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Taiwan coast guard offers rewards for spotting foreign ships

Taiwan coast guard offers rewards for spotting foreign ships
Taiwan’s coast guard said Friday it will reward people who report the presence of foreign military ships, including those from China. (REUTERS)
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Updated 08 November 2024
AFP
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Taiwan coast guard offers rewards for spotting foreign ships

Taiwan coast guard offers rewards for spotting foreign ships
  • Taiwan’s coast guard said Friday it will reward people who report the presence of foreign military ships, including those from China
Updated 08 November 2024
AFP
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TAIPEI: Taiwan’s coast guard said Friday it will reward people who report the presence of foreign military ships, including those from China, in waters around the island, as it seeks the public’s help with monitoring “abnormal” activity.
China regularly deploys fighter jets, navy ships and coast guard vessels around Taiwan to press its claims of sovereignty over the island, which Taipei’s government rejects.
Taiwan is massively outgunned by China, which has refused to renounce the use of force to bring the island under its control.
“The Coast Guard’s manpower is limited but the people power at sea is unlimited,” Taiwan’s coast guard said in a statement announcing the rewards.
The coast guard called on people, including fishers, to “stay vigilant to abnormal maritime activities” to help counter the growing “threats from the sea” and “all kinds of grey zone harassment tactics” — actions that fall short of an act of war.
People who reported homicide, piracy, arson and kidnapping to the coast guard could receive up to NT$200,000 ($6,200), while reports of Chinese “stowaways” would be rewarded with NT$50,000, and NT$10,000 for other foreign stowaways.
Verified reports to the coast guard about foreign and Chinese military ships and other vessels would be rewarded with NT$3,000.
China maintains a near-daily presence of naval vessels and warplanes around the island.
Chinese coast guard ships have also been spotted around Taiwan’s outlying islands, at times briefly entering its restricted waters.
A series of incidents involving boats from both sides have fueled tensions across the narrow waterway separating Taiwan and China.
A Taiwanese court in September sentenced a former Chinese naval captain to eight months in prison for illegally entering the island by boat.

Topics: Taiwan

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Haiti blasts comments from France’s Macron as ‘unfriendly and inappropriate’

Haiti blasts comments from France’s Macron as ‘unfriendly and inappropriate’
Updated 13 sec ago
Reuters
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Haiti blasts comments from France’s Macron as ‘unfriendly and inappropriate’

Haiti blasts comments from France’s Macron as ‘unfriendly and inappropriate’
Updated 13 sec ago
Reuters

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haitian Foreign Minister Harvel Jean-Baptiste on Thursday met with French Ambassador Antoine Michon over what the ministry branded as “unfriendly and inappropriate” comments from the French president as he left the G20 summit in Brazil.
French President Emmanuel Macron had on Wednesday called the decision of the Carribean country’s transitional presidential council to oust the prime minister earlier this month as “completely dumb.”

Topics: France Haiti

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NATO says new Russian missile will not alter course of Ukraine war

NATO says new Russian missile will not alter course of Ukraine war
Updated 21 min 9 sec ago
AFP
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NATO says new Russian missile will not alter course of Ukraine war

NATO says new Russian missile will not alter course of Ukraine war
Updated 21 min 9 sec ago
AFP

BRUSSELS: The experimental hypersonic intermediate-range missile Russia fired at Ukraine will not affect the course of the war nor NATO’s backing for Kyiv, a spokesperson for the US-led defense alliance said on Thursday.
“Deploying this capability will neither change the course of the conflict nor deter NATO Allies from supporting Ukraine,” said spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah, calling the launch “yet another example of Russia’s attacks against Ukrainian cities.”
 

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict NATO

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Putin hints at strikes on West in ‘global’ Ukraine war

Putin hints at strikes on West in ‘global’ Ukraine war
Updated 6 min 57 sec ago
AFP
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Putin hints at strikes on West in ‘global’ Ukraine war

Putin hints at strikes on West in ‘global’ Ukraine war
  • Warns of retaliation after Ukraine’s allies granting permission for Kyiv to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets on Russian territory
  • Putin spoke after Russia test-fired a new generation intermediate-range missile at Ukraine, hinting that was capable of unleashing a nuclear payload
  • Washington saw no need to modify the United States’ own nuclear posture in response, says White House spokesperson
Updated 6 min 57 sec ago
AFP

DNIPRO, Ukraine: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the conflict in Ukraine had characteristics of a “global” war and did not rule out strikes on Western countries.
The Kremlin strongman spoke out after a day of frayed nerves, with Russia test-firing a new generation intermediate-range missile at Ukraine — which Putin hinted was capable of unleashing a nuclear payload.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky branded the strike a major ramping up of the “scale and brutality” of the war by a “crazy neighbor,” while Kyiv’s main backer the United States said that Russia was to blame for escalating the conflict “at every turn.”
Intermediate-range missiles typically have a reach of up to 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) — enough to make good on Putin’s threat of striking the West.
In a defiant address to the nation, Russia’s president railed at Ukraine’s allies granting permission for Kyiv to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets on Russian territory, warning of retaliation.

 

In recent days Ukraine has fired US and UK-supplied missiles at Russian territory for the first time, escalating already sky-high tensions in the brutal nearly three-year-long conflict.
“We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities,” Putin said.
He said the US-sent Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and British Storm Shadow payloads were shot down by Moscow’s air defenses, adding: “The goals that the enemy obviously set were not achieved.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov did, however, say Moscow informed Washington of the missile’s launch half an hour before it was fired through an automatic nuclear de-escalation hotline, in remarks cited in state media.
He earlier said Russia was doing everything to avoid an atomic conflict, having updated its nuclear doctrine this week.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Washington saw no need to modify the United States’ own nuclear posture in response.

Ukraine had earlier accused Russia of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time in history — a claim later downplayed by Washington.
The Ukrainian air force said Moscow had launched the missile as part of a barrage toward Dnipro, where local authorities said an infrastructure facility was hit and two civilians were wounded.
Putin said that Russia had carried out “testing in combat conditions of one of the newest Russian... missile systems” named “Oreshnik.”
Criticizing the global response to the strike — “final proof that Russia definitely does not want peace” — Zelensky warned that other countries could become targets for Putin too.
“It is necessary to urge Russia to a true peace, which is possible only through force,” the Ukrainian leader said in his evening address.
“Otherwise, there will be relentless Russian strikes, threats and destabilization, and not only against Ukraine.”
The attack on Dnipro comes just days after several foreign embassies shuttered temporarily in the Ukrainian capital, citing the threat of a large-scale strike.
“It is another example of reckless behavior from Russia,” a spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters.
The spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, said the new missile’s deployment was “another concerning and worrying development,” warning the war was “going in the wrong direction.”
Yet a US official played down the threat, saying on condition of anonymity that Russia “likely possesses only a handful of these” experimental missiles.

The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region where the city of Dnipro is located said the Russian aerial bombardment damaged a rehabilitation center and several homes, as well as an industrial enterprise.
“Two people were wounded — a 57-year-old man was treated on the scene and a 42-year-old woman was hospitalized,” said the official, Sergiy Lysak.
Russia and Ukraine have escalated their use of long-range missiles in recent days since Washington gave Kyiv permission to use its ATACMS against military targets inside Russia — a long-standing Ukrainian request.
British media meanwhile reported on Wednesday that Kyiv had launched UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia after being given the green light from London.
With ranges of 300 and 250 kilometers respectively, both missile systems’ reach is far dwarfed by the experimental intermediate-range system fired by Russia.

Russia’s envoy to London on Thursday said that meant Britain was “now directly involved” in the Ukraine war, with Andrei Kelin telling Sky News “this firing cannot happen” without UK and NATO support.
But the White House’s Jean-Pierre countered that it was Russia who was behind the rising tensions, pointing to the reported deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to help Moscow fight off a Ukrainian offensive in Russia’s border Kursk region.
“The escalation at every turn is coming from Russia,” Jean-Pierre said, adding that the United States had warned Moscow against involving “another country in another part of the world” — referring to Pyongyang.


The defense ministry in Moscow said Thursday its air-defense systems had downed two Storm Shadows, without saying whether they had come down on Russian territory or in occupied Ukraine.

Air-launched long-range Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missile, manufactured by MBDA, on displat at the 54th International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, on June 20, 2023. (REUTERS/File Photo)

The missile escalation is coming at a critical moment on the ground for Ukraine, as its defenses buckle under Russian pressure across the sprawling front line.
Russia claimed deeper advances in the war-battered Donetsk region, announcing on Thursday that its forces had captured another village close to Kurakhove, closing in on the town after months of steady advances.
Moscow’s defense ministry said Russian forces had taken the small village of Dalne, five kilometers (three miles) south of Kurakhove.
Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said that 26 people had been wounded in another strike on the town of Kryvyi Rig, where Zelensky was born.
 

Topics: Ukraine-Russia war Russia-Ukraine Conflict Vladimir Putin

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Mali junta appoints general to replace sacked civilian PM

Mali junta appoints general to replace sacked civilian PM
Updated 21 November 2024
AFP
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Mali junta appoints general to replace sacked civilian PM

Mali junta appoints general to replace sacked civilian PM
Updated 21 November 2024
AFP

BAMAKO: Mali’s junta has named military officer Gen. Abdoulaye Maiga the new prime minister after sacking civilian Premier Choguel Kokalla Maiga a day earlier following his criticism of the military leaders.

Abdoulaye Maiga had, until now, served as government spokesman in the West African country, which is plagued by extremist and separatist violence and has been led by the military since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021.

“Major General Abdoulaye Maiga is appointed prime minister,” said a decree issued by junta chief Gen. Assimi Goita and read out by the secretary general of the presidency on state television station ORTM.

Abdoulaye Maiga was not in the first group of colonels who overthrew the civilian president in August 2020 and who have since been promoted to generals, but he quickly joined them.

His appointment to replace civilian prime minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga confirms the military’s hold on power.

In June 2022, the junta promised to organize elections and hand over power to civilians by the end of March 2024 but later postponed elections indefinitely. Gen. Maiga will have to form a new government to replace the one sacked on Wednesday, which the junta closely controlled. Some key junta figures, such as Defense Minister Gen. Sadio Camara and Minister of Reconciliation General Ismael Wague, were Cabinet members.

Topics: mali

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Kenya scraps Adani deals as Ruto attempts to reset presidency

Kenya scraps Adani deals as Ruto attempts to reset presidency
Updated 21 November 2024
AFP
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Kenya scraps Adani deals as Ruto attempts to reset presidency

Kenya scraps Adani deals as Ruto attempts to reset presidency
Updated 21 November 2024
AFP

NAIROBI: Kenyan President William Ruto sought on Thursday to turn the page on a challenging year, canceling controversial deals with India’s Adani Group and vowing to tackle corruption, police kidnappings, and gender-based violence.

With the country on edge over multiple issues, there was a heavy police presence around parliament in Nairobi ahead of Ruto’s annual State of the Nation address.

His speech did not shy away from the many controversies during his administration.

The biggest shock was his announcement that India’s Adani Group would no longer be involved in plans to expand Kenya’s electricity network and its main airport, Jomo Kenyatta International.

The Adani Group was to invest $1.85 billion in the Jomo Kenyatta airport and $736 million in state-owned utility KETRACO, despite claims of corruption in the procurement process.

The final straw may have come when the Indian group’s founder, Gautam Adani, was charged in the US on Wednesday with massive bribery and fraud. Ruto said his decision was based on “new information provided by investigative agencies and partner nations.”

He also addressed the deep concern in Kenya over a spate of abductions by security forces following mass protests between June and August over an unpopular finance bill.

Rights groups accuse the security forces of a brutal crackdown, with more than 60 people killed during the protests and dozens kidnapped in the following months, many of them tortured and some killed.

Ruto said many detentions were legitimate actions against “criminals and subversive elements.”

But he added: “I condemn any excessive or extrajudicial action which puts the life and liberty of any person at risk, including disappearances and threats to life.”

He also addressed gender-based violence after reports that 97 women have been murdered in the last three months alone.

To loud cheers from the women in parliament, Ruto called on all of society to help raise boys “into morally upright men who will never need to affirm their masculinity at the expense of women.”

Ruto won a hard-fought election in 2022 with a pitch to help the country’s poor.

However, large debts have left Kenya spending more on interest payments than health and education.

While economic growth has remained relatively strong at 5.4 percent last year, a third of Kenya’s 52 million people live in poverty.

“It is undeniable that for many Kenyans, times are hard, and the struggle to meet their basic daily needs is daunting,” Ruto said.

But he listed a series of successes, including taming inflation — down from 9.6 percent to 2.7 percent over two years — stabilizing the currency and increasing agricultural production.

He also heralded a new health insurance scheme, beset by technical difficulties since its launch last month. 

He vowed it would ultimately provide “accessible and affordable” health care nationwide.

Ruto came into his speech with an urgent need to reset his presidency after mounting criticism, including from church leaders, over abductions, the cost-of-living crisis, and corruption.

Recent weeks have also seen international condemnation over the forced extradition of foreign nationals kidnapped on Kenyan soil, including four Turkish refugees and the Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye.

Topics: Kenya Adani Group

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