International News

Crowds cheer queen at start of historic jubilee celebrations

LONDON, June 2: Huge crowds on Thursday cheered Queen Elizabeth II for the first of four days of celebrations to mark her historic Platinum Jubilee, in what could be the last major public event of her long reign.
Tens of thousands of people converged on central London in bright sunshine to witness the centuries-old Trooping the Colour military parade.
The 96-year-old monarch’s appearance at the festivities for her record-breaking 70 years on the throne had been in doubt due to illness and recent mobility problems.
But dressed in dove blue, her hands clasped on a walking stick, she took a salute from mounted troops from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, under the fluttering royal standard.
The Mall below was awash with red, white and blue union flags, with some die-hard royal fans having camped for days to be in prime position for the display of pomp and pageantry.
But many acknowledged the coming end of an era.
“We know it’s a special occasion because it might be the last day we’ll see Her Majesty in a public event,” ambulance service worker Gilbert Falconer, 65, told AFP after travelling from Scotland.
Recognition of the queen’s unprecedented reign saw tributes from political and religious leaders from across the world, including the leader of pro-Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland.
Michelle O’Neill’s message, praising the queen’s “significant” contribution to the peace process would have been unthinkable before the 1998 peace deal that ended years of violence over British rule.
Sinn Fein was the political wing of the Irish Republican Army paramilitary group, which blew up the queen’s cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, in 1979.

Four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in two days as tensions flare

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories, June 2: Israeli troops shot dead a teen in the West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said, the fourth Palestinian killed in the occupied territory in two days.
The ministry identified the slain Palestinian as 17-year-old Odeh Odeh, who was hit in the chest by what it said was an Israeli bullet near the village of Al-Madiya, west of Ramallah.
The Israeli army said “three suspects threw a firebomb” at soldiers “operating near the security barrier” adjacent to Al-Madiya.
“The soldiers responded with fire toward the suspects, and a hit was identified,” the army said.
It came hours after a Palestinian man was killed during a clash with Israeli forces conducting an arrest operation in the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem.
On Wednesday, a woman approaching soldiers with a knife was shot, and later that day a man was killed in an Israeli raid in the northern West Bank.
The Israeli security forces have stepped up their operations in the West Bank in recent months, carrying out almost daily raids to arrest suspects after a spate of deadly attacks inside Israel. The army said troops had entered Dheisheh to arrest a Palestinian “suspected of terrorist activities” and were met with volleys of petrol bombs and cement blocks.
They responded with live rounds.
Late Wednesday, Israeli troops mounted an incursion into the village of Yabad outside the flashpoint northern district of Jenin, to demolish the home of the assailant who carried out a March attack that killed five people in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak. The health ministry said that after that raid a Palestinian man died in hospital in Jenin. He had been admitted in critical condition, having been “shot by live bullets in the chest and thigh”.
Palestinian news agency Wafa said that six Palestinians were wounded in the Israeli raid. The army said it had also arrested the “terrorist’s father”.
It said it had informed the family of the shooter, Diaa Hamarsha, on April 17 of the demolition order against the family home.

Biden says US to send Ukraine ‘advanced rocket systems’ to hit ‘key targets’

WASHINGTON, June 1: President Joe Biden on Tuesday confirmed the United States will send more advanced rocket systems to Ukraine with ability to strike what he called “key targets” of Russia’s invasion force.
“We will provide the Ukrainians with more advanced rocket systems and munitions that will enable them to more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine,” Biden wrote in The New York Times.
A US official told reporters that the weapons being sent are Himars, or the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
With precision-guided munitions and a longer range than weapons currently deployed by Ukraine, the multiple rocket launchers represent an important upgrade at a time when the Ukrainians are battling Russian artillery in the east of the country.
The Himars rockets “will enable the Ukrainians to more precisely strike targets on the battlefield from greater distance inside Ukraine and to help them repel Russia,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“These systems will be used by the Ukrainians to repel Russian advances on Ukrainian territory but they will not be used against Russia.”
The Himars are the centerpiece of a $700 million package being unveiled Wednesday, also including air surveillance radars, more Javelin short-range anti-tank rockets, more artillery ammunition, helicopters, vehicles and spare parts, the official said.
Although there’d been speculation for days that Himars were going—following repeated pleas from Ukraine’s outgunned military—the announcement also made clear the US attempt to help Kyiv’s war effort while not being seen as a direct belligerent.
For that reason, the ammunition for the Himars will not include a version able to reach some 186 miles (300 kilometers), out of fear that the Ukrainians would use it to hit deep inside Russia.
They will instead get the version extending about 50 miles (80 km), which is still significantly further than the Ukrainians’ present capabilities, the US official said. That means Ukraine’s forces will be able to strike at Russian positions with the rockets from relative safety.
The “Ukrainians have given assurances they will not use these systems against Russian territory,” the official stressed. The new weaponry will come from a recently approved fund of $40 billion. Already the Biden administration has sent $4.5 billion in mostly military aid to Ukraine since the war began with Russia’s February invasion.

EU agrees on partial embargo on Russian oil, cutting Sberbank off SWIFT

BRUSSELS, May 31: EU leaders negotiated the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, which includes, in particular, partial embargo on import of Russian oil and cutting Russia’s Sberbank of the SWIFT international payment system, European Council President Charles Michel announced Monday.
“Agreement to ban export of Russian oil to the EU. This immediately covers more than 2/3 of oil imports from Russia, cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine. Maximum pressure on Russia to end the war,” Michel tweeted.
“This sanctions package includes other hard-hitting measures: de-Swifting the largest Russian bank Sberbank, banning 3 more Russian state-owned broadcasters, and sanctioning individuals responsible for war crimes in #Ukraine,” he added.
EU member states had been negotiating the sixth sanctions package for almost one month. Initially, the EU planned to ban import of all Russian oil and oil products, but this decision was opposed by Hungary and a number of other states, who believe that such measures will inflict catastrophic damage on European economy. The European Commission had to exclude Russian pipeline oil from the package to obtain Hungary’s consent.
In the meantime, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated ahead of the summit that no consensus had been achieved on oil embargo during the preliminary negotiations of EU envoys. Accusing the European Commission of irresponsibility, Orban called to ensure European countries’ energy security before imposing any sanctions.

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