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NATO Chief Berates Putin For Sending ‘Low-level’ Team To Ukraine Talks

Published

2 months ago

May 16, 2025

Editor

NATO chief Mark Rutte said Russian leader Vladimir Putin had made a “big mistake,” sending a lower-rank delegation to conduct Friday’s first direct peace talks with Ukraine in three years.

Expectations for the talks — initially proposed by Putin — sank after the Russian leader declined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call to meet at the presidential level in Turkey.

“He knows extremely well that the ball is in his court, that he is in trouble, that he made a big mistake by sending this low-level delegation,” Rutte told reporters in Tirana, at a meeting of European leaders who were expected to close ranks around Zelensky.

“I think all the pressure is now on Putin,” said Rutte. “The ball is clearly in his part of the field now, in his court,” said Rutte. “He has to play ball. He has to be serious about wanting peace.”

Leaders were set to seek ways to further ramp up pressure on Moscow at Friday’s meeting of the European Political Community in Albania, bringing together the members of the European Union and some 20 other countries.

Zelensky was to address the gathering’s opening session, taking place as talks get underway between the warring sides in Turkey.

Russia’s delegation in Istanbul is being led by Vladimir Medinsky, a hawkish adviser to Putin who has questioned Ukraine’s right to exist and led failed talks in 2022 at the start of the war.

Ukraine’s side is headed by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who is from the Crimea peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014, along with about a dozen deputy-level officials.

AFP

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Putin Says Will Speak With Trump On Phone Today

Published

7 hours ago

July 3, 2025

Editor

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he would speak with US counterpart Donald Trump on the phone Thursday, their first publicly announced call in over two weeks.

The two have been in regular contact since Trump took office in January and have discussed issues like the Ukraine conflict and economic cooperation.

Putin did not say what the two would discuss in Thursday’s call.

“I will talk to the US president today,” the Russian leader told the media during a visit to an exhibition centre in Moscow.

Trump confirmed the call on Truth Social, saying it would start at 10.00am (1400 GMT).

The two leaders have praised each other in recent weeks, despite Moscow’s ongoing assault on Ukraine.

Putin said last week that he had “great respect” for Trump and that US ties were improving. Trump said Putin’s statements were “very nice”.

AFP

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NAFDAC Warns Against Use Of Excess Hydroquinone In Cosmetics

Published

1 day ago

July 2, 2025

Editor

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned users of bleaching creams to refrain from using products containing excessive hydroquinone to safeguard their health.

NAFDAC Bauchi State Coordinator, Mr Hamis Yahaya, advised in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Tuesday.

Hydroquinone is a skin-lightening agent used to treat hyperpigmentation, such as melasma and age spots.

Yahaya said that the approved quantity of the chemical substance in cosmetics was only two per cent.

According to him, NAFDAC conducts checks on market products to ensure public health and safety.

“The black colour provides natural protection against harmful radiation due to melanin content.

“Applying creams with hydroquinone contents more than two per cent is harmful. Mixing creams by non-experts is wrong.

“Hydroquinone affects the health of the users gradually, including causing cancer,” he said.

Yahaya urged the media to raise awareness about the dangers of cosmetics that could endanger consumer lives.

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AU Helicopter Crashes In Somali Capital – State Media

Published

1 day ago

July 2, 2025

Editor

An African Union helicopter crashed Wednesday at the airport in the Somali capital Mogadishu with eight people onboard, state media said.

The aircraft was part of the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), tasked with fighting the Al-Shabaab militant group.

The state media agency Sonna said the AUSSOM helicopter, carrying eight people, “crashed during landing at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde Airport this morning after departing Balidoogle”.

“The fire has been contained, and authorities are assessing the situation,” it said in a post on X.

Sonna quoted the country’s civil aviation authorities as saying that “flight operations remain normal”.

There were no further details given, but unverified clips and images shared online showed a plume of black smoke over the city.

The AUSSOM mission faces funding difficulties, even as fears of an Al-Shabaab resurgence are stoked by attacks in the Horn of Africa nation.