Tag: Warning

German foreign minister warns of regional escalation in Middle East

Warning

Berlin, June 26, 2024 (dpa/NAN) German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock has warned of unforeseeable consequences for the broader Middle East region as tensions and clashes increase between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

Israeli forces have been waging an intense military offensive in the Gaza Strip for seven months.

With the leaders vowing to destroy the Palestinian Hamas militant group in response to the bloody Oct. 7, terror attacks on Israel.

“Another war will mean a regional escalation on a scale that we can hardly imagine.’’

Baerbock told Germany’s Deutschlandfunk public radio on Wednesday, a day after meeting with Lebanese and Israeli leaders in Beirut and Jerusalem.

However, Israel and Lebanon were in danger of slipping into such a war, she said.

“And that is exactly what we need to prevent, that through the daily escalation, where more rockets are flying, large parts on both sides do not want this war, but we are slipping into it.”

Baerbock said Lebanese leaders in Beirut appeared to view the same way, but unfortunately the government has no effective access on the ground, not even to Hezbollah.

Baerbock said, making efforts by mediators like the U.S. and France all the more important.

According to Baerbock, what happens next in the Gaza Strip would also be crucial for further developments on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

“If this urgently needed ceasefire is finally achieved in Gaza, then that will also calm the northern front,’’ she said.

An escalation that saw Israel fighting wars on two fronts would be fatal to the process.

A plan presented last month by U.S. President Joe Biden for a ceasefire in the Gaza war is supported by the Israeli government, said Baerbock, who again demanded that Hamas accept the plan. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Cecilia Odey/Halima Sheji

Agency warns of landslide risk in western Japan

Warning
Tokyo, June 24, 2024 (Xinhua/NAN) The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on Monday said that heavy rain with thunder is expected in western Japan through Tuesday, calling for vigilance against landslides.

The weather agency said a warm, damp air mass is flowing toward a seasonal rain front over western Japan, which has made atmospheric conditions very unstable in the region.

The front is expected to move south to waters off the main island of Honshu, and will then stay around southern Kyushu, according to the JMA.

Weather officials said up to 150 mm of rainfall is expected for southern Kyushu in the 24 hours though Tuesday morning.

It said up to 130 mm is also expected for northern Kyushu and 80 mm for the Kinki region.

The agency warned that even a little more rainfall could increase landslide risks because the ground may already be saturated in some areas, calling on people to be on the alert over risks of landslides.

Flooding in low-lying areas, swelling rivers, lightning strikes, violent gusts like tornadoes and hailstorms would be experienced. (Xinhua/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Cecilia Odey/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

German environmental groups warn against cuts to climate funding

Warning

Berlin, June 21, 2024 (dpa/NAN) Environmental groups are demanding that the German Government should not cut funding for efforts to address climate change, amid tough negotiations over a reduced 2025 budget.

In a joint appeal published on Friday, several large advocacy groups appealed to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck not to allow the cutbacks.

They said this based on “necessary investments in greenhouse gas neutrality” as well as international funding for climate initiatives.

They argued that the investments now would prove to be far cheaper than the eventual cost of having failed to address climate change.

The letter was signed by the leaders of the German League for Nature and Environment (DNR), the German Association for Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND).

The Environmental Action Germany (DUH), Germanwatch, Greenpeace Germany and the Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) are all parts.

Scholz’s three-party coalition is locked in difficult negotiations over the 2025 draft government budget, which included deep proposed cuts at several ministries to address large budget shortfalls.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner, a leader of the pro-business liberal Free Democrats (FDP), has insisted that the government must abide by strict rules against government borrowing and deficit spending.

“The current negotiations for the 2025 federal budget will not only decide whether social cohesion can be maintained.

”They will also decide whether Germany can achieve its climate targets, which are binding under international law,” the letter said.

The letter also criticised the tight budget restrictions, arguing that failing to make “necessary investments in the climate-neutral transition” now would also endanger Germany’s economy. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
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Edited by Cecilia Odey/Bashir Rabe Mani