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https://nordictimes.com/world/nine-dead-after-pakistani-airstrikes-against-iran/

World

Nine dead after Pakistani airstrikes against Iran

Published 19 January 2024
– By Editorial Staff
There are now concerns in both the West and the East that the conflict will escalate further.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

At least nine people have been killed in Pakistani missile attacks on Iranian targets. Pakistan’s foreign ministry claims the dead were “terrorists” and that the attacks were “precision military strikes”.

Just days after Tehran attacked positions in the neighboring country, Pakistan responded with attacks of its own, reportedly killing at least nine people, many of them children or women.

Pakistani authorities said the strikes targeted “terrorist targets” in the border province of Siestan-o-Baluchistan and claimed to “fully respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

“The sole objective of today’s act was in pursuit of Pakistan’s own security and national interest, which is paramount and cannot be compromised”, it is said.

Iran has demanded an explanation for the attack, but it is doubtful that it will accept Pakistan’s claim that terrorists were killed.

China wants to mediate

Just last Tuesday, Iran struck bases of the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl inside Pakistan, reportedly killing two children and condemning the attack as an “unprovoked violation” of Pakistani airspace.

The Iranian attack is believed to have motivated Pakistan to carry out the shelling, and it has also recalled its ambassador from Iran and prevented Tehran’s envoy from returning to Islamabad.

Other countries appear to be concerned about a possible escalation of the conflict between Sunni-dominated Pakistan and Shiite-dominated Iran and are urging restraint. China has also offered to mediate the conflict.

– The Chinese side sincerely hopes that the two sides can exercise calm and restraint and avoid an escalation of tension, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a press briefing.

– We are also willing to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation if both sides so wish, she continued.

Russia and the EU are also concerned about the developments, calling for calm and dialogue, while the US is content to criticize Iran’s attacks.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/world/trump-wants-to-make-gaza-an-american-freedom-zone/

World

Trump wants to make Gaza an American “freedom zone”

The situation in Gaza

Published yesterday 17:42
– By Editorial Staff
Many Palestinians are very hostile to the idea of Israel's main ally taking control of their homes.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Donald Trump has once again proposed that the US take control of the Gaza Strip and turn the entire area into a “freedom zone”.

However, what this would mean in practice for the population is highly unclear, and Palestinian activists emphasize that they have no interest in coming under US sovereignty.

During a visit to Doha, Qatar, Donald Trump reiterated his vision of the US “taking over” the Gaza Strip and creating a so-called freedom zone.

The statement comes in the middle of a regional tour and follows earlier heavily criticized proposals to transform Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East“ by moving the Palestinian population to neighboring countries and replacing them with “people from all over the world”.

– We are working very hard on Gaza and Gaza has been a territory of death and destruction, the president proclaimed, continuing:

– I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone.

Israel’s most important ally

He did not clarify exactly what a “freedom zone” means, nor has Trump previously provided details on how a relocation or reconstruction of Gaza would be carried out.

Qatar and Egypt, which are mediating in the war between Israel and Hamas, have seen peace negotiations stall in recent months, as large-scale displacement of Palestinians is rejected not only by the Palestinians themselves, but also by many Arab states.

Trump’s proposal raises questions about whether the people of Gaza have any interest in breaking Israeli occupation under American control. Since the outbreak of the war, over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and most of the infrastructure destroyed, according to the UN. Many more have been injured or are missing under the rubble, and more and more voices are describing the situation as ongoing genocide.

Many Palestinian activists and outside observers point out that the US supports and has enabled Israel’s invasion, bombings, and war crimes, and that from a Palestinian perspective, it is hardly desirable for Israel’s closest ally, the US, to take control of the area.

Others emphasize that the Palestinian people want and have the right to independence and self-determination and to rule over their own territory – without having to submit to either Israel or the US.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/eus-withholding-of-pfizer-vaccine-texts-ruled-illegal-by-court/

World

EU’s withholding of Pfizer vaccine texts ruled illegal by court

The criticized covid vaccinations

Published yesterday 15:02
– By Editorial Staff
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla had secret text message conversations in 2021.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The European Commission is found guilty by the European Court of Justice of withholding text messages between Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer’s CEO in connection with the multi-billion euro purchase of COVID-19 vaccines. The Court ruled that the Commission violated transparency legislation when it refused to disclose the messages.

Now the Commission must disclose the conversations or provide a more credible explanation for why it cannot disclose them.

In spring 2021, it emerged that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, had private text message conversations in connection with the comprehensive COVID-19 vaccine agreement concluded between the EU and the pharmaceutical company. The agreement covered 1.8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine, but few details of how it was reached have been made public. For example, the price tag for each dose is still not known.

When a journalist from the New York Times requested the text message conversations between von der Leyen and Bourla, it was announced that these had been deleted. The following year, the European Court of Auditors reviewed the case and questioned why the European Commission did not disclose the text messages or other written details of the agreement. Furthermore, the Commission is said to have chosen not to share any written details of the agreement, something it has been transparent about in the past, which was of course also questioned by the Court.

The European Court of Auditors has no authority to demand more information about the text message conversations, but the New York Times chose in 2023 to file a lawsuit in the matter and this week the case was brought before the European Court of Justice. The court was asked to examine whether the European Commission had breached the law by not disclosing the conversations.

Court: “Must provide credible explanations”

The court’s decision finds that the European Commission did break the law when it refused to disclose the text message conversations between the chairman and the CEO, reports the New York Times. Under EU transparency laws, the conversations should have been shared with the newspaper.

The European Commission claimed that it did not consider the conversations important and therefore deleted them and that they cannot be retrieved. However, it never explained the extent of the search for them, which the Court considers insufficient.

“The commission cannot merely state that it does not hold the requested documents but must provide credible explanations enabling the public and the court to understand why those documents cannot be found”, the Court said.

It is unclear whether the text messages have actually been deleted, but the court ruled that the European Commission must now either disclose the conversations, or at least provide a more detailed and credible explanation as to why they cannot be disclosed. In a statement, the European Commission said it would “adopt a new decision providing a more detailed explanation”.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/lithuanian-ex-president-no-need-to-fear-russias-nuclear-weapons/

World

Lithuanian ex-president: “No need to fear Russia’s nuclear weapons”

The new cold war

Published 14 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Dalia Grybauskaité was one of the voices calling for NATO to attack Russia as early as 2022.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Lithuania’s former president Dalia Grybauskaité rejects Vladimir Putin’s proposal for peace talks with Ukraine as disingenuous, claiming that it is merely a tactical maneuver aimed at buying time.

Despite widespread concerns that the war will escalate into a large-scale European nuclear conflict, Grybauskaité argues that the threat of weapons of mass destruction is greatly exaggerated and asserts that “there is no reason to fear nuclear weapons”.

– I believe these are games for the time being, an attempt to stall for time, an attempt to shift the blame to the Ukrainian side, but in fact they are stalling for time and are unwilling to end the war now, at least in the near future as they want to occupy as much of Ukraine as possible, the former president said in a press statement on Monday.

Her statement came after four European leaders visited Kiev over the weekend and appealed for a temporary ceasefire as a basis for peace talks. Putin responded with a counterproposal for direct negotiations in Istanbul – an initiative that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has shown some openness to, but only after a ceasefire is in place.

Most notable, however, was how Grybauskaité downplayed the risk of nuclear weapons being used in the conflict – describing Russian nuclear deterrence as “an obsolete doctrine” and claiming that weapons of mass destruction should no longer be considered a relevant threat in modern warfare.

– Nuclear deterrence was effective after World War Two, during the Cold War, but not now. No umbrella will help because now we have completely different weapons, a completely different nature of war. Nuclear weapons will not scare anybody.

“An obsolete instrument”

As recently as November, Russia updated its nuclear doctrine and opened the door to using tactical nuclear weapons in response to large-scale conventional military attacks – a move that has led to increased concern in several European capitals.

Despite this, Grybauskaité tried to downplay fears of nuclear weapons as completely unfounded – and instead turned the threat back on Moscow:

– There is no need to fear and there is no need to pay attention as it is an obsolete instrument and there is nothing to fear. The Russians may be afraid of nuclear weapons themselves, so let them be afraid.

It should be noted that Dalia Grybauskaité has long been one of the most vocal advocates in Europe for a more confrontational line toward Russia. Throughout the war in Ukraine, she has repeatedly criticized the West’s stance in the conflict and called for more direct military involvement from NATO – including attacks on Russian targets. According to Grybauskaité, the only way to stop Putin is to meet him with military force, not diplomacy.

“War can only be stopped by a war”, she has declared, arguing that “if we do not stop Putin in Ukraine, we will still have to fight a war, but in our countries”.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/white-south-africans-granted-refuge-in-trumps-us-genocide-is-taking-place/

World

White South Africans granted refuge in Trump’s US: “Genocide is taking place”

Donald Trump's USA

Published 14 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The first 59 white South Africans are welcomed by the US State Department.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The Trump administration has begun relocating white South Africans to the US. The president himself defends the decision by saying that the group is being subjected to genocide – but that this is being hushed up because it is white people who are affected.

Fifty-nine white South Africans have already been flown into the country and, according to the Trump administration, are the first in a larger relocation of Afrikaners – a white minority group subjected to widespread violence, persecution, and discrimination in their homeland.

The program, which was presented in February, prioritizes Afrikaners who are considered to be in constant danger due to violence and harassment in predominantly black South Africa.

– Because they’re being killed. And we don’t want to see people be killed… it’s a genocide that’s taking place. Farmers are being killed. They happen to be white, Trump said in a press statement when a journalist demanded an answer as to why the president wanted to help white refugees in particular.

Afrikaners – mainly descendants of Dutch and French settlers who came to South Africa hundreds of years ago – make up about 2.7 million of South Africa’s 62 million inhabitants.

Many live in rural areas, where violent crime against farmers is common, and although there are no longer any official statistics, it is clear that thousands of white South Africans have been murdered in recent decades.

South African government denies persecution

Trump and several of his advisers, including South African Elon Musk, have pointed out that the murders are often motivated by racial hatred and that the victims are targeted because they are white.

However, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola rejects the accusations and claims that “there is no data at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans”.

– White farmers get affected by crime just like any other South Africans, he claims.

The South African government further claims that Afrikaners are better off than most people in the country and that misinformation and inaccurate reporting are behind the perception that the group is particularly vulnerable.

Journalists, lobby organizations promoting mass immigration, and political opponents have also reacted with dismay to Trump’s decision to focus on helping white refugees rather than people of non-European descent.

“Brutally killed”

However, Trump stands his ground and emphasizes that he is not helping the Afrikaners because of their skin color, but because they are suffering from something horrific – something that is being silenced by Western media.

– Whether they are white or Black makes no difference to me, but white farmers are being brutally killed, and their land is being confiscated in South Africa.

– The newspapers and the media, television media, doesn’t even talk about it. If it were the other way round, they’d talk about it, that would be the only story they talk about. I don’t care who they are. I don’t care about their race, their color, I don’t care about their height, their weight, I don’t care about anything, I just know that what is happening is terrible.

Earlier this year, The Nordic Times highlighted the lives and history of the Afrikaners in a lengthy cultural article.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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