Day: December 18, 2022

A “substantial” contingent of German troops will take part in a new EU mission in the West African nation of Niger, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht told reporters in the Nigerien capital.

The contribution of German soldiers will be “at least in the double digits,” Lambrecht added in Niamey on Friday, at the end of her Sahel trip.

Plans for the EU mission call for a total of 200-250 German soldiers, she said, adding: “We want to continue to successfully help stabilize here in this region.”

She said the model for the new mission is the previous European operation Gazelle, which will run through the end of the year. Under Gazelle, German soldiers have trained Nigerien forces to fight local terrorist groups.

The EU this week made an announcement on a “military partnership mission” in Niger, scheduled to start early next year. An initial mandate period of three years is envisaged. According to Lambrecht, the main focus is on training and logistics.

German troops are still deployed in Mali until May 2024, with around 1,100 soldiers as part of the UN MINUSMA mission. On Friday in Mali, Lambrecht confirmed the withdrawal in 2024.

At the same time, she demanded that Mali’s government “keep its promises.” For example, she said, plans for the 2024 presidential election in Mali must be met.

The German troops have been in Niger since 2018, training special forces there.

Source: Anadolu Agency

After suspending several prominent journalists on Twitter, Elon Musk backed out on the crisis Saturday and lifted the suspensions after holding a survey on the social media website.

“The people have spoken. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now,” Musk wrote on Twitter.

Among accounts suspended without warning or explanation were Matt Binder of Mashable, Donie O’Sullivan of CNN, Ryan Mac of The New York Times, Drew Harwell of The Washington Post, Micah Lee of The Intercept, Steve Herman of Voice of America and independent journalists Aaron Rupar, Keith Olbermann and Tony Webster.

The move came one day after the platform suspended the popular account, @ElonJet, that was tracking Musk’s private jet.

Responding to a tweet on the suspension, Musk on Thursday tweeted: “Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not.”

“If anyone posted real-time locations & addresses of NYT reporters, FBI would be investigating, there’d be hearings on Capitol Hill & Biden would give speeches about end of democracy!” he later tweeted.

Twitter also banned the official account of Mastodon, a social media platform that has been seen as a potential alternative to Twitter following Musk’s takeover.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that power outages persist in numerous areas as a result of the damage from Russia’s attacks caused to energy infrastructure, with Kyiv experiencing the greatest losses.

Zelenskyy said on Telegram that the Russian army’s missile raids on Friday destroyed numerous parts of Ukraine’s electrical transmission lines.

He said there are issues with the delivery of water and electrical services in several regions.

“Kyiv’s position is dire,” he said.

Zelenskyy said authorities anticipate further assistance from partners in the area with air defense systems and that as a result, “the main form of Russian terror (missile terror) will become impossible.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments around the world.

More than 14 million tons of grain have been carried by 556 ships via the Black Sea grain deal Türkiye helped broker earlier this year in a bid to avert a potential food crisis amid the Russia-Ukraine war, according to an official announcement.

Türkiye gave the “necessary response” after Greek planes tried to interfere in a NATO training mission conducted in international airspace, said the National Defense Ministry.

Tunisian voters went to polling stations to elect a new parliament amid a political crisis.

Saudi Arabia called for a swift investigation into the killing of an Irish peacekeeper in southern Lebanon.

Air raid alerts were activated across Ukraine, according to an online map tracking the alerts.

The International Monetary Fund approved a $3 billion loan for Egypt under a 46-month program.

Before Twitter was bought by billionaire Elon Musk in October, the FBI used to send messages flagging tweets for suggested moderation, according to an ongoing release of internal documents by Musk.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz inaugurated Germany’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the northern port city of Wilhelmshaven.

Leo Varadkar was elected for a second term as Ireland’s prime minister, or taoiseach, replacing Micheal Martin as part of a coalition deal.

Morocco’s dream run at the 2022 FIFA World Cup ended in defeat as Croatia held on for a 2-1 win in the third-place match.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Workers, civil servants and students staged protests Saturday in Athens to draw attention to the soaring cost of living.

Demonstrators gathered in front of the parliament building, responding to the call of The All-Workers Militant Front (PAME), a trade union affiliated with the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), to protest.

They demanded an increase in wages in the demonstration which was held during the 2023 budget negotiations in a parliament plenary.

The budget is expected to be submitted to parliament later Saturday for approval.

Europe has seen similar protests as a growing cost of living crisis and rising energy prices since the Russian-Ukraine war has led to strikes in France, the UK and Spain.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The death toll in nationwide protests in Peru sparked by the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo has risen to 23, authorities said on Saturday.

Peru has declared a 30-day nationwide state of emergency as clashes between police and protesters rage on in several areas over Castillo’s Dec. 7 impeachment and arrest.

At least 569 people, including 216 security personnel, have been injured in the capital Lima and other regions, including Apurimac, Ancash, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Cusco, Moquegua, and Puno, according to the Peru Ombudsman’s Office.

Protests have been most violent in Ayacucho and Apurimac, which together account for 13 of all reported fatalities.

Peru’s National Coordinator for Human Rights, a coalition of civil society groups, called for an immediate stop to the use of force against protesters, urging authorities to conduct thorough investigations and punish those responsible.

The coalition blamed Peru’s “highest political authorities” for the bloodshed and demanded an end to the military’s intervention as thousands of soldiers swarmed the country after the state of emergency was announced.

Protesters are demanding the resignation of Peru’s new President Dina Boluarte, the dissolution of parliament, and a schedule for new elections.

They are also pressing for Castillo’s immediate release, with calls only growing louder after the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that he will remain in detention for 18 months as he faces charges of rebellion and conspiracy.

Source: Anadolu Agency

At least four policemen were killed and as many injured in an ambush on a police station in northwest Pakistan, the police and local media reported on Sunday.

The brazen attack, which is the latest in a slew of similar incidents in recent months, took place in the Lakki Marwat district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkwa province, abutting neighboring Afghanistan.

Heavily-armed suspected militants, a police spokesman said, attacked Burgai police station located in the southern outskirts of Lakki Marwat from two sides on late Saturday night.

The attackers, he said, used hand grenades and rocket launchers, killing four policemen on the spot, whereas another four were seriously injured.

A search operation is underway to arrest the “terrorists,” he added.

Located 207 kilometers (128 miles) from the provincial capital Peshawar, Lakki Marwat has become a new hotbed of militancy with increasing terrorist attacks launched by outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on security forces in recent months.

Last month, six policemen were killed in a TTP-claimed ambush in Lakki Marwat.

The recent attacks are the aftermath of rescinding a fragile cease-fire between Pakistani security forces and the TTP, which could last only a few months. Both sides blame each other for the violation of the cease-fire.

Pakistan has seen a surge in terrorist attacks from the Afghan side of the border, following the Taliban’s storming back to power in Kabul in August last year.

Islamabad has been urging the Taliban to live up to their commitments to rein in terrorist groups and not to allow them to use Afghan soil as a launch pad for attacks.

Noor Wali Mehsud, the TTP leader, nonetheless claimed that the militant network operates from within Pakistan and is not using Afghan soil.

In an interview with CNN on Saturday, Mehsud, from an unknown location, told the news channel that the militant network is targeting Pakistani security forces from “within its territory.”

Source: Anadolu Agency