GERMANY
Zelenskiy to meet leaders
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Berlin early yesterday for talks with leaders about further arms deliveries to help his country fend off the Russian invasion and rebuild what has been destroyed by more than a year of devastating conflict. A Luftwaffe jet flew Zelenskiy to the German capital from Rome. On the eve of his arrival — which was taking place amid tight security — Berlin announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine worth more than 2.7 billion euros (US$3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition. “Already in Berlin. Weapons. Powerful package. Air defense. Reconstruction. EU. NATO. Security,” Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter yesterday, in an apparent reference to the key priorities of his trip. Announcing the new arms package, Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius said Berlin would help Ukraine for “as long as it takes.”
PAKISTAN
Imran Khan calls for protests
Former prime minister Imran Khan yesterday called for nationwide “freedom” protests, after his brief arrest and detention this week triggered deadly unrest. The one-time cricket superstar — who has been tied up in dozens of legal cases since being ousted from power in April last year — was on Friday freed on bail after his detention was declared unlawful by the Supreme Court. Enraged by the arrest, supporters set fire to government buildings, blocked roads and damaged property belonging to the military, which they blame for Khan’s downfall. “Freedom does not come easily. You have to snatch it. You have to sacrifice for it,” he said in an address broadcast on YouTube on Saturday night. He called for supporters to hold protests “at the end of your streets and villages” across the country yesterday evening for one hour starting at 5:30pm. Yesterday morning was quiet, but Khan has pledged to return to campaigning on Wednesday for immediate elections.
BURKINA FASO
Shooters kill 33 civilians
At least 33 people were killed when assailants on motorcycles opened fire on vegetable farmers, Boucle du Mouhoun Governor Babo Pierre Bassinga said on Saturday, as the country struggles to stem an Islamist insurgency. A state of emergency has been in force in eight of the country’s 13 regions since March, including in western Boucle du Mouhoun. The attack on the farmers happened on Thursday at about 5pm, Bassinga said in a statement. “The village of Youlou in the department of Cheriba, Mouhoun province suffered a cowardly and barbaric terrorist attack,” he said. “The gunmen targeted peaceful civilians” who were farming along the river, he said.
SOMALIA
Flooding displaces 200,000
About 200,000 people have been displaced due to flash flooding in the country’s central region, a regional official said on Saturday, as the Shabelle River burst its banks and submerged roads. Inhabitants of Beledweyne town in the Hiran region were forced out of their homes as heavy rainfall caused water levels to rise sharply, with residents carrying their belongings on top of their heads as they waded through flooded streets in search of refuge. “Some 200,000 people are now displaced due to the Shabelle River flash floods in Beledweyne town and the number may increase any time. It is a preliminary figure now,” Hiran Deputy Governor for Social Affairs Ali Osman Hussein said. Hiran Deputy Governor Hassan Ibrahim Abdulle said on Friday that “three people were killed by the floods.”
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
Hundreds of thousands of Guyana citizens living at home and abroad would receive a payout of about US$478 each after the country announced it was distributing its “mind-boggling” oil wealth. The grant of 100,000 Guyanese dollars would be available to any citizen of the South American country aged 18 and older with a valid passport or identification card. Guyanese citizens who normally live abroad would be eligible, but must be in Guyana to collect the payment. The payout was originally planned as a 200,000 Guyanese dollar grant for each household in the country, but was reframed after concerns that some citizens, including
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
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