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ABC News;NSW government to overhaul health protocol following toddler's death;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/nsw-joes-rule-northern-beaches-hospital-health-protocol-reach/104986738;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 09:22:26 +0000 | Joe's parents, Elouise and Danny Massa, spoke to the media as Ms Massa held up one of her son's shoes. |
ABC News;Man jailed for woman's death after stealing her car and driving over her;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/matthew-woodcock-jailed-for-killing-suzanne-scott-stealing-car/104983716;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 09:04:48 +0000 | Boulder Rd near Finch Hatton Gorge. |
ABC News;'Jaw fell to the floor': Labor MP calls out Dutton over share trades;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/peter-dutton-share-trades-andrew-charlton-wants-transprency/104987072;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 08:43:21 +0000 | Anthony Albanese supported Mr Charlton, who has a large property portfolio himself, as Member for Parramatta. |
ABC News;Lawyer asks jury to consider if murder accused acted in self-defence;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/yandle-lawyers-argue-self-defence/104983514;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 08:39:54 +0000 | A court sketch of Keith Russell Yandle during his trial in the SA Supreme Court. |
ABC News;NT chief justice responds to 'outrage' over court's youth bail decision;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/nt-chief-justice-lajamanu-teen-baby-home-invasion-bail-release/104985008;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 08:22:54 +0000 | Michael Grant says NT courts are bound by bail assessment laws passed by the territory's parliament. |
ABC News;Council declares all homeless camping illegal on public land;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/moreton-bay-council-makes-homeless-camping-a-crime/104985930;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 08:16:41 +0000 | Tamieka Brittnee has been camping in the City of Moreton Bay for more than two years. |
ABC News;Ute driver fined after getting bogged on protected salt pan;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/bogged-ute-driver-fined-protected-salt-pan-north-queensland/104986782;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 07:57:29 +0000 | The department said the vehicle was stuck in Bowling Green Bay National Park for about six weeks. |
ABC News;Marty Sheargold, Triple M part ways following Matildas furore;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/marty-sheargold-triple-m-part-ways-matildas/104986932;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 07:53:27 +0000 | In a statement, Marty Sheargold and Triple M said they have mutually agreed to part ways. |
ABC News;Mystery illness paralysing magpies concerns carers as cases increase;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/spike-in-magpie-deaths-concerns-perth-wildlife-carers/104984404;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 07:33:58 +0000 | WA Wildlife Hospital has been treating sick birds in large numbers. |
ABC News;'Disturbing' report finds top strata firm potentially broke the law;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/strata-firm-netstrata-independent-review-report-findings/104980978;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 07:27:08 +0000 | Strata firm Netstrata has been under investigation for charging clients excessive fees. |
ABC News;Cassius Turvey murder trial witness 'thought he was going to die', relives alleged attack;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/cassius-turvey-murder-trial-february-26/104985768;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 07:25:00 +0000 | Cassius Turvey died in hospital 10 days after he was allegedly attacked. |
ABC News;Lawyer allegedly assaulted amid battle for Nationals stronghold;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/andrew-gee-sam-farraway-calare-election-campaign-claims/104982888;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 07:21:35 +0000 | Andrew Gee says his campaign material is being targeted by vandals. |
ABC News;Melioidosis survivor recalls 'absolutely cruel' infection as cases rise;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/melioidosis-survivor-shares-story-queensland-outbreak/104984236;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 07:16:33 +0000 | Debbie-Joy Manttan contracted the rare tropical disease melioidosis. |
ABC News;Union takes Canberra private school to Fair Work Commission over unpaid wages and superannuation;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/brindabella-christian-college-fair-work-commission-union/104985944;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 06:56:16 +0000 | The school will be taken to the Fair Work Commission by the union over unpaid wages and superannuation. |
ABC News;Coroner condemns Jehovah's Witness blood rule after patient's death;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/jehovahs-witness-blood-transfusion-refusal-death-nsw-coroner/104983208;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 06:49:46 +0000 | Heather Winchester, who died in 2019, with her grandson. |
ABC News;Battered Alice Springs tourism operators say a bit of help will go a long way;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/alice-springs-tourism-industry-calls-for-support-fix-reputation/104979698;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 06:35:45 +0000 | Alice Springs tourism operators say federal support for their industry would have wider benefits. |
ABC News;Elizabeth Struhs's parents sentenced to 14 years jail for manslaughter;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/elizabeth-struhs-manslaughter-religious-group-sentencing/104938208;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 06:16:41 +0000 | Elizabeth Struhs died after she was not given her insulin. |
ABC News;Woman in her 20s dies after Toowoomba shooting;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/woman-dead-after-toowoomba-shooting/104986556;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 06:15:40 +0000 | Police were called to a North Toowoomba home after reports a woman had been seriously injured. |
ABC News;Senate committee backs Starlink to help people affected by 3G shutdown;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/senate-committee-report-3g-shutdown-starlink-support/104985932;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 06:03:00 +0000 | Gippsland farmer Damian Stock was one of hundreds of people who told the ABC he has had constant issues since the shutdown. |
ABC News;Prosecutors want substanial jail term for Canberra murder mastermind;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/murder-canberra-glenn-walewicz-mastermind-sentence/104986230;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 06:00:51 +0000 | 48-year-old Glenn Walewicz was shot outside his home in a case of mistaken identity. |
ABC News;'I'm so angry': Patient fury after latest update on Genea cyber breach;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/genea-ivf-cyber-incident-ransomware/104985242;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 05:54:41 +0000 | Genea last week confimed it had been hit by a cyber incident. |
ABC News;Wife of Vili's bakery founder claims he was misdiagnosed with Alzheimer's before his death;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/wife-of-vilis-founder-files-wrongful-death-suit/104985340;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 05:48:05 +0000 | Vili Milisits died in Sydney in March 2021. |
ABC News;Donor parents to be disclosed to their biological children on new register;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/donor-parents-disclosure-sa-register/104982926;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 05:39:34 +0000 | Damian Adams, who was conceived by donor, tracked down his biological father through DNA. |
ABC News;'If you think it's biased, it is biased': Albanese and Dutton turn to podcasts ahead of election;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/anthony-albanese-abbie-chatfield-podcasts-peter-dutton/104978668;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 05:35:35 +0000 | Podcaster Abbie Chatfield interviews Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. (Source: It's A Lot) |
The Guardian;Romanian prosecutors allowed Andrew and Tristan Tate to fly to US but say they must return when summoned – live;https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/feb/27/andrew-tate-tristan-romania-us-uk-europe-latest-news-updates;2025-02-27T09:42:44Z | Meanwhile in Germany, a viral social media image of the man likely to be Germany’s next chancellor and his transition team has revived longstanding questions about whether Friedrich Merz can bridge a persistent gender gap. “Not great optics” was among the more generous of the thousands of comments on the post by Merz’s Bavarian ally Markus Söder, which seemed to hark back to another time. “We’re ready for political change in Germany,” was Söder’s caption on X and Instagram for the shot from the all-male working breakfast in Berlin with Merz and his team, ranging in age from 47 to 69. In Sunday’s election, Germans elected fewer women to the parliament as a whole this time, making up 32.4% of the new class of MPs – down from 35%. Romanian media Adevarul and Antena 3 CNN are both reporting from their sources that the pair are expected to report for a court hearing in Bucharest in late March. The statement from the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism says that “the two defendants of dual British-American citizenship” have been allowed to travel, but have to report when summoned and any violation of this condition could lead to stricter restrictions on their movement. Here it is in full (in Romanian). Romanian prosecutors approved the request of internet personality Andrew Tate to travel outside Romania pending criminal investigation, Reuters reported. In other news, Austria may soon get a new government, after the conservative People’s Party (OVP) and Social Democrats (SPÖ) have just agreed to form a three-way coalition with the liberal Neos – The New Austria and Liberal Forum party. The government’s 200-page programme will be presented at a press conference at 11am CET and reportedly includes provisions for radical toughening of migration and asylum laws. The new cabinet is expected to be sworn in by Monday, but the deal is still subject to final approvals by parties. The talks between the three parties were again opened last week after previous attempts to form government in various configurations, including led by the election winners in the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ), failed to get any traction. It has been five months since the general election in September, the longest it has taken Austria to form a government since the second world war. Today was meant to be all about UK prime minister Keir Starmer’s visit to the US, a second attempt this week – after French president Emmanuel Macron’s trip on Monday – to put forward European arguments to US president Donald Trump in a bid to convince the new US administration of the importance of supporting Ukraine. But, but, but. Controversial British-American influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate have reportedly left Romania this morning on a private flight to the US, after securing a permission to leave the country, Romanian media report. The former professional kickboxer and his brother Tristan were arrested in 2022 and indicted in mid-2023, along with two Romanian women, on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. The brothers, who are dual UK-US citizens and have been vocal supporters of Trump, have denied wrongdoing. The UK is seeking the brothers’ extradition after Bedfordshire police were granted a warrant as part of an investigation into allegations of rape and human trafficking. What does it have to do with Starmer’s visit to the US and European relations with the new Trump administration, I hear you ask? In recent weeks, Financial Times (£) and other media outlets reported that the new US administration has pressed the Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on the pair. The reports were denied by the Romanian government, with the country’s prime minister Marcel Ciolacu saying last week that “the US has not made any requests to Romania” on this. Romanian foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu was quoted, however, as confirming, however that the US enquired about the brothers – even if he insisted there was “no form of pressure”. According to Antena 3 CNN, a Romanian news channel partnered with the US cable network, the brothers left on a private plane for Florida at 5:30am (3:30 GMT) this morning, after securing a permission to travel from the Romanian prosecutor’s office. The issue could have an impact on Starmer’s visit with questions over the role the US administration played in allowing the brothers to travel. I will bring you all the latest on this, Ukraine, and other topics around Europe. It’s Thursday, 27 February 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here. Good morning. |
The Guardian;Israel releases over 600 Palestinian prisoners as Hamas returns bodies of four hostages;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/hamas-gives-up-bodies-of-four-hostages-as-ceasefire-appears-to-get-back-on-track;2025-02-27T09:05:00Z | Hamas has handed over the bodies of four hostages, and Israel has released more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, as the five-week-old ceasefire appeared to get back on track after a breach that had brought fears of a return to war in Gaza. The bodies of the hostages were transferred to the Red Cross in southern Gaza and driven to the border point at Kerem Shalom at about midnight, when immediate identity checks were carried out using dental records. By dawn on Thursday morning, three out of the four had been positively identified, according to a group representing the hostages. Meanwhile, buses carrying Palestinian prisoners arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Khan Younis in Gaza and in Egypt, where 97 of the prisoners were deported. They will stay there until accepted by another country, Israeli officials said. Ambulances brought freed Palestinians to the European hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, where they were set to undergo medical examination. Prisoners freed in previous exchanges have had limbs amputated while in Israeli custody and many were extremely emaciated. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Information Office said on Thursday morning that 642 prisoners had been released overnight in the seventh phase of the Gaza ceasefire, of whom 46 were women or minors. If confirmed, it means Israel freed more Palestinians than scheduled, after a four-day breach in the ceasefire agreement. On Saturday, Israel had been due to free 602 prisoners and detainees in exchange for six surviving hostages, but the government suspended the transfer of the prisoners at the last moment, in protest at what it complained were the propaganda ceremonies Hamas staged to hand over hostages and the remains of the Israelis who had been killed while in captivity. Since then, Hamas agreed to hand over the four hostages’ bodies away from the cameras, and in return Netanyahu’s government said it would proceed with the prisoner releases, but implemented a new system of identity checks, first at the point of transfer in Kerem Shalom using dental records, followed by a more thorough check at a national forensics laboratory. The new measures followed an incident on Saturday when Hamas delivered the wrong body, apparently in error. Hamas said in a statement early on Thursday that the only way the remaining hostages would be freed was through commitment to the Gaza ceasefire deal. It said it had abided by the agreement and was ready to start talks on a second phase. The bodies handed over to the Red Cross just after midnight on Thursday morning were named by Hamas as Shlomo Mantzur, Tsachi Idan, Ohad Yahalomi and Itzhak Elgarat. The IDF said the identities of the bodies had not yet been verified. Relatives of Idan said that he was alive when he was taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October 2023, according to a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the group representing families of the hostages. “Since Tsachi was kidnapped, we received several signs of life, and in the previous deal last November, Tsachi was alive and expected to be released,” wrote the family. “We are still waiting for the much-needed certainty, which we can only receive after his arrival in Israel and after all necessary examinations are conducted by the authorised state authorities.” The latest exchange came as the UN human rights chief accused Israel on Wednesday of showing an unprecedented disregard for human rights in its military actions in Gaza and said Hamas had violated international law. “Nothing justifies the appalling manner in which Israel has conducted its military operations in Gaza, which consistently breached international law,” said Volker Türk, while presenting a report on the human rights situation in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to the human rights council in Geneva. “The level of devastation in Gaza is massive – from homes, to hospitals to schools,” Türk said, adding that “restrictions imposed by Israel … have created a humanitarian catastrophe”. Türk added: “Hamas has indiscriminately fired projectiles into Israeli territory – amounting to war crimes.” The exchange and the resumption of the ceasefire deal follow a national day of grief in Israel with thousands of Israelis waving flags, holding candles and singing the national anthem, lining the route of a funeral procession for two small children and their mother who were held hostage and died in captivity in Gaza. The bodies of the Bibases, who Hamas said were killed by airstrikes, were handed over last week. An Israeli autopsy report ruled the children had been murdered by their captors and then mutilated to simulate wounds from bombing. The funeral was held in the town of Tzohar, near the border with Gaza and Nir Oz kibbutz, where the family lived. The ceremony was private but mourners lined the road from the central city of Rishon LeZion holding Israeli flags and yellow banners, symbol of the hostage families and supporters, to watch the cortege go by. With the transfer of the four hostages’ bodies and the release of the Palestinians, the two side will have completed the obligations for the first six-week phase of the ceasefire. The second phase, due to start at the weekend, includes the release of all remaining hostages, and the complete withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza, but negotiations on the details are yet to begin just a few days before the weekend deadline. One possibility being studied to keep the ceasefire alive while the second phase is being negotiated is to extend the first phase, but it is yet to be agreed whether more hostages and prisoners would be released during the extension. |
The Guardian;Seized, settled, let: how Airbnb and Booking.com help Israelis make money from stolen Palestinian land;https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/feb/27/seized-settled-let-how-airbnb-and-bookingcom-help-israelis-make-money-from-stolen-palestinian-land;2025-02-27T08:00:32Z | The villa is stunning. The private swimming pool; the lush, landscaped terrace with firepit; the long dining table with its expansive balcony view; the pingpong table; the piano. But the jewel in the crown, according to the Airbnb listing, is the experience of watching the sun rise over the nearby mountains from the luxury of the generous master bedroom. The villa with views of the Judean mountains is in a settlement located on land seized from Palestinians and considered illegal under international humanitarian law. Only a handful of Palestinians are allowed to enter this, and other, Israeli settlements in the West Bank, usually as labourers with special permits. Exclusive analysis carried out by the Guardian found 760 rooms being advertised in hotels, apartments and other holiday rentals in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, on two of the world’s most popular tourism websites. Taken together, the listings that appear on either Airbnb or Booking.com could host more than 2,000 people as of August 2024. The villa was just one of them. “Tekoa is a quiet, respectful and diverse, residential community,” reads the listing. There is no mention of the recent confrontations just outside the town, involving guns, clubs, knives and dogs, which have forced neighbouring Palestinians off their land. In a four-mile radius around Tekoa at least 100 Palestinians have been forced out since 2023. The rate of violence and land grabs in the area has escalated dramatically since the start of the war in Gaza. Despite the recent violence, Tekoa – an area known for its natural beauty, organic farms, the nearby Israeli-administered Nahal Tekoa nature reserve and Herodion national park – was the settlement in the West Bank with the highest number of listed holiday rentals on Airbnb outside East Jerusalem. In total the Guardian identified almost 350 properties – 321 of them houses, apartments or rooms listed on Airbnb, and 26 hotels on Booking.com – across the West Bank including East Jerusalem, as of 30 August 2024. Hotel rooms or holiday rentals listed on both sites were counted only once. Duplicates were removed by assigning holiday lets (those in apartments and houses) as Airbnbs and hotel rooms as Booking.com. Looking at listings instead of properties, there were 402 in total across the West Bank including East Jerusalem – 350 on Airbnb and 52 on Booking.com. The Airbnb listings found by the Guardian analysis include 18 situated in outposts – settlements considered illegal under international law and also not officially authorised by the Israeli government and against Israeli law. ‘War crimes are not a tourist attraction’ By operating in settlements, multinational companies including Booking.com and Airbnb are violating international law, human rights activists warn. Booking.com and Airbnb are among 16 non-Israeli companies identified by the UN as having ties to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. “Any company doing business in Israel’s illegal settlements is enabling a war crime and helping to prop up Israel’s system of apartheid,” Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UK’s crisis response manager, said in response to the Guardian’s findings. “With Israeli military forces and settlers having killed and injured huge numbers of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank including East Jerusalem in the last 15 months, tourist companies are making themselves complicit in a blood-soaked system of Israeli war crimes and systematic repression. “War crimes are not a tourist attraction – Airbnb, Booking.com and the wider business community should immediately sever all links with Israel’s illegal occupation and ongoing annexation of Palestinian territory.” Sari Bashi, programme director at Human Rights Watch, said that, in allowing properties in Israeli settlements to be listed on their sites, “Airbnb and Booking.com are contributing to land grabs, crippling movement restrictions and even the forced displacement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, abuses that Israeli authorities commit in order to maintain oppression and domination over Palestinians as part of the crime against humanity of apartheid”. “Businesses should not enable, facilitate, or profit from serious violations of international law. The time has come for both companies to stop doing business in the occupied territories on stolen land.” The companies’ hosting of listings on occupied Palestinian territory has also attracted legal challenges. Dutch prosecutors are continuing to investigate a criminal complaint against Booking.com over its listing of rental properties in Israeli settlements, with no decision made as to whether to take further action. The Dutch non-profit organisation the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (Somo) filed the complaint with the Dutch public prosecutor in November 2023. In the complaint Booking.com is accused of “profiting from war crimes by facilitating the rental of vacation homes on land stolen from the indigenous Palestinian population”. Last month the group submitted fresh evidence to Dutch prosecutors alleging that since filing the initial complaint, Booking.com had “significantly expanded” its listings in the occupied West Bank. Lydia de Leeuw of Somo, who leads the complaint, told the Guardian: “We can see from the continued [Booking.com] listings … in the occupied Palestinian territory that they have no intention whatsoever of stopping doing what they are doing.” In a landmark advisory opinion in July 2024 the UN’s international court of justice ordered Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories, saying that its presence there violated international law. It also advised member states not to recognise the occupation as legal, or to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation. West Bank tourism in the holiday rental era The settler claim that the stolen land is now Israeli can be seen in the Airbnb listings. Two in five Airbnb properties on Israeli settlements listed their location as Israel – not the occupied Palestinian territories – in their title, addresses or location details, and only two listings explicitly mentioned they were on Palestinian land. Three-quarters of them mentioned the name of the settlement in the title, name or location. As of 30 August, just five of the 26 hotels listed in Israeli settlements on Booking.com explicitly mentioned in their address or description that they were located on Palestinian territory. Airbnb announced in November 2018 it would remove about 200 listings in the occupied West Bank, but the company reversed its decision months later after Israeli lawyers filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of hosts and others against removing the listings. The company has said it donates profits from the area to aid organisations. A 2019 Amnesty International report said the Israeli government had been increasing its support to the tourism industry linked to settlements and it has constructed “many of its settlements close to archaeological sites to make the link between the modern state of Israel and its Jewish history explicit”. “The designation of certain locations as tourist sites is also used by the Israeli government to justify the takeover of Palestinian land and homes”, resulting in forced evictions and restrictions on Palestinians to expand their homes or cultivate the land, the report said. Israel’s policy of exploiting historical and religious sites as well as areas of natural beauty, designated nature reserves and national parks on the West Bank for international tourism went hand in hand with de-developing the Palestinian tourism industry, said a 2017 report on the Israeli tourism sector by the Israeli NGO Who Profits. For example, only 0.3% of licensed tour guides permitted to lead tours in Israel and the West Bank are Palestinians, despite nearly 40% of tourist sites visited by international tourists to Israel in 2014 being located in occupied Palestinian territory. Violence in the West Bank since October 2023 Since the 2023 Gaza war began, violence has increased significantly in the West Bank. A total of 881 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank in the 10 years before 7 October 2023, and 877 have been killed in the 16 months since to 11 Feb 2025, according to UN data. Out of that number, 857 were killed by the Israeli military. That compares with 32 Israeli deaths in the West Bank since October 2023, 21 of them soldiers. The destruction of Palestinian properties in the West Bank has also escalated in the past two years, data from B’Tselem shows. Between 2006 and 2024, Israel made 9,700 people homeless in the West Bank by demolishing their houses, a number that reached its highest yearly total in 2024, when 841 properties were demolished and 953 people made homeless. Airbnb and Booking.com’s responses Airbnb has refused to disclose how much it has donated to humanitarian organisations since 2019, when it reversed its decision to remove rental listings of homes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Announcing the reversal, the US company said it would transfer all proceeds from all rentals in the West Bank to humanitarian organisations. The proceeds have gone to the Institute for Economics and Peace, an international thinktank headquartered in Sydney, Australia. An Airbnb spokesperson said: “Since 2019, Airbnb has donated all profits generated from host activity in the West Bank to an international nonprofit. We will continue this approach as part of our global framework on disputed territories.” A spokesperson for Booking.com said: “The war in Gaza and the increasing violence in the West Bank, Lebanon and Israel are heartbreaking, and we have been terribly saddened by the extreme pain, suffering and losses that so many people in the region are enduring. Our thoughts are with all those impacted and we sincerely hope for an end to the violence. “Our mission is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world and as such we believe it’s up to travellers to choose where they want and need to go. It’s not our place to decide where someone can or cannot travel. “Unfortunately, there are many parts of the world where there are conflicts or disputes, which is why we want to make sure travellers are well-informed when making their plans. If a particular region can be categorised as disputed or impacted by conflict, we add information to our platform to help ensure that travellers can make a well-informed choice, or at least consult their government’s official travel advisories as part of their decision-making process.” Additional graphics work by Tural Ahmedzade and Pablo Gutiérrez |
The Guardian;It’s the liberal German dilemma: Merz is anathema, but he might stand up to Trump | John Kampfner;https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2025/feb/27/liberal-germany-friedrich-merz-donald-trump-defence;2025-02-27T07:00:29Z | Donald Trump and his lieutenants have done Germans an enormous favour. Perilously late in the day, the US president and special envoy to the Kremlin has alerted Germany and the rest of Europe that there is one fault line, and one alone, between democracy and autocracy. All other political issues facing the country pale into insignificance. It seems that Friedrich Merz gets it, even if many in his country still don’t. Since winning Sunday’s election, the Christian Democrat (CDU) chancellor-elect has used every opportunity to warn of the dangers of the Trumpian new world order. He has not sought to provide reassurance, something that Germans tend to crave from their politicians. He is emphasising jeopardy for two immediate reasons: he needs the forlorn Social Democrats (SPD), whose third place in the election marked a historic low, to join him in a government not in their image. He also needs to unlock a borrowing facility that will allow him to spend big on defence. But it is more than that. The penny seems to have dropped. This was not his position before. He was one of those to argue that Germany needed to live within its means and that therefore the “debt brake” should not be tinkered with. He now accepts that a special, longer-term fund is required to pay for enhanced defence. The problem is that to be reformed it needs a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament, because the rule was absurdly enshrined into the constitution in 2009. Merz went into the election campaign last November confident in the view (he does not lack self-regard) that he could do business with Trump. An arch-Atlanticist, and a former chair of BlackRock investment house, he suggested he’d get along just fine with his fellow conservative in the White House; two fist-pumping men who were tough on immigration and all things “woke” and were eager to cut taxes and slash bureaucracy. Then came Munich and the extraordinary assault on Europe, Ukraine, Germany and democracy led by Trump’s bilious vice-president, JD Vance, in front of the global establishment at the annual security conference. For the French and Brits, the US about-turn and warm embrace of Vladimir Putin is horrifying. For Germans it is existential – and challenges the bedrock of their post-1945 state (or at least the western part). Confronted by this crisis, many Germans have fallen into intense gloom. Last weekend, one acquaintance talked about the prospect of nuclear war. Another wondered whether he should sell his apartment “before the Russians invade, with the Americans’ blessing”. Berlin is one hour from the Polish border. The land is flat. There is another response, a healthier one, which is to accept that the status quo ante will never return and that Germany needs to channel that anxiety into a more muscular approach towards defence and international relations. Uncomfortable political choices will have to be made; a psychological transformation is required. Germany needs to shed the two tropes that have dominated much of its thinking, particularly since reunification in 1990. One of these goes: “We are so terrible, we can’t be trusted with anything military – can’t someone else make these problems go away?” The second says: “Unlike you, we’re over all things military; we’ve reached a higher plane.” The former is based in inferiority, the latter in superiority. They may be diametrically opposed, but they are often espoused by the same people – the “salon pacifists” who have influenced all political parties. This complacency began to change when Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022 (although days before, senior German diplomats were telling me he was “far too sensible” to take such an “irrational” step). In the only courageous act of his time in office, Olaf Scholz presaged a harder-edged approach to Russia. The term Zeitenwende – an epoch-changing moment – was applied to his speech to parliament announcing a special €100bn (£83bn) defence fund and immediate assistance to Kyiv. Of all European states, Germany provided most military assistance to Ukraine – but it was always hesitant and late. Scholz and other leaders, including from the UK, are culpable in ensuring that, while Ukraine might not lose on the battlefield, it could never win. With the arms at its disposal, it would never have been able to take back the lands recently lost, let alone during the first invasion in 2014. That is all over. Ukraine’s betrayal is definitive. Trump and Putin will see to that. Many Germans wonder who is next. The 84% turnout last Sunday was remarkable, suggesting a country that cares deeply about what happens next. Yet many voters, particularly those who consider themselves on the centre left, were in a terrible bind. As was I, voting here for the first time. With the SPD washed up, the Greens remained the alternative for some. Their priorities of climate and human rights (hence tough on Russia) retains an appeal. The surprise package was Die Linke (the Left), galvanised under younger leadership, with an uplifting, radical domestic agenda. But what about its position on Russia? Will it really side with the Putin-loving Alternative für Deutschland in voting against defence increases, in the name of a specious “peace”? Which leaves Merz. In his approach to migration, his social agenda, and in his often confrontational personality, he is seen as anathema by many liberals. But might he stand up to Trump? Might he deliver on some of the domestic issues that have led so many voters to feel aggrieved? After four years of indecision at home and invisibility abroad, hard times have led to this hard leader. John Kampfner is the author of In Search of Berlin, Blair’s Wars and Why the Germans Do It Better |
The Guardian;Thursday briefing: What’s on the line as Keir Starmer meets Donald Trump in Washington;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/27/thursday-briefing-whats-on-the-line-as-keir-starmer-meets-donald-trump-in-washington;2025-02-27T06:51:35Z | Good morning. What’s wooden, a bit wet, and gets walked all over? Not the UK’s prime minister, of course – heaven forfend – but the thing he is aspiring to be on his visit to Washington today: a bridge. And while my slightly overworked joke isn’t entirely fair, it does get at the central dilemma facing Keir Starmer as he meets with Donald Trump. On the flight over, Starmer told reporters that US security guarantees are the only way to stop Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine again. The view in Downing Street is that if you want to be the link man for Washington’s relationship with Europe and secure such a commitment, there is no point in confronting Trump with disagreements. Instead, they say, it is better to show him ways that the UK is following his agenda – hence the timing of the announcement on an increase in military funding. But others argue that offering yourself as a bridge to someone who is plainly striding off in another direction is a waste of time – and what Trump really needs to see from Europe is a show of strength. For today’s newsletter, I spoke to the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, about Starmer’s strategy, what he’s learned from comparing notes with Emmanuel Macron, and why Love Actually still isn’t the model for transatlantic diplomacy. Here are the headlines. Five big stories Politics | Parents of under-fives could be exempted from the government’s two-child benefit limit under a range of options UK ministers are considering as they try to bring down child poverty numbers without removing the rule altogether. Israel-Gaza war | Hamas has handed over the bodies of four hostages, and Israel has released some Palestinian prisoners, as the five-week-old ceasefire appeared to get back on track after a breach that had brought fears of a return to war in Gaza. UK news | Seven organisations involved in the Grenfell Tower disaster face possible debarment from government contracts as ministers set out plans to improve building safety and strengthen accountability. Equality | Students from working-class backgrounds still only make up 5% of entrants to medical schools across the UK, a proportion that has doubled over the past decade, analysis has found. US news | The actor Michelle Trachtenberg, known for her performances in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harriet the Spy, has died at the age of 39. Police said that the cause was unknown but that the death was not being treated as suspicious. In depth: ‘They’re consistently trying to show Trump that they are listening’ Donald Trump certainly doesn’t sound like he shares Keir Starmer’s vision for a future American role in Ukraine. “I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much,” he said yesterday. “We’re going to have Europe do that.” Starmer is nonetheless hoping that a commitment might be extracted. He has been attempting a tightrope act in the last two weeks: on the one hand, asserting that Volodymyr Zelenskyy was democratically elected after Trump called him a dictator, and leading European promises to put boots on the ground in Ukraine. On the other hand, declining to veto a UN security council resolution supported by the US that featured no criticism of Moscow’s conduct. “I do think Starmer has shown a bit more leadership recently,” Patrick Wintour said. “There has been no ambiguity about what the UK has said about supporting Ukraine – but they don’t see any purpose in criticising Trump directly. There are others in Europe who think that the ways have already parted.” Yesterday, the new UK ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson – pictured above with Starmer last night – told the New York Times: “It’s not Starmer’s style to have exchanges on words or semantics. He just wants to get stuff done.” Here’s how that approach might play out at the White House today. *** What does Starmer want to talk about? There are lots of major issues that the UK would like to make progress on: Trump’s tariffs, his approach to the Middle East, and the Chagos Islands, to name just a few. (Peter Walker has a full rundown of Starmer’s priorities.) The UK certainly hopes to exert influence over Gaza’s future, with a “non-paper”, or informal memo, recently distributed to ambassadors in the Middle East setting out clear opposition to Trump’s insistence that he can simply displace the territory’s residents and take control of it. “That is much closer to the proposals set out by the Egyptians than anything the Americans have supported,” Patrick said. “So that is important to the UK.” In the end, though, there may be a feeling that in a personal meeting with Trump there is only likely to be the bandwidth for a focus on one thing – and that is bound to be Ukraine. “There will be a bit of distribution of some of those other issues at official level,” Patrick said. “And [foreign secretary] David Lammy is in DC at the same time – they do want some progress on whether the US is going to accept the Chagos Islands deal, too. But for Starmer, Ukraine is of course the big subject, and specifically the question of whether the US will provide assurances of a backstop for any peacekeeping force involving the UK.” *** What does Trump want? In public, Trump tends to suggest that his meetings with foreign leaders are trivial favours he is happy to offer if they are so desperate to see him. “I hear that he’s coming on Friday,” Trump said about Zelenskyy. “Certainly, it’s OK with me if he’d like to.” And of Starmer, he said: “He asked to come and see me and I just accepted his asking.” Maintaining this posture of psychological supremacy may be his personal priority for the meeting, if he has one at all – and so the UK’s announcement on military spending, long a Trump bugbear with Europe, feels very obviously timed. The hope may be that it will be interpreted by Trump as evidence of his favourite thing: someone doing something because he has told them to. “It’s a gift with a bow on it,” Patrick said. “They’re consistently trying to show Trump that they are listening to him. But it’s also, more quietly, accelerated by the growing acceptance that the US is just not a reliable ally. So it’s about equity of commitment, but it’s also about independence.” It is also quite likely that he views the meeting with Starmer as a sideshow, even if it does get him an invitation to visit King Charles. His meeting with Zelenskyy tomorrow may give a clearer sense of whether there is any kind of prospect of him coming round on a support role for the US in guaranteeing a peace deal. But the rare earth minerals deal they are expected to sign is reported to only contain the vaguest references to Ukraine’s future security. *** What lessons will Starmer take from Macron’s visit? In this excellent analysis piece from Tuesday, Patrick reports that the UK and France have been working more closely on Ukraine than on any issue since Brexit, and that “the aim was … to use their visits this week to operate as a pincer movement” – to persuade Trump that Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted, and that America’s future still lies in partnership with Europe. “The message is that if you give everything away to Putin, you will be seen as weak – particularly by China,” Patrick said. Macron and Starmer have already spoken directly, he noted. “One of the things discussed will have been the fact that Trump said to Macron that he had got Putin’s agreement to European troops being allowed into Ukraine on a reassurance basis, only for the Kremlin to then contradict that publicly. So the one thing he thought he’d come away with has disappeared.” Macron did try to assert himself by pointing out the extent of Europe’s contribution to Ukraine, which Trump has repeatedly falsely downplayed – not a Love Actually moment, quite, but enough in a period of European weakness to engender a bit of continental pride. “He really had no choice,” Patrick said. “If Europe is to have standing in these talks, he had to make it clear that they are as financially committed as anyone.” After Macron’s fairly chaotic encounter, the Downing Street team will try their best to stick to a rigid structure today. “They won’t want it to drift in the same way,” Patrick said. “Normally the photo opportunity at the beginning of the meeting is two minutes – this one went on and on because Trump took endless questions, and that eats into the bilateral, and then there’s a press conference anyway. So the UK side will be looking to keep things moving.” That is partly because the longer Trump talks, the more likely it is he will say something controversial that Starmer has to respond to on the fly – which probably doesn’t come to him as naturally as it does to Macron. *** Is the idea of being Trump’s ‘bridge’ to Europe viable? This has become something of a mantra in the past few weeks: the idea that there is no need to choose sides, and that instead the UK can continue to act in the role it has always claimed for itself, as a plausible broker for the Europeans and Anglo-Saxons alike. “I believe we in the UK can play a part, as that bridge between the US and Europe as we adjust to this new era – and it certainly is a new era,” business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said last week. “But I think it would be wrong to portray this as some sort of fundamental breach.” In practice, this “bridge” status has so far meant two things: avoiding direct confrontation with Trump, and financial commitment. “I think ‘bridge’ is a self-designated status, really,” Patrick said. “The UK and France are still certainly advocates of engagement. But there are others in Europe saying that it’s time to come to terms with reality – that he is out to divide and weaken Europe.” Today will provide a clear point of evidence for who is right. “Starmer still thinks that there’s a way to draw him back to the European alliance,” Patrick said. “He’s not going to shift away from that approach for now.” What else we’ve been reading For the long read, Sophie Elmhirst writes about Helen Garner (above) – revered as a great writer in her native Australia, but criminally ignored in much of the rest of the world. It’s a wonderful profile – funny, full of drama, and alive to the joyous informality of Garner’s voice. Archie Some regions of the US anticipate extreme weather events worsened by the climate crisis, while others have been labelled “climate-proof.” However, recent disasters in these so-called climate havens challenge this assumption. Alexandra Tempus argues that it’s time for a new framework. Nimo Emine Saner is such a good feature writer, and this one’s fascinating, eccentric, and totally charming: the David and Goliath battle to stop BT removing the last phone box in a Norfolk village. Archie Waleed Lahlouh, a 73-year-old grandfather, was among the 40,000 Palestinians displaced across the occupied West Bank this year. He was killed by the Israeli military in broad daylight while gathering winter clothes for his family. In their dispatch from Jenin, Emma Graham-Harrison and Sufian Taha capture the devastation his family endured and the broader implications of the IDF’s recent attacks on the West Bank. Nimo In this week’s Long Wave newsletter, Jason Okundaye spoke with Bafta-winning film-maker and historian David Olusoga about retrieving an archive of black British history, on the back of HBO’s new drama series A Thousand Blows, which follows the story of Hezekiah Moscow, a young Jamaican man who arrived in Victorian London to become a lion tamer. Nimo Sport Football | Liverpool beat Newcastle 2-0 via strikes from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister to open up a 13-point gap at the top of the table. On a busy night in the Premier League, Manchester United beat Ipswich 3-2 despite having Patrick Dorgu sent off and Manchester City returned to the top four with a 1-0 win at Spurs. Cricket | Jos Buttler will consider his future as England’s white-ball captain after an agonising eight-run defeat by Afghanistan in Lahore that terminated his side’s Champions Trophy hopes. The result made it a third consecutive tournament failure under Buttler’s leadership. Football | A first-half goal from Jessica Park was enough to give England a 1-0 win over World Cup holders Spain at Wembley in the Nations League. The result was a much-needed boost for Sarina Wiegman’s side after two wins from five games since their European Championship qualifying campaign. The front pages “Starmer to press Trump on security guarantees in critical Ukraine talks” says the Guardian, while the Daily Mail takes an attacking line: “Starmer ‘set to blow defence billions on Chagos surrender’”. “Back Europe on Putin and meet King: Starmer’s top Trump card” – that’s the i while the Telegraph has “Starmer to confront Trump on Ukraine” and the Mirror goes with “Starmer warning to Trump – he’ll strike again”, meaning Putin. Similarly the Times brings up the Russian ruler: “We need you to hold back Putin, PM tells Trump”. “Trump’s threat of 25% tariffs on EU goods heightens fears over trade war” is the FT’s splash today. Metro runs with: “Deal or no deal? Zelensky says mineral agreement will quietly fade away unless Trump protects his nation from Russia”. “Claudia cops to search hidden loft” is the top story in the Daily Express, about Claudia Lawrence, who has been missing since 2009. Today in Focus Can Spain make immigration a vote-winner? How much is immigration responsible for Spain’s economic growth? Ashifa Kassam reports. Cartoon of the day | Ella Baron The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad Newlyweds Camille Rosenfeld and James Hayes are embracing an adventure as live-in caretakers of Great Blasket, an uninhabited island off Ireland’s coast. Swapping modern comforts for a simpler life, they will manage holiday cottages and a coffee hatch, relying on spring water and wind-powered batteries. Despite the island’s rugged beauty, seals, seabirds, and breathtaking sunsets, life can be challenging because of the harsh weather and isolation. Nevertheless, they welcome the change, seeing it as a chance to slow down and reconnect with nature. Chosen from hundreds of applicants, they are ready to immerse themselves in the island and switch off from the distractions of daily living. As James puts it: “It’s a chance to live a simpler life”. Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply |
The Guardian;Ukraine’s economy could grow by 5% next year if hostilities end, EBRD says;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/27/ukraines-economy-could-grow-by-5-next-year-if-hostilities-end-ebrd-says;2025-02-27T06:00:27Z | The war-torn Ukrainian economy could expand by 5% next year if a ceasefire is agreed, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has predicted – but prospects for reconstruction depend on a lasting peace. The London-based lender has invested $6.2bn (£4.9bn) in projects in Ukraine over the course of the three-year conflict. It forecasts GDP growth for Ukraine at 3.5% this year, as the country battles inflation caused by Russian attacks on power generation, and 5% in 2026, if hostilities are halted. Beata Javorcik, the EBRD’s chief economist, said it is prepared to support the rebuilding of Ukraine in the event that negotiations secure an end to the war. “We stand ready to invest when the time comes,” she said. As Washington hails an anticipated agreement with Kyiv on extracting Ukraine’s valuable mineral resources, Javorcik praised the Zelenskyy government’s approach to steering the economy through terrible circumstances. “The positive things are that despite three years of the war, the Ukrainian government managed to maintain macroeconomic stability,” she said. “That’s a great achievement.” But asked about the longer-term outlook for Ukraine, Javorcik pointed to EBRD analysis of two centuries’ worth of data, which showed that of those countries in which a war is fought, half still bear the economic scars 25 years later. “The success of reconstruction is not assured,” Javorcik said. “To a large extent this is driven by the fact that peace is elusive, that conflict gets reignited relatively quickly.” She added: “What this resolution to the conflict will mean for Ukraine will depend on how stable the situation is.” Donald Trump has begun talks with Moscow aimed at ending the war but the US has not invited Kyiv to join the negotiations, and appears to be contemplating making significant concessions to Russia. Trump initially mooted the mineral extraction arrangement as a way of Kyiv repaying US backing for the country’s war efforts. It remains unclear what role the US expects to play in reconstructing Ukraine, if peace talks succeed. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said: “Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has placed a heavy burden on the global economy, with higher energy prices, higher food prices and disruption to global trade.” Speaking at the G20 meeting of finance ministers in South Africa, Reeves added: “It is essential it’s a just and a durable peace if we are to get the benefits both for Ukraine and indeed the global economy.” Javorcik was speaking as the EBRD, which is backed by 75 countries as well as the EU, issued its latest economic forecasts for the region it covers – which includes central and eastern Europe, the Baltic states and the Caucasus. Across these countries, the EBRD has revised down its forecast of average GDP growth for 2025 to 3.2%, from the 3.5% it had forecast in September. Javorcik pointed to the impact of continued economic uncertainty, such as Trump’s tariff plans, and the backdrop of rising defence spending across the continent, as nations adjust to a more dangerous geopolitical environment. “Defence expenditure is going up not just in the Baltic states and Poland; it has gone up in Lebanon, in Armenia, in Kyrgyz Republic, in Greece, in Tunisia,” she said. “It’s a broad-based disappearance of the peace dividend that we enjoyed over the last decade – and this has implications for long-term growth. “If defence expenditure is viewed as a necessity, and if you can’t cut social expenditure because it’s politically impossible, then what you’re going to cut is education, R&D, investment in infrastructure – meaning all the things that build foundations for long-term growth,” she said. Analysing the potential impact of Trump’s tariffs, taking a 10% across-the-board levy as an example, the EBRD said most countries in its area of operation would not be hit hard directly because their exports to the US are limited. But the indirect impact could be much larger: its analysis suggests for every 1% hit to German GDP growth because of tariffs, EBRD economies would contract by 0.8%. “That’s an average figure. It would be somewhat higher for countries like Turkey, Hungary and Slovakia,” Javorcik said. |
The Guardian;Merz’s all-male team photo revives question of gender equality in Germany ;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/27/friedrich-merz-germany-all-male-photo-gender-gap;2025-02-27T05:00:28Z | Six beaming election winners huddled around a table and not a woman among them: a viral social media image of the man likely to be Germany’s next chancellor and his transition team has revived longstanding questions about whether Friedrich Merz can bridge a persistent gender gap. “Not great optics” was among the more generous of the thousands of comments on the post by Merz’s Bavarian ally Markus Söder, which seemed to hark back to another time. “We’re ready for political change in Germany,” was Söder’s caption on X and Instagram for the shot from the all-male working breakfast in Berlin with Merz and his team, ranging in age from 47 to 69. Söder had earlier welcomed the victory of the conservative CDU/CSU alliance in Sunday’s general election as an opportunity to “return to an old Germany … a Germany of normality”. The picture attracted a slew of derision. “Get us a coffee, won’t you, sweetie?” went an imaginary caption. “Did you hide the women under the table?” asked an Instagram user. “Where are the women, in the kitchen?” asked another. “There are more doors than women in this picture,” observed a third. The Greens co-leader Franziska Brantner remarked tartly: “The new Syrian government is probably more diverse than the Union’s negotiating team,” she told the news agency DPA. Her predecessor as party chief, Ricarda Lang, shared the picture, sarcastically echoing previous comments by Merz: “Quotas primarily hurt women themselves.” Others asked why the CSU’s Dorothee Bär, one of the few women deemed likely to join Merz’s cabinet, had not been included after winning an absolute majority in her constituency, the strongest result in the country. The CDU politician Lilli Fischer attempted to defend the party on X, saying the general secretary pictured “could have been a woman – if all the women asked hadn’t said no. That’s part of the truth too.” Germans elected fewer women to the parliament as a whole this time, making up 32.4% of the new class of MPs – down from 35%. The Greens will have the most female representation in their parliamentary group with 61%. The far-right Alternative für Deutschland has the least, about 12%, although it chose a woman, Alice Weidel, as its candidate for chancellor. The CDU and CSU are in the middle at about 23% and 25% respectively. The CDU has produced two of the most powerful women in recent European history: Angela Merkel and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen. But as Merz, 69, pledges a rightwards restoration to pull the party back from the centre after the Merkel years, many observers fear women will take a backseat in the process. The outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, put a premium on gender parity in his centre-left-led government, maintaining a near 50/50 balance until the coalition imploded in November. His predecessor, Merkel, rejected quotas but steadily included more women in her cabinets during her 16 years in power. Her last cabinet had nine male ministers and eight women, including herself. Merz, by contrast, has ruled out a gender-balanced cabinet. “We wouldn’t do women any favours with that,” he said last year, pointing to the “crass miscasting” of a female defence minister, Christine Lambrecht, who was forced to resign in January 2023, as a reason not to explicitly seek out women. Nevertheless the CDU leader introduced a gender-parity quota in 2022 for his party’s executive board “to show the outside world that we take the issue seriously”. Commentators have long asked whether Merz’s old-school image will prove to be a liability while leading a Germany riven by deep divisions. Does Merz, they wonder, have a Frauenproblem? An Ipsos poll this month showed that only one in six women thought Merz had the qualities necessary to be chancellor. The figure was higher among men, at about one in five, reflecting the biggest gender divide among the candidates in the race. Matthias Jung, a political analyst at the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen institute, called Merz “more of a liability than an asset” for his party in the run-up to the vote, noting an exodus of traditionally conservative older female voters from the party not seen since the 1980s. Speaking to Der Spiegel magazine, he called it the “Merkel gap”, referring to the former chancellor’s appeal among educated, politically independent female voters over 45. Analysts say Merz’s weak favourability ratings will prove a challenge after he turned in the CDU/CSU’s second-worst general election result since the second world war with 29%. Exit polls showed 30% of men voted for Merz’s bloc compared with just 27% of women. The gender split was particularly stark among younger voters, who abandoned the traditional centrist parties for the fringes. After losing a power struggle with Merkel in the early 2000s, Merz took a decade-long hiatus from politics in which he made a fortune in business. During the campaign, opponents picked up decisions he made long ago as an MP to attack him. One of the most high-profile examples was a 1997 vote against making rape in marriage punishable by law. Merz said he had favoured a more limited, conservative-backed version of the bill and has said he would vote differently now. Serap Güler, a CDU board member who has clashed with Merz on migration, admitted during the campaign that the party had been unsuccessful in “liberating” him from the “cliche” of being more retrograde than today’s mainstream. But she called on Merz to take that perception into account when forming his new coalition government, most likely with the Social Democrats. “I would find it more than regrettable if out of 14 or 15 ministries only five were filled by women,” she told Zeit Online. Merkel, who had been tight-lipped about her old rival during the campaign, congratulated Merz on his win by text message, wishing him “luck in forming his government”, a spokesperson said. |
The Guardian;North Korea behind $1.5bn hack of crypto exchange ByBit, says FBI;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/27/north-korea-bybit-crypto-exchange-hack-fbi;2025-02-27T03:35:43Z | North Korea was behind the theft of approximately $1.5bn in virtual assets from a cryptocurrency exchange, the FBI has said, in what is being described as the biggest heist in history. The haul, which reportedly has since lost some of its value, exceeded the previous record sum of $1bn stolen by the dictator Saddam Hussein from Iraq’s central bank before the 2003 war, and underlines the North’s growing expertise in cybercrime. Describing this particular form of North Korean malicious cyber activity as “TraderTraitor”, the FBI on Wednesday warned that the virtual assets, stolen from ByBit, a Dubai-based crypto trading platform, would eventually be turned into currency. “TraderTraitor actors are proceeding rapidly and have converted some of the stolen assets to bitcoin and other virtual assets dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains,” said an FBI statement. The bureau added that it expected the assets would be further laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency – a normal, government-backed currency that is not tied to commodities such as gold. North Korea is known to operate a sophisticated cybercrime unit – known as the Lazarus Group – that has been responsible for audacious thefts whose proceeds are thought to have funded the regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Hackers linked to North Korea stole more than US$1.3bn in cryptocurrency in 2024 – then a record amount – according to a report published in late December. The thefts were spread out over 47 incidents, the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis said, adding that the total was a dramatic jump from the $660m seized in 2023. “Hackers linked to North Korea have become notorious for their sophisticated and relentless tradecraft, often employing advanced malware, social engineering, and cryptocurrency theft to fund state-sponsored operations and circumvent international sanctions,” Chainalysis said in its report. UN officials monitoring sanctions imposed on North Korea believe that the proceeds from dozens of suspected cyber-attacks the regime carried out between 2017 and 2023 were used to improve its nuclear weapons programme. While his country’s economy has been battered by sanctions, the Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters, Kim Jong-un has in recent years overseen significant improvements to North Korea’s potential to strike distant targets, including the US mainland. Cybercrime is not the only means by which the regime earns foreign currency. Kim’s regime has supplied weapons, ammunition and troops to support the Russian invasion of Ukraine in exchange for cash and technological knowhow. South Korea’s spy agency claimed on Thursday that Pyongyang had sent more soldiers to Russia, with some deployed to the frontline in Kursk, in addition to about 11,000 North Korean troops already thought to be in the Russian border region. “The North Korean military, after a lull of about a month, was redeployed to the Kursk frontlines … with some additional troop deployments appearing to have taken place,” an official from the South’s National Intelligence Agency told Agence France-Presse, adding: “The exact scale is still being assessed.” Another source of foreign currency has returned to North Korea in the past week, as it welcomed a small number of international tourists, including from the UK, France and Australia, for the first time since the pandemic. Officials are reportedly hoping to attract large numbers of tourists from Russia, some of whom visited last year, and from China. The US, however, has banned its citizens from entering the country since 2017. The victim of the latest heist, ByBit, said an attacker had gained control of an ether wallet and transferred the holdings to an unidentified address. The exchange caters to more than 60 million users worldwide and offers access to various cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether. Bybit had in recent days called on the “brightest minds” in cybersecurity to help it recover the $1.5bn. |
The Guardian;It’s Jekyll and Hyde, says son of French surgeon accused of abusing 299 patients;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/its-jekyll-and-hyde-says-son-of-french-surgeon-accused-of-abusing-299-patients;2025-02-26T22:50:03Z | Members of a French surgeon’s family have described discovering the “Jekyll and Hyde” character of the man accused of raping or sexually assaulting 299 young patients while they were sedated or recovering from operations. At his trial in the city of Vannes in Brittany, relatives of Joël Le Scouarnec spoke of his split personality. “It’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: we knew one but not the other,” said Le Scouarnec’s middle son. “I want to separate the man who we are judging from the father.” On Wednesday, the third day of France’s biggest ever abuse trial, one of the surgeon’s cousins said she had been to see him in prison, where he is already serving a 15-year jail term for abusing four children. “I cannot believe you are entirely a paedophile, even if you are,” the woman, named only as Martine, said, adding: “I think there are two people.” Le Scouarnec is on trial for the alleged abuse of young victims between 1989 and 2014. Of the alleged victims, 256 were under the age of 15; the youngest was a year old. The court has heard of the omertà that seemed to exist in the Le Scouarnec family, where acts of incest and abuse were known about but not reported. Earlier in the trial, the second of Le Scouarnec’s sons, now aged 42, told how he had been repeatedly abused by his paternal grandfather as a child aged five, nine and 10. “I will have the images in my head all my life,” he said. “It happened several times, in the bedroom, at home, in the kitchen, in front of the television, sitting on his knee …” The presiding judge, Aude Buresi, asked if he had confronted his grandfather or reported the abuse to the police. “No. I ask myself why every day. I even went to his funeral,” he said. Le Scouarnec’s brother, Patrick, 70, addressed the court, saying the brothers had been close as children but Joël had had few friends and was “always solitary”. He told the court that Le Scouarnec’s former wife, Marie-France, must have known of the alleged abuse. “She was aware of her husband’s actions and she did nothing,” he said. Marie-France has insisted she was not aware of his alleged abuse. However, a letter she wrote to a friend seven years before he was arrested by police and shown to the court on Tuesday, read: “I ask you to save my son, the only one who doesn’t know about his father’s past.” On Wednesday, Marie-France later told the court she “suspected nothing”, saying: “There’s nothing to make me think this. Nothing, nothing, nothing … I never had any doubts.” Le Scouarnec kept detailed handwritten notes documenting his alleged abuse, including victims’ names, addresses, dates and where the abuse happened. He was allowed to continue practising at hospitals in Brittany and the west of France despite a 2005 conviction for possessing child abuse images for which he was given a four-month suspended sentence. In 2020, he was given a 15-year jail sentence after being convicted of assaulting four children. On the opening day of his current trial, Le Scouarnec told the court he had done “hideous things”. On Wednesday, several victims walked out of the room where the trial is being retransmitted – the court is too small for all to be present – after one of Le Scouarnec’s only friends dismissed the abuse allegations as “histoires de braguette”, akin to sexual “tittle-tattle”. Judge Buresi denied a request for the hearing to be suspended, saying there were likely to be more difficult moments to come. The trial is expected to last four months. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International |
The Guardian;Life without parole for Nice church attacker who murdered three;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/tunisian-man-who-killed-three-people-in-nice-in-terror-attack-given-life-sentence;2025-02-26T21:50:03Z | A Tunisian man who fatally stabbed three people in a terrorist attack at a church in Nice, almost decapitating one victim, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in France. Brahim Aouissaoui, 25, had told the special court in Paris he had no recollection of the attack in October 2020. He later admitted he was taking revenge on “you [westerners] who kill Muslims every day”. Armed with a kitchen knife, Aouissaoui almost decapitated 60-year-old Nadine Devillers, stabbed Barereto Silva, a 44-year-old Franco-Brazilian care worker, and slit the throat of Vincent Loqués, a 55-year-old church worker, at the Notre-Dame basilica. He was convicted of the three murders and six attempted murders. On Wednesday the court made the rare decision to give him the maximum sentence of life imprisonment with almost no chance of parole for the attack described in the trial as one of “unusual savagery”. The presiding judge, Christophe Petiteau, described the murders as “very violent” and said the sentence reflected the judges’ verdict that Aouissaoui presented a “too high risk” of reoffending. Petiteau described Brahim Aouissaoui as “an extremely dangerous man” whose “intention to kill could not be disputed”. His actions could not be described as being the result of a spontaneous “mad act”, the judges added. The investigating magistrate said Aouissaoui had described France as “a country of miscreants and dogs” and said he was determined to “sow terror”. The court was told that Aouissaoui had dropped out of school in Tunisia at the age of 13 and was drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis at the time. He was radicalised at the end of 2018. In a closing address to the special court, the counsel for the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said Aouissaoui was “locked into his totalitarian and barbaric fanaticism”. He added: “The attack was in reality the culmination of a jihadist commitment born in Tunisia.” It took seven police officers to arrest Aouissaoui, who was shot several times. Afterwards, officers said he was carrying a copy of the Qur’an, three knives and two mobile phones. According to the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office there were “many indications that at the time he left Tunisia … the accused intended to carry out an attack in France”. A national day of mourning was held for the three victims. The killings came two weeks after the history-geography teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded near his secondary school north-west of Paris by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee angered at reports he had shown pupils caricatures of the prophet Muhammad in a lesson on freedom of speech. Aouissaoui had crossed the Mediterranean from Tunisia to Italy a month before the attack and then entered France overland. |
The Guardian;Zelenskyy insists on guarantees ahead of Trump meeting after US president says Ukraine can ‘forget about’ joining Nato – live;https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/feb/26/ukraine-russia-war-donald-trump-volodymyr-zelenskyy-valdimir-putin-emmanuel-macron-live-news-latest;2025-02-26T20:01:33Z | Donald Trump said Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House on Friday to sign a rare earth minerals deal to pay for US military aid to defend against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Trump said the Ukrainian leader would be signing a “very big agreement” which he said would allow the US to get “money back”. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “guarantees of peace and security” were vital as Kyiv and Washington prepare for talks on Friday. “For me and for all of us in the world, it’s important that US support is not stopped. Strength is needed on the path to peace,” Zelenskyy said during his evening address on Wednesday. Zelenskyy said earlier on Wednesday that without future security guarantees for Ukraine there would be no “just peace ... we will not have a ceasefire.” Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal said a minerals deal had been agreed, and that Washington would commit to supporting Kyiv’s efforts to obtain security guarantees. But Trump said the US would not be making far-reaching security guarantees to Ukraine as part of the deal. “I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond - very much. We’re going to have Europe do that,” Trump said during his first cabinet meeting. Trump also insisted that Kyiv “can forget about” joining Nato. Zelenskyy is expected to visit the UK this weekend as Keir Starmer is due to host a summit of European leaders to discuss defence, according to PA news agency. Zelenskyy’s reported visit will come after his reported trip to Washington on Friday. A planned meeting between the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, and US secretary of state Marco Rubio have been cancelled. Both sides blamed scheduling challenges, Associated Press reports, but European officials said they were caught off-guard. Russian and US diplomats will meet on Thursday for talks aimed at restoring their respective diplomatic missions. The talks in Istanbul will not include any discussions on Ukraine, US state department officials said. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov again ruled out “any options” for European peacekeepers being sent to Ukraine. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “guarantees of peace and security” were vital ahead of expected talks in Washington on Friday. “Today, there has been a lot of international work,” Zelenskyy said in his evening video address on Wednesday. Our teams are working with the United States as we prepare for negotiations this Friday. “Peace and security guarantees are the key to ensuring that Russia can no longer destroy the lives of other nations,” he added. On his meeting with Donald Trump, Zelenskyy said: For me and for all of us in the world, it’s important that US support is not stopped. Strength is needed on the path to peace.” A planned meeting between the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, and US secretary of state Marco Rubio have been cancelled, Associated Press reports. Both sides blamed scheduling challenges, the news agency reports. European officials said they were caught off-guard, it says, with Kallas having previewed her planned talks with Rubio to reporters earlier this week. We reported earlier that Russian and US diplomats will meet in Istanbul tomorrow for talks aimed at restoring their respective diplomatic missions. The US delegation will be led by deputy assistant secretary of state Sonata Coulter, while the Russian delegation will be led by ministry of foreign affairs director of the North Atlantic department, Aleksandr Darchiyev, Reuters reports. Thursday’s talks will not include any discussions on Ukraine, the US state department said. “To be clear, there are no political or security issues on the agenda. Ukraine is not on the agenda,” a state department spokesperson said, adding: The constructiveness of these talks will become apparent very quickly; either issues will get resolved or they won’t. We will know soon if Russia is really willing to engage in good faith. They added that the respective embassies in Moscow and Washington, as well as Russian consulates in New York and Houston, would be discussed, but not Russia’s mission to the United Nations. It’s 8.45pm in Kyiv, 9.45pm in Moscow and 1.45pm in Washington. Here’s a recap of the latest developments: Donald Trump said Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House on Friday to sign a rare earth minerals deal to pay for US military aid to defend against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Trump said the Ukrainian leader would be signing a “very big agreement” which he said would allow the US to get “money back”. A White House official earlier cast doubt on Zelenskyy’s visit, claiming that “if the Ukrainian leader says the deal isn’t finalised, I don’t see why an invitation would make sense.” Trump said that the US would not be making far-reaching security guarantees to Ukraine as part of the deal. “I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond - very much. We’re going to have Europe do that,” Trump said during his first cabinet meeting. He suggested that Kyiv will have “automatic security” because “nobody’s going to be messing around with people when we’re there.” Trump said Ukraine can “forget about” joining Nato and that Vladimir Putin “is going to have to”. make some concessions”. Trump described the Russian leader as a “very smart guy”. He declined to detail what concessions he would ask the two sides to make, and said he hopes to soon speak face to face with Putin. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said no security guarantee with the US has been agreed and described a deal between the two countries as a “framework”. Without future security guarantees for Ukraine there would be no “just peace ... we will not have a ceasefire,” he said. The Ukrainian president said the success of a potential deal would depend on talks with Trump, adding that the most important thing was that it did not cast Kyiv as a debtor that would have to pay back hundreds of billions of dollars for past military assistance. Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal said the minerals deal had been agreed, and that Washington would commit to supporting Kyiv’s efforts to obtain security guarantees. Shmyhal described it as a “preliminary” agreement, adding that Kyiv would authorise the agreed wording later on Wednesday. Ukraine would never “sign or consider ... a colonial treaty that did not take into account the interests of the state,” he added. Zelenskyy is expected to visit the UK this weekend as Keir Starmer is due to host a summit of European leaders to discuss defence, according to PA news agency. Zelenskyy’s reported visit will come after his reported trip to Washington on Friday. Russian and US diplomats will meet on Thursday for talks aimed at restoring their respective diplomatic missions. The talks in Istanbul will not include any discussions on Ukraine, US state department officials said. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov again ruled out “any options” for European peacekeepers being sent to Ukraine. The Kremlin said there no current plans for Putin and Trump to speak directly on the phone. Ukrainian troops said they had launched a successful counterattack in the eastern Donetsk region, gaining control over the village of Kotlyne near a key transit artery and the logistics hub of Pokrovsk. Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces near the rail and mining hub of Pokrovsk is some of the fiercest of the invasion launched by the Kremlin in February 2022. Donald Trump said Ukraine can “forget about” joining Nato. “You can forget about it. That’s probably the reason the whole thing started,” the US president told reporters. He added that he had “very good” conversations with the Ukrainian and Russian presidents, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin. “We’re going to do the best we can to make the best deal we can for both sides,” he added. Donald Trump, speaking to reporters during his first cabinet meeting, was asked about his views on Russian leader Vladimir Putin. “He’s a very smart guy, he’s a very cunning person,” Trump said, adding that Putin had no intention of settling the war until he was back in the White House. “If I didn’t get elected he would have continued to have gone through Ukraine,” he said. “Over a period of time, a lot of people would have been killed.” Asked if Putin will have to make concessions in negotiations to end the war, Trump said: “Yeah, he will … He’s going to have to”. Donald Trump, at his first cabinet meeting, said he believed the US is negotiating “very successfully” with Russia and Ukraine. The US president suggested that a ceasefire deal is close. “We’re going to make a deal with Russia and Ukraine to stop killing people,” he told reporters. Asked if he is willing to make security guarantees as part of the deal, Trump replied: I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much … We’re going to have Europe do that, because Europe is the next door neighbour. He added that the US will be partnering with Ukraine “in terms of rare earth.” “We very much need rare earth, they have great rare earth,” Trump said. Trump said it was “great deal for Ukraine too, because they get us over there, we are going to be working over there”. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to visit the UK this weekend, PA news agency reports. According to the report, Zelenskyy is planning to make the trip as Keir Starmer is due to host a summit of European leaders to discuss defence. At a press conference in Downing Street on Tuesday, the UK prime minister said he is hosting “a number of countries” for defence discussions this weekend. Donald Trump has confirmed that he will be meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Friday to sign a critical minerals deal. “We’re doing very well with Russia-Ukraine,” the US president said during his first cabinet meeting on Wednesday President Zelenskyy is going to be coming on Friday, that is now confirmed. Trump said he and Zelenskyy will be “signing an agreement, which will be a very big agreement.” He said his administration is “happy about” the deal, adding: We’ve been able to make a deal where we’re going to get our money back and we’re going to get a lot of money in the future, and I think that’s appropriate. Reuters has a quick snap saying Trump has said Zelenskyy is coming to Washington on Friday to sign an agreement on rare earth minerals and other topics. Trump added “we will get our money back” at the Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday. Reuters has a quick snap that the US-Russia meeting due to take place in Istanbul on 27 February will focus on operations of bilateral diplomatic missions, according to a state department spokesperson. The spokesperson added that Ukraine is not on the agenda in the talks and that no political or security issues were on the agenda. We have more on the reported Ukrainian military attack on Russia’s Tuapse oil refinery on the Black Sea coast. (see post 14.36) The Ukrainian military said at least 40 explosions had been recorded at the site. Tuapse is home to one of Russia’s biggest oil refineries, which has been targeted by Ukrainian drones several times before. Here is president Zelenskyy at a press conference earlier today during which he said that without future security guarantees for Ukraine there would be no “just peace ... we will not have a ceasefire”. He added that his trip to visit Donald Trump on Friday had yet to be confirmed. Earlier Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that no security guarantee with the US has been agreed and described the deal between the two countries as a “framework”. Speaking at a press conference, the Ukrainian president also said the success of an initial minerals agreement with the US will depend on President Trump. Let’s take another look at this detailed outline from my colleagues Damien Gayle and Oliver Holmes of the US-Ukraine minerals deal. What are critical minerals? Critical minerals are the metals and other raw materials needed for the production of hi-tech products, particularly those associated with the green energy transition, but also consumer electronics, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and weapons. The rush to tackle climate breakdown and move away from fossil fuels has triggered a scramble for energy transition minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium and nickel, which are useful for the electrification of transport and the construction of wind turbines. The same minerals and others are also used for the manufacture of mobile phones, AI datacentres and military assets such as F-35 fighter aircraft, placing them in high demand. As the world’s economy and technology transforms, the value of critical minerals has soared and geopolitical competition for access to them is rising. In 2023, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated that the market for energy transition minerals had reached £320bn in 2022, double its value five years earlier. And if countries fully implement their clean energy and climate pledges, demand is expected to more than double by 2030 and triple by 2040, the agency says. What are rare earth elements? Rare earth elements (REEs) are a subset of 17 critical minerals that are variously indispensable for mobile phones, electric vehicles, missile guidance systems and other electronic, industrial and energy applications. Despite their name, most of the rare earth elements are not particularly rare, but their extraction and refining is fiendishly difficult – and environmentally highly destructive – meaning production is concentrated in very few places, mainly China. REEs include europium, used in nuclear power station control rods; dysprosium, gandolinium and praseodymium, used in the magnets in your mobile phone; and gadolinium, holmium and ytterbium, used in lasers, among other things. What critical minerals does Ukraine have? A 2022 article by the chair of Ukraine’s Association of Geologists, Hanna Liventseva, claimed her country contained about 5% of the world’s mineral resources, despite covering only 0.4% of the globe’s surface, thanks to a complex geology that takes in all three of the main components of the earth’s crust. According to Ukraine’s own data, cited by Reuters, the country has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified as critical by the EU, including rare earths such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, erbium and yttrium. Before the outbreak of war with Russia, Ukraine was a key supplier of titanium, producing about 7% of global output in 2019, according to European Commission research. It also claimed 500,000 tons of lithium reserves, and one-fifth of the world’s graphite, a crucial component of nuclear power stations. However, with Russia controlling about one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory, a lot of these reserves have been lost. According to estimates by Ukrainian thinktanks cited by Reuters, up to 40% of Ukraine’s metal resources are in land under occupation. Russian troops also hold at least two of Ukraine’s lithium deposits, one in Donetsk and another in Zaporizhzhia. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said no security guarantee with the US has been agreed and described the deal between the two countries as a “framework”. Speaking at a press conference earlier today, the Ukrainian president also said the success of an initial minerals agreement with the US will depend on President Trump. Donald Trump had earlier said Volodymyr Zelenskyy is likely to visit the White House on Friday to sign a rare earth minerals deal to pay for US military aid in defending against Russia’s full-scale invasion. However, a White House official cast doubt on the Ukrainian president’s purported trip to Washington on Friday. Speaking anonymously to Reuters, the official said “If the Ukrainian leader says the deal isn’t finalised, I don’t see why an invitation would make sense. There’s an expectation that his coming is to recognise a final position, and he is not at a final position in his own words in this new wording.” Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal said the minerals deal had been agreed, adding the agreement involved the creation of a joint investment fund and security guarantees. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, accused the UK and France of further fuelling the conflict by suggesting European peacekeeping forces will be placed in Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Moscow. Dozens of dignitaries walked out of Russia’s speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday in support of Ukraine, according to a report. In Ukraine itself, first responders were pictured working at the site of an overnight Russian attack on Kryukivshchyna on the outskirts of Kyiv. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s ambassador to London, said that “dictators fear truth” as he spoke at a special service at London’s St Bride’s church to honour the work of journalists who have covered the three-year war in the country. The former head of the armed forces, one of Ukraine’s most popular public figures, praised the work of the media at an event attended by actor Stephen Fry - and linked their professional activities to his country’s struggle against an autocratic Russia invader. The Russian attack “isn’t just an act of aggression,” Zaluzhnyi said but “a war against truth. The Kremlin doesn’t want to take on land, it wants to erase identities, change facts and replace reality with lies”. Journalism was therefore “another battlefield” and the general turned diplomat argued that “reporters, photographers and fixers have become fighters for truth, standing against propaganda” in his speech at a church traditionally associated with journalism. “Truth matters, today more than ever,” Zaluzhnyi emphasised. “History shows us that dictators fear truth more than weapons,” he said and added, noting that autocrats have always been willing to target journalists in a quest for control Though Zaluzhnyi’s comments were not overtly political, they served to promote the profile of a figure widely considered to be the most viable challenger to incumbent Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a future presidential election. Reuters has a quick snap that a spokesperson has said the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas will not be meeting US secretary of state Marco Rubio during her trip to Washington in what might be a snub by the Trump administration. On Monday Kallas said she would be meeting Rubio, while also criticising what she called “the Russian narrative” being “strongly represented” in messages coming from the US. Ukrainian military said overnight it had attacked Russia’s Tuapse oil refinery on the Black Sea coast and two military airfields in Russian-occupied Crimea. A White House official has cast doubt on Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s purported trip to Washington on Friday. Speaking anonymously to Reuters, the official said “If the Ukrainian leader says the deal isn’t finalised, I don’t see why an invitation would make sense. There’s an expectation that his coming is to recognise a final position, and he is not at a final position in his own words in this new wording.” Ukrainian troops said on Wednesday they had launched a successful counterattack in the eastern Donetsk region, gaining control over the village of Kotlyne near a key transit artery and the logistics hub of Pokrovsk, Agence France-Presse reports. Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces near the rail and mining hub of Pokrovsk is some of the fiercest of the invasion launched by the Kremlin in February 2022. “Taking this settlement would have allowed the occupiers to reach the Pokrovsk-Dnipro highway, so the enemy sent significant forces to capture it,” the Ukrainian unit involved in the operation posted on social media. Russian forces have severed the M04 highway in eastern Ukraine that serves as an essential military logistics route to resupply the embattled front line. Ukrainian military observers have said that Russian forces gained ostensible control over Kotlyne in January but Moscow has never formally said that they had captured it. The settlement lies around five kilometres (three miles) from the highway. The Ukrainian 25th separate Sicheslavska airborne brigade claimed to have captured it. Separately, the Russian defence ministry said its forces had gained control over two more villages in the Kursk region where Ukrainian forces launched a surprise offensive in August last year. Kyiv hopes to exchange territory under its control in Kursk as part of any talks aimed at ending the fighting. Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, has said on the Telegram messaging service that the entire region is under an air alert ahead of a possible Ukrainian missile attack. More from Zelenskyy and Agence France-Presse is reporting the Ukrainian president said he hoped to travel to Washington on Friday to discuss a natural resources deal and future aid with Donald Trump. “I would like to have this visit very much,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv, saying that the tentative date for the visit to Washington was Friday. Zelenskky said he planned to ask the US president if he would halt future US aid for Ukraine. The US-Ukraine minerals deal is part of a broader effort to end the war with Russia and will lay the groundwork for long-term cooperation between Kyiv and Washington, Ukrainian deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna said on Wednesday. In a written statment she told Reuters: This agreement signifies our commitment to lasting peace and strong partnership, as well as the US desire to participate in Ukraine’s reconstruction. Zelenskky said he can’t yet confirm his trip to Washington on Friday, adding that teams are working on it, Reuters reports. We have more coming to us from Zelenskky. He told reporters that he wants to discuss with Donald Trump the possibility to use Russia’s frozen assets for mining resources development, weapons purchase and reconstruction, Reuters reports. More to follow. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said no security guarantee with the US has been agreed and described the deal between the two countries as a ‘framework’. Speaking at a press conference earlier today, the Ukrainian president also said the success of an initial minerals agreement with the US will depend on President Trump. Zelenskyy said a security guarantee with the US was essential. Speaking to the BBC, he added, “if we don’t get security guarantees, we won’t have a ceasefire, nothing will work, nothing.” Here are some further quotes from Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov speaking about the unacceptability to Russia of the deployment of European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine in the event of a peace deal. Reuters quotes him saying: We cannot consider any options. [US president Donald] Trump said that a decision on the deployment of peacekeeping forces would only be possible with the consent of both sides. Apparently referring to us and Ukraine. Nobody has asked us about this. This approach, which is being imposed by the Europeans, primarily France, but also the British, is aimed at what I just mentioned: to further fuel the conflict and to stop any attempts to calm it down. Therefore, we cannot get away with such simple technical measures like deploying troops. We need to talk about the root causes. The root causes were the dragging of Ukraine into Nato and the total eradication of the rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people. Citing the regional governor, Reuters reports that five people have been killed by Russian strikes on Kostyantynivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has confirmed that US and Russian diplomats will have high-level talks in Istanbul on Thursday with the aim of improving diplomatic relations between the two nations, particularly with regard to how their embassies work. During a press briefing in Qatar, Lavrov said the talks would focus on creating better conditions for Russian diplomats in the US and their counterparts in Russia, after a series of rows over staffing levels and embassy properties, which he blamed on Joe Biden’s administration. Reuters quotes Lavrov saying “Our high-level diplomats, experts, will meet and consider the systemic problems that have accumulated as a result of the illegal activities of the previous administration to create artificial obstacles for the activities of the Russian embassy to which we, naturally, reciprocated and also created uncomfortable conditions for the work of the American embassy in Moscow.” Lavrov said the progress in diplomatic relations since Donald Trump returned to the White House shows “how quickly and effectively we can move.” Reuters is carrying more details of the reported agreement between Ukraine and the US over the extraction of Ukraine’s mineral wealth by the Trump administration. The news agency reports a source familiar with the contents of the draft agreement said that it does not specify any US security guarantees or continued flow of weapons, but says that the United States wants Ukraine to be “free, sovereign and secure.” One of the sources familiar with the deal told Reuters that future weapons shipments are still being discussed between Washington and Kyiv Europe needs a defence fund to help it strengthen its security and increase its deterrence capability, Reuters reports German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has said. “It would be an important step to relax the EU’s stability and growth pact so member states can continue to increase their national defence spending,” she said in a statement, adding that this alone would not be sufficient for all countries. “That is why we need a European defence fund that is up to the challenge,” she added. Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal has said the US and Ukraine have reached a final agreement by which the US will obtain Ukrainian mineral resources in lieu of payment for military support in its defensive war against Russia. Shmyhal said the agreement involves the creation of a joint investment fund, stating that there is a provision in it which it says the US supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees to build lasting peace. He said he expected Ukraine’s government to authorise the deal today. US president Donald Trump has said he is expecting Volodymyr Zelenskyy to travel to Washington at the end of the week to sign an agreement. Last week Trump called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator”, leading to a breach in transatlantic relations. In a message posted to Telegram, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has marked 11 years since Russia moved to occupy and then declare Crimea annexed to the Russian Federation, saying “We do not allow Russia to ‘normalise’ the occupation.” Zelenskyy said: Today is the day of courage and honesty of all those who did not turn a blind eye to Russia’s occupation of our Crimea. These days, 11 years ago, Russian aggression against Ukraine began with the illegal, vile seizure of Crimea. But the day of 26 February showed that there would be resistance – resistance from Crimea, resistance from all of Ukraine. This day showed that there are and will be people who will not accept lies and will not surrender their homes. We managed to put the issue of Crimea’s liberation back on the world’s agenda. We do not allow Russia to ‘normalise’ the occupation. We continue to fight for the right to a normal life and guarantees of security and sustainable peace for the whole of Ukraine. Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that journalist Tetyana Kulyk was killed overnight when a Russian drone struck her house in the Kyiv region. It reported two people were found dead at the scene of the attack. Russia’s state-owned media outlet Tass has summed up what it termed the main points of foreign minister Sergei Lavrov’s press briefing in Qatar. It reported that Lavrov said Europe is inciting Kyiv to continue military operations, and that Europe’s policy on Ukraine is hopelessly outdated and a failure. Tass reports Lavrov said Russia is not considering options for deploying European forces in Ukraine and that remains of Ukraine must be freed from what he termed racist laws. He added that Russia and the US did not discuss the issue of rare earth metals in recent discussions in Riyadh. There has not been a diplomatic read-out yet from French president Emmanuel Macron briefing European leaders this morning about his recent visit to Washington, but Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk has just posted to social media, without directly mentioning Donald Trump, this: Uncertainty, unpredictability, deals. Are these really the rules that the new international order should be based on? Dozens of dignitaries walked out of Russia’s speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday in support of Ukraine, Reuters reports. The delegates, including the ambassadors of France, Germany and Britain, gathered outside the room where the session was taking place, to mark three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Reuters reports that Russia’s ministry of defence said its forces have recaptured two settlements in the Kursk region, where Ukraine has staged an incursion into Russian territory. The reports have not been independently verified. Russia’s foreign minister has said that the UK and France are engaged in further fuelling conflict in Ukraine with discussion of a European peacekeeping force putting troops on the ground in the country in the event of a peace deal. Speaking in Qatar, Sergei Lavrov said that Europe’s approach to the conflict insists on heating it up, rather than cooling it down and looking at the root causes. He said that the balance of forces had changed in Europe, and that European countries were trying to undermine this with new packages of military aid for Ukraine. Lavrov said that the peacekeeping proposals emanating from London and Paris were a deceit aimed at pumping Ukraine full of more weapons, that would draw Ukraine further into Nato’s sphere and infringe on the rights of Russian-speakers there. Lavrov also announced there would be a US-Russia meeting in Istanbul on Thursday, and accused European countries of lying when they say that Russia is unwilling to negotiate over Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly said it would hold talks over the war while also insisting on red lines over territory seizures and future security guarantees that Ukraine has found unacceptable. Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is currently speaking at a press briefing in Qatar. We will bring you any key lines that emerge. Citing the Marseille prosecutor, Reuters reports that two French nationals have admitted responsibility for an arson attack at the Russian consulate in the city on Monday. The Kremlin said on Wednesday that expert level talks between the US and Russia were being prepared. In his daily media briefing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there were no current plans for Vladimir Putin and US president Donald Trump to speak directly on the phone. The Kremlin said it declined to comment on any aspect of a proposed US-Ukraine deal allowing the US to extract rare minerals from Ukraine in lieu of payment for military support until there were official statements. Russia’s president on Monday evening offered to sell Russian rare earth minerals to US companies, including minerals from the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine Peskov also said no discussions had been held with China about the possibility of Chinese troops being deployed in a peacemaking role in Ukraine in the event of any deal. In a statement Russia’s ministry of defence said that overnight air defences had shot down 185 Ukrainian drones. It also claimed that in the last 24 hours Russian troops had killed over 1,000 Ukrainian service personnel across the entire front. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict. France’s president Emmanuel Macron is holding a call to brief European leaders on the outcome of his visit to Washington to meet US president Donald Trump earlier this week. Ukraine’s emergency services have issued images of first responders working at the site of an overnight Russian attack on Kryukivshchyna on the outskirts of Kyiv. Authorities say Russia attacked Ukraine with nearly two hundred drones overnight. One person was reported killed by a drone attack on the wider Kyiv region. Vladimir Rogov, a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine’s occupied Zaporizhzhia, has told Russian media outlet Tass that Russian troops have seized Skudne, which is on the border between Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions. Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that workers are attempting to repair damage in Dnipropetrovsk region after what it described as “a massive attack” hit an energy facility. Ukraine’s air defences shot down 110 of 177 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack on Wednesday, the air force said in quotes carried by Reuters. The statement said that 66 other drones were “lost”, in reference to the military’s use of electronic warfare to redirect them. Ukraine’s army chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said he discussed continued military support for Kyiv and battlefield developments with British Defence Chief Antony Radakin, according to a report from Reuters. “Admiral Sir Antony Radakin once again assured me of the United Kingdom’s readiness to provide military assistance to the Ukrainian Defence Forces,” Syrskyi said in a statement on Facebook. What are critical minerals? Critical minerals are the metals and other raw materials needed for the production of hi-tech products, particularly those associated with the green energy transition, but also consumer electronics, artificial intelligence infrastructure and weapons. As the world’s economy and technology transforms, the value of critical minerals has soared and geopolitical competition for access to them is rising. In 2023, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated that the market for energy transition minerals had reached £320bn in 2022, double its value five years earlier. And if countries fully implement their clean energy and climate pledges, demand is expected to more than double by 2030 and triple by 2040, the agency says. What are rare earth elements? Rare earth elements (REEs) are a subset of 17 critical minerals that are variously indispensable for mobile phones, electric vehicles, missile guidance systems and other electronics, industrial and energy applications. Despite their name, most of the rare earth elements are not particularly rare, but their extraction and refining is fiendishly difficult – and environmentally highly destructive – meaning production is concentrated in very few places, mainly China. REEs include europium, used in nuclear power station control rods; dysprosium, gandolinium and praseodymium, used in the magnets in your mobile phone; and gadolinium, holmium and ytterbium, used in lasers among other things. What critical minerals does Ukraine have? A 2022 article by the chair of Ukraine’s Association of Geologists, Hanna Liventseva, claimed her country contained about 5% of the world’s mineral resources, despite covering only 0.4% of the globe’s surface, thanks to a complex geology that takes in all three of the main components of the earth’s crust. According to Ukraine’s own data, cited by Reuters, the country has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified as critical by the EU, including rare earths such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, erbium and yttrium. Before the outbreak of war with Russia, Ukraine was a key supplier of titanium, producing about 7% of global output in 2019, according to European Commission research. It also claimed 500,000 tons of lithium reserves, and one-fifth of the world’s graphite, a crucial component of nuclear power stations. Donald Trump has said that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is likely to visit the White House on Friday to sign a rare earth minerals deal to pay for US military aid to defend against Russia’s full-scale invasion. The announcement followed days of negotiations between the US and Ukraine in which Zelenskyy alleged the US was pressuring him to sign a deal worth more than $500bn that would force “10 generations” of Ukrainians to pay it back. Media outlets reported late on Tuesday that the terms of an agreement had been reached. “I hear that he’s coming on Friday,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “Certainly it’s OK with me if he’d like to. And he would like to sign it together with me. And I understand that’s a big deal, very big deal.” According to the Financial Times, which first reported the deal, the new terms of the deal did not include the onerous demands for a right to $500bn in potential revenue from exploiting the resources, which include rare earth metals and Ukrainian oil and gas resources. “Without the United States and its money and its military equipment, this war would have been over in a very short period of time”, Trump said on Tuesday. He also said “some form of peacekeeping” in Ukraine would be required after any peace deal. In other developments” Emmanuel Macron is due to brief European leaders following his meeting with Donald Trump at 9am GMT. As part of a continued Europe-wide push on security, defence ministers from across the continent are expected to meet in London on Sunday for a hastily arranged summit. Calls are growing for hundreds of billions in Russian government wealth frozen in the international banking system to be used in full for Ukraine’s defence. Europe and the G7 have found ways to use interest from the financial assets to help Ukraine in the war, but the capital has remained locked up since the February 2022 invasion. Ukraine received 500,000 artillery shells bought outside Europe in 2024 under an initiative run by the Czech Republic, said its prime minister, Petr Fiala. Moscow has dismissed Donald Trump’s claim that Russia would accept European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, Pjotr Sauer writes. Addressing reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin had nothing to add to the foreign ministry’s position on the unacceptability of Nato peacekeepers in Ukraine. The cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine after three years of Russia’s full-scale invasion will be $524bn over the next decade, according to a report released by the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank Group, the European Commission, and the United Nations. |
The Guardian;Pope shows ‘slight improvement’ in health before 13th night in hospital;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/pope-francis-showing-signs-of-recovery-as-he-remains-in-hospital-with-pneumonia;2025-02-26T18:53:49Z | Pope Francis has shown a “further, slight improvement” as the 88-year-old remains in hospital with pneumonia, the Vatican has said. A CT scan of the pontiff’s chest “showed a normal evolution” of the inflammation in his lungs, the Vatican said in its evening update on Wednesday, while the “mild kidney insufficiency”, which was diagnosed on Sunday, had “resolved”. “The clinical condition of the holy father in the last 24 hours has shown a further, slight improvement,” the statement said without specifying whether his condition remained critical. However, his doctors’ prognosis remains guarded. Francis is spending his 13th night at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he is said to be eating normally and fulfilling some work duties. A Vatican official said he had been inundated with letters and cards wishing him well. Nightly prayer vigils for the pope’s health are continuing to take place at St Peter’s basilica, in towns and cities across Italy and abroad. Vigils have also been held outside the Gemelli, which has long been the preferred hospital for pontiffs. Francis was admitted to hospital on 14 February and was subsequently diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection and pneumonia in both lungs. He is prone to lung infections because he developed pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed while he was training to be a priest in his native Argentina. The pope has suffered from ill health in recent years. He was admitted to hospital in March 2023 for what was eventually diagnosed as pneumonia. He also underwent a colon operation in June 2021. The pontiff has often been seen using a wheelchair or a walking stick as a result of sciatic nerve pain and a knee problem. Before his hospital admission, the pope maintained an intense schedule, especially with events related to the Catholic jubilee year. |
The Guardian;Trump says no significant security guarantees in Ukraine minerals deal;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/trump-no-significant-security-guarantees-ukraine-minerals-deal;2025-02-26T18:41:21Z | Donald Trump has announced that Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House on Friday to sign a rare earth minerals deal, but the US will not provide significant security guarantees to Ukraine as part of the agreement. The conclusion of a deal, which Trump has claimed would allow the US to recoup hundreds of billions of dollars it spent on military aid to Kyiv, followed days of intense negotiations in which Zelenskyy said he wanted the US to guarantee Ukraine’s security against the ongoing Russian invasion. Uncertainty remains over the specifics of the agreement, which would establish a joint fund between the US and Ukraine that would receive revenues from the mining of rare earth metals and other precious minerals in Ukraine, as well as some oil and gas revenues. Trump announced during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that he could confirm that Zelenskyy would arrive in Washington on Friday to sign the deal, calling it a “very big agreement that will be on rare earth and other things”. Zelenskyy had resisted pressure from the US to sign a draft of the deal at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month that would have established a joint fund 100% owned by the US, according to media reports. “I will not sign what 10 generations of Ukrainians will have to pay back,” he said at a news conference on Sunday. Since then, negotiators had gone back and forth over the specifics of the joint venture, while Ukraine pushed for more specific language about long-term US support for Ukrainian sovereignty. Trump, when asked about the specific guarantees he would provide to Ukraine as part of the deal, said: “Well I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much. We’re going to have Europe do that.” He brushed aside Ukraine’s aspiration to join Nato, repeating a Russian talking point that the issue triggered the war. “Nato you can forget about,” Trump said. “I think that’s probably the reason the whole thing started.” Media reports suggested the draft contained only vague language on security guarantees. Zelenskyy described the deal as “preliminary”, adding that it was “just a start, a framework, it can be a big success”. The Ukrainian leader said that if he visited the White House on Friday, he would be “very direct” in asking whether the US would continue supporting Ukraine or not. “If we don’t get security guarantees, we won’t have a ceasefire, nothing will work, nothing,” he said. Zelenskyy’s comments came after Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, reinforced Moscow’s rejection of the idea of European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, contradicting Trump’s claims earlier this week that Vladimir Putin supported the presence of western forces on the ground. “Trump said that a decision on the deployment of peacekeeping forces would only be possible with the consent of both sides, apparently referring to us and Ukraine. Nobody has asked us about this,” Lavrov said. European leaders are due to meet in London on Sunday to discuss defence and security issues, including a proposal to deploy European troops to Ukraine after a ceasefire is reached, aiming to deter further Russian aggression. Under one of the proposals, supported by the UK and France, there would be fewer than 30,000 European troops on the ground in Ukraine, away from the frontline at key infrastructure sites such as nuclear power plants, backed by western air and sea power. Lavrov said the peacekeeping proposals coming from London and Paris were a “deceit” aimed at pumping Ukraine full of more weapons, and would draw Ukraine further into Nato’s sphere and infringe on the rights of Russian speakers there. On Thursday, Russian and US diplomats will meet in Istanbul to discuss improving diplomatic relations. It will mark the second consecutive week of meetings between Washington and Moscow, after last week’s discussions in Saudi Arabia, signalling a thaw in relations under the Trump administration. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said in Riyadh last week that the two countries would work to restore their diplomatic missions in Washington and Moscow as part of negotiations towards ending the conflict in Ukraine. Moscow has had no ambassador in Washington since the previous envoy, Anatoly Antonov, left his post last October. On Tuesday, when confronted by journalists about Moscow’s rejection of peacekeeping troops, Trump said he believed that “ultimately, we’ll be able to agree on something, I’m sure”. He said: “Something will be done that’s going to be satisfactory to everybody … It’s actually something I did discuss. A form of peacekeeping that’s acceptable to everybody.” Moscow’s continued resistance to European peacekeeping forces – seen by Ukraine as the only viable alternative to Nato membership for guaranteeing its security – is the latest sign of its reluctance to align with Trump’s efforts to swiftly end the war, raising questions about Washington’s ability to persuade Putin to compromise on some of his sweeping demands regarding Ukraine. Two sources familiar with the Kremlin’s thinking told the Guardian that Putin remained committed to his sweeping conditions for signing any peace deal, which include limiting the size of Kyiv’s military, prohibiting foreign weapons on Ukrainian soil, ensuring Ukraine’s permanent neutrality, and maintaining influence over its political future. Lavrov reiterated that Moscow still sought full control over the four Ukrainian regions it illegally annexed, despite not fully occupying all of their territory. He also signalled that Moscow would insist on having a say over Ukraine’s political direction, suggesting that Russia sought a settlement that would make the remaining Ukrainian-controlled territory less hostile to Russia and Russian speakers. “What remains of Ukraine must also be freed from racist laws,” Lavrov said. The Kremlin has long alleged that Ukraine’s government persecutes ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking citizens. This claim, bolstered by false narratives, served as a pretext for its unprovoked full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine has repeatedly denied Russian assertions it has repressed ethnic Russians and Russian speakers on its territory. |
The Guardian;Let’s not forget the migrant workers who end up being exploited in Spain | Letter;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/lets-not-forget-the-migrant-workers-who-end-up-being-exploited-in-spain;2025-02-26T17:56:31Z | Regarding the article by María Ramírez (Why is Spain’s economy booming? Thanks to migration – which proves xenophobia doesn’t pay, 19 February), Spain received nearly 64,000 irregular migrants in 2024 – most arriving by sea at the Canary Islands (46,843). Many migrants from West Africa and Morocco who arrive in Spain end up working in greenhouse agriculture in Almería, where around 25,000-30,000 jobs are filled by undocumented migrants, paid well below the minimum wage and forced to live in unsanitary conditions in slums. Those who survive the journey to Spain (10,457 drowned in 2024) face exploitation here by industries like the intensive agriculture that provides more than 1.6m tonnes of fruit and vegetables each year to the UK. Working in the greenhouses in Almería’s “sea of plastic” involves long hours, searing heat and exposure to toxic agrochemicals, leading to deaths and illness. As conditions worsen in west Africa, immigrant numbers increase – more than the demand for labour in Almería. The result is a displaced, homeless, jobless diaspora, particularly from Senegal. The response from authorities in Almería is to threaten to demolish informal settlements, with plans to move workers into cramped barracks without air conditioning, and with strict curfews and constant surveillance. Spain indeed relies on migrants (they form 25% of the workforce in Almería, and around 16% nationally), but it relies on their exploitation and the continued drive to emigrate after centuries of colonial destruction in Africa. Neal Haddaway Retamar, Spain |
The Guardian;Stonehenge-like circle unearthed in Denmark may have links to UK;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/stonehenge-circle-unearthed-denmark-woodhenge;2025-02-26T17:19:37Z | An “extraordinary” timber circle believed to be thousands of years old and connected to Stonehenge in England has been discovered in the ground in Denmark. The circle of at least 45 wooden posts in Aars, North Jutland, has a diameter of about 30 metres and is believed to have been constructed between 2600 and 1600BC. The “woodhenge”, the second to be found in the area, was discovered in January during excavation of the site. Experts say the find shows how widespread shared belief systems were and the close connection between Denmark and England. Sidsel Wåhlin, a curator at Vesthimmerlands Museum, who came across the holes while taking off the topsoil with the excavation leader, Andreas Bo Nielsen, said: “It is an extraordinary find.” At first she thought it was a line of post holes, then Wåhlin discovered it formed the shape of a circle. “I was like: ‘Oh my God, a timber circle, there is just no other explanation.’” The circle, which was not visible in aerial photography archives, offered insights into the rituals and social structures of the late stone age and early bronze age, she said. Britain and Ireland have dozens of henges – round earthen enclosures, some featuring stones or timber posts, such as Stonehenge and nearby Woodhenge – remaining from 3000BC to 2000BC. “They are ritual centres and sites that are connected with the worship of the sun and the agricultural ritual practices of the time,” Wåhlin said. “In order to decide to make such a specific monument you have to understand what it means and how to plan it.” The newly discovered Danish woodhenge appeared to have a similar axis as England’s Stonehenge and Woodhenge, she said. “It shows us that they are sharing the same worldviews on large-scale areas on how to be farmers, how society connects with the supernatural. “Building monuments on this scale, you need to understand why and how. If a British person from the time would have come to the site they would have known what they are doing in there.” They are waiting for the results of wood samples but the posts are most likely to have been made from oak. The team hopes to do genetic testing to see if there are any DNA connections between the site and the UK or other parts of Europe. |
The Guardian;EU reveals plans to hit climate goals by helping dirty industries clean up;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/eu-climate-goals-dirty-industries-clean-industrial-deal;2025-02-26T16:36:39Z | The EU executive has insisted it will stay the course on its climate goals, while setting out plans to help Europe’s most polluting industries reach the green transition and watering down environmental reporting demands on companies. Publishing its “clean industrial deal” on Wednesday, the European Commission said it had a plan to help polluting industries, such as steel and cement, make the switch to the net zero emissions future, as well as boosting clean tech companies, such as firms making electric vehicle charging points. The commission also published a plan aiming to bring down energy bills for businesses and consumers, as well as controversial proposals to relax environmental reporting requirements on small and medium-sized businesses. In 2019, before the pandemic, when there appeared to be a broad global consensus around the need for climate action, the EU launched the green deal, a landmark set of laws aiming to transform energy use and set the course to net zero emissions by 2050. But criticism of the rules has grown, against a backdrop of soaring energy prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and intensifying competition from heavily subsidised Chinese companies. Now the clean industrial deal reaffirms the EU goal of cutting emissions by 90% by 2040, and unveils 40 different measures to speed up the green transition, including faster permits for windfarms and other infrastructure, and changing public procurement rules to favour clean tech made in Europe. “We think that the clean industrial deal is Europe’s business plan to tackle the climate crisis,” said Teresa Ribera, the European Commission executive vice-president in charge of the green transition. Ribera, the most senior socialist in a centre-right-leaning commission, rejected criticism that the EU was reversing course. “We are not deregulating,” she said. “On the contrary: we are coming to the implementing phase.” The commission said it would create a new industrial decarbonisation bank with €100bn (£83bn) in new and repurposed public funds, which it said could indirectly leverage €400bn from the private sector. It outlined a bigger role for the European Investment Bank, including in the provision of guarantees to grid component manufacturers, allowing them to increase production. Experts say hundreds of billions in global investment is needed to build vast networks of electricity grids to hit climate goals. Ribera, who also leads on competition policy, promised changes to the EU’s state aid rules by June to accelerate renewable energy and industrial decarbonisation. But the Climate Action Network Europe said there was “no concrete plan to mobilise genuine additional finance” and “little to turn ambition into action”. The new European Commission, which took office in December with a red-tape-cutting agenda, simultaneously published details on relaxing environmental reporting and due diligence rules for small companies, a far-reaching rethink of laws only agreed in 2023 and 2024. The commissioners presenting the proposals argued they were not weakening Europe’s green transition, but encouraging businesses to join in the transition and adjusting to a new geopolitical reality. “Europe knows how to reform itself,” said Stéphane Séjourné, the commissioner in charge of industrial strategy. “We don’t have a chainsaw,” he added, referring to the power tool that the Argentine president, Javier Milei, recently gave Elon Musk as a symbol of slashing red tape. “But we have competent people leading the charge.” The commission suggested a two-year freeze of its corporate sustainability reporting directive, which entered into force in 2023, while it pursues detailed consultations on exempting small businesses. Similarly, officials said the corporate sustainability due diligence directive, which requires companies with more than 1,000 employees to assess the environmental and human rights impacts of their products, would be delayed by one year, while the commission tries to lighten the load on smaller companies. While SMEs are already exempt from the directive’s requirements, many say they will be caught in burdensome rules because they supply larger companies. While business groups broadly welcomed the plans, the European Sustainable Investment Forum said the move created “legal uncertainty” and harmed those who had already prepared reports or taken steps to comply. Anna Cavazzini, a German Green MEP who chairs the European parliament’s internal market committee, said the due diligence directive was being turned into an empty shell and “environmental crimes and human rights violations won’t be prevented”. Christian Ehler, the energy and industry spokesperson for the centre-right EPP group, said further simplification of environmental legislation “must not be a taboo” and “we have to consider whether some [other] environmental legislation from the past mandate is adequate”. The red-tape-cutting agenda has also been extended to the EU’s carbon-border adjustment mechanism, which requires companies importing steel, iron, aluminium and other polluting products into the bloc to pay a carbon tariff, levelling out price differences with EU producers. The commission said it would exempt the smallest importers from the levy, a measure it said would affect 90% of importers, about 190,000 companies, while still covering 99% of emissions. The clean industrial deal was published alongside an “affordable energy action plan” that aims to save €260bn a year by 2040. Environment campaigners welcomed initiatives to reduce bills and hasten electrification, but expressed alarm at a proposal to fund the building of liquefied natural gas export facilities abroad. The Greenpeace EU climate campaigner Lorelei Limousin said the proposal neglected other measures that could bring fossil fuel imports down rapidly, such as cutting energy waste. “This commission is vague on cutting energy waste while, to appease Trump, wants to invest in polluting gas infrastructure overseas that will keep Europe hooked on this expensive and dangerous fuel for decades.” The director general of BusinessEurope, Markus Beyrer, said he was encouraged that the commission had listened to industry, but called for swifter action, saying it was unlikely the measures would be enough to lower short-term energy costs. |
The Guardian;Romanian presidential hopeful Călin Georgescu faces criminal investigation;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/romanian-prosecutors-launch-investigation-into-far-right-politician-calin-georgescu;2025-02-26T16:08:55Z | Romanian prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Călin Georgescu, the far-right, Moscow-friendly populist who surged from almost nowhere to win the first round of the country’s cancelled presidential election last year. The announcement of the investigation covering a number of separate accusations took place after Georgescu, 62, was stopped by police in Bucharest traffic on Wednesday as he was about to submit his candidacy for a rerun of the election, which is scheduled for May. Prosecutors said after questioning him for several hours that they were formally investigating him on suspicion of communicating false information, promoting war criminals and fascist organisations and forming an antisemitic organisation. The initial presidential ballot was annulled in December because of evidence of suspected Russian interference in favour of Georgescu, a strong critic of Nato and western support for Ukraine. Moscow has rejected all accusations of meddling. Amid claims of “massive” social media promotion, Georgescu, who was polling in single digits before the ballot and declared zero campaign spending, has also denied any wrongdoing and called the annulment a “formalised coup d’etat”. “I – on behalf of my voters, but also of all those who, although they have other political options, want a democratic and free Romania – am fighting this security system that wants us in slavery,” he posted on Facebook on Wednesday. “The communist Bolshevik system is continuing its heinous abuse,” Georgescu added, accusing the Romanian authorities of seeking to “invent evidence to justify stealing the election and to do anything in their efforts to block a new candidacy from me”. Prosecutors said earlier that they had raided 47 addresses of Georgescu’s associates as part of an investigation into alleged offences including “establishing an organisation with a fascist, racist or xenophobic character” and “false statements” regarding campaign financing. Georgescu has praised Romania’s 1930s fascist leaders and lauded Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, as “a man who loves his country”. Polls show he has a clear lead in the 4 May rerun, although it is not certain that he will be allowed to stand. The promotion of fascist leaders and Nazi, racist or xenophobic symbols are banned under Romanian law and carry a prison sentence, although cases have rarely been brought to court. The decision by Romania’s constitutional court to annul the first-round vote caused outrage at home and abroad. Thousands took to the streets of Bucharest on Saturday to support Georgescu and others gathered at the prosecutor’s office on Wednesday. Members of Donald Trump’s administration have also sharply criticised Romania, an EU and Nato member state, for the decision, with the US vice-president, JD Vance, saying it showed that Romania did not share American values. Vance said that the ruling was based on “flimsy suspicions” and made under “enormous pressure” from Romania’s neighbours. Elon Musk has also labelled the chief judge of the court a “tyrant”. On Wednesday, Musk posted on his social media platform, X: “They just arrested the person who won the most votes in the Romanian presidential election. This is messed up.” Georgescu has not been arrested. Romania’s prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, said on social media: “The judiciary is independent and the law must be applied regardless of persons.” |
The Guardian;TV presenter Henry Kelly dies aged 78;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/tv-presenter-henry-kelly-dies;2025-02-26T15:17:27Z | Henry Kelly, the Irish journalist and presenter best known for hosting UK TV shows such as Going for Gold and Game for a Laugh, has died aged 78. His family said he “died peacefully” on Tuesday “after a period of ill health”. Their statement said: “Henry will be sorely missed by his friends and family, including his partner Karolyn Shindler, their son, Alexander, Henry’s daughter, Siobhan and her mother, Marjorie.” Kelly, born in Athlone but brought up in Dublin, started his career as a journalist on the Irish Times. He became the paper’s northern editor in 1970 at the height of the Troubles, after being sent there on a week’s holiday cover in 1969 as a reporter. The following four years in Northern Ireland were among his “proudest”, his daughter told the paper on Wednesday. “He always held the Irish Times very firmly in his heart and was very proud of the work he did in Northern Ireland and the time he spent there. I think probably looking back that was his proudest time.” Kelly left the Irish Times and joined the BBC in 1976, working as a reporter and presenter for Radio 4’s The World Tonight, but he still wrote occasionally for the paper. He also wrote books, including the 1970s work How Stormont Fell, about the events that had hit the Northern Irish parliament, and co-authored the 1990s collection Classic FM Musical Anecdotes, Notes And Quotes with John Foley. But 10 years and several books later, he made a career switch into light entertainment and followed other stars including Terry Wogan and Eamonn Andrews across the Irish Sea to London. There he landed a job co-hosting Game for a Laugh, made by London Weekend Television, which was then the powerhouse of Saturday night entertainment and a springboard for many TV and political figures including Peter Mandelson, Greg Dyke and John Birt, who went on to be BBC director generals, and the veteran political interviewer David Frost. He then got the opportunity to join the new breakfast TV show TV-am, taking over Michael Parkinson’s weekend duties in early 1983. After four years he left TV-am and returned to gameshows, hosting Going for Gold, a lunchtime quizshow on the BBC, where he remained for almost a decade. During the 1990s he was one of the stalwarts of the radio station Classic FM and later LBC, where he presented the drivetime show, one of the most listened-to slots in a radio station’s schedule. He lived in Hampstead in north London with his partner, Karolyn, a historian, and loved strolling in the heath and visiting his local Bull and Bush pub. His sense of humour was one of his hallmarks, along with his sense of place and modesty. When an interviewer in the Ham & High newspaper asked him what he would say if he had to write his own epitaph, he responded: “Who was he?” |
The Guardian;Family mourns grandfather’s death as Israel brings Gaza tactics to West Bank;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/family-mourns-grandfathers-death-as-israel-brings-gaza-tactics-to-west-bank;2025-02-26T14:00:38Z | Waleed Lahlouh was 73, with a shock of white hair that marked his age, when Israeli soldiers shot him dead on a sunny February morning outside his home in Jenin refugee camp. Relatives said he was killed while trying to collect some winter clothes for his family. He had fled with his children and grandchildren a week earlier when Israeli troops moved into the camp and ordered residents out within an hour. They scrambled to gather documents, valuables and phones, and had little time to pack clothes. “He went to get some things we need, but he was shot before he even got into the house,” said his daughter Samia Lahlouh, 45. “The grandchildren ask us: ‘Grandpa was old, and didn’t do anything bad, why did they want to kill him?” She didn’t have an answer. The Lahlouhs are among 40,000 people forced out of their homes in refugee camps across the occupied West Bank this year, the largest displacement since Israel seized the territory in 1967. The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Sunday that “evacuated” Palestinians would not be able to go back home this year, and sent three tanks to Jenin. Palestinians who have lost homes and loved ones over the past month have described Jenin as a “little Gaza” because of the scale of destruction, death and displacement. The same comparison is made inside Israel, with some cabinet members demanding the use of military tactics from Gaza, as domestic critics warn against the “Gazafication” of the West Bank. The far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has called for Palestinian cities there to be emptied and destroyed, as a pre-emptive strike to prevent attacks on Jewish settlers. “Nablus and Jenin need to look like Jabaliya,” he said in January, referencing one of the worst-hit areas of Gaza. At least seven Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces since the operation began in January, including a two-year-old girl shot dead in her home just outside Jenin, the UN said. Other victims include a heavily pregnant woman shot at a checkpoint. Lahlouh was a gentle, playful taxi driver born and raised in Jenin camp, who for decades poured his energy and money into educating his eight daughters, Samia said. All of them went to university, two became headteachers and one completed a doctorate. He would visit their homes every Friday, bringing a plate of freshly made hummus and other local favourites for breakfast. Then he would gather his grandchildren round for reading and spelling contests, with prizes for the winners, focused as always on education. The day he was killed, Lahlouh got up early and left before anyone was awake. The family is crowded into the home of a relative in a village outside Jenin, separated from the camp by a few small rolling hills, but close enough that drones and planes buzz constantly overhead. His son, Sami, 40, rang to check in with him. “He told me: ‘I’m having coffee with my sister, then I’m going to the camp.’ I told him not to go, the [Israeli] army are there.” Lahlouh told Sami there was a break in the fighting so he wanted to collect a few warm things for everyone and check on the house. He had lived through multiple raids on Jenin camp, and fled his home once before, during the second intifada. He had seen neighbours killed and buildings razed by Israeli troops, and watched the death toll from Israeli attacks in Gaza climb toward 50,000. So he was wary of the Israeli military. But he didn’t believe soldiers would open fire on an old, unarmed man in broad daylight. “He thought it would be safe,” Samia said. A neighbour who worked as a medic called the family later that morning to break the news that Lahlouh had been picked up, badly injured. By the time the family reached the hospital, he was dead. “He was in front of the house, the paramedic told us. He never made it inside,” said Sami. “He so much wanted to go back home.” There was just one shot, medics told the family, which went through his abdomen. Israeli forces barred the family from burying him that day, which is required by Muslim tradition, and blocked all but one relative from attending. Sami – Lahlouh’s only son – was ordered to do a brief, solitary interment at 6.30am, driving from the hospital to the cemetery along a route fixed by Israeli forces. “We were given one hour for the journey and burial; they asked us to leave very fast,” he said. “They prevented his daughters, his sisters, his other relatives from coming to bury him. We were not granted this basic right.” The Israeli military said forces had killed Lahloul when they “carried out the standard suspect arrest procedure”. They fired warning shots at “a suspect” moving towards troops, then aimed at Lahloul, a spokesperson said. The military permitted only “a limited burial ceremony to take place under IDF escort and security” because the graveyard was an active combat zone, they said. Operation Iron Wall was announced on 21 January by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, “to defeat terrorism in Jenin”, a new objective in the multifront war Israel has been fighting in Gaza and across the region, including in Lebanon. The last major military operation across the West Bank was during the second intifada, more than two decades ago, when Israeli forces moved in to crush a coordinated uprising across the occupied territories and in a series of suicide attacks inside Israel. Jenin camp is a dense urban area settled by families expelled from homes in what is now northern Israel during the war surrounding the state’s creation in 1948. It has long been a centre of armed resistance to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and has been repeatedly targeted by Israel. In 2002, after a 10-day operation in Jenin camp, a UN envoy described the situation as “horrific beyond belief”. Operation Iron Wall has already lasted longer than that campaign and displaced residents on a scale not seen since 1967. At least 44 Palestinians have been killed, including seven children, since it began. Many of those killed were unarmed and posed no imminent threat, the UN said, describing their deaths as part of a “continuously increasing number of apparently unlawful killings documented by the UN Human Rights Office”. The statement condemned the operation and called for an “immediate halt to this alarming wave of violence and mass displacement”. The Israeli military had loosened their rules of engagement, with troops allowed to shoot to kill anyone “messing with the ground”, Haaretz newspaper reported. The Israeli military denied changing open fire rules. Homes in Jenin have also been demolished in mass detonations, a new tactic amplifying an old strategy. In 2002 much of the camp was razed, and the army has used armoured bulldozers and other military vehicles to destroy homes, but they move at a slower pace. Hassan Amin, 50, had a home at the edge of one demolition zone. Now he shares a small apartment with 20 relatives in a village just outside Jenin. Like the Lahlouhs, Amin said they were ordered to leave by loudspeakers on drones, and told which route to follow out of the camp. “We left against our will,” he said. “They gave us a certain route to follow, with checkpoints. As we walked there were drones over our head. Children, women and the elderly were all terrified.” The exodus on foot felt terrifyingly similar to all the reports about forced evacuations inside Gaza, Amin said, and what followed seemed copied from there, too. Katz said he had ordered Israeli forces “not to allow residents to return” in the coming year. The Israeli military said: “The IDF does not evacuate the population in [the West Bank]. However, the IDF has allowed local residents who wish to distance themselves from combat areas to leave safely through designated crossings secured by the forces.” Barred from returning home, Amin spends his days alternating between immediate worries about how to feed his family and longer-term fears they will never go home. His day-rate work has dried up, after the operation effectively shut down Jenin. Israeli military convoys have turned even the outskirts into a ghost town, with shops shuttered and usually crowded streets almost empty of cars. Schools are not opening, so his frightened and anxious children are at home all day, slipping behind on education. With the camp off-limits, he has spent long hours looking through Israeli military videos from Jenin for any clues as to whether their home survived. He spotted it, damaged and surrounded by rubble, briefly captured as a soldier walks past. “This is all we saw: part of our home is destroyed,” he said, freezing the frame on the video for a second. “We don’t know what happened.” |
The Guardian;Lobster dinners, no sex and a huge clothes dryer: US gives glimpse of life on board nuclear submarine docked in Perth;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/we-all-live-in-a-nuclear-submarine-aukus-future-on-show-as-uss-minnesota-docks-in-perth;2025-02-26T14:00:36Z | There was a lot of sound and fury about China’s recent live-fire exercises off Australia’s coast. But in the backwash of that diplomatic incident, a US nuclear submarine has slid silently into port on the other side of the country and offered up a glimpse of life below the waves for Australia’s key strategic ally. It is the seventh nuclear-powered submarine to arrive at HMAS Stirling naval base, about an hour south of Perth, since the Aukus defence pact was struck in September 2021. The vessel arrived the same month Australia made its first $800m payment of a promised $368bn to be made under the Aukus agreement, which will see Australia buy three nuclear-powered US attack submarines and build eight others by 2050. On board the Virginia-class, fast-attack USS Minnesota, the 140 crew were tight-lipped about these wider geopolitical games, and would not let on about how long they are in Australia’s waters, or where they will travel next. “Our visit today is another step that continues progress towards establishing the Royal Australian Navy’s sovereign, conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine force,” US commanding officer Jeffrey Cornielle said. “We will be increasing our relations with our submarine brothers and sisters here in Australia, we are doing some events with the town and the base.” The corridors inside the 115-metre long submarine are tight, the sleeping quarters tiny, and while steak and lobster are on the menu, alcohol and sexual relations are strictly forbidden. The Virginia class can reach depths of 240 metres and hit speeds of 46km/h. Inside, the Minnesota’s crew sleep alongside a hull loaded with 23 torpedoes. Cornielle says it takes a team of six people to work the hydraulics to load each torpedo in readiness to fire. Up in the control room, the traditional periscope, once a massive tube requiring a sailor to press their eye to a viewfinder, has been replaced with a system that is controlled by an Xbox controller. With a fibre-optic mast similar to those used on the International Space Station, the submarine’s periscope feeds a high-definition image of the world above on to screens, giving the crew a crystal-clear view of the sky, the sea and any potential threats lurking nearby. Unlike its Australian diesel-electric counterparts, nuclear power ensures the USS Minnesota does not need to surface for fuel. On average, it spends about 30 days at sea before docking to load up on fresh food supplies. The Minnesota’s executive officer, Tommy Plummer, has spent two of the past three years underwater, subject to the disciplined and rigid routine of submarine life where tasks are meticulously scheduled and showers are limited to 30 seconds per person. One surprisingly crucial piece of equipment is the single, industrial-sized laundry dryer, which runs around the clock – it “would be a disaster” if it broke down, one crew member joked. There are no windows and limited personal space. “You become like a family, and you get to know things about people that you just don’t need to know,” Plummer said. Despite the hardships and 18-hour shifts, Plummer nevertheless joked that life is easier on a submarine than it is for his wife back home, dealing with the challenges of parenting their three children. The USS Minnesota is currently training naval officers to become commanders and is the first of two planned fast attack submarines to moor at HMAS Stirling in 2025. Cornielle says the sailors are excited to see their Australian counterparts, some of whom they have trained with before. “The submarine [crew] bond is not one that is easy to explain but it is tighter than most that you would think,” he said. |
The Guardian;What is the Ukraine minerals deal – and why does Trump want it signed?;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/17/what-are-ukraines-critical-minerals-and-why-does-trump-want-them;2025-02-26T13:15:34Z | Ukraine says it has reached a “preliminary” deal to hand revenue from some of its critical mineral resources to the US, with preparations under way for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to visit the White House to sign the agreement on Friday. The announcement followed days of tense negotiations between Washington and Kyiv in which the Ukrainian president alleged the US was pressuring him to sign an earlier deal worth more than $500bn (£395bn) that he said would force 10 generations of his people to pay it back. What are the details of the deal? Donald Trump presented the initial US proposal as a means for Ukraine to repay Washington for military and financial aid since Russia’s 2022 invasion. After it was rejected, a new agreement seen as more accommodating for Kyiv was drafted. The new terms do not include the onerous demand that would have given the US the right to $500bn in potential revenue from exploiting Ukrainian resources, which included oil and gas as well as minerals. “The main thing for me is we are not debtors. There is no $500bn debt in the agreement … because that would be unfair,” Zelenskyy told a news briefing on Wednesday. The deal still does not include references to long-term US security guarantees that Kyiv wanted, to protect a postwar Ukraine from Russian attacks. “This agreement could be part of future security guarantees … an agreement is an agreement, but we need to understand the broader vision,” Zelenskyy said. The Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, described the deal as preliminary, and there was uncertainty as to whether Zelenskyy’s trip to Washington would go ahead. Asked on Tuesday what Ukraine would receive under the deal, Trump said: “$350bn, military equipment and the right to fight on.” He added: “We’ve pretty much negotiated our deal on [rare earths] and various other things. We’ll be looking [at] general security for Ukraine later on.” What are critical minerals? Critical minerals are the metals and other raw materials needed for the production of hi-tech products, particularly those associated with the green energy transition, but also consumer electronics, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and weapons. The rush to tackle climate breakdown and move away from fossil fuels has triggered a scramble for energy transition minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium and nickel, which are useful for the electrification of transport and the construction of wind turbines. The same minerals and others are also used for the manufacture of mobile phones, AI datacentres and military assets such as F-35 fighter aircraft, placing them in high demand. As the world’s economy and technology transforms, the value of critical minerals has soared and geopolitical competition for access to them is rising. In 2023, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated that the market for energy transition minerals had reached £320bn in 2022, double its value five years earlier. And if countries fully implement their clean energy and climate pledges, demand is expected to more than double by 2030 and triple by 2040, the agency says. Which minerals are regarded as critical? The term critical minerals is not a scientific term so much as a political one, and different countries have different lists of critical minerals depending on their domestic and geopolitical objectives. In 2022, the US Geological Survey (USGS) published a list of 50 minerals, from aluminium to zirconium, that it regarded as “play[ing] a significant role in our national security, economy, renewable energy development and infrastructure”. Notable inclusions were arsenic, for semiconductors; beryllium, used as an alloying agent in aerospace and defence industries; cobalt, lithium and graphite, crucial for manufacturing batteries; indium, which makes screens respond to a finger touch; and tellurium, which is used for solar power generation. The US’s Energy Act stipulates that the list must be updated every three years, which means this year it will be up for review, and it will be interesting to see which minerals appear or disappear given the new political environment in the country. What are rare earth elements? Rare earth elements (REEs) are a subset of 17 critical minerals that are variously indispensable for mobile phones, electric vehicles, missile guidance systems and other electronic, industrial and energy applications. Despite their name, most of the rare earth elements are not particularly rare, but their extraction and refining is fiendishly difficult – and environmentally highly destructive – meaning production is concentrated in very few places, mainly China. REEs include europium, used in nuclear power station control rods; dysprosium, gandolinium and praseodymium, used in the magnets in your mobile phone; and gadolinium, holmium and ytterbium, used in lasers, among other things. What critical minerals does Ukraine have? A 2022 article by the chair of Ukraine’s Association of Geologists, Hanna Liventseva, claimed her country contained about 5% of the world’s mineral resources, despite covering only 0.4% of the globe’s surface, thanks to a complex geology that takes in all three of the main components of the earth’s crust. According to Ukraine’s own data, cited by Reuters, the country has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified as critical by the EU, including rare earths such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, erbium and yttrium. Before the outbreak of war with Russia, Ukraine was a key supplier of titanium, producing about 7% of global output in 2019, according to European Commission research. It also claimed about 500,000 tonnes of lithium reserves, and one-fifth of the world’s graphite, a crucial component of nuclear power stations. However, with Russia controlling about one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory, a lot of these reserves have been lost. According to estimates by Ukrainian thinktanks cited by Reuters, up to 40% of Ukraine’s metal resources are in land under occupation. Russian troops also hold at least two of Ukraine’s lithium deposits, one in Donetsk and another in Zaporizhzhia. Why does Donald Trump want Ukraine’s critical minerals so much? There is one big reason Trump is so keen to get his hands on Ukraine’s critical minerals: China. More than ever, the Asian superpower is the world’s factory and that means, wherever in the world critical minerals are torn from the ground, it remains a crucial staging point on the supply chain. Most of the world’s processing capacity for critical minerals is in China. According to the IEA, China’s share of refining is about 35% for nickel, 50-70% for lithium and cobalt, and nearly 90% for REEs. Its dominance in the latter, especially, is overwhelming. According to USGS data, in 2024 China accounted for almost half the world’s REE reserves. With Trump effectively instigating a trade war with China with his imposition of steep tariffs on Chinese goods, US access to critical minerals is potentially under threat. As mentioned earlier, the world is being gripped by an unseemly scramble for mineral wealth. They are the building blocks of the economy of the future, and if the US does not get its hands on them, someone else will. |
The Guardian;Thousands of Israelis line streets for funeral of Bibas family killed in Gaza;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/israelis-line-streets-for-funeral-of-bibas-family-killed-in-gaza;2025-02-26T12:51:53Z | Thousands of Israelis have lined the route of a funeral procession for two small children and their mother who were held hostage and died in captivity in Gaza. The national outpouring of grief for Ariel, Kfir and Shiri Bibas came amid reports that a deal had been reached to resume the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, with the handover of more bodies of hostages in return for the release of Palestinians held in Israeli jails due to take place later on Wednesday. The bodies of the Bibases were handed over last week by Hamas, who claimed they had been killed by airstrikes. An Israeli autopsy report ruled the children had been murdered by their captors and then mutilated to simulate wounds from bombing. The funeral was held in the town of Tzohar, near the border with Gaza and the kibbutz of Nir Oz, where the family lived. The ceremony was private but mourners lined the road from the central city of Rishon LeZion holding Israeli flags and yellow banners, symbol of the hostage families and supporters, to watch the cortege go by. The children and their mother were to be buried alongside Shiri’s parents, who were killed in the Hamas attack on Nir Oz and other Israeli communities on 7 October 2023. Her husband and the boys’ father, Yarden, was also taken hostage in the Hamas attack, but was released under the ceasefire deal earlier this month, and discovered only then that his family had been killed. The Bibas family have denounced Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his government for making public graphic details of the two boys’ deaths. “This is outright abuse of a family that has already been enduring hell for 16 months,” Ofri Bibas, Yarden’s sister, said. Describing the funeral procession on Wednesday, she said. “Through the car window, I see a broken country; we won’t recover until the last hostage returns home.” In her address at the funeral, Ofri was bitterly critical of the Netanyahu government for prioritising the destruction of Hamas over an earlier negotiated hostage release. “Our disaster as a people and as a family should not have happened, and it must not, must not happen again,” she said. “They could have saved you and preferred revenge.” There had been fears that the ceasefire might collapse at the weekend, when Hamas released six Israeli hostages but Netanyahu’s security cabinet delayed freeing 602 Palestinian detainees due to be exchanged. Israel accused Hamas of violating the terms of the deal by staging propaganda ceremonies each time hostages were handed over. In response, Hamas said it would break off mediation talks and cancelled the scheduled handover of the bodies of four hostages on Thursday. A senior Hamas official said on Wednesday that there would be no public ceremony in the latest exchange. Overnight, Israeli officials confirmed to reporters Egyptian press reports that a deal had been done to exchange the bodies for the Palestinian prisoners, but added that the Palestinians would be transferred in stages. |
The Guardian;Doug Ford: rightwing populist becomes Canada’s anti-Trump figurehead;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/doug-ford-canada-ontario-election-trump;2025-02-26T11:55:02Z | The day Donald Trump won the United States presidential election was a happy one for Doug Ford. The conservative politician who oversees Canada’s most populous province – and its largest economy – made the admission to caucus and supporters, in off-the-cuff remarks accidentally caught by a nearby microphone. But, Ford said, after Trump announced tariffs on Canada, he was devastated. “The guy pulled out the knife and fucking yanked it into us,” Ford said. “We’re supposed to be his closest allies, his closest friend. It’s terrible.” Ford, a blunt-spoken, burly populist with a “limestone head” and a knack for politics, sensed opportunity in the devastation. He called a snap election, telling voters he needed the “largest mandate in Ontario history” to combat an existential threat to the province’s economy. The move was derided as opportunism by other party leaders who accused Ford of “answering chaos by creating more chaos”. Despised among progressives for the province’s crumbling healthcare system, underfunded schools and a scandal that could have put billions in the pocket of land developers, Ford has now fashioned himself as “Captain Canada” – even leaving the campaign trail twice to lobby leaders in Washington. Now, as millions of Ontarians prepare to cast their ballot on Thursday for the province’s next leader, the stunning rise of Ford as a dominant political force – not just in Ontario but across the country – has put the 60-year-old populist in uncharted territory. No Ontario leader has ever won three successive majorities, with each one larger than the last. If Ford accomplishes this, it will reflect a unique political acumen which includes empathy and ruthlessness. For years Doug toiled in the shadow of his late brother Rob, whose scandal-ridden tenure as mayor of Toronto was notorious for his use of crack cocaine. When Rob contracted cancer and was unable to continue his mayoral campaign in 2014 it was Doug who ran in his place. He lost, but the bid positioned Doug as the heir to a brash, populist movement that appealed to disaffected suburban voters and affluent, pro-business supporters. After Rob died in 2016, Doug set his sights higher, and in 2018, after a hard-fought race, he was elected to become Ontario’s premier with a commanding legislative majority. Ford has cultivated a reputation as a leader preoccupied by the daily frustrations of residents. Like Rob, he is famous for handing his phone number out to anyone who asks. During snowstorms, he shovels driveways and helps stranded motorists. “The thing about Doug Ford is that he really cares about people. And I know every politician supposedly says that, right? That’s cliche, but with him, I truly believe it’s sincere – and he wants to do good things and do right by people,” said Fred DeLorey, a senior adviser for the premier’s 2025 election campaign. “I’ve known him as a political opponent and someone I’ve worked with for years and I can honestly say I’ve never seen anyone like him.” Ford’s father, Doug Sr, won a seat in the Ontario legislative assembly in the early 1990s, and the family – who run a lucrative label-making business – became a mainstay of conservative politics. Dave Bidini, the publisher of Toronto’s West End Phoenix newspaper, grew up in Etobicoke, the same Toronto suburb as the Ford family, and says the brothers’ reputation cast a long shadow. “There was a notoriety to a lot of the families in that neighbourhood: a lot of bad behaviour, a lot of wealth, a lot of privilege, lot of early fast cars,” he said. And, according to reporting from the Globe and Mail in 2013, Doug dealt hashish in the 1980s. “Most people didn’t approach Doug looking for product. You went to the guys that he supplied,” one former dealer told the Globe. “Because if Doug didn’t know you and trust you, he wouldn’t even roll down his window.” Ford has repeatedly denied the allegations and his lawyer says the Globe’s reporting is the “height of irresponsible and unprofessional journalism given the gravely serious and specious allegations of substantial criminal conduct”. Early in his tenure as premier, Ford won praise for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, following public health messaging – and at times breaking with other conservative leaders. When a report revealed the “horrific” state of the province’s long-term care homes during the crisis, Ford broke down at a press conference as he demanded accountability. To his critics, however, he governs like a vengeful leader bearing a grudge against Toronto, the city that has never supported him. “People call him a populist but when you look at it, his politics are just so petty and vindictive,” says Bidini. Ford has repeatedly clashed with residents and activists over plans to remove bike lanes from downtown Toronto, plans for a controversial private spa on public lands, a decision to shutter the city’s beloved science centre, and teacher strikes over class sizes. “When he was a councillor at city hall, he just caused chaos,” Bidini said. “And I don’t necessarily think that was a strategic move. I just think that that’s just kind of who he is. And you can see that now – a lot of his politics are just trying to see what he can get away with.” In 2022, Ford found his government embroiled in a deepening scandal over a controversial multibillion-dollar land swap deal. The plan, which opened 7,400 acres of protected land, dubbed the Greenbelt, for development, would have given windfall profits to developers. The premier eventually reversed course, but the scandal cost him a pair of cabinet ministers, two damning reports from government watchdogs and public outrage. At a somber press conference, Ford said it was “mistake” to allow development in the green belt around Toronto. “I made a promise to you that I wouldn’t touch the green belt. I broke that promise. And for that, I am very, very sorry,” he told reporters. Canada’s federal police are currently investigating the issue, but Ontario’s ethics commissioner cleared Ford of any wrongdoing. Still, Ford has largely resisted the partisan nature of modern politics, breaking with other Conservative premiers and cultivating close friendships with key figures in opposing parties like Chrystia Freeland, then federal finance minister. “Above all, Ford is a pragmatist. He’s clearly intent on achieving and maintaining office. But I do think he has a core commitment to the ‘little guy’ and that really seems to drive a lot of his decisions,” said Andrea Lawlor, an associate professor of political science at McMaster University. The result is a conservative leader able to pull support away from progressive parties and successfully court some union endorsements. “And in an era of deep political polarization, especially from party leaders, Ford has largely defied that approach. He doesn’t dig in on ideology or wear the partisan stripes. He appears to have sidestepped that.” With those skills, Ford emerged as one of the strongest pro-Canada voices against the backdrop of a looming trade war, at times drawing praise across the political aisle. He is a fixture of American television news, where he makes the case against possible tariffs. Ford’s rise fills a perceived vacuum of national leadership, following the resignation of the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, in early January. Before a high-stakes meeting with Canadian leaders in preparation for American tariffs, Ford, strode into the summit wearing a Maga-style hat with the message: “CANADA IS NOT FOR SALE”. “We will never be for sale,” Ford told the Guardian last month. “We don’t want to retaliate. We really don’t. But if it comes down to it, [the Americans] are going to feel pain.” DeLorey, a senior adviser on the campaign, says Ford’s “Captain Canada” branding reflects Ford’s instinct for leadership. “He’s genuinely very concerned about the province, and about where, what the impact tariffs will have on us.” Bidini, however, described Ford’s latest midwinter election gamble as a calculated move to hold on to power in the face of a wary, demoralized electorate. “He called this election in the dark depths of winter. People in my neighbourhood don’t even know who’s running because the ground is so frozen you can’t stake a sign in it. The sidewalks are slippery and covered in snow and there it’s bitterly cold out,” he said. “It’s hard to mount a campaign when you’re up against the elements. It’s the perfect conditions for a person like Ford to get the win that he wants and to perfect his narrative.” |
The Guardian;The plan for a European army within Nato – archive, 1952;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/the-plan-for-a-european-army-within-nato-1952;2025-02-26T11:10:32Z | Creation of European Defence Community From our own correspondent 10 May 1952 Paris At six o’clock this evening the text of a treaty for the establishment of a European Defence Community, with a common administrative and military authority for national defence, a common budget, a common uniform, an identical period of military service and a common military code, was initialed by the heads of the delegations of the six participant nations: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The negotiations have lasted 20 months since M Pleven made his suggestion in 1950, which was then treated with scornful hilarity by many people who have since come to consider it in a rather different light. It is true that there are no signs in Paris of enthusiasm about the revolutionary step, the preparations for which have now been completed by the experts. On the other hand, there are no signs of violent opposition. What is more, although the European Defence Community has not yet received the approval of the six governments or the formal ratification of the six parliaments, its draft charter comes into the world accompanied by two protocols covering the mutual engagements of members of the European Defence Community and of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, as well as the draft of a treaty between the members of the community and the United Kingdom whose government not so long ago barely concealed its scepticism about the feasibility of the whole scheme. Continue reading. European army treaty signed: promises of support from Britain and US From our diplomatic correspondent 28 May 1952 Paris The fifty-year treaty setting up a European Defence Community between France, Italy, the Federal German Republic, Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg was signed this afternoon in the Salon d’Horloge at the Quai d’Orsay by the foreign ministers of the six countries concerned. This treaty, which in several important respects is directly complementary to the German contractual agreements signed yesterday in Bonn, brings to a successful conclusion over a year’s more or less continuous work by experts of the six countries. M Pleven, then French prime minister suggested the creation of a European army in November 1950, and representatives of the six countries first met in January 1951. When the treaty is ratified, which it is hoped will be before the end of this year, the six Powers will start the fusion of their armed forces into a single army directed by joint supranational institutions. Reciprocal guarantee The German Federal Republic will in time begin to recruit and organise its first postwar military units. The European Army so formed will act as an integral unit in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Units of EDC forces will be able to operate under Nato in countries not members of EDC, and reciprocally Nato units composed of non-EDC powers will be able to operate in the EDC countries. Though unwilling to become a member of the EDC the United Kingdom government has on several occasions pledged itself to the closest possible and most active association with it. Not only are RAF units to cooperate actively and directly with the EDC air forces, but the United Kingdom will undertake training in Britain of EDC military personnel. As a final pledge of British goodwill and support for EDC, Mr Eden today signed the treaty between the United Kingdom and the six members of the EDC in which the United Kingdom, on a reciprocal basis and for so long as she is a member of Nato accepts the obligation to afford “all the military and other aid and assistance in its power” to any EDC member which has been attacked. Mutual assistance Another treaty signed at the Qual d’Orsay this afternoon directly relates to the mutual assistance obligations of the six EDC powers and the 14 Nato powers. An attack on any member of one would be regarded by all the members of the other as an attack upon themselves. Since only the Federal German Republic is not a member of Nato the effect of this treaty is to extend the mutual security rights and obligations of Nato to Germany. Continue reading. France kills the EDC treaty From our own correspondent 31 August 1954 By 319 to 264 votes the National Assembly dismissed the European Defence Community treaty from its agenda this evening a procedural vote before the debate had run more than half its course. Thus a treaty, which France originally initiated, has been killed in the least dignified manner possible before most of its defenders had even had the possibility of developing their arguments. Editorial: The end of the EDC 31 August 1954 The European Defence Community is as near dead as makes no difference. Somehow the process of binding western European nations together into a harmonious community must be continued, and somehow the United States must be persuaded not to withdraw in dudgeon from its European commitments. The burden on Britain and British leadership will certainly be increased. This is no time for treating Europe as a remote place of little direct concern to Britain: our own fate as much as the future of France and Germany is at stake. Read the editorial in full. |
NPR;Hamas returns bodies of four hostages and Israel releases hundreds of Palestinians;https://www.npr.org/2025/02/27/nx-s1-5309384/hamas-israel-hostages-prisoners-gaza-west-bank;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 03:45:49 -0500 | <img alt="Freed Palestinian prisoners react as they arrive in the Gaza Strip after being released from an Israeli prison following a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Thursday." src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6720x4480+0+0/resize/6720x4480!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F11%2F62%2F92e2b27547eca9cc50a3deb6c478%2Fap25058154435216.jpg" /><p>Both sides agreed there would be no Hamas ceremonies for the hostage bodies and in exchange Israel would release the Palestinian detainees and prisoners whose freedom had been held up since Saturday.</p><p>(Image credit: Jehad Alshrafi)</p><img src="https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5309384" /> |
NPR;Taiwan condemns China for conducting shooting drills off its coast;https://www.npr.org/2025/02/27/nx-s1-5311378/taiwan-condemns-china-for-conducting-shooting-drills-off-its-coast;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 01:12:16 -0500 | <img alt="In this image taken off a video released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, a member of Taiwan Navy reacts on the intercom to Chinese war ships conducting drills about 40 nautical miles off the coast of western Taiwan" src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3257x2034+0+0/resize/3257x2034!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F18%2F80%2F0fd804814685850ece111c980243%2Fap25058107492447.jpg" /><p>Taiwan said in a 24-hour period it detected 45 aircraft, 14 navy vessels and one ship from the Chinese military operating around Taiwan, of which 34 had crossed into its waters and airspace.</p><p>(Image credit: AP)</p><img src="https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5311378" /> |
NPR;Trump cuts financial lifeline for Venezuela by ending permit to export oil to U.S.;https://www.npr.org/2025/02/27/nx-s1-5311377/venezuela-oil-trump-chevron;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 01:07:19 -0500 | <img alt="Chevron President in Venezuela, Javier La Rosa, left, attends a signing agreement ceremony between Venezuela and the California-based Chevron, in Caracas, Venezuela, Dec. 2, 2022." src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5568x3712+0+0/resize/5568x3712!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F01%2Ff0%2F7b96858c406ea6e5fceacd7ccc71%2Fap25057766965974.jpg" /><p>Trump's accused the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of not meeting democratic conditions for last year's July presidential election as well as of not moving fast enough to transport back immigrants set for deportation.</p><p>(Image credit: Matias Delacroix)</p><img src="https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5311377" /> |
NPR;Over 7,000 from scam centers in Myanmar are awaiting repatriation after crackdown;https://www.npr.org/2025/02/27/nx-s1-5311375/myanmar-scam-centers-crackdown;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:55:41 -0500 | <img alt="People from China, Vietnam, Ethiopia believed to have been trafficked and trapped into working in online scam centers after they were rescued in Myawaddy district in eastern Myanmar on Wednesday." src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x3999+0+0/resize/6000x3999!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd2%2Fc0%2F5c40923849aba63c94942fa4397d%2Fap25057473956128.jpg" /><p>Trapped in virtual slavery, many are lured to work in scam centers where they exploit people around the world through false romances, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes.</p><p>(Image credit: Thanaphon Wuttison)</p><img src="https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5311375" /> |
NPR;The Trump administration kills nearly all USAID programs;https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/02/26/nx-s1-5310673/usaid-trump-administration-global-health;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 22:57:37 -0500 | <img alt="LoveYourself, a nonprofit providing free HIV testing and treatment services in the Philippines, has suspended services due to the Trump administrations freeze of foreign aid. The Philippines has lost about $69.7 million in aid programs across the country." src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/3000x2000!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd2%2F74%2F90f3b90e47f0b690dede9bf68354%2Fusaid-logo-in-philippines.jpg" /><p>The Trump administration is terminating thousands of foreign assistance grants and awards, according to a court filing. The move effectively guts the six-decade-old agency.</p><p>(Image credit: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)</p><img src="https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5310673" /> |
NPR;Amy Gleason is the acting administrator of DOGE, the White House says. Who is she?;https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/nx-s1-5310634/amy-gleason-doge-administrator;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 20:07:49 -0500 | <img alt="The White House is seen on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington." src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5687x3792+0+0/resize/5687x3792!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff7%2F1a%2F60b1f45d4920974780bd24f5fa47%2Fap25021040337187.jpg" /><p>Gleason is a healthcare technology executive who worked under Presidents Trump and Biden. The White House says Elon Musk still oversees the Department of Government Efficiency.</p><p>(Image credit: Mike Stewart)</p><img src="https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5310634" /> |
NPR;NIH partially lifts freeze on funding process for medical research;https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/02/26/g-s1-50920/trump-nih-funding-freeze-medical-research;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 18:41:37 -0500 | <img alt="People protested funding cuts to research institutions at the University of Chicago last week." src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8192x5464+0+0/resize/8192x5464!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F89%2Fb3%2F46eac2054fb3beb8b089b3af20dc%2Fgettyimages-2200668509.jpg" /><p>Thousands of grant applications had been stalled when the Trump administration blocked the National Institutes of Health from posting notices to the <em>Federal Register. </em></p><p>(Image credit: Scott Olson)</p><img src="https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=g-s1-50920" /> |
NPR;Oscar-nominated Brazilian film sparks debate about country's past;https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/1233894761/oscar-nominated-brazilian-film-sparks-debate-about-countrys-past;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 17:24:33 -0500 | <img alt="Actor Selton Mello, actress Fernanda Torres and moderator Jenelle Riley receive a standing ovation from the audience at the Film Independent Special Screening of "I" src="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2025/02/26/gettyimages-2183010971_slide-c47df5e909192999568d867b701eb9165b7c682d.jpg" /><p>Brazilians are flocking to the theaters to see its Oscar-nominated film I Am Still Here. It tells the story of a family devastated by the military dictatorship that ruled from 1964. There has never been a truth commission to investigate abuses or prosecutions of those accused of wrongdoing during a two-decade-long rule. Advocates hope the film might lead to a better understanding of that dark past.</p><p>(Image credit: Amanda Edwards)</p><img src="https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=1233894761" /> |
NPR;Is there a deal to end Russia's war with Ukraine?;https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/1233894745/is-there-a-deal-to-end-russias-war-with-ukraine;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 17:16:09 -0500 | <img alt="France s President Emmanuel Macron, US president-elect Donald Trump and Ukraine s President Volodymyr Zelensky after a meeting at The Elysee Palace in Paris in December of last year." src="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2025/02/26/gettyimages-2188254103-53ac00273ec930c0f795c65772b5a44b0a8bc0db.jpg" /><p>On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump at the White House.<br /><br />On the agenda — a deal for Ukraine to share its rich natural resources. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/nx-s1-5309488/us-ukraine-critical-minerals-deal-trump-zelenskyy">The Trump administration wants hundreds of billions of dollars of rare earth metals</a> and other critical minerals. Details are thin on what exactly Ukraine would get in exchange. <br /><br />The meeting comes as the world marks<a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/01/01/1263204100/zz-1a-bonus"> three years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine</a>, and as Trump promises to bring an end to the war.<br /><br />But bringing an end to the war may not be so simple argues Alexander Vindman.<br /><br />The Ukrainian-born Vindman was the White House staffer and active duty Army officer, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/08/777514772/read-testimony-of-alexander-vindman-the-white-houses-ukraine-specialist">who testified against Trump during his first impeachment trial in 2019</a>.<br /><br />Trump fired Vindman not long after. <br /><br />For sponsor-free episodes of <em>Consider This,</em> sign up for C<em>onsider This+</em> via Apple Podcasts or at <a href="http://plus.npr.org">plus.npr.org</a>.<br /><br />Email us at<a href="mailto:considerthis@npr.org"> considerthis@npr.org</a>. <br /><br /></p><p>(Image credit: MATHILDE KACZKOWSKI)</p><img src="https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=1233894745" /> |
NPR;5 minerals in Ukraine that may be part of a deal with the U.S.;https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/nx-s1-5309996/ukraine-rare-earth-minerals-metals-deal;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 16:56:21 -0500 | <img alt="A man shows lithium stone from an illegal mining site in Paseli, north central Nigeria, Tuesday, Nov 5, 2024." src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6345x4229+0+0/resize/6345x4229!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F54%2F74%2Feaa2798f49deaea90bd4acd69c0e%2Fap24346673323009.jpg" /><p>President Trump says Ukraine is ready to sign a deal with the U.S. to share its mineral wealth. We look at five minerals and metals that could be covered by the deal.</p><p>(Image credit: Sunday Alamba/AP)</p><img src="https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5309996" /> |
Al Jazeera;North Korea has sent more troops to Russia, South Korea says;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/27/north-korea-has-sent-more-troops-to-russia-south-korea-intelligence-agency?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 08:31:17 +0000 | South Korea's National Intelligence Service says it is assessing size of Pyongyang's deployment to the war in Ukraine. |
Al Jazeera;Palestinians released by Israel show signs of torture, starvation;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/27/palestinian-released-by-israel-show-signs-of-torture-starvation?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 08:13:07 +0000 | Hundreds of Palestinians released by Israeli show signs of emaciation and abuse suffered while in detention. |
Al Jazeera;Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events – day 1,099;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/27/russia-ukraine-war-list-of-key-events-day-27?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 07:51:50 +0000 | Here are the key developments on the 1,098th day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
Al Jazeera;Germany’s youth vote influenced by “TikTok & Multiple Crises”;https://www.aljazeera.com/program/quotable/2025/2/27/germanys-youth-vote-influenced-by-tiktok-multiple?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 07:48:17 +0000 | Carl Muhlbach, FiscalFuture’s director, on why young German voters back the far right or left-wing parties. |
Al Jazeera;Video captures suspected Israeli drone strike on car in Lebanon;https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2025/2/27/video-captures-suspected-israeli-drone-strike-on-car-in-lebanon?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 07:39:42 +0000 | A security camera in eastern Lebanon captured the moments a car was hit in a suspected Israeli drone attack. |
Al Jazeera;Vietnam court jails journalist Huy Duc for 30 months over Facebook posts;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/27/vietnam-court-jails-journalist-huy-duc-for-30-months-over-facebook-posts?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 07:30:44 +0000 | Huy Duc worked for influential state-run newspapers before authoring a popular blog critical of country's leaders. |
Al Jazeera;Iran’s government hits out at crypto again as currency freefalls;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/27/irans-government-hits-out-at-crypto-again-as-currency-freefalls?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 05:30:16 +0000 | Iran appears poised to impose new levels of control and oversight into crypto amid deteriorating economic conditions. |
Al Jazeera;US cutting foreign aid budgets by more than 90%, Trump administration says;https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/2/27/us-cutting-foreign-aid-budgets-by-more-than-90-trump-administration-says?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 04:57:13 +0000 | US State Department says overseas development and aid programmes to be cut by $54bn. |
Al Jazeera;US reports first measles death since 2015;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/27/us-reports-first-measles-death-since-2015?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 04:05:42 +0000 | School-aged child dies in Texas amid outbreak concentrated among followers of Christian sect. |
Al Jazeera;Starlink test: Can Pakistan patch up with Elon Musk after UK grooming spat?;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/27/starlink-test-can-pakistan-patch-up-with-elon-musk-after-uk-grooming-spat?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 03:08:40 +0000 | Is Pakistan's delay in approving Starlink's licence due to national security interests or political concerns? |
Al Jazeera;Trump threatens 25% tariffs on EU, claims bloc was formed to ‘screw’ US;https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/2/27/trump-threatens-25-tariffs-on-eu-claims-bloc-was-formed-to-screw-us?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 01:52:16 +0000 | European Commission says it will react 'firmly and immediately' against unjustified trade barriers. |
Al Jazeera;Pakistan vs Bangladesh – Champions Trophy: Match start time, teams, stream;https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2025/2/27/pakistan-vs-bangladesh-champions-trophy-match-start-time-teams-stream?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:59:20 +0000 | Hosts Pakistan aim to end Champions Trophy on a high against Bangladesh following underwhelming group-stage exit. |
Al Jazeera;Real Madrid win marred by more racism directed towards Vinicius Junior;https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2025/2/27/real-madrid-win-marred-by-more-racism-directed-towards-vinicius-junior?traffic_source=rss;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:38:41 +0000 | Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in their Copa del Rey semifinal first-leg tie, but match marred by racist abuse. |
Al Jazeera;Trump nixes Venezuelan oil concessions granted by predecessor Joe Biden;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/26/trump-nixes-venezuelan-oil-concessions-granted-by-predecessor-joe-biden?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 23:28:37 +0000 | Trump took harsh stance towards Venezuela during first term but has shown interest in collaboration in recent months. |
Al Jazeera;Eli Lilly plans $27bn in new plants as Trump threatens pharma tariffs;https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/2/26/eli-lilly-plans-27bn-in-new-plants-as-trump-threatens-pharma-tariffs?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 21:22:32 +0000 | The new plants will be built in the US over the next five years and create 3,000 jobs for skilled workers. |
Al Jazeera;Lebanon’s new government wins confidence vote in parliament;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/26/lebanons-new-government-wins-confidence-vote-in-parliament?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 21:00:51 +0000 | Nawaf Salam's government wins the backing of 95 lawmakers in the 128-seat parliament. |
Al Jazeera;How Europe carved up Africa at the Berlin Conference 140 years ago;https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2025/2/26/how-europe-carved-up-africa-at-the-berlin-conference-140-years-ago?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 20:53:54 +0000 | This month marks 140 years since Western powers sidelined Africans and carved up the continent to “own” it themselves. |
Al Jazeera;Key takeaways from Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting with Elon Musk;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/26/key-takeaways-from-donald-trumps-first-cabinet-meeting-with-elon-musk?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 20:53:06 +0000 | Musk defended DOGE attempts to fire federal employees, while Trump said Russia would have to make concessions for peace. |
Al Jazeera;Can the Gaza ceasefire hold? And what threats does it face?;https://www.aljazeera.com/program/inside-story/2025/2/26/can-the-gaza-ceasefire-hold-and-what-threats-does-it-face?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 20:16:59 +0000 | Israel-Hamas agreement needed to move to phase two of multi-stage deal. |
Al Jazeera;Washington Post opinion head departs as Jeff Bezos shifts focus for paper;https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/2/26/washington-post-opinion-head-departs-as-jeff-bezos-shifts-focus-for-paper?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 20:02:05 +0000 | The section will not include viewpoints that oppose personal liberties and free markets, Bezos said in a staff memo. |
Al Jazeera;Trump memo calls on US federal agencies to prepare for mass layoffs;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/26/trump-memo-calls-on-us-federal-agencies-to-prepare-for-mass-layoffs?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 19:17:11 +0000 | The US president and his allies continue their efforts to dismantle agencies long viewed with ire by conservatives. |
Al Jazeera;Bosnian Serb President Dodik sentenced to prison for defying peace envoy;https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2025/2/26/bosnian-serb-president-dodik-sentenced-to-prison-for-defying-peace-envoy?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 18:26:42 +0000 | The Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison by a Bosnian court. |
Al Jazeera;Trump administration appeals deadline to release US foreign aid funding;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/26/trump-administration-appeals-deadline-to-release-us-foreign-aid-funding?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 18:19:38 +0000 | Nonprofits and businesses have argued that a 90-day foreign aid freeze under Trump has left US government bills unpaid. |
Al Jazeera;BP drops climate targets in pivot back to oil and gas;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/26/bp-drops-climate-targets-in-switch-back-to-oil-and-gas?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 17:53:58 +0000 | BP slashes planned investment in renewable energy and is increasing annual oil and gas spending. |
Al Jazeera;US will not give security guarantees to Ukraine, Trump says;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/26/no-security-guarantees-yet-in-us-ukraine-minerals-deal-zelenksyy-says?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 17:51:17 +0000 | US president says Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Washington, DC, on Friday to sign US-Ukraine critical minerals deal. |
BBC News;Hollywood legend Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa found dead at their home;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewkkkvkzn9o;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 09:45:54 GMT | Local police said they didn't believe any foul play was involved in the death of the couple, found alongside their dog. |
BBC News;Leaked recordings challenge Greek account of deadly shipwreck;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c17qe11wy52o;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:23:25 GMT | Hundreds are thought to have died when the Adriana sank in international waters two years ago. |
BBC News;Gatwick second runway backed by government;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqjdz9q170yo;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 09:52:24 GMT | Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander says she is "minded to approve" the expansion, which faces opposition. |
BBC News;Boy band Five to reunite with all original members;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd65487lezxo;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 08:23:58 GMT | The band, whose hits include Slam Dunk (Da Funk), haven't toured as a five-piece since 2001. |
BBC News;Cousin marriage: What new evidence tells us about children's ill health;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c241pn09qqjo;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:20 GMT | A major study has found first cousin-parentage may have wider consequences than previously thought. |
BBC News;Cypriot police 'failed' Briton in gang rape case;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn7vvvev07do;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 09:55:21 GMT | The woman took her case to the European Court of Human Rights over the way it was handled. |
BBC News;Israel frees Palestinian prisoners after Hamas hands over four hostages' bodies;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gdx1rpel6o;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 09:02:18 GMT | It was the last exchange of the Gaza ceasefire deal's first phase, with questions over what happens next. |
BBC News;Ban degrading and violent online porn, review to say;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q1wx3nzy9o;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 08:19:10 GMT | A government-commissioned review is expected to call for content showing women being choked during sex to be illegal. |
BBC News;Public asked for views on how to fix the water industry;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g097mpl79o;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 08:50:55 GMT | Public urged to respond to commission on fixing system in England and Wales - but chairman rules out nationalisation. |
BBC News;'In a scary world, he gives us hope': Faithful gather to support the Pope;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0l11gr35gwo;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 05:12:03 GMT | The latest statement suggests that the 88-year-old is able to sit in his chair, eat normally and do what the Vatican calls "light work". |
BBC News;Gene Hackman: One of Hollywood's greatest 'tough guys';https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjm9ndw9xeeo;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 09:24:34 GMT | Although he did not become an actor until his 30s, Hackman became one of Hollywood's most bankable stars. |
BBC News;Inside the Taliban's surveillance network monitoring millions;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjev9kzxeqqo;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:59:13 GMT | The Taliban say 90,000 CCTV cameras in Kabul will reduce crime but there are fears for human rights. |
BBC News;How world leaders are navigating their relationship with Trump;https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c1kjj7yrp9vo;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 02:31:49 GMT | The US president is set to meet UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer - so what are the dos and don'ts? |
BBC News;Pamela Anderson on missing out on Oscars, ditching makeup and 'innocence' of Baywatch;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4z410dk2ko;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:25 GMT | In a wide-ranging interview, the former Baywatch actress also explained why she no longer wears makeup. |
BBC News;The Papers: 'Putin will strike again' and Starmer heads to DC;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjevxep9jnpo;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 22:57:00 GMT | The prime minister's upcoming talks with US President Donald Trump dominate the front pages on Thursday. |
BBC News;'More a procession than a race' - when could Liverpool seal title?;https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cz0337ngjdko;Wed, 26 Feb 2025 23:32:31 GMT | With Liverpool taking a 13-point lead at the top of the Premier League table, BBC Sport looks at when they could wrap up the title. |
BBC News;'I quit my job to live and breathe Pokémon cards';https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmj2grl04vo;Thu, 27 Feb 2025 05:45:25 GMT | Chloe Webb now runs a specialist store - and travels the world buying and selling Pokémon cards. |
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