Joe Biden kicks off two-day Angola visit

Joe Biden kicks off two-day Angola visit
US President Joe Biden, center, greets dignitaries next to Angola Foreign Affairs Minister Tete Antonio, right, upon his arrival at the Quatro de Fevereiro Luanda International Airport in Luanda on Dec. 2, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 03 December 2024
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Joe Biden kicks off two-day Angola visit

Joe Biden kicks off two-day Angola visit
  • US president arrived in the oil-rich Portuguese-speaking country centered on a multinational project to rehabilitate a railway line ferrying minerals

LUANDA: US President Joe Biden is in Angola on Tuesday for the first and only visit to sub-Saharan Africa of his presidency, which is focused on a major infrastructure project that is a counterpoint to China’s investments.
Biden arrived in the oil-rich Portuguese-speaking country late Monday for a two-day visit centered on a multinational project to rehabilitate a railway line ferrying minerals from inland countries to the Angolan port of Lobito for export.
In anticipation of his trip, the Angolan government declared December 3 and 4 public holidays and deployed heavy security across the capital Luanda, a city of around 9.5 million people.
Biden, who hands over to Donald Trump on January 20, starts his visit on Tuesday with talks with President Joao Lourenco in the capital Luanda and is due to later deliver remarks at the National Slavery Museum.
On Wednesday, he is to travel to Lobito, an Atlantic port city about 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of Luanda.
The port is at the heart of the Lobito Corridor project that has received loans from the United States, the European Union and others to rehabilitate a key railway connecting the mineral-rich inland countries of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia with Lobito, from where they can be exported.
It is “a real game changer for US engagement in Africa,” John Kirby, the White House national security communications adviser, told reporters Monday.
“It’s our fervent hope that as the new team comes in and takes a look at this, that they see the value too, that they see how it will help drive a more secure, more prosperous, more economically stable continent.”
The Lobito project is a piece in the geopolitical battle between the United States and its allies and China, which owns mines in the DRC and Zambia among an array of investments in the region.
A similar railway project involving Chinese investment is aimed at ferrying minerals out via a Tanzanian port on the Indian Ocean.
A senior US official told journalists ahead of Biden’s trip that African governments are seeking an alternative to Chinese investment, especially when it results in “living under crushing debt for generations to come.”
Angola, for instance, owes China $17 billion, about 40 percent of the nation’s total debt.
Lourenco, too, appears to want to diversify his country’s partnerships beyond China and Russia.
“We’re not asking countries to choose between US and Russia and China,” Kirby said. “We’re simply looking for reliable, sustainable, verifiable investment opportunities that the people of Angola and the people of the continent can rely on.”
Human rights organizations have urged Biden to raise Angola’s rights record.
Amnesty International said in a report last month that Angolan police had killed at least 17 protesters between November 2020 and June 2023 as part of a long-running crackdown on dissent.
It urged Biden, 82, to demand that Angola “immediately release five government critics arbitrarily detained for more than a year.”
Angola, a nation of 37 million people, was devastated by a 27-year civil war that started on independence from Portugal in 1975, when the UNITA rebel movement challenged the MPLA that is still in power.
During the Cold War years the United States funnelled covert aid to UNITA. It recognized the MPLA government only in 1993, becoming an importer of its oil.


Italy hopes Gaza ceasefire may open new phase in Middle East

Italy hopes Gaza ceasefire may open new phase in Middle East
Updated 4 sec ago
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Italy hopes Gaza ceasefire may open new phase in Middle East

Italy hopes Gaza ceasefire may open new phase in Middle East
  • He said he hoped an agreement would “hopefully open a new phase and allow peace to be restored throughout the Middle East”

ROME: Italy’s foreign minister on Tuesday said he hoped a possible ceasefire in Gaza will open a new phase and allow the restoration of peace in the Middle East.
“The agreement being finalized in these hours on the ceasefire and hostage release is very important news,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told a news conference after a meeting with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar. He said he hoped an agreement would “hopefully open a new phase and allow peace to be restored throughout the Middle East.”

 


ICC chief prosecutor wants Israeli objections over Netanyahu warrant to be rejected

ICC chief prosecutor wants Israeli objections over Netanyahu warrant to be rejected
Updated 4 min 38 sec ago
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ICC chief prosecutor wants Israeli objections over Netanyahu warrant to be rejected

ICC chief prosecutor wants Israeli objections over Netanyahu warrant to be rejected
  • The ICC was established in 2002 as the permanent court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the world’s most heinous atrocities — war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has told judges that Israeli objections to the investigation into the 13-month war in Gaza should be rejected.
Karim Khan submitted his formal response late Monday to an appeal by Israel over The Hague-based court’s jurisdiction after judges issued arrest warrants last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza.
The embattled Israeli leader, who is also facing corruption charges in his homeland, called the arrest warrant ” a black day in the history of nations ” and vowed to fight the allegations.
Individuals cannot contest an arrest warrant directly, but the state of Israel can object to the entire investigation. Israel argued in a December filing that it could look into allegations against its leaders on its own and that continuing to investigate Israelis was a violation of state sovereignty.
The ICC was established in 2002 as the permanent court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the world’s most heinous atrocities — war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.
The court’s 125 member states include Palestine, Ukraine, Canada and every country in the European Union, but dozens of countries don’t accept the court’s jurisdiction, including Israel, the United States, Russia and China.
In Khan’s combined 55-page response, he says the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, allowed it to prosecute crimes that take place in the territory of member states, regardless of where the perpetrators hail from.
The judges are expected to render a decision in the coming months.

 


China’s Lunar New Year travel rush: World’s biggest annual migration

China’s Lunar New Year travel rush: World’s biggest annual migration
Updated 14 January 2025
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China’s Lunar New Year travel rush: World’s biggest annual migration

China’s Lunar New Year travel rush: World’s biggest annual migration
  • This year’s Lunar New Year travel rush kicked off on Tuesday and will last for 40 days, concluding on Feb.22

BEIJING: Hundreds of millions of Chinese criss-cross the country during the Lunar New Year holidays each year to reunite with families back in their hometowns or for sight-seeing during an extended festive period, making it the world’s largest annual human migration. The Lunar New Year travel rush, known as Chunyun in Chinese, is often seen as a barometer for China’s economic health and a pressure test for its vast transportation system.

This year’s Lunar New Year travel rush kicked off on Tuesday and will last for 40 days, concluding on Feb.22.

The official Spring Festival holidays, as the new year celebrations are known in China, will run from Jan.28 to Feb.4.

Officials are expecting a record 9 billion domestic trips during the 40-day period, an increase from the around 8.4 billion trips logged last year. Road trips, expected to reach 7.2 billion journeys this year, are projected to account for about 80 percent of all trips, followed by train and air travel.

Rail travel is set to hit a record 510 million trips, a 5.5 percent year-on-year increase, while air travel is expected to exceed 90 million trips.

Top air travel destinations include cities such as Chongqing, Chengdu, Beijing, Harbin and Xian, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Internationally, flights to Tokyo, Osaka, Bangkok and Singapore are also seeing strong demand, according to the civil aviation regulator.

On the first day of Chunyun, total domestic travel is expected to reach 172.39 million trips, including 159.52 million by road, 10.3 million by rail, 2.04 million by air and 530,000 by waterways, the Transport Ministry said on Tuesday.

This year’s travel rush comes as China extended the official Spring Festival break by one day to eight days. The country also expanded its visa-free entry policy to 38 countries, including nearby Japan and South Korea, and doubled the stay period to 30 days. For eligible foreign transit travelers, the permitted stay was extended to 10 days. It was up to six days previously.


Germany's far-right AfD sends out mock plane tickets for migrants

Germany's far-right AfD sends out mock plane tickets for migrants
Updated 14 January 2025
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Germany's far-right AfD sends out mock plane tickets for migrants

Germany's far-right AfD sends out mock plane tickets for migrants
  • The flyers are labelled "Deportation Ticket" and feature the passenger’s name as "Illegal Immigrant" and the destination as "Safe Country of Origin"
  • Several migrants have posted on social media about receiving the tickets over the past few days

BERLIN: German police said Tuesday they are investigating after the far-right AfD distributed election campaign flyers in the style of one-way plane tickets to send migrants home.
The flyers are labelled "Deportation Ticket" and feature the passenger’s name as "Illegal Immigrant" and the destination as "Safe Country of Origin".
AfD campaign demands -- such as cutting benefits for non-Germans and an end to "Islamisation" -- are also listed on the flyers distributed in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe.
Several migrants have posted on social media about receiving the tickets over the past few days, although the AfD has denied specifically sending them to foreigners.
The campaign has sparked a backlash in Germany, with critics comparing the stunt to the one-way tickets to Jerusalem that were distributed by the Nazis in the 1930s.
A Karlsruhe police spokesman told AFP an investigation had been launched into the possible charge of incitement to hatred after a tip-off from a member of the public.

The AfD in Karlsruhe has said in a statement that the flyers were being distributed in the city "in as large a number as possible and without any special requirements or restrictions".
"It is intended to bring our demands in this area, which are fully in line with the law, to the attention of the voters," it said.
The AfD has been buoyed ahead of Germany's election on February 23 after winning the endorsement of US tech billionaire Elon Musk.
One survey at the weekend had the party polling at 22 percent, just eight points behind the CDU/CSU conservatives who are widely expected to lead the next government.
Emboldened by the support of Musk, the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House and events in neighbouring Austria -- where the far right is on the brink of power -- the AfD has been sharpening its rhetoric as the election campaign heats up.
At a party congress last weekend, the AfD's top candidate Alice Weidel explicitly called for the "remigration" of foreigners.
Marcel Bauer, a parliamentary candidate for the far-left Die Linke, accused the AfD of using "fascist methods to incite hatred".
"This threat against our fellow citizens must have consequences," he said.


UK anti-corruption minister resigns over ties to ousted Bangladesh PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, second right, and Tulip Siddiq, left.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, second right, and Tulip Siddiq, left.
Updated 14 January 2025
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UK anti-corruption minister resigns over ties to ousted Bangladesh PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, second right, and Tulip Siddiq, left.
  • Tulip Siddiq, 42, had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last week he had full confidence in her
  • Siddiq was named as part of Bangladesh’s investigation into whether her family were involved in siphoning off funds from Bangladeshi infrastructure projects

LONDON: The British minister responsible for financial services and fighting corruption resigned on Tuesday after weeks of questions over her financial ties to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, ousted last year as prime minister of Bangladesh.
Tulip Siddiq, 42, had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last week he had full confidence in her.
The resignation of a second government minister in two months is a blow to Starmer, whose approval ratings have plunged since his Labour Party won a general election in July.
Siddiq was handed the portfolio for financial services policy after the election, a role that included responsibility for measures against money-laundering.
In a statement, Siddiq said although an investigation into her financial affairs found she had not breached the ministerial code of conduct, her position was “likely to be a distraction from the work of the government.”
“I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position,” she said.
Starmer swiftly appointed Emma Reynolds, who was a pensions minister, to Siddiq’s role.
Hasina, who had ruled Bangladesh since 2009, is being investigated there on suspicion of corruption and money laundering. Hasina and her party deny wrongdoing.
Siddiq was named in December as part of Bangladesh’s investigation into whether her family were involved in siphoning off funds from Bangladeshi infrastructure projects.
The anti-corruption commission alleged financial irregularities worth billions of dollars in the awarding of a $12.65 billion nuclear power contract, saying Hasina and Siddiq may have benefited.
After facing further scrutiny over the use of properties in Britain linked to Hasina and her supporters, Siddiq referred herself to the government’s independent ethics adviser.
Siddiq lived in a north London property given to her family in 2009 by Moin Ghani, a Bangladeshi lawyer who has represented Hasina’s government, documents filed with Companies House and the Land Registry show.
She also acquired a separate property in London in 2004, without paying for it, from a developer linked to the Awami League, Hasina’s political party, the Financial Times reported this month.
Hasina fled Bangladesh after being toppled following weeks of protests.
Siddiq’s departure follows the resignation of British transport minister Louise Haigh late last year. Haigh acknowledged a minor criminal offense before she entered government, relating to a mobile phone that she had wrongly reported stolen.