Polish PM says appeasement led to ‘more bombs’ from Russia in Ukraine

Polish PM says appeasement led to ‘more bombs’ from Russia in Ukraine
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian rocket attack in Dobropillya, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Mar. 8, 2025. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 08 March 2025
Follow

Polish PM says appeasement led to ‘more bombs’ from Russia in Ukraine

Polish PM says appeasement led to ‘more bombs’ from Russia in Ukraine
  • “More bombs, more aggression, more victims,” Tusk wrote on X

WARSAW: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Saturday slammed deadly Russian overnight strikes on Ukraine as the result of “what happens when someone appeases barbarians.”

“More bombs, more aggression, more victims. Another tragic night in Ukraine,” Tusk wrote on X, formerly Twitter, following Russian attacks that killed at least 14 people in Ukraine’s east and northeast.


Two die in France of ‘heat-related illness’: minister

Two die in France of ‘heat-related illness’: minister
Updated 02 July 2025
Follow

Two die in France of ‘heat-related illness’: minister

Two die in France of ‘heat-related illness’: minister

PARIS: Two people died in France as a result of “heat-related illness,” said the minister for ecological transition on Wednesday, as the country registered its second-hottest June since records began in 1900.
“More than 300 people have been treated by firefighters and two have died as a result of heat-related illness,” said Agnes Pannier-Runacher.


African Union helicopter crashes in Somali capital

African Union helicopter crashes in Somali capital
Updated 02 July 2025
Follow

African Union helicopter crashes in Somali capital

African Union helicopter crashes in Somali capital
  • The helicopter was carrying eight personnel when it crashed during landing

MOGADISHU: A military helicopter from the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia crashed at the airport in the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday and was engulfed in flames, the state-run SONNA news outlet reported.

The helicopter from the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) was carrying eight personnel when it crashed during landing, SONNA said on its X account, adding that the fire had been contained.

It was not immediately clear whether there were casualties. An AUSSOM spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.

“We heard the blast and saw smoke and flames over a helicopter,” Farah Abdulle, who works at the airport, told Reuters.

“The smoke entirely covered the helicopter.”

AUSSOM has more than 11,000 personnel in Somalia to help the country’s military counter Islamist group Al-Shabab.

The Al-Qaeda affiliate has been fighting for nearly two decades to topple Somalia’s internationally-recognized government and establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of sharia law.


Fiji says China military base not welcome as Pacific islands steer between superpowers

Fiji says China military base not welcome as Pacific islands steer between superpowers
Updated 02 July 2025
Follow

Fiji says China military base not welcome as Pacific islands steer between superpowers

Fiji says China military base not welcome as Pacific islands steer between superpowers
  • Strategically placed between the United States and Asia, the Pacific Islands are a focus of rivalry between Washington and Beijing

SYDNEY: Fiji is opposed to China setting up a military base in the Pacific Islands, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said on Wednesday, adding that it did not need such a base to project power, as shown by an intercontinental ballistic missile test.

Strategically placed between the United States and Asia, the Pacific Islands are a focus of rivalry between Washington and Beijing for security ties.

The islands were trying to cope with a big, powerful China seeking to spread its influence, Rabuka told the National Press Club in the Australian capital, adding that Beijing understood he would lobby other Pacific leaders against such a base.

“Pacific leaders in all their recent discussions have tried to go for policies that are friendly to all and enemies to none — and it is a fairly tough course to steer, but it is possible,” he added.

The Pacific would feel the impact of any conflict over the Taiwan Strait between major powers, a possibility already being planned for by China and other nations, he said.

Fiji opposes establishment of a military base by China, he said, in response to queries on Beijing’s security ambitions in a region where it already has a security pact with the Solomon Islands and a police presence in several nations.

“If they want to come, who would welcome them?” he said. “Not Fiji.”

China’s embassy in Fiji did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Beijing has previously ruled out establishing a military base in the Solomon Islands.

China did not need a base to project power, Rabuka added, as Beijing tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in September that flew over Fiji to land in international waters.

China showed off its coast guard to 10 visiting leaders of Pacific islands in May, after registering two dozen of its vessels with a regional fisheries commission last year, though it has yet to start South Pacific patrols.

China’s coast guard would need to “observe our sovereignty, our sovereign waters,” Rabuka said.

Fiji’s cooperation with China to develop infrastructure should not affect how it interacts with Australia, New Zealand and the United States, he added.

To manage strategic competition in the region, Rabuka is trying to build support for an Ocean of Peace treaty to ensure outsiders respect its unity and the “rejection of coercion as a means to achieve security, economic or political advantage.”

Leaders of the 18 members of the Pacific Islands Forum will consider the pact at a meeting in September.


Russia says certain forces are out to wreck ties between it and Azerbaijan, RIA reports

Russia says certain forces are out to wreck ties between it and Azerbaijan, RIA reports
Updated 02 July 2025
Follow

Russia says certain forces are out to wreck ties between it and Azerbaijan, RIA reports

Russia says certain forces are out to wreck ties between it and Azerbaijan, RIA reports
  • RIA cited the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying it regarded its relationship with Baku as extremely important

MOSCOW: The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that certain forces were trying to wreck Moscow’s ties with Azerbaijan and that they should think hard about what they were doing, the state RIA news agency reported.

The statement came amid rising tensions between the two countries after two Russian state journalists were arrested in Baku and a further around 15 more Russians arrested separately on suspicion of drug trafficking and cybercrime.

The arrests followed Russian police raids against ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Russia suspected of involvement in serious crimes in which two men died.

RIA cited the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying it regarded its relationship with Baku as extremely important and that it believed the arrest of the Russian journalists was not connected to their work but motivated by other considerations.

The pair have since been charged with fraud and other crimes by a Baku court.


Fire that led to Heathrow shutdown caused by substation component failure, energy operator says

Fire that led to Heathrow shutdown caused by substation component failure, energy operator says
Updated 02 July 2025
Follow

Fire that led to Heathrow shutdown caused by substation component failure, energy operator says

Fire that led to Heathrow shutdown caused by substation component failure, energy operator says
  • The closure of Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europe, on March 21 cost airlines tens of millions of pounds and stranded thousands of passengers

LONDON: The fire that caused a hugely disruptive shutdown at Heathrow airport in March was likely caused by the failure of a component at an electricity substation, Britain’s National Energy System Operator said in a report on the incident on Wednesday.
The closure of Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europe, on March 21 cost airlines tens of millions of pounds and stranded thousands of passengers. It also raised questions about the resilience of Britain’s infrastructure.
“This review has seen evidence that a catastrophic failure on one of the transformer’s high voltage bushings at National Grid Electricity Transmission’s 275kV substation caused the transformer to catch fire,” the report by the National Energy System Operator said.
“This was most likely caused by moisture entering the bushing, causing an electrical fault.”
National Grid Electricity Transmission’s controls in place were not effective and failed to identify that action had not been taken in relation to an elevated moisture reading in 2018, the report said, adding that the issue went unaddressed.