Finland to close four Russia border crossings to stop asylum seekers
Helsinki, FinlandReuters Finland will close four of the nine crossing points on its border with Russia on Saturday to stem a flow of asylum seekers to the Nordic nation, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on Thursday. Neighbouring Norway, which shares a border with Russia in the Arctic, is also ready to close its border at […]
Around 40,000 Syrians return from Turkey after quake; WHO’s Tedros pledges support after Turkey visit
Cilvegozu, TurkeyReuters Around 40,000 Syrians who had fled areas affected by the deadly 6th February earthquake have returned from Turkey to rebel-held north-western Syria in the two weeks since Turkey eased restrictions on their movements, a Turkish official and a Syrian rebel official said. The immigration was recorded at four border crossings held by Syrian armed groups opposed to Syrian […]
UN chief says Syria’s Assad agrees to expand UN aid access from Turkey
United NationsReuters Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to allow United Nations aid deliveries to opposition-held northwest Syria through two border crossings from Turkey for three months, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday. Assad agreed to open the crossings of Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee, Guterres said in a statement after UN aid chief […]
Essay: Turkey-Syria earthquake – Assad blames west as agencies struggle to get aid to his desperate people
In an article first published on The Conversation, SCOTT LUCAS, a professor at the Clinton Insitute, University College Dublin, looks at the complex situation surrounding the delivery of humanitarian aid to north-western Syria in the wake of last week’s devastating earthquake…
Complaints about Russia’s chaotic mobilisation grow louder
Moscow, RussiaReuters The strongly pro-Kremlin editor of Russia’s state-run RT news channel expressed anger on Saturday that enlistment officers were sending call-up papers to the wrong men, as frustration about a military mobilisation grew. Wednesday’s announcement of Russia’s first public mobilisation since World War Two, to shore up its faltering Ukraine war, has triggered a […]
Israel re-opens Gaza crossings as truce with Palestinians holds
Gaza/JerusalamReuters Israel reopened border crossings into Gaza on Monday following an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with the militant Islamic Jihad group that ended the most serious outbreak of fighting around the volatile Palestinian enclave in more than a year. At least 44 people, including 15 children, were killed in 56 hours of violence that began when Israeli […]
Finns living near border watch Russia warily, recall dark past
Imatra, Finland Reuters The once bustling border crossing of Imatra, on Finland’s frontier with Russia, now stands idle as the town’s inhabitants cast a nervous eye towards their giant eastern neighbour following its invasion of Ukraine. Imatra, home to 26,000 people, is one of nine land crossing points along Finland’s 1,300-kilometre border with Russia. A general view of […]
More than 60 countries say Afghans, others must be allowed to leave Afghanistan
Washington DC, USReuters More than 60 countries issued a joint statement saying Afghans and international citizens who want to leave Afghanistan must be allowed to depart and added that airports and border crossings must remain open, the US State Department said late on Sunday. The US Government and countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, […]
Millions in Syria face disaster if aid crossing is shut – UN
Reyhanli, TurkeyReuters Millions of people in north-west Syria face disaster if the United Nations fails to approve an extension of cross-border humanitarian operations next month, a senior UN aid official said on Thursday. Some three million people, many of them displaced by fighting elsewhere in Syria during the decade-long conflict, have sought shelter near the […]