Finland again summons Russian diplomat over a suspected airspace violation
NATO member Finland on Tuesday said it believed a Russian military aircraft entered its airspace off the coast of Porvoo in the southern part of the Nordic country, and that the Finnish Border Guard was investigating the incident.
"The foreign ministry has invited Russia's acting head of mission to speak on the issue today," the Finnish ministry said in a statement to Reuters.
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The Herald Scotland
5 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
President Macron says France will recognise Palestine as a state
'The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,″ he added. Fidèle à son engagement historique pour une paix juste et durable au Proche-Orient, j'ai décidé que la France reconnaîtra l'État de Palestine. J'en ferai l'annonce solennelle à l'Assemblée générale des Nations unies, au mois de septembre prochain.… — Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 24, 2025 The French president offered support for Israel after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and frequently speaks out against antisemitism, but he has grown increasingly frustrated about Israel's war in Gaza, especially in recent months. France is the biggest and most powerful European country to recognise Palestine. More than 140 countries recognise a Palestinian state, including more than a dozen in Europe. France has Europe's largest Jewish population and the largest Muslim population in western Europe, and fighting in the Middle East often spills over into protests or other tensions in France. The Israeli Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment. France's foreign minister is co-hosting a conference at the UN next week about a two-state solution. Last month, Mr Macron expressed his 'determination to recognise the state of Palestine', and he has pushed for a broader movement toward a two-state solution, in parallel with recognition of Israel and its right to defend itself. Thursday's announcement came soon after the US cut short Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar, saying Hamas was not showing good faith. Momentum has been building against Israel in recent days. Earlier this week, France and more than two dozen mostly European countries condemned Israel's restrictions on aid shipments into the territory and the killings of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food. The Palestinians seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and Gaza, territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel's government and most of its political class have long been opposed to Palestinian statehood and now say that it would reward militants after Hamas' 2023 attack. Israel annexed east Jerusalem shortly after the 1967 war and considers it part of its capital. In the West Bank, it has built scores of settlements, some resembling sprawling suburbs, that are now home to more than 500,000 Jewish settlers with Israeli citizenship. The territory's three million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in population centres.
Reuters
10 hours ago
- Reuters
Thai fighter jet bombs Cambodian targets as border battle escalates
BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH, July 24 (Reuters) - Thailand scrambled an F-16 fighter jet to bomb targets in Cambodia on Thursday after artillery volleys from both sides killed at least 11 civilians, as border tension boiled over into rare armed conflict between the Southeast Asian countries. Both blamed each other for starting a morning clash at a disputed area of the border, which quickly escalated from small arms fire to heavy shelling in at least six locations 209 kilometres (130 miles) apart along a frontier where sovereignty has been disputed for more than a century. Thailand positioned six F-16 fighter jets in an uncommon combat deployment, one of which was mobilised to strike a Cambodian military target, among measures Cambodia's foreign ministry called "reckless and brutal military aggression". Thailand's military said the use of air power was to strike with precision. The worst fighting between the countries in 13 years came after Thailand on Wednesday recalled its ambassador to Phnom Penh and expelled Cambodia's envoy, in response to a second Thai soldier losing a limb to a landmine that Bangkok alleged had been laid recently by rival troops. The two countries have been braced for conflict since the killing of a Cambodian soldier late in May during a brief skirmish, with troops reinforced on both sides of the border amid a full-blown diplomatic crisis that brought Thailand's fragile coalition government to the brink of collapse. Thailand said there were 12 fatalities in three Thai provinces, 11 of them civilians including an eight-year-old boy. Authorities said 31 people were injured on Thursday. The number of Cambodian casualties was unclear. "We condemn this - using heavy weapons without a clear target, outside of conflict zones... the use of force and did not adhere to international law," Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters. "We remain committed to peaceful means and there should be discussions, but what happened was a provocation and we had to defend ourselves." Thailand's Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin told reporters a hospital was hit by shelling in Surin province, an attack he said should be considered "a war crime". Cambodian government, defence and foreign ministry officials at a press conference gave no indication of fatalities sustained or any estimate of the number of people evacuated. In a letter to Pakistan, the current president of the United Nations Security Council, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, urged the body to convene a meeting to stop what he called "unprovoked and premeditated military aggression" by Thailand in violation of international law. As clashes spread to different border areas, Thai villagers including children and the elderly fled to concrete shelters fortified with sandbags and car tires. "How many rounds have been fired? It's countless," an unidentified woman in Surin province told the Thai Public Broadcasting Service while hiding in the shelter as gunfire and explosions were heard in the background. Video footage showed a plume of thick black smoke rising from a gas station in the neighbouring Sisaket province, as firefighters rushed to extinguish the blaze. Thailand has evacuated more than 40,000 people from border areas, moving many to temporary shelters, where elderly people and small children gathered on floor mats as authorities prepared meals and unloaded food and bottled water from trucks. "I'm worried about my children," said Suphap Wongwai, an evacuee in Surin province. "My children are scared and crying." Thailand and Cambodia have bickered for decades over jurisdiction of various undemarcated points along their 817km (508-mile) land border, with ownership of the ancient Hindu temples Ta Moan Thom and the 11th century Preah Vihear central to the disputes. Preah Vihear was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962 but tension escalated in 2008 after Cambodia attempted to list it as a UNESCO World Heritage site. That led to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths. Cambodia in June said it had asked the ICJ to resolve its disputes with Thailand, which says it has never recognised the court's jurisdiction and prefers a bilateral approach. Thailand's use of a fighter jet underlines its military advantage over Cambodia in terms of size and range of defence hardware. The clashes have caused jitters in the region, with the Philippines and Vietnam calling for restraint and China expressing willingness to play a role in promoting de-escalation. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Thailand and Cambodia are members, said he would speak to leaders of both countries. "The least we can expect from them is to just stand down and hopefully to try and enter into negotiations," Anwar said. The clashes erupted hours after a downgrade in diplomatic relations between the two countries following a series of landmine injuries to Thai soldiers patrolling border areas. Thailand accused Cambodia of placing the mines recently, which Phnom Penh dismissed as baseless. De-mining groups estimate as many as 4-6 million landmines remain in Cambodia following years of civil war.
Reuters
11 hours ago
- Reuters
Kazakh Black Sea oil exports resume as tankers given access, sources say
MOSCOW, July 24 (Reuters) - Russia's FSB security service has started handing out clearance for foreign tankers to access the Black Sea ports, allowing for Kazakhstan's oil exports to resume after they were halted for nearly a day, four industry sources said on Thursday. The suspension led to the disruption of around 2% of global supply and drove international oil prices to almost $70 a barrel on Thursday before they pared gains. Russian regulations mean foreign ships require the approval of Russia's FSB security service to access the country's ports. The new law was signed by President Vladimir Putin on Monday and came into effect after a decision by the European Union at the end of last week to impose further sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine. Two industry sources said on Wednesday foreign tankers were being temporarily barred from loading at Russia's main Black Sea ports. That effectively halted oil exports from Kazakhstan via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium that connects Kazakhstan's oil fields with export markets. Shareholders of the CPC include U.S. majors Chevron (CVX.N), opens new tab and ExxonMobil (XOM.N), opens new tab. None of the source Reuters spoke to could be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly. Kazakhstan's energy ministry said the country's pipeline operator KazTransOil was in talks with the oil terminal owner over operations and additional security measures in the Russian Baltic Sea's port of Ust-Luga. The ministry did not elaborate. An industry source, familiar with the matter, said the talks related to the additional costs for the Russian insurance coverage and divers' inspections. Black Sea CPC Blend oil exports from the CPC terminal in Russia were set at 1.66 million barrels per day for August, or about 6.5 million metric tons, almost unchanged from the July export plan, Reuters reported last week. Exports and oil transit via Novorossisk are expected to be around 2.2 million metric tons in July, according to industry sources. Supplies from Novorossisk and the CPC terminal together account for around 2% of global oil supplies. Adding to nervousness on international oil markets about supplies, BP (BP.L), opens new tab said on Thursday that contaminants were detected in some of the oil tanks at Turkey's BTC Ceyhan terminal. It said however that loadings continued from other reservoirs.
