Early elections for Ukraine parliament; UK considers sanctions against Iran in retaliation for oil tanker seizure
(Baonghean.vn) - Ukrainian voters go to the polls for early parliamentary elections; UK considers sanctions against Iran in retaliation for oil tanker seizure; US spy plane "violated Venezuelan airspace"... are the world's top news in the past 24 hours.
Ukrainian voters go to the polls in early parliamentary elections
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Ukrainian people go to vote. Photo: Reuters |
Ukrainian voters went to the polls on July 21 to elect a new parliament. According to the schedule, the Ukrainian parliamentary election will take place at the end of October. However, on the day of his inauguration on May 21, new President Zelensky announced the dissolution of the parliament and called for early elections. By calling for early elections, Mr. Zelensky hopes to create a big wave to “sweep away the old regime’s parliamentarians and replace them with new ones”, thereby helping him consolidate his power and gain more authority to reform the country.
In this election, Ukrainian voters will elect 424 MPs from 5,845 candidates from 22 different parties. Pre-election polls show that President Zelensky's Servant of the People party is leading with more than 40% of the vote. In second place is the Opposition Platform party with about 12% of the vote. Former President Poroshenko's European Solidarity party is likely to win about 8% of the vote. In fourth place is Yulia Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna (Motherland) party with more than 7% of the vote. Many voters said they want to give the President more opportunities to carry out reforms in the country.
UK considers sanctions against Iran in retaliation for oil tanker seizure
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| British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero. Photo: Reuters |
On Twitter, Foreign Secretary Hunt said that during the July 22 parliamentary session, he would propose measures to respond to Iran's seizure of the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19. One of these measures is to impose sanctions and freeze foreign assets related to the Iranian government, according to the newspaper.The Telegraph. In addition, London will seek to call on the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) to re-impose sanctions on Iran.
The UN and EU lifted sanctions in 2016 after the P5+1 group (UK, Germany, US, Russia, France and China) signed a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015.
Syrian army launches campaign to hunt down jihadist terrorists
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| Syrian soldiers in a campaign to suppress terrorists. Photo: ABC |
The Syrian army has launched an operation to destroy foreign terrorist training camps in Idlib province, 420 km north of the capital Damascus, the state news agency SANA reported. During the operation, the Syrian army carried out airstrikes, artillery and missiles against foreign jihadist terrorists in training camps in the Jesser Al-Shugur autonomous region, west of Idlib, near the border with Turkey, including the towns of Latamneh, Kafer Zeta and Khan Shaikhun.
The operation was carried out in response to missile attacks by jihadist groups on villages and military camps in the neighboring province of Latikia. In addition to this operation, the Syrian army shot down two terrorist bomb-laden drones over the town of Joreen, west of Hama province.
US spy plane "violated Venezuelan airspace"
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| US Navy EP-3 electronic reconnaissance aircraft. Photo: US Navy |
Sputnik on July 21 quoted a statement from the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense saying that the country's armed forces had just detected a US EP-3E electronic reconnaissance aircraft violating its airspace. "The armed forces said that at 9:52 a.m. on July 19 (local time), the Air Force Command detected an aircraft heading northwest of the Caribbean Sea and arriving at Maiquetia near Caracas. Interceptor fighters were dispatched to identify the aircraft,"
Venezuelan officials said this was not the first case, and that "illegal flights" in the country's airspace would be considered a major external threat by Caracas. The US has not commented on the accusations.
Palestine: Israel threatens to demolish homes in East Jerusalem
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| An excavator demolishes a shop at Shuafat refugee camp, East Jerusalem, November 21, 2018. Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on July 21 calling on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an investigation into Israel's threats to demolish Palestinian homes in Sur Baher, East Jerusalem. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry's statement said the ICC needs to open an official investigation into "crimes of home demolition."
The statement also criticized the Israeli Supreme Court's rejection of a complaint filed by Palestinian residents facing the threat of demolition and displacement. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the court's decision clearly reflects the Israeli judiciary's cover-up and tolerance of crime and illegal behavior. Responding to the information, Israeli officials said that 10 buildings in East Jerusalem - where 70 Palestinian families live - were built illegally.
