Month: May 2022

Iran Detains Two Europeans for Fomenting ‘Social Disorder, State TV Says

Iran’s intelligence ministry said on Wednesday it arrested two European nationals for allegedly fomenting “insecurity” in the country, state media reported, as the EU pushes to revive Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. The pair were accused of “organizing chaos and social disorder aimed at destabilizing [Iran]” in conjunction with foreign intelligence services, state TV cited the ministry as saying, without revealing their nationalities. The arrests coincided with a visit to Tehran by the European Union’s Iran nuclear talks coordinator, Enrique Mora, who held talks with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri Kani, according to Iranian media. Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian …

READ MORE

Finnish Veterans Who Fought Russian Invasion Support NATO Membership

Ninety-nine-year-old Unto Hakuli and his fellow veteran and friend Tapio Niemi, 94, still live among the forests and frozen lakes of Finland’s border region, where they fought invading Russian soldiers more than 80 years ago. The bravery and skill of the defenders in what is known as the Winter War is feted far beyond Finland’s borders. Soviet forces invaded on Nov. 30, 1939. Despite outnumbering and outgunning Finnish soldiers, they suffered heavy losses amid the unforgiving Nordic winter. Invasion Niemi recalls the day of the invasion. “It was a really scary situation for a little boy. I was 12 and …

READ MORE

Ukraine Cuts Off Russian Natural Gas Pipeline Supplying Europe

The fight for Ukraine played out beyond the battlefields on Wednesday, with Kyiv cutting off one Russian natural gas pipeline that supplies European homes and industry, while a Moscow-installed official in southern Ukraine said the Kremlin should annex Kherson after Russian troops took control.   Ukraine’s natural gas pipeline operator said it was stopping Russian shipments through a hub in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists because of interference from enemy forces, including the apparent siphoning of gas.   About one-third of Russian gas headed to western Europe passes through Ukraine, although one analyst said the immediate effect might be …

READ MORE

For Macron’s Second Term — a Lower Profile in Africa?

Five years ago, France’s Emmanuel Macron saw big when it came to Africa. Days after his presidential inauguration, he flew to northeastern Mali, meeting with French troops and vowing, alongside his Malian counterpart, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, to wage an “uncompromising fight” against Islamist terrorism. A few months later in another Sahel country, nearby Burkina Faso, he laid another pillar of his Africa strategy based on a “rupture” of traditional French-Africa relations. France’s 39-year-old leader told students from the University of Ouagadougou he was “from a generation that doesn’t come to tell Africans what to do.” Today, the Sahel insurgency is …

READ MORE

Conflict and Successive Climate Shocks Worsen Crisis in Northern Mozambique

Mozambique has been battered by five tropical storms along its northern coastal areas since the start of this year. Tens of thousands of families have been affected, including refugees and people internally displaced by ongoing violence in the oil-rich province of Cabo Delgado. The last storm, Tropical Cyclone Gombe, made landfall on March 11. It affected some 736,000 people, including tens of thousands of refugees, asylum-seekers and the communities hosting them. Grainne OHara, the Division of International Protection for the U.N. refugee agency, recently participated in a high-level mission to Mozambique to view the impact of the climate disasters and …

READ MORE

US House Passes $40 Billion Bill to Bolster Ukraine Against Russian Invasion

The U.S. House of Representatives approved more than $40 billion more aid for Ukraine on Tuesday, as Congress races to keep military aid flowing and boost the government in Kyiv as it grapples with the Russian invasion. The House passed the Ukraine spending bill by 368 to 57, with every ‘no’ vote coming from Republicans. The measure now heads to the Senate, which is expected to act quickly. President Joe Biden had asked Congress to approve an additional $33 billion in aid for Ukraine two weeks ago, but lawmakers decided to increase the military and humanitarian funding. “This bill will …

READ MORE

Latest Developments in Ukraine: May 11

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT: 3:30 a.m. – Since Russia invaded Ukraine, more than 100 women have given birth in the basement delivery room of a maternity hospital in Lviv, Ukraine, The Associated Press reports. About 200 pregnant women displaced by Russia’s invasion have come to the hospital since the war began. They come from some of the communities the world now knows by name: Mariupol, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kyiv. The AP has the story.   2:30 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy …

READ MORE