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Zelensky says ‘Ukraine plus Northern Europe’ co-operation format gaining speed

Zelensky says ‘Ukraine plus Northern Europe’ co-operation format gaining speed
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) speaks during a NATO-Ukraine Council Working Dinner in Brussels, Belgium, on Oct. 17, 2024. (Pool/AFP)
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Updated 28 October 2024
Reuters
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Zelensky says ‘Ukraine plus Northern Europe’ co-operation format gaining speed

Zelensky says ‘Ukraine plus Northern Europe’ co-operation format gaining speed
  • The five Nordic countries — Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland — are all now NATO countries and have all been staunch supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion
Updated 28 October 2024
Reuters
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that cooperation within the ‘Ukraine plus Northern Europe’ format is gaining speed with more steps that can increase pressure on Russia expected in the coming week.

Why it's important
The five Nordic countries — Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland — are all now NATO countries and have all been staunch supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
Sweden and Finland joined the alliance earlier this year, with Stockholm saying that Russia is the main international security threat to Sweden. Finland and Norway share a border with Russia.
Moscow said that the NATO expansion was a dangerous historic mistake that would force Moscow to take counter-measures.

By the numbers
The Nordic nations told Zelensky last year that they would support his country “for as long as it takes” in its struggle to drive out Russian forces and that they were ready to continue giving extensive military, economic and humanitarian aid.
Zelensky said in May that joint military assistance from the Nordic countries would amount to six billion euros this year under separate security agreements.
This comes atop the some 11 billion euros provided by the five countries by the end of 2023.

Key quotes
“They understand that it is necessary to create problems for the aggressor, so that Russia loses the opportunity to spoil the life of the world,” Zelensky said in his daily video address on Sunday.
“We will talk (in the coming week) with the ‘Nordics’ about new fundamental steps that can increase the pressure on Russia for this war and for the sake of honest diplomacy.”

 

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Volodymyr Zelensky NATO

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Kyiv urges ‘decisive action’ after report on banned chemical weapons

Kyiv urges ‘decisive action’ after report on banned chemical weapons
Updated 7 sec ago
AFP
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Kyiv urges ‘decisive action’ after report on banned chemical weapons

Kyiv urges ‘decisive action’ after report on banned chemical weapons
Updated 7 sec ago
AFP
Kyiv: Kyiv on Tuesday blamed Russia and urged action after the international chemical weapons watchdog said banned riot control gas had been found in Ukrainian soil samples from the front line.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of using chemical weapons in the conflict, with Kyiv’s Western allies claiming Moscow has employed banned weapons.
“We call on our partners to take decisive action to stop the aggressor and bring those responsible for crimes to justice. True peace can only be achieved through strength, not appeasement,” the foreign ministry said.
“Russia’s use of banned chemicals on the battlefield once again demonstrates Russia’s chronic disregard for international law,” a statement added.
Russia is yet to react to the report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which brought the first confirmation of the use of riot control gas in areas where active fighting is taking place in Ukraine.
The OPCW’s Chemical Weapons Convention strictly bans the use of riot control agents including CS, a type of tear gas, outside riot control situations when it is used as “a method of warfare.”
CS gas is non-lethal but causes sensory irritation including to the lungs, skin and eyes.
The evidence handed over by Ukraine to the OPCW enabled it to “corroborate... the chain of custody of the three samples collected from a trench in Ukraine located along the confrontation lines with the opposing troops, had been maintained,” the organization said.
It stressed however that the report did “not seek to identify the source or origin of the toxic chemical.”
OPCW director-general Fernando Arias “expressed grave concern” over the findings.
“All 193 OPCW Member States, including the Russian Federation and Ukraine, have committed never to develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, transfer or use chemical weapons,” he said in a statement.

India to send 5,000 extra troops to quell Manipur unrest

India to send 5,000 extra troops to quell Manipur unrest
Updated 24 min 33 sec ago
AFP
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India to send 5,000 extra troops to quell Manipur unrest

India to send 5,000 extra troops to quell Manipur unrest
  • Fresh periodic clashes of troubled state located in country’s northeast have killed 16 people so far
  • Manipur rocked by clashes since 18 months between Hindu majority and Christian Kuki community
Updated 24 min 33 sec ago
AFP

NEW DELHI: India will deploy an extra 5,000 paramilitary troops to quell unrest in Manipur, authorities said Tuesday, a week after 16 people were killed in fresh clashes in the troubled state.
Manipur in India’s northeast has been rocked by periodic clashes for more than 18 months between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community, dividing the state into ethnic enclaves.
Ten Kuki militants were killed when they attempted to assault police last week, prompting the apparent reprisal killing of six Meitei civilians, whose bodies were found in Jiribam district days later.
New Delhi has “ordered 50 additional companies of paramilitary forces to go to Manipur,” a government source in New Delhi with knowledge of the matter told AFP on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak with media.
Each company of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), a paramilitary unit overseen by the home ministry and responsible for internal security, has 100 troops.
The Business Standard newspaper reported that the additional forces would be deployed in the state by the end of the week.
India already has thousands of troops attempting to keep the peace in the conflict that has killed at least 200 people since it began 18 months ago.
Manipur has been subject to periodic Internet shutdowns and curfews since the violence began last year.
Both were reimposed in the state capital Imphal on Saturday after the discovery of the six bodies prompted violent protests by the Meitei community.
The ethnic strife has also displaced tens of thousands of people in the state, which borders war-torn Myanmar. Incensed crowds in the city had attempted to storm the homes of several local politicians.
Local media reports said several homes of lawmakers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which governs the state, were damaged in arson attacks during the unrest.
Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and jobs. Rights groups have accused local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain.

Topics: Manipur kuki

Canada foiled Iran plot to assassinate former minister

Canada foiled Iran plot to assassinate former minister
Updated 44 min 35 sec ago
AFP
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Canada foiled Iran plot to assassinate former minister

Canada foiled Iran plot to assassinate former minister
  • The Globe and Mail newspaper reported that he was informed on October 26 that he faced an imminent threat
  • The 84-year-old was justice minister and attorney general from 2003 to 2006
Updated 44 min 35 sec ago
AFP

Ottawa: Canadian authorities recently foiled an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Irwin Cotler, a former justice minister who has been a strong critic of Tehran, Cotler’s organization said Monday.
The 84-year-old was justice minister and attorney general from 2003 to 2006. He retired from politics in 2015 but has remained active with many associations that campaign for human rights around the world.
The Globe and Mail newspaper reported that he was informed on October 26 that he faced an imminent threat — within 48 hours — of assassination from Iranian agents.
Authorities tracked two suspects in the plot, the paper said, citing an unnamed source.
In an email to AFP, the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, where Cotler is international chair, confirmed the Globe and Mail report.
Cotler “has no knowledge or details regarding any arrests made,” said Brandon Golfman, an organization spokesman.
Tehran late on Monday denied what it described as “the claim of Canadian media that Iran tried to assassinate a Canadian person,” the official IRNA news agency reported, citing Issa Kameli, the director general for the Americas at the foreign ministry.
The Iranian diplomat denounced the report as “ridiculous storytelling and in line with the misinformation campaign against Iran.”
A spokesperson for Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc declined to comment, telling AFP: “We cannot comment on, nor confirm specific RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) operations due to security reasons.”
Another senior government minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, called the plot “very concerning.”
Jean-Yves Duclos, the government’s senior minister in Quebec province, where Cotler lives, said it was likely “very difficult for (Cotler), in particular, and his family and friends to hear” about it.
The House of Commons, meanwhile, passed a unanimous motion praising Cotler’s work in defense of human rights and “condemning the death threats against him orchestrated by agents of a foreign regime.”
Cotler had already been receiving police protection for more than a year after the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel by Hamas gunmen.
Cotler, who is Jewish and a strong backer of Israel, has advocated globally to have Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps listed as a terrorist entity.
His name reportedly also came up in an FBI probe of a 2022 Iranian murder-for-hire operation in New York that targeted American human rights activist Masih Alinejad.
Ottawa, which severed diplomatic ties with Iran more than a decade ago, listed the Revolutionary Guard as a banned terror group in June.
It said at the time that Iranian authorities displayed a consistent “disregard for human rights both inside and outside of Iran, as well as a willingness to destabilize the international rules-based order.”
As a lawyer, Cotler also represented Iranian political prisoners and dissidents.
His daughter, Michal Cotler-Wunsh, is an Israeli politician and diplomat who previously served as a member of Israel’s parliament.

Topics: Canada

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Toxic smog persists over India’s north, Delhi pollution remains severe

Toxic smog persists over India’s north, Delhi pollution remains severe
Updated 19 November 2024
Reuters
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Toxic smog persists over India’s north, Delhi pollution remains severe

Toxic smog persists over India’s north, Delhi pollution remains severe
  • On Tuesday, Delhi’s 24-hour air quality index (AQI) reading was at 488 on a scale of 500
  • India battles air pollution every winter as heavy air traps dust, emissions from farm fires
Updated 19 November 2024
Reuters

NEW DELHI: Residents in India’s northern states woke up to another day of poor air quality on Tuesday, as a layer of dense fog shrouded most of the region, and pollution in the capital Delhi remained severe.
India battles air pollution every winter as cold, heavy air traps dust, emissions, and smoke from farm fires started illegally in the adjoining, farming states of Punjab and Haryana.
The air quality index (AQI) touched a peak of 491 in Delhi on Monday, forcing the government to introduce restrictions on vehicle movement and construction activities, and schools to conduct classes online.
On Tuesday, Delhi’s 24-hour air quality index (AQI) reading was at 488 on a scale of 500, India’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said, and at least five stations in the capital reported an AQI of 500.
CPCB defines an AQI reading of 0-50 as “good” and above 401 as “severe,” which it says is a risk to healthy people and “seriously impacts” those with existing diseases.
Swiss group IQAir ranked New Delhi as the world’s most polluted city with air quality at a “hazardous” 489, although that was a significant improvement from Monday’s 1,081 reading.
Experts say the scores vary because of a difference in the scale countries adopt to convert pollutant concentrations into AQI, and so the same quantity of a specific pollutant may be translated as different AQI scores in different countries.
India’s weather department said a shift in the fog layer toward the northern state of Uttar Pradesh had helped improve visibility over Delhi.
Visibility dropped to zero meters in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Agra, which lies southeast of Delhi. The Taj Mahal, India’s famed monument of love, has been obscured by toxic smog for nearly a week.
The strict measures to mitigate the impact of high pollution have hurt production at more than 3.4 million micro, small and medium enterprises in the nearby states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, local media reported.

Topics: Delhi smog

Floods strike thousands of houses in northern Philippines

Floods strike thousands of houses in northern Philippines
Updated 19 November 2024
AFP
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Floods strike thousands of houses in northern Philippines

Floods strike thousands of houses in northern Philippines
  • Typhoon Man-yi drenched swaths of the Philippines over the weekend
  • Man-yi was the sixth major storm in a month to strike the Philippines
Updated 19 November 2024
AFP

Manila: Floodwaters reaching more than four meters high swamped thousands of houses in the storm-battered northern Philippines on Tuesday after rivers overflowed following heavy rain and a dam release.
Typhoon Man-yi drenched swaths of the Philippines over the weekend, swelling the Cagayan river and tributaries, and forcing the release of water from Magat Dam.
The Cagayan broke its banks, spilling water over already sodden farmland and communities, affecting tens of thousands of people.
Buildings, lamp posts and trees poked through a lake of brown water in Tuguegarao city in Cagayan province where provincial disaster official Ian Valdepenas said floodwaters reached more than four meters (14 feet) in some places.
“We experienced very heavy rains two days ago, but the flood just started to rise when Magat Dam started releasing huge volumes of water,” Valdepenas told AFP.
“Plus, our land is already saturated because of the consecutive typhoons hitting the area.”
Man-yi was the sixth major storm in a month to strike the Philippines, which have left at least 171 people dead and thousands homeless, as well as wiped out crops and livestock.
About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people, but it is rare for multiple such weather events to take place in a small window.
Roofs of houses
In the neighboring province of Isabela, Jun Montereal of the Ilagan city disaster preparedness committee said 30,000 people were still affected by flooding.
But the situation was slowly improving.
“The flood is subsiding now little by little, it’s slower because the land is already saturated but we are way past the worst,” Montereal told AFP.
“We are really hoping that the weather will continue to be fair so the water can go down. I think the water will completely subside in three days,” he said.
“I can now see the roofs of houses that I wasn’t able to see before because of the floods.”
Carlo Ablan, who helps oversee operations at Magat Dam, said three gates were open as of Tuesday morning to release water from the dam.
“If the weather continues to be good, we are expecting that we will only have one gate open this afternoon,” Ablan said.
Ablan said flooding in Tuguegarao city was not only caused by water from Magat Dam — other tributaries of the Cagayan river were also likely to blame.
Valdepenas said authorities in Tuguegarao were waiting for floodwaters to subside more before sending people back to their homes.
“This might start subsiding within today,” he said.
More than a million people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi, which struck the Philippines as a super typhoon before significantly weakening as it swept over the mountains of the main island of Luzon.
Man-yi dumped heavy rain, smashed flimsy buildings, knocked out power and claimed at least eight lives.
Climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains, flash floods and stronger gusts.

Topics: Philippines

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