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Fall of Assad

EU diplomat to make contact with new Syria leaders in Damascus

EU diplomat to make contact with new Syria leaders in Damascus
FILE PHOTO: High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas attends a meeting with foreign ministers of Turkiye, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to discuss developments in Syria. (Reuters)
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Updated 2 min 17 sec ago
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EU diplomat to make contact with new Syria leaders in Damascus

EU diplomat to make contact with new Syria leaders in Damascus
Updated 2 min 17 sec ago
AFP
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BRUSSELS: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday the bloc’s envoy to Syria was going to Damascus to talk to the new Islamist-led rulers, as Western powers stepped up engagement after the ouster of Bashar Assad.
The outreach from Brussels comes after the United States and Britain said they had made contact with the new authorities in Damascus, spearheaded by rebel group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS).
Regional and international powers are jostling for influence in Syria after Assad was toppled in a lightning offensive, ending five decades of his family’s rule.
“Our top diplomat in Syria will go to Damascus today. We’ll have the contacts there,” Kallas told journalists ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
EU nations — like others in the West — are wary of the new leadership in Damascus, given that HTS had its roots in Al-Qaeda and is listed as a terror group by a number of governments.
The EU cut ties with the Assad regime in Damascus during the country’s civil war, but has remained a major donor of humanitarian aid to help local populations.
Kallas said EU foreign ministers in Brussels would discuss “how we engage with the new leadership of Syria, and on what level we engage.”
“We can’t leave a vacuum,” Kallas, who took over as the EU’s top diplomat this month, said.
International players have expressed cautious optimism as the nascent authorities in Damascus have vowed to protect minorities and form an inclusive government.
Diplomats say some EU member states are pushing to step up ties with Syria after Assad’s ouster, while others are more cautious.
“For us, it’s not only the words, but we want to see the deeds going to the right direction. So not only what they are saying, but also what they are doing,” Kallas said.
“I think the coming weeks and months will show whether it goes to the right direction. And I think then we are also open to discuss next steps,” she said.

Topics: Fall of Assad Syria EU

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Race against time for rescuers as hundreds feared dead in Mayotte

Race against time for rescuers as hundreds feared dead in Mayotte
Updated 11 min 14 sec ago
AFP
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Race against time for rescuers as hundreds feared dead in Mayotte

Race against time for rescuers as hundreds feared dead in Mayotte
  • The cyclone has left French Indian Ocean territory’s health services in tatters
  • Officials fear that many could still be trapped under rubble in the inaccessible areas
Updated 11 min 14 sec ago
AFP

SAINT-DENIS DE LA REUNION: Rescuers raced against time Monday to reach survivors after a devastating cyclone ripped through the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, destroying homes across the islands, with hundreds feared dead.
Images from Mayotte, which like other French overseas territories is an integral part of France and ruled from Paris, showed scenes of devastation, with homes reduced to piles of rubble.
The crisis, which erupted at the weekend the day after President Emmanuel Macron appointed Francois Bayrou as the sixth prime minister of his mandate, poses a major challenge for a government still only operating in a caretaker capacity.
The cyclone has left health services in tatters, with the hospital extremely damaged and health centers knocked out of operation, Health Minister Genevieve Darrieussecq told France 2.
“The hospital has suffered major water damage and destruction, notably in the surgical, intensive care, maternity and emergency units,” she said, adding that “medical centers were also non-operational.”
Macron was due to chair a crisis meeting in Paris at 1700 GMT, the Elysee said.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, whose super ministry is responsible for Mayotte, arrived on the island.
Cyclone Chido caused major damage to Mayotte’s airport and cut off electricity, water and communication links when it barreled down on France’s poorest territory on Saturday.
Asked about the eventual death toll, Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville, the top Paris-appointed official on the territory, told broadcaster Mayotte la Premiere “I think there will definitely be several hundred, perhaps we will come close to a thousand or even several thousand.”
With roads closed, officials fear that many could still be trapped under rubble in the inaccessible areas.
The mayor of Mayotte’s capital Mamoudzou, Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, said the storm “spared nothing.”
“The hospital is hit, the schools are hit. Houses are totally devastated,” he said.
Some 160 additional soldiers and firefighters to reinforce the 110 already deployed.
The nearby French island of La Reunion was serving as a hub for the rescue operations.
Chido was packing winds of at least 226 kilometers per hour when it slammed into Mayotte, which lies to the east of Mozambique.
At least a third of the territory’s 320,000 residents live in shantytowns, where homes with sheet-metal roofs were flattened by the storm.
One resident, Ibrahim, said of “apocalyptic scenes” as he made his way through the main island, having to clear blocked roads himself.
As authorities assessed the scale of the disaster, a first aid plane reached Mayotte on Sunday.
It carried three tons of medical supplies, blood for transfusions and 17 medical staff, according to authorities in La Reunion.
Patrice Latron, prefect of Reunion, said residents of Mayotte were facing “an extremely chaotic situation, immense destruction.”
Two military aircraft are expected to follow the initial aid flight, while a navy patrol ship was also due to depart La Reunion.
There have been international pledges to help Mayotte, including from the regional Red Cross organization PIROI.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc is “ready to provide support in the days to come.”
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the WHO “stands ready to support communities in need of essential health care.”
With around 100,000 people estimated to live clandestinely on Mayotte, according to France’s interior ministry, establishing how many people have been affected by the cyclone is proving difficult.
Ousseni Balahachi, a former nurse, said some people did not dare venture out to seek assistance, “fearing it would be a trap” designed to remove them from Mayotte.
Many had stayed put “until the last minute” when it proved too late to escape the cyclone, she added.
Chido is the latest in a string of storms worldwide fueled by climate change, according to experts.
The “exceptional” cyclone was super-charged by particularly warm Indian Ocean waters, meteorologist Francois Gourand of the Meteo France weather service said.
Chido blasted across the Indian Ocean and made landfall in Mozambique on Sunday, where officials said the death toll stood at three.
The UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, warned 1.7 million people were in danger and the remnants of the cyclone could also dump “significant rainfall” in Malawi through Monday.

Topics: France Mayotte

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Bangladesh polls could take place end-2025, interim government chief says

Bangladesh polls could take place end-2025, interim government chief says
Updated 21 min 34 sec ago
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Bangladesh polls could take place end-2025, interim government chief says

Bangladesh polls could take place end-2025, interim government chief says
  • Bangladesh has been ruled by an interim government since PM Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India amid mass protests
  • Bangladesh’s army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman said in September that democracy should be restored within 12 to 18 months
Updated 21 min 34 sec ago
Reuters

DHAKA: Elections in Bangladesh could be held by the end of 2025, the head of the country’s interim government said on Monday, provided that electoral reforms are carried out first.
Bangladesh has been ruled by an interim government led by its only Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus since August, when then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India amid mass protests.
“If there is political consensus and the voter list is prepared accurately with only minor reforms, it may be possible to hold elections by the end of 2025,” Yunus said in a televised speech.
Bangladesh’s army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman, whose refusal to support Hasina during the deadly student protests led to her departure, told Reuters in September that democracy should be restored within 12 to 18 months.
In his address, delivered on the 53rd anniversary of Bangladesh winning independence from Pakistan following a nine-month war, Yunus said elections would only be possible after electoral reforms.
“If additional reforms are needed, and taking into account national consensus, it may take at least another six months,” the 84-year-old added.
Opposition parties including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, one of two dominant parties in the country alongside the Awami League, have called for elections to be held as soon as possible.

Topics: Bangladesh elections

US Navy ship makes a port call in Cambodia, first in eight years

US Navy ship makes a port call in Cambodia, first in eight years
Updated 16 December 2024
AP
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US Navy ship makes a port call in Cambodia, first in eight years

US Navy ship makes a port call in Cambodia, first in eight years
  • The USS Savannah docked at the port of Sihanoukville on the Gulf of Thailand for a five-day visit
  • The US and others suggest China’s navy is establishing a permanent base at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base
Updated 16 December 2024
AP

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia: A US Navy warship arrived Monday in Cambodia, the first such visit in eight years to a nation that is China’s close ally in Southeast Asia. Cambodia’s government has suggested the port call reflects an upgrade in often-strained relations.
The USS Savannah docked at the port of Sihanoukville on the Gulf of Thailand for a five-day visit. The Savannah, classed as a Littoral Combat Ship, carries a crew of 103.
“It’s great to be back, returning US presence to here after eight years,” the ship’s commanding officer, Daniel A. Sledz, said in brief remarks to reporters. He was given a bouquet of flowers by a Cambodian officer and shook hands with a line of her colleagues.
The United States for many years has had rocky relations with Cambodia, criticizing its government for political repression and human rights violations. There is particular concern about its close ties with China, which Washington fears may get exclusive access to a Cambodian naval base on the Gulf of Thailand, not far from where the Savannah docked.
Recently, there seem to have been moves to patch up relations.
Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defense said last week that the visit was scheduled after a US request for a port call, and would “strengthen and expand the bonds of friendship as well as promote bilateral cooperation” between the two nations.
Two days before that, Cambodia’s foreign ministry noted “positive momentum of bilateral ties and cooperation” and “the reinvigoration of military-to-military cooperation” between Cambodia and the US
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Cambodia in early June, where he held talks with Prime Minister Hun Manet and other senior officials. He also met with Cambodian alumni of US military training programs. Hun Manet himself is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point.
The US Defense Department said at the time that Austin’s discussions concerned “opportunities to strengthen the US-Cambodia bilateral defense relationship in support of regional peace and security,” and other matters.
But Washington remains concerned that the upgrading of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base near Sihanoukville will serve Beijing’s strategic interests in the region.
The US and others suggest China’s navy is establishing a permanent base at Ream, which would give it easier access to the Malacca Strait, a critical shipping route between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Controversy over the Chinese activity at Ream initially arose in 2019 when The Wall Street Journal reported that an early draft of an agreement seen by US officials would allow China 30-year use of the base, where it would be able to post military personnel, store weapons and berth warships.
Cambodia’s government has denied such an agreement or any intention to grant China special privileges at the base, though Beijing has funded its expansion.
In September, Cambodia’s Defense Ministry said that China is giving its navy two warships of the type it has had docked there for months. China is set to hand over two newly built Type 56 corvettes — smaller vessels typically used for coastal patrols — next year at the earliest, after Cambodia requested China’s support.
Cambodia’s defense ministry said the Savannah’s port call will include “a working meeting with the commander of the Ream Naval Base,” as well as meetings with provincial officials and “a friendship sports competition between the crews of the US Navy and the Cambodian Navy.”
Cambodian Navy Capt. Mean Savoeun, deputy commander of the Ream Naval Base, was among those dockside welcoming the Savannah to Sihanoukville. He said he was happy to see the good relationship between Cambodia and the US, especially their navies, and believed the visit will bring closer diplomatic cooperation.

Topics: Cambodia US China

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Pakistan begins last anti-polio vaccination campaign of the year after a surge in cases

Pakistan begins last anti-polio vaccination campaign of the year after a surge in cases
Updated 16 December 2024
AP
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Pakistan begins last anti-polio vaccination campaign of the year after a surge in cases

Pakistan begins last anti-polio vaccination campaign of the year after a surge in cases
  • Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the potentially fatal, paralyzing virus has not been stopped
  • Thousands of police officers deployed to protect the health workers following intelligence reports that insurgents could target them
Updated 16 December 2024
AP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan began on Monday its last nationwide vaccination campaign for the year to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases hampered efforts to stop the disease, officials said.
According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the potentially fatal, paralyzing virus hasn’t been stopped,
Pakistan has reported 63 confirmed cases since January.
Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s adviser for the polio eradication program, said the anti-polio drive will continue until Dec. 22.
“As a mother, I am appealing to you to open your doors for health workers,” she said.
Pakistan regularly launches such campaigns despite violence affecting medical personnel who oversee the vaccinations and security forces escorting them. Militants falsely claim that vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
Authorities deployed thousands of police officers to protect the health workers following intelligence reports that insurgents could target them. However, gunmen opened fire Monday on police escorting polio workers in Karak, a city in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing a police officer and wounding a health worker, local police official Ayaz Khan said.
More than 200 polio workers and police assigned for their protection have been killed since the 1990s, according to health officials and authorities.
The latest anti-polio drive campaign began a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with medical staff and vowed that Pakistan would win the war against polio.
Afghanistan reported at least 23 confirmed cases in 2024, according to data from the World Health Organization.
In September, the Afghan Taliban suddenly stopped a door-to-door vaccination campaign in Afghanistan, a devastating setback for polio eradication as the virus is one of the world’s most infectious and any unvaccinated groups of children where the virus is spreading could undo years of progress.

Topics: public health Polio Pakistan

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Filipino on Indonesia death row moved before transfer home

Filipino on Indonesia death row moved before transfer home
Updated 16 December 2024
AFP
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Filipino on Indonesia death row moved before transfer home

Filipino on Indonesia death row moved before transfer home
  • Mary Jane Veloso was arrested and convicted in 2010 after the suitcase she was carrying was found to be lined with 2.6kg of heroin
Updated 16 December 2024
AFP

JAKARTA: A Filipino inmate sentenced to death in Indonesia was moved to capital Jakarta before she is expected to fly home on Wednesday, after the government signed an agreement to repatriate her.

Mother of two Mary Jane Veloso, 39, was arrested and convicted in 2010 after the suitcase she was carrying was found to be lined with 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of heroin.

On Sunday, officers picked her up from a women’s prison in Yogyakarta province, an AFP journalist present said, before transporting her to another prison in Jakarta more than 418 kilometers away.

From there she will be flown back to the Philippines early Wednesday morning, I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, acting deputy for immigration and corrections coordination, told a press conference.

She will travel home on a Cebu Airlines flight shortly after midnight on December 18, he confirmed to reporters.

Foreign affairs ministry spokesman Roy Soemirat said they did not yet “have any formal information from our law enforcement agency on the details” of her transfer.

The Philippine embassy in Jakarta did not respond to a request for comment.

Both Veloso and her supporters said she was duped by an international drug syndicate, and in 2015, she narrowly escaped execution after her suspected recruiter was arrested.

She said on Friday in her first interview since the repatriation agreement that her release was a “miracle.”

Muslim-majority Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest drug laws and has executed foreigners in the past.

At least 530 people were on death row in the Southeast Asian nation, mostly for drug-related crimes, according to data from rights group KontraS, citing official figures.

According to Indonesia’s Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, 96 foreigners were on death row, all on drug charges, as of early November.

Topics: Philippines Indonesia Mary Jane Veloso

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