Ukraine, Russia agree to swap all badly wounded, captured soldiers under 25
14:50
02/06/2025
Kyiv launched an "unprecedented" surprise attack on four Russian airbases
02/06/2025
Ukraine and Russia end their latest round of direct peace talks in Istanbul
02/06/2025
'There's been a fundamental impasse between Hamas' objectives about the endgame and Netanyahu's'
02/06/2025
Jubilant PSG party into night with Champions League trophy in Paris
02/06/2025
Donald Trump admirer, Nawrocki wins Polish presidential election
02/06/2025
Gaza: Dozens said killed near aid site, Israel denies account
02/06/2025
Colorado attack: Man hurls incendiary device into rally for Israeli hostages
02/06/2025
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation 'does not work': Utter lack of 'humane, dignified distribution of aid'
Middle East
02/06/2025
Karol Nawrocki, the nationalist historian won Poland's presidency
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
21 minutes ago
- France 24
Money, mining and marine parks: The big issues at UN ocean summit
There is pressure on the UN Ocean Conference starting Monday in Nice to show that countries can unite and deliver more than just talk for the world's ailing and neglected seas. Plundered parks Several countries are expected to announce the creation of new marine conservation zones within their national waters, though how protected they really are will come under scrutiny. Some countries impose next to no rules on what is forbidden or permitted in marine zones. France and other EU states, for example, allow bottom trawling, a damaging fishing practice, in protected waters. This means just three percent of oceans are considered truly safe from exploitation, far short of a global target to place 30 percent under conservation by 2030. - High seas - Key to achieving this goal is enacting the high seas treaty, a landmark global pact signed in 2023 to protect marine life in the vast open waters beyond national control. France had pinned success at Nice on delivering the 60 ratifications necessary to bring the treaty into force, saying the conference would be a failure without it. But it could not get the required number, drumming up roughly half ahead of the summit. Those outstanding will be pushed to explain when they intend to do so. Uncharted waters France will be leading diplomatic efforts in Nice to rope more countries into supporting a moratorium on deep-sea mining, a contentious practice opposed by 33 nations so far. Bolstering those numbers would send a rebuke to US President Donald Trump, who wants to allow seabed mining in international waters despite concerns over how little is understood about life at these depths. But it would also carry weight ahead of a closely watched meeting in July of the International Seabed Authority, which is haggling over global rules to govern the nascent deep-sea mining sector. Actions not words At the summit's close, nations will adopt a pre-agreed political statement that recognises the crisis facing oceans, and the global need to better protect them. Critics slammed the language in the eight-page document as weak or -- in the case of fossil fuels -- missing altogether, but others cautioned against reading into it too much. "The end declaration from here isn't really the only output. It's much more important, actually, what governments commit to, and what they come here to say on an individual basis," said Peter Haugan, policy director at the Institute of Marine Research in Norway. Money matters The conference is not a COP summit or a UN treaty negotiation, and any decisions made between June 9 and 13 in Nice are voluntary and not legally binding. But countries will still be expected to put money on the table in Nice to plug a massive shortfall in funding for ocean conservation, said Pauli Merriman at WWF International. "What we lack -- what we still lack -- is the ambition, the financing and the delivery needed to close the gap," she told reporters. © 2025 AFP
Euronews
2 hours ago
- Euronews
'Invest in defence now or start learning Russian later'
The US administration has appointed Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich as both the next top US general in Europe as well as the SACEUR. The appointment by Trump will be especially welcomed following media reports in recent months that the US was considering relinquishing the role of SACUER which has always been appointed by a US president to NATO. "It's a very important decision and there is relief from NATO's point of view as it's a positive sign of American engagement and staffing," a US-based source familiar with the issue told Euronews. US Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower was NATO's first SACEUR in 1951, and the role has remained with the US ever since. 'Upon completion of national confirmation processes, Grynkewich will take up his appointment as the successor to General Christopher G. Cavoli, United States Army, at a change of command ceremony at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium, expected in the summer of 2025,' a statement from NATO read. New targets in defence spending adopted Meanwhile, NATO defence ministers agreed to a significant surge in defence capability targets for each country, as well as moving to spending 5% of GDP on defence. They've agreed that 3.5% of GDP would be used for 'core defence spending' - such as heavy weapons, tanks, air defence. Meanwhile 1.5% of GDP per year will be spent on defence- and security-related areas such as infrastructure, surveillance, and cyber. However, the full list of flexibility has not yet been negotiated. 'These targets describe exactly what capabilities Allies need to invest in over the coming years,' NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told journalists. The US has been pushing NATO allies to dramatically increase spending, and expects to see 'credible progress' immediately, according to US Ambassador to NATO Mathew Whitaker. 'The threats facing NATO are growing and our adversaries are certainly not waiting for us to re-arm or be ready for them to make the first move," 'We would prefer our Allies move out urgently on reaching the 5%,' he told journalists in a briefing on the margins of the meetings. Ambassador Whitaker also said the US is 'counting on Europe' to the lead in providing Ukraine with the 'resources necessary to reach a durable peace' on the continent. Mark Rutte reiterated NATO's recent warnings that Russia could strike NATO territory within the next couple of years. 'If we don't act now, the next three years, we are fine, but we have to start now, because otherwise, from three, four or five years from now, we are really under threat," he said, adding: "I really mean this. Then you have to get your Russian language course out, or go to New Zealand.' 'It's good to have continuity about the US in NATO, but with Ukraine it's a different story. I just don't think Trump really cares about Ukraine," the US-based source told Euronews. 'Trump just doesn't care about Europe – it doesn't make him richer or help him politically,' the source said. Referring to the forthcoming NATO summit taking place next month in The Hague, the source said the presence of Ukraine at the summit "will likely be scaled back", since the US will say, "they're not members' so they don't need to be there".
LeMonde
3 hours ago
- LeMonde
Israeli Knesset targets Palestinian rights NGOs
At the end of March, activists from the far-right Zionist group Im Tirtzu gathered outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem to confront human rights attorney Nadia Daqqa. "Who funds you?" they asked her, filming the scene. "Germany, the European Union, the Palestinian Authority?" Through such tactics, Im Tirtzu activists sought to discredit Israeli organizations that condemn human rights abuses against Palestinians. They have joined forces with Ariel Kallner, a member of the Likud party (the right-wing party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), to draft a bill that would impose an 80% tax on foreign government funding received by Israeli NGOs. The bill would also strip these organizations of their right to petition the Supreme Court. This legal recourse is one of the few tools available to human rights NGOs to slow violations of Palestinian rights – even though, as the Israeli daily Haaretz wrote on May 23, the country's highest court "has denied all requests to protect Gazans." The bill targets Israeli NGOs whose budgets are mostly funded by foreign governments or by international NGOs, themselves financed by foreign governments.
