Foreign News
Macron, Scholz, other World Leaders Congratulate Trump
Congratulations for Donald Trump poured in early on Wednesday following his victory over challenger, Democrat’s Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential polls.
“Ready to work together as we did for four years.
With your convictions and mine, with respect and ambition.“For more peace and prosperity, French President“, Emmanuel Macron, wrote on social media platform X.
“Congratulations to Donald Trump on his election victory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on the platform X.
“I appreciate President Trump’s commitment to the ‘peace through strength’ approach in global affairs,” he added.
“This is exactly the principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer. I am hopeful that we will put it into action together,” Zelensky wrote.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also added his congratulations.
“For a long time, Germany and the U.S. have been working together successfully promoting prosperity and freedom on both sides of the Atlantic.
“We will continue to do so for the wellbeing of our citizens,” the chancellor wrote on X.
Earlier, Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone about the election outcome.
A German government spokesman said the two European leaders had agreed to coordinate closely with each other.
“We will work in this new context for a more united, stronger, more sovereign Europe.
“In cooperation with the U.S. and defending our interests and values,’’ Macron wrote on X after the conversation.
The mood was ebullient out of Moscow, which has led a full-scale war against Ukraine for more than two and a half years, with no end in sight.
“Hallelujah, wrote Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, on her Telegram channel, noting that the election winner was the one who loved his own country.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who now sits on the Russian Security Council, said Trump has an important quality for Russia.
“As a businessman to the core, he cannot stand spending money on various minions and lackeys on idiotic allies, on stupid charity projects and on gluttonous international organisations.’’
He said it was a sad day for the scum in Kiev, in a post on Telegram.
Newly appointed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, whose alliance has a key role in the war on Ukraine, congratulated Trump on X.
“His leadership will again be key to keeping our Alliance strong,’’ Rutte added.
The conservative broadcaster Fox News had already declared Republican candidate Trump the overall winner against Democrat Kamala Harris, but other media networks and U.S. news agency AP had not done so.
Trump declared himself the winner in a speech to supporters in Florida.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz added his congratulations.
“For a long time, Germany and the U.S. have been working together successfully promoting prosperity and freedom on both sides of the Atlantic.
“We will continue to do so for the wellbeing of our citizens,” the chancellor wrote on X.
Earlier, Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone about the election outcome.
A German government spokesman said the two European leaders had agreed to coordinate closely with each other.
“We will work in this new context for a more united, stronger, more sovereign Europe.
In cooperation with the U.S. and defending our interests and values,’’ Macron wrote on X after the conversation.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she looked forward to working with the presumptive 47th president of the U.S. on a strong trans-Atlantic agenda that delivers for their people.
Von der Leyen said the European Union and the United States “are more than just allies,” bound by a “shared history, commitment to freedom and democracy, and common goals of security and opportunity for all.”
“Millions of jobs and billions in trade and investment on each side of the Atlantic depend on the dynamism and stability of our economic relationship,” she added.
Outgoing European Council President Charles Michel, meanwhile, said the EU looked forward to cooperating constructively with the US, while “defending the rules-based multilateral system.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK-US special relationship would “continue to prosper” following Donald Trump’s “historic election victory,” the PA news agency reported.
Congratulations also came from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who said the strategic connections between their two countries would now become even stronger.
“Good luck with your work, president!” the far-right prime minister added.
“Congratulations, Mr President … You made it happen!” Poland’s conservative nationalist president, Andrzej Duda, posted on X.
Dutch right-wing populist politician Geert Wilders, a declared Trump supporter who won the election in the Netherlands almost a year ago, joined in the chorus.
“Congratulations America! Never stop, always keep fighting and win elections!” Wilders wrote on X before the official result was announced.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was “history’s greatest comeback.”
“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his “friend” Donald Trump had won the presidential election after a “great struggle.”
China, meanwhile, was more cautious in its response. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the election was a domestic affair that Beijing would handle as usual once the results are officially announced. (dpa/NAN)
By Eze Okechukwu, Abuja
The Senate yesterday ordered mandatory health screening for every international passenger arriving Nigeria airports, seaports, land borders as Ebola resurfaces in the Democratic Republic of Congo with a scare case reported in the FCT.
The resolution followed an urgent motion by Senator Francis Fadahunsi, who warned that with Lassa fever already ravaging states, Nigeria cannot afford another outbreak.
“Protecting our entry points is far cheaper than managing Ebola,” Fadahunsi told the chamber.
Lawmakers insisted screening must be total and indiscriminate — no exemptions based on nationality or departure country because infected travellers can transit through safe-listed nations.
Senator Diket Plang raised the stakes further, demanding immediate funding for NCDC and Port Health Services, including release of withheld funds and emergency budget.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the Federal Government has started releasing Ebola response funds but ordered relevant committees to track every kobo.
“Ascertain whether the funds were released and judiciously utilised. Any outstanding debt must be released by the Finance Ministry without delay,” Akpabio directed.
At least 72 civilians who had been prospecting for gold in a border region of Sudan have been killed in air strikes, a regional rights group said.
Emergency Lawyers, based in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, said jets targeted the so-called artisanal miners at a popular gold mining site on Saturday.
Neither the Egyptian government nor the de facto Sudanese authorities have so far commented.
Cairo has previously faced accusations of deadly strikes on gold prospectors as part of a crackdown on illicit activity along its southern border.
Emergency Lawyers noted the previous alleged attacks and said they represented not only a violation of Sudan’s sovereign territory but demonstrated the government’s lack of control over the region.
“The deliberate targeting of unarmed civilians violates international humanitarian law and the right to life,” it said in a statement on Sunday. “These acts may constitute war crimes.”
It noted that its death toll was provisional and could rise.
The Paris-based Sudan Tribune reported that the death toll could far exceed the number reported by Emergency Lawyers, citing a survivor of Saturday’s attack who said many more people had been injured.
Eyewitnesses said the attack began around 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT), with the aircraft firing more than five missiles directly at the miners’ camps, destroying them and excavation pits with people still inside, the newspaper wrote.
The Sudan Tribune reported claims in June that Egyptian forces had used drones and artillery to target artisanal mining sites in the same region, killing several, after sporadic incidents of Egyptian border guards of burning equipment, torching temporary shelters, and firing live ammunition to disperse mine workers.
Days later, Egypt’s border agency announced that it and the military had begun a sweeping security campaign along the border to foil illegal migration, drug smuggling and illegal mining.
At the same time, Sudan’s de facto leader announced an investigation into the alleged strikes, which were said to have killed dozens.
Gold lies at the core of the border tensions.
Sudan’s ongoing civil war has led to a surge in artisanal mining – and often risky practice conducted by civilians with rudimentary tools and without official permission – particularly in remote areas near its borders.
Gold-rich areas lie along porous borders in terrain historically associated with cross-border smuggling routes, with artisanally mined gold potentially feeding into those channels.
Egypt’s border force said in June that it had seized 86 tonnes of gold ore along with amateur prospecting equipment.
Artisanal mining has also reportedly continued in Sudan’s conflict zones and smuggled gold may be a source of income for armed insurgent groups.
This has raised concerns of illicit Sudanese gold undermining the legitimate Egyptian gold market.
Several German fighter jets will take part in the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) annual nuclear defence exercise this week as troops from 17 countries take part in the Steadfast Noon drill.
The German Air Force said three Tornado jets will take part in the exercise hosted by Italy, which starts Tuesday and runs for about a week and a half.
The jets are normally stationed in Büchel in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
NATO has not revealed the exercise scenario but said its scale would be comparable to last year’s drill, which involved around 2,000 personnel and more than 70 aircraft.
Last week, NATO’s head of nuclear policy, Nassima Barrows, said the exercise was designed to demonstrate the alliance’s readiness and ability to defend its territory.
No real nuclear weapons will be used, she added.
NATO said the exercise was not linked to current events or directed at any specific country.
Military experts say the drills, held regularly in October, include practising the safe transport of weapons from underground storage facilities to aircraft and mounting them on fighter jets.
Only practice bombs without real nuclear warheads are used during the drills.
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