Author: Anadolu Agency

The wars in Ukraine and Gaza demonstrate the erosion of the international rules-based order, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Thursday. “We are in a moment when it seems like history is speeding up. This has been happening for years. With Ukraine, and also the war in Gaza, we are witnessing the erosion of the international order and multilateral spaces of diplomacy, peace and negotiation,” he told reporters in Brussels ahead of an EU leaders’ meeting on Ukraine and European security. Sanchez warned that some countries, both within and outside Europe, seek to divide the European Union. “It is important…

The UN special rapporteur has proposed establishing a “hybrid court” to launch an accountability process against Syria’s ousted regime leader Bashar al-Assad for human rights violations and war crimes. “My preference would be a hybrid court that the Syrian authorities would embrace, one that includes both national and international actors,” said Alice Jill Edwards, a UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. That would be the most effective way to put Syria on the path of justice, she told Anadolu. “I think this is the best way to put Syria on a path…

France is sharing its intelligence resources with embattled Ukraine, the French defense minister said on Thursday. “We have intelligence resources that we share with the Ukrainians,” Sebastien Lecornu told France Inter radio, adding that their intelligence is “sovereign” with capabilities that they own. He also affirmed that US agency support for satellite observation and all related operations have been suspended since Wednesday afternoon. “The president of the republic has asked me to accelerate the various French aid packages because, as Europeans, we cannot just make statements,” Lecornu added, speaking as the Russia-Ukraine war recently entered its fourth year. He also…

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned that Israel’s approach to its neighbours poses a significant threat. In an interview with Britain’s Financial Times published Thursday, Fidan said of Israel’s recent attacks on southern Syria: “The ongoing attacks on the land and new troop movements are a clear provocation.” “Israel sees every Arab and Muslim country as a threat, and it’s extremely dangerous. The strategy of keeping all its border states weak is untenable,” he underlined. Fidan emphasized that the PKK/YPG-led SDF — a terrorist group active in Syria — is “the sworn enemy” of Türkiye, adding: “We cannot let them…

The Russia-Ukraine war and Iran’s missile attacks on Israel underscore the need for new US military capabilities, according to US generals who urged the military to adapt to emerging threats amid global conflicts. A key takeaway from Iran’s missile strikes is the importance of intelligence in enabling quick defensive responses, according to Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of US. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, said a US Defense Department statement. “Layered defense matters,” Hecker said Tuesday at the Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium in the Western state of Colorado, saying that last year US and…

An independent federal board has ordered the United States Department of Agriculture to temporarily reinstate nearly 6,000 probationary employees fired during President Donald Trump’s controversial efforts to cut the federal workforce. Cathy Harris, chair of the US Merit Systems Protection Board, issued an order on Wednesday requiring the department to temporarily reinstate 5,600 fired probationary employees for 45 days. The order applies to probationary workers who have been in their positions for about a year or less and received identical termination letters, stating that they had failed to show that their continued employment “would be in the public interest” based…

The Ukrainian ambassador to the UK on Thursday criticized the US administration’s foreign policy, saying Washington is “destroying” the world order. Speaking at a Chatham House event in London, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who is also a former commander, said the Trump administration had “questioned the unity of the whole Western world.” “Now Washington is trying to delegate the security issues to Europe without participation of the US so we can say that in the near future, NATO likewise can stop existing,” he said. The remarks come after last week’s heated Oval Office clash between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian…

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a decree appointing Alexander Darchiev, the Foreign Ministry’s North Atlantic Department chief, as Moscow’s ambassador to Washington. The decree, published on the government portal’s website, confirmed the head of Russia’s diplomatic mission in the US almost five months after Darchiev’s predecessor Anatoly Antonov completed his mission in Washington, DC in October 2024. On Feb. 28, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Washington, during talks held in Istanbul on normalizing diplomatic relations, handed over an official note to Moscow on Darchiev’s appointment as Russia’s ambassador to the US. “His departure to his place of…

National security, economic growth and energy security will take center stage at the first annual UK-Ireland Summit on Thursday as Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Taoiseach Simon Harris meet in London to strengthen ties. The summit follows a broader European security meeting in London on Sunday, where Starmer reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to Ukraine and regional stability. As part of this agenda, the UK and Ireland will announce closer cooperation on offshore energy development in the Irish and Celtic seas, according to an official statement released Wednesday by the UK government. A new data-sharing agreement will streamline processes for commercial…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday reiterated his call for an end to the conflict in Ukraine, saying it is a proxy war between the US and Russia. Speaking in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, Rubio said that President Donald Trump views the war “as a protracted, stalemated conflict.” “Frankly, this is a proxy war between the nuclear powers: the United States, which is helping Ukraine, and Russia, and it needs to come to an end,” he said. Rubio argued that aiding Ukraine “as much as they need for as long as it takes” is not…