Palestinian diplomat appeals for peace in Gaza at a meeting between EU and Arab nations in Spain

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki. (REUTERS)
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki. (REUTERS)
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Updated 28 November 2023
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Palestinian diplomat appeals for peace in Gaza at a meeting between EU and Arab nations in Spain

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki. (REUTERS)
  • Israel did not attend the meeting hosted by the Union for the Mediterranean and chaired by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi

BARCELONA, Spain: Hours before Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their expiring cease-fire by two more days, the top Palestinian diplomat made a plea during a Monday meeting of European Union members and Arab nations for a definitive end to Israel’s retaliatory attacks on the Gaza Strip .
“We have to find how to apply the necessary pressure so that the Israeli government does not continue killing innocent people, so that we can continue counting cadavers,” Riad Al-Maliki said in Spanish during a news conference during the gathering of diplomats in Barcelona, Spain.
Al-Maliki warned that any resumption of the war by Israel would quickly lead to more deaths in a conflict that has killed more than 14,000 people, the vast majority of them Palestinians. He is the foreign minister for the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, whose forces were driven out of Gaza by Hamas when it seized power in 2007.
Israel did not attend the meeting hosted by the Union for the Mediterranean and chaired by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. Many of the 43 delegations were represented by their foreign ministers.
In recent years, the event has become largely a forum for cooperation between the EU and the Arab world. Monday’s gathering was supposed to focus on the role of the union 15 years after its foundation, but it has taken on new significance since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and led to nearly 240 people being taken hostage and Israel’s ensuing war in the Gaza Strip.
While the meeting did not produce any major policy initiatives, it did provide a chance for European diplomats to hear directly from northern African and Middle Eastern nations who strongly support the Palestinian cause and fear the Israel-Hamas war could destabilize the region.
Borrell said he “regretted” the absence of Israel. He repeated his condemnation of the Hamas attack, while calling on Israel to permanently end its assault, which he said has claimed the lives of over 5,000 children.
“One horror cannot justify another horror,” Borrell said. “Peace between Israel and Palestine has become a strategic imperative for the entire Euro-Mediterranean community and beyond.”
Jordan’s Safadi, who told The Associated Press on the eve of the event that he hoped the talks would help “bridge a gap” between Arab and European countries, urged the officials attending the meeting to back a two-state solution that would recognize a Palestinian state.
But Safadi also acknowledged Monday after the meeting that despite a broad consensus for peace, there were still some differing viewpoints on how hard to push Israel to stop.
“Today, we came for a very open, very frank, very blunt conversation. We agreed and we disagreed. Some of our colleagues still call the killing of 15,000 Palestinians, the destruction of over 160,000 homes, the complete devastation of hospitals, the denial of food, water, fuel, medicine, is self-defense,” he said. “We call it blatant aggression.”
Safadi would not say which countries took the softer approach to Israel, but the Czech Republic, Austria, Croatia, and Hungary have insisted on Israel’s right to defend itself.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, was invited to the event.
“Continued escalation will produce no severe pain for any party,” Prince Faisal said. “The only sure result is more destruction, radicalization and further conflict at the expense of Palestinian lives, as well as regional security, including that of Israel.”
Borrell said he wanted the gathering to focus on managing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza once hostilities finally stop. The EU would want the United Nations to take a leading role in establishing how best to fill any security vacuum should Israeli forces defeat Hamas, according to a senior EU official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A small pro-Palestinian group rallied before the gathering at the art nouveau building that once housed Barcelona’s Sant Pau Hospital.
Israel gave no reason for its decision not to attend the gathering. The EU is the world’s biggest provider of assistance to the Palestinians as well as Israel’s biggest trade partner. Spain is one of the EU countries that has called for Israel to cease its assault, while also condemning the Hamas attack.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said during a trip to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Egypt last week with his Belgian counterpart that the time haf come for the international community and the EU to recognize a Palestinian state. His comment prompted Israel to summon the Belgian and Spanish ambassadors.
Lebanese Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said he was pleased that all the European nations agreed to back a two-state solution and do not want Israel to occupy Gaza.
“I’m glad that the Europeans are interested in solving the problem of problem that is 75 years old,” he told the AP. “And they all agreed that Israel should not stay in the Gaza Strip, and that it and the West Bank are one and should continue to be one.”
 

 

 


Air monitor records pollution level in Lahore 80 times WHO limit

Air monitor records pollution level in Lahore 80 times WHO limit
Updated 7 sec ago
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Air monitor records pollution level in Lahore 80 times WHO limit

Air monitor records pollution level in Lahore 80 times WHO limit

LAHORE: Air pollution in Lahore, Pakistan's second city, soared more than 80 times the level deemed safe by the World Health Organization (WHO), data on Saturday showed.
The level of PM2.5 pollutants for the megacity peaked at 1,067, before dropping to around 300 in the morning, with anything above 10 considered unhealthy by the WHO.


Japan urges 200,000 people to evacuate due to heavy rain

Japan urges 200,000 people to evacuate due to heavy rain
Updated 11 min 55 sec ago
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Japan urges 200,000 people to evacuate due to heavy rain

Japan urges 200,000 people to evacuate due to heavy rain
  • Japan’s highest-level warning is typically issued when it is extremely likely that some kind of disaster has already occurred

Tokyo: Nearly 200,000 people in western Japan were urged to evacuate on Saturday as authorities warned of landslides and floods while the remnants of a tropical storm trickle over the country.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said “warm, moist air... was causing heavy rainfall with thunderstorms in western Japan” partly due to Kong-rey, which was downgraded to an extratropical low-pressure system from a typhoon.
The city of Matsuyama “issued the top-level warning, urging 189,552 residents in its 10 districts to evacuate and immediately secure safety,” a city official told AFP.
While the evacuation was not mandatory, Japan’s highest-level warning is typically issued when it is extremely likely that some kind of disaster has already occurred.
Forecasters warned that landslides and floods could affect western Japan on Saturday and eastern Japan on Sunday.
Due to rain, shinkansen bullet trains were briefly suspended between Tokyo and southern Fukuoka region in the morning before resuming on a delayed schedule.
Kong-rey smashed into Taiwan on Thursday as one of the biggest storms to hit the island in decades. It claimed at least two lives and knocked out power to tens of thousands of households.
Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.


Ukrainians anxious over war aid if Trump wins US election

Ukrainians anxious over war aid if Trump wins US election
Updated 16 min 40 sec ago
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Ukrainians anxious over war aid if Trump wins US election

Ukrainians anxious over war aid if Trump wins US election

KYIV: Ukrainians are nervously following the final days of the US presidential election campaign, some fearing a victory for Donald Trump could halt Washington’s vital aid.
Tuesday’s US vote will take place as the war with Russia grinds through its third year, with the outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian army on the back foot against Russia’s advancing troops.
Moscow’s alliance with Pyongyang appears more solid than ever, with Washington and Seoul saying thousands of North Korean troops have been sent to Russia.
By contrast, Ukraine’s war-fatigued backers could be further disheartened by the potential return to the White House of Trump, who has given no assurance of support to Kyiv.
“A Trump victory would create grave risks. The situation would be alarming,” former Ukrainian ambassador to the US Oleg Shamshur told AFP.
Washington has driven NATO-wide support to Ukraine, with Kyiv receiving billions of dollars in financial and military aid enabling it to keep up the fight against a much more powerful Russia.
That support has however been eroded in Europe and the United States over the past few months.
Trump’s repeated criticism of US support for Ukraine and claims that he would end the fighting within 24 hours, have only raised Ukraine’s fears.
“Neither he nor his team believe in Ukraine’s victory,” Shamshur said.
Trump has refused to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win, and has not published any strategy on how to end the war.
His running mate JD Vance has advocated freezing combat along current lines, around which a demilitarised zone would be set up.
Trump’s plan would also put pressure on Kyiv to give up its aspiration to join NATO, as the Kremlin wishes, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to further attacks.
“This will be a respite for Putin,” said Shamshur, adding that he believed Russia would use that time to rebuild its army and resume, when ready, its plans “aimed at the complete destruction of Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has already ruled out the territorial concessions demanded by Russia.
“Ukraine will not recognize these territories (as Russian), no matter who wants it to, no matter who wins in the US,” he said in an interview for the South Korean TV channel KBS.
A senior Ukrainian presidency official, however, expressed more conciliatory views in a conversation with AFP.
He said the meeting between Trump and Zelensky, which took place in the United States in September, had gone “very well.”
“Trump will surely not want to be the man that led America to lose face to Putin,” he said, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.
Ukraine is preparing for all possible outcomes and fostering relations with teams of both candidates, the official added.
Whoever wins the election will have to tackle the war in Ukraine, where the tide seems to be turning in favor of Moscow.
Russia has advanced 478 square kilometers (185 square miles) into Ukrainian territory in October alone — a record since March 2022 — according to an AFP analysis of data from the American Institute for the Study of War.
In the Donetsk region, where two-thirds of these gains were claimed, 51-year-old Ukrainian sergeant Sergiy said he took a pragmatic view.
He told AFP he did not care who won so long as “the US continues to help us.”
But he predicted that a Trump victory “could be a catastrophe not only for Ukraine, but for the United States.”
Ukrainian troops had a first taste of Republican foot-dragging between late 2023 and early 2024, when Trump’s supporters blocked US military assistance.
That forced Ukrainian forces to ration shells and allowed Russia to build momentum.
“If it is like it was at the beginning of the year, it will be very, very bad,” Sergiy said.
Bogdan, a young soldier fighting in the same region, said he hopes Trump will “just want to show America’s strength, determination and capabilities.”
Rodion, another soldier interviewed in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, was also confident.
“I know they won’t betray us,” he said.
He vowed to fight “until the end, until our victory.”


Despite bans, firecrackers sizzle across India for Diwali

Despite bans, firecrackers sizzle across India for Diwali
Updated 02 November 2024
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Despite bans, firecrackers sizzle across India for Diwali

Despite bans, firecrackers sizzle across India for Diwali
  • Firecracker bans have been difficult to implement, especially during Diwali, despite the threat of jail and fines
  • While the bans didn’t stop people using firecrackers, factories that make the devices say sales have fallen this year

VANCH VILLAGE: Firecrackers are central to Diwali celebrations for millions of Indian Hindus and this year was no different even as some cities, including New Delhi, banned their use to curb some of the worst pollution levels in the world.
Diwali honors the victorious return of Lord Rama, one of Hindiusm’s most revered figures, and was celebrated in India on Thursday. It is also known as the festival of lights to symbolize the triumph of light over darkness, or good over evil, explaining why fireworks are so central to the celebrations.
“Firecrackers damage the environment, but they are a way of bringing good fortune to us,” said Yash Gadani, a local business owner, in Ahmedabad, a city in western Gujarat state.
While the bans didn’t stop people using firecrackers, factories that make the devices say sales have fallen this year as the rising cost of living, including higher prices for firecrackers, dampened demand.
In the village of Vanch, near Ahmedabad, thousands of workers covered in silver gunpowder make firecrackers by hand.
The industry is largely informal with lax safety standards. Nearly all of Vanch’s 10,000 residents are involved and workers are paid 500 rupees ($5.95) a day, often for 16-hour days.
“A couple of fires in factories as well as unseasonal rains have led to an increase in raw material prices,” Dipan Patel, who runs a unit in Vanch, said.
Firecracker bans have been difficult to implement, especially during Diwali, despite the threat of jail and fines.
New Delhi, a city of 20 million people, is the world’s most polluted capital. From October each year, air quality worsens as factors including the burning of farm stubble following the harvest, car fumes, and firecracker smoke get trapped over the city.
“The incidents of stubble burning are decreasing, but ... the smoke created by firecrackers needs to be controlled,” Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai told news agency ANI.


UN COP16 nature summit creates permanent body for Indigenous peoples

UN COP16 nature summit creates permanent body for Indigenous peoples
Updated 02 November 2024
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UN COP16 nature summit creates permanent body for Indigenous peoples

UN COP16 nature summit creates permanent body for Indigenous peoples
  • Nearly 200 countries convened in the city of Cali aiming to implement the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreement

CALI: Countries at the UN COP16 summit on nature in Colombia on Friday approved a measure to create a permanent body for Indigenous peoples to consult on United Nations decisions on nature conservation.
The consultative body is considered a breakthrough in recognizing the role that Indigenous peoples play in conserving nature globally, including some of the most biodiverse areas of the planet, according to Indigenous and environmental advocates.
Nearly 200 countries convened in the city of Cali aiming to implement the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreement, which aims to halt the rapid decline of nature by 2030.
The consultative body — which will also extend to local communities — will help to incorporate traditional knowledge and practices into conservation efforts.
Countries also agreed to adopt a measure that recognizes the role of people of African descent in caring for nature, which COP16 host Colombia said would grant such communities easier access to resources to fund their biodiversity projects and participate in global environmental discussions.