GERMANY
Afghan deportations start
The government yesterday deported Afghan nationals for the first time since August 2021, when the Taliban returned to power. Government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit described the Afghan nationals as convicted criminals, but did not immediately respond to a request for comment to clarify their offenses. Berlin does not have diplomatic relations with the Taliban, requiring the government to work through other channels. The deportations occurred a week after a deadly knife attack in Solingen, where the suspect is a Syrian citizen who had applied for asylum in the country. The suspect was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria last year, but reportedly disappeared for a time and avoided deportation. He was ordered held on Sunday on suspicion of murder and membership in a terrorist organization pending further investigation and a possible indictment. The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, without providing evidence.
JAPAN
Defense budget to hit record
The Ministry of Defense is requesting a record budget allocation for next fiscal year, as it aims to ramp up its military capabilities at a time of heightened regional tensions. The ministry plans to seek about ￥8.5 trillion (US$59 billion) for the fiscal year starting in April, a 10.5 percent increase from the current year’s initial budget. The record request includes funds to build a new satellite intelligence-gathering system to improve missile detection capabilities. The budget increase is in line with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s pledge to boost the nation’s military spending to ￥43 trillion over the five-year period that runs through March 2028. Separately, the military is requesting about ￥113 billion to develop next-generation fighter aircraft in a joint effort between Japan, UK and Italy.The bulk of the remainder would go toward maintaining equipment, as well as acquiring and making fighter jets and submarines.
TURKEY
100 IS suspects arrested
The government this week arrested more than 100 suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) group, authorities said yesterday, the latest mass detention targeting the terror organization. The nation has been hit by several major attacks claimed by IS, including a 2017 nightclub shooting that killed dozens of people. The fresh raids took place across the country, including in Ankara and Istanbul, Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya posted on X. The arrest of 119 people this week follows other announced mass detentions, including 99 early this month.
THAILAND
Democrats to join Pheu Thai
The nation’s oldest political party will join the ruling coalition led by former rival Pheu Thai Party, as new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra finalizes her Cabinet lineup. The Democrat Party is to nominate its leader, Chalermchai Sri-On, and secretary-general, Dej-Is Khaothong, as ministers in Paetongtarn’s yet-to-be announced Cabinet, Chalermchai told reporters late on Thursday. Twenty-five Democrat lawmakers in the House of Representatives would help Pheu Thai cushion the loss of the support of 40 members of the pro-military Palang Pracharath party that was excluded earlier this week from the ruling bloc. With the addition of Democrat Party, the coalition would command the support of about 300 lawmakers in the 500-member elected chamber.
AERIAL INCURSIONS: The incidents are a reminder that Russia’s aggressive actions go beyond Ukraine’s borders, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said Two NATO members on Sunday said that Russian drones violated their airspace, as one reportedly flew into Romania during nighttime attacks on neighboring Ukraine, while another crashed in eastern Latvia the previous day. A drone entered Romanian territory early on Sunday as Moscow struck “civilian targets and port infrastructure” across the Danube in Ukraine, the Romanian Ministry of National Defense said. It added that Bucharest had deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace and issued text alerts to residents of two eastern regions. It also said investigations were underway of a potential “impact zone” in an uninhabited area along the Romanian-Ukrainian border. There
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
‘VERY DIRE’: This year’s drought, exacerbated by El Nino, is affecting 44 percent of Malawi’s crop area and up to 40 percent of its population of 20.4 million In the worst drought in southern Africa in a century, villagers in Malawi are digging for potentially poisonous wild yams to eat as their crops lie scorched in the fields. “Our situation is very dire, we are starving,” 76-year-old grandmother Manesi Levison said as she watched over a pot of bitter, orange wild yams that she says must cook for eight hours to remove the toxins. “Sometimes the kids go for two days without any food,” she said. Levison has 30 grandchildren under her care. Ten are huddled under the thatched roof of her home at Salima, near Lake Malawi, while she boils
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