In Germany, local politics holds up weapons for Ukraine

A German Army soldier prepares practice ammunition for a self-propelled howitzer 2000 tank during NATO artillery exercise in southern Germany on July 20, 2022. (AFP/File)
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Updated 28 December 2023
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In Germany, local politics holds up weapons for Ukraine

  • A dispute with a city council has hampered plans by arms giant Diehl Defense to expand production of munitions parts 
  • The EU has pledged to provide Ukraine with 1M artillery rounds by March 2024 to aid in the fight against Russia

FRANKFURT, Germany: Europe’s efforts to boost arms production and help Ukraine to fend off Russia’s invasion are facing an unexpected obstacle in a German local government.
The city council in Troisdorf, which has a population close to 80,000, has for the time being blocked plans put forward by a major arms company to expand production locally.
Citing development needs, the “no” by the western municipality near Cologne is calling into question the European Union’s ability to manufacture more weapons at a crucial time.
Earlier this year, the 27-member EU pledged to step up supplies of much-needed artillery shells to Ukraine as Kyiv’s forces faced shortfalls.
The mayor of Troisdorf rarely has a role to play in international politics, but the local official was called to account by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in parliament in early December for holding up the project.
Recognizing the risks, the popular minister urged local and regional authorities to work to speed up the rate of arms production.
“The pressure (...) is great because in Europe and in Germany there is a real bottleneck on ammunition,” Pistorius told MPs.
For weeks, Troisdorf has been at loggerheads with arms giant Diehl Defense, whose local factory produces the ignition devices needed for large quantities of explosives, such as rockets and missile charges.
These parts are used in the manufacture of the Iris-T air defense system, three of which have been delivered by the German government to Ukraine.

The Troisdorf site is an important link in Europe’s objectives to back Ukraine, as Kyiv urges its allies to supply it with more munitions at a time when it is struggling to repel the Russian offensive.
The EU has pledged to provide Ukraine with one million artillery rounds by March 2024 to aid in Kyiv’s fight against Russia.
To date, it has delivered about 300,000 rounds from its own stocks, now depleted.
German industry’s share of the EU plan should eventually reach 300,000 to 400,000 shells a year, more than three times the production at the time of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, industry sources told AFP.
But Diehl Defense now sees the future of its Troisdorf site in serious jeopardy after the city decided to claim part of the business park where the group’s subsidiary DynITEC is based.
The arms manufacturer wanted to buy the land, which had been put up for sale by the former Dynamit Nobel weapons company, so that it could expand its production capacity.
For its part, the local authority is planning to convert the site, which is the size of 50 football pitches and ideally located near the city center, into homes and offices.
“By calling the Troisdorf site into question, the Federal Republic of Germany’s defense capability is being undermined,” warned Thomas Bodenmueller, a member of the Diehl Defense board of directors, in response.

A broad spectrum of city councillors, from the conservative mayor Alexander Biber to the ecologist Greens and far-left Die Linke — roughly two-thirds of the council — refused to sacrifice such a large area in the city center.
This is because, according to the local authorities, the production of explosives and combat devices requires huge protective zones around the factory which cannot be built on for safety reasons.
For Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the Bundestag lower house’s defense committee and a staunch backer of Ukraine, the position of Troisdorf’s mayor “is quite simply irresponsible.”
“This is about Ukraine, but also and above all about Germany’s security,” she told AFP.
For the time being, Biber remains unmoved.
Despite mediation meetings in the run-up to the Christmas holidays, no compromise has yet been found and he is not alone in his resistance.
Earlier this year, the Rheinmetall group, another flagship of the German arms industry, said it would not build a new ammunition powder factory in the Saxony region of eastern Germany.
The project had caused concern among the local population and with public acceptance lacking, Rheinmetall moved the project to another location in Bavaria.
While experts say Kyiv needs three million rounds of ammunition a year, Pistorius warned last month that the EU would likely fail to reach its March target of delivering even one million desperately needed howitzer rounds.
 


UK government says Chinese spying on the rise

Updated 10 sec ago
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UK government says Chinese spying on the rise

LONDON: Chinese spying and attempts by Beijing to undermine Britain’s democracy and economy have risen in recent years, the UK government said Tuesday in a report on the Asian giant.
Foreign minister David Lammy told parliament the Labour administration would invest £600 million ($818 million) in its intelligence services as a result of the findings.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer commissioned an “audit” of Britain’s relations with Beijing after he swept to power in landslide general election win last July.
The report, published on Tuesday, recommended high-level engagement with China for a “trade and investment relationship” but also building “resilience” against threats posed by Beijing.
“We understand that China is a sophisticated and persistent threat,” but “not engaging with China is therefore no choice at all,” Lammy told MPs.
“Like our closest allies, we will co-operate where we can and we will challenge where we must,” he said, vowing that meant “never compromising on our national security.”
Starmer has vowed to pursue a “consistent” relationship after the previous Conservative government first trumpeted a “golden era” of close diplomatic ties before relations became increasingly strained.
The British PM hopes Chinese investment can help him achieve his main mission of firing up Britain’s economy.
But differences over Russia’s war in Ukraine, Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs and Hong Kong — including the imprisonment of media mogul Jimmy Lai — pose hurdles to repairing relations.
In a joint letter coordinated by Reporters Without Borders, 33 organizations around the globe wrote to Starmer on Tuesday asking him to meet Lai’s son Sebastian.
“As a British citizen facing an unthinkable ordeal, Sebastien Lai deserves to hear first-hand from the Prime Minister what the UK is doing to secure his father’s release,” said the letter, which was signed by groups including Amnesty International UK and Human Rights Foundation.
Espionage allegations have also blighted the relationship in recent years, including claims that a Chinese businessman used his links with Britain’s Prince Andrew to spy for the Communist Party.
The report noted that “instances of China’s espionage, interference in our democracy and the undermining of our economic security have increased in recent years.”
“Our national security response will therefore continue to be threat-driven, bolstering our defenses and responding with strong counter-measures,” the government said.
Starmer’s administration is due to rule on whether to approve Beijing’s controversial plans to open the biggest embassy in Britain at a new London location.
Residents, rights groups and China hawks oppose the development, fearing it could be used for the surveillance and harassment of dissidents.

Russian attacks kill 18 civilians in Ukraine as Zelensky seeks more Western help

Updated 24 June 2025
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Russian attacks kill 18 civilians in Ukraine as Zelensky seeks more Western help

  • Zelensky is keen to lock in additional military support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s bigger army
  • A Russian ballistic missile attack on Dnipro hit multiple civilian sites, killing nine people and injuring more than 100

KYIV: Russian drones, missiles and artillery killed at least 18 civilians and injured more than 100 others in Ukraine, officials said Tuesday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought guarantees of further Western military aid for his country’s efforts to repel Russia’s invasion.

Russian forces have relentlessly blasted civilian areas of Ukraine throughout the war, which is now in its fourth year. More than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to the United Nations. Ukraine has also launched long-range drones against Russia, hitting residential areas.

Zelensky was set to meet Tuesday with Western leaders attending a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands. He is keen to lock in additional military support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s bigger army, as recent direct peace talks have delivered no progress on a possible settlement.

Key US military commitments to Ukraine left over from the Biden administration are expected to run out within months, according to analysts, and there is uncertainty over whether US President Donald Trump is willing to provide more.

A Russian ballistic missile attack on Dnipro hit multiple civilian sites in the central Ukrainian city around midday on Tuesday, killing nine people and injuring more than 100, local officials said.

In the nearby town of Samar, an attack killed two people and injured 11, Dnipro’s regional administration head Serhii Lysak wrote on Telegram.

The barrage damaged 19 schools, 10 kindergartens, a vocational school, a music school and a social welfare office, as well as eight medical facilities, according to Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov. One of the blasts blew out the windows of a passenger train.

Russia also shelled residential neighborhoods and critical infrastructure across Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, killing four civilians and wounding at least eleven others, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the regional military administration.

In the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine, a drone attack late Monday killed three civilians, including a 5-year-old boy, and injured six others, local authorities said.

Among the injured were two 17-year-old girls and a 12-year-old boy, according to officials.

Russian air defense forces overnight shot down 20 Ukrainian drones, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday morning. It said 14 were downed over the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, while two had been flying over the Moscow province.

One drone slammed into a tower block on the outskirts of the Russian capital, sparking a fire on its 17th floor, local Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said Tuesday. He said a 34-year-old resident suffered shrapnel wounds to his arm and leg. Two other drones were shot down on the approach to Moscow, according to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

Air traffic was briefly halted as a precaution at two major Moscow airports, Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo, a representative of Russia’s aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said.


Merz says NATO spending boost to counter Russia — not please Trump

Updated 24 June 2025
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Merz says NATO spending boost to counter Russia — not please Trump

  • Merz has been racing to build up Germany’s long-neglected armed forces, with the aim of turning them into the ‘strongest conventional army’ in Europe

BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz insisted a pledge by NATO allies to boost defense spending at a “historic” summit starting on Tuesday would not just aim to please US President Donald Trump.
“We are not doing this, as some claim, to do the United States and its president a favor,” he told the German parliament before setting off for the gathering in The Hague.
“We are doing this based on our own observations and convictions. Russia, above all, is actively and aggressively threatening security and freedom” across Europe, he added.
“We have to fear that Russia will continue its war beyond Ukraine.”
The summit has been viewed as heavily focused on keeping Trump happy after he made comments that sparked concern about Washington’s commitment to NATO and insisted that other member states spend at least five percent of their GDP on defense.
NATO’s 32 countries have thrashed out a compromise deal to dedicate 3.5 percent to core military spending by 2035, and 1.5 percent to broader security-related areas such as cybersecurity and infrastructure.
On Monday, Europe’s biggest economy revealed plans to reach the 3.5 percent level for core spending six years early — in 2029 — with the vast extra outlays necessary made possible after Germany eased its rules on taking on debt.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Tuesday that he would head to the NATO summit with the message that “external security and defense capability are once again an absolute priority in (German) government policy.”
“We are bringing about a historic turnaround in defense spending.”
On the summit, he said there were “good signs” about “the broad consensus on how to proceed... I see no reason to assume that we will be given the cold shoulder.”
Since taking office in May, Merz has been racing to build up Germany’s long-neglected armed forces, with the aim of turning them into the “strongest conventional army” in Europe — a radical shift in a country with strong pacifist traditions due to its dark wartime past.
A drive has been launched to boost military personnel, which aims to attract 11,000 fresh recruits this year alone — and Pistorius has suggested conscription, which was halted in Germany in 2011, could be reintroduced if too few people sign up voluntarily.
Germany is also building up a permanent military brigade in Lithuania — the country’s first such overseas deployment since World War II — to bolster NATO’s eastern flank against Russia.


Vietnam aims to sign nuclear power plant deal with Russia in August

Updated 24 June 2025
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Vietnam aims to sign nuclear power plant deal with Russia in August

  • The move follows Vietnam’s restart of plans to develop nuclear power plants
  • It is expected to be online between 2030 and 2035

HANOI: Vietnam’s government said on Tuesday it aims to sign an agreement with its Russian counterpart in August to build the Southeast Asian country’s first nuclear power plant.

Site clearance for development of the plant in Ninh Thuan province is to be completed by the end of this year, the government said in a statement.

The move follows Vietnam’s restart of plans to develop nuclear power plants that were suspended nearly a decade ago, as part of its efforts to ramp up its power generation capacity to support its fast-growing economy.

The government has previously said it expected the first nuclear power plants with a combined capacity of up to 6.4 gigawatts to be online between 2030 and 2035.

The government said on Tuesday it has told the finance ministry, central bank, state energy firm Petrovietnam and utility firm EVN to work with related parties on loans for the project.


Indonesian researchers unearth 500,000-year-old elephant fossils in Java

Updated 24 June 2025
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Indonesian researchers unearth 500,000-year-old elephant fossils in Java

  • Researchers say found elephant fossils may be almost complete 
  • Central Java is also location of archaeological site Sangiran, where ‘Java Man’ was found

Jakarta: Indonesian researchers have discovered fossils of a prehistoric elephant in Central Java, which they estimate are around 500,000 years old. 

The fossils were found in Patiayam, an archaeological site and mountainous area situated on the border of the Kudus and Pati regencies in Central Java, where, throughout the years, ancient animal fossils have been found.

In 2024, a collaborative team organized by the Center for Prehistory and Austronesian Studies, the Dharma Bakti Lestari Foundation and the National Research and Innovation Agency, known locally as BRIN, launched a research project at the site to explore fossil possibilities. 

Though the initial discovery was made then, researchers postponed the project until this year and expanded the site of excavation, which is still ongoing. 

“Based on the geological formation of the site where it was found, we estimate that the fossils are at least 500,000 years old, give or take. We have yet to conduct a direct dating of the fossils, so this is based on a relative dating of the soil layer,” Mohammad Ruly Fauzi, researcher at CPAS and BRIN, told Arab News. 

“We have been able to identify that these belong to an elephas type, but not the specific species … What’s clear is that this is a very big elephant, nothing like elephants today …. It’s prehistoric, not early historic period.”

He said the excavation has made about 50 percent progress and that the elements found so far make up the front part of an elephant. 

“It’s interesting because this is shaping up to be an almost complete fossil … They are all situated pretty closely.” 

Once the excavation is completed, the fossils will be preserved as part of a collection at the Patiayam Archaeological Museum. The discovery might help Patiayam gain recognition as a cultural heritage site, Fauzi added. 

“Every site has its own unique qualities, but Patiayam site is particularly interesting and very deserving to gain status as a national cultural heritage site in our opinion … This research can help serve as a foundation for officials to decide,” he said. 

Central Java, where Patiayam is located, is also home to the Sangiran Early Man Site, a UNESCO World Heritage site renowned for its significant collection of Homo erectus fossils, dating from 1.1 million to 800,000 years ago, including the “Java Man.”