BEIJING: China’s military recently held multi-unit joint combat readiness exercises, patrols and combat drills in the sea and airspace around Taiwan, the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said in a statement on Friday.
The exercises were organized in response to “collusion and provocations” by the United States and Taiwan, Wu Qian, spokesman for China’s ministry of defense said, according to the ministry’s official Weibo account on Friday.
Several Chinese fighter jets crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Friday in the northern part of the strait, a Taiwan source briefed on the matter told Reuters, adding the aircraft did not enter Taiwan’s airspace.
Senior United States senator, Republican Rick Scott, arrived in Taiwan on Thursday for a visit and met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday.
The Florida Republican chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee and also sits on the Senate’s Armed Services Committee.
“The US side’s move seriously violates the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiqués, seriously damages the political foundation of Sino-US relations, seriously undermines the relationship between the two countries and the two militaries, and escalates tensions in the Taiwan Strait region,” Wu said, in response to a reporter’s question about the senator’s visit.
“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army is ready for war at all times, and will take all necessary measures to resolutely thwart the interference of external forces and the secessionist attempts of ‘Taiwan independence’, and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Taiwan’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the drills.
After meeting with President Tsai in Taipei on Friday Senator Scott told reporters that he believes that following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine “the world has changed.”
“We all have to put ourselves in a position that we can make sure we defend the freedom we all believe in,” he said. “I do think it would be helpful if Taiwan participated in RIMPAC and I hope that’s what happens in the future.”
The Rim of the Pacific exercise, known as RIMPAC, is billed as the world’s largest international maritime exercise, with the latest one kicking off late last month with 26 nations participating in drills around Hawaii and southern California.
“Taiwan will continue to work closely with the United States to jointly safeguard the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region,” Tsai told Scott earlier on Friday during their meeting at her office.
US-China tensions are high over a number of issues including Taiwan, the South China Sea, trade tariffs and China’s refusal to openly criticize Russian leader Putin over the war in Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is due to meet with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Saturday at the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali.
China military holds combat exercises around Taiwan as US senator visits island
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China military holds combat exercises around Taiwan as US senator visits island
- Spokesman: Exercises organized in response to ‘collusion and provocations’ by the US and Taiwan
- Several Chinese fighter jets crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Friday
Researcher in Kenya boasts ‘Africa’s largest butterfly collection’
- By the age of 5, Steve Collins started building a collection that has grown to more than 4.2 million, representing hundreds of species
NAIROBI: What began as a childhood hobby more than six decades ago has led to what might be Africa’s largest butterfly collection in a suburb of Kenya’s capital.
Steve Collins, 74, was born and raised in western Kenya. By the age of 5, he was fascinated by butterflies and started building a collection that has grown to more than 4.2 million, representing hundreds of species.
“My parents encouraged us to look for butterflies after visiting the Congo and were gifted a trapping net by some friends,” Collins said. “By the time I was 15 years old, I was already visiting other countries like Nigeria to study more about butterflies.”
During his 20-year career as an agronomist, Collins dedicated his free time to research. He established the African Butterfly Research Institute in 1997.
Now, running out of space and time, he hopes to hand it over to the next generation.
On his 1.5 acres of land, hundreds of indigenous trees and flowering bushes form a well-knit forest. Hundreds of butterflies dance from one flower to another, at times landing on Collins’ hand.
His collection is private, although it was initially open to the public when he ran it as an education center between 1998 and 2003.
Collins has 1.2 million butterflies from across Africa delicately pinned in frames and stored in rows of shelves, with another 3 million in envelopes.
“They need to be kept in dark spaces,” he said. “The form of storage also ensures the dried butterflies are not eaten by other insects, parasites and predators. We also ensure we apply insecticides once a year to keep them safe.”
Julian Bayliss, an ecologist specializing in Africa and a visiting professor at Oxford Brookes University, said he has collected butterflies for Collins over two decades.
“There is a large part of that collection that is completely irreplaceable because a large part of Africa’s habitat is being destroyed,” Bayliss said.
Africa is vulnerable to climate change, with periods of prolonged drought and serious flooding destroying forests and other butterfly habitats.
Bayliss suggested digitizing the collection to make it accessible worldwide.
Whoever takes it over “needs to be an institution that is well-founded, well-funded and secure,” he said.
Scott Miller, an entomologist at the Smithsonian Institution, met Collins almost 30 years ago. He said such collections provide critical information that could show environmental changes over 60 years.
“These physical specimens, you can actually keep going back to them to get new layers of information as you learn more or you get a different technology or you get different questions,” he said.
Collins is concerned that soon he will no longer be able to sustain his research. He said his most prized butterfly costs $8,000 — which he keeps from sight, concerned about possible theft — and hopes to sell the collection to an individual or research institution.
The costs of running his institute are high. An annual budget posted in 2009 on the Lepidopterists’ Society of Africa website was $200,000.
Collins estimates that the specimens and other assets are worth $8 million.
“This has been my hobby for decades, and I can’t put a price on what I have done so far. I’m currently seeking to ensure the species are in safe hands when I’m out of this world,” he said.
India launches its first space docking mission
- The mission lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center aboard the Indian Space Research Organization’s PSLV rocket
- The mission is seen as pivotal for future space endeavours, including satellite servicing and India’s planned space station
BENGALURU: India launched its first space docking mission on Monday, on an Indian-made rocket, in an attempt to become the fourth country to achieve the advanced technological feat.
The mission, called Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX), lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Andhra Pradesh state at 1630 GMT aboard the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) “workhorse” PSLV rocket. After around 15 minutes, the mission director called the launch successful after the spacecraft reached an altitude of around 470 km.
The mission is seen as pivotal for future space endeavours, including satellite servicing and the operation of the country’s planned space station.
In-space docking technology is crucial when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve shared mission objectives.
The Indian mission involves deploying two small spacecraft, each weighing about 220 kilograms, into a 470-km circular orbit. It will also demonstrate the transfer of electric power between the docked spacecraft, a capability vital for applications such as in-space robotics, composite spacecraft control and payload operations following undocking.
Each satellite carries advanced payloads, including an imaging system and a radiation-monitoring device designed to measure electron and proton radiation levels in space, providing critical data for future human spaceflight missions.
ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said the actual testing of the docking technology could take place in about a week’s time and indicated a nominal date of around Jan. 7.
“The rocket has placed the satellites in the right orbit,” he said. A successful demonstration would place India alongside the United States, Russia and China as the only countries to have developed and tested this capability. In a first for India, the rocket and the satellites were integrated and tested at a private company called Ananth Technologies, rather than at a government body.
“Display of this technology is not just about being able to join a rare group of countries who own it, it also opens up the market for ISRO to be the launch partner for various global missions that need docking facilities or assembly in space,” said astrophysicist Somak Raychaudhary of Ashoka University.
The fourth stage of the PSLV, which usually turns into space debris, has been converted into an active un-crewed space laboratory. The last stage of the rocket has been repurposed to become an orbital laboratory and will be used for various experiments.
“The PSLV Orbital Experiment Module (POEM) is a practical solution deployed by ISRO that allows Indian start-ups, academic institutions, and research organizations to test their space technologies without the need to launch entire satellites. By making this platform accessible, we are reducing entry barriers and enabling a wider range of entities to contribute to the space sector,” said Pawan Goenka, chairman of India’s space regulatory body.
Signs Christmas market attack suspect mentally ill: German minister
- Saudi Arabia said it had repeatedly warned Germany about, and demanded the extradition of, Abdulmohsen, who came to Germany in 2006
BERLIN: The German government, under fire for failing to prevent a deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market, argued on Monday that the tragedy would have been hard to prevent and said that the suspect appeared to be mentally disturbed.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser along with security and intelligence chiefs faced questioning by a parliamentary committee about the attack that killed five people and wounded more than 200, and on whether there had been missed clues and security lapses.
Faeser said no motive had yet been established for the December 20 attack in the eastern city of Magdeburg, where a Saudi man was arrested, but that “there are striking signs of a pathological psyche.”
She added that lessons must be learnt on how to track potential attackers who don’t fit conventional threat categories and who “are psychologically disturbed and... driven by confused conspiracy theories.”
The minister argued that “such attackers do not fit any threat profile” — such as far-right extremist or Islamist — and warned that German security services will need “other indicators and action plans” to deal with them in future.
Police arrested Saudi psychiatrist Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen after the assault that used a motor vehicle as a weapon, a method previously used in extremist attacks including in Berlin and in the French city of Nice in 2016.
Abdulmohsen, by contrast, has in the past voiced strongly anti-Islam views and sympathies with the far right in his social media posts, as well as anger at Germany for allowing in too many Muslim war refugees and other asylum-seekers.
Faeser said there were “tens of thousands of tweets” Abdulmohsen had sent over the years that were yet to be fully examined.
“That explains why not everything is on the table yet... who knew about which clues and what was passed on when must be carefully clarified,” she said.
Abdulmohsen, 50, is the only suspect in the attack in which a rented BMW sport utility vehicle plowed through the crowd of revellers at high speed, leaving a bloody trail of carnage.
According to media reports citing unnamed German security sources, he has in the past been treated for mental illness and tested positive for drug use on the night of his arrest.
Abdulmohsen has been remanded in custody on five counts of murder and 205 counts of attempted murder, prosecutors said, but so far not on terrorism-related charges.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who faces a general election in February, vowed to news portal T-online on Friday to “examine very carefully whether there were any failings on the part of the authorities” and whether any clues were missed in the run-up to the attack.
German media investigations of Abdulmohsen’s past and his social media postings have found expressions of anger and frustration, and threats of violence against German citizens and politicians.
Saudi Arabia said it had repeatedly warned Germany about, and demanded the extradition of, Abdulmohsen, who came to Germany in 2006 and was granted refugee status 10 years later.
Abdulmohsen also had a history of brushes with the law and court appearances in Germany, media have reported, including for threats of violence.
German police have said they had contacted Abdulmohsen in September 2023 and October 2024, and then repeatedly tried but failed to meet him again in December.
Ahead of February’s election, the Christmas market bloodshed has reignited heated debate about immigration and security, after deadly knife attacks this year blamed on extremists.
After Monday’s hearing, lawmaker Konstantin Kuhle of the liberal Free Democrats said “the federal and state authorities knew this perpetrator.”
But Kuhle said no authority had connected all the dots and that “we do not have a complete list of all contacts with the authorities as of today.”
Faeser said that having a fuller picture of all the data would have been good, but would likely “not have prevented” the attack.
Lawmaker Gottfried Curio of the far-right and anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party was most scathing in his criticism.
“Everything was foreseeable for everyone,” he charged. “We have hundreds of dangerous people in this country, we let them run around.
“What we need are deportations, instead we get naturalizations. What is needed now is a change in security policy in this country.”
Five years on, WHO urges China to share Covid origins data
- “We continue to call on China to share data and access so we can understand the origins of Covid-19. This is a moral and scientific imperative,” the WHO said
GENEVA: The World Health Organization on Monday implored China to share data and access to help understand how Covid-19 began, five years on from the start of the pandemic that upended the planet.
Covid-19 killed millions of people, shredded economies and crippled health systems.
“We continue to call on China to share data and access so we can understand the origins of Covid-19. This is a moral and scientific imperative,” the WHO said in a statement.
“Without transparency, sharing, and cooperation among countries, the world cannot adequately prevent and prepare for future epidemics and pandemics.”
The WHO recounted how on December 31, 2019, its country office in China picked up a media statement from the health authorities in Wuhan concerning cases of “viral pneumonia” in the city.
“In the weeks, months and years that unfolded after that, Covid-19 came to shape our lives and our world,” the UN health agency said.
“As we mark this milestone, let’s take a moment to honor the lives changed and lost, recognize those who are suffering from Covid-19 and Long Covid, express gratitude to the health workers who sacrificed so much to care for us, and commit to learning from Covid-19 to build a healthier tomorrow.”
Earlier this month, the WHO’s Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the issue of whether the world was better prepared for the next pandemic than it was for Covid-19.
“The answer is yes, and no,” he told a press conference.
“If the next pandemic arrived today, the world would still face some of the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities that gave Covid-19 a foothold five years ago.
“But the world has also learnt many of the painful lessons the pandemic taught us, and has taken significant steps to strengthen its defenses against future epidemics and pandemics.”
In December 2021, spooked by the devastation caused by Covid, countries decided to start drafting an accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
The WHO’s 194 member states negotiating the treaty have agreed on most of what it should include, but are stuck on the practicalities.
A key fault-line lies between Western nations with major pharmaceutical industry sectors and poorer countries wary of being sidelined when the next pandemic strikes.
While the outstanding issues are few, they include the heart of the agreement: the obligation to quickly share emerging pathogens, and then the pandemic-fighting benefits derived from them such as vaccines.
The deadline for the negotiations is May 2025.
Fugitive Afghans convicted of people smuggling held in UK: police
- Prosecutors in Belgium said the gang organized migrants’ journeys from Afghanistan through Iran, Turkiye and the Balkans to Europe, mainly France and Belgium
- Gang also subjected male migrant minors to serious sexual assaults including rape which they would video to blackmail the victims
LONDON: Three Afghan men convicted in Belgium over their involvement in a major people smuggling ring have been arrested in the UK, investigators said on Monday.
A court in the Belgian city of Antwerp last month convicted the trio, who were tried in their absence, and 20 other members of the gang to a total of 170 years in jail with sentences ranging from two to 18 years.
Ziarmal Khan, 24, Zeeshan Banghis 20, and Saifur Rahman Ahmedzai, 23 were arrested between December 6 and Monday in London and surrounding areas, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
Prosecutors in Belgium said the gang organized migrants’ journeys from Afghanistan through Iran, Turkiye and the Balkans to Europe, mainly France and Belgium.
Many would then be put on small boats for the perilous sea crossing of the Channel between northern France and England’s south coast.
The gang also subjected male migrant minors to serious sexual assaults including rape which they would video to blackmail the victims.
The three men were among 11 defendants who were tried in their absence following a joint investigation by the NCA and Belgian police.
Ahmedzai was sentenced to 10 years while Khan and Banghis each received three years. All three were fined 3,000 euros ($3,100).
NCA deputy director Craig Turner said they were part of a network “profiting from the dangerous situations they put vulnerable people into as they were transported, and committing the most heinous sexual offenses against them.”
The three men are now due to be returned to Belgium to serve their sentences with extradition proceedings already commenced, the NCA added.
Britain’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the government was committed to tackling people smuggling gangs.
“In recent weeks we’ve agreed landmark new deals with Iraq and Germany, pledging mutual support and cooperation to tackle this shared challenge,” she said.
Migration was a major issue at the UK’s July general election that brought British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour Party to power.
Over 37,100 people have made the Channel crossing in 2024, with the death toll for the year standing at 76.
