Energy News Beat

Finland has accused Russia of funnelling asylum seekers to its border and says it will take action against what it says is a jump in the number of arrivals.

The Finnish Border Guard said on Tuesday that the number of arrivals from Russia has soared this week with about 60 asylum seekers coming since early on Monday. That compares with a total of 91 people arriving without required documents from August 1 to November 12.

Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said the number of crossings at Finland’s southeastern border has risen substantially since August due to what the government suspects is a change in Russia’s border policy and enforcement.

Finnish and Russian border authorities have for years cooperated in stopping people without the necessary visas or passports before they can try to enter either of the two countries.

But Russia has started allowing undocumented travellers to access the border zone and enter crossing stations where they can request asylum in Finland, Rantanen said.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said at a press conference that the asylum seekers were being “helped and they are also being escorted or transported to the border by border guards”.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow.

Finland last year adopted legislation that allows its Border Guard to stop receiving asylum applications at certain crossing points if the Nordic nation became a target of mass immigration orchestrated by another country.

Finland shares a 1,340km (833-mile) border with Russia, which also serves as the European Union’s external border.

Rantanen said she was unable to explain why Moscow’s border policy suddenly changed.

“Maybe [Russian officials] are annoyed by something in Finland`s activities. You have to ask the Russian authorities about that,” she said. “We do hope that Russia changes its policy back as it was before.”

After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Finland ended its longtime neutrality, applied to join NATO and became the military alliance’s 31st member in April.

Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen accused Russia of deliberately ushering migrants towards the border zone as a type of “hybrid warfare”. Officials in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have made similar allegations against Russia’s ally Belarus in recent years.

Hakkanen said he would inform NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and the European Union about the situation.

Thousands of migrants, mainly from the Middle East, tried to cross into Finland through its northernmost border crossing with Russia in 2015 and 2016.

Finnish authorities record a sharp rise this week in number of asylum seekers arriving over its border with Russia.

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Energy News Beat

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched ballistic missiles on various Israel targets, including in the Red Sea city of Eilat, the group’s military spokesperson has said.

The launch came “after 24 hours of another military operation by drones on the same Israeli targets,” the spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The Israeli military said that it intercepted a missile near the Red Sea.

Israel said it used its “Arrow” aerial defence system to shoot down a missile on Tuesday after sirens sounded in the port city of Eilat. Israel says that the projectile did not enter its territory, and did not say who shot it.

Earlier, the leader of Yemen’s Houthis said that his group would continue to launch attacks against Israel.

“Our eyes are open to constantly monitor and search for any Israeli ship in the Red Sea, especially in Bab al-Mandab, and near Yemeni regional waters,” Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Iran-backed group, said.

The Houthis have launched several missile and drone attacks against Israel since October 7, when Hamas fighters from the besieged Gaza Strip carried out an attack on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.

Since the Hamas attack, Israel has bombarded Gaza and launched a ground invasion of the territory. More than 11,200 people have been killed in the Israeli assault, including more than 4,600 children, according to Palestinian authorities.

The war in Gaza has sent tensions soaring throughout the region, with international organisations and political leaders warning of a potential wider war across the region.

The Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israeli forces across the Lebanon-Israel border, and Iran-backed armed groups have targeted US forces in Syria and Iraq. The United States has carried out strikes in Syria in response.

The Houthis have emerged as a major player in the Arabian Peninsula, withstanding efforts to dislodge them by a Saudi-led intervention in Yemen that began in 2015 with the support of the US.

The Saudi bombardment was criticised for contributing to a humanitarian catastrophe in the country and inflicting many civilian casualties, while the Houthis eventually expanded their control over areas of northern Yemen.

The war in Yemen has reached an uneasy stalemate, with fighting at a standstill even as both sides failed to renew a United Natiions-backed truce that expired in October.

Israeli authorities say missile intercepted near Eilat after Houthi leader earlier promised to continue attacks.

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