HELSINKI: Finland’s parliament will be able to accept a government proposal to temporarily reject asylum seekers arriving across the border from Russia if some amendments are made, an influential committee of legislators said on Tuesday.
The announcement by the chair of parliament’s constitutional committee is expected to pave the way for the controversial proposal to be approved in a plenary vote in due course.
Finland has accused Russia of weaponizing migration by encouraging hundreds of asylum seekers last year from countries such as Syria and Somalia to cross the border, an assertion the Kremlin denies.
Helsinki believes Moscow is promoting the crossings in retaliation for Finland joining NATO, which backs Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
After first shutting all land border crossings with Russia late last year, preventing regular travel, the Finnish government in May presented legislation allowing border guards to stop migrants still arriving from seeking asylum.
While the plan clearly contradicts principles included in international human rights agreements, it is still justified as a temporary emergency measure under the circumstances, committee chair Heikki Vestman told a press conference.
For the legislation to pass it must be accompanied by a procedure giving those who are rejected a possibility to appeal the decision, said Vestman, who belongs to the ruling National Coalition Party.
No migrants have arrived across the border with Russia since March 13, official data shows.
Before the vote, the committee heard 18 experts, who were all against approving the law.
But in the end, 15 of the 17 parliamentarians on the constitutional committee gave their backing, with only the Left Alliance and Green Party representatives objecting.
“For the first time the Finnish state explicitly ignores the human rights system and European Union legislation,” Left Alliance lawmaker Anna Kontula said, adding that this could set a dangerous precedent.
Finnish law to stop migrants at Russia border makes progress in parliament
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Finnish law to stop migrants at Russia border makes progress in parliament
- Finland has accused Russia of weaponizing migration by encouraging hundreds of asylum seekers last year from countries such as Syria and Somalia to cross the border
- Helsinki believes Moscow is promoting the crossings in retaliation for Finland joining NATO, which backs Ukraine against Russia’s invasion
Trump administration plans $1,000 fee to fast-track tourist visas -memo
The program could arrive in pilot form as soon as December
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is considering a $1,000 fee for tourists and other non-immigrant visa applicants seeking an expedited interview appointment though government lawyers have raised legal red flags over the plan, according to a US official and an internal State Department memo.
Individuals entering the US on tourist and other non-immigrant visas already pay a $185 processing fee. The new $1,000 option the US is considering would be a premium service that allows some people to jump to the front of the line for visa interviews.
The program could arrive in pilot form as soon as December, the memo reviewed by Reuters said.
The proposed fee for visa appointments, which has not been previously reported, comes alongside President Donald Trump’s vision of a “gold card” that would sell US citizenship for $5 million, granting faster access to those willing to pay.
But the State Department’s legal team said there was a “high risk” it would be rejected by the White House budget office or struck down in US courts, the memo said. Setting a fee above the cost to provide the service “is contrary to settled Supreme Court precedent,” the memo said.
A State Department spokesperson said the department does not comment on internal documents and communications.
“The department’s scheduling of non-immigrant visa interview appointments is dynamic and we are continually working to improve our operations worldwide,” the spokesperson said.
Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has aggressively cracked down on immigration, including revoking some student visas and increasing scrutiny of all visa applicants.
The State Department issued 10.4 million non-immigrant visas in fiscal year 2023, including 5.9 million tourist visas, according to the agency’s most recent annual report. International travel spending in the United States is expected to decline about 7 percent in 2025 as opposition to Trump’s policies and a strong dollar prompt foreign visitors to opt for other destinations, the World Travel and Tourism Council said in May.
Growing numbers of people worldwide unhappy with Israeli state and Netanyahu, survey finds
- Poll of 32,000 people in 24 countries finds numbers holding unfavorable views on Israel have risen significantly in many places, including the US and UK
- ‘Majorities across all 24 countries show a lack of confidence that (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu will “do the right thing,”’ researcher says
CHICAGO: The results of a survey published this week by the Pew Research Center in Washington reveal a significant increase in the proportions of people in the US, UK and other nations, mostly in the West, who hold unfavorable views on the Israeli state and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Researchers polled 32,000 people in 24 countries. Previous surveys had been carried out in 11 of them, 13 were being surveyed for the first time. Maria Smerkovich, a research associate with Pew, told Arab News on Wednesday that the results showed conclusively that public attitudes toward Israel and the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, were increasingly negative, especially in America, traditionally one of the strongest advocates for Israel, and in the UK.
“The median is 62 percent have unfavorable views of the country of Israel, compared with a 29 percent median that have favorable views,” she said of the overall results.
“In about 20 of these countries, half of the population or more have unfavorable views of the country. We find that younger people and people on the left are more likely to have negative views of the country.
“In the US, views on Israel have turned more negative. The last time we asked about the favorability of Israel in the US was in 2022, before the current war (in Gaza). And at that time, a slight majority had favorable views of Israel. A smaller share had unfavorable views of Israel.
“Now (since the start of the conflict in Gaza) we’ve seen the tide turn, where just over half have unfavorable views of Israel and 45 percent have favorable views. So that’s a leap in terms of unfavorability; it’s a jump from 42 percent to 53 percent in just three years.”
She continued: “In about 10 other countries, the last time we asked about favorability of Israel was in 2013. And we have seen, in most of the countries, we have seen views turn more negative. For example in the UK in 2013, unfavorability was at 44 percent. Today, it’s at 61 percent. So that’s quite a jump.
“Israel’s unfavorability has increased in seven countries of the 10 where we have trends,” she said adding that the proportions of unfavorable views had remained “about the same since 2013” in France, Germany and Greece.
In addition to the “striking” increase in unfavorable views in the UK, Smerkovich said: “In Indonesia, it’s gone up from 71 percent to 80 percent. In Turkey, from 85 percent to 93 percent. In Nigeria, 25 percent to 32 percent.”
In the other 13 countries with no previous survey results, majorities also held strongly unfavorable views of both Israel and Netanyahu.
The survey reveals “majorities across all 24 countries show a lack of confidence that Netanyahu will ‘do the right thing,’” Smerkovich said.
Many people the US “have no confidence in Netanyahu,” she added, and there “has been an increase in the share that say they have no confidence in him … about a 10 percent jump, whereas the share that say they do have confidence in him has stayed fairly stable.”
This pattern is repeated in other countries, she said, where “we have seen an increase in no confidence in Netanyahu. But the share that say they do have confidence in him hasn’t really changed much in the US.”
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan “fact tank” that says it aims to inform the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts opinion polls, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research and does not adopt any positions on policies.
Prestigious Irish university to cut links with Israel over Gaza war
- Trinity College Dublin will sever institutional links with the Israeli state, universities and companies headquartered there
- University said the action was a protest against 'violations of international and humanitarian law'
DUBLIN: Ireland’s prestigious Trinity College Dublin said on Wednesday that it would cut all links with Israel in protest at “ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law.”
The university’s board informed students by email that it had accepted the recommendations of a taskforce to sever “institutional links with the State of Israel, Israeli universities and companies headquartered in Israel.”
The recommendations would be “enacted for the duration of the ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law,” said the email sent by the board’s chairman Paul Farrell, and seen by AFP.
The taskforce was set up after part of the university’s campus in central Dublin was blockaded by students for five days last year in protest at Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Among the taskforce’s recommendations approved by the board were pledges to divest “from all companies headquartered in Israel” and to “enter into no future supply contracts with Israeli firms” and “no new commercial relationships with Israeli entities.”
The university also said that it would “enter into no further mobility agreements with Israeli universities.”
Trinity has two current Erasmus+ exchange agreements with Israeli universities: Bar Ilan University, an agreement that ends in July 2026, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which ends in July 2025, the university told AFP in an email.
The board also said that the university “should not submit for approval or agree to participate in any new institutional research agreements involving Israeli participation.”
It “should seek to align itself with like-minded universities and bodies in an effort to influence EU policy concerning Israel’s participation in such collaborations,” it added.
Ireland has been among the most outspoken critics of Israel’s response to the October 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel by Hamas militants that sparked the war in Gaza.
Polls since the start of the war have shown overwhelming pro-Palestinian sympathy in Ireland.
In May 2024, Dublin joined several other European countries in recognizing Palestine as a “sovereign and independent state.”
It then joined South Africa in bringing a case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza — charges angrily denied by Israeli leaders.
In December, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar ordered the closure of the country’s embassy in Dublin, blaming Ireland’s “extreme anti-Israel policies.”
The University of Geneva also announced Wednesday that it has ended its partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem following student protests, saying it no longer reflected the institution’s “strategic priorities.”
Moscow security chief discusses Ukraine with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un
- “Sergei Shoigu was received by the Chairman of State Affairs of the DPRK, Kim Jong Un,” the embassy said
- It said talks took place “in an atmosphere of friendly mutual understanding“
MOSCOW: Russia’s security chief Sergei Shoigu discussed the Ukraine conflict with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on a visit to Pyongyang on Wednesday, Moscow’s embassy in the reclusive state said.
North Korea has become one of Russia’s main allies during Moscow’s more than three-year-long Ukraine offensive, sending thousands of troops to help the Kremlin oust Ukrainian forces from its Kursk border region.
Pyongyang is also largely believed to be arming Russia.
“Sergei Shoigu was received by the Chairman of State Affairs of the DPRK, Kim Jong Un,” the embassy said, adding that they “exchanged views on the situation around the Ukrainian crisis and the Korean peninsula.”
It said talks took place “in an atmosphere of friendly mutual understanding.”
Shoigu also met with North Korean military official Pak Jong-chon, the embassy said.
Russia’s TASS news agency said earlier that Shoigu had arrived on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Wednesday’s visit is Shoigu’s second to Pyongyang in less than three months.
Pyongyang has defended its military cooperation with Russia, saying on Monday that ties were aimed at “ensuring peace and stability” in Europe and Asia.
Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, according to South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun, citing the country’s intelligence service.
Russia and North Korea signed a sweeping military deal last year, including a mutual defense clause, during a rare visit by Putin to the nuclear-armed North.
Shoigu hailed the deal as “fully meeting the interests of both countries” during a visit in March.
UN Security Council will vote on a resolution demanding a Gaza ceasefire, with US veto expected
- The US vetoed the last resolution on Gaza in November, under the Biden administration
- Several UN diplomats from different countries, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions have been private, said they expect the United States to veto the resolution
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council will vote Wednesday on a resolution demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and the Trump administration is expected to veto it because it does not link the ceasefire to the release of all the hostages held by Hamas.
The resolution before the UN’s most powerful body also does not condemn Hamas’ deadly attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the war, or say the militant group must disarm and withdraw from Gaza — two other US demands.
The US vetoed the last resolution on Gaza in November, under the Biden administration, because the ceasefire demand was not directly linked to the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. Similarly, the current resolution demands those taken by Hamas and other groups be released, but it does not make it a condition for a truce.
Calling the humanitarian situation in Gaza “catastrophic,” the resolution, put forth by the 15-member council’s 10 elected members, also calls for “the immediate and unconditional lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and its safe and unhindered distribution at scale, including by the UN and humanitarian partners.”
President Donald Trump’s administration has tried to ramp up its efforts to broker peace in Gaza after 20 months of war. However, Hamas has sought amendments to a US proposal that special envoy Steve Witkoff has called “totally unacceptable.”
The vote follows a decision by an Israeli and US-backed foundation to pause food delivery at its three distribution sites in the Gaza Strip after health officials said dozens of Palestinians were killed in a series of shootings near the sites this week. Israel and the United States say they supported the establishment of the new aid system to prevent Hamas from stealing aid previously distributed by the UN
The United Nations has rejected the new system, saying it doesn’t address Gaza’s mounting hunger crisis, allows Israel to use aid as a weapon and doesn’t comply with the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence. The UN says its distribution system throughout Gaza worked very well during the March ceasefire and is carefully monitored.
The resolution demands the restoration of all essential humanitarian services in line with humanitarian principles, international humanitarian law and UN Security Council resolutions.
Several UN diplomats from different countries, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions have been private, said they expect the United States to veto the resolution. They also said they expect a similar vote to the one in November, when the 14 other council members supported the resolution.
Israel’s UN Mission said Ambassador Danny Danon, who will speak after the vote, will say the resolution undermines humanitarian relief efforts and ignores Hamas, which is still endangering civilians in Gaza. He also will say the resolution disregards the ceasefire negotiations that are already underway, the mission said.
Gaza’s roughly 2 million people are almost completely reliant on international aid because Israel’s offensive has destroyed nearly all food production capabilities. Israel imposed a blockade on supplies into Gaza on March 2, and limited aid began to enter again late last month after pressure from allies and warnings of famine.
“The world is watching, day after day, horrifying scenes of Palestinians being shot, wounded or killed in Gaza while simply trying to eat,” UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement Wednesday. He called for a flood of aid to be let in and for the world body to be the one delivering it.
The Security Council has voted on 14 Gaza-related resolutions and approved four since the war began. That is when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251.
They are still holding 58 hostages, a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants.
The ministry is led by medical professionals but reports to the Hamas-run government. Its toll is seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts, though Israel has challenged its numbers.
