King Charles III makes world debut as tour starts in Germany

King Charles III makes world debut as tour starts in Germany
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Britain’s King Charles III (R) and Britain’s Camilla (2ndR), Queen Consort, are greeted by a delegation after landing at Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Schoenefeld near Berlin, on Mar. 29, 2023. (AFP)
King Charles III makes world debut as tour starts in Germany
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People holding German and British flags wait to watch the arrival of Britain’s King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, on Mar. 29, 2022. (AP)
King Charles III makes world debut as tour starts in Germany
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Britain’s Camilla, Queen Consort talks to people after a ceremonial welcome at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, on Mar. 29, 2023. (AFP)
King Charles III makes world debut as tour starts in Germany
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(L-R) The German President’s wife Elke Buedenbender, Britain’s Camilla, Queen Consort, Britain’s King Charles III and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier attend a ceremonial welcome at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, on Mar. 29, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 13 April 2023
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King Charles III makes world debut as tour starts in Germany

King Charles III makes world debut as tour starts in Germany
  • Charles and Camilla, the queen consort, landed at Berlin's government airport in the early afternoon
  • His visit to Germany will give him an opportunity to highlight the causes he holds dear, like sustainability and the environment

BERLIN: King Charles III arrived in Berlin on Wednesday for his first foreign trip as Britain’s monarch, hoping to improve the UK’s relations with the European Union and to show that he can win hearts and minds abroad, just as his mother did for seven decades.
Charles and Camilla, the queen consort, landed at Berlin’s government airport in the early afternoon. The king, dressed in a black coat, and his wife, in a light blue coat and a feather-trimmed teal hat worn at a jaunty angle, paused at the top of their plane’s stairs to receive a 21-gun salute as two military jets performed a flyover.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was scheduled to welcome the royal couple with military honors at the German capital’s historic Brandenburg Gate.
Charles, 74, who ascended the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September, is set to be crowned on May 6. As Britain’s head of state, the king meets weekly with the prime minister and retains his mother’s role as leader of the Commonwealth.
He had initially planned to first visit France, but the first leg of his trip was canceled due to massive protests over planned pension changes there.
Billed as a multi-day tour of the European Union’s two biggest countries, the trip was designed to underscore British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s efforts to rebuild relations with the bloc after six years of arguments over Brexit and highlight the countries’ shared history as they work together to combat Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Now everything rests on Germany, where the king faces the first big test of whether he can be an effective conduit for the “soft power” the House of Windsor has traditionally wielded, helping Britain pursue its geopolitical goals through the glitz and glamor of a 1,000-year-old monarchy.
Charles, a former naval officer who is the first British monarch to earn a university degree, is expected to insert heft where his glamorous mother once wielded star power. His visit to Germany will give him an opportunity to highlight the causes he holds dear, like sustainability and the environment.
But there will also be a full dose of the pomp and circumstance that screams royal visit, starting with the ceremonial welcome at the Brandenburg Gate and a white tie dinner at Schloss Bellevue, the German president’s official residence, on Wednesday evening.
Royal fans started lining up early in the morning for security checks at the Brandenburg Gate, hoping to get a close view of Charles and Camilla. By noon, hundreds of fans awaited their arrival as police and sniffer dogs worked in the area. About 1,500 spectators were admitted to the cordoned-off area, German news agency dpa reported.
Christoph Muehlbach, 59, had traveled by train from Hamburg to see the British royals. He described himself as a supporter of the royal family for the last 20 years and said he had traveled to London in the past for weddings, anniversaries and the queen’s state funeral.
“I take great pleasure in the British royal family,” Muehlbach told dpa.
Gabriele Fluechter, 57, of Berlin, said she came “out of love for England,” where she had attended university. She said she had seen Elizabeth on one of the queen’s visits to Berlin, and also had spotted Charles and Camilla before.
“They walked along there very casually,” she said, adding that the long wait was no problem,
On Thursday, the king is scheduled to give a speech to the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament. He will also meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz, talk to Ukrainian refugees, and meet with British and Germany military personnel who are working together on joint projects. In the afternoon he will visit an organic farm outside of Berlin.
The royal couple plan to go to Hamburg on Friday, where they will visit the Kindertransport memorial for Jewish children who fled from Germany to Britain during the Third Reich, and attend a green energy event before returning to the UK
The king was urged to make the trip by Sunak, who during his first six months in office negotiated a settlement to the long-running dispute over post-Brexit trading rules for Northern Ireland and reached a deal with France to combat the people smugglers ferrying migrants across the English Channel in small boats. Sunak hopes goodwill created by a royal visit can help pave the way for progress on other issues, including Britain’s return to an EU program that funds scientific research across Europe.
Britain’s senior royals are among the most recognizable people on the planet. While their formal powers are strictly limited by law and tradition, they draw attention from the media and the public partly because of the historic ceremonies and regalia that accompany them — and also because the public is fascinated by their personal lives.
Elizabeth’s influence stemmed in part from the fact that she made more than 100 state visits during her 70 years on the throne, meeting presidents and prime ministers around the world in a reign that lasted from the Cold War to the information age.
Politicians were eager to meet the monarch for tea, if for no other reason than she’d been around so long.


Elections in Burkina Faso ‘not a priority,’ junta leader says

Elections in Burkina Faso ‘not  a priority,’ junta leader says
Updated 9 sec ago
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Elections in Burkina Faso ‘not a priority,’ junta leader says

Elections in Burkina Faso ‘not  a priority,’ junta leader says
  • When Traore seized power, he gave himself “two to three months” to improve security in Burkina Faso, but one year on, jihadist violence still blights the West African nation

OUAGADOUGOU: Elections in Burkina Faso are “not a priority” compared to “security,” the country’s military leader Capt. Ibrahim Traore said on state TV, almost a year to the day after coming to power in a coup.

Capt. Traore, who had promised a return to democracy with presidential elections by July 2024, also announced planned changes to the constitution to make it more representative of the “masses.”

“It’s not a priority, I’ll tell you that clearly, it’s security that’s the priority” in a country plagued by extremist violence, he said, referring to elections.

Even so, the goal was still to organize a ballot, he said, without specifying a date.

“There won’t be an election that is only concentrated in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso and other nearby towns,” he said, referring to two cities that have been mainly spared frequent terror attacks.

“It has to be that all Burkinabe people choose their president.”

At 34, Traore was the world’s youngest leader when he was sworn in as interim president, vowing to win back territory and support a transition leading to elections in July 2024.

Traore on Friday went on to say he was planning a “partial change” to the country’s constitution, saying the present text reflected “the opinion of a handful of enlightened people” to the detriment of the “popular masses.”

“The current texts don’t allow us to evolve peacefully,” he said.

Several thousand people demonstrated on Friday in Ouagadougou and other cities in support of the military regime, calling for adopting a new constitution.

When Traore seized power, he gave himself “two to three months” to improve security in Burkina Faso, but one year on, jihadist violence still blights the West African nation.

At the time, he cited the country’s spiraling security situation as justification for the putsch.

Since then, the regime has focused on responding to attacks by affiliates of Al-Qaeda and Daesh and has undertaken a massive recruitment drive for the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland or VDP, a civilian force that supports the military.

However, despite hopes that Traore’s efforts to regain territory and improve security would yield results, “the situation has deteriorated considerably,” said Lassina Diarra, a specialist on safety in the Sahel.

More than 17,000 people have died in attacks since 2015 — more than 6,000 of them just this year, according to a count by NGO monitor the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project or ACLED.

Still, the government claimed at the end of last month that more than 190,000 people had returned to their homes after it chased jihadists from the areas, and regime supporters welcome what they call vital decisions by Traore.

“We are at war,” Traore said Friday, blaming “certain actors” for refusing to sell the army equipment.

“Most of our equipment is Russian,” he added, and there is “not much” French equipment.

Under Traore, relations with France broke down, with French forces helping the Burkinabe army leave the country at the junta’s request in February.

Burkina has since moved closer to Russia and allied with neighboring Mali and Niger, two countries also led by military regimes.

Concerns about the erosion of personal freedoms in the country have recently been raised, and some have condemned alleged abuses by the VDP or armed forces.

French media outlets RFI, France 24, and Jeune Afrique have been suspended in the country, and correspondents from newspapers Liberation and Le Monde have been expelled in the last 12 months.

Traore on Friday said that “individual freedoms must not take precedence over collective freedoms.”

Authorities announced on Thursday that four officers had been detained a day after the military government said it had thwarted a coup attempt.

The junta said late on Wednesday that the intelligence and security services had foiled the attempt the previous day.

Asked about the attempted coup, Traore alluded to “manipulated individuals” and insisted there was “no malaise” in the army.


Maldives witnessed ‘some incidents’ of violence during elections: watchdog

Maldives witnessed ‘some incidents’ of violence during elections: watchdog
Updated 7 min 21 sec ago
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Maldives witnessed ‘some incidents’ of violence during elections: watchdog

Maldives witnessed ‘some incidents’ of violence during elections: watchdog
  • The Maldives sits in a strategically vital position in the middle of the Indian Ocean, astride one of the world’s busiest east-west shipping lanes

MALE: The Maldives voted Saturday to decide its next president in an election seen as a referendum on whether to hitch its fortunes to China or India, both vying for influence in the tropical paradise.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih faces an uphill battle to secure a second mandate after working to improve strained relations with New Delhi, the archipelago nation’s traditional benefactor.

Frontrunner Mohamed Muizzu helms a party that presided over an influx of Chinese investment money when it last held power and has signalled a return to Beijing’s orbit if he wins.

Muizzu won the election’s first round earlier this month, taking 46 percent of the vote but finishing ahead of Solih by barely 15,000 ballots and short of the absolute majority needed to win outright.

“Queues formed long before polling opened,” one official said.

Solih and Muizzu voted at separate polling booths in the capital Male, with both telling reporters they were confident of victory.

Watchdog Transparency Maldives said there had been some incidents of “electoral violence” without specifying further details.

Police reported arresting 14 people, mostly for taking photographs of their marked ballot papers and sharing them on social media.

The Maldives sits in a strategically vital position in the middle of the Indian Ocean, astride one of the world’s busiest east-west shipping lanes. Muizzu’s party was an eager recipient of financial largesse from China’s Belt and Road infrastructure program.

His mentor, former President Abdulla Yameen, borrowed heavily from China for construction projects and spurned India.

Solih was elected in 2018 on the back of discontent with Yameen’s increasingly autocratic rule, accusing him of pushing the country into a Chinese debt trap.

Yameen’s turn toward Beijing had also alarmed New Delhi, which shares concerns with the US and its allies at China’s growing assertiveness in the Indian Ocean.

India is a member of the strategic Quad alliance alongside the US, Australia and Japan.

But Solih’s restoration of the Maldives’ traditional posture has itself proved controversial, with many in the archipelago disapproving of India’s outsized political and economic clout.

Muizzu has vowed if elected to free his mentor Yameen, currently serving an 11-year sentence for corruption on the same prison island where he had jailed many of his political opponents during his tenure.

The 45-year-old emerged as a candidate after Yameen’s conviction barred the former president from running for public office.


Germany’s government and Elon Musk spar on X over migrant rescue ships

Germany’s government and Elon Musk spar on X over migrant rescue ships
Updated 30 September 2023
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Germany’s government and Elon Musk spar on X over migrant rescue ships

Germany’s government and Elon Musk spar on X over migrant rescue ships
  • “Is the German public aware of this?” Musk wrote in his repost
  • The German Federal Foreign Office replied to Musk directly on X, writing: “Yes. And it’s called saving lives”

BERLIN: Germany’s government rebuked X owner Elon Musk after he criticized the recent work of migrant rescue ships that German humanitarian groups operate in the Mediterranean Sea.
Musk late Friday shared a video that showed migrants and aid workers on a boat. The right-wing account that first put the content on X, formerly known as Twitter, praised the populist far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has taken a hard line on migration issues.
“Is the German public aware of this?” Musk wrote in his repost.
The German Federal Foreign Office replied to Musk directly on X, writing: “Yes. And it’s called saving lives.”
Musk responded that he doubted the German public supports the actions of non-governmental organizations that take asylum-seekers from unseaworthy vessels in the Mediterranean. He also asserted it was “surely” a violation of Italy’s sovereignty for German-operated ships to bring rescued migrants to Italian territory.
“So you’re actually proud of it. Interesting,” he wrote to the Foreign Office, adding that he thinks such maritime operations have “invasion vibes.”
The exchange comes as migration has returned to the political forefront in Germany and other European countries, with government officials and opposition politicians sparring about how best to handle an increasing number of arriving migrants.
Cities and communities across Germany have sounded an alarm, saying they are running out of room to accommodate them and to provide kindergarten and school places.
More than 220,000 people applied for asylum in Germany from January to August this year. In all of 2022, about 240,000 people applied for asylum. In 2015-16, more than 1 million people applied for asylum in Germany.


Moving mango trees to Dubai, Bangladeshi farmers take wing in Middle East

Moving mango trees to Dubai, Bangladeshi farmers take wing in Middle East
Updated 30 September 2023
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Moving mango trees to Dubai, Bangladeshi farmers take wing in Middle East

Moving mango trees to Dubai, Bangladeshi farmers take wing in Middle East
  • Farmers are tapping into afforestation programs in Gulf countries
  • Bangladeshi growers started exporting saplings to UAE and Qatar in 2019

DHAKA: After long research and trials at his nursery in Cumilla, some 100 km from Dhaka, Shamsul Alam started to bring tiny mango, jackfruit, and fig trees to the Gulf region. The efforts — and trees — have recently started to yield fruit, inspiring other Bangladeshi farmers to follow in his footsteps.

Alam began to export fruit saplings to Qatar in 2019, and soon also to the UAE and Oman.

“Since 2019, I have exported around 150,000 saplings to UAE, Qatar, and Oman,” he told Arab News. “All these plants are grown now and offer the taste of Bangladeshi fruits to Arabs. Bangladeshi fruit orchards are now seen in Qatar, Oman, and the UAE.”

He tapped into the market at the right moment, as in recent years afforestation programs have been gaining momentum in Gulf countries.

This year, Alam is focusing on mango trees and has already prepared several varieties at his Green World Nursery.

“Dubai ordered some Bangladeshi mango saplings from me. I have prepared 400 mango saplings with seven varieties of Bangladeshi mangoes, and these plants are ready now,” he said. “I hope to make the shipment in October.”

Dr. Reza Khan, principal wildlife specialist at Dubai Safari Park, who ordered the saplings from Alam, told Arab News that they will be planted in the Dubai desert as part of an “experimental” initiative.

“If rice can be grown in the desert, I hope that with proper care mangoes could be cultivated here as well,” he said.

For Bangladeshi growers, the business has potential. While it costs them about $2 to prepare a tree sapling in nurseries in Bangladesh, they sell them in the Gulf market at a price about four times higher.

According to Bangladeshi government data, Qatar has been the largest export destination for Bangladeshi fruit saplings, but the UAE is quickly gaining pace.

“The UAE is a big potential ... Especially saplings of mangoes are very popular,” said Kamrul Hasan, commercial counselor at the Bangladeshi Consulate General of Bangladesh in Dubai.

He believes that the UAE could become a hub for Bangladeshi sapling trade, as exporters have already scored phytosanitary certificates and environmental clearances.

“We have been exporting saplings in larger volumes for the last four-five years,” Hasan told Arab News.

“A lot of nurseries are there in Bangladesh involved in this sapling business and they are very efficient in their work, supplying quality saplings to Middle Eastern countries.”

Mohammad Khadim, who has been exporting saplings to the UAE since last year, says the main competitors for Bangladeshi exporters are Pakistan and India, which have easier access to the Gulf.

“For us, it takes around one month to reach the ports in Gulf countries,” he said. “Our competitors require only one week.”

But he is not discouraged and already plans to expand business to Saudi Arabia, which under the Middle East Green Initiative targets the planting of 50 billion trees across the whole region.

“I am in discussion with some buyers from Saudi Arabia,” Khadim said. “I hope to get positive results in the near future.”


Armenia says over 100,000 refugees flee Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia says over 100,000 refugees flee Nagorno-Karabakh
Updated 30 September 2023
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Armenia says over 100,000 refugees flee Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia says over 100,000 refugees flee Nagorno-Karabakh
  • Nearly all the official population of the ethnic Armenian enclave has left since Azerbaijan launched an offensive to regain control

YEREVAN: Armenia said Saturday that over 100,000 people have fled Nagorno-Karabakh, meaning nearly all the official population of the ethnic Armenian enclave has left since Azerbaijan launched an offensive to regain control.
Nazeli Baghdasaryan, a spokeswoman for Armenia’s prime minister, said the number of refugees entering the country over the past week had reached 100,417, out of Nagorno-Karabakh’s estimated population of 120,000.