Hawaii gov urges rebuilding as fire victims seek shelter

HAWAII’S governor conceded it would be tough to stop outsiders from buying up land on Maui, despite his concerns that thousands could be permanently displaced following last week’s devastating fires.

Governor Josh Green, a Democrat, and Attorney General Anne Lopez, are exploring a moratorium on people outside the state trying to buy Lahaina properties. But Green said that will be difficult.

“The governor is not allowed to simply say a resident of Hawaii can buy this house, a resident from California can’t buy this house,” Green said Thursday in an online discussion hosted by news source Honolulu Civil Beat. “This is a very tricky legal question, and as much as we’d like to snap our fingers and just do it for local people, it’s hard.”

Green said rebuilding Lahaina after last week’s fire—which killed at least 111 people and displaced thousands—will require breaking through stalemates over new construction and water use that created a housing crisis on Maui long before the blaze.

“We can’t just stop building again,” Green told Civil Beat senior reporter Stewart Yerton. “Maui’s going to have to build back in some way.”

Green plans to address residents Friday evening, outlining a path forward from the state’s deadliest known natural disaster.

He said Thursday the state owns a 400 acre site outside Lahaina that could be used to build housing for the displaced relatively quickly and cheaply, while the county owns another lot nearby. Modular or prefab houses could be another way to lower construction costs, he said.

Some 950 survivors from the August 8 fire have been placed in hotel rooms vacated by tourists, while another 500 people have moved into Airbnb rentals. But neither is a long-term solution. And rebuilding in the decimated town can’t start until federal workers clear the land of toxins such as asbestos and heavy metals, a process that could take several months and $500 million to $750 million, Green said.

Green said he was wrong to have opposed some housing projects during his years as a state legislator and said moving forward after the fire will require the state to have an honest discussion of its future needs, including new construction. About 14,000 Hawaii residents move away each year, he said, driven out by housing costs.

“Rich people will always be able to find a way to buy a one-off house or a condo,” he said. “People like us won’t.”

Also Thursday, Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andaya, resigned, citing health reasons. Andaya this week defended not using the state’s public warning sirens to alert Lahaina residents to the fire.

Bloomberg News the country was under threat.

“Nuclear weapons, which are in Belarus, will not be used if there is no aggression against us,” Lukashenko said, adding that Belarus would not enter into hostilities against Ukraine as long as its border was not violated.

China claims to be neutral in the conflict in Ukraine, but accuses the United States and its allies of provoking Russia and maintains strong economic, diplomatic and trade ties with Moscow.

Belarusian analyst Valery

Karbalevich said the visit of the Chinese defense minister is “an important signal not only to the EU and the US, but also to Ukraine.”

“With this visit, China marks the scope of its military interests and shows that it is interested in building up ties with Minsk and Moscow, including military cooperation, despite the dissatisfaction of Western countries,” he told The Associated Press.

“This is also a signal to Ukraine that the prolongation of the war can force China to take one side.” AP

US okays delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine–Dutch defense minister

THE HAGUE, Netherlands—The United States has given its approval for the Netherlands to deliver F-16s to Ukraine, the Dutch defense minister said Friday, in a major gain for Kyiv even though the fighter jets won’t have an immediate impact on the almost 18-month war

“I welcome the US decision to clear the way for delivery of F-16 jets to Ukraine. It allows us to follow through on the training of Ukrainian pilots,” Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said in a message on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We remain in close contact with European partners to decide on the next steps.”

Ukraine has long pleaded for the sophisticated fighter to give it a combat edge. It recently launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery.

Apart from delivering the warplanes, Ukraine’s allies also need to train its pilots. Washington says the F-16s, like the advance US Abrams tanks, will be crucial in the long term as Kyiv faces down Russia.

The Netherlands is part of a Western coalition that also includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom that in July pledged to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.

Washington must give its blessing because the planes are made in the United States.

Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in a message on X that US clearance to send F-16s to Ukraine “marks a major milestone” in Ukraine’s defense.

It was not immediately clear when the first F-16s could be delivered to Ukraine.

As well as the Netherlands, Denmark said in

June that training Ukrainian pilots had started and the country was considering delivering jets to Kyiv, but that pilots would need six to eight months of training before a possible donation of aircraft can become a reality.

In a statement to Danish media, Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said that the government has several times said that a donation was “a natural step after the training.”

Meanwhile, Russian air defenses stopped drone attacks on central Moscow and on the country’s ships in the Black Sea, officials said Friday, blaming the attempted strikes on Ukraine.

Defense systems shot down a Ukrainian drone over central Moscow early Friday and some fragments fell on an exhibition center, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It said the drone was shot down about 4 a.m. (0100 GMT) and there were no injuries or fire caused by the fragments.

However, flights were briefly suspended at all four major Moscow airports.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said some of the fragments fell on the grounds of the Expocentre, an exhibition complex adjacent to the Moscow City commercial and office complex that was hit twice by drones in the past month.

The area is about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) west of the Kremlin. The defense ministry called the latest incident “another terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime.”

Naval forces also destroyed a Ukrainian sea drone that attempted an attack on Russian ships late Thursday in the Black Sea, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Sevastopol, the ministry said

The drone was taken out by fire from a patrol boat and a corvette, it said. It was not possible to verify the claims. AP