ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: President Joe Biden and President Volodymyr Zelensky will sign a bilateral security agreement between the US and Ukraine on Thursday when they meet on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Italy, aiming to send signal to Russia of American resolve to supporting Kyiv, the White House said as Biden was headed to Europe.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the agreement would not commit US troops directly to Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion — a red line drawn by Biden, who is fearful of being drawn into direct conflict between the nuclear-armed powers.
The announcement of the agreement comes as Biden heads to the summit of the world’s leading democracies with an urgency to get big things done, including turning frozen Russian assets into billions of dollars to help Ukraine as it fights off Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
“We want to demonstrate that the US supports the people of Ukraine, that we stand with them and that we’ll continue to help address their security needs,” Sullivan said, adding “this agreement will show our resolve.”
This year’s meeting comes three years after Biden declared at his first such gathering that America was back as a global leader following the disruptions to Western alliances that occurred when Donald Trump was president. Now, there’s a chance this gathering could be the final G7 for Biden and other G7 leaders, depending on the results of elections this year.
Biden and his counterparts from Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan will use the summit to discuss challenges related to the spread of artificial intelligence, migration, the Russian military’s resurgence and China’s economic might, among other topics. Pope Francis, Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are joining the gathering at the Borgo Egnazia resort in the Puglia region of southern Italy.
The summit, which opens Thursday, will play out after far-right parties across the continent racked up gains of surprising scale in just-concluded European Union elections. Those victories, coupled with upcoming elections in the United Kingdom, France and the United States, have rattled the global political establishment and added weightiness to this year’s summit.
“You hear this a lot when you talk to US and European officials: If we can’t get this done now, whether it’s on China, whether it’s on the assets, we may not have another chance,” said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, an international affairs think tank. “We don’t know what the world will look like three months, six months, nine months from now.”
The G7 is an informal bloc of industrialized democracies that meets annually to discuss shared issues and concerns. Biden is set to arrive in Italy on Wednesday night, his second trip outside the US in as many weeks. The Democratic president was in France last week for a state visit in Paris and ceremonies in Normandy marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in World War II.
While last week’s visit had a celebratory feel, this one will be dominated by pressing global issues, including how to keep financial support flowing to Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion. Biden’s trip also comes one day after his son Hunter was convicted on federal gun charges, a blow sure to weigh heavily on the president’s mind.
Despite pressing global challenges, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said there is still a sense of relief among world leaders in 2024 that “America was back,” referencing Biden’s 2021 speech at the G7 in Cornwall, England.
“Biden’s message then was that democracies need to step up and show they can deliver for their people,” Kirby said. “That’s true now more than ever.”
Kirby said the US was prepared to work with democratically elected officials in the EU no matter who they are, though some of those being elevated have expressed far less support for Ukraine than current leaders.
“We have every confidence that regardless of who fills the seats in the European Parliament, we’re going to continue to work closely with our EU partners on all the issues relative to our shared interests across the European continent,” Kirby said. “That includes supporting Ukraine.”
Biden and Zelensky, who met last week in Paris, will meet again Thursday on the sidelines of the summit to discuss continued support for the Eastern European nation, which is trying to fend off an intense Russian offensive in eastern areas of the country. They are expected to hold a joint news conference. Biden is also expected to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the pope and other leaders.
Biden, who has been adamant that “we will not walk away” from Ukraine, last week publicly apologized to Zelensky for a monthslong delay by Congress in authorizing additional American military assistance. The delay allowed Russia to make gains on the battlefield.
Sullivan called the security agreement a “bridge” to when Ukraine is invited to join the NATO alliance — a long-term priority of Zelensky’s that the allies have said will first require an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Biden’s back-to-back trips to France and Italy amount to a rare doubleheader of diplomacy in the midst of the presidential election. The president will skip a Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland this weekend to jet to Los Angeles for a campaign fundraiser with big names from Hollywood. Vice President Kamala Harris will represent the US at the conference.
Despite the delays in military aid, the Biden administration on Tuesday announced it would send Ukraine another Patriot missile system to help fend off Russian strikes, two US officials told The Associated Press. Biden approved the move, the officials told the AP, as Kyiv has desperately called for more air defenses in its battle against an intense Russian assault on the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Kirby said the US would use the G7 summit to announce fresh sanctions and export control actions targeting those who have helped Russia procure what it needs for the war. He said the new measures would make it harder for financiers to support Russia’s defense mechanism.
Ukraine and many of its supporters have called for the confiscation of $260 billion in Russian assets frozen outside the country after the Feb. 24, 2022, invasion. But European officials have resisted, citing legal and financial stability concerns. Most of the frozen assets are located in Europe.
A European plan to just use the interest on the Russian funds would provide only a trickle of money every year — about $2.5 billion to $3 billion at current interest rates, which would barely meet a month’s financing needs for the Ukrainian government.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said recently that G7 finance ministers have been discussing the possibility of extending a loan to Ukraine and using the windfall profits of assets seized in Europe to pay it off.
Kirby said the US was optimistic the group could agree on the matter.
Biden is also expected to discuss economic concerns brought on by Chinese manufacturing overcapacity, how to use artificial intelligence in a way that maximizes benefits but still manages national security risks, and global migration.
The US and other G7 nations are struggling to manage large influxes of migrants arriving for complicated reasons that include war, climate change and drought. Migration, and how nations cope with the growing numbers at their borders, has been a factor driving the far-right rise in some of Europe.
Biden and Zelensky will sign security agreement between US and Ukraine when they meet at G7
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Biden and Zelensky will sign security agreement between US and Ukraine when they meet at G7
- National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the agreement would not commit US troops directly to Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion
- “We want to demonstrate that the US supports the people of Ukraine, that we stand with them and that we’ll continue to help address their security needs,” Sullivan said
Kremlin declines to comment on reports N.Koreans withdrawn from front
- Citing US and Ukrainian officials, the New York Times on Thursday reported that the North Korean troops had been pulled back from the front and had not been seen fighting there
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “There are a lot of different arguments out there, both right and wrong“
MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Friday declined to comment on reports that North Korean soldiers fighting with Russia’s army had been pulled back from the front line.
Western, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence agencies say Pyongyang had deployed more than 10,000 troops to support Russia’s forces fighting in its western Kursk region, where Ukraine is mounting a cross-border offensive.
Citing US and Ukrainian officials, the New York Times on Thursday reported that the North Korean troops had been pulled back from the front and had not been seen fighting there for around two weeks, after suffering heavy casualties in combat.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak on Wednesday said that “some North Korean units have been pulled back from the front line in the Kursk region, according to reports from Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces.”
Asked on Friday about the reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment.
“There are a lot of different arguments out there, both right and wrong,” he told reporters.
“It’s not worth commenting on every time,” he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has published footage of what he said were captured North Korean soldiers taken by Ukraine’s forces in the Kursk region.
Kyiv and the West decried the deployment of North Korean fighters as a major escalation in the three-year conflict.
Serbian student protesters march ahead of bridge blockade as driver rams Belgrade demonstration
- Meanwhile in Belgrade, a driver rammed a car into a silent protest Friday, injuring two women who work as doctors at a nearby psychiatric institution
- Media reports say both hit the pavement with their heads and are being examined
INDJIJA, Serbia: Hundreds of striking students marched through the Serbian countryside Friday as they took their anti-graft protest toward the northern city of Novi Sad, where they plan to blockade three bridges over the River Danube this weekend.
The bridge blockade planned for Saturday will mark three months since a huge concrete construction at the railway station collapsed in Novi said on Nov. 1, leaving 15 people dead.
What started two months ago as a protest against suspected corruption in construction contracts has developed into the most serious challenge in years to the country’s powerful populist leader, President Aleksandar Vucic.
Meanwhile in Belgrade, a driver rammed a car into a silent protest Friday, injuring two women who work as doctors at a nearby psychiatric institution. Media reports say both hit the pavement with their heads and are being examined.
The incident, the third of its kind in weeks, happened in downtown Belgrade during 15 minutes of silence observed daily throughout Serbia at around noon when the canopy collapsed at the railway station in Novi Sad.
Pro-government thugs have repeatedly attacked the protesters, many of them students, twice ramming cars into demonstrations. Two people were seriously injured in the previous attacks
Along the way to Novi Sad on Friday, the students were greeted by cheering citizens who honked their car horns or came out of their homes to offer food and drinks.
When they reached the town of Indjija on Thursday, roughly halfway along their 80-kilometer (50-mile) route, the students were welcomed with fireworks and cheers from residents.
Although most of them spent the night out in the open in a soccer field, the freezing temperatures did not dampen their desire for major changes in the corruption-ridden Balkan state.
Nevena Vecerinac, a student, said she hoped the protesters’ demands that include the punishment of all those responsible for the rail station tragedy will be fulfilled.
“We will make it to Novi Sad,” she said. ”Yesterday’s walk was easy. It’s cold now, but we can make it. We all have the same goal.”
“We need support from all people. With this energy and mood I hope we can do it, otherwise there will be no brighter future,” said Luka Arsenovic, another student marcher.
Many in Serbia believe that the collapse of the overhang at the train station was essentially caused by government corruption in a large infrastructure project with Chinese state companies. Critics believe graft led to a sloppy job during the reconstruction of the Novi Sad train station, poor oversight and disrespect of existing safety regulations.
Monthslong demonstrations have already forced the resignation of Serbia’s prime minister Milos Vucevic this week, along with various concessions from authorities which were ignored by the protesters who say that is not enough.
Vucic and other officials have shifted from accusing the students of working with foreign powers to oust him, to offering concessions or issuing veiled threats.
The strength and determination of the protesters have caught many by surprise in a country where hundreds of thousands of young people have emigrated, looking for opportunities elsewhere.
German MPs haggle over immigration bill backed by far right
- Wednesday’s historic vote was cheered by the anti-immigration AfD
- While Wednesday’s motion was a non-binding call to restrict immigration, the proposal on Friday’s agenda would have the force of law
BERLIN: German party leaders were engaged in furious last-minute talks on Friday, delaying a high-stakes debate on an immigration bill which the conservative opposition has threatened to pass with the support of the far-right AfD.
The debate and a potential vote threatened to escalate a dispute which began Wednesday, when the conservative CDU-CSU relied on AfD votes to pass a motion calling for a crackdown on new arrivals and tight border controls.
The CDU leader and favorite to be Germany’s next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, sparked outrage with the maneuver, which was condemned by the other parties as a breach of a long-standing taboo or “firewall” against cooperating with far-right parties.
His move comes after a series of deadly attacks that have darkened the mood in Germany over the arrival of millions of war refugees and other asylum seekers in recent years, ahead of February 23 elections.
The debate in the Bundestag was initially slated to begin at 10:30 am (0930 GMT) before the CDU called for the sitting to be temporarily suspended for emergency talks.
The small, pro-business FDP had previously said it would request the debate to be completely postponed to allow parties other than the AfD more time to find a common solution.
Senior politicians from across the political spectrum shuttled in and out of Merz’s office in the Bundestag complex as they sought a compromise, an AFP journalist saw.
The wrangling over how to proceed with the bill had already lasted several hours on Friday without a solution.
Wednesday’s historic vote was cheered by the anti-immigration AfD but put Merz on the defensive as even his party’s former chancellor Angela Merkel broke years of silence on day-to-day politics to slam it as “wrong.”
Center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz charged that Merz’s tactical maneuver was a breach of his previous promises to shun the AfD and left him “open to the accusation that he is untrustworthy.”
Scholz even raised the spectre of Merz, if he wins, one day allowing the AfD into a government — a scenario that horrifies the mainstream parties in the country still seeking to atone for the Nazi regime and the Holocaust.
While Wednesday’s motion was a non-binding call to restrict immigration, the proposal on Friday’s agenda would have the force of law, which would mark another milestone in German politics.
To protest Wednesday’s move, thousands took to the streets in multiple rallies on Thursday waving signs that read: “Shame on you,” “Friedrich Merz is a security risk for our democracy” and “We are the firewall.”
Merz has vowed to wrest the initiative back from the AfD to call for a crackdown on immigration, in an about-turn from the open-door policy of his more centrist predecessor and party rival Merkel.
The CDU and its Bavarian allies the CSU want to propose the so-called Influx Limitation Act which would restrict family reunions for rejected asylum seekers with stays of deportation.
If it becomes law, it will also boost the powers of federal police to detain undocumented migrants, whom Merz wants to place in custody and send back as soon as possible.
Teh tarik: Malaysia’s iconic art of ‘pulled tea’
- Beverage developed by descendants of Indian Muslims who settled in Malaysia centuries ago
- Teh tarik’s quality is measured by its ‘pull,’ which aerates the liquid and enhances its flavor
KUALA LUMPUR: Often referred to as Malaysia’s national drink, teh tarik is not only the most popular beverage among the Southeast Asian nation’s young and old, but also one that reflects its diversity.
Meaning “pulled tea” in Malay, the strong, sweet, and milky teh tarik is named after the way it is prepared: by pouring it back and forth between two containers to create a frothy texture.
The beverage originates from the Mamak community — descendants of Indian Muslims who began to settle in the Malay Peninsula centuries ago. Most of them arrived during British colonial rule. Over time, they became heavily involved in the food and restaurant industry, where they set up small roadside eateries that would later become Malaysia’s iconic Mamak stalls.
While there are as many recipes for the perfect teh tarik as there are family-run tea shops, the beverage’s quality is measured by its “pull,” which aerates the liquid and enhances its flavor.
“If you do short pulls, you will not get enough air into the drink. It will not be frothy then. Also, this is my own interpretation, but the right amount of frothiness adds another dimension of flavor,” Senthil Kumar, a tea master at the ZamZam restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, told Arab News.
“Some people do it to make a show of it, which is nice, but actually the art is to alternate short and long pulls, almost slamming the liquid into the cup or tin can held below, to really get a good mix and ample froth.”
How long the tea leaves are soaked also matters, and so does the amount of milk.
“You cannot let the leaves soak for too long, but neither can they be under-soaked. Nothing longer than two hours. After that, the leaves lose their essence,” Kumar told Arab News.
“The condensed milk we use is a pretty common, well-known brand here. The trick is to not put too much. Because more condensed milk means a denser liquid. When the liquid is too dense, you can’t achieve the level of frothiness to make it creamy.”
The condensed milk version of teh tarik is the most popular but not the only one.
“In Indian restaurants or even Indian households, the tea is often made with fresh milk,” said P. Ramachandran, an avid tea lover and a retail shop owner in Kuala Lumpur’s Brickfields area.
“Once the milk comes to a boil, you add the tea leaves and let it boil, let the tea really seep into the milk. When the color turns to this beautiful golden brown, you add sugar. In my home, we use palm sugar, but you can also use normal brown sugar.”
The “pulling” part is the final touch and there are rules for it too, like the use of silver or stainless-steel dishes.
“Don’t use glass,” Ramachandran said. “Pull it generously, don’t spill and let the froth build. Then pull it directly into your drinking cup and drink when hot. Nothing beats that.”
While teh tarik was perfected by South Indian cooks, most Malaysians, regardless of ethnicity, feel attached to it and have also customized their own versions of the beverage.
Mei Ren Li, a homemaker, said tea making in Chinese households was simpler.
“We occasionally have our black tea with milk and sugar,” she said.
“I am not very good with the pulling, but my kids love it when I do it, and I must say, it truly adds flavor to the tea. I typically use normal castor sugar, just one spoon per cup.”
Lately, local eateries have also been introducing more flavors to the traditionally three-ingredient-based drink. Ginger pulled tea and masala pulled tea are now more common.
Tejinder Kaur, a medical officer, prepares her tea at home this way, adding ginger, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon.
“It’s made a lot like the Indian tea. We boil the fresh milk with water and add tea. As it begins bubbling, we add the spice mix and let it boil for two minutes. Then we pull it straight into our glasses and drink it hot,” she said.
“It’s a staple for my whole family, and we can all drink it all day long.”
Rwanda-backed M23 advances toward second DR Congo regional capital
- Group’s capture of most of Goma earlier in the week was a dramatic escalation in a region
- The crisis has rattled the continent and international observers
GOMA, DR Congo: The Rwandan-backed armed group M23 moved south as it closed in on a key military airport in DR Congo on Friday, a day after pledging to take the capital Kinshasa and as international criticism mounted.
The group’s capture of most of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, earlier in the week was a dramatic escalation in a region that has seen decades of conflict involving multiple armed groups.
Rwanda says its primary interest is to eradicate fighters linked to the 1994 genocide but is accused of seeking to profit from the region’s reserves of minerals used in global electronics.
The crisis has rattled the continent and international observers, with a southern African regional bloc holding an emergency summit in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare on Friday.
M23 fighters are now moving south.
Local sources said on Thursday that fighting was concentrated some 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the city of Kavumu.
The city has a strategic military airfield and is where the Congolese army has laid down its defensive line just 40 km north of South Kivu’s provincial capital Bukavu.
The United Nations warned it was concerned by “credible reports that the M23 is moving rapidly toward the city of Bukavu.”
The second biggest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after Goma, Bukavu has a population believed to be around two million.
The Congolese army has yet to comment on the latest M23 advances but President Felix Tshisekedi said earlier this week that a “vigorous” military response was under way.
Information about the fast-moving offensive has remained unclear, but so far M23 fighters have met limited resistance from the ill-equipped and poorly paid Congolese forces.
In Goma, residents have emerged to count the dead and search for food, as hospitals struggled to cope with the wounded.
“We do not want to live under the thumb of these people,” one person, who asked not to be named, said.
The United Nations, United States, European Union, China, Britain, France and mediator Angola have all called on Rwanda to withdraw its forces.
Britain said Thursday it was considering reviewing aid to Rwanda.
Rwanda has hit back at the criticism, with government spokesperson Yolande Makolo saying the UK did not deliver “a direct warning” about aid.
“The international community has its fair share of the blame in the current situation,” she posted on X.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame also strongly rejected accusations that Kigali is supporting the armed group, saying: “M23 are not Rwandans — they are Congolese.”
On Friday, the 16-nation Southern African Development Community will hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the “worrying situation.”
Kagame and Angolan President Joao Lourenco, the African Union-appointed mediator between Kigali and Kinshasa on the conflict, will not attend.
The meeting follows soaring tensions between Kagame and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa after the deaths of 13 South African soldiers in DRC’s east.
“We are ready to defend ourselves if we are attacked by a coalition including South African forces,” Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told South African public broadcaster SABC late Thursday.
The M23 and Rwandan troops entered Goma on Sunday. During days of intense clashes that killed more than 100 people, the group seized control over much of the city as many Congolese soldiers surrendered or fled.
“We are in Goma and we will not leave,” Corneille Nangaa, head of a coalition of groups including the M23, said on Thursday.
“We will continue the march of liberation all the way to Kinshasa,” he added.
The offensive has heightened an already dire humanitarian crisis in the region, causing food and water shortages and forcing half a million people from their homes this month, the UN said.
Africa’s health agency warned that the “unnecessary war” in eastern DRC — a hotspot for infectious diseases including mpox — raised the risk of pandemic.
The DRC has accused Rwanda of waging an offensive to profit from the region’s mineral wealth.
A report by UN experts in July supported the claims, finding that Rwanda has thousands of troops in eastern DRC — and holds “de facto control” over the M23.
Rwanda has denied the accusations.
