Following is a summary of current world news briefs.
Germany’s new China strategy ‘guided by ideology’, ambassador says
Plans for a tougher China strategy by Germany are “guided by ideology” and reflect a Cold War mentality that could put cooperation between the world’s second- and fourth-largest economies at risk, China’s ambassador to Berlin was quoted saying. “What I read about it in the media and know from many conversations is very disconcerting to me,” Wu Ken told Handelsblatt. “The paper gives the impression that it is guided primarily by ideology. It is not based on the common interests of Germany and China.”
Sweden says Turkey asking too much over NATO application
Sweden is confident that Turkey will approve its application to join the NATO military alliance, but will not meet all the conditions Ankara has set for its support, Sweden’s prime minister said on Sunday. “Turkey both confirms that we have done what we said we would do, but they also say that they want things that we cannot or do not want to give them,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a defence think-tank conference in Sweden.
Bolsonaro supporters invade Brazil presidential palace, Congress, Supreme Court
Supporters of Brazil’s far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday invaded the country’s Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court, in a grim echo of the U.S. Capitol invasion two years ago by fans of former President Donald Trump.
Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in the most fraught election in a generation last year, announced a federal security intervention in Brasilia lasting until Jan. 31 after capital security forces initially were overwhelmed by the invaders.
Gunmen kidnap 32 people from southern Nigeria train station
Gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles have abducted more than 30 people from a train station in Nigeria’s southern Edo state, the governor’s office said on Sunday. The attack is the latest example of the growing insecurity that has spread to nearly every corner of Africa’s most populous country, posing a challenge to the government in advance of a February presidential election.
No sign of casualties after Russia claims revenge attack on Ukrainian soldiers
A Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk missed its targets and there were no obvious signs of casualties, a Reuters reporter said on Sunday, after Moscow claimed the strike killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers. A Reuters team visited two college dormitories that Moscow said had been temporarily housing Ukrainian personnel and which it had targeted as revenge for a New Year’s attack that killed scores of Russian soldiers and caused outcry in Russia.
Prince Harry says UK royals got into bed with tabloid press ‘devil’
Prince Harry has said he had made public his rifts with the British royal family and taken on the press to try to help the monarchy and change the media, the latter described by his father King Charles as a “suicide mission”. In the first of a series of TV interviews broadcast on Sunday ahead of the launch of his memoir, Harry accused members of his family of getting into bed with the devil – the tabloid press – to sully him and his wife Meghan to improve their own reputations.
Japan’s Kishida set to talk military buildup, chips on G7 tour
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida starts a tour of key Western partners on Monday, after unveiling his country’s biggest military buildup since World War Two as Tokyo weighs steps to counter China’s growing power. Kishida, who will host a summit of the Group of Seven (G7) industrial powers in May, will meet leaders of the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Canada this week. Talks are expected to range from economic security and semiconductors to the war in Ukraine and rising tensions with nuclear-armed China and North Korea.
Zelenskiy: Ukraine holding two towns, Russians in new attacks
Ukrainian forces are repelling constant attacks on the town of Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region and holding their positions in nearby Soledar in very difficult conditions, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday. “Bakhmut is holding on despite everything. And even though most of the town has been destroyed by Russian strikes, our soldiers are repelling constant Russian attempts to advance,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
Israel’s Ben-Gvir tells police to remove Palestinian flags from public space
Israel’s new far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Sunday that he instructed police to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces. Israeli law does not outlaw Palestinian flags but police and soldiers have the right to remove them in cases where they deem there is a threat to public order.
Biden condemns ‘assault on democracy’ in Brazil
U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday condemned “the assault on democracy” in Brazil after supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro invaded the country’s Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court. Biden said he looked forward to continuing to work with leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in the most fraught election in a generation last year.
(This story has not been edited by Newsd staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
