World
Photos: Brutal cold snap hits northeast US, breaking record lows
A harmful mixture of record-setting chilly temperatures and highly effective winds have buffeted the northeastern United States.
On Saturday, New Hampshire’s Mount Washington recorded a wind chill, a measure of how the mixed impact of air and wind feels to the pores and skin, of -78 Celsius (-108 Fahrenheit), which gave the impression to be the bottom ever in the USA.
The air temperature on the peak reached -44C (-47F), with winds gusting close to 160km/h (100 mph), based on the Mount Washington Observatory.
In Boston, the place officers closed down the general public faculty system on Friday because of the impending freeze, the low temperature hit -23C (-10 F), shattering the day’s file set greater than a century in the past, the Nationwide Climate Service (NWS) mentioned.
In Windfall, Rhode Island, the mercury dropped to -23C (-9F), nicely under the earlier all-time low of -19C (-2F), set in 1918.
The arctic blast flowing into the US from japanese Canada additionally introduced file lows to Albany, New York; Augusta, Maine; Rochester, New York; and Worcester, Massachusetts, amongst different locations, the NWS mentioned.
A number of cities took emergency measures to help residents, together with opening warming centres and conducting outreach to make sure homeless folks have been sheltered from the brutal chilly.
The frigid climate was anticipated to be short-lived, with temperatures forecast to be considerably increased on Sunday. The excessive temperature in Boston on Sunday will method 8C (47F), the NWS mentioned.
World
Kremlin condemns NATO boss's appeal for Ukraine to use Western arms in Russia
World
Memorial Day ceremony held in Baghdad to honor US Army soldiers killed in Iranian-backed drone attack
U.S. Military personnel stationed in Baghdad, Iraq held a Memorial Day service Monday to honor the three U.S. Army soldiers who were killed in a drone attack in Jordan earlier this year.
Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve presented the ceremonial wreath at the Memorial Day ceremony at the Union III base, in Baghdad’s Green Zone. Those in attendance paid their respects to the fallen service members.
Staff Sgt. William Rivers, 46, Sgt. Kennedy Sanders, 24, and Sgt. Breonna Moffett, 23, were killed Jan. 28 after a drone attack by an Iranian proxy group hit Tower 22, a small U.S. outpost in northeast Jordan, on the Iraq, Syria, Jordan tri-border, where they were stationed.
BIDEN ADMIN REVERSES COURSE, GRANTS PERMIT FOR CATHOLIC GROUP’S MEMORIAL DAY MASS AT NATIONAL CEMETERY
The soldiers had been stationed at Tower 22 just across the border from Syria to support the mission to defeat ISIS.
At its height, over 100,000 people lived there, blocked by Jordan from entering into the kingdom at a time when concerns about infiltration by the extremist group were rampant. Those concerns grew out of a 2016 car bomb attack there, that killed seven Jordanian border guards.
The camp has dwindled in the time since to some 7,500 people because of a lack of supplies, per United Nations estimates.
The base began as a Jordanian border observation outpost, then saw an increased U.S. presence after American forces entered Syria in late 2015. The small installation includes U.S. engineering, aviation, logistics and security troops with about 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel deployed there.
Rivers, Sanders and Moffett were all assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, an Army Reserve unit based in Fort Moore, Georgia, previously known as Fort Benning.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
EU convenes Israel to discuss respect of human rights, ICJ ruling
The breakthrough comes three month after Ireland and Spain first pressed on the EU executive to re-open its trade deal with Israel.
European Union foreign ministers unanimously agreed on Monday to call for an Association Council with Israel to discuss the country’s compliance with its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel trade deal, also known as the Association Agreement.
The bloc also intends to use the meeting to confront Netanyahu’s government about its compliance with Friday’s ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered Israel to halt its intended military offensive in the city of Rafah.
The move comes three months after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar first made a plea for the urgent review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, citing serious concerns over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and potential violations of human rights and international law.
Article 2 of that agreement, struck in 2000, stipulates that the agreement is “based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.”
Europe is Israel’s main trading partner, accounting for just under a third of all commerce, meaning the Agreement is seen as a powerful tool for the bloc to exert pressure on Netanyahu’s war cabinet to refrain from its offensive in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Despite the firm backing of human rights groups and the UN’s special rapporteur on Palestine, the EU had failed to garner political backing for the move until the breakthrough on Monday.
“We got the necessary unanimity to call for an Association Council with Israel to discuss the situation in Gaza (…) and the respect of human rights under the obligations that Israel has assumed under the Association Council and how they plan to implement the ruling of the court,” Borrell told reporters, referring to Friday’s ruling by the Hague-based court.
“But what we have seen since the court has issued its ruling (is) not the stop of military activities but on the contrary an increase in the military activities, an increase in the bombing and an increase in the casualties to the civilian people, as we have seen last night,” Borrell added.
On Sunday, an Israeli air strike on a camp of displaced Palestinians in the southern Gazan town of Rafah left at least 45 dead, including women and children, prompting global condemnation.
“The last figure seems to be around 40 people, including a small children being burned. I condemn this in the strongest terms. It proves that there is no safe place in Gaza,” Borrell said, describing the images, including those of burnt children, coming out of Rafah as “shocking.”
The IDF has since opened an investigation into the massacre, claiming it was targeting two senior Hamas officials.
EU foreign ministries have harshly criticised the attack, with the German foreign ministry saying the “images of charred bodies” are “unbearable.”
Bloc ups pressure on Israel amid diplomatic spats
Responding to the decision to convene an Association Council, Belgian foreign minister Hadja Lahbib said the move was a “strong signal.”
“We must ensure that our rules and values are respected by all, and above all by our partners like Israel. Our credibility depends on it,” Lahbib, whose government is a staunch supporter of the Palestinians, added.
Other foreign ministers, such as Slovenia’s Tanja Fajon, called for the bloc to go further by slapping sanctions on Israel for its continued violations of international law in its Gaza offensive.
“I strongly condemn Israel’s attack last night on the displaced Palestinians, in which many children were also burned to death,” Fajon, whose government is taking steps to recognise the State of Palestine, said on social media platform X.
“In Brussels (…) today I will stand up for respect for international humanitarian law and decision (of the) ICJ. In case of continuing violations, (the) EU must react uniformly and decisively, including sanctions,” Fajon added.
Borrell declined to comment on whether he believed his Israeli counterparts would agree to attend the Association Council, amid increasing diplomatic tensions with two member states – Ireland and Spain – which announced last Wednesday they would formally recognise the State of Palestine tomorrow, May 28.
A diplomatic row has since erupted, particularly between Israel and Borrell’s native Spain, with Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz issuing a statement Monday morning announcing his government would prohibit Spain from providing consular services to Palestinians in the West Bank.
Katz has also accused Spain’s recognition of Palestine as a “reward for terrorism.”
Borrell described the escalation as “everything but diplomatic.” “This is a completely unjustified and extreme verbal aggression,” he added.
The bloc’s top diplomat also acknowledged there was no unanimous appetite to consider sanctioning Israel for its actions in Gaza but suggested their stance could shift if Netanyahu’s government “continues to ignore” the ICJ’s ruling.
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