, said during a news conference Wednesday.

Many humanitarian organizations supporting health facilities in the region have been forced to reduce their work or shutdown because of a lack of funding, he added.

“Currently, more than 80 per cent of health facilities in the Kivu provinces receive no support from humanitarian partners and are only operational thanks to the remarkable commitment of their staff on both sides of the front lines,” Moreillon said.

Many health workers have also fled the war-torn regions, leading to staff shortages in almost half of the facilities assessed by the ICRC, according to the organization.

Congo’s mineral-rich east has long been battered by fighting involving more than 100 armed groups including the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The rebels seized the provincial capitals Goma and Bukavu earlier this year, escalating the decades-old conflict.

The rebels’ advance has killed some 3,000 people this year and worsened what was already one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with around 7 million people displaced. While fighting has largely decreased as a result of peace efforts, there are still clashes and civilians are still being killed.

By MICHELLE GUMEDE, Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Six South African activists who were detained by Israel while attempting to reach Gaza as part of an aid flotilla said Wednesday they were subjected to harsher treatment than other detainees because of South Africa’s role in a genocide case against Israel.

Speaking after their return, the activists, which include the grandson of Nelson Mandela, said they were singled out after Israeli guards noticed that they were from South Africa. Two Muslim women among the group said they had their hijabs ripped off their heads and were forced to strip naked in front of Israeli soldiers.

Since 2023, South Africa has been involved in a highly contentious case in the United Nations’ top court accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Mandla Mandela, the grandson of South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon and first Black president, said the South African activists on the flotilla were “harshly dealt with” because their country has confronted Israel over its actions in Gaza by launching the case at the International Court of Justice.

Their treatment was “because we are a nation that dared through our government to take apartheid Israel to the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court and hold them accountable,” Mandla Mandela said.

South African activists Fatima Hendricks and Zaheera Soomar told reporters at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport on their return that their hijabs were forcibly removed from their heads while they were detained by Israel, which didn’t happen to other Muslim female activists.

“Both of us were forced behind a screen, our heads pushed against the wall and completely stripped naked in front of Israeli soldiers. This did not happen to other women,” said Soomar. “When they saw our passports, this is how we were treated as South Africans.”

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Israel’s Foreign Ministry has vehemently denied any claims of mistreatment, and noted that all activists were given the opportunity to voluntarily be deported without detention.

The six South Africans were among some 450 activists who were arrested as Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet of 42 boats seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and deliver a symbolic amount of aid to the famine-stricken territory. They were detained last week and were brought to Israel.

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg was among the activists arrested. Thunberg and activists from other countries have also claimed they were mistreated by Israeli guards, claims Israel has rejected as “brazen lies.”

The Israeli military intercepted another flotilla early Wednesday and detained scores more activists on board.

Mandla Mandela has previously been criticized over his alleged support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas and was denied a visa to travel to the U.K. last year.

South Africa has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause dating back to when Nelson Mandela was president. The country has compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to the South African apartheid government’s treatment of Black South Africans during its previous period of racial segregation. Israel has rejected that comparison.

South Africa lodged its case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza in late 2023. Several countries, including Nicaragua, Palestine, Turkey, Spain, Mexico, Libya and Colombia have supported South Africa’s case, it said.

Israel has vehemently rejected the allegation it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and has accused South Africa of being Hamas’ “legal arm” by filing the case.