Irregular EU border crossings

fell 42% this year: Frontex

WARSAW: Detected irregular crossings into the European Union fell 42 percent in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, EU border agency Frontex said on Tuesday. Frontex released its latest statistics shortly before a summit of the bloc’s leaders in Brussels later this week, where immigration is among topics high on the agenda. The number of detected crossings into the EU “fell by 42 percent to 166,000 in the first nine months of this year”, Frontex said. It said the biggest falls were along the routes through the Western Balkans and Central Mediterranean. —AFP

Russia says defense pact

with North Korea ‘clear’

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said Tuesday its defense pact with North Korea had a “clear” meaning as tensions flared over Pyongyang’s destruction of roads leading to South Korea. North Korea blew up sections of the deeply symbolic roads on Tuesday, prompting Seoul to conduct a “counter-fire” operation in response. When asked about a treaty signed between Russia and North Korea in June that provides “mutual assistance” in case either country faces aggression, the Kremlin said the wording “does not need to be clarified”. — AFP

Russia reduces consular staff

in Norway on Oslo request

OSLO: Russia will reduce its consular staff in Norway following a request from Oslo, the Russian embassy said. In a post on Facebook late Monday, the Russian mission in Oslo said “only two diplomats will remain in the consular section” after a request to cut staff by October 17. The Russian consulates in Kirkenes, near the Russian-Norwegian border in the north, and in Barentsburg, a Russian mining community in the Arctic Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, announced on X and Telegram that they would be suspending their consular services for the same reason. — AFP

WHO receives nearly $1bn in

new funding at Berlin summit

GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday announced it had received nearly $700 million in new funding and another $300 million in re-affirmed pledges during a financing summit in Berlin. It comes under a new financing mechanism that was launched in May, which aims to raise billions of dollars for the UN agency’s budget through to 2028 that can be deployed more quickly and flexibly—and hopefully save millions of lives. “We know that we are making this ask at a time of competing priorities and limited resources. That’s why I have asked every Member State and every partner to step up. Every contribution counts,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.— AFP

Chad tightens media

controls ahead of elections

N’DJAMENA: Chad’s online news sites voiced concern Monday over measures announced by authorities to tighten media controls just over two months before elections. The Association of Chad’s Online Media (AMET) said the decisions by the main media authority “seem to indicate a desire to restrict the activities of online media”. Abderamane Barka, head of the High Authority for Audiovisual Media (HAMA), announced last week that any private newspaper, printed or online, that broadcasts sound or audiovisual content “instead of limiting itself to its written articles, will see its publication suspended”. — AFP

India in deal to buy 31

armed drones from US

NEW DELHI: India signed a deal with the US State Department on Tuesday to buy 31 armed MQ-9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) drones, the South Asian nation’s defense ministry said. The deal follows talks that began in 2018. It is expected to significantly increase India’s surveillance and intelligence capabilities and is in line with US efforts to coax India away from buying Russian military equipment and counter China’s growing dominance. India’s apex defense body approved the procurement last year just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington, while the Pentagon approved it in February. The drones will be predominantly used by the navy in the Indian Ocean Region, Reuters reported last year. – Reuters