Biden, Cyprus president discuss administration push to win ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon

US President Joe Biden holds a bilateral meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 30, 2024. (AFP)
US President Joe Biden holds a bilateral meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 30, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 30 October 2024
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Biden, Cyprus president discuss administration push to win ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon

US President Joe Biden holds a bilateral meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in the Oval Office of White House.
  • Christodoulides said he was “quite optimistic” that a Lebanon ceasefire deal could emerge in one to two weeks

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on Wednesday discussed a new effort by the US administration and mediators in the Middle East to forge ceasefires to end fighting in Lebanon and Gaza.
Christodoulides leads the European Union nation closest to Gaza. The small Mediterranean island nation has played a critical role in efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza since the war between Hamas and Israel began more than a year ago.
He said that Biden and White House officials briefed him on the latest stepped-up efforts by the US administration and other mediators but declined to offer further details about the discussion.
“The most important, the number one priority of the international community now is to have a ceasefire in the region,” Christodoulides told reporters after his Oval Office talks with Biden.
He added that situation on the ground changes daily but that he was “quite optimistic” that a Lebanon ceasefire deal could emerge in one to two weeks.
Senior White House officials Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein will visit Israel on Thursday for talks on possible ceasefires in both Lebanon and Gaza, and on the release of hostages held by Hamas, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. She said CIA Director Bill Burns will head to Egypt on Thursday to discuss those efforts.
A proposal to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah calls for a two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon, and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the country’s southern border, according to two US officials familiar with the talks said. The officials were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Biden, meanwhile, thanked Cyprus for helping move badly needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and for the Mediterranean nation’s cooperation in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The meeting, the first Oval visit by a Cypriot president since 1996, comes days after US and Cypriot officials announced the countries are launching a strategic dialogue aimed at bolstering security and stability in a crisis-wracked region through initiatives including counterterrorism training of personnel from Middle Eastern countries and fighting sanctions evasion.
The new coordination is just the latest example of Cyprus tightening relations with the US after decades of walking a tightrope between Washington and Moscow. Cyprus has moved closer to the US since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“Today we stood against Russia’s vicious onslaught against Ukraine, we launched a strategic dialogue, we increased cooperation across a range of issues, from energy security to artificial intelligence, and we surged humanitarian aid, delivering 8000 metric tons to Gaza,” Biden said.
The US is also funding a center on the island nation under the acronym CYCLOPS that trains personnel from Cyprus and neighboring countries on maritime and cybersecurity as well as counterterrorism techniques.
The Cyprus government has also stepped up coordination with local law enforcement, the US Department of Justice and the FBI to help combat the evasion of sanctions against Russia and other countries.
The FBI is helping train Cypriot police in identifying and prosecuting cases of illegal financing and attempts to evade US, European Union and UN sanctions imposed on any third country.
Last month, Cyprus and the US signed a defense cooperation framework agreement that outlines ways the two countries can enhance their response to regional humanitarian crises and security concerns.
Christodoulides said Cyprus has proven to be a “predictable and reliable partner of the United States in a region of great geopolitical importance.”
Earlier this year, Cyprus helped the US establish a Gaza maritime corridor for the shipborne delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.
The $230 million temporary pier project was derided as a boondoggle by critics and was beset by turbulent weather, security threats and sweeping personnel restrictions. The Pentagon pulled the plug on the effort after about four months.
The Biden administration had set a goal of the US sea route and pier providing food to feed 1.5 million people for 90 days. It fell short, bringing in enough to feed about 450,000 people for a month before shutting down, according to a USAID inspector general’s report.


Taiwan says Chinese ships have left, signalling drills over

Taiwan says Chinese ships have left, signalling drills over
Updated 13 sec ago
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Taiwan says Chinese ships have left, signalling drills over

Taiwan says Chinese ships have left, signalling drills over
  • Beijing has not confirmed the drills and its defense ministry did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place
  • China claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and opposes any international recognition of it
TAIPEI: Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, Taiwanese authorities said Friday.
Taiwan’s coast guard released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past the island on Thursday, on their way to China.
“All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, thus, although they haven’t officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” Hsieh Ching-chin, deputy director general of Taiwan’s coast guard, said.
Beijing has not confirmed the drills and its defense ministry did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a press conference on Friday.
But ministry spokesman Wu Qian said that “whether or not we hold exercises, and when we hold them, are decided by us alone, based on our own needs and the circumstances of our struggle,” according to an official social media account of the armed forces.
“Safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation, and the common interests of compatriots across the Taiwan Strait are the (military’s) sacred duties,” Wu said.
“No matter whether it holds exercises, the People’s Liberation Army will not be absent or soft-hearted when it comes to striking down (Taiwanese) ‘independence’ and pushing for unification,” he said, referring to the Chinese armed forces.
Taiwanese authorities said this week that Beijing’s biggest maritime drills in years stretched from near the southern islands of Japan to the South China Sea.
About 90 Chinese warships and coast guard vessels took part in the exercises, which included simulating attacks on foreign ships and practicing blockading sea routes, a Taiwan security official said Wednesday.
There was no announcement by Beijing’s army or Chinese state media about increased military activity in the East China Sea, Taiwan Strait, South China Sea or Western Pacific Ocean.
However, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s recent visit to the United States and a call with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson sparked fury in Beijing.
While Taiwan regards itself as a sovereign nation, China claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and opposes any international recognition of it.
The Taiwan security official said China began planning the massive maritime operation in October and aimed to demonstrate it could choke off Taiwan while also drawing a “red line” ahead of the next US administration.
As Chinese ships returned to China on Thursday, Taiwan’s military and coast guard closed emergency response centers set up in response to the huge maritime mobilization.
“The nine ships went back to Chinese ports last night in two groups,” Hsieh said of vessels that had been in waters to the southeast and southwest of Taiwan.
A defense ministry spokeswoman said Friday that Chinese warships and coast guard vessels had been detected returning to China.
Beijing has ramped up the deployment of fighter jets and warships around Taiwan in recent years as it pressures Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty.
China has refused to rule out using force to bring Taiwan under its control, leaving the island to face the constant threat of invasion.
The latest exercise exceeded Beijing’s maritime response to then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in 2022, the security official said. Those war games were China’s largest ever around Taiwan.

Russian forces advance toward strategic city in Ukraine’s east, war blogger says

Russian forces advance toward strategic city in Ukraine’s east, war blogger says
Updated 21 min 29 sec ago
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Russian forces advance toward strategic city in Ukraine’s east, war blogger says

Russian forces advance toward strategic city in Ukraine’s east, war blogger says
  • The fall of Pokrovsk, an important logistics center for the Ukrainian military, would be one of Ukraine’s biggest military losses
  • Control of the city would allow Moscow to severely disrupt Ukrainian supply lines along the eastern front

MOSCOW: Russian forces are just 1.5 kilometers outside the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk after Russian units pushed up from the south toward the road and rail hub which had a pre-war population of 60,000 people, a prominent pro-Russian blogger said on Friday.
Russia controls a chunk of Ukraine about the size of the American state of Virginia and is advancing at the fastest pace since the early days of the 2022 invasion, according to open source maps.
Yuri Podolyaka, a prominent Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, said Russian forces were now just 1.5 km from the city after a push from the south.
Podolyaka said members of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups, special forces which penetrate the front ahead of the advance, were already in the city.
Reuters was unable to verify battlefield accounts from either side due to reporting restrictions.
Ukraine’s military said in recent days that Russian troops destroyed or captured several Ukrainian positions near the city.
The fall of Pokrovsk, an important logistics center for the Ukrainian military, would be one of Ukraine’s biggest military losses in months.
Control of the city, which the Russian media call “the gateway to Donetsk,” would allow Moscow to severely disrupt Ukrainian supply lines along the eastern front and boost its campaign to capture the city of Chasiv Yar, which sits on higher ground offering potential control of a wider area.
Squeezing the Ukrainian military’s access to the road network in the vicinity would make it harder for Kyiv’s troops to hold pockets of territory either side of Pokrovsk, which could allow Russia to consolidate and advance the front line.
The city also hosts a mine which is Ukraine’s only domestic coking coal supplier for its once-giant steel industry.
Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest BV has halted some operations at the mine because of its proximity to advancing Russian troops along the front line of the war with Russia, an industry source said on Thursday.


Filipino on Indonesia death row says planned transfer a ‘miracle’

Filipino on Indonesia death row says planned transfer a ‘miracle’
Updated 52 min 29 sec ago
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Filipino on Indonesia death row says planned transfer a ‘miracle’

Filipino on Indonesia death row says planned transfer a ‘miracle’
  • Mary Jane Veloso was arrested and sentenced to death in 2010 after the suitcase she was carrying was found to be lined with 2.6 kilograms of heroin
  • Last week, Indonesia’s senior law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said a ‘practical arrangement’ had been signed for her repatriation

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia: A Filipino drug convict on death row in Indonesia said from prison Friday that her planned transfer was a “miracle,” in her first interview since Manila and Jakarta signed an agreement last week to repatriate her.
Mother of two Mary Jane Veloso, 39, was arrested and sentenced to death in 2010 after the suitcase she was carrying was found to be lined with 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of heroin, in a case that sparked an uproar in the Philippines.
“This is a miracle because, honestly, even now, it still feels like a dream. Every morning when I wake up, I think about my aspirations, aspirations that I never had any certainty about,” she said at a woman’s prison on Java island, when asked about the decision.
“That’s why I always prayed to God, ‘Lord, I only ask for one chance to go home and be with my family’. And God answered that prayer.”
She has previously claimed she was duped by an international drug syndicate.
In 2015, she narrowly escaped execution after her suspected recruiter was arrested and the Philippine government won a last-minute reprieve for her.
Last week, Indonesia’s senior law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said a “practical arrangement” had been signed for her repatriation.
He said her release could take place “around December 20” and that he had heard her death penalty would be reduced to life imprisonment.


Their labor in demand, Germany’s Syrians are in no rush to leave

Their labor in demand, Germany’s Syrians are in no rush to leave
Updated 13 December 2024
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Their labor in demand, Germany’s Syrians are in no rush to leave

Their labor in demand, Germany’s Syrians are in no rush to leave
  • Former chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2015 decision to welcome over one million asylum seekers predominantly from Syria was immediately controversial
  • Migration now ranks as Germans’ second most pressing concern ahead of federal elections in February 2025, behind the economy

BERLIN: It took only a few hours after the fall of Bashar Assad for some German politicians to begin suggesting it was time for Germany’s million Syrians – many of them refugees from the 2015 war – to consider returning home.
But many of those same Syrians have built lives in Germany and have no intention of returning. Employers, trade unions and business associations are now speaking up to stress how much they are needed in a German economy facing deep labor shortages.
“Telling people who are employed that they should go back to Syria is absolutely incomprehensible to me,” said Ulrich Temps, managing director of a painting and varnishing company.
“We have taken on the task of training and turning them into skilled workers,” Temps told Reuters of the 12 Syrians he has hired within his nationwide workforce of 530.
One of those is Mohammed Redatotonji, who came to Germany in November of 2015 as a Syrian refugee. He now lives in the northern city of Hanover with his wife, who joined him later via a family reunification program, and their three children.
“I am integrated here in Germany and I have completed my training here,” said Redatotonji, who was just out of high school when he left Syria. “I see my future here.”
Former chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2015 decision to welcome over one million asylum seekers predominantly from Syria was immediately controversial in Germany and has been blamed by some for contributing to the rise of the far-right AfD party.
Since then, Germany has also accepted more than 1.2 million refugees from Ukraine, while its economy is expected to contract in 2024 for the second consecutive year, being the worst performer among G7 countries.
Migration now ranks as Germans’ second most pressing concern ahead of federal elections in February 2025, behind the economy.
With an eye to stunting the appeal of the far-right, some mainstream German politicians have even proposed paying for Syrians’ flights back home. In the meantime, asylum applications from Syrians are on hold.
Germany’s likely next chancellor, conservative Friedrich Merz, has said the fall of Assad could be an opportunity for Syrians to return, but it is too early to make any decision.
While around 500,000 remain unemployed — among them mothers with children — Syrians have helped ease labor pressures which, according to the DIHK Chamber of Commerce and Industry, have left half of companies struggling to fill vacancies.
Around 43,000 Syrians are employed in a manufacturing sector which, until a recent slowdown, was long a key driver of growth. One is Salah Sadek, a firmware developer at automotive and industrial supplier Continental.
Sadek, whose wife did a doctorate in Germany, said his children would have to switch language and education system if they returned.
He did not rule out ever returning to his home city Damascus but added: “We need five years at least to wait to get more clarity on the situation in Syria.”
Data from the Institute for Employment Research think tank shows that the longer someone has been in Germany, the more likely they are to have a job, with an employment rate of over 60 percent for those present for over six years.
They are also less likely to want to leave, and the role they play in the local economy and community is more visible.
“We must not gamble away these integration successes,” said Susi Moebbeck, integration commissioner in the northeastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. “Businesses, clinics, and care facilities depend on Syrian workers.”
Around 10,000 Syrians work in German hospitals, making them the largest group of foreign doctors in Germany, according to Syrian Society for Doctors and Pharmacists in Germany.
“If large numbers were to leave the country, care provision would not collapse, but there would be noticeable gaps,” said Gerald Gass, chairman of German Hospital Federation (DKG).
On a Facebook group for Syrian doctors in Germany, a snap poll on the day of Assad’s fall showed 74 percent of 1,200 respondents said they were considering a permanent return. A poll three days later showed 65 percent of 1,159 said a return would depend on conditions in the country.
When Sandy Issa, a 36-year-old gynaecologist at a Berlin clinic, heard of Assad’s fall, she wished she could celebrate in Homs, her home city.
“We want to be in our country, but thinking about permanently returning... I believe is too early,” she said.


Prominent human rights attorney quits international court over failure to prosecute Venezuela

Prominent human rights attorney quits international court over failure to prosecute Venezuela
Updated 13 December 2024
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Prominent human rights attorney quits international court over failure to prosecute Venezuela

Prominent human rights attorney quits international court over failure to prosecute Venezuela
  • Grossman said his ethical standards no longer allow him to stand by silently as Maduro’s government

MIAMI: A prominent human rights attorney has quietly parted ways with the International Criminal Court to protest what he sees as an unjustified failure of its chief prosecutor to indict members of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ‘s government for crimes against humanity, The Associated Press has learned.
The Chilean-born Claudio Grossman, a former law school dean at American University in Washington and past president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, was appointed special adviser to ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan in November 2021. In that unpaid position, he advised Khan on the deteriorating human rights situation in Venezuela.
In a harshly worded email last month to Khan, Grossman said his ethical standards no longer allow him to stand by silently as Maduro’s government continues to commit abuses, expel foreign diplomats and obstruct the work of human rights monitors from the United Nations — without any action from the ICC.
“I can no longer justify the choice not to take correspondingly serious action against the perpetrators of the grave violations,” Grossman wrote in an email rejecting an offer by Khan’s office in September to renew his contract.
A copy of the email, which has not been made public, was provided to the AP by someone familiar with the ICC investigation into Venezuela. A phone call by Khan asking Grossman to reconsider also failed, according to the person on the condition of anonymity to discuss the politically sensitive investigation.
Following AP’s inquiries with Khan’s office, Grossman’s name was removed from the court’s website listing him as a special adviser.
“The Prosecutor is extremely grateful to Professor Grossman for the expertise and work he has rendered,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement without addressing Grossman’s stated reasons for cutting ties with the court based in The Hague, Netherlands. Grossman declined to comment.
The pressure on Khan to indict Venezuelan officials, including Maduro himself, comes as he battles allegations of misconduct with a female aide and the threat of US sanctions over his decision to seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The Rome Statute that established the court took effect in 2002, with a mandate to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide — but only when domestic courts fail to initiate their own investigations.
Calls for faster progress in the court’s only ever investigation in Latin America have grown louder as Maduro tightens his grip on power, preparing to be sworn in for a third term Jan. 10 following an election marred by serious allegations of ballot box fraud and a post-election crackdown. More than 2,000 people were arrested and 20 killed following the vote.
The US and even some fellow leftist leaders in Latin America have demanded authorities present voting records, as they have in the past, to refute tally sheets presented by Maduro’s opponents showing their candidate, Edmundo González, prevailed by a two-to-one margin.
Many in Venezuela’s opposition have complained that the ICC is applying a double standard, moving aggressively to seek the arrest of Netanyahu and Russia’s Vladimir Putin for atrocities in Gaza and Ukraine while showing undue leniency with Venezuelan officials Khan has been investigating for more than three years.
“There is no justification whatsoever for the inaction,” González and opposition leader María Corina Machado wrote in a recent letter to Grossman and 18 other special advisers to the court appealing for their help.
“What is at stake is the life and well-being of Venezuelans,” they added in the letter, which was also provided to the AP by the person familiar with the ICC investigation. “This unjustifiable delay will cast legitimate doubts about the integrity of a system of accountability that has been an aspiration for the whole world.”
At the request of several Latin American governments, Khan three years ago opened an investigation into Venezuelan security forces’ jailing, torture and killing of anti-government demonstrators. At the same time, he promised technical assistance to give local authorities an opportunity to take action before the ICC, a tribunal of last resort.
Earlier this month, Khan delivered some of his harshest comments to date about the human rights situation in Venezuela, warning that officials’ repeated promises to investigate alleged abuses “cannot be a never-ending story.”
“I have not seen the concrete implementation of laws and practices in Venezuela that I hoped for,” he said in a speech at ICC headquarters. “The ball is in Venezuela’s court. The track of complementarity is running out of road.”
Maduro’s government, in response, said in a statement that it “deeply regrets that the prosecutor is being led astray by campaigns that have emerged on social networks promoted by the extreme right, Zionism and Western powers seeking to apply legal colonialism against Venezuela.”
Some Venezuelan critics have linked what they view as foot-dragging to a potential conflict of interest involving Khan’s sister-in-law, international criminal lawyer Venkateswari Alagendra, who has appeared on behalf of the Venezuelan government in two hearings before the court.
An ICC code of conduct directs prosecutors to abstain from any conflicts that may arise from “personal interest in the case, including a spousal, parental or other close family, personal or professional relationship with any of the parties.” Alagendra has previously worked with Khan and his wife defending Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi, the son of the Libyan dictator, at the ICC.
Khan’s office declined to comment about the relationship. But in a filing this month seeking dismissal of a request for recusal filed by the Washington-based Arcadia Foundation, he said a sister-in-law is not a close enough personal relationship requiring automatic disqualification and that he doesn’t recall ever discussing the Venezuela probe with Alagendra, who is just one of several attorneys defending the South American government.
“No fair minded and informed observer would conclude that there is a real possibility of bias,” Khan wrote, adding that he continues to actively and independently investigate the situation in Venezuela.
Those claiming to be victims of the Maduro government have pushed for the court to wrap up its investigation without taking a position on whether Khan should be recused.
After millions of Venezuelans have fled Maduro’s rule, many for neighboring countries, regional governments are also anxiously awaiting progress.
“Many in Latin America expect the ICC prosecutor to have a more muscular response,” said Juan Papier, deputy director for the Americas at Human Rights Watch. “The prosecutor’s office has spent too much time, so far fruitlessly, trying to work with Venezuela authorities to push for domestic investigations. Widespread impunity and lack of judicial independence in Venezuela make the ICC the most viable path for justice.”