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Henri Vanhanen criticized Donald Trump's actions in the Ukraine war, noting that he declared agreements about which there was uncertainty, while pressuring Ukraine in a way that benefited Vladimir Putin. As a recent example, Vanhanen pointed to Trump’s announced energy ceasefire. According to him, Volodymyr Zelensky heard about it practically for the first time from the media, Russia had not confirmed the agreement, and continued, according to Zelensky, attacks on Ukraine's power plants. Vanhanen asked what kind of ceasefire it was if the other party did not know what had been agreed upon. He suggested that Zelensky had to be cautious of Trump’s criticism to avoid being blamed for obstructing peace. Vanhanen referred to the Financial Times reporting that the United States threatened to cut off arms and intelligence supplies to Ukraine unless the country stopped attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. He also wrote that Trump agreed to buy Russian diesel, demanded Ukraine to cease attacks on Russian oil refineries, and encouraged a change of leadership in Ukraine. Vanhanen estimated that the war in Iran and the resulting fuel prices, the upcoming midterm elections, and the need to show results might explain Trump’s urgency to secure an agreement. According to him, Trump aimed for cheaper diesel and a visible peace political achievement, while Putin would benefit from a decrease in attacks on Russia’s energy sector. Vanhanen noted that the alignment of these goals seemed to occur at Ukraine’s expense. Vanhanen stated that he did not oppose a ceasefire if it protected Ukrainians and also bound Russia. However, he observed that for Trump, merely declaring an agreement seemed to suffice, even without information about its terms or Russia's commitment. Vanhanen assessed that Russia would benefit from a situation in which the United States sought a quick agreement and Ukraine was cautious not to offend Trump. In such conditions, he believed Putin could gain concessions from Trump without Russia needing to win against Ukraine at the negotiating table. #Ukraina #Trump #Venäjä (translated)

In a boating accident off the coast of Djibouti, at least 139 migrants, including fifteen children, have drowned, while more than a hundred others have been reported missing, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). #Migratie #Djibouti #Mensensmokkel (translated)

"We got ourselves to safety, went to the middle of the house, and did everything that should be done - and fortunately, we came away unharmed." In the coastal community of Mary Esther near Destin, resident Matt Howard told the news agency AFP that he was lucky the storm had weakened. #HurrikanIsaias #Tropensturm #Überschwemmungen (translated)

In a shipwreck off the coast of Djibouti, 109 refugees, including fifteen children, drowned when their boat capsized on the way to Yemen, leading to a major humanitarian crisis and a call to the international community for assistance. #Vluchtelingencrisis #Mensensmokkel #Djibouti (translated)

After Hurricane Isaias made landfall on the US coast, at least four people have died and hundreds of thousands are without power in Florida and Alabama, as the storm weakened into a low-pressure system while there remains a danger to life from flooding and landslides. #HurrikanIsaias #Sturmwarnung #Energieausfall (translated)

Leena Pihanurmi wrote that there were approximately 140,000 Muslims living in Finland and that, according to her, 884,000 people suffered from gambling-related harms when close relatives were included. She asked when the Prime Minister would invite her to a roundtable discussion to talk about the costs of gambling harms for individuals and society. Pihanurmi stated that she would present scientific evidence of the costs incurred by taxpayers due to these harms. She listed the consequences of gambling harms, including economic despair, family poverty, debt collection, mental health issues, domestic violence, divorces, suicides, and family murders. In addition, she asked why particularly the National Coalition Party had, in her opinion, promoted gambling. Pihanurmi said she would emphasize the prevention of gambling and present concrete ways to reduce gambling, similar to smoking. #uhkapelaaminen #pelihaitat #suomi (translated)

Maria Rautanen questioned the transportation of foreign waste to Finland for energy production. She referred to information from Kaleva, which indicated that nearly 50,000 tons of waste had been brought to Oulu for incineration at Oulu Energy and Syklon facilities since 2021. According to her, waste had even been transported from the outskirts of a landfill in Rome and from the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Rautanen wrote that according to Kaleva, nearly a third of the imports had occurred with figures that had been mistakenly approved by the Finnish Environment Institute. She demanded a transparent investigation into the permit errors. Rautanen criticized the downsizing of Finland's domestic energy production, particularly the reduction of peat use due to taxation and emissions trading costs. According to her, Finnish contractors and energy entrepreneurs had ceased operations, machines had been sold, and expertise in the sector was disappearing as energy was produced by importing waste from thousands of kilometers away. Rautanen called for open life cycle assessments to justify the import of foreign waste, taking into account transport by road and sea, combustion emissions, ash, waste impurities, and domestic fuels replaced by imported waste. She also demanded information about the quality of the waste brought to Finland, its monitoring, and the effects of combustion on flue gases, heavy metals, and fine particles. Rautanen believed that Finland's energy supply should fundamentally rely on domestic raw materials, local labor, and supply security. She found it difficult to accept that waste transported from Rome was used for energy production while the use of domestic peat had been reduced, and she questioned whether this constituted sensible circular economy practices. https://t.co/2CjRydkxAO #ilmasto #energia #kiertotalous (translated)