NATO chief backs Ukraine offensive in Russia’s Kursk
NATO chief backs Ukraine offensive in Russia’s Kursk/node/2569526/world
NATO chief backs Ukraine offensive in Russia’s Kursk
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to the Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg before the first plenary session at the European Political Community meeting at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Britain. (File/Reuters)
NATO chief backs Ukraine offensive in Russia’s Kursk
The offensive launched on August 6 caught the Kremlin off guard
Updated 31 August 2024
AFP
BERLIN: Ukraine was fully within its rights to launch its surprise offensive into Russia’s Kursk border region as an act of self-defense, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told German newspaper Die Welt.
The offensive launched on August 6 caught the Kremlin off guard, with Kyiv claiming to have captured dozens of settlements and more than 1,200 square kilometers (nearly 500 square miles) of territory.
“Ukraine has a right to defend itself. And according to international law, this right does not stop at the border,” Stoltenberg said in an interview with Die Welt published Saturday.
“The Russian soldiers, tanks and bases there (Kursk) are legitimate targets under international law.”
The offensive also surprised Kyiv’s allies, with Stoltenberg saying Ukraine “did not preview its planning” with NATO and that the Western military alliance “played no role.”
Stoltenberg also welcomed Germany’s commitment to remain Ukraine’s largest European military donor and second-largest worldwide, as Berlin prepares cuts to its aid to Kyiv in next year’s budget.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government came under fierce criticism for the decision last week. He says Germany will continue to supply the outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian military with the equipment it needs.
The Kursk offensive has changed little on the front line in eastern Ukraine, where Russia continues to claim incremental gains, including three villages on Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged his army faces an “extremely difficult” situation near the strategic hub of Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region, with Russian troops closing in.
Ukrainian drones hit major international oil pipeline in Russia
Kyiv has targeted Russia’s energy infrastructure throughout the three-year conflict
Updated 8 sec ago
AFP
MOSCOW: Ukrainian drones struck a key pumping station at a major international pipeline in southern Russia disrupting supplies from Kazakhstan, the operator said Monday. Kyiv has targeted Russia’s energy infrastructure throughout the three-year conflict, seeking to hit sites it says supply fuel to Moscow’s army or heps provide funds to support its offensive. In the latest attack overnight, seven explosive-packed drones hit a pumping station of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium which carries Kazakh oil across southern Russia for export via the Black Sea, including to western Europe. “Oil transportation through the Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline system is carried out at reduced pumping modes,” it said on social media. The 1,500-kilometer pipeline is owned by a consortium in which the Russian and Kazakh governments as well as Western energy majors Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell hold stakes. In 2024 it loaded more than 63 million tonnes of oil onto tankers at a terminal at the southern Russian port of Novorossiysk, the company said. The company said the attack hit the Kropotkinskaya pumping station — the pipeline’s largest in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region. Nobody was wounded and staff prevented the attack causing an oil spill, it added. Both Moscow and Kyiv launched massive drone attacks in an overnight wave, days after US President Donald Trump called the leaders of both countries to press for a ceasefire. Ukraine’s air force said it downed 83 out of 147 drones that Russia launched overnight, adding another 59 were “lost” without causing damage. Russia’s defense ministry said it had “intercepted and destroyed” 90 Ukrainian drones, including 24 over the southern region of Krasnodar, where the Caspian Pipeline Consortium runs. Ukraine’s grid operator Ukrenergo announced emergency outages in some regions of Ukraine “due to the consequences of Russian attacks on energy facilities.”
Between January 26 and February 14, more than 19,200 quakes were recorded off the islands in the Cyclades archipelago
Updated 5 min 46 sec ago
AFP
Amorgós: For three weeks Dionysia Kobaiou has been dealing with “the anxiety and stress” of her students on the Greek island of Amorgos which has felt thousands of earthquakes. She has been teaching remotely since Greek authorities shut down all schools on Amorgos, its more famous neighbor Santorini and other nearby islands until at least until February 21. Some children ask her whether they should hide under a bed when they feel a tremor. “It’s like during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Kobiaou told AFP. But in 2020-21 “we could stay home and protect ourselves (from the virus) whereas now, at any moment, we don’t know what might happen,” she added. Seismic swarm Between January 26 and February 14, more than 19,200 quakes were recorded off the islands in the Cyclades archipelago, according to the University of Athens (EKPA) seismology laboratory. Amorgos and three other islands are in a state of emergency until March 11. On Monday, another 5.1-magnitude undersea quake was recorded off Amorgos. The seismic swarm has caused no casualties or significant damage, and the tremors have lessened in intensity and frequency in recent days. But they still mystify scientists. On the rocky island, over nine hours by ferry from Piraeus in the winter, the 1,900 permanent residents have mainly stayed on Amorgos “except for a few due to professional or health reasons,” stated Mayor Lefteris Karaiskos. Thousands have fled Santorini. The island’s cafes and the taverns are closed for winter and, between the whitewashed domed chapels, only frogs and kittens give a glimpse of life in the sleepy alleys. Many of the quakes have been too weak to be felt, but nerves were put to the test by one 5.3-magnitude tremor on February 10, that was felt as far as Athens. That evening, Sotiris was in his kitchen. “We rushed outside because we were scared!” recounted the man, who chose not to reveal his last name, as he hauled construction materials in his wheelbarrow. “But you know, in Greece, we’re used to earthquakes,” he added. The tremors have hit the island “continuously,” according to Poppi Prasinou as she set up vegetables in front of her mini-market. Exhausted “People are starting to get tired,” noted the mother of two, while expressing “relief” that the tremors have decreased in intensity. As part of the state of emergency, rescue reinforcements have been dispatched from the mainland. At the port of Katapola, seated with their thick morning coffee, the elders remembered a 1956 earthquake, measuring between 7.5 and 7.7, followed by a tsunami with 20-meter-high waves. Amorgos was devastated. “There was no information or anything like that at the time,” recalled 83-year-old Vaggelis Mendrinos. “We were terrified (...) We don’t want to see that again!“ From the cliffs, a group of firefighters watched the islet of Anydros. Most epicenters are being recorded just off the uninhabited rocklet. Amorgos is surrounded by six faults, and seismologists are installing new sensors to better understand the phenomenon. In the countryside, the sheep bleat as usual, although shepherds say their herds are more nervous from constantly feeling the ground shaking. At the Chozoviotissa Monastery, built into the rock on a cliffside, only the noise made by the quakes slightly disturbs the two monks and a volunteer who live in near seclusion during winter. “If we have to leave, this is the best place to leave quickly for heaven,” said the volunteer Constantin Papakonstantinou with a smile, pointing to the open Aegean Sea below the monastery. Another, less spiritual concern is beginning to emerge in the islands that see an annual summer invasion of tourists. Amorgos hosts 100,000 tourists each year, according to its mayor. “Don’t scare people away; otherwise, they won’t come this summer!” one resident told AFP.
The pontiff has been suffering from bronchitis for more than a week
Francis is not expected to be discharged until the middle of the week
Updated 28 min 30 sec ago
Reuters
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, who is being treated for a respiratory infection, had a peaceful night, Italian news agency ANSA reported on Monday, citing sources close to the hospital.
The pontiff, 88, has been suffering from bronchitis for more than a week and was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday morning.
The Vatican said on Saturday that the Pope would remain in hospital for as long as his treatment required.
Francis is not expected to be discharged until the middle of the week, according to ANSA
The Pope was unable to deliver his regular prayer to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, or to lead a special mass for artists to mark the Catholic Church’s jubilee year.
He has also canceled a visit to Rome’s Cinecitta film studios, scheduled for Monday.
“Thank you for the affection, prayer and closeness with which you accompany me in these days,” Pope Francis wrote on X on Sunday.
Musk’s DOGE seeks access to US tax system: reports
Updated 40 min 26 sec ago
AFP
WASHINGTON: Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has sparked alarm by seeking access to a system with the US tax office that has detailed financial data about millions of Americans, US media reported.
Spearheaded by Musk, the world’s richest man, US President Donald Trump has embarked on a campaign to slash public spending deemed wasteful or contrary to his policies.
The Washington Post and others reported that the latest request is for DOGE officials to have broad access to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) systems, property and datasets.
This includes the Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS), access to which is usually extremely limited and which offers “instantaneous visual access to certain taxpayer accounts,” according to the IRS.
As of Sunday evening, the request had not been granted, the reports said.
But it has sparked alarm within the government and among privacy experts who say granting Musk access to private taxpayer data could be extraordinarily dangerous, according to ABC News.
“People who share their most sensitive information with the federal government do so under the understanding that not only will it be used legally, but also handled securely and in ways that minimize risks like identity theft and personal invasion, which this reporting brings into serious question,” Elizabeth Laird, a former state privacy officer now with the Center for Democracy and Technology, told ABC.
“Waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said when asked about the employee’s potential access to the sensitive system, NBC News reported.
“It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it.
“DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard-earned tax dollars on,” Fields added.
Sweden does not rule out sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, public broadcaster reports
The minister’s comments came after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was ready to send British troops to Ukraine
Updated 50 min 28 sec ago
Reuters
STOCKHOLM: Sweden does not rule out sending troops to Ukraine as part of any postwar peacekeeping force, public broadcaster Swedish Radio reported on Monday, citing comments by the country’s foreign minister.
The minister’s comments came after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was ready to send British troops to Ukraine for peacekeeping duties as he tried to show the US that European nations should have a role in talks on ending the war.
“We must now first negotiate a just and sustainable peace that respects international law, that respects Ukraine and that first and foremost ensures Russia can’t just pull back, build new strength and attack Ukraine or another country in just a few years’ time,” Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in an interview.
“Once we have such a peace established we need to ensure it can be maintained and then our government doesn’t exclude anything,” she added.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of expected talks with Russian officials aimed at ending Moscow’s nearly three-year war in Ukraine.
