Russia accused of jamming Von der Leyen GPS
Brussels — The GPS system of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s aircraft was jammed while en route on Sunday to Bulgaria, where it landed safely, an EU spokesperson said on Monday.
“We have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect this was due to blatant interference by Russia,” the spokesperson said.
The Russian government did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The EU gave no further details, but the spokesperson said the incident would reinforce the bloc’s “unshakeable commitment to ramp up defence capabilities and support for Ukraine” against Russia’s three-and-a-half-year-old invasion. Reuters
Scholars pass resolution on Israeli genocide criteria
The Hague — The world’s leading genocide scholars’ association has passed a resolution saying legal criteria have been met to establish Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, its president said on Monday.
Eighty-six percent of those who voted among the 500-member International Association of Genocide Scholars backed the resolution declaring: “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in Article II of the UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948).”
There was no immediate response from the Israeli foreign ministry.
Israel has in the past strongly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and says they are justified as self-defence. It is fighting a case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague that accuses it of genocide. Reuters
France to host discussion on support for Ukraine
Paris — France will host a mostly virtual meeting on Thursday of about 30 countries to discuss their latest efforts to provide Ukraine with security support once there is a peace agreement with Russia and to denounce Moscow’s unwillingness for negotiations.
“Following the meeting held between Europeans and Americans in Washington on August 18, the heads of state and government will discuss the work on security guarantees for Ukraine conducted in recent weeks and will take stock of the consequences of Russia’s persistent refusal to make peace,” President Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement on Monday.
The so-called “coalition of the willing” put together by France and Britain in February has held talks for months at various levels to try to define plans for what they could contribute militarily for Ukraine to deter Russia from attacking it again once there is a final truce. Reuters
Ex-BoE governor Shafik to bolster Starmer’s team
London — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has appointed Minouche Shafik, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, as his chief economic adviser — part of efforts to bolster his team before what is set to be a difficult end to the year.
Shafik’s appointment and a move to bring Darren Jones, finance minister Rachel Reeves’ deputy, to his Downing Street office indicate that Starmer believes he needs better economic advice before a budget later this year that is expected to include further tax rises.
Jones will be replaced by Labour legislator James Murray, who held a more junior role in the finance ministry, Starmer’s office said in a statement.
In a wider shake-up of Downing Street operations, Starmer also replaced his principal private secretary, who runs his team’s office, and appointed a new director of communications. Reuters
End of WW2 ignites bitter Beijing/Taipei battle
Taipei — Taiwan accused China on Monday of squandering the equivalent of 2% of its entire defence budget to commemorate the end of World War 2 as this year’s 80th anniversary fuels a bitter battle of narratives between Beijing and Taipei.
The war was preceded by Japan’s takeover of China’s northeastern region of Manchuria in 1931 and invasion of the rest of China in 1937.
Taiwan says China’s ruling Communist Party is falsely claiming credit for leading the fighting when most of it was done by forces of what was then the Republic of China.
The Republic’s government fled to Taiwan in 1949, after losing a civil war, and the island retains Republic of China as its formal name. Reuters
Greta’s Gaza aid flotilla blown back to port by storms
Madrid — An aid flotilla of dozens of boats that had set sail for Gaza on Sunday carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists, including climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, has returned to port in Barcelona due to stormy weather, organisers said on Monday.
“We conducted a sea trial and then returned to port to allow the storm to pass. This meant delaying our departure to avoid risking complications with the smaller boats,” the Global Sumud Flotilla Mission said in a statement, adding winds had been up to about 56km/h.
The organisers did not say when they planned to resume the journey. Reuters
Syria exports first oil shipment in 14 years
Tartus — Syria exported 600,000 barrels of heavy crude oil on Monday from the port of Tartus as part of a deal with a trading firm, a Syrian energy official told Reuters, the first known official export of Syrian oil in 14 years.
Syria exported 380,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) in 2010, a year before protests against Bashar al-Assad’s rule spiralled into a nearly 14-year war that devastated the country’s economy and infrastructure — including crude production.
Assad was toppled in December last year and the Islamist-led government that replaced him pledged to revive Syria’s economy. Reuters
Maduro says says US wants regime change
Caracas — The US is seeking regime change in his country with a naval deployment in the Caribbean, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday in a rare press conference.
Tensions between the US and Venezuela have risen in recent weeks amid a large US naval build-up in the Southern Caribbean and nearby waters, which US officials say aims to address threats from Latin American drug cartels.
US President Donald Trump has made cracking down on drug cartels a central goal of his administration, part of a wider effort to limit migration and secure the US southern border.
But Maduro, Venezuelan interior minister Diosdado Cabello and other officials have said the US is threatening their country and the build-up is meant to justify an intervention against them.
“They are seeking regime change through military threat,” Maduro told journalists, officials and uniformed military brass in Caracas, echoing comments last week by his government’s representative at the UN. Reuters
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