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Kyiv can use British weapons inside Russia – Cameron

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UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron, during his visit to Kyiv, reiterated the UK’s commitment to supporting Ukraine with £3 billion annually for defense purposes. He emphasized Ukraine’s sovereign right to defend itself and acknowledged the necessity of striking back at Russia in response to aggression. However, this stance was met with criticism from Russia, which condemned it as a dangerous escalation that could jeopardize European security. Despite this, Lord Cameron maintained the UK’s position in supporting Ukraine’s defensive actions.

The United States reportedly advised Ukraine against targeting Russian oil refineries out of concern that such actions could provoke further escalation in the conflict. This caution reflects broader international efforts to mitigate tensions and prevent the situation from deteriorating into a full-scale war. The delicate balance of power in the region underscores the importance of diplomatic dialogue and strategic restraint in managing the crisis.

Meanwhile, Russian advancements in eastern Ukraine have heightened fears of an impending summer offensive. Ukrainian intelligence officials warn of potential Russian offensives in the northeastern regions of Kharkiv and Sumy. The Ukrainian military remains vigilant, anticipating further incursions and preparing to defend key strategic positions. Despite these challenges, Ukraine maintains its determination to resist Russian aggression and safeguard its territorial integrity.

In response to Lord Cameron’s statements, Russian officials criticized what they perceive as Western involvement in a “hybrid war” against Moscow. This rhetoric underscores the deep-seated geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West, which continue to shape the dynamics of the conflict in Ukraine. As diplomatic exchanges intensify and military maneuvers unfold, the situation remains fluid, with the risk of escalation ever-present.

Amidst the ongoing conflict, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal has sought assistance from Lord Cameron to help restore the country’s energy infrastructure, which has been severely damaged by repeated Russian missile strikes. This plea underscores the urgent humanitarian needs of the Ukrainian people and the importance of international support in rebuilding the country’s infrastructure and ensuring its long-term stability.

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Germany faces genocide case over Israel weapon sales

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Nicaragua has asked the UN’s highest court to halt German weapons sales to Israel at the start of a landmark case.

Germany is accused of breaching the UN genocide convention by sending military hardware to Israel and ceasing funding of the UN’s aid agency.

Berlin rejects the claims and will present a defence to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday.

In 2023 some 30% of Israel’s military equipment purchases came from Germany, totalling €300m ($326m; £257m).

The allegations build on a separate case taken by South Africa in January, where judges in the Hague ordered Israel to take “every possible measure” to avoid genocidal acts. The court also ordered Hamas to release all hostages taken from Israel during its 7 October attacks immediately.Israel rejects accusations that it is engaging in genocidal acts in its campaign in Gaza, and has insisted it has the right to defend itself.

More than 33,000 have been killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry there says, the majority of them civilians. Gaza is on the brink of famine, with Oxfam reporting that 300,000 people trapped in the north have lived since January on an average of 245 calories a day.

Nicaragua says Germany’s arms sales to Israel, which totalled $326.5m last year – a tenfold increase on 2022 – make it complicit in Israel’s alleged war crimes.

Components for air defence systems and communications equipment accounted for most of the sales, according to the DPA news agency.Germany was also one of 15 Western nations which suspended funding for the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) over allegations that some of the agency’s staff were involved in the 7 October attacks on Israel.

According to papers filed with the ICJ, Nicaragua wants the UN’s top court to order Berlin to halt weapons sales and resume funding of the aid agency, one of the few international bodies still operating in Gaza.

It says in the absence of such measures, “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and is failing in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide”.

Speaking as the trial opened, Alain Pellet, a lawyer for Nicaragua, said it was “urgent that Germany suspend continued sales.

“Germany was and is fully conscious of the risk that the arms it has furnished and continues to furnish to Israel,” he told judges.

Berlin has rejected the allegations, but has remained tight-lipped about its legal strategy ahead of the hearings.

“We note Nicaragua’s lawsuit and we deny the allegations as unjustified”, government spokesman Wolfgang Buechner said.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been a vocal supporter of Israel’s right to self-defence, but he has faced increasing domestic hostility to the continuation of arms sales to the country.

On Sunday, a group of civil servants wrote to the German leader calling on the government to “cease arm deliveries to the Israeli government with immediate effect”.

“Israel is committing crimes in Gaza that are in clear contradiction to international law and thus to the Constitution, which we are bound to as federal civil servants and public employees,” the statement said, citing January’s ICJ ruling.

In January’s case, the ICJ ruled that “at least some of the acts and omissions alleged by South Africa to have been committed by Israel in Gaza appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the Convention”.

But critics of the case have been quick to highlight that Nicaragua itself has a spotted human rights record, with its government accused of cracking down on opposition. In March, the UK’s mission to the UN accused President Daniel Ortega’s government of a “relentless” crackdown on human rights and civil liberties.

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Czech Republic MPs vote to tighten gun laws

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The Czech Republic has passed an amendment to its gun legislation, following the recent mass shooting at Charles University. The amendment, proposed prior to the incident, still needs approval from the senate and the president and won’t be effective until 2026. Despite being considered insufficiently transformative, the amendment aims to address loopholes that allowed the shooter, a licensed gun user, to amass eight legally-owned weapons, including an AR-10 semi-automatic assault rifle.

The shooter, a 24-year-old graduate student with a history of depression, killed 14 people on campus. The legal changes propose an updated online register of guns and owners accessible to doctors, including psychiatrists. Gun shops will be obligated to report suspicious purchases, and the system will flag individuals acquiring numerous weapons. Police will gain the authority to seize weapons preventatively, especially if the owners make threats on social media, a power currently unavailable to them.

However, mandatory psychological tests for gun licenses, common in other countries, will not be enforced. Czech doctors can request such tests but are not obligated to do so before signing license applications. The legislation may undergo further amendments in parliament, but the fundamental right to bear arms for self-defense, added to the constitution in 2021 amid EU attempts to restrict weapon possession, is unlikely to be altered. With over 300,000 licensed gun owners and a million guns in the country, the Czech Republic, known for hunting and biathlon, has a majority of licenses granted for personal protection rather than sports or hunting purposes. The necessity of such personal protection in cities like Prague and Brno remains unclear in one of Europe’s safest countries.

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Israel Gaza: EU calls for ‘corridors and pauses’ for humanitarian aid

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EU leaders have urged the establishment of “corridors and pauses” to ensure the delivery of crucial humanitarian aid to Gaza. Following lengthy discussions in Brussels, the leaders issued a joint statement emphasizing the necessity of safe and unimpeded access. Disagreements among member states had previously centered on the duration and structure of these pauses, with some advocating for a longer, singular cessation of hostilities.

In response to Hamas’s attack that led to significant casualties, Israel initiated airstrikes and imposed blockades on essential supplies, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. The health system in Gaza, operated by Hamas, has been strained to the brink, with a large number of casualties and a shortage of functioning medical facilities.

Although the aid reaching Gaza has been limited, the recent statement from the EU leaders represents a compromise among the diverse views of the 27 member states. The use of “humanitarian pauses” as brief intervals aims to allow the EU to work with regional partners to provide essential resources without being exploited by terrorist organizations, as clarified in the statement.

The decision to use the term “pauses” rather than “pause” was a result of delicate negotiations. The former was considered less likely to imply a permanent ceasefire, thereby acknowledging Israel’s right to self-defense. Notably, certain member states, including Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany, which holds a strong pro-Israel stance, played a significant role in shaping the statement’s wording.

While some countries expressed disappointment at the absence of a specific call for a ceasefire, there was approval for the addition of a new line supporting the organization of an international peace conference. The proposed conference aligns with the Spanish caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s earlier call for an international peace summit to address the long-standing conflict in the region.

Given that the EU lacks military authority, its influence is primarily diplomatic, focusing on diplomatic pressure and the provision of aid. Despite the EU’s efforts, Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, asserted that Israel would continue to make autonomous decisions regarding its actions in Gaza, based on its national interests.

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Outrage in Paris following police shooting of teenager who defied traffic stop

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Violent protests erupted in Paris overnight following the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old who failed to comply with a traffic stop order by police. Video footage circulating on social media shows a police officer aiming a gun at the driver of a car, followed by a gunshot and the car subsequently crashing. The teenager, identified as Naël M, succumbed to chest wounds despite receiving assistance from emergency services. The officer responsible for the shooting has been apprehended on charges of homicide.

Initially, the police claimed that the teen had driven his car toward them with the intent to harm. However, verified footage contradicts this account, revealing two officers attempting to stop the vehicle. One officer points his weapon at the driver through the window and seemingly fires at close range as the driver tries to flee. In the video, an unidentified person can be heard saying, “you’re going to be shot in the head,” but the speaker’s identity remains unclear.

Two other individuals were in the car at the time of the incident. One of them fled, while the other, also a minor, was detained by the police. The shooting triggered protests in the Nanterre area, located west of Paris, with incidents of arson, destruction of bus shelters, and the use of fireworks near the police station. Riot police employed tear gas to disperse the protesters, leading to the arrest of twenty individuals.

Following the teenager’s death, two separate investigations have been initiated—one into the potential misconduct of a public official resulting in a fatality, and another into the driver’s failure to stop the vehicle and alleged attempt to harm a police officer.

Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez expressed concerns about the officer’s actions, although he suggested the officer may have felt threatened. The family’s lawyer contested this justification, stating that the video unequivocally depicted a police officer deliberately killing the young man. The family filed a complaint against the police for providing false information initially, claiming that the car had attempted to run over the officers.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin described the video shared on social media as “extremely shocking” and called on people to respect the family’s grief and the presumption of innocence for the police. Left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon extended his condolences to the teen’s family, emphasizing that no officer has the right to kill unless in self-defense. He called for a comprehensive reform of the uncontrolled police force, which he believes undermines the authority of the state.

This incident follows another fatal police shooting two weeks earlier in Angouleme, where a 19-year-old driver was killed after allegedly hitting an officer during a traffic stop. Last year, a record number of 13 individuals died in police shootings during traffic stops in France, according to Reuters. Naël M’s death marks the second such incident this year.

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Vladimir Putin vows to hold accountable the leaders of the Wagner mutiny

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Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, has accused the leaders of the recent Wagner mutiny of seeking to create chaos and conflict within Russia. In a strongly-worded speech, Putin vowed to bring the organizers of the revolt to justice. However, he distinguished the regular Wagner troops as “patriots” and provided them with options to join the army, go to Belarus, or return home. Putin did not specifically mention Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, who had previously denied any involvement in attempting to overthrow Putin’s regime.

Wagner is a private army of mercenaries that has been fighting alongside the Russian military in Ukraine. The mutiny, which was short-lived, involved Wagner fighters seizing a major Russian city and advancing towards Moscow in a convoy of military vehicles. Prigozhin claimed that the revolt was in response to government plans to take direct control of Wagner, citing concerns over mistakes made by defense officials during the war with Ukraine. He insisted that Wagner had always acted in Russia’s interests.

Prigozhin’s comments were his first public statements since reaching a deal to end the mutiny, reportedly involving him going to Belarus with dropped criminal charges. However, Russian state media reported that he remains under investigation. Putin emphasized in his address to the Russian people that the organizers of the march on Moscow would face justice and criticized Prigozhin for betraying Russia. He used the speech to assert his authority and counter the perception of a weak response to the mutiny.

Putin accused the West of wanting Russians to turn against each other, although US President Joe Biden denied any involvement by the US or its allies in the rebellion. Putin claimed that his handling of the crisis prevented a catastrophe, but many Russians witnessed events differently and may not be convinced by his statements. He reiterated his promise to allow Wagner troops who did not engage in violence against fellow Russians to leave for Belarus or sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense or other military and law enforcement structures. Putin credited the unity of Russian society and thanked Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko for his role in peacefully resolving the situation.

The contrast between Putin’s portrayal of a united country and the scenes in Rostov, where locals welcomed and embraced the Wagner fighters, led Putin to suggest that the mercenaries had been deceived and used. The rebellion occurred after months of tensions between Wagner and Russia’s military leadership. The situation escalated when Wagner mercenaries crossed the Ukrainian border and took control of the regional military command in Rostov-on-Don, while a column of military vehicles headed towards Moscow. Prigozhin claimed that the “march of justice” exposed serious security problems across the country and mentioned Lukashenko’s involvement in brokering an agreement to end the mutiny. He expressed regret for the deaths of Russian troops during the conflict but justified their actions as self-defense.

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