ODESA, Ukraine: Russia pounded Ukraine’s Black Sea city of Odesa late on Thursday with one of its biggest drone attacks, injuring three teenagers and sparking fires as the Czech president visited, Ukrainian officials said.
The attack comes as the United States is pushing for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, and hoping to agree a partial ceasefire that would halt strikes on energy infrastructure by both sides.
Czech President Petr Pavel, a vocal backer of Kyiv who has led an effort to source more than one million artillery shells for Ukraine’s war effort, was in the port city for talks with regional officials at the time of the strikes.
“Significantly, it was during our meeting that the enemy once again massively attacked the Odesa region,” Governor Oleh Kiper said on the Telegram messaging app.
The long-range drones buzzed into the city in several waves, damaging infrastructure, residential houses and commercial buildings, and causing multiple fires, the interior ministry said.
Around 25 cars had been set ablaze at a car repair shop.
“We could not do anything. We were just standing and watching as everything was on fire. I am in total shock,” the shop’s owner, who gave her name as Inna, said.
Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst, said that Russia used new tactics for the attack, having its drones descend from a higher altitude than usual and at high speeds to make it harder for Ukraine’s air defenses.
He said it was one of the “most massive” attacks on Odesa since Russia invaded in February 2022: “It was intimidation. Terror against the civilian population.”
Separately on Friday, Russia and Ukraine accused each other of attacking a major Russian gas pumping and measuring station that lies in a part of Russia’s Kursk region that Moscow’s forces recaptured from Ukraine earlier this month.
Moscow said Ukraine had blown up the facility in an act of terrorism. Kyiv said Russian forces shelled it with artillery in “a provocation” and denied any involvement.
Both Russia and Ukraine have agreed during separate talks with US officials that they are ready for a moratorium on strikes on energy infrastructure. Moscow rejected a more comprehensive 30-day ceasefire.
Ukrainian, US and Russian delegations are due to meet in Saudi Arabia separately on Monday to discuss the details, officials have said.
Russia launched a total of 214 drones at Ukraine overnight, the air force said. It did not specify how many drones targeted Odesa. The air force said it shot down 114 of the drones and that another 81 drones were “lost,” its term for those suppressed using electronic warfare defenses.
Ukraine has used drones to continue striking targets in Russia, hitting oil infrastructure and a strategic bomber base in recent days.
Russian drones hammer Ukraine’s Odesa as Czech leader visits
https://arab.news/2x2uk
Russian drones hammer Ukraine’s Odesa as Czech leader visits
- The attack comes as the US is pushing for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia
- Ukrainian, US and Russian delegations are due to meet in Saudi Arabia separately on Monday
India sends aid flights to quake-hit Myanmar
Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said a C-130 military transport plane had been dispatched carrying hygiene kits, blankets, food parcels and other essentials
NEW DELHI: Indian aid flights began landing in Myanmar on Saturday, New Delhi’s foreign ministry said, a day after a powerful 7.7-magnitude caused widespread damage in its civil war-ravaged neighbor.
Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing issued an exceptionally rare appeal for international aid, indicating the severity of a calamity that has killed at least 694 people and injured 1,670 others.
Previous military regimes in the country have shunned foreign assistance even after major natural disasters.
Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said a C-130 military transport plane had been dispatched carrying hygiene kits, blankets, food parcels and other essentials.
“A search and rescue team and medical team is also accompanying this flight,” he added. “We will continue to monitor the developments and more aid will follow.”
Jaishankar’s ministry later shared photographs of the flight being unloaded after it landed in the commercial capital Yangon.
Two more Indian air force aircraft were being sent on Saturday carrying “80 search and rescue specialists” and a canine squad alongside more relief material, ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said.
A further two aircraft carrying a field hospital and medical personnel took off from Agra military base on Saturday for Naypyidaw, an Indian army official said during the ministry’s briefing.
Two Indian navy ships carrying more relief assistance material and personnel had already set sail from Port Blair for Yangon, an Indian navy official added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had spoken with Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar to give his “deep condolences at the loss of lives” in the earthquake.
“As a close friend and neighbor, India stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar in this difficult hour,” he wrote in a social media post.
Friday’s quake struck destroyed buildings, downed bridges, and buckled roads across swathes of Myanmar, with severe damage reported in the second-biggest city, Mandalay.
UN says funding cuts threaten health of 13 mn displaced
- Humanitarian organizations worldwide have been reeling
- “Without adequate resources, an estimated 12.8 million displaced people, including 6.3 million children, could be left without life-saving health interventions,” said Maina
GENEVA: Funding cuts are threatening the health of nearly 13 million displaced people, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR warned Friday, with the financial uncertainty already having an impact.
Humanitarian organizations worldwide have been reeling since US President Donald Trump returned to office in January, pushing an anti-refugee and anti-migrant agenda and immediately freezing most US foreign aid funding.
The United States has traditionally been UNHCR’s top donor, making up more than 40 percent of total contributions received.
“Without adequate resources, an estimated 12.8 million displaced people, including 6.3 million children, could be left without life-saving health interventions in 2025,” said UNHCR’s public health chief Allen Maina.
“The current humanitarian funding crisis, exacerbated by declining health spending in hosting countries, is affecting the scope and quality of public health and nutrition programs for refugees and host communities, disrupting access to essential services and increasing the risk of disease outbreaks, malnutrition, untreated chronic conditions and mental health issues.”
Citing examples of cutbacks, Maina said around a million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh were facing a severe health crisis with funding freezes threatening access to medical services.
In Burundi, the suspension of nutrition programs in several camps means thousands of refugee children under five may not receive adequate treatment for malnutrition, he added.
And in the Democratic Republic of Congo, UNHCR’s 2025 health budget has been cut by 87 percent compared to 2024.
In the DRC, “the health consequences of funding cuts are expected to be devastating, putting over 520,000 refugees at heightened risk of infectious diseases and death,” said Maina.
And in Egypt, all UNHCR’s medical treatment for refugees has been suspended, except emergency life-saving procedures.
The estimate of 12.8 million displaced people potentially being left without health support was based on a survey by UNHCR’s health team of all the global operations where the agency has health programs.
UNHCR spokesman William Spindler said other traditional top donors were also reducing their funding.
Danish foreign minister scolds Trump administration for its criticism of Denmark and Greenland
- “Many accusations and many allegations have been made. And of course we are open to criticism,” Rasmussen said
- “But let me be completely honest: we do not appreciate the tone in which it is being delivered. This is not how you speak to your close allies”
NUUK, Greenland: The Danish foreign minister on Saturday scolded the Trump administration for its “tone” in criticizing Denmark and Greenland, saying his country is already investing more into Arctic security and remains open to more cooperation with the US
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, make the remarks in a video posted to social media after US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to the strategic island.
“Many accusations and many allegations have been made. And of course we are open to criticism,” Rasmussen said speaking in English. “But let me be completely honest: we do not appreciate the tone in which it is being delivered. This is not how you speak to your close allies. And I still consider Denmark and the United States to be close allies.”
Vance on Friday said Denmark has “underinvested” in Greenland’s security and demanded that Denmark change its approach as President Donald Trump pushes to take over the Danish territory.
Vance visited US troops on Pituffik Space Base on mineral-rich Greenland alongside his wife and other senior US officials for a trip that was ultimately scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes who were not consulted about the original itinerary.
“Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance said Friday. “You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change.”
Vance said the US has “no option” but to take a significant position to ensure the security of Greenland as he encouraged a push in Greenland for independence from Denmark.
“I think that they ultimately will partner with the United States,” Vance said. “We could make them much more secure. We could do a lot more protection. And I think they’d fare a lot better economically as well.”
The reaction by members of Greenland’s parliament and residents has rendered that unlikely, with anger erupting over the Trump administration’s attempts to annex the vast Arctic island. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pushed back on Vance’s claim that Denmark isn’t doing enough for defense in the Arctic, calling her country “a good and strong ally.”
And Greenlandic lawmakers on Thursday agreed to form a new government, banding together to resist Trump’s overtures. Four of the five parties elected to Greenland’s parliament earlier this month have agreed to form a coalition that will have 23 of 31 seats in the legislature.
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated Saturday outside the US Embassy in the Danish capital Copenhagen with some lifting signs saying, “back off, USA” Danish broadcaster TV2 reported.
Løkke Rasmussen, in his video, reminded viewers of the 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. Since 1945, the American military presence in Greenland has decreased from thousands of soldiers over 17 bases and installations on the island, he said, to the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest with some 200 soldiers today.
The 1951 agreement “offers ample opportunity for the United States to have a much stronger military presence in Greenland,” the foreign minister said. “If that is what you wish, then let us discuss it.”
Løkke Rasmussen added that Denmark has increased its own investment into Arctic defense. In January, Denmark announced 14.6 billion Danish kroner ($2.1 billion) in financial commitments for Arctic security covering three new naval vessels, long-range drones and satellites.
US judge halts deportation of Turkish student at Tufts
- Oncu Keceli, a spokesperson for Turkiye’s foreign ministry, said efforts to secure Ozturk’s release continued
- US District Judge Denise Casper in Boston said that to provide time to resolve whether her court retained jurisdiction over the case, she was barring Ozturk’s deportation temporarily
BOSTON: A federal judge in Massachusetts on Friday temporarily barred the deportation of a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, who voiced support for Palestinians in Israel’s war in Gaza and was detained by US immigration officials this week.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was taken into custody by US immigration authorities near her Massachusetts home on Tuesday, according to a video showing the arrest by masked federal agents. US officials revoked her visa.
The US Department of Homeland Security has accused Ozturk, without providing evidence, of “engaging in activities in support of Hamas,” a group which the US government categorizes as a “foreign terrorist organization.”
Oncu Keceli, a spokesperson for Turkiye’s foreign ministry, said efforts to secure Ozturk’s release continued, adding consular and legal support was being provided by Turkish diplomatic missions in the US
“Our Houston Consul General visited our citizen in the center where she is being held in Louisiana on March 28. Our citizen’s requests and demands have been forwarded to local authorities and her lawyer,” Keceli said in a post on X.
Ozturk’s arrest came a year after she co-authored an opinion piece in Tufts’ student newspaper criticizing the university’s response to calls by students to divest from companies with ties to Israel and to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.”
A lawyer soon after sued to secure her release, and on Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union joined her legal defense team, filing a revised lawsuit saying her detention violates her rights to free speech and due process.
Despite a Tuesday night order requiring the PhD student and Fulbright Scholar not to be moved out of Massachusetts without 48 hours’ notice, she is now in Louisiana.
In Friday’s order, US District Judge Denise Casper in Boston said that to provide time to resolve whether her court retained jurisdiction over the case, she was barring Ozturk’s deportation temporarily.
She ordered the Trump administration to respond to Ozturk’s complaint by Tuesday.
Mahsa Khanbabai, a lawyer for Ozturk, called the decision “a first step in getting Rumeysa released and back home to Boston so she can continue her studies.”
The DHS had no immediate comment.
President Donald Trump has pledged to deport foreign pro-Palestinian protesters and has accused them of supporting Hamas, being antisemitic and posing foreign policy hurdles.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration conflates their criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism and support for Hamas.
Several students and protesters have had their visas revoked by the Trump administration, which says it may have revoked over 300 visas.
Trump names Egyptian American as interim US attorney in Illinois
- Andrew Boutros, former federal prosecutor, will serve in Northern District from April 7
- Judge William Haddad tells Arab News he is ‘very proud to have Arab American serving in Justice Department in Illinois’
CHICAGO: President Donald Trump on Friday approved the naming of an Egyptian-American former federal prosecutor to serve as interim US attorney for the Northern District of the state of Illinois.
The appointment of Andrew Boutros was made by US Attorney General Pam Bondi at Trump’s direction. It takes effect on April 7 and was applauded by Arab-American community leaders.
The son of immigrants from Egypt, Boutros is co-chair of Government Investigations and White-Collar Practice for the prestigious Chicago law firm Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP.
His nomination comes a week after Trump named Iraqi-American Alina Saad Habba as interim US attorney representing the state of New Jersey.
By appointing his candidates in an interim capacity, Trump is circumventing approval by the US Senate.
“Interim” candidates can serve up to four months without Senate approval or scrutiny at a public hearing that would include Democratic members who are critical of the president. That is not unusual in US politics.
Boutros told Arab News that he had “no comment at the moment” on his nomination.
He was a highly respected federal prosecutor in the Financial Crimes and Special Prosecutions Section of the Chicago US Attorney’s Office.
Arab-American officials applauded the appointments, saying the community can rise beyond partisan political battles.
“Arab Americans being promoted will let others realize how much we contribute to the US,” Mohammed Jaber, an elected trustee on the High School District 230 board in suburban Chicago, told Arab News. “This is huge to have Arab Americans in important US federal government positions.”
Arab-American former Cook County Judge William Haddad told Arab News: “I’m very proud to have an Arab American serving in the Justice Department in Illinois. It comes at a great time as we’re about to celebrate Arab American Heritage Month (in April). We’re very proud of him.”
