World Monday, August 23, 2021 07

News Merkel seeks to defuse Ukraine, in brief Soyuz rocket takes 34 satellites for faster internet into space Russia issues during Kiev visit Moscow A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying 34 satellites has taken off from the Russian spaceport of Baikonur in Kazakh- stan after facing technical problems, France-based rocket operator Arianespace and Russian space company Roscosmos Ukrainian forces have been fighting Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk & Luhansk regions since 2014 announced on Sunday morning. The launch had previously been twice postponed. dpa The mission’s aim was to increase the satellite fleet of Brit- Kiev/Berlin ish communications company OneWeb to 288. OneWeb is planning to offer high-speed wireless internet German Chancellor Angela anywhere in the world via a network of satellites in low Earth Merkel lobbied for a new mul- orbit. It plans to eventually deploy a total of 650 satellites to tinational summit on peace in make this happen. This is Arianespace’s ninth rocket launch Ukraine during a visit to Kiev on behalf of OneWeb. on Sunday. In June 2015, Roscosmos had agreed a contract with “This would bring pro- Arianespace for 21 launches. Ten launches are scheduled for gress, in my opinion,” she said, this year alone. The satellites are to be deployed in space by during a press conference with the middle of next year. (dpa) Ukrainian President Volody- myr Zelensky. Such a summit would also Haiti quake death toll rises to 2,207 include representatives from Russia, which is widely seen Buenos Aires The death toll from last week’s 7.2-magnitude as lending support to separa- earthquake in Haiti has climbed to 2,207, with 344 people tist rebels in Ukraine’s east - a missing, according to the country’s civil defence agency on charge it denies - and which Sunday. also annexed the Crimea from The latest count shows that the quake left more than 12,000 Ukraine in 2014. France, people injured and more than 52,000 houses destroyed. which has played an arbitra- Aid delivery and rescue teams have been pouring into the tor role along with Germany, country. The USS Arlington arrived from America at the week- would also be invited. end, with doctors, nurses, medical devices, two helicopters Ukrainian forces have and 200 Marines. been fighting Russian-backed Additionally, US aid organization Samaritan’s Purse opened separatists in the Donetsk a field hospital in Les Cayes, one of the bigger cities in the and Luhansk regions, not worst-hit area, and took in its first patients. German aid or- far from the Russian border, ganization ISAR Germany has also sent a team of 33 doctors, since 2014. According to UN nurses and orderlies, along with 11 tons of material. (dpa) estimates, more than 13,000 people have been killed in a conflict that has never entirely Hurricane Henri downgraded to tropical quieted down. storm; some relief for US For his part, Zelensky de- manded more pressure on New York The US National Hurricane Center has downgraded Russia to force a peace. He German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev on Sunday. (AFP) Hurricane Henri, off the north-east coast of the United States, also thanked Merkel for her to a tropical storm, bringing some relief to those in the weath- support. Ukraine as a transit country. But Merkel said there Ukrainian Health Minister er front’s path. “We are very thankful to Germany has come under might be other uses for the Viktor Lyashko on Saturday, The centre says that Henri is expected to make landfall the Germans for their tough US pressure for allowing the 13,000 pipeline, such as transporting the representation in Kiev in the late morning or early afternoon as a “strong tropical position and for their support pipeline: Washington argues deaths hydrogen. But Zelensky noted said. storm” and then weaken rapidly. of our sovereignty,” he said, as that it binds Europe’s econo- that would involve an extend- According to the embassy’s The maximum wind speed is currently 110 kilometres per he demanded that the groups my too closely to Russia’s and ● According to UN ed transition period. statement, Merkel had prom- hour. opposing Ukrainian rule of could be used as a way to harm estimates, more than Ukraine remains a key ised Zelensky immediate aid Dangerous storm surges, heavy rain and strong gusts the region stick to agreements Ukraine, which relies heavily 13,000 people have been transit country for Russian to combat the pandemic as are expected in the coastal region. Power outages are also hammered out in a 2019 sum- on the income it draws from killed in a conflict that has gas, though its importance Ukraine is in urgent need of expected. (dpa) mit. the pipeline transit fees. never entirely quieted down has ebbed in recent years, due help from abroad. A planned summit in 2020 Merkel and Zelensky to the already existed Nord Since the beginning of the never happened, but Merkel warned Russia on Sunday ● Ahead of Merkel’s visit, Stream 1 pipeline, as well as pandemic, Germany has given said both she and Zelensky against using the pipeline as Ukraine received 1.5 Russian projects to ship gas Ukraine respirators, masks were ready for a new one now. a “political weapon.” During a million doses of via Belarus and the Black Sea. and medical equipment worth She also praised Ukraine Friday meeting with Vladimir Transit fees for Ukraine 76 million euros, among other Vietnam reports record for its reform efforts. Putin, the Russian president Astrazeneca’s Covid-19 have shrunk from about 2 bil- things, the statement said. The meeting comes two only told Merkel that an ex- vaccine from Germany lion euros (2.4 billion dollars) According to official fig- COVID-19 death toll as days after Merkel discussed tension of a transit deal with to about 1.7 billion euros in ures, only a bit more than 3 the conflict with Russian Pres- Ukraine would depend on 2020 and are expected to de- million people in the country ident Vladimir Putin in Mos- market circumstances. The vantaged. cline to just more than 1 billion have been fully vaccinated so situation deteriorates cow. current contract runs through Zelensky is also due to euros this year. far. This corresponds to about The second key area of 2024. meet US President Joe Biden Ahead of Merkel’s visit, 9 per cent of the vaccine-eligi- dpa discussion also touched on a There will be sanctions at the end of the month, with Ukraine received 1.5 million ble population. Hanoi dispute with Russia: the Nord against Russia “if the pipe- the pipeline expected to be a doses of Astrazeneca’s Cov- The Ministry of Health has Stream 2 gas pipeline from line is used as a weapon,” said key topic. id-19 vaccine from Germany. repeatedly appealed to people Vietnam reported 737 deaths Russia to Germany. Merkel, who only avoided “I think it’s a dangerous German Ambassador Anka to get vaccinated, but, accord- due to the coronavirus on Sun- Russia backs the pipeline US sanctions for the pipeline weapon, not only for Ukraine, Feldhusen handed over the ing to surveys, about 50 per day, a new single-day record as as a way to get fuel to West- by promising to make sure but for all of Europe,” said doses, worth around 6 million cent of Ukrainians do not want the country also saw extreme ern Europe without using Ukraine would not be disad- Zelensky. euros (7.2 million dollars), to to be vaccinated. highs of new cases counted in a single day, despite strict virus prevention protocols enforced nationwide, health authorities A policeman (left) checks travel KEY VISIT said. documents of a motorist along a CTBTO head The new deaths brought street in Hanoi recently. (afp) underlines the overall toll in the country Kamala Harris lands in S’pore amid Afghan chaos to 8,277. Authorities in the capital, threat posed On Sunday, Vietnam re- Hanoi, also extended social- dpa ister Vivian Balakrishan, who investment linkages and eco- ported 11,214 new cases, short distancing measures for two by nuclear war Bangkok said the US “has always been nomic collaboration,” accord- of the 11,321 new cases on Sat- more weeks on Friday, as local a constructive partner and a ing to the city-state’s Trade urday, which set a record. That transmissions of the coronavi- dpa US Vice President Kamala key pillar for peace and pros- Ministry. is around eight times the num- rus continued to rise. Vienna Harris arrived in Singapore on perity in South-East Asia.” Lee and Harris will hold ber of cases recorded during all Vietnamese Prime Minis- Sunday as part of a trip that Harris’ visit was arranged be- a press conference before of 2020, according to the Min- ter Pham Minh Chinh on Sun- For the new head of the Com- will take her to former US ad- fore the fall of the Afghan cap- the vice president visits a US istry of Health. day ordered Covid-19 tests for prehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban versary Vietnam but is likely ital to the Taliban last week combat ship at Singapore’s As of Sunday, Vietnam has the entire population of Ho Treaty Organization, global to be overshadowed by rising in scenes that, to some, have main naval base. recorded 348,059 coronavirus Chi Minh City and sent the warming is not the only global tensions across the region and evoked the US’ flight from On Tuesday, Harris will cases, ranking it 68th among military to dispense food be- danger. chaos at Afghanistan’s Kabul Saigon in 1975 and defeat in give a speech on US foreign 222 countries and territories. cause the national daily tally “We as the human race face airport. the Vietnam War. policy before departing for Ho Chi Minh City, Viet- of new cases exceeded 10,000 two major existential threats: After landing at Singa- On Monday, Harris will Vietnam. The US Embassy in nam’s biggest city and the cen- for the past days. Vietnam has One is climate change, and pore’s Changi Airport, Har- meet Singapore Prime Minis- Singapore said Harris will “en- tre of Vietnam’s fourth corona- administered a single Covid-19 the other one is the advent of ris said “South-East Asia and ter Lee Hsien Loong, who has gage on issues of mutual inter- virus wave, has so far recorded vaccine dose to more than 17 a nuclear war,” Robert Floyd, the Indo-Pacific are critically worried aloud about dilemmas est including regional secu- 175,994 local cases and 6,538 million people, out of a total who took over the CTBTO this important to the security posed for smaller Asian coun- rity, the global response to the deaths. The city has extended population of 98 million. month, tells dpa. Although it is and prosperity of the United tries by the growing US-China Covid-19 pandemic, climate a stay-at-home order until Nearly 1.8 million people a global problem, awareness of States.” Harris, who made rivalry. US Vice President Kamala Harris change, and our joint efforts to September 15, taking effect on have been fully vaccinated, nuclear weapons is not univer- no mention of Afghanistan, Singapore and China on arrives at Paya Lebar Base airport promote a rules-based inter- Monday. The city’s Covid-19 amounting to just 1.8 per cent sal, said Floyd, who succeeded was greeted by Foreign Min- Friday pledged “deepening in Singapore on Sunday. (AFP) national order.” death toll is also soaring. of the population. Lassina Zerbo of Burkina Faso. “If we have a battle where nuclear weapons are used, it actually affects us all. It is a global impact, whether that is in terms of contamination New Malaysian PM seeks opposition help with pandemic or temperature effects on the planet,” he says. dpa “We need to find common support from a majority of the The Vienna-based organi- Bangkok ground,” Ismail Sabri said, Muhyiddin’s government current 220 members of par- zation has around 300 measur- calling on Malaysians to over- fell after he failed to liament. ing stations distributed around In his first speech since taking look ethnic and confessional sustain support from Ismail Sabri has the back- the globe to detect nuclear ex- over as prime minister, Ma- divides to push back againat a majority of the ing of 114 lawmakers, a narrow plosions; thus, tests in North laysia’s Ismail Sabri Yaakob the pandemic - “a common current 220 members majority that is in part based Korea can be analysed with on Sunday invited opposition enemy,” according to the new of parliament on the conditional backing of data from the CTBTO. parties to serve on government prime minister. Muhyiddin, who warned that Using nuclear weapons committees set up to address Ismail Sabri is Malaysia’s he should not appoint as min- could not only encourage oth- the coronavirus pandemic. ninth premier. Predecessor demic lockdown in May when ister any politician who is fac- er states to do the same, but “It is imperative that polit- Muhyiddin Yassin quit at the daily virus cases hit 4,000. ing corruption charges. would also have a global impact ical stability is swiftly achieved start of the week, after weeks Numbers have surged Ismail Sabri is a vice presi- on the environment, warned through togetherness, and this of demands that he step down. despite the lockdown, with dent of the United Malays Na- the Australian. Nevertheless, includes cross-party coopera- The previous government, almost 20,000 new cases re- tional Organisation (UMNO), he said, attention in Europe is tion,” said Ismail Sabri, who in which the new premier was ported by the Health Ministry once led by ex-premier Najib not as focused on this problem Malaysia’s incoming prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob takes the was inaugurated on Saturday defence minister and, for a on Sunday. Razak who last year was con- as it is in the Pacific region, for oath of office during his swearing-in ceremony as the country’s new after being appointed the day short time, the deputy pre- Muhyiddin’s government victed of corruption while in example. leader at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. (AFP) before. mier, imposed a third pan- fell after he failed to sustain office.