EU’s top diplomat pledges unified support for Ukraine and global humanitarian aid in dig at US

EU’s top diplomat pledges unified support for Ukraine and global humanitarian aid in dig at US
The European Union has a message for the Trump administration: It will continue supporting Ukraine against Russia’s illegal invasion, step up humanitarian aid when others pull back, and boost global teamwork to address the world’s challenges. (AP/File)
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Updated 12 March 2025
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EU’s top diplomat pledges unified support for Ukraine and global humanitarian aid in dig at US

EU’s top diplomat pledges unified support for Ukraine and global humanitarian aid in dig at US
  • EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas never mentioned the US in her speech to the UN Security Council
  • Her points were clearly aimed at President Donald Trump ‘s dismissive language about Europe

UNITED NATIONS: The European Union has a message for the Trump administration: It will continue supporting Ukraine against Russia’s illegal invasion, step up humanitarian aid when others pull back, and boost global teamwork to address the world’s challenges.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas never mentioned the United States in her speech to the UN Security Council on Tuesday. But her points were clearly aimed at President Donald Trump ‘s dismissive language about Europe, his massive cutbacks in aid to poor and conflict-torn countries, and his administration’s reluctance to acknowledge that Russia invaded Ukraine.
Following talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the Trump administration said it was lifting its suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine, and Kyiv signaled that it was open to a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia. The US-Ukraine deal is now pending Moscow’s agreement.
Looking at the world 80 years after the UN was founded on the ashes of World War II, Kallas said its foundations are facing “unprecedented pressure.” She cited blatant violations of the UN Charter, “attempts to replace the rule of law by the rule of force,” and universal principles promoting peace, human rights and development “under heavy fire.”
At a news conference afterward, she said, “The world is more dangerous now than it has ever been since the Cold War.”
Kallas told the council, “The EU will remain the UN’s reliable partner of choice” and will defend the UN Charter, which says every country must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
That’s why it has supported Ukraine’s right to self-defense and stands with Kyiv “for a just and lasting peace in line with the Charter,” she said, stressing that Russia must lose its “colonial war.”
The EU will always support rising humanitarian needs, with almost 2 billion euros this year, she said, a dig at the Trump administration, which dismantled the US aid agency and is eliminating 83 percent of its programs.
Kallas also stressed the need to boost multilateralism and engage with partners, which “is the only way forward in solving issues.”
She was asked afterward about a Trump comment that the EU was created to destroy the US when it comes to trade and was asked whether the 27-nation bloc could overcome that antagonism.
Surrounded by diplomats from all EU member nations, Kallas replied that the EU is “a peace project” created to ensure there would be no more wars among its members.
Right now, “our relations with third parties around the world show that everybody is looking at us because we are the reliable, predictable partner,” she said. “So, I really see the possibility to grow Europe’s geopolitical presence.”
The EU came under attack from Russia during the Security Council meeting.
After Kallas pledged to continue EU support to Ukraine, Russia’s UN ambassador blasted the European bloc for what it called a long history of anti-Russian sentiment.
“This sensible club aimed at integration, which used to promote cooperation with Russia, has today definitively turned into a fossilized, aggressive Russophobia bloc, which has staked its energy, economic, social and financial wellbeing on a pointless confrontation with its eastern neighbor,” Vassily Nebenzia said.
“Today, more than ever, it’s clear that the EU is seriously losing in this confrontation,” he said.
Kallas retorted that Nebenzia’s comments were a good example of rewriting history and how “misinformation and disinformation” and “lies” must be fought.
She said countries are afraid of Russia because of the countries it has attacked, “and these fears are not ungrounded.”


Finland summons Russian ambassador over suspected airspace violation: ministry

Updated 9 sec ago
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Finland summons Russian ambassador over suspected airspace violation: ministry

Finland summons Russian ambassador over suspected airspace violation: ministry
HELSINKI: Finland’s foreign ministry said on Monday it had summoned the Russian ambassador over suspicions that two Russian military aircraft violated its airspace last week.
Finland, which dropped decades of military non-alignment to join NATO in 2023, following Russia’s fully-fledged invasion of Ukraine, has a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia.
The defense ministry reported on Friday there had been a suspected airspace violation off the coast of Porvoo, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the capital, Helsinki.
It said an investigation into the incident was ongoing.
“The foreign ministry of Finland has today summoned the ambassador of Russia and requested an explanation regarding the suspected violation of airspace,” the ministry said in a post on X.
Moscow has repeatedly warned Finland of repercussions since it joined NATO.
Last week, Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen told AFP that Finland was “closely monitoring and assessing Russia’s activities and intentions.”
He was commenting after the New York Times published satellite images appearing to show an expansion of Russian military infrastructure near the border.
Hakkanen said in an email that Russia’s moves “to strengthen its armed forces have not come as a surprise to Finland.”
Helsinki has increased its military investments and preparedness since joining NATO.
In April, it announced it would boost defense spending to at least three percent of GDP by 2029 and reform its defense forces to tackle security threats.

UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender

UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender
Updated 18 min 44 sec ago
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UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender

UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender
  • Mammadli risks up to eight years behind bars on smuggling charges, which rights groups claim are bogus

GENEVA: Four UN special rapporteurs on Monday demanded the release of Azerbaijani rights defender and climate advocate Anar Mammadli, who has been in detention for more than a year.
Mammadli was detained on April 29, 2024. His arrest was one of a series which critics said undermined Azerbaijan’s credibility as a host of the United Nations COP29 climate change conference in November last year.
Mammadli chaired the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center, which reported irregularities during the February 2024 presidential elections in the tightly controlled, oil-rich nation.
His arrest also came after he participated in events at the UN Human Rights Council, the special rapporteurs said in a statement.
“Defending human rights should never be considered a crime,” the experts said.
“There are serious concerns that Mammadli’s detention and prosecution may be in retaliation for his human rights work and his engagement with UN mechanisms,” they said.
Mammadli risks up to eight years behind bars on smuggling charges, which rights groups claim are bogus.
“Civic participation, independent election monitoring, and cooperation with international mechanisms are the foundation of democratic societies,” the experts said.
“Criminalizing these activities undermines the rule of law.”
The statement was issued by the special rapporteurs on human rights defenders, on freedom of peaceful assembly, the right to freedom of opinion and on health.
They called on Azerbaijan to respect due process, guarantee Mammadli’s fundamental rights and provide him with appropriate medical care.
They also urged Baku to end all forms of intimidation against rights activists.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to report their findings. They do not speak for the United Nations itself.


A court has acquitted Austrian ex-leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements

A court has acquitted Austrian ex-leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements
Updated 26 May 2025
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A court has acquitted Austrian ex-leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements

A court has acquitted Austrian ex-leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements

VIENNA: A court in Vienna on Monday acquitted former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption in his government, reversing a verdict from last year in which Kurz was given a suspended prison sentence.
A panel of judges at Vienna’s upper state court acquitted Kurz after a short appeal hearing, the Austria Press Agency reported.
The case centered on Kurz’s testimony to an inquiry that focused on the coalition he led from 2017, when his conservative Austrian People’s Party formed a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, until its collapse in 2019.
Prosecutors accused the 38-year-old of having given false evidence in June 2020 regarding his role in the setting up of a holding company, OeBAG, which administers the state’s role in some companies, and the appointment of his former close confidant Thomas Schmid to its leadership.
In February 2024, Kurz was found guilty of making false statements about the appointment of the company’s supervisory board, though not about that of Schmid. He was given an eight-month suspended sentence.


India’s monsoon lashes Mumbai as rains arrive early

India’s monsoon lashes Mumbai as rains arrive early
Updated 53 min 4 sec ago
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India’s monsoon lashes Mumbai as rains arrive early

India’s monsoon lashes Mumbai as rains arrive early

MUMBAI: Lashing rains swamped India’s financial capital Mumbai on Monday as the annual monsoon rains arrived some two weeks earlier than usual, according to weather forecasters.
Heavy rains cooling temperatures — welcomed by farmers for their crops but which cause havoc each year in cities by flooding transport infrastructure — are normally expected in the southwestern state of Maharashtra in early June.
Mumbai weather chief Shubhangi Bhute, from the Indian Meteorological Department, said it was the earliest the rains had arrived since their records began in 2011.
“This is the earliest the monsoon has arrived in the state since then, so this is the earliest in 14 years,” Bhute said.
South Asia is getting hotter and in recent years has seen shifting weather patterns, but scientists are unclear on how exactly a warming planet is affecting the highly complex monsoon.
The southwest monsoon is a colossal sea breeze that brings South Asia 70-80 percent of its annual rainfall between June and September every year.
It occurs when summer heat warms the landmass of the subcontinent, causing the air to rise and sucking in cooler Indian Ocean winds which then produce enormous volumes of rain.
The monsoon is vital for agriculture and therefore for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and for food security.
But it brings destruction every year in landslides and floods.
In India, the southwest monsoon normally arrives on the southern tip at Kerala around June 1, and moves north to cover the country by early July. The rains typically reach Maharashtra around June 7.


India rushes to contain oil spill as vessel sinks off Kerala coast

India rushes to contain oil spill as vessel sinks off Kerala coast
Updated 26 May 2025
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India rushes to contain oil spill as vessel sinks off Kerala coast

India rushes to contain oil spill as vessel sinks off Kerala coast
  • The vessel was carrying 640 containers, including 13 with ‘hazardous cargo’ and 12 with calcium carbide, coast guard says
  • The Kerala coast has been put on high alert, with local coastal authorities instructed not to touch or go near the containers

KOCHI/BENGALURU: Authorities in the southern Indian state of Kerala were scrambling to contain an oil spill on Monday after a container vessel sank, leaking fuel into the Arabian Sea and releasing 100 cargo containers into the water.

The Liberia-flagged MSC ELSA3 ship was traveling from Vizhinjam on India’s southern tip to Kochi when it capsized about 38 nautical miles off Kerala on Saturday, officials said, adding that all 24 crew members had been rescued.

The entire ship has since been “submerged,” the Kerala chief minister’s office said in a statement on Sunday without elaborating on the cause of the incident.

“The Coast Guard is taking steps to block the oil with two ships. A Dornier aircraft is also being used to spray oil-destroying powder on the oil slick,” the statement said.

The vessel was carrying 640 containers, including 13 with “hazardous cargo” and 12 with calcium carbide, the Indian coast guard said, without disclosing the contents of the containers that fell into the sea.

Cyprus-based MSC Shipmanagement, which owns the vessel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Kerala coast has been put on high alert, with local coastal bodies instructed not to touch or go near the containers — some of which began washing up on beaches on Monday — and fishermen advised not to venture into the sea.

Authorities in the state’s Kollam region have encouraged people living nearby to move to safer places.

Accidental oil spills in the ocean can have far-reaching effects, putting marine ecosystems to the local fishing industry at risk.

The collision of a BW LPG vessel and a local ship carrying heavy fuel oil caused a similar oil spill in 2017 near the southern city of Chennai, which harmed aquatic life and affected the livelihood of thousands of fishermen.