Author: Daily Sabah With DPA
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday that he is working to persuade US President-elect Donald Trump to ease access for European partners to US weapons systems. Rutte told dpa that European allies are already investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the US defence industry. However, he believes that much more could be achieved if the US defence sector were liberalized, removing the need for approval from the Congress, the Pentagon and the White House . Rutte pointed to European demand for Patriot missile defence systems. “They cost 2 billion a piece. So this is huge money for…
The sister of OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has filed a lawsuit in the United States alleging that he regularly sexually abused her over a number of years, starting when they were children. The lawsuit alleges that the abuse began when Ann Altman was 3 and Sam Altman was 12, and also includes an allegation of rape – with the filing alleging the last instance of abuse took place when Sam Altman was an adult but Ann Altman was still a child. In a joint statement posted to his account on X with his mother and two brothers, the OpenAI…
US President-elect Donald Trump said that NATO countries should be spending 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, up from the current 2% target. “They can all afford it, but they should be at 5% not 2%,” he said during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “I’m the one that got them to pay 2%,” he continued. Trump, who returns to the White House on January 20, has long been a critic of NATO, claiming that many European members are free-riders who don’t pay their way, relying instead on US taxpayers. At a campaign rally last…
Former NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg is set to travel to Washington for the inauguration of incoming US president Donald Trump on January 20. Stoltenberg, who is set to become the head of the Munich Security Conference (MSC), told dpa on Tuesday that his focus will be on strengthening US-European relations in his new role. Stoltenberg is expected to officially take over the role of chairman of the MSC after the upcoming conference meeting from February 14 to 16. With Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, the world’s largest conference on foreign and security policy will be led by…
Justin Trudeau said on Monday he plans to step down as leader of his governing Liberal Party and as Canada’s prime minister after nearly a decade in power. Trudeau made the announcement in a speech from his Rideau Cottage residence in Ottawa, after weeks of mounting pressure from inside and outside his party. He will continue on as prime minister – a position he has held for nine years – until a new party leader is chosen. “I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader thorugh a robust, nationwide, competitive process,”…
Former Greek prime minister Konstantinos Simitis, who has been credited with paving the way for the south-eastern European country to join the eurozone, has died, Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis posted on the social media platform X on Sunday morning. Simitis, a Social Democrat, was 88. Numerous Greek politicians and former colleagues, as well as political opponents, praised Simitis as the “architect of Greece’s accession to the eurozone” in 2001. Simitis served as Greek prime minister between 1996 and 2004. During his time in office, he tried to modernize his country and reduce red tape according to his motto, “Modernization…
More Ukrainian military forces are to be reinforced with drone units, commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Sunday, with a separate drone brigade soon to be put into operation. “We are finalizing the concept of a separate drone brigade and its typical structure, and we are on the home straight,” Syrskyi wrote on Telegram after a meeting with commanders of Ukrainian drone units. “I am also observing the dynamic increase in the effectiveness and survivability of our unmanned systems,” Syrskyi said. Drone units hit 54,000 Russian targets in December 2024 alone, he said, adding that so-called kamikaze drones were used in…
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has announced plans to resign in the coming days after coalition talks between his conservative party and the Social Democrats to form a new government collapsed on Saturday. In a video message, Nehammer said he would also resign as leader of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP). His announcement came shortly after the party broke off coalition talks with the Social Democrats (SPÖ). “It is evident that the destructive forces within the SPÖ have gained the upper hand,” said Nehammer, confirming the end of these talks as well. He underlined that the ÖVP would not agree to…
Russia has said its military successfully repelled a Ukrainian attack using long-range US-made ATACMS missiles in the Belgorod border region, and threatened to retaliate. All ATACMS missiles used in the attack have been shot down, the Russian Defene Ministry said on Telegram on Saturday, adding that Moscow would respond accordingly. It was not possible to independently verify the claims. In November, US President Joe Biden had authorized Kiev to attack certain targets in Russia with US-provided ATACMS missiles in order to defend against the ongoing Russian invasion. Russia has said that it will respond to any attacks with the long-range…
President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed the hope that US President-elect Donald Trump’s unpredictability will work to Ukraine’s benefit in an interview broadcast by Ukrainian television. “I see him as strong and unpredictable,” Zelensky said in the interview broadcast on Thursday. “I would very much like President Trump’s unpredictability to be directed primarily towards the Russian Federation,” he added. Zelensky said he thinks that Trump was genuinely interested in concluding peace and that Russian President Vladimir Putin feared the US president-elect. Zelensky repeated that all Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia since 2014 would be returned to Ukraine, and he insisted on…