UN to boost air parcel security a year after DHL depot explosions
The strategy announced by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Universal Postal Union -- two specialized UN agencies -- aims to improve threat detection, officials told AFP.
European intelligence services believe Russia was behind the explosions last July at DHL depots in Leipzig, Germany and Birmingham in Britain.
Several people implicated in the operation were believed to be 'disposable' agents with no official position in the Russian intelligence services, according to German media reports.
Such low-level agents were typically recruited via messaging apps to carry out tasks for money, the reports said.
German intelligence officials have said the planes carrying the parcels would have crashed had they exploded mid-flight.
Canada-based ICAO's head of aviation security, Sonia Hifdi, did not directly name Russia when laying out the plan, but said: 'In the last 12 months, we have seen more sophisticated actors aiming to cause disruptions in the supply chain.'
The joint 'multi-year action plan' strives to train all personnel who handle air mail, and will work towards increased data sharing between postal and aviation authorities.
'This is not a problem localized to a single region, or for a single state, or a single actor,' Hifdi told AFP.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Police arrest UK far-right figure ‘Tommy Robinson' over serious assault
Police arrested British far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, on Monday on suspicion of committing assault last week at a London train station. British Transport Police said in a statement they arrested a 42-year-old man at Luton airport, north of London, 'in connection to an assault at St Pancras station on 28 July.' 'The man had been wanted for questioning after leaving the country to Tenerife in the early hours of 29 August following the incident at St Pancras,' it said. Although the statement did not directly name Yaxley-Lennon, he was seen in a video widely shared on social media last week of an incident at Saint Pancras. Yaxley-Lennon is seen walking next to a motionless man laying on the floor, alleging that the man had 'come at me.' He was arrested on Monday after returning to Britain on a flight from Portugal 'on suspicion of ... grievous bodily harm and will now be taken to custody for questioning.' Yaxley-Lennon has become a champion for far-right and anti-immigrant factions. The former football hooligan, who founded the far-right English Defense League in 2009, has repeatedly been convicted for public order and contempt offences. He has also been blamed for helping fuel racially aggravated riots that rocked the country in 2024, which he denies.
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Germany should consider Israel sanctions, senior lawmaker says after trip
BERLIN: A senior lawmaker in German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition on Monday said Berlin should consider sanctions on Israel including a partial suspension of weapons exports or the suspension of a European Union-wide political agreement. The call by Siemtje Moeller, the deputy leader of the Social Democrats (SPD) parliamentary faction, reflects a sharpening of rhetoric from Berlin against Israel which has yet to yield any major policy changes however. Moeller, whose SPD joined a coalition with Merz's conservatives this year, wrote a letter to SPD lawmakers after returning from a trip to Israel with Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul last week. 'My assessment is that the Israeli government will move little without pressure. If such concrete improvements fail to materialize in the near future, there must be consequences,' she said in the letter, seen by Reuters. Recognition of a Palestinian state should not be 'taboo,' she said, adding that Israeli statements that there were no restrictions on aid to Gaza were not convincing. At the same time, Moeller demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages held by Hamas. She said Hamas must no longer play a role in a political future in Gaza. 'It must be disarmed, its reign of terror must end.' Western nations have intensified efforts to exert pressure on Israel, with Britain, Canada and France signalling their readiness to recognize a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territory at the United Nations General Assembly this September. Israel has criticized France, Britain and Canada, saying their decision will reward Hamas. Critics argue that Germany's response remains overly cautious, shaped by an enduring sense of historical guilt for the Holocaust and reinforced by pro-Israel sentiment in influential media circles, weakening the West's collective ability to apply meaningful pressure on Israel. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in a cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's air and ground war in densely populated Gaza has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to enclave health officials. A growing number of civilians are dying from starvation and malnutrition, Gaza health authorities say, with images of starving children shocking the world and intensifying criticism of Israel over its curbs on aid into the enclave. Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza but, in response to a rising international outcry, it announced steps last week to let more aid reach the population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, approving air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.
Al Arabiya
5 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Russia abandons moratorium on deploying short and medium-range missiles
Russia no longer considers itself bound by a moratorium on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday. The US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty in 2019. Russia has said since then it would not deploy such weapons provided that Washington did not do so. However, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov signaled last December that Moscow would have to respond to what he called 'destabilizing actions' by the US and NATO in the strategic sphere. 'Since the situation is developing towards the actual deployment of US-made land-based medium- and short-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the Russian foreign ministry notes that the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar weapons have disappeared,' the ministry said in its statement.
