WORLD
UN chief warns Mideast on brink of ‘full-scale regional conflict’
The region is on a precipice, says Guterres. Recent days have seen a perilous escalation.
- AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
UNITED NATIONS, United States,
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday painted a dark picture of the situation in the Middle East, warning that spiralling tensions over the war in Gaza and Iran’s attack on Israel could devolve into a “full-scale regional conflict.”
Guterres also said Israel’s military offensive on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for their unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, had created a “humanitarian hellscape” for civilians trapped in the besieged Palestinian territory.
“The Middle East is on a precipice. Recent days have seen a perilous escalation—in words and deeds,” Guterres told a high-level Security Council meeting, with several foreign ministers present, including from Jordan and Iran.
“One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable—a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved,” he said, calling on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint.”
Iran unleashed a barrage of missiles and drones on Israel over the weekend, after an attack on its consulate in Damascus widely blamed on Israel. Israeli officials have not said when or where they would retaliate, but the country’s military chief has vowed a response.
Guterres condemned both the consulate attack and the flurry of drones, saying that the latter constituted a “serious escalation.”
“It is high time to end the bloody cycle of retaliation,” he said. “It is high time to stop.”
“The international community must work together to prevent any actions that could push the entire Middle East over the edge, with a devastating impact on civilians. Let me be clear: the risks are spiralling on many fronts.”
For Guterres, de-escalation of the situation would begin by ending fighting in Gaza, where at least 33,970 people have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
The militants’ October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people in southern Israel, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures.
Hamas also took about 250 hostages. Israel estimates 129 of them remain in Gaza, including 34 who are presumed dead.
“I reiterate my calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the immediate release of all hostages held in Gaza,” Guterres said.
“In Gaza, six and a half months of Israeli military operations have created a humanitarian hellscape,” he lamented, and while he said Israel had made “limited progress” on allowing more aid into the territory, he called for more to be done.
“Our aid operations are barely functional. They cannot operate in an organized, systematic way; they can only seize opportunities to deliver aid whenever and wherever possible,” he said.
“Delivering aid at scale requires Israel’s full and active facilitation of humanitarian operations.”
Guterres’s speech came as the Security Council was poised later in the day to vote on a Palestinian bid for full UN membership—an initiative that seemed destined for failure in the face of opposition from the veto-wielding United States.
The UN secretary-general also called on Israel to put a stop to settler violence in the occupied West Bank, after the killing of a 14-year-old Israeli boy sparked Israeli attacks in dozens of Palestinian villages.
“I call on Israel, as the occupying power, to protect the Palestinian population of the occupied West Bank against attacks, violence and intimidation,” he told the Security Council.
WORLD
US, UK unveil sweeping sanctions on Iran’s drone programme
- AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
WASHINGTON,
The United States and Britain announced widespread sanctions against Iran’s military drone programme on Thursday, in response to its weekend attack against Israel.
Washington is targeting “16 individuals and two entities enabling Iran’s UAV production, including engine types that power Iran’s Shahed variant UAVs, which were used in the April 13 attack,” the Treasury Department said in a statement, referring to Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle program.
Tehran launched its first ever direct military attack on Israel late Saturday in retaliation for an April 1 air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus—widely blamed on Israel—that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals.
The large-scale attack involved more than 300 drones and missiles, most of which were shot down by Israel and its allies including Washington and London, causing little damage.
In response to the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country reserves the right to protect itself.
“Today, we are holding Iran accountable—imposing new sanctions and export controls,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement.
“As I discussed with my fellow G7 leaders the morning after the attack, we are committed to acting collectively to increase economic pressure on Iran,” he continued.
WORLD
Indonesia evacuating thousands after volcano erupts; tsunami threat
- AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
MANADO,
Indonesian rescuers raced to evacuate thousands of people on Thursday after a volcano erupted five times, forcing authorities to close a nearby airport and issue a warning about falling debris that could cause a tsunami.
Mount Ruang’s crater flamed with lava against a backdrop of lightning bolts overnight after erupting four times on Wednesday, pushing an ash column more than a mile into the sky and forcing authorities to raise its alert level to the highest of a four-tiered system.
Taka, a local fisherman who only gave one name, was at sea helping people to safety by boat when the crater unleashed a fiery orange column.
“There was a mix of fire and rocks. Lava flowed in various directions,” he told AFP.
The volcano, which sits on a remote island in Indonesia’s outermost region with a peak 725 metres above sea level, was still billowing a column of smoke up to 800 metres high on Thursday morning, officials said.
Houses on the neighbouring remote island of Tagulandang were riddled with holes from falling volcanic rocks on Thursday, rescuers said, and residents were preparing to leave at least temporarily.
“The current condition, particularly the road condition, is covered by volcanic material,” local rescuer Ikram Al Ulah told AFP by phone from the Tagulandang seaport.
“Currently, many people are still wandering around. Maybe to evacuate precious goods from their house.”
There were no reports of deaths or injuries but authorities said they were rushing to evacuate more than 11,000 residents from the area around Tagulandang, home to around 20,000 people.
Some residents were already trying to flee in a panic, according to officials.
“People evacuated on their own but without direction due to the volcano’s eruption and... small rocks that fell,” local search and rescue agency official Jandry Paendong said in a statement on Thursday.
“The people scattered to find evacuation routes.”
He said 20 staff were helping evacuate residents along the coastline near the volcano on rubber boats.
Authorities also evacuated a prison on Tagulandang island, ferrying 17 inmates along with 11 officials and 19 residents by boat to Likupang seaport in northern Sulawesi island, according to Ikram.
The evacuation was requested by the prison chief because the facility sits directly across from the volcano, said the rescuer.
Tourists and residents were warned to remain outside a six-kilometre exclusion zone.
More than 800 people were initially taken from Ruang to Tagulandang after the first eruption on Tuesday evening, before four more eruptions on Wednesday prompted evacuations from that island.
WORLD
Gaza children yearn for their school days before conflict
- REUTERS
GAZA,
Traumatised 10-year-old students stare at their destroyed schools in Gaza, a grim reminder of the education and time with friends in the playground lost since the war erupted over six months ago.
“We would go out during recess. We would go to the classroom and walk around. The principle would come to the classrooms,” said fifth grader Abed al-Qara, who was inspecting the damage with his friend Muhammed al-Fajem in Bani Suhaila, located in the east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
“He would give us the books. We would go there and see who is coming and going; we would stand at the school gate. We were living.”
Bullet-riddled buildings. Papers scattered in a gutted classroom. Posters ripped off of walls. Damaged books.
It’s all a grim reminder of the education and dreams those who represent the future of Gaza—a densely packed strip of land with severe shortages of water, food, medicine and healthcare—have lost since the conflict erupted on October 7.
Hamas militants attacked Israel, killed 1,200 people and took over 200 hostages according to Israeli tallies, in a surprise operation that pointed to major Israeli intelligence failures.
Israel retaliated with an air and ground offensive that has killed over 33,000 Palestinians according to local health authorities and reduced much of Gaza to rubble and wastelands, including schools which have a critical place in a society where children make up about half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population.
Young students who were hungry to learn now wonder if they will ever be able to pack their books and go back to school again. Gazans—young and old—are desperate for signs that the fighting will end. But there are none.
Mediators have failed to narrow differences enough between both sides to secure a ceasefire as proposals are passed back and forth.
Teacher Muhammad al-Khudari sat on rubble and wrote on a piece of paper, reflecting on the wide-scale ruins of the education system, at all levels, from kindergartens to universities.
“We call on everyone to pay attention to the education process [in Gaza], and for the return of education as it was before the war,” he said.
Still, some like fifth grade student Muhammed al-Fajem, have not lost hope.
“I was one of the top. I used to get 98 percent. I used to get 100 percent. I was one of the top,” he said.
“We will set up tents and we will study in the tents. No matter the cost, we will study in them. This was our classroom. See the room of the principle. He used to bring us books and sweets. He would give us everything. He would give us toys.”
WORLD
Farmers are rebelling against EU rules. The far right is stoking the flames
Across much of the 27-nation EU, farmers’ discontent is gathering momentum as June EU parliamentary elections draw near.
- RAF CASERT,ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANDEREN, Netherlands,
Inside the barn on the flat fields of the northern Netherlands, Jos Ubels cradles a newborn Blonde d’Aquitaine calf, the latest addition to his herd of over 300 dairy cattle.
Little could be more idyllic.
Little, says Ubels, could be more under threat.
As Europe seeks to address the threat of climate change, it’s imposing more rules on farmers like Ubels. He spends a day a week on bureaucracy, answering the demands of European Union and national officials who seek to decide when farmers can sow and reap, and how much fertilizer or manure they can use.
Meanwhile, competition from cheap imports is undercutting prices for their produce, without having to meet the same standards. Mainstream political parties failed to act on farmers’ complaints for decades, Ubels says. Now the radical right is stepping in.
Across much of the 27-nation EU, from Finland to Greece, Poland to Ireland, farmers’ discontent is gathering momentum as June EU parliamentary elections draw near.
Ubels is the second in command of the Farmers Defense Force, one of the most prominent groups to emerge from the foment. The FDF, whose symbol is a crossed double pitchfork, was formed in 2019 and has since expanded to Belgium. It has ties to similar groups elsewhere in the EU and is a driving force behind a planned June 4 demonstration in Brussels it hopes will bring 100,000 people to the EU capital and help define the outcome of the elections.
“It is time that we fight back,” said Ubels. “We’re done with quietly listening and doing what we are told.”
Has he lost trust in democracy? “No. … I have lost my faith in politics. And that is one step removed.”
The FDF itself puts it more ominously on its website: “Our confidence in the rule of law is wavering!”
‘Don’t let up!’
In March, protesting farmers from Belgium ran amok at a demonstration outside EU headquarters in Brussels, setting fire to a subway station entrance and attacking police with eggs and liquid manure. In France, protesters tried to storm a government building.
In a video from another protest, in front of burning tires and pallets, FDF leader Mark van den Oever said two politicians made him sick to his stomach, saying they would “soon be at the center of attention.” The FDF denies this was a threat of physical violence.
Across the EU, over the winter, tractor convoys blockaded ports and major roads, sometimes for days, in some of the most severe farm protests in half a century.
Farmers and the EU have had a sometimes testy relationship.
What’s new is the shift toward the extreme right.
Destitute after World War II and with hunger still a scourge in winter, Europe desperately needed food security. The EU stepped in, securing abundant food for the population, turning the sector into an export powerhouse and currently funding farmers to the tune of over 50 billion euros a year.
Yet, despite agriculture’s strategic importance, the EU acknowledges that farmers earn about 40 percent less than non-farm workers, while 80 percent of support goes to a privileged 20 percent of farmers. Many of the bloc’s 8.7 million farm workers are close to or below the poverty line.
At the same time, the EU is seeking to push through stringent nature and agricultural laws as part of its Green Deal to make the bloc climate-neutral by 2050. Agriculture accounts for more than 10 percent of EU greenhouse gas emissions, from sources such as the nitrous oxide in fertilizers, carbon dioxide from vehicles and methane from cattle.
Cutting these emissions has forced short-notice changes on farmers at a time of financial insecurity.
The Covid-19 pandemic and surging inflation have increased the cost of goods and labour, while farmers’ earnings are down as squeezed consumers cut back.
And then there’s the war next door. After Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the EU granted tariff-free access for agricultural imports from Ukraine, many of them exempt from the strict environmental standards the bloc enforces on its own producers. Imports surged from 7 billion euros in 2021 to 13 billion euros the following year, causing gluts and undercutting farmers, particularly in Poland.
“Don’t let up,” Marion Maréchal, the lead candidate for France’s extreme right Reconquest! party in the June elections, exhorted farmers at a protest earlier this year. “You have to be in the streets. You have to make yourself heard. You have to—” she tried to finish the sentence but was drowned out by shouts of “Don’t Let Up! Don’t Let Up!”
Fertile ground
Farming in Europe is about more than just food; it touches on identity. In France, the far right taps into the love of “terroir,” that mythical combination of soil, location, culture and climate. “The French realise that the farmers are the roots of our society,” said Maréchal.
Such sentiments echo across Europe. In Ireland, where more than a million people died in the famine of 1845-1852, farming “is deep in our culture, in our psyche,” said Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, a Green Party lawmaker.
The far right has used farming as a way to attack mainstream parties. In Italy, the far right has mocked the EU’s efforts to promote a low-carbon diet, playing on farmers’ fears that lab-grown proteins and insects could one day replace meat.
“Revolt is the language of those who are not listened to. Now, back off,” warned far-right Italian lawmaker Nicola Procaccini in February. In a few months, he said, the European elections “will put people back in place of ideologies.”
Such calls fall on fertile ground. According to predictions by the European Council on Foreign Relations, the radical right Identity and Democracy group could become the third biggest overall in the next European Parliament, behind the Christian Democrats and the Socialists, but edging out the Liberals and Greens. The farm protests are providing vital leverage.
A spade is a spade
One farmer sidestepping militant demonstrations is Bart Dochy in western Belgium. As the Christian Democrat mayor of the farming town of Ledegem and a regional parliamentarian in Flanders, he represents the traditional forces in European farming communities: Christianity and conservativism. When Socialism took the big cities, the countryside and its farmers remained staunchly Christian Democrat.
That’s now changed. Once, billboards with the cry, “Save our farmers!” would have come from his party; now, they bear the logo of the far-right Flemish Interest, predicted by polls to become the biggest party in Belgium in June.
“In a sense it is only logical that the extreme parties have specialized in capturing that discontent. They call a spade a spade. And that is good,” he said. But farming is complicated, he warned: nature, trade, budgets, commodity prices and geopolitics are all involved. Solutions will have to come from common sense, “not from the extremes.”
Dochy’s Christian Democrats are part of the biggest group in the EU parliament, the European People’s Party, once a strong proponent of the EU’s Green Deal. Farmers, after all, are among the biggest losers from climate change, affected at different times by flooding, wildfires, drought and extreme temperatures.
But ever since the demonstrations started, EU politics on agriculture and climate have shifted rightwards, outraging many of the centre right’s old allies with whom it set up the Green Deal. Measures to reduce pesticide use and protect biodiversity have been weakened, while the protesters’ demands to cut regulation have been heard.
But as the rhetoric heats up, so too does the climate. Data for early 2024 shows record-breaking temperatures in Europe. In Greece—where an estimated 1,750 square kilometres burned in 2023, the worst fire in EU records—wildfires are already breaking out, weeks earlier than expected.
The far right offers no detailed solutions to the climate crisis but it has proved adept at tapping into farmers’ frustrations. In its programme for the June elections, the Dutch far-right party, the PVV, is short on details but big on slogans about “climate hysteria” and its “tsunami of rules”. Nature and climate laws, it said, “should not lead to whole sectors being forced into bankruptcy.”
Ubels made the case for farmers’ realpolitik.
“The government doesn’t listen to us, but the opposition does,” he said.