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Czech army to receive German tanks in Ukraine aid compensation

Czech army to receive German tanks in Ukraine aid compensation
The Czech Republic will receive 15 tanks from Germany to help replace those sent to war-torn Ukraine, its defence ministry said Wednesday. (Reuters/File)
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Updated 31 July 2024
AFP
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Czech army to receive German tanks in Ukraine aid compensation

Czech army to receive German tanks in Ukraine aid compensation
  • The Czech government, a staunch supporter of Ukraine as it struggles to stave off the Russian invasion, has given at least 62 of its tanks to Kyiv
  • Prague has also increased its defense spending and seeks to modernize its army
Updated 31 July 2024
AFP
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PRAGUE: The Czech Republic will receive 15 tanks from Germany to help replace those sent to war-torn Ukraine, its defense ministry said Wednesday.
The Czech government, a staunch supporter of Ukraine as it struggles to stave off the Russian invasion, has given at least 62 of its tanks to Kyiv since the war began.
Prague has also increased its defense spending and seeks to modernize its army, notably using the German tanks, the first of which are due to be delivered later this year.
“We are replacing structurally obsolete Soviet equipment with new, modern machines that can withstand in the current environment,” Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said in a statement.
The Czech army will receive 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks and one armored “Buffel” tank recovery vehicle, Cernochova said.
She thanked “the German side for being able to appreciate in this way our assistance to Ukraine, which is facing brutal Russian aggression.”
Within the compensation package for Czech deliveries of military equipment to Ukraine, Germany has already gifted Prague 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks and a recovery vehicle.
The Czech government said in June it would also buy up to 77 German-made Leopard tanks in the next few years as part of a joint purchase deal with other European countries to help reduce prices.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Germany tanks Czech Republic

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Jeju Air flight crashes in South Korea, killing nearly all passengers

Jeju Air flight crashes in South Korea, killing nearly all passengers
Updated 3 sec ago
Seung-ku Lee
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Jeju Air flight crashes in South Korea, killing nearly all passengers

Jeju Air flight crashes in South Korea, killing nearly all passengers
  • At least 177 people have been confirmed dead, while 2 were rescued
  • The crash is one of South Korea’s worst aviation disasters
Updated 3 sec ago
Seung-ku Lee

SEOUL: A passenger plane carrying 181 people belly-landed and crashed at an airport in southwestern South Korea on Sunday morning, killing at least 177 people, officials said. 

Jeju Air flight 7C2216 had taken off from Bangkok with 175 passengers and six crew on board. It was landing at Muan International Airport, about 290 km south of Seoul, when it crashed at around 9 a.m. 

Footage broadcast by local media showed the Boeing 737-800 skidding across the airstrip, apparently with its landing gear still closed, and colliding head-on with the airport’s concrete fence before bursting into flames. Only the aircraft’s tail was recognizable after the explosion. 

“After the plane hit the fence, passengers were flung out of the aircraft. There is almost no possibility of survival,” the National Fire Agency said during a briefing held for the victims’ families. 

At least 177 people died in the fire and two people remain missing about 10 hours after the incident, the fire agency said. Emergency workers have rescued two crew members, whom health officials said are conscious and not in life-threatening condition. 

Ju Jong-wan, senior official at the Ministry of Land, Traffic and Infrastructure, said the control tower had issued a bird strike warning that was followed by the pilots declaring a mayday shortly afterward, before the aircraft made its ill-fated attempt to belly land at the airport. 

“Bird strike and landing gear malfunction are being suggested as possible causes of the accident, but we will need to do a thorough investigation to determine the true cause,” Ju told a press briefing, adding that the ministry is analyzing both black boxes from the crashed airliner. 

One of the rescued crew members told fire authorities that a bird strike occurred a few minutes before the plane crashed, causing the engine to smoke up and explode. 

A passenger texted a relative to say a bird was stuck in the wing, the News1 agency reported. The person’s final message was: “Should I say my last words?”

The crash is the deadliest aviation accident ever on South Korean soil, more than two decades after an Air China crash that killed 129 people in 2002. It is also the worst aviation accident involving a South Korean airline since a 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam that killed more than 200 people. 

The accident appears to have been the first fatal one for Jeju Air, a low-cost South Korean carrier established in 2005 that flies to dozens of Asian countries. 

“We sincerely apologize to all those suffering because of the accident at Muan International Airport,” said Jeju Air CEO Kim Yi-bae. “I relay my deepest condolences to the victims who have passed away and to the bereaved families … We will cooperate with the government to determine the cause.”

Boeing, the aircraft’s manufacturer, said in a statement that it is in contact with Jeju Air and is “ready to support them.”  

While the US aviation giant has had a turbulent time in recent years, including two 737 Max crashes, analysts have said that the Boeing 737-800 had a strong safety record. 

Topics: Muan airport South Korea

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Mikheil Kavelashvili sworn in as Georgia’s president amid political crisis

Mikheil Kavelashvili sworn in as Georgia’s president amid political crisis
Updated 29 December 2024
Agencies
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Mikheil Kavelashvili sworn in as Georgia’s president amid political crisis

Mikheil Kavelashvili sworn in as Georgia’s president amid political crisis
  • Current President Salome Zurabishvili has refused to step down when her term ends and demanded new elections
  • Parliament, controlled by the governing Georgian Dream party, is shortly expected to inaugurate Mikheil Kavelashvili
Updated 29 December 2024
Agencies

TBILISI: At least 2,000 pro-EU protesters gathered in Tbilisi on Sunday as Mikheil Kavelashvili, a hardline critic of the West, took the oath of office as Georgia’s president

Kavelashvili’s inauguration has sparked a political crisis in the South Caucasus country, whose government has frozen European Union application talks, provoking major protests.

Georgia’s pro-EU president Salome Zurabishvili declared she was the country’s “only legitimate president”, refusing to step down as her term ended Sunday with the inauguration of a disputed successor but saying she would vacate the presidential palace.

“I remain the only legitimate president,” she told thousands of pro-EU demonstrators. “I will leave the presidential palace and stand with you, carrying with me the legitimacy, the flag and your trust.”

Months of political crisis are poised to enter an unpredictable phase, and it is unclear what will happen if Zurabishvili does not leave the presidential palace.

Parliament, controlled by the governing Georgian Dream party, is shortly expected to inaugurate its loyalist Mikheil Kavelashvili, a far-right former footballer.

An AFP reporter in Tbilisi saw a growing crowd of protesters outside the presidential palace, with many bringing EU flags and chanting “Georgia!”

Many held on to the railings of the presidential palace, which was decorated with a large Georgian and EU flag.

Zurabishvili and protesters have accused Georgian Dream of rigging the October parliamentary election, demanding a fresh vote.

They say this makes Kavelashvili’s inauguration illegitimate.

Zurabishvili had said she would spend the night in the palace, calling on protesters to come in the morning.

Her term is due to end with the inauguration of a successor.

Georgia has been gripped by protests throughout 2024, with Georgian Dream’s opponents accusing it of steering Tbilisi toward Moscow rather than toward the Caucasus country’s longstanding goal of joining the EU.

Topics: Georgia

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Impeached South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol defies summons third time in a row

Impeached South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol defies summons third time in a row
Updated 29 December 2024
AFP
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Impeached South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol defies summons third time in a row

Impeached South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol defies summons third time in a row
  • Yoon Suk Yeol also failed to attend a hearing he was summoned to last Wednesday, giving no explanation for his absence
  • The conservative leader was stripped of his duties by parliament on December 14, following a short-lived martial law declaration
Updated 29 December 2024
AFP

SEOUL: South Korea’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol refused a summons to appear for questioning on Sunday, the third time he has defied investigators’ demands in two weeks.
Investigators probing Yoon had ordered him to appear for questioning at 10 am (GMT 0100) on Sunday, a demand he rejected.
Yoon, a former prosecutor, also failed to attend a hearing he was summoned to last Wednesday, giving no explanation for his absence.
The conservative leader was stripped of his duties by parliament on December 14, following a short-lived martial law declaration that plunged the country into its worst political crisis in decades.
Yoon faces impeachment and criminal charges of insurrection, which could result in life imprisonment or even the death penalty, in a drama that has shocked democratic South Korea’s allies around the world.
“President Yoon Suk Yeol did not appear at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) at 10 am today,” said the office in a statement.
“The Joint Investigation Headquarters will review and decide on future measures,” it added.
The CIO is expected to decide in the coming days whether to issue a fourth summons or ask a court to grant an arrest warrant to compel Yoon to appear for questioning.
He is being investigated by prosecutors as well as a joint team comprising police, defense ministry, and anti-corruption officials, while the Constitutional Court deliberates on the impeachment motion passed by parliament.
If upheld by the court, which is required to deliver its ruling within six months of the impeachment, a by-election must be held within 60 days of the court’s decision.
Former president Park Geun-hye was impeached under similar circumstances, but she was investigated only after the Constitutional Court removed her from power.
A 10-page prosecutors’ report seen by AFP stated that Yoon Suk Yeol authorized the military to fire their weapons if needed to enter parliament during his failed bid to impose martial law.

Topics: South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol

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Russia will abandon moratorium on deployment of short and medium range missiles, Lavrov tells RIA

Russia will abandon moratorium on deployment of short and medium range missiles, Lavrov tells RIA
Updated 29 December 2024
Reuters
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Russia will abandon moratorium on deployment of short and medium range missiles, Lavrov tells RIA

Russia will abandon moratorium on deployment of short and medium range missiles, Lavrov tells RIA
  • Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty in 2019
Updated 29 December 2024
Reuters

MOSCOW: Russia will scrap a proposed moratorium on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles as the United States started to deploy such weapons, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with RIA news agency published on Sunday.
“We are assessing the situation on the basis of an analysis of the destabilising actions of the United States and NATO in the strategic sphere and, accordingly, the evolution of the threats that arise from them,” Lavrov said.
“Today it is clear that, for example, our moratorium on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles is no longer practically viable and will have to be abandoned. The US has arrogantly ignored the warnings of Russia and China and in practice has moved on to the deployment of weapons of this class in various regions of the world.”
Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty in 2019. Russia has since said it will not deploy such weapons provided that Washington does not.

Topics: Russia

Belgium will ban sales of disposable e-cigarettes in a first for the EU

Belgium will ban sales of disposable e-cigarettes in a first for the EU
Updated 29 December 2024
AP
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Belgium will ban sales of disposable e-cigarettes in a first for the EU

Belgium will ban sales of disposable e-cigarettes in a first for the EU
  • The inexpensive e-cigarettes had turned into a health threat since they are an easy way for teenagers to be drawn into smoking and get hooked on nicotine
Updated 29 December 2024
AP

BRUSSELS: Belgium will ban the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes as of Jan. 1 on health and environmental grounds in a groundbreaking move for European Union nations.
Health minister Frank Vandenbroucke said the inexpensive e-cigarettes had turned into a health threat since they are an easy way for teenagers to be drawn into smoking and get hooked on nicotine.
“Disposable e-cigarettes is a new product simply designed to attract new consumers,” he said in an interview.
“E-cigarettes often contain nicotine. Nicotine makes you addicted to nicotine. Nicotine is bad for your health. These are fact,” Vandenbroucke added.
Because they are disposable, the plastic, battery and circuits are a burden on the environment. On top of that, “they create hazardous waste chemicals still present in what people throw away,” Vandenbroucke said.
The health minister said he also targeted the disposable e-cigarettes because reusable ones could be a tool to help people quit smoking if they cannot find another way.
Australia outlawed the sale of ” vapes” outside pharmacies earlier this year in some of the world’s toughest restrictions on electronic cigarettes. Now Belgium is leading the EU drive.
“We are the first country in Europe to do so,” Vandenbroucke said.
He wants tougher tobacco measures in the 27-nation bloc.
“We are really calling on the European Commission to come forward now with new initiatives to update, to modernize, the tobacco legislation,” he said.
There is understanding about Belgium’s decision, even in some shops selling electronic cigarettes, and especially on the environmental issue.
Once the cigarette is empty, “the battery is still working. That’s what is terrible, is that you could recharge it, but you have no way of recharging it,” said Steven Pomeranc, owner of the Brussels Vapotheque shop. “So you can imagine the level of pollution it creates.”
A ban usually means a financial loss to the industry, but Pomeranc said he thinks it will not hurt too much.
“We have a lot of alternative solutions which are also very easy to use,” he said. “Like this pod system, which are pre-filled with liquid, which can just be clipped into the rechargeable e-cigarette. So we will simply have a shift of clients toward this new system.”

Topics: Belgium e-cigarettes

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