Foreign News
Finland closes four crossing points on Russia border
Finland has closed four of its border crossings with Russia to try to halt a surge in asylum seekers it says was instigated by Moscow.
Helsinki accused its neighbour of channelling migrants to the crossings in retaliation for it joining Nato.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Finland was making a “big mistake” and destroying bilateral relations.
Around 300 asylum seekers have arrived in Finland this week, according to border guards. The Finnish Border Guard said barriers would be put up from midnight on Friday at the Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala border posts in south-east Finland.
These points have seen a surge in illegal crossings by citizens of countries including Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
Mr Peskov said: “One can only express deep regret that the Finnish authorities have taken the path of destroying bilateral relations,” Russian state news agency TASS reported. “Russia has never in modern history threatened Finland, we had no reason for any confrontation. Now they have chosen this path. “From our point of view, this is a big mistake.”
Finland’s prime minister Petteri Orpo accused Russia of deliberately helping people without the proper documents to get to the border.
While confirming the closure of the four border crossings, those at Salla and Vartius in Finland’s far north would remain open for asylum applications, Mr Orpo said.
One hundred asylum seekers arrived in Finland on Friday, according to border guards.
Finnish authorities say the people coming to their country arrive legally in Russia before travelling to the border to pass into Finland – an EU member state – and claim asylum.
The prime minister has accused the Russian authorities of engineering the crossings. “It is clear that these people are helped and they are also being escorted or transported to the border by border guards,” Mr Orpo said on Tuesday.
In 2021, thousands of migrants flew to Russian ally Belarus before crossing into European Union member states Poland and Lithuania. At the time, EU accused Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of seeking to destabilise the bloc by facilitating the passage of third-country citizens into the 27-member bloc.
Finland shares a 1,340km (833-mile) border with Russia, Europe’s longest.
(BBC)
Sustained heavy gunfire and loud explosions have been heard in Niger near the international airport outside the capital, Niamey.
Multiple eyewitness accounts and videos showed air defence systems apparently engaging unidentified projectiles in the early hours of Thursday.
The situation later calmed down, reports say, with an official reportedly saying the situation was now under control, without elaborating.
It is not clear what caused the blasts, or if there were any casualties. There has been no official statement from the military government.
The gunfire and blasts began shortly after midnight, according to residents of a neighbourhood near the Diori Hamani International Airport, the AFP news agency reports. They said calm returned after two hours.
The airport houses an air force base and is located about 10km (six miles) from the presidential palace.
Niger is led by Abdourahamane Tiani who seized power in a 2023 coup that ousted the country’s elected civilian president.
Like its neighbours Burkina Faso and Mali, the country has been fighting jihadist groups who have carried out deadly attacks across the region.
It is also a major producer of uranium.
A huge uranium shipment destined for export has been stuck at the airport amid unresolved legal and diplomatic complications with France after the military government nationalised the country’s uranium mines.
“The situation is under control. There is no need to worry,” the Anadolu news agency quoted a Foreign Affairs ministry official as saying, without elaborating.
The official told the agency they were trying to determine whether the gunfire was linked to the uranium shipment.
[BBC]
A South Korean court has sentenced former First Lady Kim Keon Hee to one year and eight months in prison after finding her guilty of accepting bribes from the Unification Church, according to South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency.
The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday cleared Kim, the wife of disgraced ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol, of additional charges of stock price manipulation and violating the political funds act.
Kim was accused of receiving bribes and lavish gifts from businesses and politicians, as well as the Unification Church, totaling at least $200,000.
The prosecution team had also indicted Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja, now on trial, after the religious group was suspected of giving Kim valuables, including two Chanel handbags and a diamond necklace, as part of its efforts to win influence with the president’s wife.
Prosecutors in December said Kim had “stood above the law” and colluded with the religious sect to undermine “the constitutionally mandated separation of religion and state”.
Prosecutor Min Joong-ki also said South Korea’s institutions were “severely undermined by abuses of power” committed by Kim.
The former first lady had denied all the charges, claiming the allegations against her were “deeply unjust” in her final testimony last month.
But she has also apologised for “causing trouble despite being a person of no importance”.
[Aljazeera]
A plane crash has killed the deputy chief minister of India’s Maharashtra state, Ajit Pawar, the country’s aviation regulator has said.
The plane, which took off from the state capital, Mumbai, on Wednesday, crash-landed at the airport in Pawar’s constituency of Baramati, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Two members of the prominent politician’s staff and two crew members were also reported to have been killed.
The cause of the crash has not yet been officially confirmed.
Flightradar24, an online flight tracking service, said the aircraft was attempting a second approach to Baramati airport when it crashed.
The Times of India newspaper quoted DGCA officials as saying the aircraft, a Learjet 45 operated by a company called VSR, crashed at about 8:45am local time (03:15 GMT).
The daily said Pawar, the nephew of veteran politician Sharad Pawar, who founded the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was on his way to attend a public rally for the district council elections.
A witness quoted by the newspaper said the aircraft exploded moments after hitting the ground.
“When we rushed to the spot, the aircraft was on fire. There were four to five more explosions. People tried to pull the passengers out, but the fire was too intense,” said the witness.
Pawar, 66, built his political base through the grassroots cooperative movement. He was a key figure in state politics and served as the second-highest elected official in Maharashtra, as part of the larger federal governing coalition led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He wielded considerable influence in the state’s vibrant sugar belt and was known for his ability to mobilise rural voters.
[Aljazeera]
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