Trump, Scholz agree to work toward ‘return to peace in Europe’

US President-elect Donald Trump (left) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. (Reuters/AFP photos)

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Updated 41 sec ago

AFP

November 11, 2024 03:01

Trump, Scholz agree to work toward ‘return to peace in Europe’

Scholz underlined his government’s willingness to continue the decades-long successful US-German cooperation, says spokesman
In their first phone call last week, Scholz told Trump: “We’re better off together. Together we can achieve much more than against each other.”

Updated 41 sec ago

AFP

November 11, 2024 03:01

BERLIN: US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz by phone, Berlin said, adding that they “agreed to work together toward a return to peace in Europe.”
Scholz — mired in a political crisis and facing snap elections sometime in early 2025 — congratulated Trump a second time on his election victory, according to the chancellor’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.
“Both exchanged views on the German-American relationship and the current geopolitical challenges,” Hebestreit said in a brief statement.
“The chancellor underlined the government’s willingness to continue the decades-long successful cooperation between the governments of both countries.
“They also agreed to work together toward a return to peace in Europe.”
Trump’s election is seen as carrying the potential to upend the almost three-year Ukraine conflict, as he insists on a quick end to the fighting and casts doubt on Washington’s multi-billion-dollar support for Kyiv.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to quickly end the Ukraine war — even before he is sworn into office — but without detailing his thinking.
Trump has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged him not to escalate the war in Ukraine, the Washington Post reported earlier Sunday. The president-elect’s representatives did not immediately respond when asked by AFP for comment.
During his last term in the White House, Trump berated NATO ally Germany for what he deemed insufficient defense spending as well as trade and other issues.
Scholz had already congratulated Trump on Wednesday and urged continued close transatlantic ties, telling him in English: “We’re better off together.”
“Together we can achieve much more than against each other,” added the center-left leader of Europe’s biggest economy, who plans to run again in the upcoming elections.

Topics: Donald Trump Germany Olaf Scholz

’I live in hope’: A Channel drama survivor’s search for missing dad

Updated 11 November 2024

AFP

November 11, 2024 01:01

’I live in hope’: A Channel drama survivor’s search for missing dad

The group turned the boat around, but the smugglers on the beach pushed them back out to sea, Osama said

Updated 11 November 2024

AFP

November 11, 2024 01:01

CALAIS, France: Osama Ahmed’s life took a dramatic turn one night in October when the small boat that was to carry him and his father to the English coast sank shortly after setting out from France.
The 20-year-old Syrian was rescued but when he woke up in hospital and asked about his dad nobody knew anything.
Since that moment, Osama has been looking frantically for his father with whom he had hoped to start a new life in Britain.
Beyond the tragically long list of deaths in the Channel of migrants trying to cross, another statistic is also growing fast: Missing people.
“I live in hope of finding him,” Osama told AFP in a house in Calais on the French coast where an association, La Margella, put him up. He rejected any idea that his dad may not have survived. “God willing, I will find him,” he said.

Osama Ahmed, a 20-year-old Syrian man shows a picture of him with his father at the house of the association "LaMargelle Calais" where he lives since his father disappeared when their boat sank on the night of October 23, 2024, in Calais, northern France on November 7, 2024. (AFP)

On the night between October 22 and 23 father and son tried to make it across the water, like 30,000 other migrants this year alone. It was their third attempt.
They were part of a group of around 60 people hiding in the dunes who, at the signal of the people smugglers, rushed to the small boat waiting for them in the water.
But barely one kilometer (1,000 yards) into the journey, water began to seep in.
The group turned the boat around, but the smugglers on the beach pushed them back out to sea, Osama said.
He said they had been promised lifejackets that failed to materialize because, the smugglers claimed, they had been damaged.
The boat’s air chambers became completely deflated soon after departure, and everyone on board tumbled into the sea.
For half an hour Osama and his father managed to cling to each other, but when the boat began to disintegrate amid the panic and darkness they were separated.
Two ferries passed without stopping, and eventually rescue services arrived.
French maritime authorities reported finding three bodies, one woman and two men, after the drama that occurred two kilometers (1.2 miles) off the French coast.
Forty-five people were rescued but survivors reported that there had been more people on board, suggesting that a number had gone missing.

The drama was followed by other, similar incidents, in the Channel and authorities have since found nine bodies floating in the sea or washed up on northern French beaches, none of them the young Syrian’s dad.
Osama, who was treated in hospital for burns caused by saltwater and fuel, has been to every police station, hospital and Red Cross office in the area in search of his father, in vain.
He told officials what clothes his dad wore last, and about the ring in which his name is engraved. Police took a sample of Osama’s DNA.
Every time a body is found along the coast, Osama fears it could be his father. As the excruciating wait lingers, his life plans are on hold.
His family fled from Syria 13 years ago, to settle in Turkiye. Two of Osama’s brothers are already in England, having made the journey also in small boats.
He flashed a big smile as he described his dad, “the world’s nicest man” and his “role model.”
On his phone he has a picture of him, a man in his 50s wearing a white shirt and a jacket, and sporting a grey moustache.
French associations say the authorities should do more to help survivors locate their loved ones after failed crossings.
“People go missing and their families find it very hard to access services that might assist them in their search,” said Jeanne Bonnet, co-founder of La Margelle which tries to help migrants navigate French officialdom.
“We sometimes get the feeling that we’re being given the runaround,” she said.
Osama, she said, was offered no accommodation when he left hospital, injured and traumatized, so he went back to the same camp he had stayed in previously. That’s where La Margella took charge of him.
Braving cold temperatures and fog, close to 1,200 migrants have reached England onboard small boats since the beginning of November, according to British official figures.
Sixty people have been confirmed dead this year — not counting the most recently-discovered bodies and missing people — a record number since such Channel crossings started in 2018.

Topics: migrants English Channel migrants

Trump in phone call advised Putin not to escalate in Ukraine

Updated 51 min 23 sec ago

Reuters

November 10, 2024 20:02

Trump in phone call advised Putin not to escalate in Ukraine

US President Joe Biden to urge Trump, Congress to keep supporting Ukraine
Trump had also spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday

Updated 51 min 23 sec ago

Reuters

November 10, 2024 20:02

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida/WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and advised him not to escalate the Ukraine war, a source familiar with the conversation told Reuters on Sunday, as President Joe Biden plans to urge Trump not to abandon Kyiv.
Trump and Putin spoke in recent days, said the source. Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.

Trump has criticized the scale of US military and financial support for Kyiv, vowing to end the war quickly, without saying how.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry said it was not informed in advance of the call between Trump and Putin and subsequently could neither endorse or object to it.

“We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders,” said Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, when asked about the phone call, which was first reported by The Washington Post.
The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Republican Trump will take office on Jan. 20 after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 presidential election. Biden has invited Trump to come to the Oval Office on Wednesday, the White House said.

During the election campaign, Trump said he would find a solution to end the war “within a day,” but did not explain how he would do so.

On Friday, the Kremlin said Putin was ready to discuss Ukraine with Trump but that did not mean that he was willing to alter Moscow’s demands.
On June 14, Putin set out his terms for an end to the war: Ukraine would have to drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from all of the territory of four regions claimed by Russia.
Ukraine rejected that, saying it would be tantamount to capitulation, and Zelensky has put forward a “victory plan” that includes requests for additional military support from the West.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that Biden’s top message will be his commitment to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, and he will also talk to Trump about what’s happening in Europe, in Asia and the Middle East.
“President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe,” Sullivan told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” show.
Sullivan’s comments came as Ukraine attacked Moscow on Sunday with at least 34 drones, the biggest drone strike on the Russian capital since the beginning of the war.
When asked if Biden would ask Congress to pass legislation to authorize more funding for Ukraine, Sullivan deferred.
“I’m not here to put forward a specific legislative proposal. President Biden will make the case that we do need ongoing resources for Ukraine beyond the end of his term,” Sullivan said.

Ukraine funding
Washington has provided tens of billions of dollars worth of US military and economic aid to Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia in February of 2022, funding that Trump has repeatedly criticized and rallied against with other Republican lawmakers.
Trump insisted last year that Putin never would have invaded Ukraine if he had been in the White House at the time. He told Reuters Ukraine may have to cede territory to reach a peace agreement, something the Ukrainians reject and Biden has never suggested.
Zelensky said on Thursday he was not aware of any details of Trump’s plan to end the Ukraine war quickly and that he was convinced a rapid end would entail major concessions for Kyiv.
According to the Government Accountability Office, Congress appropriated over $174 billion to Ukraine under Biden. The pace of the aid is almost sure to drop under Trump with Republicans set to take control of the US Senate with a 52-seat majority.
Control of the US House of Representatives in the next Congress is not yet clear with some votes still being counted. Republicans have won 213 seats, according to Edison Research, just shy of the 218 needed for a majority. If Republicans win both chambers, it will mean the majority of Trump’s agenda will have a significantly easier time passing through Congress.
Republican US Senator Bill Hagerty, a Trump ally who is considered a top contender for secretary of state, criticized US funding for Ukraine in a CBS interview.
“The American people want sovereignty protected here in America before we spend our funds and resources protecting the sovereignty of another nation,” Hagerty said.
The 2-1/2-year-old war in Ukraine is entering what some officials say could be its final act after Moscow’s forces advanced at the fastest pace since the early days of the war.
Any fresh attempt to end the war is likely to involve peace talks of some kind, which have not been held since the early months of the war.
Moscow’s forces occupy around a fifth of Ukraine. Russia says the war cannot end until its claimed annexations are recognized. Kyiv demands all of its territory back, a position that has largely been supported by Western allies.

Topics: US Election 2024 US Russia Donald Trump Vladimir Putin

Bangladesh to seek Interpol alert for Hasina loyalists

Updated 10 November 2024

AFP

November 10, 2024 22:36

Bangladesh to seek Interpol alert for Hasina loyalists

Dozens of Hasina loyalists accused of involvement in bloody crackdown have been arrested

Updated 10 November 2024

AFP

November 10, 2024 22:36

DHAKA: Bangladesh said Sunday it would request an Interpol “red notice” alert for fugitive leaders of the ousted regime of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was toppled in a revolution in August.

“Those responsible for the indiscriminate killings during the mass uprising in July and August will be brought back from wherever they have taken refuge,” Asif Nazrul, the interim government’s law adviser, told reporters on Sunday.

“We will ensure they are arrested and brought to justice.”

Dozens of Hasina’s allies have been taken into custody since her regime collapsed, accused of involvement in a police crackdown that killed more than 700 people during the unrest that led to her ouster.

France-based Interpol publishes red notices at the request of a member nation, based on an arrest warrant issued in their home country.

Nazrul did not mention any individual by name, but Bangladesh has already issued an arrest warrant for 77-year-old Hasina — last seen arriving in India after fleeing by helicopter as crowds stormed her palace.

Hasina’s 15-year rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

Red notices issued by the global police body alert law enforcement agencies worldwide about fugitives.

Nazrul said they would request a red notice “as soon as possible”.

India is a member of Interpol, but the red notice does not mean New Delhi must hand Hasina over.

Topics: Bangladesh

Chad troops killed in clashes with militants

Updated 10 November 2024

AFP

November 10, 2024 22:30

Chad troops killed in clashes with militants

Updated 10 November 2024

AFP

November 10, 2024 22:30

N’DJAMENA: Numerous Chad troops have been killed in a clash with militants in the Lake Chad region, the latest such incident in the central African nation, officials said on Sunday.

“I present my sincere condolences to the families of the martyrs who fell defending the homeland during this clash and I wish a speedy recovery to the wounded,” President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said in a post on Facebook, without providing any other details.

The clash was the latest since late October, when an attack by Boko Haram militants on a Chadian military base killed at least 40 people. In response, the army launched an operation against the militants.

In a statement, the army chief of staff said on Saturday that there was a clash during the day and after several hours “numerous terrorist elements were neutralized” and that a toll would be published later.

According to military sources, the fighting took place in the afternoon on the Karia island, in the northwest of the Lake Chad region.

Several local media published what they said were lists of the troops killed and wounded.

Elsewhere in Africa, gunmen killed 15 people in an attack on a northwest Nigerian village, officials confirmed, amid reports of a newly arrived militant group operating in the area.

The deputy governor of Kebbi State said the assault on Mera, around 50 kilometers from the Niger border, had been carried out by “unknown gunmen.”

But the latest massacre came after officials warned that an Islamist group known as “Lakurawa,” thought to hail from Mali and Niger, had crossed into Nigeria.

Kebbi’s deputy governor, Umar Tafida, and senior security officials attended funeral prayers for the 15 victims in Mera, his office said in a statement.

Nigeria has been plagued by armed violence since the 2009 emergence of the Boko Haram group in the Lake Chad basin, in the northeast of the country.

Various militant groups have split from or emerged alongside the insurgency, notorious for several mass kidnappings of school girls, despite a military crackdown.

Armed bandits and kidnap gangs have also spread chaos across the region, alongside sometimes bloody conflicts between farming communities and nomadic herdsmen.

Topics: chad

Dutch police arrest pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Amsterdam

Updated 10 November 2024

Reuters

November 10, 2024 22:26

Dutch police arrest pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Amsterdam

Hundreds of protesters defy prohibition to gather in the Dutch capital

Updated 10 November 2024

Reuters AP

November 10, 2024 22:26

AMSTERDAM: Riot police in Amsterdam began breaking up a pro-Palestinian protest on Sunday after a court upheld a ban on demonstrations following clashes this week involving Israeli soccer fans.

Hundreds of demonstrators defied the prohibition to gather in the Dutch capital’s Dam square, chanting demands for an end to violence in Gaza and “Free Palestine.”

But after a local court ratified the city authorities’ ban, police moved in, instructing protesters to leave. Several people were dragged away by police, a journalist saw.

The three-day ban was imposed from Friday after attacks on Israeli soccer supporters following a soccer match on Thursday between visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam.

At least five people were injured early on Friday, as Israeli fans were assaulted by what Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema described as “antisemitic hit-and-run squads.”

Prosecutors said late on Saturday that four suspects remained detained on suspicion of violent acts, including two minors, and that 40 people had been fined for public disturbance and 10 for offenses including vandalism. They added that they expected to make more arrests.

A large group of Maccabi supporters was seen in a video posted online by news site Bender arming themselves with sticks, pipes and rocks and twice clashing with opponents when they marched into the city after the match.

Local police chief Olivier Dutilh told the court on Sunday that the ban was still needed as antisemitic incidents were also reported on Saturday night, local TV station AT5 reported.

Dutilh told the court that people had been pushed out of taxis and intimidated by others who asked to see their passports on the streets.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has said it only targets militants, whom it accuses of hiding among civilians in homes and shelters. Israeli strikes often kill women and children.

The war began when Hamas-led militants blew holes in the border fence and stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. They killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Topics: Palestine Netherlands Israel

Trump, Scholz agree to work toward ‘return to peace in Europe’

Trump, Scholz agree to work toward ‘return to peace in Europe’

Trump in phone call advised Putin not to escalate in Ukraine

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’I live in hope’: A Channel drama survivor’s search for missing dad

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Bangladesh to seek Interpol alert for Hasina loyalists

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Chad troops killed in clashes with militants

Chad troops killed in clashes with militants

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Dutch police arrest pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Amsterdam

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Trump, Scholz agree to work toward ‘return to peace in Europe’

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