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NATO will boost defense spending to help back Ukraine but the math is tricky. Just ask Luxembourg

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:48:25 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — When it comes to criticizing the NATO members who fail to spend enough on defense, tiny Luxembourg is an easy target.One of NATO’s richest countries, and routinely ranked at the top of Europe’s economic growth tables, the Grand Duchy currently spends 0.72% of gross domestic product on its armed forces, according to the organization’s estimates for this year.That puts it at the foot of the 31-nation military alliance’s charts. Still, the numbers are deceiving, and that goes for other members too, like Germany.Under a pledge made in 2014, after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, NATO allies agreed to halt the spending cuts they made in calmer times after the Cold War ended, boost their national military budgets and move toward spending 2% of GDP on defense by 2024.With that target date closing in, and the biggest land war in Europe in decades ravaging Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts will commit to a new spending goal at their ...

Russia to increase influence in Africa's poorest countries

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:48:25 GMT

Russia is trying to increase its influence in the poorer countries of Africa to actually open a "second front" there to confront the West. Moscow believes it can create a "coup belt" that will ensure Russian influence and force the West out of Africa. Russia seeks to control strategic mineral deposits, which would prevent African countries from developing high-tech economies. Through its PMCs, the Russian Federation appropriates Africa's economic resources, Dispatches, IFBG.Russia's Wagner mercenaries have already shown its ability to resort to such strategic solutions as disinformation campaigns, resource concessions, arms sales and security contracting.For a long time, Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the Wagner PMC, pretended to have nothing to do with the PMC, which is supposedly an autonomous organization. However, during the mutiny of the "Wagnerians", he admitted that he acted in Africa, following the instructions of the Russian leadership.Last week, Russian Preside...

Ukraine tops NATO summit agenda along with defense plans, Sweden’s membership and Belarus fears

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:48:25 GMT

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Russia’s war in Ukraine will top the agenda when U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts hold a summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius over two days starting on Tuesday.The emphasis is on ensuring that Ukraine has support as long as the conflict continues, how to bring the country even closer to NATO without actually joining, and security guarantees Kyiv might need to ensure that Russia doesn’t invade again after the war is over.The leaders are set to endorse new defense plans should Russian President Vladimir Putin try to broaden Moscow’s war beyond Ukraine and westward into allied territory. They will also weigh defense spending, and how to boost their budgets as aid to Ukraine eats into their military coffers.Sweden’s accession is up for discussion too, as Turkey delays the Scandinavian country’s entry into the world’s biggest security organization.NATO hopes that Lithuania’s big neighbor, and Russia’s main backer, Belarus will play no...

Joe Biden and Charles III to bond over tea and eco-activism at Windsor Castle

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:48:25 GMT

LONDON — What does a British king have in common with the son of a car salesman from Scranton, Pennsylvania? Quite a lot, it turns out.When U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at Windsor Castle on Monday he will renew an acquaintance with King Charles III which stretches back decades.Biden has made a point of stopping off in Britain on his way to this week’s NATO summit in Lithuania to fulfill a first bilateral reception with Charles since he ascended the throne, alongside talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Downing Street. The president missed the king’s coronation in May, where the U.S. was represented by First Lady Jill Biden, and chose not to visit Great Britain during his trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland in April.Biden and Charles come from wildly different backgrounds but are of a similar generation — the king is six years Biden’s junior — and share a strong commitment to tackling climate change, as well as a deeply-held love of Ireland and Irish culture. Les...

Russian air strike on Ukraine aid distribution at school branded a war crime

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:48:25 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian airstrike on a school in southern Ukraine killed four adults as people gathered to receive humanitarian aid, the governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region said Monday, branding the incident “a war crime.” Three women and a man, all in their 40s, died in Sunday’s attack in the town of Orikhiv, Gov. Yuriy Malashko said. A guided aerial bomb caused an explosion at the school, Malashko said, without providing evidence. Eleven other people were wounded in the attack, he said.Overall, Russia fired on 10 settlements in the province over the course of a day, he said.Moscow denies it targets civilian locations. Russia has been accused numerous times of doing so and committing other war crimes since its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of ch...

Survivors of New Zealand’s deadly volcano eruption will testify at a trial of tourism operators

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:48:25 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A U.S. honeymoon couple who survived severe burns when New Zealand’s White Island volcano erupted in 2019 are listed as the first witnesses to testify in a trial of tourism industry operators over the disaster that claimed 22 lives.Prosecutors open their case in the Auckland District Court on Tuesday on health and safety charges against six companies and directors in the Dec. 9, 2019, volcanic eruption at the popular tourist attraction.Matt Urey and his wife, Lauren Barham, from Richmond, Virginia, were listed on Monday as the first witnesses to testify.British helicopter pilot Brian de Pauw and Australian tourist Annie Lu are also high on the witness list.The American couple were among 47 people on White Island, the tip of an undersea volcano also known by its Indigenous Maori name Whakaari, when superheated steam erupted, leaving most of the 25 survivors with severe burns.Many people question why tourists were allowed to visit the island after expert...

New Delhi schools close after monsoon floods kill at least 15, Pakistan on alert for more flooding

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:48:25 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Schools in New Delhi were closed on Monday after heavy monsoon rains battered the Indian capital and caused landslides and flash floods in the country’s north, killing at least 15 people over the last three days.The torrential rain over the weekend left parts of New Delhi overflowing with water that submerged roads and stranded residents. The northern hill states were the worst affected, with 10 people killed in flash floods and landslides in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. One person died in New Delhi and four were killed in the Indian-controlled section of Kashmir. Landslides triggered by the rains disrupted traffic on key highways in Uttarakhand, a tourist hill state in the Himalayas, prompting warnings for residents not to venture out of their homes unless necessary. Authorities used helicopters to rescue people while bridges and houses were swept away in neighboring Himachal Pradesh.India’s weath...

Prime Minister Trudeau meets with Latvian leaders, Canadian troops ahead of NATO

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:48:25 GMT

RIGA, Latvia — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making his third visit to Latvia today, where he’s set to meet with the country’s leaders and with Canadian troops. Around 800 Canadian Armed Forces members are part of the Canada-led NATO battle group in the Baltic country, making it the largest overseas mission. Defence Minister Anita Anand recently announced that a Leopard 2 tank squadron with 15 tanks and around 130 personnel will be joining the mission starting this fall. That’s part of NATO’s efforts to increase its deterrence measures and its presence near Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The alliance has doubled the number of battle groups in the region since the war began, and has plans to increase the size and scope of some of them to be combat-ready brigades.Trudeau is expected to meet with both the Latvian president and prime minister before the larger summit of NATO leaders begins in nearby Lithuania. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July...

Ukraine says it won't use cluster bombs in Russia

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:48:25 GMT

Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov welcomed a US decision to send cluster bombs to Kyiv, saying it would help to liberate Ukrainian territory but promised the munitions would not be used in Russia.The US announced on Friday it would supply Ukraine with widely banned cluster munitions for its counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces.Reznikov said the munitions would help save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, adding Ukraine would keep a strict record of their use and exchange information with its partners."Our position is simple - we need to liberate our temporarily occupied territories and save the lives of our people," Reznikov wrote on Twitter."Ukraine will use these munitions only for the de-occupation of our internationally recognized territories. These munitions will not be used on the officially recognized territory of Russia."Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries. They typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill ind...

Dear Abby: My ex-wife says these kids are my grandchildren. I’m not so sure.

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:48:25 GMT

DEAR ABBY: For more than five years, my son dated a young woman with a child. During that time, they all lived together. After they broke up, he was able to have visitation and shared parenting rights even though the little girl, “Paisley,” was not his own.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: My brother has cut all ties, and I don’t even know what I did Advice | Dear Abby: I don’t want to make my husband jealous but I’m excited about this new hobby Advice | Dear Abby: I don’t want to live like this, but there’s that ‘for better or worse’ thing Advice | Dear Abby: I want a relationship with her, but she doesn’t know she’s my sister Advice | Dear Abby: I need to practice not insulting the men who ask me out I must say it was a benefit for the child. To this day, Paisley is still a major part of his life. For the last five years she has called...