BRUSSELS: Ukraine is expected to get “good news” in its quest for more air defense systems at a NATO summit in Washington next week, a senior US State Department official said on Tuesday.
“We hope we’ll be able to get to the summit and make some new announcements on air defense,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“You’ve heard that the Ukrainians are keen to secure additional Patriots or similar systems. And I think we’ll have some additional good news for them on that front.”
The official did not provide any further details.
Ukrainian officials have been urging their allies for months to supply more air defense systems to defend against frequent missile and drone attacks from Russian forces following Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
Leaders gather for a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Washington from July 9 to July 11, intended in part to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the military alliance.
Ukraine to get ‘good news’ on air defense at NATO summit, US official says
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Ukraine to get ‘good news’ on air defense at NATO summit, US official says
- The Ukrainians are keen to secure additional Patriots or similar systems
French far right says power within grasp as Mbappe warns of disaster
France’s iconic football captain, striker Kylian Mbappe, warned: “We can’t leave our country in the hands of those people there”
PARIS: French far-right leader Marine le Pen insisted Thursday her party can still win control of parliament despite the center and left scrambling to block her way and football hero Kilian Mbappe urging fans to outvote “those people.”
Three days before Sunday’s run-off in France’s most critical legislative elections in recent history, a poll projected Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) would fall short of an overall majority despite dominating the June 30 first round vote.
Tensions are growing as the clock ticks down to Sunday, with assaults reported on candidates and the outcome will determine if postwar France elects its first far-right government since World War II, or embarks on an era of potentially paralysing coalition politics.
France’s iconic football captain, striker Kylian Mbappe, addressed the race at a news conference in Hamburg ahead of the team’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against Portugal, warning: “We can’t leave our country in the hands of those people there.
“I think we all saw the results, it’s catastrophic,” he said of the RN’s first round victory. “We hope that that will change and that everyone will mobilize to vote, and to vote for the right side.”
Mbappe’s intervention will encourage both the centrist camp, led by President Emmanuel Macron, and the broad-left wing coalition who have between them withdrawn more than 200 candidates from the runoff on Sunday in a joint effort to ensure the far right is defeated.
“I think there is still the capacity to have an absolute majority, with the electorate turning out in a final effort to get what they want,” the RN’s three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen told BFM television.
“I say turn out to vote as it’s a really important moment to get a change in politics in all the areas that are making you suffer right now,” she said.
If the RN wins an absolute majority of 289 seats in the 577-member National Assembly, it would be able to form a government with Le Pen’s 28-year-old protege Jordan Bardella as prime minister.
But she acknowledged that Macron’s centrists and the New Popular Front (NFP) coalition had made her party’s task tougher with their “operation” to withdraw candidates to unite the anti-RN vote.
The move has sparked speculation that a right-center-left coalition could emerge after the election to prevent the RN from taking power.
Le Pen alleges that the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) could figure in such a coalition, an idea dismissed by Macron.
Le Pen, who is expected to make a fourth attempt to win the Elysee Palace in 2027, acknowledged that there had been problems with a handful of RN candidates, one of whom had to withdraw after a picture of her emerged wearing a Nazi-era Luftwaffe cap.
“There are statements that have been inadmissible and will involve sanctions and there are also statements that are just clumsy,” Le Pen said.
Four people, including three minors, were detained after government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot and her team were attacked while they were sticking up campaign posters in Meudon outside Paris, prosecutors said.
Thevenot, who is of Mauritian origin, was not harmed but a colleague and a supporter were wounded and taken to hospital after the attack by around 20 people.
“Violence and intimidation have no place in our society,” Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on X.
Of the 30,000 police to be deployed nationwide Sunday, 5,000 would be on duty in Paris so that the “far left and far right do not create disorder,” Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin said.
Macron’s decision to call snap elections three years ahead of schedule after his party’s drubbing in EU Parliament elections is seen as a huge gamble that could plunge France into chaos weeks before it hosts the Olympics and at a time when Paris is playing a key role in backing Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
A poll by Harris Interactive projected that the RN and its allies would win 190 to 220 seats in the National Assembly, the NFP 159 to 183 seats and Macron’s Ensemble (Together) alliance 110 to 135.
Italian government pressed by Amnesty to improve standards in migrant detention centers
- Amnesty International, which visited Italy from April 8 to 13 this year to gather information on the conditions in migration detention centers in the country, released its findings in a report
LONDON: Italy was accused by a human rights group on Thursday of holding migrants and people seeking asylum in detention centers that fall below international standards.
Amnesty International, which visited Italy from April 8 to 13 this year to gather information on the conditions in migration detention centers in the country, released its findings in its report “Liberty and Dignity: Amnesty International’s observations on the administrative detention of migrant and asylum-seeking people in Italy.”
Representatives from the group visited Ponte Galeria in Rome and Pian del Lago in Caltanissetta, where they spoke to public security officials and employees at the facilities and carried out private interviews with people in detention, from countries including Tunisia, Iran, Morocco, and Egypt.
“Detention should be exceptional and a measure of last resort. However, in the centers we visited, we encountered racialized people who should never have been detained,” Dinushika Dissanyake, the group’s deputy regional director for Europe, said.
The Italian government in 2023 expanded its use of migration-related detention, announced plans for the construction of new detention centers, lengthened the maximum detention time for repatriation to 18 months, and applied “border procedures” to people seeking asylum from “safe countries.”
Dissanyake added: “People with severe mental health problems, people seeking asylum because of their sexual orientation or political activism but coming from countries the Italian government has arbitrarily designated as ‘safe,’ people with caregiving responsibilities or escaping gender-based violence or labor exploitation.
“These needless detention orders throw people’s lives, health and families into disarray.”
These policies have resulted in the automatic detention of people on the basis of their nationality in contradiction to international law, which requires an individual assessment, Amnesty International claimed.
The organization said it also found that conditions within centers were not in line with applicable international law and standards, with detention resembling a “punitive character” and “prison-like conditions.”
It said those detained could not move freely within the compounds and required authorization and accompaniment from police.
Furniture and bedding were found to be extremely basic, with foam mattresses placed on concrete beds, while bathrooms were in poor conditions and sometimes lacking doors for privacy.
“People are forced to spend all their time in fenced spaces, in conditions that are in many ways worse than in prison, and are denied even a modicum of autonomy,” Dissanayake said. “Despite lengthy detention periods, there is an almost total absence of activities, which, combined with a lack of information about their future, leads to enormous psychological harm among the people detained.”
Conditions had to be improved and more care given to people’s right to dignity, she said, adding that the Italian government must make more effort to prevent further violations of international law.
“Migration-related detention should be used only in the most exceptional circumstances. When necessary and proportionate, alternative and less coercive measures should always be considered first. People seeking international protection should not be detained,” Dissanayake said.
“In the exceptional cases for which detention is deemed necessary and proportionate, rigorous and regular assessments of people’s suitability for detention must be conducted by the Italian authorities.
“The government must also ensure that conditions in detention centers respect human dignity, providing appropriate, safe accommodation and opportunities for individuals to be in contact with the outside world and to use their time in meaningful ways. A major departure from the current punitive approach to migration control policies is badly needed.”
UK goes to polls in national election with results expected early Friday
- UK PM Rishi Sunak surprised his party on May 22 when he called election earlier than January 2025
- After 14 years in power, Sunak’s Conservatives are widely expected to lose to left-of-center Labour Party
LONDON: Britain is going to the polls Thursday at a time when public dissatisfaction is running high over a host of issues.
From the high cost of living and a stagnating economy to a dysfunctional state health care system and crumbling infrastructure, some disillusioned voters have turned to the populist Reform Party.
Its divisive leader Nigel Farage, who championed Brexit, is drawing growing numbers of Conservative voters with his pledge to “take our country back.”
Opponents have long accused Farage of fanning racist attitudes toward migrants and condemned what they call his scapegoat rhetoric. They say that underfunding of schools, hospitals and housing under governments on the right and left is the problem, not migrants.
Polls show Farage has a comfortable lead in Clacton-on-Sea — a town on England’s southeast coast where many older, white voters used to staunchly support the governing Conservatives.
It’s unclear how much impact his party will have in capturing seats and Parliament, though it could be a spoiler by siphoning votes from Conservative candidates.
Farage, who has lost seven campaigns for Parliament, was the rare party leader who didn’t go to the polls Thursday. He voted in advance by mail.
All voters must bring ID for the first time in a general election.
All voters in the UK were required to bring identification with them Thursday for the first time in a general election.
A change in the law has required voters in England, Scotland and Wales to prove their identity since 2023 by showing a passport, drivers’ license and more than a dozen other acceptable forms of ID.
Voters in Northern Ireland have had to show identification since 1985, and photo ID since 2003.
The Elections Act introduced by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2022 was enforced, ironically, earlier this year when Johnson tried to vote without ID in a local election in South Oxfordshire.
He was turned away, but returned later with his identification and cast his vote.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, who urged voters to take ‘a leap of faith,’ votes in his suburban London district.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey voted Thursday in an election that could see his left-of-center party gain a larger share of seats in Parliament.
Davey’s Lib Dems have been trying to make inroads in areas of southern England where Conservatives are vulnerable as their party has plunged in popularity after 14 years in power.
Davey’s stunt-filled campaign has been a publicity bonanza. He has tumbled off a paddleboard into a lake, braved roller coaster rides and bungee jumped, urging voters to take “a leap of faith.”
The party had 15 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons when Parliament was dissolved in May.
The party has vowed to improve Britain’s ailing health and social care systems, including introducing free nursing care at home. It wants to lower voting age to 16 and rejoin the European Union’s single market. Davey has championed the cause of hold water companies accountable for dumping sewage in rivers.
Davey, first elected to Parliament in 1997, greeted members of the news media as he arrived with his wife, Emily, to vote at a Methodist church in Surbiton, a suburb in southwest London.
“It’s a beautiful day,” he said as he left the polls. “I hope lots of people come out to vote.”
Communities all over the United Kingdom such as Henley-on-Thames are locked in tight contests in which traditional party loyalties come second to more immediate concerns about the economy, crumbling infrastructure and the National Health Service.
Though it has traditionally been a Conservative Party stronghold, the area known for its famous regatta may change its stripes. The Conservatives, which took power during the depths of the global financial crisis, have been beset by sluggish growth, declining public services and a series of scandals, making them easy targets for critics on the left and right.
“This is a blue (Conservative) town, always has been,’’ said Sam Wilkinson, a restaurant manager. “My generation won’t necessarily vote blue, not necessarily, but at the same time who else do you vote for? It’s really tricky. I’m just kind of looking out for my kids really, hopefully more money into education and the arts.”
Residents steadily streamed to the polling station, including Patricia Mulcahy, who is retired.
“The younger generation are far more interested in change,’’ she said. “So, I think whatever happens in Henley, in the country, there will be a big shift. But whoever gets in, they’ve got a heck of a job ahead of them. It’s not going to be easy.”
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is running for reelection as an independent, posted a photo of himself voting Thursday in his North London district.
Corbyn, a socialist who has won his seat for Labour at every general election since 1983, was suspended from the party and barred from running by Labour after his leadership faced antisemitism allegations.
He became deeply unpopular after Labour in 2019 suffered its worst defeat since 1935.
Keir Starmer was chosen as leader to replace Corbyn and he has rebuilt it and moved it closer to the center. Pollsters and politicians expect Labour to win the largest number of seats.
Corbyn posted a photo of himself on the social media platform X with his right thumb up, saying: “Just voted for the independent candidate in Islington North. I heard he’s alright.”
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer voted Thursday in an election that is widely expected to return his party to power for the first time in 14 years and make him prime minister.
Starmer, who has warned his supporters not to take the election for granted despite polls and politicians predicting a landslide, voted in his London neighborhood.
Pollsters have given Labour a double-digit lead since before the campaign began six weeks ago.
Starmer has spent his time crisscrossing Britain and urging voters to vote for change.
He has pledged to revive a sluggish economy, invest in the nation’s crumbling infrastructure and repair the broken National Health Service, which his center-left party founded in 1945.
Scottish National Party leader John Swinney has voted as his party fights to hold off a wave of support from the rival Labour Party.
Swinney, who became the SNP’s third leader in just over a year in May, has tried to bring stability to a party in turmoil.
Scotland’s long-serving First Minister Nicola Sturgeon abruptly stepped down last year during a campaign finance investigation that eventually led to criminal charges against her husband, who was the party’s chief executive.
Swinney joined the party at 15 years old, and previously led the party from 2000 to 2004.
Swinney has said that if his party wins a majority of seats in Scotland he will try to open Scottish independence negotiations with the London-based UK government. He wants to rejoin the European Union and the European single market.
Swinney walked to the polls in Burrelton Village Hall, Perthshire, with his 13-year-old son Matthew.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cast his ballot Thursday in a national election that will determine if he remains in office.
Sunak, who tried to bring stability to a Conservative Party in chaos when he was picked as leader in October 2022, spent the past six weeks trying to persuade voters across the UK to give his party another term after 14 years in power.
Pollsters and politicians widely expect the Labour Party to win for the first time since 2005.
Sunak’s campaign got off to a soggy start when he called the snap election in a downpour outside 10 Downing Street in May.
He had been expected to wait until the fall, when expected improvements in the economy would give him a better chance.
Sunak voted shortly after polls opened in his constituency in Yorkshire in northern England.
British voters are picking a new government on Thursday after polls opened at 7 a.m. for a parliamentary election that is widely expected to bring the opposition Labour Party to power.
Against a backdrop of economic malaise, mounting distrust of government institutions and a fraying social fabric, a fractious electorate is delivering its verdict on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party, which has been in power since 2010.
The center-left Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, has had a steady and significant lead in opinion polls for months, but Labour leaders have warned against taking the election result for granted, worried their supporters will stay home.
Sunak, for his part, has tried to rally his supporters, saying on Sunday that he still thought the Conservatives could win and defending his record on the economy.
Ukraine’s army retreats from positions as Russia gets closer to seizing strategically important town
Ukraine’s army retreats from positions as Russia gets closer to seizing strategically important town
- For months, Russian forces have focused on capturing Chasiv Yar, a town which occupies an elevated location
- The Ukrainian army retreated from a northeastern neighborhood in the town, Nazar Voloshyn
KYIV: Ukraine’s army has retreated from a neighborhood in the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in the eastern Donetsk region that has been reduced to rubble under a monthslong Russian assault, a military spokesperson said Thursday.
Chasiv Yar is a short distance west of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia last year after a bitter 10-month battle. For months, Russian forces have focused on capturing Chasiv Yar, a town which occupies an elevated location. Its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy, compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region.
The Ukrainian army retreated from a northeastern neighborhood in the town, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Khortytsia ground forces formation, told The Associated Press in a written message Thursday.
Ukraine’s defensive positions in the town were “destroyed,” he said, adding that there was a threat of serious casualties if troops remained in the area and that Russia did not leave “a single intact building.”
Months of relentless Russian artillery strikes have devastated Chasiv Yar, with homes and municipal offices charred, and a town that once had a population of 12,000 has been left deserted.
Oleh Shyriaiev, commander of the 255 assault battalion which has been based in the area for six months, said after Russian troops captured the neighborhood, they burned every building not already destroyed by shelling.
Shyriaiev said Russia is deploying scorched-earth tactics in an attempt to destroy anything which could be used as a military position in a bid to force troops to retreat.
“I regret that we are gradually losing territory,” he said, speaking by phone from the Chasiv Yar area, but added, “we cannot hold what is ruined.”
Russian troops outnumber Ukrainians 10-to-1 in the area but Shyriaiev suggested that, even with that ratio, they have not been able to make significant progress in the past six months of active fighting.
The intensity of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s defensive line in the area of Chasiv Yar has increased over the last month, Voloshyn said.
In the past week alone, Voloshyn said Russia has carried out nearly 1,300 strikes, fired nearly 130 glide bombs and made 44 ground assaults.
Other Russian attacks in recent weeks have focused on capturing nearby settlements that would allow them to advance to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the biggest cities in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian commanders in the area say their resources remain stretched, largely due to a monthslong gap in military assistance from the United States which threw Ukraine’s military onto the defensive.
Shyriaiev, the assault battalion commander, said ammunition from allies is arriving, but more slowly than needed by the army.
“We are determined to hold on to the end,” said the commander, who has been fighting on the front line since the outbreak of the war.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, the governor of the northern Chernihiv region, Viacheslav Chaus, said Russia launched 22 drones over Ukraine last night. One hit a power infrastructure facility in the northern Chernihiv region, leaving nearly 6,000 customers without electricity, he said, adding that the rest were shot down.
Russia is continually targeting Ukraine’s badly damaged energy infrastructure, resulting in hours of rolling blackouts across the country. Ukrainian officials have warned that the situation may worsen as winter approaches.
India’s Modi to visit Russia next week
- This will be Modi’s first visit to Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022
- Moscow’s military campaign has tested relations between India and Russia
MOSCOW: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on July 8 and 9, the Kremlin said Thursday, in his first trip to the country since Moscow launched its military offensive in Ukraine.
That campaign has tested relations between Moscow and New Delhi, even though India has ramped up its purchases of Russian oil and not joined Western sanctions.
Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss “prospects for further development of traditionally friendly Russian-Indian relations, as well as relevant issues on the international and regional agenda,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Putin sees Modi as a key potential diplomatic and economy ally, with Russia isolated in the West.
But Ukraine has complicated ties.
In a September 2022 meeting between Putin and Modi at a regional summit in Uzbekistan, the Russian president told Modi he understood he had “concerns” about the conflict and that Modi wanted it to end “as soon as possible.”
Earlier this year, India said it was pushing Russia to release some of its citizens who had signed up for “support jobs” with the Russian army, following reports some were stranded in Russian border towns and forced to fight in Ukraine.
India urged its citizens to “stay away from this conflict.”
New Delhi has not been a staunch backer of Kyiv, notably declining to sign a joint statement at a peace summit in Switzerland last month that called for Ukraine’s territorial integrity to be respected in any peace agreement.
India has also become a major buyer of Russian oil, providing a much-needed export market for Russia after it was cut off from traditional markets in the West.
But there have been reports of payments problems and Russian exporters not being able to repatriate earnings due to India’s capital controls.
Recently re-elected for a historic third term, Modi last visited Russia in September 2019 for an India-Russia annual summit in the far eastern city of Vladivostok.
