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China Demands US Stop Trade Talks with Taiwan

Flags of Taiwan and US are placed for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan March 27, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Flags of Taiwan and US are placed for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan March 27, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
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China Demands US Stop Trade Talks with Taiwan

Flags of Taiwan and US are placed for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan March 27, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Flags of Taiwan and US are placed for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan March 27, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

China’s government on Thursday accused Washington of jeopardizing peace after US envoys began trade talks with Taiwan aimed at deepening relations with the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing.

Talks that started Wednesday cover trade, regulation and other areas based on “shared values” as market-oriented economies, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative. It did not mention China but the talks add to gestures that show US support for Taiwan amid menacing behavior by Beijing, which threatens to invade, The Associated Press said.

Trade dialogues “disrupt peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian. He called on Washington to “stop negotiating agreements with Taiwan that have sovereign connotations and official nature.”

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war that ended with the ruling Communist Party’s victory on the mainland. They have multibillion-dollar trade and investment ties but no official relations. Beijing says Taiwan has no right to conduct foreign relations.

The United States has diplomatic relations only with Beijing but extensive informal ties with Taiwan. The US government is committed by federal law to see that the island has the means to defend itself.

Zhao accused Washington of encouraging sentiment in Taiwan in favor of declaring formal independence, a step Beijing has said previously would be grounds for an invasion.

The trade initiative is “intended to develop concrete ways to deepen the economic and trade relationship” and “advance mutual trade priorities based on shared values,” said a statement by the office of USTR Katherine Tai.

Taiwan is the ninth-largest US trading partner and an important manufacturing center for computer chips and other high-tech products.

President Joe Biden said May 23 while visiting Tokyo that the United States would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan. He said the US commitment to help the island defend itself was “even stronger” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Tuesday, US Senator Tammy Duckworth met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and expressed support for the island during her second visit in a year to Taiwan.

On Monday, China sent 30 military aircraft toward Taiwan in the latest of a series of flights aimed at intimidating the island’s democratically elected government. Taiwan’s defense ministry said it sent up fighter planes and put air defense missile systems on alert.

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World

UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief Travels to Iran as Its Monitoring Remains Hampered

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi waits to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shakes hands at the prime minister's office in Tokyo Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP)
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi waits to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shakes hands at the prime minister's office in Tokyo Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP)
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UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief Travels to Iran as Its Monitoring Remains Hampered

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi waits to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shakes hands at the prime minister's office in Tokyo Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP)
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi waits to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shakes hands at the prime minister's office in Tokyo Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP)

The head of the United Nations' atomic watchdog will travel Monday to Iran, where his agency faces increasing difficulty in monitoring Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program as tensions remain high in the wider Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war.

Rafael Mariano Grossi already has warned Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make "several" nuclear bombs if it chose to do so. He has acknowledged the agency can't guarantee that none of Iran's centrifuges may have been peeled away for clandestine enrichment.

Those challenges now find themselves entangled in attacks between Israel and Iran, with the city of Isfahan apparently coming under Israeli fire in recent weeks despite it being surrounded by sensitive nuclear sites. Grossi is likely to attend an Iranian nuclear conference there while on his two-day trip to Iran.

"Problems will not disappear," Grossi told an International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors' meeting in March. "They will only get worse. So, we need to address this in a serious way."

Iranian media said Grossi would meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Monday afternoon after this arrival to Tehran. Grossi will travel to Isfahan on Tuesday before heading back to Vienna, where he plans to give an update to journalists there.

Tensions have grown between Iran and the IAEA since then-President Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. Since then, Iran has abandoned all limits the deal put on its program and enriches uranium to 60% purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90%.

IAEA surveillance cameras have been disrupted, while Iran has barred some of the agency’s most experienced inspectors.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials have increasingly threatened they could pursue atomic weapons.

"For us, making the atomic bomb is easier than not building an atomic bomb," said Mahmoud Reza Aghamiri, the chancellor of Tehran Shahid Beheshti University and a specialist in nuclear physics.

Iranian media quoted Aghamiri acknowledging Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had previously said making an atomic bomb is forbidden.

"But if his fatwa and viewpoint is changed, we have ability to build atomic bomb, too," Aghamiri added.

Aghamiri's comments follow a drumroll of others by Iranian lawmakers, those in its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and a former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran suggesting Tehran could build the bomb.

Iranian diplomats for years have pointed to Khamenei’s preachings as a binding fatwa, or religious edict, that Iran wouldn’t build an atomic bomb.

"We do not need nuclear bombs. We have no intention of using a nuclear bomb," Khamenei said in a November 2006 speech, according to a transcript from his office. "We do not claim to dominate the world, like the Americans, we do not want to dominate the world by force and need a nuclear bomb. Our nuclear bomb and explosive power is our faith."

But such edicts aren’t written in stone. Khamenei’s predecessor, Khomeini, issued fatwas that revised his own earlier pronouncements after he took power following the 1979 revolution. And anyone who would follow the 85-year-old Khamenei as the country’s supreme leader could make his own fatwas revising those previously issued.

Meanwhile, tensions between Iran and Israel have hit a new high. Tehran launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel after years of a shadow war between the two countries reached a climax with Israel's apparent attack on an Iranian consular building in Syria killed two Iranian generals and others.

Israel's own nuclear weapons program, widely known by experts though never acknowledged by the country, didn't deter Iran's assault. And now experts increasingly suggest Iran could pursue the bomb itself after a major attack on it.

"With a tiny open attack on Iranian soil by the US and Israel, I believe Iran will conduct its first atomic test," analyst Saeed Leilaz said in April.

World

Macron Sets Ukraine as Top Priority as China’s Xi Jinping Pays a State Visit to France

Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, April 6, 2023. (Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, April 6, 2023. (Reuters)
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Macron Sets Ukraine as Top Priority as China’s Xi Jinping Pays a State Visit to France

Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, April 6, 2023. (Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, April 6, 2023. (Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron will press China's Xi Jinping to use his influence to move Russia toward ending the war in Ukraine during a two-day state visit to France. The leaders are also expected to discuss trade disputes over electric cars and cosmetics.

Macron’s office said talks about diplomatic efforts to support Ukraine and put pressure on Russia are a top priority for France. Discussions will also include the Middle East, trade issues and global challenges including climate change. The European Commission president will join part of the meetings to raise broader EU concerns.

France is the first stop on a European trip by Xi aimed at rebuilding relations at a time of global tensions. After France on Monday and Tuesday, the Chinese leader will head to Serbia and Hungary.

France hopes the discussions will help convince China to use its leverage with Moscow to "contribute to a resolution of the conflict" in Ukraine, according to a French presidential official. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently announced plans to visit China this month.

Macron will press Xi over supplies from Chinese companies supporting the Russian war effort despite EU sanctions, he said. China claims neutrality in the Ukraine conflict.

France also wants China to maintain a dialogue with Kyiv, added the official, who was not authorized to be identified according to presidential policy.

Last year, Macron appealed to Xi to "bring Russia to its senses," but the call was not followed by any apparent change in Beijing's stance.

"French authorities are pursuing two objectives that are ultimately contradictory," Marc Julienne, director of the Center for Asian Studies at the French Institute of International Relations, wrote in a briefing note. "On the one hand, to convince Xi that it's in his interest to help Europeans to put pressure on Vladimir Putin to end the war and, on the other hand, to dissuade the Chinese president from delivering arms to his Russian friend.

"In short, we think that Xi can help us, but at the same time we fear that he could help Putin," Julienne wrote.

As France prepares to host the Summer Olympics, Macron said he would ask Xi to use his influence to make the Games "a diplomatic moment of peace" and respect the Olympic Truce.

On Monday in Paris, Xi will first join a meeting with Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Macron has coordinated with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who recently visited China and came to Paris last week for a private dinner with the French president.

German government spokesperson Wolfgang Buechner said Friday that Scholz in China had "clearly said that the question of over-capacity and competition though subsidies needs to be addressed."

The EU launched an investigation last fall into Chinese subsidies and could impose tariffs on electric vehicles exported from China.

The discussions will also be closely watched from Washington, just one month before President Joe Biden is expected to pay his own state visit to France.

Xi's visit to Paris marks the 60th anniversary of France-China diplomatic relations, and follows Macron’s trip to China in April 2023. Macron prompted controversy on that trip after he said France wouldn’t blindly follow the US in getting involved in crises that are not of its concern, an apparent reference to China’s demands for unification with Taiwan.

Monday's welcome ceremony is to take place at the Invalides monument before bilateral talks at the Elysee presidential palace. Macron and Xi will conclude a nearby French-Chinese economic forum and then join their wives for a state dinner.

The second day of the visit is meant to be a more personal moment.

Macron has invited Xi to visit Tuesday the Tourmalet Pass in the Pyrenees mountains, where the French leader spent time as a child to see his grandmother. The trip is meant to be a reciprocal gesture after Xi took Macron last year to the residence of the governor of Guangdong province, where his father once lived.

World

Report: Italy Calls for Ukraine Truce, Peace Talks with Putin

Smoke ascends following shelling in the area of Ocheretyne in the Donetsk region, on May 5, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
Smoke ascends following shelling in the area of Ocheretyne in the Donetsk region, on May 5, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Report: Italy Calls for Ukraine Truce, Peace Talks with Putin

Smoke ascends following shelling in the area of Ocheretyne in the Donetsk region, on May 5, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
Smoke ascends following shelling in the area of Ocheretyne in the Donetsk region, on May 5, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

Italy's Defense Minister said on Monday economic sanctions against Russia had failed and called on the West to try harder to negotiate a diplomatic solution with President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

Guido Crosetto told daily Il Messaggero that the West had wrongly believed its sanctions could stop Russia's aggression, but it had overestimated its economic influence in the world.

"Instead ... the only way to resolve this crisis is to involve everyone, first (to obtain) a truce and then peace," Crosetto said.

In answer to the interviewer's objection that Putin had shown no willingness to negotiate, Crosetto replied: "That is a good reason for us to try harder. We mustn't give up any possible path of diplomacy, however narrow."

However, Crosetto defended Italy's decision to continue to send arms to Ukraine, saying this was aimed at obtaining "the time and the conditions to achieve a truce and peace."

Italy this year holds the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven major democracies.

In other remarks, Crosetto said that if Russian troops were to occupy Kyiv, it would "inevitably lead to a clash with other nations, which would not accept Russian tanks on their borders."

The Italian minister also said that Ukraine's counter-offensive against Russia last summer had been a mistake given Russia's military superiority.

Crosetto said he had personally warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that it was doomed to failure, "but I wasn't listened to."

World

North Korea Bolsters Leader Kim with Birthday Loyalty Oaths

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches a football game while visiting Kim Il Sung Military University on the occasion of the 92nd founding anniversary of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 25, 2024, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches a football game while visiting Kim Il Sung Military University on the occasion of the 92nd founding anniversary of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 25, 2024, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)
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North Korea Bolsters Leader Kim with Birthday Loyalty Oaths

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches a football game while visiting Kim Il Sung Military University on the occasion of the 92nd founding anniversary of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 25, 2024, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches a football game while visiting Kim Il Sung Military University on the occasion of the 92nd founding anniversary of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 25, 2024, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)

For the first time since leader Kim Jong Un took power in 2011, North Koreans were asked to take loyalty oaths on his birthday, a South Korean research institute said, amid other steps the country is taking to solidify his rule.
The loyalty oaths, which Reuters could not independently verify, were administered on what is believed to have been Kim's 40th birthday on January 8, according to the South and North Development Institute (SAND), a Seoul-based organization that released photos of the oath in an ornate folder on Friday.
North Korea has never officially confirmed Kim's birth date, and traditionally such oath ceremonies have been held on the anniversaries of the birthdays of his father and grandfather, the nuclear-armed country's previous rulers.
"Kim Jong Un's choice to host a loyalty oath ceremony on his 40th birthday, as he begins his 13th year in power, signals a shift towards political assertiveness, departing from his predecessors' approach," SAND said in an analysis.
SAND's president, Choi Kyong-hui, told Reuters North Korea could move to designate Kim's birthday as an official anniversary as soon as next year.
The Kim family dynasty has ruled the country since its founding after World War Two, strengthening their grip on power by building cults of personality around them.
For the first time this year, North Korea stopped referring to the April 15 birth anniversary of founding leader Kim Il Sung as the "Day of the Sun," according to a Western tour agency that has partners in Pyongyang, and analysts who study state media.
"We should view this as part of North Korea’s effort to further bolster Kim Jong Un's leadership propaganda campaign," Rachel Minyoung Lee of the Washington-based 38 North program, said of the decision to drop "Day of the Sun."
She noted that while such efforts are not new, they happen in phases over the years, with North Korea visibly accelerating efforts to play up Kim’s leadership in certain years.
Kim has also been showing off his daughter at official visits to everything from factories to missile launches, in what analysts said is aimed at bolstering the family's claim to power.
Last month North Korea released a new song featuring North Koreans of different backgrounds ranging from children to troops and medical staff exuberantly belting out lines such as: "Let's sing, Kim Jong Un the great leader" and "Let's brag about Kim Jong Un, a friendly father".

World

Russia Says to Practice Tactical Nuclear Weapon Scenario to Deter West

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia, 05 May 2024. Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter on 05 May. EPA/VALERIY SHARIFULIN / KREMLIN POOL
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia, 05 May 2024. Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter on 05 May. EPA/VALERIY SHARIFULIN / KREMLIN POOL
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Russia Says to Practice Tactical Nuclear Weapon Scenario to Deter West

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia, 05 May 2024. Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter on 05 May. EPA/VALERIY SHARIFULIN / KREMLIN POOL
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia, 05 May 2024. Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter on 05 May. EPA/VALERIY SHARIFULIN / KREMLIN POOL

Russia on Monday said it would hold a military exercise that will include practice for the use of tactical nuclear weapons after what the defense ministry said were provocative threats from Western officials.
The defense ministry said the exercise was ordered by President Vladimir Putin and would test the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to perform combat missions, Reuters said.
The military drills will include practice for the preparation and deployment for use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, the defense ministry said. Missile formations in the Southern Military District and naval forces will take part.
"During the exercise, a set of measures will be carried out to practice the issues of preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons," the defense ministry said.
Russia has the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons.
The exercise is aimed at ensuring Russia's territorial integrity and sovereignty "in response to provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against the Russian Federation", the ministry said.
Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine touched off the worst breakdown in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, according to Russian and US diplomats.
Russia casts the war as a battle with the West, which Putin says ignored Moscow's attempt at friendship after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union and sought to grab control of Ukraine while enlarging the NATO military alliance eastwards.
The West and Ukraine say they will not rest until Russian forces are defeated, and cast the war as an imperial-style land grab aimed at forcing the country back into Moscow's orbit.

World

Life ‘On Hold’ for Family of French National Detained in Iran

Cécile Kohler, the French teacher detained since May 7, 2022 in Iran with her partner (AFP)
Cécile Kohler, the French teacher detained since May 7, 2022 in Iran with her partner (AFP)
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Life ‘On Hold’ for Family of French National Detained in Iran

Cécile Kohler, the French teacher detained since May 7, 2022 in Iran with her partner (AFP)
Cécile Kohler, the French teacher detained since May 7, 2022 in Iran with her partner (AFP)

The life of Noémie Kohler has been put on hold since her sister, Cécile Kohler, was detained on May 7, 2022 in Iran with her partner.
“We’re constantly anxious because we know where my sister is, we know she's being held in extremely difficult conditions, but we see almost no progress in her case,” the 34-year-old graphic designer told AFP.
On Tuesday, the family of Cécile will mark the second anniversary of the day she disappeared from their lives. Cécile, a French teacher, was on holiday in Iran with her partner Jacques Paris when she was detained on charges of espionage. Her sister still hopes for her release.
Last September, the Iranian judiciary announced that the investigation of Kohler and Paris had concluded and that the case had been referred to a court, where the two will go on trial.
Since the detention of Cécile, life has been “on hold” without any glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, says Noémie.
From prison, Cécile has been able to make short phone calls to her family almost every three weeks, but under strict surveillance.
“We are waiting for her calls, but we are also eager for news from the Quai d'Orsay,” the headquarters of the French Foreign Ministry in Paris, which keeps them regularly informed, Noémie says.
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné had a meeting on 31 January with the families of four French compatriots who have been arbitrarily held in Iran for months. Noémie also spoke of letters she exchanged with French President Emmanuel Macron about the situation of her sister.
However, the family is kept in the dark when it comes to any possible negotiations between Paris and Tehran.
“The phone call we are eager to receive is the one telling us Cécile is on the plane back home and that she already left Iranian airspace,” the sister says.
According to the sister, Cécile made the last call to her mother on April 13. "They spoke for three or four minutes. Cécile seemed exhausted and she said 'I can't take it anymore.' But she tried to reassure her family by saying: 'Hold on, be strong, I'm holding on.”
After several months of complete isolation, Cécile is now placed in a 9 meter square cell with other women. She is allowed three 30-minute outings a week and is possibly sleeping on a blanket on the floor, her sister says.
Her companion, Jacques Paris, is held in the same prison, but in the men's section, also under very strict conditions.
“The couple hasn’t met for the past year and a half. But since Christmas, the two meet for a few minutes when they contact us,” Noémie said.

World

Philippines, US Repel Mock Foreign Invaders in Annual Military Exercises

US soldiers fire 155mm and 105mm Howitzers during a live fire exercise in the annual joint military exercises between US and Philippine troops called "Balikatan" or shoulder-to-shoulder, at Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, May 6, 2024. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez
US soldiers fire 155mm and 105mm Howitzers during a live fire exercise in the annual joint military exercises between US and Philippine troops called "Balikatan" or shoulder-to-shoulder, at Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, May 6, 2024. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez
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Philippines, US Repel Mock Foreign Invaders in Annual Military Exercises

US soldiers fire 155mm and 105mm Howitzers during a live fire exercise in the annual joint military exercises between US and Philippine troops called "Balikatan" or shoulder-to-shoulder, at Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, May 6, 2024. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez
US soldiers fire 155mm and 105mm Howitzers during a live fire exercise in the annual joint military exercises between US and Philippine troops called "Balikatan" or shoulder-to-shoulder, at Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, May 6, 2024. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

US and Philippine armed forces fired missiles and artillery to thwart a simulated invasion in the Philippines' northern waters facing Taiwan on Monday, in a show of military force and strengthening ties as regional tensions rise.
About 200 soldiers took turns defending the shores of the coastal city of Laoag in Ilocos province, launching Javelin missiles and firing howitzers and machine guns to repel an unnamed enemy trying to storm the beach, said Reuters.
US and Filipino military personnel sank five floating pontoons standing in for amphibious landing ships as part of their annual exercises called Balikatan, or "shoulder-to-shoulder".
The annual drills, which involve about 16,000 Filipino and American troops and began last month, will run until May 10. They come at a time of escalating tensions between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea.
Last week, the Philippines accused China of using water cannons against their vessels around the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which damaged naval vessels and injured people onboard.
On Monday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said his country would not retaliate in kind, saying the Philippines did not want to raise tensions.
The exercises have irked China, which has warned of destabilization when countries outside the region "flex muscles and stoke confrontation".
Several of the drills this year were set in islands and provinces facing Taiwan and the South China Sea. Laoag City is about 408 km (254 miles) from Taiwan's southernmost point.
'NOT FOR MESSAGING'
US Marines Lieutenant General Michael Cederholm, commander of joint task force Balikatan, told reporters on Monday the exercises were meant to improve how the forces operate alongside each other and were not directed against a specific adversary.
"We don't do this for any third party. We don't do this for messaging. We do this to create interoperability," Cederholm said, without mentioning China.
The main exercises will culminate with a "maritime strike" on Wednesday, in which the combined forces of the Philippines and the United States will sink a decommissioned Philippine navy ship. The annual drills will officially end on Friday.
Other exercises have included simulations of retaking occupied islands and a multilateral sail with France and Australia in the South China Sea, inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
Security engagements between Manila and Washington have increased under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has allowed Americans to access more Philippine bases under an enhanced defense cooperation agreement, including facilities close to Taiwan and facing the South China Sea.
The United States and Philippines also began joint patrols in the South China Sea last year.
US officials, including President Joe Biden, have affirmed its "ironclad" commitment to defend the Philippines against any armed attack under their 1951 mutual defense treaty.

World

Boy Shot Dead After Perth Stabbing Was in Deradicalization Program, but No Ties Seen to Sydney Teens

Police and security staff stand in front of the Sydney Opera House on January 14, 2016. (File photo: Reuters)
Police and security staff stand in front of the Sydney Opera House on January 14, 2016. (File photo: Reuters)
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Boy Shot Dead After Perth Stabbing Was in Deradicalization Program, but No Ties Seen to Sydney Teens

Police and security staff stand in front of the Sydney Opera House on January 14, 2016. (File photo: Reuters)
Police and security staff stand in front of the Sydney Opera House on January 14, 2016. (File photo: Reuters)

A 16-year-old boy who was shot dead by police after stabbing a man in the Australian west coast city of Perth had been in a deradicalization program but had no links to an alleged network of teen extremists in the east coast city of Sydney, authorities said.

The boy had participated in the federally funded Countering Violent Extremism program for two years but had no criminal record, Western Australia Police Minister Paul Papalia said Monday.

“The challenge we confront with people like the 16-year-old in this incident is that he’s known to hold views that are dangerous and potentially he could be radicalized,” Papalia told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “... but the problem with individuals like this is they can act at short notice without warning and be very dangerous.”

On the potential for the boy to have been radicalized, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was concerned by social media pushing extreme positions, The AP reported.

“It’s a dynamic that isn’t just an issue for government. It’s an issue for our entire society, whether it be violent extremism, misogyny and violence against women. It is an issue that of course I’m concerned about,” Albanese told reporters.

Western Australia Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the boy had phoned police late Saturday saying he was about to commit “acts of violence” but did not say where. Minutes later, a member of the public reported to police seeing the boy with a knife in a hardware store parking lot.

Three police officers responded, one armed with a gun and two with stun guns. Police deployed both stun guns but they failed to incapacitate the boy before he was killed by a single gunshot, Blanch said.

The stabbing victim is a man in his 30s who was wounded in his back. He was in serious but stable condition at a Perth hospital, police said.

Blanch said members of the local Muslim community had raised concerns with police about the boy’s behavior before he was killed on Saturday.

Police said the stabbing had the hallmarks of a terrorist attack but have not declared it as such. Factors that can influence that decision include whether state police need federal resources, including the Australian Security Intelligence Organization domestic spy agency.

Blanch said the Western Australia Police Force investigation did not need additional federal resources and he was confidence the situation was different from the one in Sydney.

“We are dealing with complex issues, both mental health issues but also online radicalization issues,” Blanch said Sunday. “But we believe he very much is acting alone and we do not have concerns at this time that there is an ongoing network or other concerns that might have been seen over in Sydney."

New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb had declared the stabbings of an Assyrian Orthodox bishop and priest in a Sydney church on April 15 as a terrorist act within hours. The boy arrested was later charged with committing a terrorist act. In the subsequent investigation, six more teenagers were charged with terror-related offenses.

Police alleged all seven were part of a network that “adhered to a religiously motivated, violent extremist ideology.”

Some Muslim leaders have criticized Australian police for declaring last month’s church stabbing a terrorist act but not a rampage two days earlier in a Sydney shopping mall in which six people were killed and a dozen wounded. The 40-year-old attacker was shot dead by police.

The man had a history of schizophrenia and most of the victims he targeted were women. Police have yet to reveal the man’s motive.

The church attack is only the third to be classified by Australian authorities as a terrorist act since 2018.

In December 2022, three Christian fundamentalists shot dead two police officers and a bystander in an ambush near the community of Wieambilla in Queensland state. The shooters were later killed by police.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

World

Afghanistan’s Only Female Diplomat Resigns in India After Gold Smuggling Allegations

She was appointed consul-general of Afghanistan in Mumbai during the former government and was the first Afghan female diplomat to collaborate with the Taliban. (Viral Photo)
She was appointed consul-general of Afghanistan in Mumbai during the former government and was the first Afghan female diplomat to collaborate with the Taliban. (Viral Photo)
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Afghanistan’s Only Female Diplomat Resigns in India After Gold Smuggling Allegations

She was appointed consul-general of Afghanistan in Mumbai during the former government and was the first Afghan female diplomat to collaborate with the Taliban. (Viral Photo)
She was appointed consul-general of Afghanistan in Mumbai during the former government and was the first Afghan female diplomat to collaborate with the Taliban. (Viral Photo)

An Afghan diplomat in India, who was appointed before the Taliban seized power in 2021 and said she was the only woman in the country’s diplomatic service, has resigned after reports emerged of her being detained for allegedly smuggling gold.

Zakia Wardak, the Afghan consul-general for Mumbai, announced her resignation on her official account on the social media platform X on Saturday after Indian media reported last week that she was briefly detained at the city’s airport on allegations of smuggling 25 bricks of gold, each weighing 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds).

According to Indian media reports, she has not been arrested because of her diplomatic immunity.

In a statement, Wardak made no mention of her reported detention or gold smuggling allegations but said, “I am deeply sorry that as the only woman present in Afghanistan’s diplomatic apparatus, instead of receiving constructive support to maintain this position, I faced waves of organized attacks aimed at destroying me.”

“Over the past year, I have encountered numerous personal attacks and defamation not only directed towards myself but also towards her close family and extended relatives,” she added.

Wardak said the attacks have “severely impacted my ability to effectively operate in my role and have demonstrated the challenges faced by women in Afghan society.”

The Taliban Foreign Ministry did not immediately return calls for comment on Wardak’s resignation. It wasn’t immediately possible to confirm whether she was the country’s only female diplomat.

She was appointed consul-general of Afghanistan in Mumbai during the former government and was the first Afghan female diplomat to collaborate with the Taliban.

The Taliban — who took over Afghanistan in 2021 during the final weeks of US and NATO withdrawal from the country — have barred women from most areas of public life and stopped girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade as part of harsh measures they imposed despite initial promises of a more moderate rule.

They are also restricting women’s access to work, travel and health care if they are unmarried or don’t have a male guardian, and arresting those who don’t comply with the Taliban’s interpretation of hijab, or Islamic headscarf.

World

France Opens Probe of TotalEnergies over 2021 Mozambique Attack

French prosecutors said on May 4, 2024 they were investigating oil giant TotalEnergies for possible involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2021 militant attack in Mozambique, following a legal complaint brought by victims' families and attack survivors. © Christophe Archambault, AFP
French prosecutors said on May 4, 2024 they were investigating oil giant TotalEnergies for possible involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2021 militant attack in Mozambique, following a legal complaint brought by victims' families and attack survivors. © Christophe Archambault, AFP
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France Opens Probe of TotalEnergies over 2021 Mozambique Attack

French prosecutors said on May 4, 2024 they were investigating oil giant TotalEnergies for possible involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2021 militant attack in Mozambique, following a legal complaint brought by victims' families and attack survivors. © Christophe Archambault, AFP
French prosecutors said on May 4, 2024 they were investigating oil giant TotalEnergies for possible involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2021 militant attack in Mozambique, following a legal complaint brought by victims' families and attack survivors. © Christophe Archambault, AFP

French prosecutors said Saturday they were investigating oil giant TotalEnergies for possible involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2021 militant attack in Mozambique that killed hundreds.

The probe follows a legal complaint brought by victims’ families and attack survivors, accusing the French energy company, which was developing a major liquefied gas project in the region, of failing to protect its subcontractors, the prosecutors’ office told AFP.

The survivors and families say TotalEnergies also failed to provide fuel so that helicopters could evacuate civilians after ISIS-linked militants killed dozens of people in the Mozambican port town of Palma on March 24, 2021.

The entire attack in Cabo Delgado province lasted several days, claiming several hundred lives. Some of the victims were beheaded and thousands fled their homes.

Contacted by AFP Saturday, a TotalEnergies spokesman reiterated a previous statement saying it “firmly rejects the accusations”.

He said the company’s Mozambique teams had supplied emergency aid and made the evacuation of 2,500 people from the plant possible, including civilians, staff, contractors and sub-contractors.

The French investigation also seeks to establish whether TotalEnergies is guilty of non-assistance to people in danger, prosecutors said.

Seven British and South African complainants – three survivors and four relatives of victims – accuse TotalEnergies of failing to take steps to ensure the safety of subcontractors even before the assault.

The Al-Shabab group – unrelated to the Somali group of the same name – which carried out the attack had been active in Cabo Delgado province since 2017 and drawing ever closer to Palma.

“The danger was known,” said the complainants lawyer Henri Thulliez in 2023 at the time of the lawsuit.

Depending on the outcome of the preliminary probe, the case would either be dropped, or the investigation intensified with a view to bringing possible charges, they said.