NICOSIA: The president of Cyprus said Sunday his administration is committed to expanding defense and security cooperation with the US, as his meeting with American President Joe Biden last week charted a course for the “next ambitious steps” in bilateral relations that are currently at a “historic high.”
President Nikos Christodoulides says his government’s “clear foreign policy orientation” has resulted in deepening the Cyprus-US strategic partnership over the first 18 months of his five-year term in fields including law enforcement cooperation on countering money laundering and sanctions evasion, as well as energy.
A centerpiece of that security cooperation is the US-funded center for port and maritime security known by its acronym CYCLOPS where officials from neighboring countries including Libya, Yemen and Lebanon, receive key training ranging from cybersecurity to ship inspections.
Christodoulides said his Oct. 30 visit to the White House “is proof and recognition of the geostrategic role of Cyprus and the country’s potential and capabilities.”
“Cyprus can be a reliable ‘port of stability’ and at the same time a country that has a vision to transform its immediate region, alongside its partners, into a region of promise, stability, cooperation and prosperity,” Christodoulides said in an email response to an Associated Press questionnaire.
The Cypriot president said his administration is “certainly considering” procuring US-made weapons following the 2020 lifting of a decades-long arms embargo. But what must precede such purchases is for the US Congress to lift its embargo for an extended period. Currently, that is renewed annually.
Christodoulides said Cyprus’ geostrategic role is highlighted by the fact that since Sept. 27, some 3,635 third-country nationals from 29 countries have been repatriated through the island nation following their evacuation from Lebanon. He said several countries consider Cyprus an “assisted departure hub and a Temporary Safe Location (TSL)” where the island’s ports, airports and designated temporary accommodations are used for civilian or military-led departures. He did not specify those countries.
He said Cyprus is ready to respond if and when a mass evacuation from Lebanon is set in motion.
Another key initiative for which Cyprus has gained international plaudits and was singled out by Biden is the so-called Amalthea plan that saw the establishment of the Cyprus-Gaza maritime corridor through which some 20,000 metric tons of aid flowed into the Palestinian territory earlier this year.
Most of that aid reached Gaza through a US-built, $230 million temporary pier project that lasted about four months after being beset by turbulent weather, security threats and sweeping personnel restrictions.
Christodoulides said work is underway in cooperation with the US, the UK, the United Arab Emirates, and the European Union, to re-activate the maritime route to Gaza through the Israeli port of Ashdod. Collected aid will be security-screened in Cyprus and shipped to Ashdod “for swift onward delivery to Gaza.”
“We maintain excellent, longstanding relations with our neighboring countries, underpinned by trust, and we have consistently acted as the region’s voice in the European Union, and as a reliable interlocutor and partner with all the states of the region,” Christodoulides said.
On his decision to invite FBI and US Department of Justice officials to help Cypriot law enforcement to halt Russian sanctions evasion through Cypriot lawyers and accountants, Christodoulides said, “we are strongly determined to clear our country’s name internationally and prove that Cyprus is a state fully aligned with the principles and values of the West.”
He said “several cases” of possible sanctions evasion are under investigation” and the aim is to bring them to justice as quickly as possible.”
Regarding energy cooperation, Christodoulides said the fact that both US energy giants ExxonMobil and Chevron are active in the search for hydrocarbons in Cyprus’ offshore economic zone is “a vote of confidence” in the island nation.
He said next year will be a “milestone” for both energy companies. ExxonMobil and partner QatarEnergy, which discovered a sizeable natural gas deposit in one of two areas, or blocks, they hold exploration licenses for, are scheduled to drill two additional wells in January of next year.
Chevron is expected to complete fine-tuning a revised development plan for its Aphrodite gas field, estimated to hold around 4.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
“As the first gas from the Aphrodite is directed to the market, this automatically makes Cyprus a gas seller, which is extremely important not only in monetary terms but also for geopolitical reasons,” said Christodoulides.
Cyprus is committed to expanding defense ties with the US, says president
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Cyprus is committed to expanding defense ties with the US, says president
- Centerpiece of security cooperation is the US-funded center for port and maritime security known by its acronym CYCLOPS
- Officials from neighboring countries including Libya, Yemen, and Lebanon, receive key training ranging from cybersecurity to ship inspections
Asian countries mark 20 years since the world’s deadliest tsunami
- Indonesia launched its early tsunami warning system in the aftermath of the 2004 disasters
- Its westernmost Aceh province was the hardest-hit, with some 170,000 people killed
JAKARTA: Herman Wiharta began that Sunday morning like many 11-year-olds would on a weekend: watching cartoon shows on TV.
But at around 8 a.m., he felt the powerful tremors from a 9.1-magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, which then triggered the tsunami that inundated the coastline of more than a dozen countries and killed some 230,000 people.
Wiharta, now 31, recalled his brother calling out to him to leave their house in Banda Aceh minutes after the quake and how they had attempted to run to safety. He remembered hearing people scream about the rising sea water before he himself was swept away by a giant wave.
“I lost consciousness when the wave hit me and I woke up on a roof, confused. Thankfully, my brother and sister were also on that roof,” he told Arab News.
“We were able to see just how black the water was from that spot, how strong the currents were. The water was about 4 to 5 meters high; cars and motorbikes were floating, and I could see bodies being swept away by the currents, too. It was terrifying.”
The tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004 quickly escalated into a global disaster, with some 1.7 million displaced.
The brunt of the tsunami was felt in Indonesia, where almost 170,000 people perished. The country’s westernmost province of Aceh was the hardest-hit of all, while Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were among the worst-affected countries.
“It was impossible to sleep that night. We could still hear people screaming for help and the dogs were howling. Everything was just so eerie. The disasters happened so quickly, but they were deeply traumatizing,” Wiharta said.
“It was even worse the day after. We could see bloated human and animal corpses, and the smell was just terrible. I can still picture that scene in my mind to this day.”
Across Asia on Thursday, people attended ceremonies and memorials held to mark 20 years since the deadliest tsunami in recorded history.
Coastal communities were united in grief as they also commemorated how far they had come after two decades of rebuilding and regrouping.
In Sri Lanka, where more than 35,000 people were killed, survivors and relatives gathered in the coastal village of Peraliya to remember the 1,000 victims who died when waves derailed a passenger train.
In Thailand, where half of the death toll of 5,000 were foreign tourists, commemorations were held in Ban Nam Khem, the country’s worst-hit village. People laid flowers and wreaths at a wall curved in the shape of a tsunami, which also bears plaques with the names of the victims.
In India, where around 20,000 people perished, women led the rituals held at Pattinapakkam beach in Chennai, where they lit candles and offered flowers for the victims.
In Banda Aceh city, an official ceremony held at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque began with a three-minute-long siren at the exact time the major earthquake caused giant waves. People also gathered for prayers at the city’s mass graves — Ulee Lheue and Siron — where thousands of unidentified and unclaimed tsunami victims are buried.
In the years since, infrastructure across Aceh has been rebuilt and is now stronger to withstand major disasters. Early warning systems have also been set up in areas closer to shores, to warn residents of a potential tsunami.
Indonesia’s early tsunami warning system was launched only in 2008 in the aftermath of the disasters, said Daryono, the head of the earthquake and tsunami center at Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysical agency.
“Before the 2004 Aceh earthquake and tsunami … there were too many people who did not understand the threat, or the danger and risks of a tsunami,” Daryono told Arab News.
“But what happened in 2004 became a starting point to raise awareness on earthquake and tsunami mitigation and also to develop high-tech monitoring for earthquakes and early tsunami warning systems.”
Yet Aceh resident Wiharta was concerned with the direction of development in the province, particularly on the beaches of Aceh Besar district where many new cafes have been popping up in recent years.
“It’s important not to cut down the trees for the sake of building these cafes. It’s better to plant more trees, especially mangroves, so that they can help defend against potential tsunamis,” he said.
“I think the early warning systems also need to be fixed or reset to make sure that they are properly working for early evacuations, since many are either broken or stolen.”
Record number of migrants lost at sea bound for Spain in 2024: NGO
- The vast majority of the fatalities — 9,757 — took place on the Atlantic migration route from Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands
MADRID: At least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain by sea in 2024, an NGO said Thursday, more than 50 percent more than last year and the most since it began keeping a tally in 2007.
The 58-percent increase includes 1,538 children and 421 women, migrants rights group Caminando Fronteras or Walking Borders said in a report which covers the period from January 1 to December 5, 2024.
It amounts to an average of 30 deaths per day, up from around 18 in 2023.
The group compiles its data from hotlines set up for migrants on vessels in trouble to call for help, families of migrants who went missing and from official rescue statistics.
It blamed the use of flimsy boats and increasingly dangerous routes as well as the insufficient capacity of maritime rescue services for the surge in deaths.
“These figures are evidence of a profound failure of rescue and protection systems. More than 10,400 people dead or missing in a single year is an unacceptable tragedy,” the group’s founder, Helena Maleno, said in a statement.
The victims were from 28 nations, mostly in Africa, but also from Iraq and Pakistan.
The vast majority of the fatalities — 9,757 — took place on the Atlantic migration route from Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands, which has received a record number of migrants for the second year in a row.
Seven migrant boats landed in the archipelago on Wednesday, Christmas Day, Spain’s maritime rescue service said on social media site X.
At their closest point, the Canaries lie 100 kilometers (62 miles) off the coast of North Africa. The shortest route is between the coastal town of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and the island of Fuerteventura in the Canaries.
But the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands is particularly dangerous because of strong currents.
Along with Italy and Greece, Spain is one of the three major European gateways for migrant arrivals.
According to the interior ministry, 60,216 migrants entered Spain irregularly between January 1 and December 15 — a 14.5 percent increase over the same time last year.
The majority, over 70 percent, landed in the Canaries.
Pope Francis opens special ‘Holy Door’ for Catholic Jubilee at Rome prison
- Francis opened the Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, on Tuesday
- A Catholic Jubilee is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon
ROME: Pope Francis made a visit on Thursday to one of the largest prison complexes in Italy, opening a special “Holy Door” for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, in what the Vatican said was the first such action by a Catholic pontiff.
Speaking to hundreds of inmates, guards and staff at the Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome, Francis said he wanted to open the door, part of the prison chapel, and one of only five that will be open during the Holy Year, to show that “hope does not disappoint.”
“In bad moments, we can all think that everything is over,” said the pontiff. “Do not lose hope. This is the message I wanted to give you. Do not lose hope.”
Francis opened the Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, on Tuesday. A Catholic Jubilee is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon. This Jubilee, dedicated to the theme of hope, will run through Jan. 6, 2026.
Holy Years normally occur every 25 years, and usually involve the opening in Rome of four special “Holy Doors,” which symbolize the door of salvation for Catholics. The doors, located at the papal basilicas in Rome, are only open during Jubilee years.
The Vatican said the opening of the “Holy Door” at Rome’s Rebibbia prison was the first time such a door had been opened by a pope at a prison since the start of the Jubilee year tradition by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300.
Francis has shown special attention for the incarcerated over his 11-year papacy. He often visits prisons in Rome and on his foreign trips.
China urges Philippines to return to ‘peaceful development’
- The US Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year
BEIJING: China’s foreign ministry on Thursday urged the Philippines to return to “peaceful development,” saying Manila’s decision to deploy a US medium-range missile system in military exercises would only bring the risks of an arms race in the region.
The US Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year.
On Tuesday, Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro said the Typhon’s deployment for joint exercises was “legitimate, legal and beyond reproach.” Army chief Roy Galido said on Monday that the Philippines was also planning to acquire its own mid-range missile system.
Rivalry between China and the Philippines has grown in recent years over their competing claims in the South China Sea. Longtime treaty allies Manila and Washington have also deepened military ties, further ratcheting up tensions.
“By cooperating with the United States in the introduction of Typhon, the Philippine side has surrendered its own security and national defense to others and introduced the risk of geopolitical confrontation and an arms race in the region, posing a substantial threat to regional peace and security,” said Mao Ning, a spokesperson at China’s foreign ministry.
“We once again advise the Philippine side that the only correct choice for safeguarding its security is to adhere to strategic autonomy, good neighborliness and peaceful development,” Mao told reporters at a regular press conference.
China will never sit idly by if its security interests were threatened, she added.
The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, which is also claimed by several Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines.
Russia says it foils Ukrainian plots to kill senior officers with disguised bombs
- The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that the Russian citizens had been recruited by the Ukrainian intelligence services
MOSCOW: Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Thursday it had foiled several plots by Ukrainian intelligence services to kill high-ranking Russian officers and their families in Moscow using bombs disguised as power banks or document folders.
On Dec. 17, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service killed Lt. Gen. Kirillov, chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, in Moscow outside his apartment building by detonating a bomb attached to an electric scooter.
An SBU source confirmed to Reuters that the Ukrainian intelligence agency had been behind the hit. Russia said the killing was a terrorist attack by Ukraine, with which it has been at war since February 2022, and vowed revenge.
“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has prevented a series of assassination attempts on high-ranking military personnel of the Defense Ministry,” the FSB said.
“Four Russian citizens involved in the preparation of these attacks have been detained,” it said in a statement.
Ukraine’s SBU did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that the Russian citizens had been recruited by the Ukrainian intelligence services.
One of the men retrieved a bomb disguised as a portable charger in Moscow that was to be attached with magnets to the car of one of the Defense Ministry’s top officials, the FSB said.
Another Russian man was tasked with reconnaissance of senior Russian defense officials, it said, with one plot involving the delivery of a bomb disguised as a document folder.
“An explosive device disguised as a portable charger (power bank), with magnets attached, had to be placed under the official car of one of the senior leaders of the Russian Defense Ministry,” it said.
The exact date of the planned attacks was unclear though one of the suspects said he had retrieved a bomb on Dec. 23, according to the FSB.
Russian state TV showed what it said was footage of some of the suspects who admitted to being recruited by Ukrainian intelligence for bombings against Russian defense ministry officials.
Moscow holds Ukraine responsible for a string of high-profile assassinations on its soil designed to weaken morale — and says the West is supporting a “terrorist regime” in Kyiv.
Ukraine, which says Russia’s war against it poses an existential threat to the Ukrainian state, has made clear it regards such targeted killings as a legitimate tool.
Darya Dugina, the 29-year-old daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, was killed in August 2022 near Moscow. The New York Times reported that
US intelligence agencies
believe parts of the Ukrainian government authorized the killing.
US officials later admonished Ukrainian officials over the assassination, the Times said. Ukraine denied it killed Dugina.
