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Germany’s top diplomat in Kyiv as Ukraine girds for impact of US election on the war

Germany’s top diplomat in Kyiv as Ukraine girds for impact of US election on the war
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, October 23, 2024. (File/AFP)
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Updated 04 November 2024

Germany’s top diplomat in Kyiv as Ukraine girds for impact of US election on the war

Germany’s top diplomat in Kyiv as Ukraine girds for impact of US election on the war
  • Germany is Ukraine’s second biggest weapons supplier after the US
  • Ahead of the US vote, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky attempted to lock Ukraine’s Western supporters into a long-term “victory plan”

KYIV, Ukraine: Germany’s top diplomat arrived Monday in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on an unannounced visit, in what appeared to be a show of European support for Ukraine on the eve of a US presidential election that could bring far-reaching changes in Washington’s policy toward Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor.
Germany is Ukraine’s second biggest weapons supplier after the US, and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock vowed that Berlin’s backing would remain steadfast.
“Together with many partners around the world, Germany stands firmly by Ukraine’s side,” she said, German news agency dpa reported. “We will support the Ukrainians for as long as they need us so that they can continue on their path to a just peace.”
The war is at a critical moment for Ukraine, with the Russian army making creeping gains on the battlefield and another hard winter ahead after Russia relentlessly battered the Ukrainian power grid.
Ahead of the US vote, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky attempted to lock Ukraine’s Western supporters into a long-term “victory plan,” including a formal invitation for Ukraine to join NATO and permission to use Western long-range missiles to strike military targets in Russia, but the response was disappointing for Kyiv officials.
Russia is using its superior numbers to heap pressure on Ukrainian positions along the front line. Ukraine’s top commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Saturday his troops are struggling to hold back “one of the most powerful (Russian) offensives” of the war.
Russia is now adding to its offensive push what Western intelligence sources say is a force of about 10,000 North Korean combat troops sent by Pyongyang under a pact with Moscow.
That has deepened Zelensky’s frustration with Western help. On Saturday, he urged allies to stop “watching” and take steps before the North Korean troops reach the battlefield.
Zelensky said Kyiv knows at which Russian camps the North Korean troops are being trained but Ukraine can’t strike them without permission from allies to use the Western-made long-range weapons to hit targets deep inside Russia.
Baerbock arrived in Kyiv hours after debris from drones intercepted by air defenses fell in two districts of the city, starting small fires, officials said. No people or property were harmed, according to the head of the Kyiv city administration, Serhii Popko.
A Russian glide bomb attack on Sunday night injured 15 people in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast, regional police said.
Russia fired some 80 Shahed drones at Ukrainian cities overnight, Ukraine’s air force said.


UN rights council launches probe into violations in Afghanistan

UN rights council launches probe into violations in Afghanistan
Updated 3 sec ago

UN rights council launches probe into violations in Afghanistan

UN rights council launches probe into violations in Afghanistan

GENEVA: The UN Human Rights Council decided Monday to set up an investigation to gather evidence on allegations of human rights violations in Afghanistan.
A draft resolution put forward by the European Union calling for “an independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan” was adopted without a vote by the 47-country Geneva-based council.


Snowstorm traps hundreds of hikers on Mount Everest during China’s national holiday

Snowstorm traps hundreds of hikers on Mount Everest during China’s national holiday
Updated 06 October 2025

Snowstorm traps hundreds of hikers on Mount Everest during China’s national holiday

Snowstorm traps hundreds of hikers on Mount Everest during China’s national holiday
  • The snowstorm struck during a weeklong national holiday in China, when many travel at home and abroad

BEIJING: Rescuers were helping hundreds of hikers trapped by heavy snow at tourist campsites on a slope of Mount Everest in Tibet, Chinese state media said.
About 350 hikers had reached a meeting point in Tingri country and rescuers were in contact with another 200, state broadcaster CCTV said late Sunday. There was no immediate update on rescue efforts on Monday.
The hikers were trapped at an elevation of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet), according to an earlier report from Jimu News, a Chinese online site. Mount Everest is about 8,850 meters (29,000 feet) tall.
A hiker who rushed to descend before snow blocked the way told Jimu News that others still on the mountain told him the snow was 1 meter (3 feet) deep and had crushed tents.
Hundreds of rescuers headed up the mountain Sunday to clear paths so that trapped people could come down, the Jimu report said. A video shot by a villager showed a long line of people with horses and oxen moving up a winding path in the snow.
The snowstorm struck during a weeklong national holiday in China, when many travel at home and abroad.
In another mountainous region in western China, one hiker died of hypothermia and altitude sickness and 137 others were evacuated in the north part of Qinghai province, CCTV said Monday.
The search in an area in Menyuan county with an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) was complicated by the terrain, unpredictable weather and continuous snowfall, a CCTV online report said.
Mount Everest, known as Mount Qomolangma in Chinese, straddles the border between China and Nepal, where recent heavy rains have left more than 40 people dead.
Climbers attempt to scale the world’s tallest peak from base camps in both countries. The base camp for climbers is separate from the tourist camp where hikers were trapped by the snowfall.
A strong earthquake killed at least 126 people in the same area in January.
The Chinese side of Everest is in Tibet, a remote western region where the government has cracked down harshly on dissent and poured in funds for economic development including roads and tourism.
The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, fled during a failed uprising in 1959 and lives in India, where some Tibetans have set up a government in exile.


French Prime Minister resigns after only 2 weeks in office

French Prime Minister resigns after only 2 weeks in office
Updated 06 October 2025

French Prime Minister resigns after only 2 weeks in office

French Prime Minister resigns after only 2 weeks in office

PARIS: France’s new prime minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned Monday, just a day after naming his government and after only two weeks in office.
The French presidency said in a statement that President Emmanuel Macron has accepted his resignation.


Drone sighting temporarily disrupts flights at Norway’s Oslo airport, NTB reports

Drone sighting temporarily disrupts flights at Norway’s Oslo airport, NTB reports
Updated 06 October 2025

Drone sighting temporarily disrupts flights at Norway’s Oslo airport, NTB reports

Drone sighting temporarily disrupts flights at Norway’s Oslo airport, NTB reports
  • Several arriving flights were delayed or diverted after police received a report around midnight that a Norwegian Air pilot thought he saw three to five drones

STOCKHOLM: Norway’s Oslo airport temporarily paused landings early on Monday after a report of a drone sighting near the airport, news agency NTB reported.
Several arriving flights were delayed or diverted after police received a report around midnight that a Norwegian Air pilot thought he saw three to five drones during an approach to the airport, the Norwegian news outlet reported, citing police.
NTB reported that the observation remained unverified and that all operations had resumed at the airport.
European aviation has repeatedly been thrown into chaos in recent weeks by drone sightings and air incursions, including at airports in Copenhagen, Oslo and Munich.


Hospital fire kills at least six patients in India’s Jaipur, officials say

Hospital fire kills at least six patients in India’s Jaipur, officials say
Updated 06 October 2025

Hospital fire kills at least six patients in India’s Jaipur, officials say

Hospital fire kills at least six patients in India’s Jaipur, officials say
  • Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph said an investigation by the forensic science laboratory would determine the exact cause of the fire

NEW DELHI: At least six patients were killed after a fire broke out in the trauma center of the main government-run hospital in the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur, officials said on Monday.

The blaze, suspected to have been caused by a short circuit, started in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Sawai Man Singh Hospital and quickly spread to a nearby ward at the sprawling medical complex, “releasing toxic gases,” hospital official Anurag Dhakad told ANI news agency.

“Five patients are still critical,” he said, while 13 others have been safely evacuated from the two wards at the largest government-run medical facility in Rajasthan, which serves as a major referral center for patients from across the state.
Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph said an investigation by the forensic science laboratory would determine the exact cause of the fire.
The government of Rajasthan state, where Jaipur is located, has also formed a committee to probe the causes of the fire, ANI reported.
The subjects of investigation will include the hospital management’s response to the blaze, the firefighting arrangements at the hospital, and the measures in place to prevent the same situation in future, the agency said.
India has seen similar fires at hospitals in the past, some of which have been blamed on short circuits in electronic equipment. Ten newborn babies died from burns and suffocation after a fire broke out at a neonatal intensive care unit in the northern Uttar Pradesh state in November. Six newborn babies similarly died in a fire at a baby care hospital in New Delhi last May.