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Germany confirms Biden visit and Ukraine allies meeting

Germany confirms Biden visit and Ukraine allies meeting
President Joe Biden (AP)
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Updated 27 September 2024
AFP
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Germany confirms Biden visit and Ukraine allies meeting

Germany confirms Biden visit and Ukraine allies meeting
  • Germany was “happy” to host Biden for what has been billed as a goodbye visit ahead of the US presidential election in November
Updated 27 September 2024
AFP
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Berlin: Germany said Friday that US President Joe Biden will travel to the country October 10-12, and would host an international meeting to discuss military support for Ukraine.
Germany was “happy” to host Biden for what has been billed as a goodbye visit ahead of the US presidential election in November, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told a press conference.
“I can confirm that as part of the visit a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group... will be convened,” Hebestreit said.
The military meeting is expected on October 12 at the US air base in Ramstein near Frankfurt and is expected to bring together more than 50 of Ukraine’s allies.
The last meeting, also at Ramstein, was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who appealed for additional weapons to repel advancing Russian forces.
Hebestreit did not confirm whether Zelensky would attend again in October.
The gathering will come at a crucial juncture for Ukraine ahead of the US election, which could upend the support that Kyiv receives from its biggest backer.
Republican candidate Donald Trump has long been critical of the billions of dollars the United States has given to Ukraine and has echoed Russian talking points about the conflict.
Hebestreit said that as well as talks with Scholz, Biden’s trip would also include a meeting with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Topics: Germany US Joe Biden

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China warns Germany against ‘manipulation and smearing’ in spying cases

China warns Germany against ‘manipulation and smearing’ in spying cases
Updated 29 sec ago
AFP
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China warns Germany against ‘manipulation and smearing’ in spying cases

China warns Germany against ‘manipulation and smearing’ in spying cases
  • German media reported that a Chinese man was detained by security guards before he was arrested by police after taking photographs at the Kiel-Wik naval base on Dec. 9
Updated 29 sec ago
AFP
BEIJING: Beijing on Friday warned Berlin against “manipulation and smearing” China in spying cases, after German police opened an espionage probe into a Chinese national.
“We hope that the German side will... stop using so-called espionage cases to engage in manipulation and smearing, and earnestly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in Germany,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.
German media reported that a Chinese man was detained by security guards before he was arrested by police after taking photographs at the Kiel-Wik naval base on December 9.
The northern port is home to German naval installations and shipyards of the defense giant Thyssenkrupp, which builds submarines there.
Beijing on Friday said it was “not aware” of the specific case.
But Lin said China “has always required its citizens overseas to comply with local laws and regulations.”
Germany in early October said it had arrested a Chinese woman accused of spying on the country’s defense industry while working in a logistics company, including at Leipzig airport in eastern Germany.
Named only as Yaqi X., she allegedly reported to another suspected Beijing agent now under arrest, Jian G., who was working in the office of a German far-right member of the European Parliament, Maximilian Krah.
News magazine Der Spiegel, citing unnamed security sources, said that 38-year-old Yaqi X. had especially targeted the arms giant Rheinmetall, which is involved in making Leopard tanks and uses Leipzig airport for cargo flights.

Malaysia to resume search for wreckage of missing MH370 flight 

Malaysia to resume search for wreckage of missing MH370 flight 
Updated 19 min 20 sec ago
Reuters
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Malaysia to resume search for wreckage of missing MH370 flight 

Malaysia to resume search for wreckage of missing MH370 flight 
  • Flight MH370 vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014
  • Malaysia engaged Ocean Infinity in 2018 to search in the southern Indian Ocean
Updated 19 min 20 sec ago
Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has agreed in principle to resume the search for the wreckage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, its transport minister said on Friday, more than 10 years after it disappeared in one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.

Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the proposal to search a new area in the southern Indian Ocean came from exploration firm Ocean Infinity, which had also conducted the last search for the plane that ended in 2018.

The firm will receive $70 million if wreckage found is substantive, Loke told a press conference.

“Our responsibility and obligation and commitment is to the next of kin,” he said.

“We hope this time will be positive, that the wreckage will be found and give closure to the families.”

Malaysian investigators initially did not rule out the possibility that the aircraft had been deliberately taken off course.

Debris, some confirmed and some believed to be from the aircraft, has washed up along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean.

More than 150 Chinese passengers were on the flight, with relatives demanding compensation from Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce and the Allianz insurance group among others.

Malaysia engaged Ocean Infinity in 2018 to search in the southern Indian Ocean, offering to pay up to $70 million if it found the plane, but it failed on two attempts.

That followed an underwater search by Malaysia, Australia and China in a 120,000-square-kilometer area of the southern Indian Ocean, based on data of automatic connections between an Inmarsat satellite and the plane.

 

 

Topics: Flight MH370 MH370

France’s Macron to visit Mayotte shantytowns wrecked by Cyclone Chido

France’s Macron to visit Mayotte shantytowns wrecked by Cyclone Chido
Updated 54 min 24 sec ago
Reuters
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France’s Macron to visit Mayotte shantytowns wrecked by Cyclone Chido

France’s Macron to visit Mayotte shantytowns wrecked by Cyclone Chido
  • Officials in France’s poorest overseas territory have only been able to confirm 31 fatalities more than six days after the cyclone
  • Some of the islands’ worst-affected neighborhoods, hillside shantytowns are largely inhabited by undocumented migrants
Updated 54 min 24 sec ago
Reuters

MAMOUDZOU: French President Emmanuel Macron was due on Friday to visit shantytowns in Mayotte ravaged by Cyclone Chido on the second day of a visit where he has faced calls to speed up relief to the Indian Ocean archipelago.
Officials in France’s poorest overseas territory have only been able to confirm 31 fatalities more than six days after the cyclone, the strongest to hit Mayotte in 90 years, but some have said they fear thousands could have been killed.
Some of the islands’ worst-affected neighborhoods, hillside shantytowns comprised of flimsy huts largely inhabited by undocumented migrants, have not yet been accessed by rescue workers.
Macron decided to extend his stay and spend the night in Mayotte after residents pleaded with him to do so.
“I think it’s a sign of respect and consideration that is important to me and which allows me to see a little more of what the population is going through,” he told reporters late on Thursday.
During the first day of his visit, Macron faced criticism and boos from some Mayotte residents for what they called his government’s sluggish response to the cyclone.
Macron said authorities were quickly scaling up support and called for unity. In a heated exchange with a jeering crowd in the evening, he defended the government against charges it neglects Mayotte.
“You are happy to be in France. If it wasn’t for France, you would be 10,000 times worse off,” he said, using an expletive.
Aboubacar Ahamada Mlachahi was one of many people struggling to secure basic needs.
“What matters first is water, for the children. Before fixing the houses, before fixing anything, the daily life... We need water,” he told Reuters.
The 34-year-old construction worker, who is originally from Comoros, said his house was destroyed by the cyclone and he is now squatting on a hillside at Longoni, Mayotte’s freight port.
“Everything is gone,” he said.
Undocumented migrants
Authorities have warned it will be difficult to establish a precise death toll in a territory that is home to large numbers of undocumented migrants from Comoros, Madagascar and other countries. Official statistics put Mayotte’s population at 321,000, but many say it is much higher.
Some victims were buried immediately, in accordance with Muslim tradition, before their deaths could be counted.
Three out of four people live below the national poverty line in Mayotte, which remains heavily dependent on support from metropolitan France.
Chido also killed at least 73 people in Mozambique and 13 in Malawi after reaching continental Africa, according to officials in those countries.

Topics: France Emmanuel Macron Mayotte

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Malaysia to resume search for missing Flight MH370

Malaysia to resume search for missing Flight MH370
Updated 18 min 27 sec ago
Reuters
Follow

Malaysia to resume search for missing Flight MH370

Malaysia to resume search for missing Flight MH370
  • Flight MH370 vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014
  • Malaysia engaged Ocean Infinity in 2018 to search in the southern Indian Ocean
Updated 18 min 27 sec ago
Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has agreed in principle to resume the search for the wreckage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, its transport minister said on Friday, more than 10 years after it disappeared in one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.

Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the proposal to search a new area in the southern Indian Ocean came from exploration firm Ocean Infinity, which had also conducted the last search for the plane that ended in 2018.

The firm will receive $70 million if wreckage found is substantive, Loke told a press conference.

“Our responsibility and obligation and commitment is to the next of kin,” he said.

“We hope this time will be positive, that the wreckage will be found and give closure to the families.”

Malaysian investigators initially did not rule out the possibility that the aircraft had been deliberately taken off course.

Debris, some confirmed and some believed to be from the aircraft, has washed up along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean.

More than 150 Chinese passengers were on the flight, with relatives demanding compensation from Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce and the Allianz insurance group among others.

Malaysia engaged Ocean Infinity in 2018 to search in the southern Indian Ocean, offering to pay up to $70 million if it found the plane, but it failed on two attempts.

That followed an underwater search by Malaysia, Australia and China in a 120,000-square-kilometer area of the southern Indian Ocean, based on data of automatic connections between an Inmarsat satellite and the plane.

Topics: aviation Malaysia Flight MH370

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Russia says attack on Kyiv was ‘response’ to Ukrainian strike with Western missiles

Russia says attack on Kyiv was ‘response’ to Ukrainian strike with Western missiles
Updated 10 min 27 sec ago
AFP
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Russia says attack on Kyiv was ‘response’ to Ukrainian strike with Western missiles

Russia says attack on Kyiv was ‘response’ to Ukrainian strike with Western missiles
  • Authorities also reported missile attacks in the southern port city of Kherson
  • Moscow’s forces are advancing in the Kharkiv region that borders Russia
Updated 10 min 27 sec ago
AFP

MOSCOW: Russia said it targeted arms industry and security service targets in strikes on Kyiv on Friday as a “response” to this week’s Ukrainian strikes using Western missiles on a chemical plant in southern Russia.

“In response to the actions of the Kyiv regime, supported by its Western handlers, a combined strike with long-range precision weapons was launched today,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

One person was reported killed by the missile strike, where AFP staff saw smoke rise over parts of the city after a series of explosions.

“According to preliminary reports, one person was killed,” the head of the city’s military administration, Sergiy Popko, said on Telegram.

Popko said Russian forces had used Kinzhal and Iskander missiles in the strike at around 7:00 a.m.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that, “as a result of the enemy attack,” two people were hospitalized and debris fell in four areas, setting cars and buildings alight.

“Emergency services are working everywhere,” he said on Telegram.

The blasts came after the Ukrainian air force warned of an impending ballistic missile attack.

“Ballistic missile from the north!” the air force said on Telegram.

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference on Thursday suggested a “hi-tech duel” over Kyiv to test his claims that Russia’s new hypersonic ballistic missile, dubbed Oreshnik, is impervious to air defenses.

Ukrainian authorities also reported missile attacks in the southern port city of Kherson, where one person was killed and six injured, as well as several other Ukrainian cities and towns.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Russia Ukraine

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