UNITED NATIONS: Putting money into UN agencies, where the Trump administration has just cut US funding by $640 million, is as important to global peace and security as defense spending — “and sometimes even more,” a top EU official said Tuesday.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told the UN Security Council that she wanted to speak directly to the bloc’s “American friends” with a clear message: Military capabilities are only one element in the EU’s security strategy, which also stresses economic development, strong state institutions, good health care, education and democracy.
While the US budget through September approved by Congress last week cut $640 million from UN agencies, it added $15 billion to the US defense budget.
Mogherini said the EU’s voluntary contributions to the UN’s funds and agencies “amount to half of their total budget” because organizations like the World Health Organization, the World Food Program and the UN children’s agency UNICEF promote key ingredients for peace.
“It is essential for us that we all keep investing in these UN agencies,” she said. “They are as important to global peace and security as defense spending — and sometimes even more. And we, Europeans, consider this support to the UN system as a crucial investment in our own security.”
US Ambassador Nikki Haley cited the Trump administration’s “valuable partnership” with the EU on many issues but made no mention of budget cuts in her speech on UN-EU relations.
Instead, she urged stronger EU action on Syria, North Korea and Iran.
Haley called on the EU and the Security Council to adopt “more rigorous sanctions” against Syrian President Bashar Assad and the “known suppliers and facilitators of the Syrian chemical weapons program” in order to prevent further chemical attacks and “war crimes.”
She called on the EU and all countries to exert “maximal pressure” on North Korea to “abandon its reckless pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.” She also urged the 28 EU nations to “rigorously implement” the six UN sanctions resolutions and “impose tough, autonomous measures that go beyond the resolutions, and downgrade diplomatic and economic ties with North Korea.”
On Iran, Haley said that, “the EU can and should do more to underscore to Iran that its destabilizing actions in the region, including support for extremist and terrorist groups, must cease.”
President Donald Trump has said he wants to renegotiate or leave the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers. The agreement gave Iran relief from crippling economic sanctions in exchange for limits to its nuclear program but it did not address Tehran’s destabilizing activities.
In sharp contrast, Mogherini called the nuclear deal “a milestone for nonproliferation, making everyone more secure — in the region, in Europe, and in the world.” And in a clear message to the US, she stressed that all parties must implement it.
Mogherini also tried to drum up support in the Trump administration for the landmark 2015 Paris agreement to combat climate change.
Trump pledged during the presidential campaign to withdraw or renegotiate the accord, but he has wavered on the issue since winning the presidency. The White House said Tuesday the president is delaying a decision until after the G7 summit of major powers in Italy at the end of May.
Mogherini said the terrible famine in the Horn of Africa, which has “the potential to make a fragile situation even worse and turn into a security situation,” also serves “as a powerful reminder that climate change is real, and is already impacting on our security environment.”
“Everything is linked,” she said. “So we continue to expect that the US will find a way to remain committed to the Paris agreement.”
As for the EU’s overall philosophy, Mogherini told the Security Council that “confrontational approaches lead nowhere.”
“Between win-win and lose-lose, the EU has picked sides,” she said. “We stand always on the side of dialogue and partnership.”
EU criticizes US for $640m cut to UN agencies
EU criticizes US for $640m cut to UN agencies
First Bangladeshi pilgrims ready to depart for Hajj
- The country’s quota this year is 127,000 pilgrims
- First flight leaves for Saudi Arabia on Thursday
DHAKA: Thousands of Bangladeshis are going to become some of the earliest Hajj pilgrims to arrive in Saudi Arabia this year, with the first batch scheduled to fly to Jeddah on Thursday.
This year, the Hajj is expected to start on June 14 and end on June 19.
While the pilgrimage itself can be performed over five or six days, pilgrims often arrive early, knowing that it may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fulfill their religious duty.
The first Hajj flight carrying 419 pilgrims is scheduled to leave for Jeddah from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Thursday morning.
“Our pilgrims will be the first batch of Hajj pilgrims from around the world who will arrive in the Kingdom,” Mohammad Matiul Islam, additional secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, told Arab News.
“Some pilgrims opt to travel earlier to the holy land, as it gives them spiritual peace. It’s the pilgrims’ choice to determine their time of travel.”
This year, Saudi Arabia granted Bangladesh a quota of 127,000 pilgrims to perform the spiritual journey that is one of the five pillars of Islam. Because of the rising cost of airfares to the Middle East, fewer Bangladeshis than expected will be able to go.
Bangladesh, one of the most populous Muslim-majority countries, also struggled to meet the quota in 2023, when the minimum government rate for Hajj was $6,000.
To prevent the same scenario during the 2024 pilgrimage season, the Bangladeshi government reduced the cost by $1,000, but high inflation at home prevented a third of prospective pilgrims from registering.
“As we fell short of meeting the number, a quota of 41,000 is surrendered to Saudi Arabia,” Islam said. “The surrendering of this (remaining slots) will not affect the receiving of our Hajj quota next year.”
Saudi visa registration for Bangladeshis will end on Saturday, and most of them will be departing over the next few weeks from Dhaka, where they will be assisted by Saudi authorities under the flagship Makkah Route initiative.
The pre-travel program was launched by the Kingdom in 2019 to help pilgrims to meet all the visa, customs and health requirements at their airport of origin, and save them long hours of waiting before and upon arrival in Saudi Arabia.
From Wednesday, those flying in the next few days can wait for departure at a special Hajj camp near the airport in Dhaka.
“While staying at the Hajj camp, the pilgrims have their Bangladeshi immigration part done. Also, a part of Saudi immigration is being done here as the pilgrims leave their luggage here to Makkah Route authorities,” Islam said.
“The air-conditioned accommodation here is free of cost for the pilgrims ... We suggest the pilgrims from outside Dhaka be at the Hajj camp two days before their flight. The camp can hold more than 5,000 pilgrims at a time.”
Russia warns French troops legitimate targets if they are sent to Ukraine
- French president Emmanuel Macron caused controversy in February by saying he could not rule out the deployment of ground troops in Ukraine in the future
MOSCOW: Russia warned France on Wednesday that if President Emmanuel Macron sent troops to Ukraine then they would be seen as legitimate targets by the Russian military.
Macron caused controversy in February by saying he could not rule out the deployment of ground troops in Ukraine in the future. The French leader warned that if Russia wins in Ukraine then Europe’s credibility will be reduced to zero.
“It is characteristic that Macron himself explains this rhetoric with the desire to create some kind of ‘strategic uncertainty’ for Russia,” Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.
“We have to disappoint him — for us the situation looks more than certain,” Zakharova said.
“If the French appear in the conflict zone, they will inevitably become targets for the Russian armed forces. It seems to me that Paris already has proof of this.”
Zakharova said Russia was already seeing growing numbers of French nationals among those killed in Ukraine.
Russia said on Monday it would practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as part of a military exercise after what the Moscow said were threats from France, Britain and the United States.
AstraZeneca says withdraws Covid vaccine ‘for commercial reasons’
LONDON: British drugmaker AstraZeneca said Wednesday that it has withdrawn its Covid vaccine Vaxzevria, one of the first produced in the pandemic, citing “commercial reasons” and a surplus of updated jabs.
“As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have since been developed there is a surplus of available updated vaccines. This has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied,” an AstraZeneca spokeperson said.
3 Indian men charged with killing Sikh separatist leader in Canada appear in court
SURREY, British Columbia: Three Indian men charged with killing Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia last year have appeared in court in the case that set off a diplomatic spat after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement.
Canadian police had arrested the three Indian men last week in Edmonton, Alberta, and they have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said Friday that the investigation into whether the men had ties to India’s government was ongoing.
Nijjar, 45, was shot to death in his pickup truck last June after he left the Sikh temple he led in the city of Surrey. An Indian-born citizen of Canada, he owned a plumbing business and was a leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland. India designated him a terrorist in 2020 and at the time of his death had been seeking his arrest for alleged involvement in an attack on a Hindu priest.
India has denied involvement in the slaying. In response to the allegations, India told Canada last year to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats in the country. Tensions remain but have somewhat eased since.
The arrested men — Kamalpreet Singh, 22, Karan Brar, 22, and Karanpreet Singh, 28 — appeared in court Tuesday via a video link and agreed to a trial in English. They were ordered to appear in British Columbia Provincial Court again on May 21.
Brar and Karanpreet Singh appeared in the morning. Kamalpreet’s appearance was delayed until the afternoon as he waited to speak to a lawyer.
The small provincial courtroom was filled with spectators during the morning session. Others crowded into an overflow room to watch the proceedings via video.
Richard Fowler, the defense lawyer representing Brar, said the case will eventually be moved to the Supreme Court and combined into one case.
About 100 people gathered outside the courthouse waving yellow flags and holding photos of Indian government officials whom they accuse of being involved in Nijjar’s killing.
Canadian police say the three suspects had been living in Canada as non-permanent residents.
A bloody decadelong Sikh insurgency shook north India in the 1970s and 1980s until it was crushed in a government crackdown in which thousands of people were killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.
The Khalistan homeland movement has lost much of its political power but still has supporters in the Indian state of Punjab, as well as in the sizable overseas Sikh diaspora. While the active insurgency ended years ago, the Indian government has repeatedly warned that Sikh separatists were trying to make a comeback.
