AfD in vote setback after huge protest wave in Germany

Demonstrators hold a placard reading,
Demonstrators hold a placard reading, "Lights are still on at Hitler's", during a demonstration against the Alternative for Germany party (AfD), right-wing extremism and for the protection of democracy in Eichwalde near Berlin, Germany, January 27, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 29 January 2024
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AfD in vote setback after huge protest wave in Germany

AfD in vote setback after huge protest wave in Germany
  • A first poll since the protests showed support for the anti-immigration party slipping 1.5 percentage points

BERLIN: The far-right AfD party suffered a narrow electoral defeat on Sunday after huge protests swept across Germany against the anti-immigration group over revelations of debates about mass expulsions of immigrants.
A candidate from the mainstream center-right CDU won a slim victory over an AfD challenger in a run-off in eastern Thuringia for a district administrator post.
Over a million people have marched in recent days in cities from Hamburg to Dresden to Stuttgart in protest at the Alternative for Germany party and hundreds of thousands poured into the streets again on Saturday and Sunday.
The wave of mobilization was sparked by a January 10 report by investigative outlet Correctiv, which revealed that AfD members had discussed the expulsion of immigrants and “non-assimilated citizens” at a Potsdam meeting with extremists.
Sunday’s run-off vote in eastern Thuringia for a district administrator post was the first election since the outrage over the meeting.
After a first round vote in which the AfD’s Uwe Thrum topped the polls in the Saale-Orla district, he garnered 47.6 percent in the deciding round against 52.4 percent for CDU candidate Christian Herrgott.
Both the CDU and the center-left SPD heaved a sigh of relief at the result.
The leader of the CDU’s Thuringia branch Mario Voigt thanked voters for joining hands to “beat the purported Alternative,” while his SPD counterpart Georg Maier said the large voter turnout and mobilization of the civil society had led to the “very important result.”

The AfD had been hoping to notch up another victory after having secured its first district administrator position last June, also in Thuringia, and its first town mayor in July in neighboring Saxony-Anhalt.
Nationwide opinion polls put the AfD in second place after the conservatives, and well above Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats.
A first poll since the protests showed support for the anti-immigration party slipping 1.5 percentage points.
But the far-right party still tops surveys in three eastern states which are due to hold regional elections in September, even though local branches of the party in two of them — Saxony and Thuringia — have been classified as a “confirmed” extremist organization by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency.
The classification gives the agency more powers to monitor the branches, and had been accorded because of the AfD’s efforts to undermine democracy and for its anti-immigrant rhetoric.
The AfD also said that it has gained 1,900 new members since January 10, when the Correctiv report was published.
In his regular video address released Saturday, Scholz for the second week in a row urged the population to stand up against extremists.
“’Never again’ is not only directed at the state. ‘Never again’ requires everyone’s vigilance. Our democracy is not God-given, it is man-made. It is strong when we support it. It needs us when it is attacked,” he said.
At a weekend anti-Afd protest in Stuttgart, 56-year-old Wolfgang Nagel said that in many European countries “people are looking to turn back the clock and politicians are adopting an inward-looking discourse, focusing on their own nation and their own people.”
“It’s not the right way to go. It’s the road that leads to war... This nationalism has to go.”
Margrit Walter, 60, speaking at the same demonstration, said she was there to make a stand for her grandchildren.
“I don’t want us to live in a world of Nazis. It’s important to rise up against the extreme right.”
 

 


Taiwan says 41 Chinese military aircraft, ships detected ahead of Lai US stopover

Taiwan says 41 Chinese military aircraft, ships detected ahead of Lai US stopover
Updated 23 sec ago
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Taiwan says 41 Chinese military aircraft, ships detected ahead of Lai US stopover

Taiwan says 41 Chinese military aircraft, ships detected ahead of Lai US stopover
  • The figure was the highest in more than three weeks, according to a tally of figures released daily by Taiwan’s defense ministry
TAIPEI: Taiwan said Friday it had detected 41 Chinese military aircraft and ships around the island ahead of a Hawaii stopover by President Lai Ching-te, part of a Pacific tour that has sparked fury in Beijing.
The figure was the highest in more than three weeks, according to an AFP tally of figures released daily by Taiwan’s defense ministry.
China insists self-ruled Taiwan is part of its territory, which Taipei rejects.
To press its claims, China deploys fighter jets, drones and warships around Taiwan on a near-daily basis, with the number of sorties increasing in recent years.
In the 24 hours to 6:00 a.m. on Friday, Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had detected 33 Chinese aircraft and eight navy vessels in its airspace and waters.
That included 19 aircraft that took part in China’s “joint combat readiness patrol” on Thursday evening and was the highest number since November 4.
Taiwan also spotted a balloon — the fourth since Sunday — about 172 kilometers west of the island.

UN plastic treaty talks push for breakthrough as deadline looms

UN plastic treaty talks push for breakthrough as deadline looms
Updated 53 min 7 sec ago
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UN plastic treaty talks push for breakthrough as deadline looms

UN plastic treaty talks push for breakthrough as deadline looms
  • South Korea is hosting the fifth and final UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meeting to agree globally binding rules on plastics this week

BUSAN, South Korea: Negotiators at the fifth round of talks aimed at securing an international treaty to curb plastic pollution were striving on Friday to speed up sluggish proceedings and reach a deal by a Dec. 1 deadline.
South Korea is hosting the fifth and final UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting to agree globally binding rules on plastics this week.
Until Thursday, several delegates from around 175 countries participating had expressed frustration about the slow pace of the talks amid disagreements over procedure, multiple proposals and some negotiations even returning to ground covered in the past.
In an attempt to speed up the process, INC Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso is holding informal meetings on Friday to try and tackle the most divisive issues.
These issues include curbing plastic products and chemicals of concern, managing the supply of primary polymers, and a financial mechanism to help developing countries implement the treaty.
Petrochemical-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia strongly oppose efforts to target a cap on plastic production, over the protests of countries that bear the brunt of plastic pollution such as low- and middle-income nations.
While supporting an international treaty, the petrochemical industry has also been vocal in urging governments to avoid setting mandatory plastic production caps, and focus instead on solutions to reduce plastic waste, like recycling.
The INC plans an open a plenary session at 7 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Friday that will provide an indication of how close the talks have moved toward a treaty.


New Zealand navy vessel hit reef, sank after ‘autopilot’ error: inquiry

New Zealand navy vessel hit reef, sank after ‘autopilot’ error: inquiry
Updated 29 November 2024
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New Zealand navy vessel hit reef, sank after ‘autopilot’ error: inquiry

New Zealand navy vessel hit reef, sank after ‘autopilot’ error: inquiry
  • Dozens of sailors were rescued from the HMNZS Manawanui in October after it struck a reef
  • Vessel burst into flames and finally sank south of Samoa’s most populous island Upolu

WELLINGTON: A New Zealand navy vessel plowed into a reef near Samoa and sank because its crew mistakenly left it on “autopilot,” a military inquiry found on Friday.
Dozens of sailors were rescued from the HMNZS Manawanui in October after it struck a reef, burst into flames and finally sank south of Samoa’s most populous island Upolu.
One of just nine commissioned ships in New Zealand’s small naval fleet, the Manawanui had been dispatched to map the ocean floor.
A military court of inquiry on Friday found the survey vessel had been scuttled because its “autopilot was not disengaged when it should have been.”
“Remaining in autopilot resulted in the ship maintaining a course toward land, until grounding and eventually stranding.”
Crewmembers noticed the ship had veered off course and tried to change direction, believing they had lost control due to a “thruster control failure.”
But they forgot to check if the autopilot had been disengaged first, the tribunal found.
Rather than steering away from danger, the ship “started to accelerate toward the reef.”
Defense Minister Judith Collins said the debacle had “really knocked Navy for six.”
“It was a terrible day. The navy and the defense force are not shying away from this.
“It was extremely disappointing. But that’s what has happened.”
The shipwreck settled on a stable section of reef some 30 meters below the surface.
It was carrying 950 tonnes of diesel when it sank, stirring fears of an oil slick that could kill wildlife and taint crucial food sources.
New Zealand’s navy has said previously that the main fuel tanks appeared to be intact.
Salvage crews were working to retrieve the fuel without major leaks.
No one died in the incident, although a small number of sailors suffered minor injuries.


Protesters clash with police in Georgia over government’s EU application delay

Protesters clash with police in Georgia over government’s EU application delay
Updated 29 November 2024
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Protesters clash with police in Georgia over government’s EU application delay

Protesters clash with police in Georgia over government’s EU application delay
  • Government suspends EU accession talks until 2028
  • Georgian Dream has deepened ties with Russia amid EU tensions

TBILISI: Police clashed with protesters in the Georgian capital Tbilisi early on Friday, after the country’s ruling party said the government would suspend talks on European Union accession and refuse budgetary grants until 2028.
The country’s interior ministry said three police officers were injured.
Police ordered protesters to disperse, fired water cannon and deployed pepper spray and tear gas as masked young people tried to smash their way into the parliament. Some protesters tossed fireworks at police while shouting “Russians” and “Slaves!“
Georgia’s relations with the EU have deteriorated sharply in recent months as Brussels has alleged that the government had resorted to authoritarian measures and adopted pro-Russian stands.
Thousands of pro-EU protesters had blocked streets in the capital before the altercations began. The country’s figurehead president accused the government of declaring “war” on its own people and confronted riot police, asking whether they served Georgia or Russia.
The Georgian Dream governing bloc accused the EU of “a cascade of insults,” saying in a statement it was using the prospect of accession talks to “blackmail” the country, and to “organize a revolution in the country.”
As a result, it said: “We have decided not to put the issue of opening negotiations with the European Union on the agenda until the end of 2028. Also, we refuse any budgetary grant from the European Union until the end of 2028.”
The South Caucasus country of 3.7 million has the aim of EU accession written into its constitution and has long been among the most pro-Western of the Soviet Union’s successor states.
With months of downturn in relations between Tbilisi and Brussels, the EU had already said that Georgia’s application for membership was frozen.
Georgian Dream says it is not pro-Russian, and that it is committed to democracy and integration with the West.
It says it still wants to join the EU eventually, but has repeatedly engaged in diplomatic feuds with Brussels in recent years, whilst deepening ties with neighboring Russia.
There was no immediate formal comment from the EU on Georgian Dream’s statement. But an EU official said the impact of Thursday’s move was huge, adding the government was doing what the EU had feared and had hoped it would not.
Opinion polls show that around 80 percent of Georgians support EU membership, and the bloc’s flag flies alongside the national flag outside virtually all government buildings in the country.
The pro-Western opposition reacted to Georgian Dream’s announcement with fury as protesters massed. Local media reported that protests that erupted in provincial cities.

’WAR’ AGAINST PEOPLE
Giorgi Vashadze, a prominent opposition leader, wrote on Facebook: “the self-proclaimed, illegitimate government has already legally signed the betrayal of Georgia and the Georgian people.”
President Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU critic of Georgian Dream whose powers are mostly ceremonial, said the ruling party had “declared not peace, but war against its own people, its past and future.”
Zourabichvili’s term ends in December, and Georgian Dream has nominated a former lawmaker with hard-line anti-Western views to replace her.
The opposition says that an October election, in which official results gave the Georgian Dream bloc almost 54 percent of the vote, was fraudulent and have refused to take their seats. Western countries demand a probe into irregularities.
Both Georgian Dream and the country’s election commission say the election was free and fair.
Earlier on Thursday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told journalists that EU membership might harm Georgia’s economy, as it would require Tbilisi to cancel visa-free agreements and trade deals with other countries.
The EU gave Georgia candidate status in December 2023, but has said that a raft of laws passed since by Georgian Dream, including curbs on “foreign agents” and LGBT rights, are authoritarian, Russian-inspired, and obstacles to EU membership.
Foreign and domestic critics of Georgian Dream say the party, which is seen as dominated by its billionaire founder, ex-prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, is steering Georgia back toward Moscow, from which it gained independence in 1991.
Russia and Georgia have had no formal diplomatic relations since Moscow won a brief 2008 war, but have had a limited rapprochement recently.
Opinion polls show most Georgians dislike Russia, which continues to back two breakaway Georgian regions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking during a visit to Kazakhstan, praised the “courage and character” he said Georgian authorities had shown in passing the law on foreign agents, which domestic critics have likened to Russian legislation. (Reporting by Felix Light Additional reporting by Lili Bayer in Brussels Editing by Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Osborn, William Maclean, Frances Kerry and Ron Popeski)


Russian air defenses destroy, down 30 Ukrainian drones in Rostov region

Russian air defenses destroy, down 30 Ukrainian drones in Rostov region
Updated 29 November 2024
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Russian air defenses destroy, down 30 Ukrainian drones in Rostov region

Russian air defenses destroy, down 30 Ukrainian drones in Rostov region

Russian air defenses destroyed or downed 30 Ukrainian drones in southern Rostov region early on Friday, Regional Governor Yuri Slyusar said.
Slyusar, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said some private homes in two villages had sustained some damage, but there were no casualties.