World
Humanitarian group warns Ukrainians: Information provided to UN could be used by the Russians
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The humanitarian group the White Helmets has a warning for the folks of Ukraine: use warning when coping with the United Nations. The group has been working to assist civilians within the Syrian civil warfare and mentioned they’re seeing the identical patterns in Ukraine that they’ve seen in Syria when coping with the Russian army.
“Certainly, now we have seen many similarities between the battle in Syria and the battle in Ukraine,” mentioned White Helmets Director Raed Saleh. “The identical scenes of huge destruction brought on by the Russians that we have seen in cities like Damascus, rural Damascus, Aleppo and Idlib are being repeated in Kyiv, are being repeated in Kharkiv and different Ukrainian cities.
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“And as everyone knows, the Russian army has no respect for the fundamental ideas of avoiding civilian targets or infrastructure or sparing pointless casualties. The Russians do not abide by these ideas.”
Saleh mentioned his group notified the U.N. via their humanitarian notification system of two medical websites solely to have them focused days later. He mentioned he believes the Russian army used the knowledge to focus on these civilian assist areas in violation of worldwide legislation.
“One other factor that the U.N. has completed in Syria is that it allowed the Russians to weaponize assist that flows and into Syria,” he mentioned. “As everyone knows, the mechanism that enables entry of assist to Syria is renewed yearly, and Russia is all the time looking for methods to weaponize assist towards civilians, and I concern that the identical factor would occur to Ukraine. So my recommendation to Ukrainians is to method the problem with warning and to not share important areas, particularly hospital areas, with anybody.”
The United Nations responded to Fox Information Digital in a press release saying that their system notifies all events the place assist facilities are so each side can keep away from harming civilians.
“The humanitarian notification system in Syria and elsewhere goals to facilitate the secure supply of humanitarian help. It does so by informing events to the battle of the areas of humanitarian services – warehouses and places of work for instance – and actions, for instance a convoy with humanitarian provides, in order that the events can issue them into their army operations to be able to keep away from hurt to them,” mentioned a U.N. spokesperson.
The worldwide group additionally mentioned humanitarian organizations just like the White Helmets select to present that info and know it’s shared with all sides concerned within the battle.
“You will need to stress that whether or not or not a humanitarian group or a celebration to the battle participates within the humanitarian notification system, all events to the battle have obligations below worldwide humanitarian legislation to not direct assaults towards civilians or civilian objects [including humanitarian personnel or assets] and to take fixed care to spare them all through their army operations,” mentioned the spokesperson.
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The considerations from the humanitarian group come because the violence in Jap Europe escalated over the weekend. The civilian dying toll can also be rising, with Ukraine’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs confirming the dying of 90 youngsters since Feb. 24.
The White Helmets has plans to get entangled immediately in Ukraine with coaching movies and different sources which might be nonetheless within the works. Within the meantime, the group hopes the U.N. steps as much as name out perpetrators within the violence.
“We imagine that the U.N. has a central position to play. We imagine that its establishments are important for the survival of civilians, particularly in war-torn international locations,” mentioned Saleh. “Nonetheless, we imagine that this position may very well be performed higher, may very well be improved, and that the U.N. ought to have the braveness to talk up and to desert that grey rhetoric that does not acknowledge the victims and does not identify the perpetrator.”
World
Middle East Crisis: Critically Ill Children Allowed to Leave Gaza for First Time Since May
Sixty-eight people, including sick and injured patients and their escorts, crossed the border to get treatment, the Israeli military said. The evacuation was carried out in coordination with the U.S., Egypt and the international community.
World
Taiwan issues travel advisory after China vows to execute independence supporters
The Taiwanese government warned its citizens not to travel to mainland China on Thursday after Beijing threatened to execute residents who support the island’s independence.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council spokesman Liang Wen-chieh issued the warning during a routine press conference. The Chinese government announced a new policy targeting “separatists” last week, and said it would pursue the death penalty for “diehard” supporters of Taiwanese independence.
“I want to stress: Democracy is not a crime; it’s autocracy that is the real evil. China has absolutely no right to sanction Taiwan’s people just because of the positions they hold. What’s more, China has no right to go after Taiwan people’s rights across borders,” Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said Wednesday.
“I also want to call on China to face up to the existence of the Republic of China and have exchanges and dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected, legitimate government,” he said, using Taiwan’s formal name. “If this is not done, relations between Taiwan and China will only become more and more estranged.”
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China has long considered Taiwan to be its territory, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has threatened to take the island by force in recent years.
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China’s Taiwan Affairs Office clarified on Wednesday that the threat of execution applies only to a small number of Taiwanese independence “diehards’ evil words and actions.”
The move is the latest escalation of tensions between Taipei and Beijing. Recent months have also seen China conduct extensive military drills surrounding the island. China has used the drills as intimidation, typically following events connecting the U.S. and Taiwan.
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China first conducted live-fire drills in 2022 after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. D-Calif., traveled to Taiwan. It was the first time a U.S. speaker visited the island in over 25 years.
Beijing’s execution threat comes just days after the U.S. approved the sale of $360 million in drones, missiles and other equipment to Taiwan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
World
Serbian police shut down cultural exchange festival with Kosovo
The festival ban comes a day after the EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell said no progress had been made during talks in Brussels towards implementing an EU-backed agreement towards normalising ties between Belgrade and Pristina.
Serbian police have banned a festival that promotes cultural exchange with Kosovo following a rally by far-right protesters outside the venue.
In a statement, Belgrade police cited security concerns as the reasons for stopping the event from going ahead, saying they wanted to prevent ‘danger to the security of people and property and to public peace and order on a larger scale.’
The police statement also said that the anti-festival protest, which saw several dozen right-wing extremists gather outside the festival venue, waving Serbian flags and banners saying ‘No surrender’, had also been banned.
Several Serbian government officials have sharply criticised the festival in recent days, describing it as anti-Serb.
While the festival has been held alternatively in Serbia and Kosovo for the past decade, this year’s ban in Serbia illustrates a general toughening of the government’s stance toward its critics.
The Mirëdita, dobar dan festival, whose name means ‘hello’ in Albanian and Serbian, is organised by youth groups from Serbia and Kosovo and was due to open on Thursday with a theatre show from Kosovo.
According to the festival’s website the event, which was due to run for two days, aims to ‘enrich regional perspectives and foster cooperation and peacebuilding’.
No progress
The festival ban came a day after the EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell said no progress had been made during talks in Brussels towards implementing an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti had met to discuss an EU-backed plan to normalise ties. However, unresolved issues, including Pristina’s demands that Belgrade hands over the suspected organisers of the Banjska attack, blocked further progress.
Speaking after the meetings, Borrell said that the European Union will continue to exert all its efforts and capacity to normalise relations between Belgrade and Pristina.
“Kosovo was not ready for this, Kosovo was not willing to do this trilateral meeting. Serbia was ready to do it, but you need two to dance tango and we need two to sit around the table in order to continue the dialogue,” Borrell added.
Borrell said on Wednesday ahead of the meeting that a new round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina would “hopefully send a different message and end in a different note.”
Brussels has warned both Belgrade and Pristina that refusal to compromise jeopardises Serbia and Kosovo’s chances of joining the bloc.
Kosovo, a former Serbian province, declared independence in 2008, a move Belgrade does not recognise.
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