US vetoes widely backed Palestinian bid for full UN membership

The UN Security Council votes on a resolution allowing Palestinian UN membership at United Nations headquarters in New York, on April 18, 2024, during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. (AFP)
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Updated 19 April 2024
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US vetoes widely backed Palestinian bid for full UN membership

  • 12 members of the Security Council vote in favor of the resolution, with the UK and Switzerland abstaining
  • The representative of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tells council his people long to live in freedom, security and peace ‘in an independent state’

NEW YORK CITY: The US on Thursday vetoed a draft resolution, drawn up by Algeria, that proposed the State of Palestine be granted full membership of the UN, thereby effectively blocking the Security Council from recognizing Palestine as a state.

Twelve members of the 15-member council voted in favor of the resolution, with the UK and Switzerland abstaining and the US voting against it. To pass, a council resolution requires at least nine votes in favor and no use of the power of veto by any of the five permanent council members: the US, the UK, France, Russia and China.

A spokesperson for the US State Department said on Thursday: “Premature actions in New York, even with the best intentions, will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people.

“There are unresolved questions as to whether the applicant can meet the criteria to be considered as a state. We have long called on the Palestinian Authority to undertake necessary reforms to establish the attributes of readiness for statehood.

“Hamas, which is (a) terrorist organization currently exerting power and influence in Gaza, would be an integral part of the envisioned state, in this resolution. And for that reason, the United States is voting no on this proposed Security Council resolution.”

Robert Wood, the deputy representative of the US to the UN, had also reiterated that under his nation’s laws, full recognition by the UN of a Palestinian state would require that “funding would be cut off to the UN system, so we’re bound by US law.”

Prior to a previous meeting of the Security Council this month, Wood restated Washington’s long-held position that full Palestinian membership of the UN “is a decision that should be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians … They need to work out an agreement and that’s how full membership should come about.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted an application for UN membership in 2011. It was not considered by the Security Council but the following year the General Assembly granted the “State of Palestine” the more limited status of non-member observer state.

Algeria’s concise draft resolution text adhered to the typical format for Security Council resolutions suggesting a state be granted UN membership. It proposed that the Security Council, having examined the application by the State of Palestine for admission to the UN, recommend to the General Assembly that the State of Palestine be admitted as a full member.

The vote on Thursday followed a long day of high-level debate in the council chamber about the issue. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the meeting by warning that the Middle East was “on a precipice,” and calling for “maximum restraint.”

He added that it is “high time to end the bloody cycle of retaliation. It is time to stop.”

He reiterated his condemnation of Iran’s attack on Israel this week, and of the latter’s attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus this month.

“In Gaza, seven months of Israeli military operations have created a humanitarian hellscape,” said Guterres.

“Tens of thousands of people have been killed. Two million Palestinians have endured death, destruction and the denial of lifesaving humanitarian aid. They are now staring down starvation.

“An Israeli operation in Rafah would compound this humanitarian catastrophe,” he added, referring to threats by Israeli authorities of a ground offensive in the city in southern Gaza, which has become the last refuge for more than a million Palestinians displaced by fighting in other parts of the territory.

Ending the hostilities in Gaza would significantly help to defuse rising tensions across the region, Guterres said as he repeated his calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the release of all hostages being held in the territory.

Ziad Abu Amr, the representative of the Palestinian president, said his people long to practice their right to self-determination and to live in freedom, security and peace “in an independent state similar to other countries around the world.”

Addressing the US directly, he added: “To those who say that recognizing the Palestinian state must happen through negotiations and not through a UN resolution, we wonder once again, how was the State of Israel established? How was it recognized? Wasn’t that through a UN resolution, which is Resolution 181?

“It is high time for the Security Council to shoulder its historic responsibility and give justice to the Palestinian people by adopting a resolution to accept Palestine as a full member of the United Nations.”

Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, called on the Security Council to “accept the state of Palestine as a full-fledged member of the United Nations.”

He added: “Do so to uphold justice, to make peace triumphant, to reject injustice, to cry out against falsehood. Do not leave the future of the region in the hands of the most extremist elements of the Israeli government.”

Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, said: “The minimum we’re compelled to do, based on all moral imperatives, is to satisfy Palestine’s aspiration for UN membership.

“We’re convinced that recognition of Palestine, on a status on a par with Israel, will help the long-term settlement of the Palestine-Israeli conflict.”

Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares Bueno, said his country has joined the 139 others that have already officially recognized the State of Palestine, and supports its admission to the UN.

“Spain will recognize the State of Palestine because the people of Palestine cannot be condemned to be a people of refugees,” he said. “Also because this is the way to peace in the Middle East, and because this is good for the security of Israel.

“Spain will recognize a Palestinian state because they have a right to a future with hope, just as the Israeli people have a right to a future in peace and security, and following so many decades of pain.”

Brazil’s foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, told council members that the “time has come for the international community to finally welcome the fully sovereign and independent state of Palestine as a new member of the United Nations.”

China’s ambassador to the UN, Fu Cong, called on members of the council “to take a responsible attitude in light of history and cast a favorable vote to support Palestine joining the UN family as a full member.”

Algeria’s foreign minister, Ahmad Attaf, said that full membership of the UN for Palestine is a “historical right,” and failure to grant it will guarantee the Arab-Israeli conflict is prolonged.

The UK’s representative to the UN, Barbara Woodward, said that recognition of a Palestinian state “cannot come at the start of the process but it does not have to be the very end of the process.”

She added: “Our long-standing position has been that we will recognize a Palestinian state at a time that is most conducive to the peace process. That pathway will start with fixing the immediate crisis in Gaza.”


How a Muslim woman from Sulu made history as a Philippine Air Force pilot

Updated 09 July 2025
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How a Muslim woman from Sulu made history as a Philippine Air Force pilot

  • Rosemawattee Remo has flown more than 2,000 hours on critical missions
  • She currently serves as deputy wing commander in 410th Maintenance Wing

CLARK AIR BASE, PAMPANGA: In 1998, when she sat in the cockpit for the first time, Rosemawattee Remo was not just fulfilling her dream — she was also making history by becoming the first female Muslim pilot in the Philippine Air Force.

Born and raised in Sulu, in the predominantly Muslim southern Philippines, Remo grew up in a traditional household where male and female roles were clearly defined.

Her decision to join the military, travel some 1,000 km away from home and fly aircraft was not initially welcomed.

“My father was a (school) principal then and he wanted me to follow in his footsteps,” she told Arab News.

“The day before my departure to Manila, I told him that I had a scheduled flight and he told me: ‘You’re way ahead of your brothers ... we’re still alive and you’re already making decisions on your own.’”

But she did not feel discouraged: “Those words keep ringing in my ears every time I’m at my lowest,” she said. “(They remind me) that I can’t give up.”

Holding the rank of colonel and currently serving as deputy wing commander of the PAF’s 410th Maintenance Wing, Remo started her military career in 1992 with the Women’s Auxiliary Corps under the Armed Forces. A year later, she enrolled in the Officer Candidate School.

Her graduation in 1994 coincided with the implementation of a landmark law that for the first time allowed women to hold combat and leadership roles in the army, navy, air force and police — positions previously exclusively for men.

“We were nearing our graduation. We were told to draw lots and, fortunately, I took the Philippine Air Force,” Remo said.

Four years later, she started her training as a pilot and soon specialized in helicopter rescue missions. Assigned to the PAF 505th Search and Rescue Group, she flew Bell 205 and Huey helicopters for disaster response and served as a co-pilot aboard a larger Sikorsky or Black Hawk for military transport and relief missions.

Married to a fellow PAF pilot, she has three children and has always found ways to balance her military service with motherhood — and even make them complement each other.

In the aftermath of deadly Typhoon Frank in 2008, when she flew relief operations in Central Mindanao in conditions suitable for flight, she had two major motivations that kept her going: the distressed people on the ground suddenly filling with hope as they heard the chugging sound of helicopter blades, and her own kids waiting for her at home.

“I always brought them along with me in the deployment area, so every time I got out of the aircraft I saw my kids waiting for me,” she said. “I needed to go back home right after the mission ... I had to do everything to survive.”

Col. Remo has flown more than 2,000 hours on critical missions — search and rescue, relief, rehabilitation. She also took part in skydiving exhibitions between 1999 and 2014.

The first Filipino Muslim woman in such a role, she tries not to see her achievements as anything extraordinary.

“I always keep my feet grounded,” she said. “If you have a dream, then you have to persevere and find ways to attain (it).”


EU lawmakers reject attempt to curb far right’s sway on climate talks

Updated 09 July 2025
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EU lawmakers reject attempt to curb far right’s sway on climate talks

  • A Patriots spokesperson said the group would not prioritize trying to meet a September deadline for countries to submit new climate targets to the United Nations
  • Green lawmakers said they feared the target would now be watered down or face long delays

BRUSSELS: The European Parliament on Wednesday rejected a proposal to fast-track talks on the EU’s new climate target, scuttling a move by liberal, socialist and green lawmakers to try to limit the influence of climate skeptic lawmakers on the goal.
The far-right Patriots of Europe group, which rejects EU policies to curb climate change, on Tuesday took on the role of lead negotiators for the 2040 climate target, seeking to steer talks on the goal, which the group said it firmly opposed.
Lawmakers rebuffed a proposal on Wednesday to fast-track the negotiations, which would have skipped stages where the Patriots could exert most influence, and limited their ability to set the timings for negotiations.
A total of 379 lawmakers rejected the plan to accelerate the talks, versus 300 in favor and eight abstentions.
The vote puts the Patriots firmly in the lead for the parliament as it negotiates the final 2040 climate target with EU member countries. The Patriots will now draft an initial negotiating proposal for the parliament.
A Patriots spokesperson said the group would not prioritize trying to meet a September deadline for countries to submit new climate targets to the United Nations.
“What truly matters is achieving a deal that delivers real benefits for our citizens. Patriots have never negotiated under pressure like traders in a marketplace,” the spokesperson said.
The Patriots are the third-biggest lawmaker group in the EU Parliament and the group includes the political parties of France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The Patriots secured the lead negotiating role in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday by outbidding the parliament’s biggest group, the center-right European People’s Party, EU officials told Reuters.
Green lawmakers said they feared the target would now be watered down or face long delays. “There is an acute danger that the European Union’s climate target will be buried,” said German EU lawmaker Michael Bloss.
The attempt to fast-track the talks failed because it was not supported by the EPP — the party of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Dutch EPP EU lawmaker Jeroen Lenaers said the group did not deem the fast-track procedure necessary, and wanted to “improve” the Commission’s proposed target to cut emissions 90 percent by 2040, without specifying further.
Some EPP lawmakers have said a 90 percent target is too ambitious. Governments from Italy to Poland have pushed back this year on ambitious emissions-cutting goals, citing concerns over the costs for industries.


Palestinian family in Gaza ask UK court for help to join relative

Updated 09 July 2025
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Palestinian family in Gaza ask UK court for help to join relative

  • Family of six have been granted leave to join relative in UK
  • Lawyers say three children fired upon when accessing aid

LONDON: A Palestinian family of six who are stuck in Gaza despite having permission to join a relative in Britain asked London’s High Court on Wednesday to make officials reconsider their refusal to ask Israel for help to leave the enclave.
Lawyers representing a Palestinian couple and their four children said the family were given leave to enter the United Kingdom to join the family member, who is a British citizen.
A London tribunal ruled earlier this year that the family should be permitted to enter the UK, in a decision which was publicly criticized by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and opposition leader Kemi Badenoch in February.
But the family’s lawyers say Britain’s foreign ministry is refusing to provide assistance because it will not ask Israel whether the family can leave Gaza to provide the biometric data needed to travel to Britain, as there is no operating visa center in Gaza.
Tim Owen, a lawyer representing the family, said they were asking the High Court to order the foreign office to reconsider its decision.
Owen said in court filings that three of the family’s four children had recently been fired upon when attempting to access aid, with one of the children also having been struck in the wrist by shrapnel from a tank shell.
He told the court that there was a “consular-level process which has been established by Israel” in order to evacuate people from Gaza, but that the foreign office “have not even made the request.”
The foreign office, however, says evacuating citizens from Gaza is incredibly complex and that Britain can only offer support in exceptional circumstances.
The department’s lawyer Julian Milford told the court that the foreign office was aware of 10 people in Gaza with unconditional leave to enter Britain and a further 28 with permission, subject to biometric checks.
Milford cited evidence from a department official urging caution over the “expenditure of political and diplomatic capital with Israel and others” in relation to such cases.
The family’s lawyers say they were, like nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, displaced by the conflict which began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory war has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s health ministry says, and reduced much of Gaza to rubble. (Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Alison Williams)


He just wanted to play football: A family mourns a 15-year-old as Togo cracks down on protests

Updated 09 July 2025
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He just wanted to play football: A family mourns a 15-year-old as Togo cracks down on protests

  • Jacques Koami Koutoglo is one of several people who died during mass protests in the West African nation against constitutional changes that many fear will cement President Faure Gnassingbé’s grip on power

LOME: The family courtyard where Jacques Koami Koutoglo used to play football with his cousins in a working-class neighborhood in Togo ‘s capital now sits silent. The ball he once kicked around lies deflated beside a bundle of firewood.
“Jacques died for Togo,” his uncle, Koutoglo Kossi Mawuli, said quietly, eyes heavy with grief.
The 15-year-old is one of several people who died during mass protests in the West African nation against constitutional changes that many fear will cement President Faure Gnassingbé’s grip on power — and lengthen a ruling dynasty that has lasted over half a century.
The 59-year-old Gnassingbé, who has ruled since 2005 after his father’s death, was sworn in as president of the Council of Ministers in May. The executive body was created last year with little notice by a parliament whose term had just expired, and Gnassingbé swiftly signed off on the constitutional change despite public outcry. The new role has no term limits, and Gnassingbé can stay on indefinitely.
Local civil society groups and social media influencers had called for protests last month after the government announced a clampdown on demonstrations. Many young Togolese are drawing inspiration from recent uprisings across West Africa, where youth movements challenged entrenched regimes.
Koutoglo had just completed secondary school and was eagerly waiting for exam results. He had dreams of becoming a footballer and spent evenings practicing his moves. He often helped at his uncle’s cafeteria during school breaks.
On the morning of June 26, the day of the protests, he vanished.
“Since our family compound is large and full of cousins, we assumed he was with someone else,” Mawuli said. But when evening came and the boy hadn’t returned, unease turned into panic.
The next day, a fisherman discovered a body floating in the lagoon a hundred meters (yards) from their home. The family rushed to the scene. It was Koutoglo. His face was bruised, and blood had streamed from his nose.
“He didn’t go to any rally,” Mawuli said. “He must have panicked when he heard the tear gas and gunshots. He got caught up in the chaos.”
Civil society groups say at least five people, including Koutoglo, died during the demonstrations and dozens were injured, and accuse security forces of making arbitrary arrests, assaulting civilians with batons and ropes, and looting or vandalizing private property.
In Koutoglo’s neighborhood of Bè, a densely populated and historically restive part of Lomé, witnesses described security forces chasing down youth, even into private homes.
“They came into our courtyard. They fired gas. They beat people,” said a neighbor who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Koutoglo was buried swiftly, in line with local customs for those who die violently. The other victims were taken to the morgue.
Koutoglo’s uncle said the family intends to press charges and demand an independent investigation into his nephew’s death.
“You can’t just beat our children to death and expect us to be silent. We are tired,” he said.
Civil society groups said the justice system has made no arrests and has not requested an autopsy.
“These acts, marked by unspeakable cruelty, amount to a state crime. The perpetrators struck without restraint and killed without distinction,” they said in a statement.
In a statement read out on state television, Togo’s government acknowledged that bodies were recovered from the Bè lagoon and the Akodessewa lake but said the victims died from drowning. The government said there would be a further investigation.
Across Togo, Koutoglo’s name has joined a long list of young lives cut short during moments of national tension.
“This is not the first time,” Mawuli said. “Back in 2017, children died too. It’s like nothing ever changes. But this time, we refuse to stay quiet.”
In 2017 and 2018, mass protests challenged President Faure Gnassingbé’s long rule. A government crackdown left at least 16 dead, including teenagers.
To those still protesting, Mawuli sent a message of solidarity: “Don’t give up. This fight is for our children. For Jacques. For all of us.”
New protests are planned for July 16 and 17.
Fabien Offner, a researcher with Amnesty International, said Togo has a “repressive architecture” that has normalized arbitrary arrests, beatings and impunity.
“They’re routine now,” he said. “And the lack of global reaction only deepens the crisis.”
Government spokesman Gilbert Bawara defended the state’s approach. He told reporters the recent constitutional changes followed proper procedures, and dismissed allegations of systemic abuse.
“If there are grievances, let them be addressed through lawful channels,” he said.
But with opposition figures sidelined, institutions dominated by the ruling party and elections widely seen as flawed, critics say these channels offer little hope.


Russia attacks Ukraine with 700 drones after Trump vows to send more weapons

Updated 09 July 2025
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Russia attacks Ukraine with 700 drones after Trump vows to send more weapons

  • Zelensky calls for for 'biting sanctions' on the sources of income Russia uses to finance the war
  • Residents of Kyiv and other major cities spend night in air raid shelters

KYIV: Russia targeted Ukraine with a record 728 drones overnight, hours after US President Donald Trump pledged to send more defensive weapons to Kyiv and aimed unusually sharp criticism at Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The attack was the latest in a series of escalating air assaults in recent weeks that have involved hundreds of drones in addition to ballistic missiles, straining Ukrainian air defenses at a perilous moment in the war, now in its fourth year.
Kyiv’s military downed almost all the drones but some of the six hypersonic missiles launched by Russia had caused unspecified damage, air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said on Ukrainian television.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who will meet US envoy Keith Kellogg in Rome on Wednesday, said the strike showed the need for “biting sanctions” on the sources of income Russia uses to finance the war, including on those who buy Russian oil.
Trump said on Tuesday he was considering supporting a bill that would impose steep sanctions on Russia, including 500 percent tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports.
“We get a lot of bull**** thrown at us by Putin ... He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” Trump said at a cabinet meeting.
When asked by a reporter what action he would take against Putin, Trump said: “I wouldn’t tell you. We want to have a little surprise.”
Separately, Europe is working on a new sanctions package against Moscow.
Trump, who returned to power this year promising a swift end to the war in Ukraine, has taken a more conciliatory tone toward Moscow in a departure from the Biden administration’s staunch support for Kyiv.
But initial rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the Kremlin’s February 2022 invasion have so far borne little fruit, with Moscow yet to accept an unconditional ceasefire proposed by Trump and accepted by Kyiv.
The US president’s promise to supply more defensive weapons appeared to reverse a Pentagon decision days earlier to stall some critical munitions supplies to Ukraine, despite increasing Russian attacks that have killed dozens in recent weeks.
Shortly after Wednesday’s attack, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that diplomatic means to resolve the war have been exhausted. He vowed to continue supporting Kyiv.
Following Trump’s new promise, Zelensky said on Tuesday he had ordered an expansion of contacts with the United States to ensure critical deliveries of military supplies, primarily air defense.
Residents of Kyiv and other major cities spent the night in air raid shelters including metro stations.
Part of Russia’s overnight strike was aimed at a western region close to NATO-member Poland. The northwestern city of Lutsk, some 200 km (125 miles) from Poland, was the main target, Zelensky said, listing 10 other provinces across Ukraine where damage was also reported.
Polish and allied aircraft were activated to ensure air safety, Poland’s military said.
In Lutsk, buildings were damaged but no deaths or injuries reported in what amounted to the biggest air strike of the war on the city of 200,000 people, regional authorities said.
A storage facility of a local enterprise and some parking structures were ablaze, said the city’s mayor, Ihor Polishchuk.
Ivan Rudnytskyi, governor of the Volyn region that includes Lutsk, said 50 Russian drones and five missiles were in the region’s airspace overnight.