HELSINKI, April 19 (Xinhua) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo on Friday urged de-escalation amid Iran-Israel tensions.

They made these comments at a press conference held at southeastern Finland’s Lappeenranta airport on Friday. The event followed a visit to the Finnish eastern border near the town of Imatra.

“We must do everything possible to ensure that all sides refrain from escalating the situation in the region,” said von der Leyen. She emphasized the necessity for stabilizing in the region.

Orpo expressed hope that both sides would avoid retaliatory attacks.

According to local media reports, the purpose of their visit to the eastern border was to inspect a pilot fence, about three kilometers long, built near the Imatra border crossing.

Source(s): Xinhua

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that he can’t speak to media reports about the details of an Israeli attack against Iran overnight, stressing that the United States was not involved in any offensive operations by Israel.

“The reports that you’ve seen, I’m not going to speak to that, except to say that the United States has not been involved in any offensive operations,” Blinken told a press conference in Italy as he wrapped up a meeting with foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries.

He was responding to a reporter’s question seeking confirmation of media reports saying Washington received advance warning from Israel on Thursday of an imminent strike against Iran in retaliation for Tehran’s assault on Israel last week.

“What we’re focused on, what the G7 is focused on, and again, it’s reflected in our statement and in our conversation, is our work to de-escalate tensions, to de-escalate from any potential conflict,” Blinken said in what were first public remarks on the Israeli attack by a cabinet member of U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration.

What Blinken also refused to address during that round of questions and answers was the White House’s assessment of whether the Israeli strikes were over and if Iran would retaliate.

Earlier on Friday, Iran’s air defense systems shot down several “flying objects” near the central city of Isfahan, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

The Israeli side has not yet made any announcement regarding the attack.

Source(s): CGTN

Former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has accused the current administration of spending MVR 100 million from state finances to fund the parliamentary campaign of the ruling party, PNC.

Main opposition MDP held a walk to conclude its parliamentary campaign on Friday evening. Speaking to supporters at Artificial Beach after the walk, Solih strongly criticized the government for its failure to disclose the details of expenses.

He said his travels to various Maldivian islands for MDP’s parliamentary campaign had shown how discontent the people are with the current administration.

“I see discontentment from everywhere. Concern over President Dr. [Mohamed] Muizzu’s failure to fulfill the pledges he had made to come to power. Because this needs to be changed, voices are being raised on behalf of all people across all of Maldives,” he said.

The former president said the public is unaware of the details of how the current administration is operating despite five months into assuming office. He particularly criticized the government for failure to disclose matters related to state finances.

“No information regarding the state’s finances has been disclosed in the past three weeks,” he added.

“What we know is political posts have been increased through the roof. Information publicized three weeks ago shows that MVR 450 million more was spent on salaries than the first three months last year,” he further detailed.

Solih alleged that over MVR 100 million was spent from state finances to fund the trips President Muizzu and senior officials of the government undertook to campaign for the parliamentary election. Underscoring that no response has been given when questioned on these matters, Solih stressed that these wrongs can only be righted by ensuring MDP gets the parliament majority.

“If you are voting for pro-government candidates, that is a vote against development. A vote to stop the projects. A vote to distribute the flats as they want. A vote to change the list of recipients of land,” he added.

Speaking further, Solih said the current administration has no intention to develop the islands, specifically accusing the government of sidelining smaller islands. He also said the current administration was showing a façade to Male’ residents, which he states will be proven through the ‘Rasmale’ project.

MDP has the largest number of candidates contesting this parliamentary election for 90 constituencies, followed by PNC for 89 constituencies.

A total of 368 candidates are contesting Sunday’s election for 93 constituencies.

Source(s): sun.mv