World
Pentagon chief speaks to Russian counterpart after drone incident
![Pentagon chief speaks to Russian counterpart after drone incident Pentagon chief speaks to Russian counterpart after drone incident](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/afp.com-20230315-PH-GTY-1248314713-highres.jpg?resize=1920,1440)
United States Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin has stated he spoke to his Russian counterpart following this week’s downing of a US drone over the Black Sea, which Washington has blamed on Moscow.
Austin advised reporters that he spoke with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday, however declined to supply further particulars on their dialogue.
The uncommon, high-level talks come a day after US officers stated a Russian jet made contact with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone, forcing it to be shot down. Moscow has denied {that a} collision occurred.
The incident would mark the primary time that US and Russian army property have made contact for the reason that struggle in Ukraine started in February of final 12 months, and it has fuelled issues of a possible escalation between the 2 nations.
However Austin appeared to indicate restraint throughout a information convention on the Pentagon, saying the US takes “any potential for escalation very severely and that’s why I imagine it’s necessary to maintain the strains of communication open”.
“As I’ve stated repeatedly, it’s necessary that nice powers be fashions of transparency and communication, and the USA will proceed to fly and to function wherever worldwide legislation permits,” Austin stated.
“It’s incumbent upon Russia to function its army plane in a secure {and professional} method.”
Contact between the highest US and Russian defence officers has been comparatively uncommon since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Austin and Shoigu first spoke about Russia’s offensive in Could of final 12 months, and in October, they spoke twice in three days amid a heightened menace of an escalation within the battle.
On Wednesday, Austin reiterated the US model of what occurred over the Black Sea this week, saying a Russian fighter jet intercepted the US drone in worldwide airspace.
“This hazardous episode is a part of a sample of aggressive, dangerous and unsafe actions by Russian pilots in worldwide airspace,” Austin stated through the information convention alongside US Joint Chiefs of Employees Chairman Mark Milley.
The US officers additionally stated the Russian jet dumped gas on the $30m drone earlier than the collision.
Milley stated there have been nonetheless questions as as to whether Russia meant to down the drone, though the moments that led as much as the crash had been “intentional”.
“We all know that the intercept was intentional. We all know that the aggressive behaviour was intentional,” he advised reporters.
“You’ve heard concerning the dumping of gas and every part else. We’ve video proof of all that so there’s no query that that a part of it’s intentional,” he stated. “The precise bodily contact of the plane – that, I’m not so certain. So we’ll should determine that out.”
Milley added that restoration has been hampered by the actual fact the drone went down in 1,219 to 1,524 metres (4,000 to five,000 ft) of water, however stated the US had already taken measures to protect in opposition to a lack of delicate intelligence if the drone had been to be recovered by Russia.
“We’re fairly assured that no matter was of worth is now not of worth,” he stated.
Milley added that he deliberate to speak to his Russian counterpart, Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Basic Employees of the Russian armed forces, concerning the incident.
Russia has maintained that whereas its fighter jets intercepted the drone, no contact was made and as an alternative the US plane went down throughout a “sharp manoeuver”.
It additionally has stated that the drone entered an space that was declared off limits by Russian authorities. Russia has declared broad areas close to Crimea off limits to flights.
The US doesn’t recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea following the invasion of the territory in 2014.
Talking after being summoned by the US Division of State over the incident, the Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, stated he advised US officers that Russia would “now not permit anyone to violate our waters”, the TASS information company reported.
Antonov stated the drone “intentionally and provocatively was shifting in the direction of Russian territory with transponders turned off”.
He stated his assembly on the State Division was constructive and the problem of attainable penalties for Moscow over the incident was not raised, the RIA state information company additionally reported on Wednesday.
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World
A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13
![A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13 A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13](https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/dcac1a4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/700x394+0+28/resize/1440x810!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F90%2F29%2F4e3c1cc7446089a9101a7bdff4c8%2Fdefaultshareimage-copy.png)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police in the Afghan capital say a suicide bomber carried out an attack Monday, killing at least six people and injuring 13 others.
The blast took place in the southwestern Qala Bakhtiar neighborhood in Kabul, said Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul police chief.
The dead included one woman, he said, while 13 people were wounded, all of them civilians who were taken to a hospital for treatment.
A police investigation is underway. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.
The Islamic State group’s affiliate, a major rival of the ruling Taliban, has carried out previous attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas throughout the country.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 during the chaotic departure of U.S. and NATO troops after 20 years. Despite initial promises of a more moderate stance, the Taliban gradually reimposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, as they did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
World
Germany's right wing poised for major wins as centrist parties stumble
![Germany's right wing poised for major wins as centrist parties stumble Germany's right wing poised for major wins as centrist parties stumble](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-2169317905.jpg)
Germany’s right wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expected to win its first election since the party was formed in 2013, as anti-mass immigration sentiment sends voters to the polls.
Exit polls on Sunday showed AfD securing a winning 33.5% share of the vote in Thuringia and 31.5% in Saxony. Meanwhile, the center-left Social Democratic Party – to which Chancellor Olaf Scholz belongs – brought in less than 8% of the vote in both states, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The election follows a wider trend of success for conservative groups across Europe in recent months. French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron’s government narrowly quashed a conservative takeover of the French parliament earlier this year.
Analysts say the ultimate impact that AfD and other party politicians can have will be determined by how willing centrists are to work with them.
GERMAN RIGHT WING CANDIDATE STABBED IN LATEST ATTACK AHEAD OF ELECTIONS
DRESDEN, GERMANY – AUGUST 29: A skinhead supporter of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party waves a German flag while taunting leftist, anti-fascist protesters following the final AfD Saxony election rally prior to state elections on August 29, 2024, in Dresden, Germany. The AfD is currently leading in polls in both Saxony and Thuringia ahead of state elections scheduled for Sunday in both states. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
“The center-right will decide to what extent an AfD win would be a turning point: So far, they have been relatively consistent in excluding cooperation — more so than in other Western European countries,” Manès Weisskircher, a political scientist at the Dresden University of Technology, told the Journal.
The German elections this weekend come just days after a Syrian immigrant killed three people in a stabbing spree in Solingen, Germany. ISIS claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack shortly after.
![Emergency services and police at a stabbing scene in Germany Friday](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/Stabbing-scene-Germany.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Emergency services and police are deployed near the scene where three people were killed and injured in an attack at a festival in Solingen, western Germany, the German dpa news agency reported, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (Gianni Gattus/dpa via AP)
Federal prosecutors in Germany identified the suspect as Issa Al H., omitting his family name because of German privacy laws.
GERMAN TERROR ATTACK SUSPECT IDENTIFIED AS A SYRIAN REFUGEE, CHANCELLOR VOWS TO IMPLEMENT STRICT IMMIGRATION
ISIS said the attacker targeted Christians “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
Der Spiegel magazine, citing unidentified security sources, said that the suspect had moved to Germany late in 2022, and sought asylum.
![Scholz gives speech in Berlin](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/06/1200/675/GettyImages-2156486483-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing a surge in right-wing sentiment across Germany. (John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images)
Similar attacks by Muslim migrants across Europe have spurred anti-immigration sentiment. Even the left-leaning Scholz called for strengthening immigration laws and ramping up deportations in the wake of the attack.
“We will have to do everything we can to ensure that those who cannot and are not allowed to stay in Germany are repatriated and deported,” Scholz said while visiting the sight where the stabbing happened.
“This was terrorism, terrorism against us all,” he said.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report
World
Seven EU members hadn’t received any post-Covid funding by end-2023
![Seven EU members hadn’t received any post-Covid funding by end-2023 Seven EU members hadn’t received any post-Covid funding by end-2023](https://static.euronews.com/articles/stories/08/69/58/16/1200x675_cmsv2_e50ff906-3ebe-5eb2-bccc-66f739cec99e-8695816.jpg)
Continued delays are jeopardising the EU’s €724bn post-Covid recovery fund, warns a new report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
Three years after creating a huge fund to stimulate post-pandemic recovery, EU member states have used under a third of the €724bn in grants and loans, EU auditors said in a report published today (2 September).
By the end of 2023, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden had not received any post-Covid money at all, the EU Court of Auditors said.
Almost all member states have experienced delays in submitting payment requests, whether due to political turmoil, uncertainty over the rules, or national administrative capacity, the report said.
The Netherlands and Hungary did not sign operational agreements, the first step required to access EU funds, while Sweden did not submit a payment application, it added – while others such as the Netherlands were held back by protracted coalition negotiations.
“For the Recovery and Resilience Plan you really need political consensus and support and that the government stands behind the plan, and the Netherlands was waiting for that stability,” Ivana Maletić, senior auditor at the Luxembourg-based EU agency, told Euronews in an interview.
In the more complex case of Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s government has to meet 27 milestones intended to fight corruption and safeguard judicial independence, which he hasn’t yet done.
The other four countries — Belgium, Finland, Ireland and Poland — submitted payment requests later than others, so they were still being assessed by the European Commission, which directly manages and implements the fund, at the end of 2023.
One quarter not completed on time
Unlike cohesion funds, the normal vehicle for EU regional spending, post-pandemic financial support is tied to progress on meeting commitments, and member states are behind schedule in meeting these targets and absorbing funds.
“Timely absorption of the RRF is essential: it helps to avoid bottlenecks in carrying out the measures towards the end of the Facility’s lifespan, and reduces the risk of inefficient and erroneous spending,” said Maletić, who led the audit.
Halfway through the six-year implementation plan for the post-pandemic funds, 24% of the planned reforms and investments have not been completed on time — meaning that a significant number of the trickiest promises have yet to be fulfilled, the ECA found.
With the RRF due to expire in August 2026 and no extension expected, EU auditors are recommending the Commission provide further support to strengthen how similar funds are designed in future.
“It can happen that for some actions, member states receive substantial amounts of funds without finalising them at all because it will not be possible to finalise them within the given time,” a senior auditor told a press conference on Monday (2 September) — though Brussels then doesn’t have the power to claw back money.
The EU executive however rejected auditors’ recommendations to stop funding incomplete actions and recover transfers.
“The Commission does not consider that payments based on progress is a risk and has no legal basis to recover funds already disbursed in relation to milestones and targets already and still fulfilled,” said its response.
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