The three lives of NATO, born from a gamble, now deemed obsolete by Trump
June 24-25 summit in The Hague.
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Euronews
3 hours ago
- Euronews
Kyiv holds official day of mourning for 31 killed in Russian strikes
The Ukrainian capital Kyiv observed an official day of mourning on Friday, a day after a Russian drone and missile attack on the city killed 31 people, including five children, and injured more than 150, officials said. The youngest victim in Thursday's strikes was two years old and 16 of the injured were children, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. It was the highest number of children killed and injured in a single attack on Kyiv since aerial attacks on the city began in October 2022, according to official casualty figures reported by the AP news agency. It was also the deadliest attack on the city since July last year, when 33 were killed. The death toll rose overnight as emergency crews continued to dig through rubble. The Russian barrage demolished a large part of a nine-story residential building in the city, while more than 100 other buildings were damaged, including homes, schools, kindergartens, medical facilities and universities, officials said. Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent months, ignoring calls from Western leaders including US President Donald Trump to stop striking civilian areas after more than three years of war. Russian forces are also pressing on with their grinding war of attrition along the 1,000-kilometre front line, where incremental gains over the past year have come at the cost of thousands of soldiers on both sides. Ukraine wants more sanctions on Russia Zelenskyy said that in July, Russia launched over 5,100 glide bombs, more than 3,800 Shahed drones, and nearly 260 missiles of various types, 128 of them ballistic, against Ukraine. He repeated his appeal for countries to impose heavier economic sanctions on Russia to deter the Kremlin, as US-led peace efforts have failed to gain traction. "No matter how much the Kremlin denies (sanctions') effectiveness, they are working and must be stronger," Zelenskyy said. His comments on Friday appeared to be a response to Trump's remarks the previous day, when the Republican president said the US plans to impose sanctions on Russia but added, "I don't know that sanctions bother him," in reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In April, Trump urged Putin to "STOP!" after an aerial attack on Kyiv killed 12 in what was the deadliest assault on the city since July 2024. "Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!" Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform at the time, but Russia hasn't eased up on its barrages. Earlier this week, Trump gave Putin until 8 August to stop the fighting, in a marked reduction of his initial 50-day deadline. Those demands haven't persuaded the Kremlin to change strategy. Putin said on Friday the conditions that Moscow set out last year for a long-term ceasefire agreement still stand. Putin has previously made it clear that he will only accept a settlement on his terms and will keep fighting until they're met. "Any disappointments arise from excessive expectations," Putin said of negotiations. He did not mention Trump by name. Putin said that he regards recent direct talks in Istanbul between delegations from Russia and Ukraine as valuable, even though they made no progress beyond exchanges of prisoners of war, and made no reference to next week's deadline imposed by Trump. In what Ukrainians may see as an ominous note, Putin said that Russia has started production of its newest hypersonic missiles. The Oreshnik's multiple warheads that plunge to a target at speeds up to Mach 10 and cannot be stopped by air defences, he said. Ukraine called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting to be convened on Friday, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, in an effort to push Putin into accepting "a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire."
LeMonde
5 hours ago
- LeMonde
France says it cannot save contraceptives US plans to destroy
France said Friday, August 1, it could not seize women's contraception products estimated to be worth $9.7 million that the United States plans to destroy, after media reported the stockpile would be incinerated in the country. The contraceptives – intended for some of the world's poorest countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa – were purchased by the US foreign aid agency USAID under former president Joe Biden. But France's health ministry told Agence France-Presse Friday there was no legal way for it to intervene. The administration of Biden's successor Donald Trump, which has slashed USAID and pursued anti-abortion policies, confirmed last month it planned to destroy the contraceptives, which have been stored in a warehouse in the Belgian city of Geel. According to several media reports, the unexpired products were to be incinerated in France at the end of July by a company that specialises in destroying medical waste. France's government has come under pressure to save the contraceptives, with women's rights groups calling the US decision "insane." The health ministry told AFP that the government had "examined the courses of action available to us, but unfortunately there is no legal basis for intervention by a European health authority, let alone the French national drug safety authority, to recover these medical products. Since contraceptives are not drugs of major therapeutic interest, and in this case we are not facing a supply shortage, we have no means to requisition the stocks." The ministry also said it had no information on where the contraceptives would be destroyed. Leaving Belgian warehouse Sarah Durocher, head of the French women's rights group Family Planning, told AFP that some contraceptives had already left the Belgian warehouse. "We were informed 36 hours ago that the removal of these boxes of contraceptives had begun," Durocher said Thursday. "We do not know where these trucks are now – or whether they have arrived in France," she added. "We call on all incineration companies not to destroy the contraceptives and to oppose this insane decision." French company Veolia confirmed to AFP that it had a contract with the US firm Chemonics, USAID's logistics provider. But Veolia emphasized that the contract concerned "only the management of expired products, which is not the case for the stockpile" in Belgium. The products, mostly long-acting contraceptives such as IUDs and birth control implants, are reportedly up to five years away from expiring. Outrage over decision The US decision has provoked an outcry in France, where rights groups and left-wing politicians have called on their government to stop the plan. "France cannot allow itself to become the stage for such actions. A moratorium is necessary," wrote five NGOs in an op-ed in Le Monde, condemning the "absurdity" of the US decision. Among them was MSI Reproductive Choices, one of several organisations that have offered to purchase and repackage the contraceptives at no cost to the US government. All offers have been rejected. Last week, New Hampshire's Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen pointed to the Trump administration's stated goal of reducing government waste, saying the contraceptives plan "is the epitome of waste, fraud and abuse." A US State Department spokesperson told AFP earlier this week that the destruction of the products would cost $167,000 and "no HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed." The spokesperson pointed to a policy that prohibits providing aid to non-governmental organisations that perform or promote abortions. The Mexico City Policy, which critics call the "global gag rule," was first introduced by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. It has been reinstated under every Republican president since. Last month, the US also incinerated nearly 500 metric tons of high-nutrition biscuits that had been meant to keep malnourished children in Afghanistan and Pakistan alive.
Euronews
7 hours ago
- Euronews
Slovenia becomes first EU country to ban weapons trade with Israel
Slovenia will be 'the first European country' to ban weapons trade with Israel in response to Tel Aviv's actions in Gaza, Prime Minister Robert Golob told the country's Press Agency (STA) on Friday. 'At the initiative of Prime Minister Dr. Robert Golob, the government today adopted a decision prohibiting the export and transit of military weapons and equipment from or through the Republic of Slovenia to Israel, as well as the import of such goods from Israel into the Republic of Slovenia,' according to a statement cited by STA and published on the Slovenian government's webpage. The statement added that Golob's decision stems from his promise to 'act independently' against Israel if the EU 'failed to adopt concrete measures by mid-July'. 'Due to internal disagreements and lack of unity, the European Union is currently unable to fulfil this task,' the statement said. EU member states have now repeatedly failed to rally enough support to respond to Israel's ongoing actions in Gaza. Despite a review of the EU-Israel association agreement which revealed that the country's actions in Gaza were violating human rights, the EU 27 couldn't agree on any of the 10 sanctions proposed to them, including a partial suspension of Israel's access to the EU's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. An embargo on arms to Israel was never tabled among options for action at EU level. United Nations and EU rules state that human rights violations and war crimes should give rise to arms sales embargoes. In addition, following the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands have already halted or restricted exports. Israel imports almost 70% of its arsenal from the US, the world's largest arms exporter but Germany is Israel's second supplier. Since 7 October 2023, it has exported €485 millions' worth of weapons. Italy ranks third, supplying less than 1%. Slovenia has been one of the most vocal EU countries calling for EU action against Israel. The country recognised a Palestinian state in June last year and has since repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza and increased aid deliveries to the enclave. It has also declared two far-right Israeli ministers, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich as personae non grata.
