International

UK sending Ukraine ‘high-grade’ weaponry after station attack

AFP

Britain is sending Ukraine more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and 800 anti-tank missiles after an “unconscionable” attack on a train station, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday.

The “high-grade military equipment” is worth £100 million ($130 million, 120 million euros), Johnson said, with the UK anti-tank missiles seen as particularly potent against Russian forces.

The attack at Kramatorsk “shows the depths to which (Vladimir) Putin’s once-vaunted army has sunk”, he told reporters alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who called the Russian strike “atrocious”.

Fifty people were killed at the railway station, including five children, Ukrainian officials said as the toll rose on one of the deadliest strikes of the six-week-old war.

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Scholz also defended Germany against criticism that it is dragging its feet on ending Russian energy imports as part of Western sanctions over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We are doing all we can and we are doing a lot,” the chancellor said, pointing to Germany’s long-term diversification to alternative energy and other suppliers for natural gas.

After talks with Scholz in Downing Street, Johnson said Britain and Germany would work together on renewable technologies.

“We cannot transform our energy systems overnight, but we also know that Putin’s war will not end overnight,” the prime minister said.

The UK and German leaders met as European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell visited Ukraine.

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Von der Leyen visited a mass grave in Bucha, a town outside Kyiv where Russian forces are accused by Ukraine of massacring civilians.

Asked whether he also intended to visit Kyiv, Johnson said “we are trying to help people come from Ukraine”, pointing to German and British efforts to shelter refugees fleeing the war.

International

Brazil offers to mediate Colombia-Ecuador tensions, calls for restraint

The government of Brazil has offered to mediate in the ongoing tensions between Colombia and Ecuador, while calling on both nations to exercise restraint.

In a statement released Wednesday, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the parties involved to act with moderation and seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“Brazil encourages all sides to act with moderation in order to find a peaceful solution to the controversy. It stands ready to support dialogue efforts aimed at preserving peace and security in the region,” the statement said.

Brazil also expressed “serious concern” over reports of deaths in the border area between Colombia and Ecuador, noting that the circumstances surrounding the incidents have not yet been clarified.

The diplomatic move comes amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries, increasing regional concern over stability and security along their shared border.

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International

U.S. lowers travel advisory for much of Venezuela but keeps high-risk zones under warning

The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday that it has lowered its travel advisory for much of Venezuela to Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), reflecting what it described as improved security conditions in parts of the country.

However, the agency will maintain the highest Level 4 warning (“Do Not Travel”) for several regions, including the states of Táchira, Amazonas, Apure, Aragua and Guárico, as well as rural areas of Bolívar, citing ongoing risks such as crime, kidnapping and terrorism.

The updated advisory marks a shift from December, when the United States raised the alert for Venezuela to Level 4 nationwide, warning of severe security threats.

Despite the partial downgrade, U.S. authorities continue to urge caution, emphasizing that conditions remain volatile in certain areas and that travelers should carefully assess risks before planning any trips to the country.

International

EU lawmakers move to ban AI tools that generate non-consensual nude images

Members of the European Parliament are pushing to ban across the bloc artificial intelligence services that allow users to digitally “undress” people without their consent.

The proposal, adopted on Wednesday at committee level, aims to prohibit applications that generate non-consensual explicit images. Irish lawmaker Michael McNamara, one of the sponsors, said the measure seeks to stop tools that “have caused significant harm for the benefit of a few.”

Dutch MEP Kim van Sparrentak welcomed the move, calling it “a major victory, especially for women and children in Europe.”

The amendment, part of broader EU legislation on artificial intelligence, was approved by the Parliament’s civil liberties and internal market committees. It specifically targets systems that use AI to create or manipulate sexually explicit or intimate images resembling identifiable individuals without their consent.

The proposal will be put to a full vote in the European Parliament on March 26. If adopted, lawmakers and European Union member states will need to agree on a final version before it can take effect.

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Separately, representatives of the 27 EU countries recently backed a Franco-Spanish amendment seeking to ban AI services used to generate non-consensual sexual images or child sexual abuse material.

The initiative follows controversy surrounding a feature introduced in Grok, developed by xAI, which allowed users to create simulated nude images from real photos. The tool sparked widespread criticism and prompted an EU investigation.

In response, xAI restricted image generation features in mid-January to paying subscribers and stated it blocks the creation of sexualized images in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.