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Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Business
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Germany to hire 11,000 more military personnel this year, Bild reports
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -The German government will provide funds for an extra 11,000 military personnel by the end of the year, an increase of around 4%, tabloid Bild reported on Saturday, citing government sources. The money will be provided for 10,000 soldiers and 1,000 civilian employees for the military by end-2025, the newspaper said, adding the move was part of this year's budget planning to be approved by the cabinet next week. The new jobs will cover armed, air, naval and cyber forces, the report said. Germany's Defence Ministry declined to comment. Germany needs up to 60,000 additional troops under new NATO targets for weapons and personnel, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier this month, as the alliance beefs up its forces to respond to what it sees as an increased threat from Russia.
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Politics
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Syrian authorities arrest Bashar Assad's cousin on drug trafficking charges
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian authorities have arrested a cousin of former President Bashar Assad, who is under U.S. sanctions for his alleged role in drug trafficking and support to forces loyal to the ousted government, the Interior Ministry said Saturday. The ministry did not say when or where Wassim Badi Assad was arrested. It said that he was wanted in cases of drug trafficking and other crimes before insurgents toppled the Assad family in December after a 54-year rule. The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on Wassim Assad in March 2023. It said Wassim Assad had publicly called for the formation of sectarian militias to support the government and was a key figure in the regional drug trafficking network, partnering with high-level suppliers to smuggle contraband, Captagon, and other drugs throughout the region. Syria's conflict that began in March 2011 fragmented the country, crumbled the economy and created fertile ground for the production of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon. Militias, warlords and the Assad government transformed the production of the drug from a small-scale operation run by criminal groups into a billion-dollar industrial revenue stream.
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Politics
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Netanyahu biggest obstacle to regional peace, says Erdogan at OIC meeting
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the 'biggest obstacle to regional peace' and that Israeli attacks on Iran right before a new round of nuclear talks with the United States aimed to sabotage the negotiations. Addressing Arab League diplomats during a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on Saturday, Erdogan urged countries with influence over Israel not to listen to its 'poison' and to seek a solution to the fighting via dialogue without allowing a wider conflict. Israeli attacks on Iran show that Netanyahu 'and his government … do not want any issues or any matters to be solved diplomatically,' said Erdogan. 'Netanyahu's Zionist ambitions have no other purpose than to drag our region and … the whole world into a big disaster,' he added. Erdogan accused the Western leaders of providing 'unconditional support' to Israel. He said Turkiye would not allow borders in the Middle East to be redrawn 'in blood'. 'It is vital for us to show more solidarity to end Israel's banditry – not only in Palestine but also in Syria, in Lebanon and in Iran,' he told the OIC gathering. The 57-member OIC, founded in 1969, says its mission is to 'safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony'.Speaking before Erdogan, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused Israel of leading the Middle East towards 'total disaster' by attacking Iran. 'Israel is now leading the region to the brink of total disaster by attacking Iran, our neighbour,' he said. 'There is no Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, Yemeni or Iranian problem but there is clearly an Israeli problem.' Al Jazeera's Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul, said Turkiye as the current OIC chair sees itself well-placed in helping to find a resolution to the Israel-Iran conflict. 'It is a NATO member country placed between the Western and Muslim worlds, and has strong bilateral relations with Iran, the Western world and the United States. And until a few years ago, it had strong relations with Israel,' she said. On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country was only prepared to engage with the US if Israel stops its attacks on Iran. 'Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again and once the aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed,' said Araghchi. 'We support the continuation of discussion with [Britain, France, Germany and the EU] and express our readiness to meet again in the near future.'
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Politics
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What to know about activist Mahmoud Khalil and his release from immigration detention
A Palestinian activist who participated in protests against Israel has been freed from federal immigration detention after 104 days. Mahmoud Khalil, who became a symbol of President Donald Trump 's clampdown on campus protests, left a federal facility in Louisiana on Friday. The former Columbia University graduate student is expected to head to New York to reunite with his U.S. citizen wife and infant son, born while Khalil was detained. Here's a look at what has happened so far in Khalil's legal battle: The arrest Federal immigration agents detained Khalil on March 8, the first arrest under Trump's crackdown on students who joined campus protests against Israel's devastating war in Gaza. Khalil, a legal U.S. resident, was then taken to an immigration detention center in Jena, a remote part of Louisiana thousands of miles from his attorneys and his wife. The 30-year-old international affairs student had served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student activists at Columbia University who took over a campus lawn to protest the war. The university brought police in to dismantle the encampment after a small group of protesters seized an administration building. Khalil was not accused of participating in the building occupation and wasn't among those arrested in connection with the demonstrations. But images of his maskless face at protests, along with his willingness to share his name with reporters, made him an object of scorn among those who saw the protesters and their demands as antisemitic. The legal fight Khalil wasn't accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. However, the government has said noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be expelled from the U.S. for expressing views the administration considers to be antisemitic and 'pro-Hamas,' referring to the Palestinian militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Khalil's lawyers challenged the legality of his detention, arguing that the Trump administration was trying to deport him for an activity protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified Khalil's deportation by citing a rarely used statute that gives him power to deport those who pose 'potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.' The initial ruling Immigration Judge Jamee E. Comans ruled in April that the government's contention was enough to satisfy requirements for Khalil's deportation. Comans said the government had 'established by clear and convincing evidence that he is removable.' Federal judges in New York and New Jersey had previously ordered the U.S. government not to deport Khalil while his case played out in court. Khalil remained detained for several weeks, with his lawyers arguing that he was being prevented from exercising his free speech and due process rights despite no obvious reason for his continued detention. Release granted Khalil was released after U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be 'highly, highly unusual' for the government to continue detaining a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn't been accused of any violence. 'Petitioner is not a flight risk, and the evidence presented is that he is not a danger to the community,' he said. 'Period, full stop.' During an hourlong hearing conducted by phone, the New Jersey-based judge said the government had 'clearly not met' the standards for detention. Speaking Friday outside the detention facility, Khalil said, 'Justice prevailed, but it's very long overdue. This shouldn't have taken three months.' Legal fight continues The government filed notice Friday evening that it's appealing Khalil's release. The Department of Homeland Security said in a post on the social platform X that the same day Farbiarz ordered Khalil's release, an immigration judge in Louisiana denied Khalil bond and 'ordered him removed.' That decision was made by Comans, who is in a court in the same detention facility from which Khalil was released. 'An immigration judge, not a district judge, has the authority to decide if Mr. Khalil should be released or detained,' the post said. Farbiarz ruled that the government can't deport Khalil based on its claims that his presence could undermine foreign policy. But he gave the administration leeway to pursue a potential deportation based on allegations that Khalil lied on his green card application, an accusation Khalil disputes. Khalil had to surrender his passport and can't travel internationally, but he will get his green card back and be given official documents permitting limited travel within the U.S., including New York and Michigan to visit family, New Jersey and Louisiana for court appearances and Washington to lobby Congress. Khalil said Friday that no one should be detained for protesting Israel's war in Gaza. He said his time in the Jena, Louisiana, detention facility had shown him 'a different reality about this country that supposedly champions human rights and liberty and justice.' In a statement after the judge's ruling, Khalil's wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, said she could finally 'breathe a sigh of relief' after her husband's three months in detention. The judge's decision came after several other scholars targeted for their activism have been released from custody, including another former Palestinian student at Columbia, Mohsen Mahdawi; a Tufts University student, Rumeysa Ozturk; and a Georgetown University scholar, Badar Khan Suri.
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Hot-air balloon crash in Brazil kills eight people
SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Eight people were killed after a hot-air balloon carrying 21 passengers, including the pilot, crashed on Saturday in Brazil's southern state of Santa Catarina, state officials said. The tourism balloon caught fire during the flight in early morning hours, crashing in a forest area in the city of Praia Grande, according to the state fire department. The city is a popular tourist spot for balloon trips in Brazil. The Santa Catarina government estimates that 25 to 30 hot-air balloons depart daily from Praia Grande in peak season, with most of them having capacity to transport as many as 25 people. Thirteen survivors were transported to nearby hospitals, according to the fire department. A spokesperson of the department told local news outlet CNN Brasil that none of them were with their lives at risk. In a post on X, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed solidarity with the families of the victims, saying the federal government is available to local and state forces acting in the case.
