International
Borrell: the EU will support Ukraine until Putin decides to stop the war
The High Representative for Foreign Affairs of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, said on Sunday that the Twenty-seven will support Ukraine “until (Vladimir) Putin decides to stop the war,” something that will not happen “soon,” but will probably have to wait for the elections in the United States to know the future of the conflict.
In a panel of the special meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which started today in Riyadh and lasts until tomorrow, Borrell reiterated the EU’s commitment to support Ukraine in the war against Russia regardless of the budgetary investment that this represents.
“We will continue to support the people in Ukraine (…) There are those who ask how much money we will spend on the war. We pledged to support Ukraine to resist until Putin decides to stop the war, but I don’t think it will happen soon,” said the top representative in EU Security Policy.
In his speech, Borrell recalled that “Putin began the war” and pointed out that the Russian president “will wait for the United States elections” to consider the future or the possibility of ending the conflict that began a little more than two years ago.
Regarding the length of the war between Russia and Ukraine in time, he showed his concern that something similar will happen in the Middle East and referred to the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, another example of “a war between two parties for the same territory where the only solution is to share.”
And he asks “not to open Pandora’s box of new wars” in the face of the growth of international tensions resulting from the new world order.
Borrell summarized the changes that international relations have undergone in recent years, in which he went from talking about east-west and north-south blocks, to talking about “north, south, east and west.”
“There is no clear understanding of what the world is like today. Competition is fine, but the problem is not to compete, but confrontation and there is more confrontation because there are more poles and fewer rules. Power has been redistributed, there are more actors and fewer rules. That’s why there is disorder,” he explained to the audience.
According to Borrell, the main consequence of this new world order is a redistribution of powers that has changed the relationship of forces and many of it have been directed towards Asia, while the “north and west has decreased in importance” while countries such as Saudi Arabia and China grow.
In this sense, he pointed out that “war is not only with bombs, but with narratives” and stressed the importance of geography to establish relations and alliances, sometimes relationships of dependency that are used against the partners themselves.
“Today we need more cooperation (…) We have to respect the existing rules and change those that do not adapt to today’s world. Many things work because there is a gap between what we have to do and what we do,” he added.
Borrell admitted that there is something true in the caricature they make of the European Union: dependence on Russian gas (which went from 45% to 10% since the outbreak of the war), on the security of NATO led by the United States and on trade with China.
But it was clear that that is going to change: “We have to adapt to the new world. Being more responsible with one’s own security and resources (…) New countries have shown an incredible capacity for technological innovation. More union in Europe to survive in a world of giants and take into account the priorities of others” for self-development.
International
Pope Francis meets former Gaza hostages
Pope Francis met on Thursday at the Vatican with 16 Israelis who had been held hostage in Gaza for months by the Islamist group Hamas, according to the official Vatican news website.
The group consisted of ten women, four men, and two children, as reported by the same source. Several of the former hostages showed the Argentine pontiff banners or photos of their loved ones who remain in captivity.
Francis had previously met with the families of hostages in April this year and November 2023, but this was the first time he had met with individuals who had personally endured captivity.
Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began, the pope has repeatedly called for the immediate release of Israeli hostages, while also condemning the suffering of the Palestinian population.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Islamist militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,206 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures that include hostages who died in captivity.
Of the kidnapped, 97 are still being held in Gaza, but the Israeli military estimates that 34 of them have died.
The military offensive launched by Israel in response has killed at least 43,736 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-governed territory.
International
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on residential buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and its surroundings on Thursday, resulting in at least 15 deaths and 16 injuries, according to Syria’s Ministry of Defense and state television.
The ministry stated that around 3:20 p.m. local time (12:20 GMT), the Israeli military launched an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights, targeting several residential buildings in the Mazzeh neighborhood in western Damascus and the Qudsaya suburb to the northwest of the capital.
The airstrikes “resulted in the death of 15 people and injuries to 16 others, including women and children,” based on initial estimates, in addition to significant damage to private property and civilian buildings, the ministry added.
Meanwhile, state television reported Israeli airstrikes on three buildings in Mazzeh and another on a building in an educational complex located in a residential area of Qudsaya.
Following the strikes, loud explosions were heard throughout the city, and thick plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the targeted locations. Ambulances and emergency services rushed to the scene to attend to the victims.
International
Drug trafficker dies after boat collision with Guardia Civil Vessel in Sanlúca
Three people were on the boat that collided with a Guardia Civil vessel around midnight at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, near the Andalusian city of Cádiz, a spokesperson for the Civil Guard reported.
Two officers sustained “contusions,” the spokesperson explained.
The drug traffickers managed to bring the boat to shore, where one of them was “abandoned” severely injured. The other two fled.
The Civil Guard officers attempted to resuscitate the victim before transporting him to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, but he ultimately died early in the morning.
The other two suspects took advantage of the officers’ absence while they were taking the victim and returned to set their boat on fire.
The collision occurred very close to the site of another accident on September 1, where a drug trafficker died following a Guardia Civil pursuit.
The suspects’ boat traveled “400 meters” before crashing head-on and “at full speed” into the riverbank, where a hundred bundles of hashish were found.
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