UNITED NATIONS: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited the United Nations in New York on Saturday to meet with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the 193-member world body’s annual gathering of leaders.
“It was a lovely meeting,” Markle told reporters as the couple left UN headquarters.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in New York to attend the Global Citizen Live concert in Central Park later on Saturday, which aims to push for greater action to combat climate change and urge rich countries to share one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines with nations most in need.
On Thursday, the 37-year-old prince and Meghan, 40, visited the city’s memorial for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. They were accompanied by New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The couple quit their royal duties last year to build an independent life and moved from Britain to California, where they live with their two children — two-year-old Archie and Lilibet, who was born in June.
They have launched their Archewell Foundation as well as cutting lucrative deals for producing TV shows and a podcast. Last week the couple graced the cover of Time magazine’s annual 100 most influential people in the world issue.
World leaders returned to the United Nations over the past week with a focus on boosting efforts to fight both climate change and COVID-19. Last year leaders sent video statements for the annual high-level UN General Assembly instead of traveling to New York amid the pandemic.
Guterres also met with Queen Maxima of the Netherlands on Thursday. She is Guterres’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.
When Harry — and Meghan — met the UN chief in New York
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When Harry — and Meghan — met the UN chief in New York
- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in New York to attend the Global Citizen Live concert in Central Park
- On Thursday, the 37-year-old prince and Meghan, 40, visited the city's memorial for the Sept. 11
Syrian-American Jews visit Damascus synagogue
- Visiting Rabbi Henry Hamra led prayers at the Faranj synagogue in Damascus’s Old City
- On a recent visit to New York, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani met with members of the Syrian Jewish community
DAMASCUS: A group of Syrian-American Jews prayed in a synagogue in Damascus on Tuesday, an AFP photographer reported, the latest such visit following the fall of longtime ruler Bashar Assad.
The trip comes after local community leader Bakhour Chamntoub said unknown assailants broke into and desecrated the tomb of a 17th-century rabbi in Damascus last week.
Visiting Rabbi Henry Hamra led prayers at the Faranj synagogue in Damascus’s Old City.
His father Yusuf Hamra was reportedly the last rabbi to leave Syria, one of thousands of members of the Jewish community to depart in the 1990s.
They had both visited from the United States in February.
Victor Kamil, a Syrian Jew from New York, said the latest trip sought to “prepare the synagogues, to prepare the community here for people at least to start visiting,” expressing hope that an improvement in the situation in Syria would encourage returns.
“We are very proud Syrian Jews — our kids know we are very proud and they will definitely love this heritage and this history,” he added.
Syria’s centuries-old Jewish community was able to practice their religion under former president Hafez Assad, but the strongman prevented them from leaving the country until 1992.
After that, their numbers plummeted from around 5,000 at the time to just a handful now.
On Monday, the group prayed at the Damascus tomb of 17th-century Rabbi Chaim Vital, Kamil said.
Community leader Chamntoub said Friday that unidentified individuals “dug up the ground next to the grave in search of antiquities,” adding that local authorities had inspected the site and vowed to find those responsible.
The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States said over the weekend it was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the desecration.
“We urgently call on the Syrian government to immediately secure Jewish holy sites, synagogues and cemeteries and ensure their safety” and security, the statement added.
Kamil said that “we are trying to figure out if... the bones of the rabbi were touched or moved,” adding that the incident would not affect the importance of the site.
After Islamist-led forces overthrew Assad in December, the new authorities have sought to reassure minorities that they will be protected.
But last month saw sectarian massacres on the Alawite coast, and tensions were high on Tuesday after deadly sectarian clashes in a Damascus suburb.
On a recent visit to New York, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani met with members of the Syrian Jewish community, discussing “the importance of strengthening bridges of communication and understanding,” Syrian state news agency SANA said.
Two cardinals to miss conclave for health reasons: Vatican
- A total of 135 cardinals are eligible to vote in the secret ceremony in the Sistine Chapel
- The winner to succeed Pope Francis will require at least a two-thirds majority
VATICAN CITY: Two Catholic cardinals will miss next week’s conclave to elect a new pope because of health issues, bringing the number of electors expected to 133, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
The Vatican did not name them but a source at the archdiocese of Valencia confirmed that its archbishop emeritus, Cardinal Antonio Canizares, would not be attending the conclave due to health reasons.
A total of 135 cardinals are eligible to vote in the secret ceremony in the Sistine Chapel, which begins on May 7 and is expected to last for several days.
If all the others attend, there will be 133 cardinals present.
The winner to succeed Pope Francis will require at least a two-thirds majority, a figure that now falls to 89.
UK government sent police details to Israeli Embassy amid Gaza protest probe
- Redacted emails show communication between Attorney General’s Office, deputy ambassador
- Solicitor: This ‘clearly raises questions and needs further investigation’
LONDON: The UK government sent the contact details of counterterrorism officials to the Israeli Embassy amid an investigation into a pro-Palestine demonstration, The Guardian reported on Tuesday.
This has raised concerns about foreign interference in the UK’s justice system, with legal experts questioning the involvement of Israeli officials in a British legal matter.
On Sept. 9 last year, an email was sent by the Attorney General’s Office to Israeli Deputy Ambassador to the UK Daniela Grudsky Ekstein.
The email carried the subject line “CPS/SO15 (Crown Prosecution Service/counterterrorism police) contact details.”
It followed the arrest, under the UK’s Terrorism Act, of 10 Palestine Action demonstrators a month earlier.
The demonstrators were arrested after protesting at an Israeli weapons factory based in the UK, with a further eight being arrested in November in relation to the same incident.
The email was sent by Nicola Smith, the AGO’s head of international law. It was obtained through a Freedom of Information request by The Guardian and came 11 days after Smith had met Grudsky Ekstein on Aug. 28.
Aside from the subject line, the content of the email was redacted. Minutes of the meeting between the two officials are available but heavily redacted.
Past disclosures of requests by the Israeli Embassy to the AGO show repeated attempts to intervene in individual British legal cases. The AGO has rejected intervention attempts by the embassy in the past.
In 2023, Douglas Wilson, AGO director general, said in a response to a redacted request from the embassy: “As we noted … the Crown Prosecution Service makes its prosecution decisions and manages its casework independently.
“The law officers are unable to intervene on an individual case or comment on issues related to active proceedings.”
Lydia Dagostino from Kellys Solicitors, which is representing several Palestine Action activists, said: “The information disclosed in response to a FoI request clearly raises questions and needs further investigation.
“Why, for example, did the Attorney General’s Office provide the contact details for the Crown Prosecution Service, an independent body, to the Israelis?
“What further exchanges followed and was there discussions about ongoing criminal prosecutions?”
International lawyer and academic Dr. Shahd Hammouri raised concerns about the evidence obtained by The Guardian “which indicates foreign influence.”
The use of anti-terror legislation by the UK government against the protesters has also caused alarm.
In November, four UN special rapporteurs wrote to the government and expressed concern over the “apparently unjustified use” of terrorism laws against the demonstrators.
The UK’s Terrorism Act 2000 allows people arrested under the act to be detained for up to 14 days without charge.
Those arrested in August were initially held for 36 hours without access to legal representation, the four experts warned. The protesters were then detained for a further seven days.
“Counterterrorism legislation, including the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Terrorism Act 2006, appears to have been increasingly used in the context of domestic support for Palestinian self-determination and political activism against the UK’s foreign policy on the conflict in the occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza,” the letter by the four human rights experts said.
“In particular, members of Palestine Action — a grassroots movement that organizes direct actions against Israeli weapons factories in the United Kingdom — have reportedly been arrested under counterterrorism legislation for conduct that appears to be in the nature of ordinary criminal offenses and does not appear to be genuinely ‘terrorist’ according to international standards.”
The 10 protesters arrested in August have had limited legal support, family visits, healthcare and religious rights while awaiting trial in prison, the letter added.
In response to the communication between the AGO and Israeli Embassy, Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, said: “The timing of this correspondence coincides with the ongoing investigation into Palestine Action activists accused of dismantling the … site of Israel’s biggest arms producer.
“It seems apparent that the Attorney General’s Office has facilitated foreign interference in this case and potentially other ongoing criminal cases.”
A government source told The Guardian: “It has been routine under successive governments for AGO to help embassies get in contact with the relevant authorities purely for purposes of sharing information that could be relevant to a case.
“Decisions to prosecute, convict and sentence are, rightly, made independently of government by the Crown Prosecution Service, juries and judges respectively.”
Chinese astronauts’ return to earth delayed owing to weather
- The astronauts, Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, were originally due to land Tuesday in Dongfeng
- The three were sent up to China's Tiangong space station in October last year
BEIJING: Three Chinese astronauts’ return to Earth has been postponed owing to weather conditions.
The astronauts, Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, were originally due to land Tuesday in Dongfeng, in China’s northern Inner Mongolia region, after spending six months in space. The landing was postponed to “guarantee the health and safety of the astronauts” because weather conditions were not optimal, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
The three were sent up to China’s Tiangong space station in October last year, and a new crew of astronauts recently arrived to replace them.
The three Chinese astronauts have carried out experiments and improvements to the space station during their time on board. Two of the astronauts, Cai and Song, conducted a nine-hour space walk, the world’s longest, during their mission, the Manned Space Agency said.
China built its own space station after it was excluded from the International Space Station owing to U.S. national security concerns over the control of the country’s space program by the People’s Liberation Army, the military branch of the ruling Communist Party.
The country’s space program has grown rapidly in recent years. The space agency has landed an explorer on Mars and a rover on the far side of the moon. It aims to put a person on the moon before 2030.
Last year, two American astronauts wound up stuck in space for nine months after a test flight with Boeing ran into problems and NASA determined it was too risky for the astronauts to come back to Earth in the same capsule.
Spain’s power supply is almost fully restored after one of Europe’s most severe blackouts
- Many questions remained about what caused one of Europe’s most severe blackouts
- By 7:00 a.m. local time, more than 99 percent of energy demand in Spain had been restored
MADRID: Power had almost fully returned to Spain early Tuesday morning as many questions remained about what caused one of Europe’s most severe blackouts that grounded flights, paralyzed metro systems, disrupted mobile communications and shut down ATMs across Spain and Portugal.
By 7:00 a.m. local time, more than 99 percent of energy demand in Spain had been restored, the country’s electricity operator Red Electrica said. Portuguese grid operator REN said Tuesday morning all of the 89 power substations were back online since late last night after an “absolutely unusual” blackout and power was restored to all 6.4 million customers.
On Tuesday morning, as life slowly returned to normal on the Iberian Peninsula, outside Atocha station, one of the busiest in the Spanish capital, people were once again crossing the street while looking at their cell phones, despite the Internet connection being intermittent at times.
Inside, hundreds of people waited to board trains or rebook those that had been canceled the previous day. Large groups of people milled around the screens, waiting for updates. Still, several people slept on the floor with blankets provided by the Red Cross for those who waited overnight at the station. The same scenes were replicated at Sants station in Barcelona. Classes were suspended in several regions.
The Madrid Open, the tennis tournament being held this week, was still affected by the power outage after its cancelation the previous day and delayed the opening of its doors.
Power had gradually returned to several regions across Spain and Portugal as the nations reeled from the still-unexplained widespread blackout that had turned airports and train stations into campgrounds for stranded travelers.
Monday night, many city residents, including in Spain’s capital of Madrid, went to sleep in total darkness. The normally illuminated cathedral spires of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia Basilica became indistinguishable from the night sky. Streets remained deserted even in neighborhoods where lights flickered back on, as people stayed home after a day of chaos.
“We have a long night ahead,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said when he addressed the European nation late Monday. “We are working with the goal of having power restored to the entire country.”
In Madrid, cheers erupted from balconies where the electricity had returned.
Subway service returning on Tuesday morning
On Tuesday morning, Madrid’s metro system was restored on all but one line, meaning that 80 percent of trains operated during rush hour.
In Barcelona, the metro was also operating normally, but commuter trains were suspended due to “electrical instability,” the company that runs the service, Rodalies Catalunya, said on X. In other parts of the country, commuter and mid-distance services were also suspended or running at reduced capacity.
As metro service stopped on Monday, train stations cleared out and shops and offices closed, and thousands of people spilled onto the streets of Madrid.
Emergency workers in Spain said they rescued some 35,000 passengers stranded along railways and underground.
The blackout turned sports centers, train stations and airports into makeshift refuges late Monday.
“We were in the north of Portugal and did get any notifications until we got here because of Internet outage,” said Ian Cannons, a British tourist trying to get home who was forced to spend the night in Lisbon’s airport. “We can’t book any hotels. Nothing.”
The Barcelona municipality distributed 1,200 cots to indoor recreation centers to host residents with no way to get home and international travelers left in limbo. All over Barcelona and Madrid, people were sleeping on train station benches and floors.
Cash and radios in high demand
As Internet and mobile phone services blinkered offline across Spain and Portugal, battery-powered radios flew off the shelves. Those fortunate enough to find service shared whatever news updates they could with strangers on the street.
Lines snaked out of the few supermarkets running on backup generators in Barcelona and Lisbon as people stocked up on dried goods, water and battery-powered flashlights and candles. Clerks counted euros by hand, since many cash registers had stopped working.
Hector Emperador, picking his kids up from school in Barcelona, said he resorted to raiding his sons’ piggybank to ensure he had cash on hand after ATMs and some online-banking services shut down. “The coronavirus pandemic will be nothing compared to this,” he said.
Few gas stations were operating, sending the drivers who dared navigate without traffic lights scrambling for fuel. Residents with electric door keys found themselves locked out of their homes.
The many inconveniences became a threat to survival for those with medical needs like refrigeration for insulin or power for dialysis machines and oxygen concentrators. Some hospitals – but not all – stayed open with the help of generators.
Cause remains a mystery
Officials did not say what caused the blackout, the second such serious European power outage in as many months after a fire at Heathrow Airport shut down Britain’s busiest travel hub on March 20.
They said there was little precedent for this kind of widespread electric failure across all of the Iberian Peninsula, with a combined population of some 60 million. Across the Mediterranean Sea, Spain’s Balearic Islands and the territories of Ceuta and Melilla were spared. The Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa were also spared.
“We have never had a complete collapse of the system,” Sanchez said, explaining how Spain’s power grid lost 15 gigawatts, the equivalent of 60 percent of its national demand, in just five seconds.
In his televised address late Monday, Sanchez said that authorities were still investigating what happened. Portugal’s National Cybersecurity Center threw cold water on feverish speculation about foul play, saying there was no sign that the outage resulted from a cyberattack.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Teresa Ribera, an executive vice president of the European Commission, also ruled out sabotage. Nonetheless, the outage “is one of the most serious episodes recorded in Europe in recent times,” she said.
