Baltic states switch to European power grid, ending Russia ties

Baltic states switch to European power grid, ending Russia ties
A photo taken on February 8, 2025 shows the power substation in Rezekne, Latvia before the disconnection of the major power line between Latvia and Russia. The three Baltic states on February 8 cut ties with Russia's power grid to join the European Union's network, the culmination of a years-long process that gained urgency with Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Updated 10 February 2025
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Baltic states switch to European power grid, ending Russia ties

Baltic states switch to European power grid, ending Russia ties
  • It is designed to integrate the three Baltic nations more closely with the European Union and to boost the region’s energy security

VILNIUS: The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania completed a switch from Russia’s electricity grid to the EU’s system on Sunday, severing Soviet-era ties amid heightened security after the suspected sabotage of several subsea cables and pipelines.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the move, years in the planning, as marking a new era of freedom for the region, in a speech at a ceremony in Vilnius alongside the leaders of the three countries and the Polish president.
“These chains of power lines linking you to hostile neighbors will be a thing of the past,” von der Leyen said.
Debated for many years, the complex switch away from the grid of their former Soviet imperial overlord gained momentum following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
It is designed to integrate the three Baltic nations more closely with the European Union and to boost the region’s energy security.
“This is freedom, freedom from threats, freedom from blackmail,” von der Leyen said, adding that the wider European continent was also liberating itself from the use of Russian natural gas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address that Kyiv had taken the same step in 2022 “and the Baltic states are also ridding themselves of this dependence.
“Moscow will no longer be able to use energy as a weapon against the Baltic states.”
After disconnecting on Saturday from the IPS/UPS network, established by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and now run by Russia, the Baltic nations cut cross-border high-voltage transmission lines in eastern Latvia, some 100 meters from the Russian border, handing out pieces of chopped wire to enthusiastic bystanders as keepsakes.

HIGH ALERT
The Baltic Sea region is on high alert following power cable, telecom and gas pipeline outages between the Baltics and Sweden or Finland. All were believed to have been caused by ships dragging anchors along the seabed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has denied any involvement.
Poland and the Baltics deployed navy assets, elite police units and helicopters to monitor the area after an undersea power link from Finland to Estonia was damaged in December, while Lithuania’s military began drills to protect the overland connection to Poland.
Analysts say any further damage to links could push power prices in the Baltics to levels not seen since the invasion of Ukraine, when energy prices soared.
The IPS/UPS grid was the final remaining link to Russia for the three countries, which re-emerged as independent nations in the early 1990s at the fall of the Soviet Union, and joined the European Union and NATO in 2004.
The three staunch supporters of Kyiv stopped purchases of power from Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but have relied on the Russian grid to control frequencies and stabilize networks to avoid outages.
Analysts say that maintaining a constant power supply requires a stable grid frequency, which can more easily be obtained over time in a large synchronized area such as Russia or continental Europe, compared to what the Baltics can do on their own.
For Russia, the decoupling means its Kaliningrad exclave, located between Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea, is cut off from Russia’s main grid, leaving it to maintain its power system alone.
The Kremlin said it has taken all necessary measures to ensure uninterrupted, reliable operation in its electricity system, including the construction of several gas-fired power plants in Kaliningrad.


Pope Francis, showing plans to stay on, starts new Catholic reform process

Pope Francis, showing plans to stay on, starts new Catholic reform process
Updated 4 min 53 sec ago
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Pope Francis, showing plans to stay on, starts new Catholic reform process

Pope Francis, showing plans to stay on, starts new Catholic reform process
Francis approved the new process for reforms on Tuesday from Rome’s Gemelli hospital
His friends and biographers have insisted, however, that he has no plans to step down

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis approved a new three-year process to consider reforms for the global Catholic Church, the Vatican said on Saturday, in a sign the 88-year-old pontiff plans to continue on as pope despite his ongoing battle with double pneumonia.
Francis has extended the work of the Synod of Bishops, a signature initiative of his 12-year papacy, which has discussed reforms such as the possibility of women serving as Catholic deacons and better inclusion of LGBTQ people in the Church.
The synod, which held an inconclusive Vatican summit of bishops on the future of the Church last October, will now hold consultations with Catholics across the world for the next three years, before hosting a new summit in 2028.
Francis approved the new process for reforms on Tuesday from Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he is being treated, the Vatican said on Saturday.
The pope has been in hospital for more than a month and his prolonged public absence has stoked speculation that he could choose to follow his predecessor Benedict XVI and resign from the papacy.
His friends and biographers have insisted, however, that he has no plans to step down. The approval of a new three-year process indicated he wants to continue on, despite his age and the possibility he might face a long, fraught road to recovery from pneumonia, given his age and other medical conditions.
“The Holy Father ... is helping push the renewal of the Church toward a new missionary impulse,” Cardinal Mario Grech, the official leading the reform process, told the Vatican’s media outlet. “This is truly a sign of hope.”

BRINGING CHURCH ‘UP TO DATE’
Francis, who has been pope since 2013, is widely seen as trying to open up the staid global Church to the modern world.
However, the pope’s reform agenda has upset some Catholics, including a few senior cardinals. They have accused him of watering down the Church’s teachings on issues such as same-sex marriage, and divorce and remarriage.
Massimo Faggioli, a US academic who has followed the papacy closely, said the new reform process is a way for the pope to signal that he is still the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
“Francis’ pontificate is not over, and this decision he just made for what happens between now and 2028 will have an effect on the rest of (it),” said Faggioli, a professor at Villanova University.
After last October’s inconclusive Vatican summit, which yielded no concrete action on possible reforms, Francis had faced questions of whether his papacy was running out of steam.
Vatican officials had said at the time that Francis was still considering future changes, and was waiting to receive a series of 10 expected reports about possible reforms this June.
The latest medical bulletins from the Vatican on the pope’s condition in hospital have said he is improving and is no longer in immediate danger of death.
They have not said when he will be discharged from hospital.
Well-wishers have been gathering to offer support for Francis outside the hospital each day during the pope’s recovery.
Stefania Gianni, an Italian being treated for cancer at the facility, said on Saturday that Francis “has taken great steps to bring the Church up to date with the times.”
“He is a great man and a great pope, and the Church still needs him,” she said.

Serbia’s capital braces for a major anti-government rally as tensions mount

Serbia’s capital braces for a major anti-government rally as tensions mount
Updated 14 min 55 sec ago
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Serbia’s capital braces for a major anti-government rally as tensions mount

Serbia’s capital braces for a major anti-government rally as tensions mount
  • A deafening sound of whistles and vuvuzelas echoed throughout the Serbian capital, on high alert since the rally was announced
  • It was probably the biggest anti-government rally ever held in the Balkan country

BELGRADE: Tens of thousands rallied on Saturday in downtown Belgrade against populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government, the latest in a series of anti-corruption protests that have shaken his 13-year firm grip on power.
A deafening sound of whistles and vuvuzelas echoed throughout the Serbian capital, on high alert since the rally was announced, as people headed toward several agreed-on protest venues. Some carried banners that read, “He’s Finished!” Others chanted: “Pump it Up,” a slogan adopted during the four months of student-led protests.
It was probably the biggest anti-government rally ever held in the Balkan country.
”I expect that this will shake his authority and that Vucic will realize that people are no longer for him,” Milenko Kovacevic, a protester, said.
Reflecting mounting tensions, police said they arrested a man who rammed his car into protesters in a Belgrade suburb, injuring three people.
Ahead of the demonstration, Vucic repeatedly warned of alleged plans for unrest while threatening arrests and harsh sentences for any incidents.
In an apparent effort to prevent people from attending the rally, Belgrade city transport was canceled Saturday while huge columns of cars jammed the roads leading into the capital. The transport company said the cancelation was made “for security reasons.”
On Friday evening, tens of thousands of people staged a joyous welcome for the students who have been marching or cycling for days from across Serbia toward Belgrade for the main rally on Saturday afternoon. From early morning, people started assembling in various parts of the city, preparing to march toward the center.
Fueling fears of clashes, Vucic’s supporters have been camping in central Belgrade in front of his headquarters. The crowd included ex-members of a dreaded paramilitary unit involved in the assassination in 2003 of Serbia’s first democratic Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, as well as soccer hooligans who are known for causing violence.
Private N1 television on Saturday broadcast footage of dozens of young men with baseball caps going into the pro-Vucic camp.
Interior Minister Ivica Dacic told state RTS broadcaster that 13 people have been detained overnight but that no major incidents were reported on Friday. He said police detained six opposition activists for allegedly plotting to stage a coup and stir unrest on Saturday.
Protesting students have led the nationwide anti-graft movement, which started after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station and killed 15 people in Serbia’s north on Nov. 1.
Many in Serbia blamed the crash on rampant government corruption, negligence and disrespect of construction safety regulations.
Vucic has been claiming that Western intelligence services were behind almost daily student-led protests with an aim to oust him from power.
Students have struck a chord among the citizens who are disillusioned with politicians and have lost faith in the state institutions. Previous student-led rallies in other Serbian cities have been peaceful while drawing huge crowds.


US official sought to end aid for Rohingya refugees, email says

US official sought to end aid for Rohingya refugees, email says
Updated 34 min 33 sec ago
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US official sought to end aid for Rohingya refugees, email says

US official sought to end aid for Rohingya refugees, email says
  • The email provides a window into some of the thinking behind the administration’s drive to terminate aid programs that it does not believe benefit the US
  • Marocco appeared to want the Rohingya and Lebanon to express their gratitude for US support

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration official overseeing the dismantling of the main US foreign aid agency proposed phasing out help for crisis-torn Lebanon and the Rohingya, the world’s largest stateless population, according to an email reviewed by Reuters.
Written on February 16 by Peter Marocco, the acting USAID deputy administrator, the email provides a window into some of the thinking behind the administration’s drive to terminate aid programs that it does not believe benefit the US
In it, Marocco appeared to want the Rohingya and Lebanon to express their gratitude for US support, saying the US “should procure some type of consideration or good faith from the recipient populations to the American people.”
The email directed Tim Meisburger, the head of USAID’s humanitarian affairs bureau, to draft an “Action memo” drawing US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s attention to “the odd dependency” of Lebanon and the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar on US aid.
It should outline options for “how we recommend, immediately, sending the signal, that though we have compassion, people had the warning on November 5, and things will have to change,” Marocco wrote, referring to Trump’s 2024 re-election.
“Please propose the best method and timeline of weening this dependency and what we might seek, from them – or partners. Nothing is owed,” he wrote, apparently meaning an absence of any US obligation to provide further support.
A source with knowledge of the issue confirmed the authenticity of the email and that Marocco sought to phase out aid to the Rohingya and Lebanon.
Marocco “is not convinced these people need more aid,” the source said.
The State Department declined to comment. Marocco and Meisburger did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters could not determine whether Meisburger sent the requested memo to Rubio or how much US aid continues to flow to Lebanon or the more than 1 million Rohingyas who have fled violent persecution in Myanmar that the US in 2022 declared a genocide.
The United States provides military, humanitarian and other assistance to Lebanon.
Marocco sent the email as he and billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency were launching a drive to shrink USAID and merge its remnants into the State Department.
They have fired hundreds of staff and contractors and terminated billions of dollars in services on which tens of millions of people around the world depend. Rubio on Monday said more than 80 percent of all USAID programs have been canceled.

ROHINGYA AID COVERED BY WAIVER
The drive began hours after Trump took office on January 20, with the Republican president ordering a 90-day freeze on all foreign assistance pending reviews of whether aid programs conformed with his America First foreign policy.
Food aid for the Rohingya and Lebanon was shielded by a waiver from the freeze for emergency food aid issued by Rubio on February 24, the source said.
Four days later, Rubio granted a waiver for all life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such aid.
The US has been the largest provider of aid to the Rohingya refugees, contributing nearly $2.4 billion since 2017, according to a State Department website.
More than 1 million Rohingyas live in squalid camps in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh, which borders Myanmar, and according to the UN refugee agency, 95 percent of Rohingya households depend on humanitarian assistance.
Others have sought refuge in Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Thailand and elsewhere.
The United Nations earlier this month warned it will have to cut monthly food rations to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from $12.50 to $6 next month, unless it can raise more funds.
Visiting Cox’s Bazar on Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN will do all it can to help prevent cuts to the refugees’ rations.
Lebanon has been rocked by a series of crises, including an influx of refugees from Syria, political paralysis, a financial collapse, a blast that devastated Beirut’s port and fighting that erupted in October 2023 between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement that uprooted tens of thousands.
The US long has viewed Lebanon’s stability as critical to that of the region and sought to counter the influence that Iran has exerted there through Hezbollah, part of Tehran’s Axis of Resistance against Israel.
To that end, successive Democratic and Republican presidents, including Trump in his first term, have approved since 2001 more than $5.5 billion in humanitarian, military and other aid for Lebanon, according to a USAID website.


Zelensky denies troops surrounded in Kursk as Russia retakes villages

Zelensky denies troops surrounded in Kursk as Russia retakes villages
Updated 49 min 46 sec ago
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Zelensky denies troops surrounded in Kursk as Russia retakes villages

Zelensky denies troops surrounded in Kursk as Russia retakes villages
  • Zelensky has acknowledged that the situation in the Kursk area is “very difficult” for Ukraine
  • “There is no encirclement of out troops,” he said

KYIV: Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky denied Saturday his troops were encircled in Russia’s Kursk region, where Moscow has regained swathes of land this week, as Russia said it took back two more villages in the border region.
US leader Donald Trump had a day earlier asked Russia’s Vladimir Putin on social media to spare the lives of Ukrainian troops that he said were “completely surrounded” by the Russian army.
Moscow has pushed this week to retake a large part of the land that Ukraine originally captured in its western Kursk region last summer.
Zelensky has acknowledged that the situation in the Kursk area is “very difficult” for Ukraine, but contradicted Trump’s comments.
“There is no encirclement of out troops,” he said on social media, adding that: “Our troops continue to hold back Russian and North Korean groupings in the Kursk region.”
Kyiv had hoped to use the Russian territories as a bargaining chip in any negotiations to end the more than three-year conflict.
The UK on Saturday hosted a virtual summit on how to protect any ceasefire in Ukraine, but Zelensky warned that Moscow was intent on “prolonging the war” and “ignoring diplomacy.”
He also accused Moscow of amassing troops on the border with “an intention to attack our Sumy region” — attacked by Moscow at the start of its 2022 invasion but since spared the worst of the fighting seen in other eastern regions.
Putin had this week not committed to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine proposed by the US, instead putting forward conditions and raising “serious questions” about the idea.
The Kremlin has hailed its troops ousting Ukrainian forces from swathes of the Kursk region, with Moscow on Saturday releasing images of a destroyed center in Sudzha — the main town occupied by Ukrainian forces for months.
The Russian defense ministry said troops took control over the villages of Zaoleshenka and Rubanshchina — north and west of Sudzha.
Sudzha was home to around 6,000 people before fighting began and Ukraine had set up a military administration there after its shock August 2024 incursion.
The Russian defense ministry’s footage showed heavily destroyed houses and shops, with rubble and broken glass on the streets, and some Russian flags flying.
The acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinstein, said Russia had evacuated 275 civilians from areas it had regained since Wednesday.
Khinstein said “174 of the residents are now in temporary accommodation” and that the “work of evacuating our residents is continuing.”
The Kremlin has hailed the Kursk operations as a major success.
Responding to Trump’s call to spare Ukrainian troops in Kursk region, Putin said Friday:
“If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment.”
Russia’s defense ministry also said that military engineers were working to clear the areas that were held by Ukraine.
Russia had also deployed almost 200 firefighters to help put out a fire at an oil depot caused by a Ukraine drone strike in the southern Krasnodar region, authorities said.
The governor of the Krasnodar region Veniamin Kondratyev said in the early hours of Saturday that a petrol reserve station in the Black Sea city of Tuapse was “attacked by the Kyiv regime.”
Elsewhere on the front, Zelensky claimed the situation around the eastern city of Pokrovsk — which Russian troops have tried to capture for months — had “stabilized.”
Ukrainian officials also said the number of wounded from a Russian strike a day earlier on Zelensky’s hometown Kryvy Rig rose to 14.
Moscow has targeted the central city throughout its invasion and Kyiv said Friday it struck a residential area of Kryvy Rig, destroying large apartment buildings.
Ukrainian prosecutors said the wounded children were a two-year-old and a 15-year-old.


Italy sees surge in migrant crossings despite PM’s tough stance

Italy sees surge in migrant crossings despite PM’s tough stance
Updated 15 March 2025
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Italy sees surge in migrant crossings despite PM’s tough stance

Italy sees surge in migrant crossings despite PM’s tough stance
  • Country sees 40% rise driven by Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, despite numbers elsewhere in Europe dropping 
  • Italy struck deals last year with authorities in Libya, Tunisia to halt Mediterranean crossings

London: Italy has experienced a sharp rise in the number of migrants arriving illegally this year, damaging Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s reputation for being tough on migration, The Times reported.

While Europe broadly has seen numbers of migrants decline, Italy saw an increase of 40 percent despite Meloni’s government striking deals last year with authorities in Libya and Tunisia to halt Mediterranean crossings, which initially led to a 58 percent drop.

The number of migrants reaching Italy so far this year is 8,232, up from 5,912 in the same period in 2024.

The increase has been driven by a 68 percent rise from Libya, facilitated by hundreds of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis arriving in the North African country to make the journey to Europe.

So far this year, 3,195 Bangladeshis and 1,247 Pakistanis have crossed into Europe, with more than half traveling to Italy.

Frontex, the EU’s border force, said labor deals between Libya and Bangladesh were making the journey easier for migrants.

It added that overall, there had been a drop in people reaching Europe of around 25 percent, including to Greece, Spain and the Balkans. The total number to reach Europe so far this year stands at around 25,000. The number of crossings from France to the UK, meanwhile, is down 28 percent.

Frontex said traffickers are using faster boats with more engines to avoid the Italian Coast Guard, with migrants paying up to €8,000 ($8,737) for the crossing.

“Smugglers are using them to get people quickly out of Libyan waters, avoiding patrols in the early stages,” a Frontex spokesman said.

“In January alone, nearly 30 of these types of boats carrying nearly 1,500 people were detected.”