Scholz says US long-range missiles in Germany to help ‘securing peace’

Scholz says US long-range missiles in Germany to help ‘securing peace’
File photo showing a Tomahawk missile being launched from the US Navy's guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem during a field-training exercise. The US announced during a NATO summit oin July 10 that it will periodically station long-range missiles in Germany. (US Navy photo via AFP)
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Updated 13 July 2024
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Scholz says US long-range missiles in Germany to help ‘securing peace’

Scholz says US long-range missiles in Germany to help ‘securing peace’
  • Germany's chancellor defended the decision after Moscow warned that it was pushing Russia and the West toward a Cold War-style confrontation
  • NATO countries are rushing to bolster their defenses on the continent in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine

WASHINGTON: Chancellor Olaf Scholz has hailed a decision from the United States to periodically station long-range missiles in Germany as a step to increase deterrence against Russia.
Washington’s move marks a return of US cruise missiles to Germany after a 20-year absence, and has sparked criticism even among members of Scholz’s Social Democrats.
The Kremlin also said the decision to station US missiles in Germany was pushing Russia and the West toward a Cold War-style confrontation.
Defending the decision, Scholz told reporters at a NATO summit in Washington it is “something of deterrence and it’s securing peace, and it is a necessary and important decision at the right time.”
The United States on Wednesday said the “episodic deployments” of long-range missiles to Germany will begin in 2026.
The White House said it would eventually look to permanently station them in Germany, and the missiles would “have significantly longer range” than current US systems in Europe.
“Exercising these advanced capabilities will demonstrate the United States’ commitment to NATO and its contributions to European integrated deterrence,” it said in a joint statement with the German government.
The missile decision signalled “steady steps toward the Cold War,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a state TV reporter.
“All the attributes of the Cold War with the direct confrontation are returning,” Peskov said.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told broadcaster Deutschlandfunk the deployment decision addressed a “very serious gap” in the country’s capabilities.
The German army does not have long-range missiles that launch from the ground, only cruise missiles that can be fired by aircraft.
But the announcement sparked an outcry in Germany, where the deployment of US missiles brings back painful memories of the Cold War.
Ralf Stegner, an MP for Scholz’s Social Democrats, said the missile decision could signal the start of a new “arms race.”
“This will not make the world safer. On the contrary, we are entering a spiral in which the world is becoming increasingly dangerous,” warned Stegner.
Sahra Wagenknecht, a prominent far-left figure in Germany, told the Spiegel weekly that US missile deployment “increases the danger that Germany itself will become a theater of war.”
The 1980s deployment of US Pershing ballistic missiles in West Germany at the height of the Cold War prompted widespread demonstrations, with hundreds of thousands coming out in pacifist protest.
US missiles continued to be stationed through the reunification of Germany and into the 1990s.
Following the end of the Cold War, the US significantly reduced the numbers of missiles stationed in Europe as the threat from Moscow receded.
But NATO countries — spearheaded by the US — are rushing to bolster their defenses on the continent in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
 


More than 100 Rohingya refugees rescued off Indonesia: UN

Updated 6 sec ago
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More than 100 Rohingya refugees rescued off Indonesia: UN

More than 100 Rohingya refugees rescued off Indonesia: UN
  • Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention and says it cannot be compelled to take in refugees from Myanmar
Banda Aceh: More than 100 Rohingya refugees including women and children have been rescued after their boat sank off the coast of Indonesia, the United Nations refugee agency said Saturday.
The mostly Muslim ethnic Rohingya are heavily persecuted in Myanmar and thousands risk their lives each year on long and dangerous sea journeys to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
“We received a report from the East Aceh government that there are 116 refugees in total,” UNHCR’s Faisal Rahman told AFP on Saturday.
“The refugees are still on the beach right now, it has not been decided where they would be taken.”
He said the flimsy wooden boat carrying the Rohingyas was found half-submerged not far from the beach off the coast of northeastern Sumatra island.
A local fisherman, Saifudin Taher said the boat was first spotted entering East Aceh waters on Saturday morning, and a few hours later it nearly sank.
“All passengers survived, but one of them was ill and ...immediately received treatment,” Saifudin told AFP, adding the boat was only 100 meters away from the beach, and the refugees could walk easily to safety.
Rohingya arrivals in Indonesia tend to follow a cyclical pattern, slowing during the stormy months and picking back up when sea conditions calm down.
Last month, 152 Rohingya refugees were finally brought ashore after being anchored for days off the coast of South Aceh district for days while officials decided whether to let them land.
Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention and says it cannot be compelled to take in refugees from Myanmar, calling instead on neighboring countries to share the burden and resettle Rohingya who arrives on its shores.
Many Acehnese, who have memories of decades of bloody conflict themselves, are sympathetic to the plight of their fellow Muslims.
But others say their patience has been tested, claiming the Rohingya consume scarce resources and occasionally come into conflict with locals.
In December 2023, hundreds of students forced the relocation of more than 100 Rohingya refugees, storming a community hall in Aceh where they were sheltering and vandalising their belongings.

Georgia police say 107 people arrested at pro-EU protest

Georgia police say 107 people arrested at pro-EU protest
Updated 42 sec ago
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Georgia police say 107 people arrested at pro-EU protest

Georgia police say 107 people arrested at pro-EU protest
  • The Black Sea nation has been rocked by turmoil since the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in a Oct. 26 parliamentary election
TBILISI: Georgia on Saturday said 107 people were arrested during a second day of protests sparked by the government’s decision to delay European Union membership talks amid a post-election crisis.
The Black Sea nation has been rocked by turmoil since the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in a October 26 parliamentary election that the pro-EU opposition said was fraudulent.
The interior ministry said 107 people were detained for “disobedience to lawful police orders and petty hooliganism.”
“Throughout the night... protesters threw various objects, including stones, pyrotechnics, glass bottles, and metal items, at law enforcement officers,” it said, adding that “10 employees of the ministry of internal affairs were injured.”
It had said that 32 police officers were wounded and 43 protesters detained on Thursday.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s statement Thursday that Georgia will not seek to open accession talks with the European Union until 2028 ignited a furious reaction from the opposition and two days of protests.
He later accused the opposition and the EU ambassador to Georgia of distorting his words, and insisted membership in the bloc “by 2030” remains his “top priority.”
On Friday, AFP reporters saw riot police fire water cannon and tear gas at pro-EU protesters gathered outside the parliament in Tbilisi who tossed eggs and fireworks.
Clashes broke out later between protesters and police, who moved in to clear the area outside parliament, beating demonstrators, some of whom threw objects.
Independent TV station Pirveli said one of its journalists covering the protest was hospitalized with serious injuries.
Protests were also held in other cities across Georgia on Friday, independent TV station Mtavari reported.
At least eight demonstrators were arrested in Georgia’s second-largest city, Batumi, local media said.
Opposition lawmakers have questioned the results of the election.
Brussels has demanded an investigation into what it said were “serious (electoral) irregularities.”
Pro-Western opposition parties are boycotting the new parliament, while President Salome Zurabishvili has sought to annul the election results through the country’s constitutional court.
In recent years, critics accuse Georgian Dream – in power for more than a decade – of having moved the country away from Europe and closer to Russia.

Floods displace 122,000 people in Malaysia

Floods displace 122,000 people in Malaysia
Updated 30 November 2024
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Floods displace 122,000 people in Malaysia

Floods displace 122,000 people in Malaysia
  • The number surpassed the 118,000 displaced during one of the country’s worst floodings in 2014

Kuala Lumpur: More than 122,000 people have been forced out of their homes as massive floods caused by relentless rains swept through Malaysia’s northern states, disaster officials said Saturday.
The number surpassed the 118,000 displaced during one of the country’s worst floodings in 2014, and disaster officials feared it could rise further as there was no let-up in torrential downpours.
The death toll remained at four recorded across Kelantan, Terengganu and Sarawak.
Kelantan state bore the brunt of the flooding, accounting for 63 percent of the 122,631 people displaced, according to data from the National Disaster Management Agency.
There were nearly 35,000 people evacuated in Terengganu, with the rest of the displacements reported from seven other states.
Heavy rains, which began early this week, continued to hammer Pasir Puteh town in Kelantan, where people could be seen walking through streets inundated with hip-deep waters.
“My area has been flooded since Wednesday. The water has already reached my house corridor and is just two inches away from coming inside,” Pasir Puteh resident and school janitor Zamrah Majid, 59, told AFP.
“Luckily, I moved my two cars to a higher ground before the water level rose.”
She said she allowed her grandchildren to play in the water in front of his house because it was still shallow.
“But if the water gets higher, it would be dangerous, I’m afraid they might get swept away,” she added.
“I haven’t received any assistance yet, whether it’s welfare or other kinds of help.”
Muhammad Zulkarnain, 27, who is living with his parents in Pasir Puteh, said they were isolated.
“There’s no way in or out of for any vehicles to enter my neighborhood,” he told AFP.
“Of course I’m scared... Luckily we have received some assistance from NGOs, they gave us food supplies like biscuits, instant noodles, and eggs.”
Floods are an annual phenomenon in the Southeast Asian nation of 34 million people due to the northeast monsoon that brings heavy rain from November to March.
Thousands of emergency services personnel have been deployed in flood-prone states along with rescue boats, four-wheel-drive vehicles and helicopters, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who chairs the National Disaster Management Committee.


China coast guard says it conducted patrols around Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea

China coast guard says it conducted patrols around Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea
Updated 30 November 2024
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China coast guard says it conducted patrols around Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea

China coast guard says it conducted patrols around Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea
  • Tensions between China and the Philippines over disputed areas of the South China Sea have escalated throughout the year, particularly over the Scarborough Shoal

BEIJING: China’s coast guard said it had conducted patrols around the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Saturday to safeguard China’s territorial rights.
The coast guard has continued to strengthen law enforcement patrols in the territorial waters and surrounding areas of Scarborough Shoal since the beginning of November, and “resolutely safeguarding the country’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” it said in a statement.
Tensions between China and the Philippines over disputed areas of the South China Sea have escalated throughout the year, particularly over the Scarborough Shoal.


13 more killed in Pakistan sectarian fighting

13 more killed in Pakistan sectarian fighting
Updated 30 November 2024
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13 more killed in Pakistan sectarian fighting

13 more killed in Pakistan sectarian fighting
  • Fresh fighting broke out last Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing more than 40

Peshawar: Sectarian feuding in northwest Pakistan killed 13 more people, a local government official said Saturday, as warring Sunnis and Shiites defied repeated ceasefire orders in recent conflict claiming 124 lives.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, but Kurram district — in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan — has a large Shiite population and the communities have clashed for decades.
Fresh fighting broke out last Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing more than 40.
Since then 10 days of fighting with light and heavy weapons has brought the region to a standstill, with major roads closed and mobile phone services cut as the death toll surged.
A Kurram local government official put the death toll at 124 on Saturday after 13 more people were killed in the past two days.
Two were Sunni and 11 Shiite, he said, whilst more than 50 people have been wounded in fresh fighting which continued Saturday morning.
“There is a severe lack of trust between the two sides, and neither tribe is willing to comply with government orders to cease hostilities,” he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Police report that many people want to flee the area due to the violence, but the deteriorating security situation makes it impossible,” he added.
A seven-day ceasefire deal was announced by the provincial government last weekend but failed to hold. Another 10-day truce was brokered Wednesday but it also failed to stymie the fighting.
A senior security official in the provincial capital of Peshawar, also speaking anonymously, confirmed the total death toll of 124.
“There is a fear of more fatalities,” he said. “None of the provincial government’s initiated measures have been fully implemented to restore peace.”
Police have regularly struggled to control violence in Kurram, which was part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas until it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 79 people had been killed in the region between July and October in sectarian clashes.
The feuding is generally rekindled by disputes over land in the rugged mountainous region, and fueled by underlying tensions between the communities adhering to different sects of Islam.