28/09/2025

theSun on Sunday SEPT 28, 2025

WORLD 8

Put humanity first, Colombian president tells US soldiers NEW YORK: The United States said it would revoke Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s visa after he took to New York’s streets on Friday in a pro-Palestinian demonstration and urged US soldiers to disobey President Donald Trump’s orders. Manhattan, called for a global armed force with the priority to liberate Palestinians, adding: “This force has to be bigger than that of the United States.” New York. His office and Colombia’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. UN by video on Thursday after the Trump administration said it would not give him a visa to travel to New York. End Gaza war, Emirates tells Netanyahu “We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions,” the State Department posted on X. Petro, addressing protesters outside the UN headquarters in “That’s why from here, from New York, I ask all the soldiers of the army of the United States not to point their guns at people. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity,” Petro said in Spanish. Reuters could not immediately confirm whether Petro was still in Petro hit out at Trump in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, saying the US leader was “complicit in genocide” in Gaza and called for “criminal proceedings” over US missile attacks on boats in Caribbean waters. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the Abbas’ office said at the time that his visa ban violated the 1947 UN headquarters agreement, under which the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN. However, Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons. – Reuters

Petro speaking to protesters in New York. – REUTERSPIC

Iran told to hand over enriched uranium TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian yesterday said Washington had demanded that Tehran hand over all its enriched uranium in return for a three month reprieve from sanctions, rejecting the proposal as “unacceptable”. The United States “wants us to hand over all our enriched uranium and in return, they would give us three months exemption from sanctions. This is by no means acceptable,” Pezeshkian told reporters in New York before leaving for Tehran. On Friday, Britain’s UN envoy said UN sanctions on Iran are set to be reimposed after a Russian and Chinese Security Council resolution to delay them failed. The Russian and Chinese push to delay the return of sanctions on Iran failed at the 15-member UN Security Council after only four countries supported their draft resolution. “This council does not have the necessary assurance that there is a clear path to a swift diplomatic solution,” Britain’s envoy to the United Nations, Barbara Wood, said after the vote. “This council fulfilled the necessary steps of the snapback process set out in resolution 2231, therefore UN sanctions targeting Iranian proliferation will be reimposed.”– AFP/Reuters MOSCOW: Russia yesterday blasted the EU’s plans to beef up its defences against drones, saying the bloc’s response to unidentified unmanned aircraft crossing its borders would only increase tensions. Defence ministers from about 10 EU countries on Friday agreed to make a “drone wall” a priority for the bloc, after some member states were rattled by a string of airspace violations by Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the measures would lead to “an increase in tensions on our continent”, RIA Novosti news agency reported. The ministry said the plans amounted to “personal ambitions and political games of the EU’s ruling elites”. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen made a first call for the “drone wall” in a keynote speech earlier this month, hours after Nato shot down drones in Poland. The EU also said it needs to learn from Ukraine, which encounters Russian drone swarms daily, and thus have developed cheaper solutions to intercept them. Moscow denied breaching Nato’s airspace and called the EU’s reaction “hysteria”, saying Russian pilots abide by international air navigation rules, adding that there was no evidence the drones that crossed the European airspace were Russian. – AFP Russia blasts EU ‘drone wall’ plans

NEW YORK: UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed stressed the urgent need for ending the Gaza war during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. It was Netanyahu’s first meeting with a senior Arab official since Israel’s Sept 9 attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar, which the UAE condemned and protested by summoning Israel’s deputy ambassador. The UAE, a major oil producer and regional trade and commerce hub with diplomatic sway across the Middle East, signed a US-brokered normalisation agreement with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020, which paved the way for close economic and security ties, including defence cooperation. The Abraham Accords, brokered by President Donald Trump during his first term in office, saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalise diplomatic relations with Israel. Sheikh Abdullah reiterated the UAE’s “unwavering commitment to supporting all initiatives aimed at achieving a comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, in a way that fulfils the aspirations of both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples,” Emirates News Agency said. The report made no mention of the Abraham Accords, which have been strained by Israeli policies in the region. Earlier this month, the UAE warned Israel that annexation of the occupied West Bank would constitute a “red line” for Abu Dhabi that would severely UAE pushes for comprehensive peace

Protesters in New York marching against Netanyahu as he addressed the UN General Assembly on Friday. – AFPPIC

negotiation than at present. New Zealand’s opposition Labour Party criticised the decision and said it would put the country on the wrong side of history. Labour foreign affairs spokesperson Peeni Henare said New Zealand will feel let down by the government. “There is no two-state solution or enduring peace in the Middle East without recognition of Palestine as a state,” Henare said. – Reuters frustration over the Gaza war and intended to promote a two-state solution. Netanyahu, who ruled out the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state, sharply denounced Western countries for embracing Palestinian statehood. The most far-right government in Israel’s history has declared there will be no Palestinian state as it pushes on with its fight against Hamas. – Reuters

undermine the spirit of the Abraham Accords that normalised UAE-Israeli relations. Sources told Reuters that Abu Dhabi could downgrade diplomatic ties with Israel if Netanyahu’s government annexes part or all of the Israeli occupied West Bank. Major western nations, including France, Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal recognised a Palestinian state last Sunday in a move borne out of

New Zealand delays recognition of Palestinian state WELLINGTON: New Zealand will not recognise a Palestinian state at this time but remains committed to a two-state solution, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. Assembly on Friday. “We are also concerned that a focus on recognition, in the current circumstances, could complicate efforts to secure a ceasefire by pushing Israel and Hamas into even more intransigent positions,” Peters said.

“With a war raging, Hamas remaining the de facto government of Gaza, and no clarity on next steps, too many questions remain about the future state of Palestine for it to be prudent for New Zealand to announce recognition at this time,” Peters said in a speech at the UN General

A handout from the New Zealand government on Friday said it hoped to recognise a Palestinian state at a time when the situation on the ground offers greater prospects for peace and