World News

By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA (Reuters) – Kosovo is prepared to stand against a possible attack by Serbia as worsening strife with minority Serbs could result in a new armed conflict, Prime Minister Albin Kurti told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo flared again earlier this month when Pristina said it would oblige Serbs living in the north, who are backed by Belgrade and do not recognise Kosovo institutions, to start using license plates issued in Pristina.

The situation calmed after Kurti, under U.S. and European Union pressure, agreed to postpone the car number plates rule until Sept. 1 and NATO peacekeepers supervised the removal of roadblocks set up by Serbs.

“We should not exclude that these aggressive policies of Belgrade could also turn into an assault against Kosovo in one way or the other,” Kurti told Reuters, speaking in English. “We are vigilant, but not afraid.

He added: “I am not saying they are going to attack us this week or next, but it would be totally irresponsible to exclude…the possibility of rising tensions and new conflicts.”

The tiny landlocked Balkan country gained independence from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after a guerrilla uprising against repressive Belgrade rule.

Ethnic Serbs account for 5 percent of Kosovo’s 1.8 million population, which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian.

Some 50,000 of them live in north Kosovo, near the border with Serbia. The remaining 40,000 live south of the River Ibar and are using Kosovo government-issued license plates.

Serbia denies whipping up tensions and conflict in Kosovo, accusing Pristina of trampling on the rights of minority Serbs.

KURTI CRITICISES RUSSIA’S ROLE

Opposition parties in Pristina have accused Kurti of scaring investors by openly speaking of possible new conflict with Belgrade.

Kurti rejects those accusations. He accused Russia, which is Serbia’s main ally and has vetoed Kosovo’s bid for United Nations membership, of a role in stirring up fresh ethnic tensions in the former southern province of Serbia.

“Despotic (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin is a man of war and he would have interest in spreading war because he wants to normalise war,” Kurti said, alluding to Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February.

“We have our institutions and organs of security and defence, Kosovo is a state now, this is not the year 1998,” Kurti said. “This is 2022 so we are much more prepared to defend our sovereignty, territorial integrity, to defend our democracy, rule of law, constitutionality, and to defend our progress.” Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic are expected to meet in Brussels for more talks on Aug. 18. Belgrade and Pristina are publicly committed to an EU-sponsored dialogue to resolve outstanding issues, but little progress has been made.Kosovo has joined EU and U.S. condemnation of Russia’s actions in Ukraine and joined sanctions against Moscow. Serbia has not introduced sanctions against Russia despite its goal of joining the EU and harmonising foreign policy with the bloc.

Kosovo threw off Serbian domination in 1999 after NATO air strikes ended a brutal counter-insurgency by Serbian security forces. But Serbia legally still considers Kosovo an integral part of its territory and, with Moscow’s help, has blocked Kosovo from membership in various international institutions.

NATO has around 3,700 troops stationed in Kosovo to maintain its fragile peace and last week it said it would intervene in line with its mandate if stability were jeopardised.

(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian police arrested 22 people, seized 27 handguns and drugs worth C$1.3 million ($1 million) during a 10-month investigation into a gun- and drug-trafficking network operating in Canada and the United States, authorities said on Wednesday.

The seized guns were obtained illegally and with criminal intent, Ontario Provincial Police Chief Superintendent Paul Mackey told reporters. He said Canadian authorities worked with U.S. law enforcement officials on the crackdown.

With gun crime on the rise, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has proposed freezing handgun purchases as part of a broader gun control package under consideration in parliament.

Last week Canada announced a temporary ban on the import of handguns until the legislation is implemented. Canada has much stricter gun laws than the United States.

Police brought more than 400 charges by the time the investigation concluded in late July, according to York Regional Police in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province. The drugs included cocaine, fentanyl and heroin.

($1 = 1.2763 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Howard Goller)

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(Reuters) – Estonia on Wednesday summoned the Russian ambassador and formally protested about the violation of its airspace by a Russian helicopter on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said.

“Estonia considers this an extremely serious and regrettable incident that is completely unacceptable,” the ministry said in a release, saying the helicopter had flown over a point in the southeast of the small Baltic nation without permission. Estonia made an identical complaint to Moscow in June.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday created a new territorial parks system that protects more than 30 areas from commercial development and reserves them for activities including hiking and beaching.

Properties that total hundreds of acres were identified in St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas, including Great Salt Pond, Oppenheimer Beach, Cas Cay and Bovoni Cay.

Gov. Albert Bryan also signed legislation that revises a trust fund board whose seven members will be responsible for managing and acquiring land.

The government also expects to implement a Maroon sanctuary zone in St. Croix’s West End to honor the legacy of Caribbean descendants of West African slaves who escaped slavery using guerrilla warfare. The area is home to Maroon Ridge, which served as a refuge for runaway slaves.

“Given growing concerns regarding beach access, environmental degradation and the loss of significant historic and other sensitive sites, all those involved in advancing this measure should be proud,” said U.S. Virgin Islands Sen. Samuel Carrion.

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SYDNEY (Reuters) -James Marape, who was sworn in as prime minister of Papua New Guinea on Tuesday after a national election, vowed to reform electoral processes and “get more from our resources” without scaring away investors.

Voting in PNG’s general election, held every five years, ran across three weeks in July but counting was extended until Monday because of special circumstances including security issues, attacks on ballot boxes and logistical challenges, the electoral commission said.

The election in the Pacific nation is among the world’s most challenging due in part to difficult terrain, extreme weather, poor transport infrastructure, and linguistic and cultural diversity.

International observers said the poll was plagued by violence, delays, fraud allegations and large numbers of voters missing from the electoral roll.

By Tuesday, the deadline for parliament to sit, 105 out of 118 seats had been declared. Two women were among those elected.

Marape, leader of the Pangu Party that clinched 36 seats, was elected unopposed on the floor of parliament to become prime minister, and will form a coalition government with over a dozen minor parties and independents.

Marape, who first became prime minister in 2019, said the coalition had a collective mandate and called for the nation to unite.

In an address to parliament, Marape said his government would update the electoral roll and possibly introduce electronic voting to strengthen democratic processes and “make sure one citizen gets one vote”.

He also flagged moves to return greater revenue from the mining and resource sectors to the economy.

“We went to the election to fight to get more from our natural resources,” he said.

“My generation, my type of people come from places where resources are abundant yet development is almost nil,” he added, pointing to scarce education and job opportunities.

PNG had oil, gas, gold, fish and timber, and he wanted companies and licence holders to work with his “new regime”.

“Your profit margin will be maintained but Papua New Guinea too must get a little bit more,” he said in comments directed at resource companies.

He also flagged more local processing of fish, timber, gold and metals to support the economy.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Bernadette Baum)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in both houses of U.S. Congress to establish a path to American citizenship for thousands of Afghan evacuees admitted to the United States on temporary immigration status, the sponsors announced on Tuesday.

The bill also would expand eligibility for Special Immigration Visas (SIVs) beyond Afghans who worked for the U.S. government to those who fought alongside U.S. forces as commandoes and air force personnel, and to women who served in special counterterrorism teams.

Identical versions of the bill were introduced days before the first anniversary of the final U.S. troop withdrawal and the chaotic evacuation operation that ended America’s longest war and saw the Taliban overrun Kabul.

“We must keep our commitment to provide safe, legal refuge to those who willingly put their lives on the line to support the U.S. mission in Afghanistan,” Democratic Representative Earl Blumenauer, co-sponsor of the House bill with Republican Peter Meijer, said in a statement.

Three minority Republicans, including Senator Lindsey Graham, joined three majority Democrats in introducing an identical version of the Afghanistan Adjustment Act in the thinly divided Senate, enhancing its chances of passage.

Even so, a congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the measure likely will face “resistance” from anti-immigration Republicans.

Many of the 76,000 Afghans flown out in last year’s evacuation operation entered the United States on humanitarian parole, a temporary immigration status that typically only lasts up to two years.

The legislation would allow those evacuees to apply for permanent legal status if they submit to additional background checks.

Generally, those Afghans only can gain permanent legal status in the United States by applying for asylum or through SIVs, programs beset by major backlogs.

(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Sam Holmes)

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By Ayenat Mersie

KIAMBAA, Kenya (Reuters) – One inked fingernail and old burn scars: the story of Kenya’s past election traumas and current hopes is written on the skin of Philip Wangoi’s hands. 

    At 16, he was badly burned in a church set aflame during the post-election violence that rocked Kenya after the disputed 2007 elections. More than 1,200 people were killed. 

    Today, he cast his ballot peacefully in a poll still haunted by the ghosts of previous elections. Like millions of citizens, he prays politicians take disputes to the Supreme Court, instead of the streets.

    “I’m scared. Whenever it nears the election period, I get scared,” said Wangoi, clasping his scarred hands as his two young children played next to a puppy. 

    President Uhuru Kenyatta must step down due to term limits. The two frontrunners to succeed him are veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga and the current Deputy President, William Ruto. Kenyatta fell out with Ruto and has endorsed Odinga. 

    All three men were involved in the 2007 election, but back then Ruto backed Odinga against Kenyatta’s then-boss. Kenyatta and Ruto faced charges at the International Criminal Court over their alleged role in the violence; the cases were later dropped. 

    Many citizens are too discouraged to vote, saying they are being crushed by soaring food prices and corruption. Others, like Wangoi, are bitter that wealthy leaders find it so easy to forget the past for their own expediency. 

    “These politicians need these positions for their own personal benefits and interests … they don’t do anything for regular people,” said Wangoi from outside his home in Kiambaa, on the outskirts of Eldoret.

    After the disputed 2007 election, Wangoi’s family were targeted because they were from the same Kikuyu ethnic group as the winner. Fleeing angry mobs, Wangoi, his mother, and others sought refuge in a church. The building was set alight. 

    Wangoi dove through a window, burning his hands and legs. He stripped off his melting clothes and ran about 10 km (6 miles) to a hospital. Thirty people burned to death, including children.

    Wangoi is lukewarm about politicians, but says Kenyans must find better leaders. That’s why he’s voted every election he could. 

    “It is up to us Kenyans to ensure a peaceful election,” he said steadily. But even if most people want peace, a small mob paid to cause chaos can derail the process, he warned.

    For the sake of his family and others like them, he said, whoever loses must accept the results.

(Reporting by Ayenat Mersie; Editing by Katharine Houreld and Raissa Kasolowsky)

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By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) – For many in Gaza, news of a truce between Israel and the Islamic Jihad after the most serious round of violence in just over a year was bittersweet.

As families aired laundry on blasted walls and sifted through the rubble to salvage whatever documents and furniture they could find, others laid their loved ones to rest.

“My life ended when he was martyred,” said Najwa Abu Hamada, 45, whose 19 year-old son Khalil was killed when he went out into the street outside their home and a car was hit. Her only child, he was born after 12 years of marriage and five failed IVF attempts.

“I promised him that joy will never find its way into my heart anymore,” she said.

At least 44 people, including 15 children, were killed in 56 hours of violence that began on Friday when Israeli air strikes hit a senior commander of the militant Islamic Jihad movement. More than 360 people were wounded in raids that continued all weekend, among them 151 children and teenagers, according to Gaza health officials.

Israel said it launched the air strikes as a pre-emptive operation against an imminent attack by the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad movement, targeting Islamic Jihad commanders and arms depots and doing all it could to limit civilian casualties.

In response, Islamic Jihad fired more than 1,000 rockets towards Israel, sending residents of southern and central areas, including major cities like Tel Aviv fleeing to bomb shelters.

Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system prevented any serious damage or casualties on its territory but there was no such protection for blockaded Gaza where some 2.3 million people live on a patch of 365 square kilometres (140 square miles).

“We heard an explosion, we were shocked. When we got out, we saw our children dismembered,” said Wessam Nejim, whose four nephews were killed on Sunday in Jabalia refugee camp, the largest of eight camps in Gaza that are home to Palestinians whose families fled or were expelled from towns and villages during the 1948 war of Israel’s creation.

“A child only four years old, why would he be targeted?”

The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident, which came a day after four children were killed in the same area by what Israel said was an Islamic Jihad rocket that veered off course and plunged to the ground shortly after being fired.

According to Israeli officials, around 20% of the rockets fired from Gaza misfired, causing extensive damage and casualties in the strip.

That account was rejected by both Islamic Jihad and Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza, which said all the Palestinian deaths were caused by Israeli strikes.

“This is part of the Zionist mental warfare against our people, to create division between the resistance and the people it defends,” said Islamic Jihad Spokesperson Musab al-Braim.

As well as the casualties, at least 40 families were displaced as a result of the fighting and some 650 housing units sustained damage, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

For Muatasem Shamalakh, 28, the house he lived in, which was partially damaged in an earlier war in 2014, was now completely destroyed.

“Where can we go now?” he said.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Additional reporting and writing by Henriette Chacar; Editing by James Mackenzie, Alexandra Hudson)

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -Ukraine has suspended Russian oil pipeline flows to parts of central Europe since early this month because Western sanctions prevented it from accepting transit fees from Moscow, Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft said on Tuesday.

Benchmark Brent crude oil jumped by $2 per barrel to trade near $98 as the news added to concerns about reduced energy supplies. [O/R]

Europe is heavily reliant on Russian crude, diesel, natural gas and coal. Energy prices have rallied this year on short supply as Europe scrambles to replace Russian energy with alternative supplies.

Flows along the southern route of the Druzhba pipeline have been affected while the northern route serving Poland and Germany remains uninterrupted.

The suspension of pipeline flows on Tuesday will hit countries such as Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, which all rely heavily on Russian crude and have limited ability to import alternative supply by sea.

The fact that refiners have to import seaborne oil on such short notice will make the job to secure alternative supply even more difficult in an already tight oil market, traders said.

Hungarian energy firm MOL and Slovak pipeline operator Transpetrol confirmed flows have been halted for a few days over the payment of transit fees.

MOL said it had reserves for several weeks and was working on a solution.

Hungary is one of the most reliant countries on Russia oil and its government has been lobbying hard to give it exemption from wider EU sanctions on Moscow.

Russia’s Transneft said it made payments for August oil transit to Ukrainian pipeline operator UkrTransNafta on July 22, but the money was returned on July 28 as the payment did not go through.

It said the shipments were halted from Aug. 4.

Transneft said in a statement that Gazprombank, which handled the payment, told it the money was returned because of European Union restrictions.

SANCTION RULES

Under the new sanctions, European banks have to receive approval from a relevant government authority instead of deciding by themselves whether to allow a transaction, Transneft said.

It added that European regulators had yet to decide on algorithms for all the banks, which complicates the dealings.

Transneft is considering alternative payment systems, but had sent a request for the transaction to be allowed, the pipeline monopoly said.

Hungary’s MOL and Unipetrol, controlled by PKN Orlen, are the main buyers of oil via the Druzhba route, also known as the Friendship pipeline, while Russia’s Lukoil, Rosneft and Tatneft are the main suppliers of oil.

UkrTransNafta did not respond to a request for comment.

Since March, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have relied extensively on supplies of Russian Urals crude via the Druzhba pipeline and reduced their purchases of maritime crude.

A decline in European demand for Russian oil since Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February has pushed the value of seaborne Urals, which serves to price Druzhba deliveries, to the widest discount in history against the dated Brent benchmark.

Moscow refers to the invasion as a “special military operation”.

Russia normally supplies about 250,000 barrels per day (bpd)via the southern leg of the Druzhba pipeline.

Russia, the world’s second biggest oil exporter and leading gas exporter, has already reduced gas pipeline flows to many EU members, citing problems with turbine maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline as well as sanctions against some buyers Moscow describes as “unfriendly”.

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Barbara Lewis and Jason Neely)

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By Joori Roh

SEOUL (Reuters) – At least seven people died in and around the South Korean capital of Seoul overnight, authorities said on Tuesday, after torrential rain knocked out power, caused slips and left roads and subways submerged.

The southern part of Seoul received more than 100mm (3.9 inches) of rain per hour on late Monday, with some part of the city having received 141.5mm of rain, the worst rainfall in decades, according to Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

The accumulated rainfall in Seoul since midnight Monday stood at 420mm as of 5 a.m. Tuesday, with more rain forecast.

In the glitzy, highly concentrated Gangnam district, some buildings and stores were flooded and were without power, while cars, buses and subway stations were submerged, leaving people stranded.

“I was near Gangnam station last night when the rainfall intensified, with thunder and lightning striking every 30 seconds,” said Lee Dongha, a 27-year-old office worker in Seoul. “All of a sudden, buses, subway stations and streets were submerged, and that’s when I quickly decided to book an accommodation as I didn’t want to be left stranded, with nowhere to go.”

At least five people died in Seoul and two others in the neighbouring Gyeonggi Province by early Tuesday, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said. Four died after being trapped in flooded buildings, one was believed to have been electrocuted, one person was found under the wreckage of a bus stop, and another died in a landslide, it said.

At least nine people were injured, while six were missing.

The headquarters raised the crisis alert to the highest and requested organisations adjust their working hours.

The KMA issued heavy rain warnings across the capital and the metropolitan area of 26 million as well parts of Gangwon and Chungcheong Province.

President Yoon Suk-yeol presided over an emergency response meeting, ordering authorities to focus on preventing casualties and quickly controlling and recovering flooded areas, the disaster headquarters said.

The KMA expects heavy rainfall for the central part of the country to continue through at least Wednesday.

While South Korea often experiences heavy rains in summer, “such sharp increase in precipitation and frequent torrential rains cannot be explained without the big trend of climate change,” a KMA official, who spoke in condition of anonymity, told Reuters. “This phenomenon is seen occurring more often due to climate change that has resulted in a prolonged summer.”

(Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

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