Category World News

A compelling examination of the effects of militarisation of the Pacific islands in the midst of a global power conflict.

The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will start distributing aid in Gaza, despite UN concerns.

Since Israel’s ceasefire was broken in early March, thousands of Palestinians have been starved to death in Gaza. The humanitarian crisis has been largely caused by these key events.

Days after the newly appointed chancellor claimed Kyiv’s Western allies had lifted range restrictions on their missiles and would allow Ukraine to use them to strike deep inside Russian territory, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with German President Friedrich Merz in Berlin.

Merz made the announcement on Monday as Russia carried out heavy aerial bombardments on Ukraine and both sides launched tit-for-tat drone attacks.

That statement rekindled Kyiv’s optimism and renewed interest in Germany’s request for Taurus missiles, which the war-torn nation has long demanded.

However, Merz and Zelenskyy made a promise to the Ukrainian leader that Germany would support their country in developing long-range missiles on its soil in a joint press conference on Wednesday. He did not make any commitments regarding the Taurus.

Germany, which supplies military aid after the United States, has been a major supporter of Ukraine. Former German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who did not want Germany to be directly involved in the Ukraine war, resisted providing Kyiv with Taurus missiles. He agreed to provide Leopard 2 battle tanks in January 2023 after pressure from his NATO allies. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has warned that NATO will go “at war with his country” if Western nations permit Ukraine to attack with long-range weapons inside of Russia.

Merz has increased efforts to keep Ukraine’s support in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to end the conflict since taking office on May 6. Trump has been critical of the US aid to Ukraine under his predecessor Joe Biden. Trump, who has criticized Putin, was angered by recent, more frequent Russian aerial assaults against Ukraine.

The Taurus, in Ukraine’s opinion, would change the course of the conflict.

Here’s what to know about the weapons:

How do Taurus missiles work?

A German-Swedish long-range air missile with a low-cruise range of 500 kilometers (300 miles) can accurately fire heavy explosives at targets.

It was manufactured in 1998 through a joint partnership between the German missile company MBDA Deutschland and Sweden’s Saab Bofors Dynamics.

The missile can penetrate deep or hard targets, such as ships, communication centers, ammunition storage facilities, and bunkers, with the aid of a powerful warhead. Without GPS, the missile can also travel for a long distance.

Although Ukraine already uses Western-provided missiles from the US and the United Kingdom, some experts and Ukrainian officials believe this projectile would be the strongest Western missile to be used by Ukraine if Germany gives a green light because the others have only half of the range of the Taurus and cannot carry as much ammunition.

Why has Germany not yet given these missiles to Ukraine?

Scholz’s left-leaning Social Democratic Party (SPD) -led coalition government was cautious of escalating the war and possibly drawing in Germany, and by default, NATO.

Moscow has already made a number of warnings that Ukraine would be seen as the country that is directly entangled in the conflict if it fired any Western missiles into Russian territory. The SPD’s opposition to war is also at play here.

Germany – which currently provides Ukraine with short-range rockets, including the M142 HIMARS MLRS and MARS II MLRS – and other weapons-providing Western allies initially restricted Ukraine from using their weapons inside Russia but allowed Kyiv to hit Russian targets within Ukraine.

However, former US President Biden lifted restrictions on US weapons in November, allowing Ukraine to use them in the Kursk region of Russia. When Kyiv had launched an unexpected offensive against the border region, that was when. Some experts said lifting the restrictions was a major help to Ukraine. The majority of the territory it had seized has since been lost, but it still continues to hold some Russian land.

Russia tapped a top-secret discussion between German military leaders in March 2024 during which they discussed whether Scholz might be able to persuade him to send the Taurus to Ukraine and whether the missile could devastate the Kerch Bridge connecting Russia to Ukraine’s occupied Crimea region.

Is Germany changing its stance now and will it matter?

Under Merz’s new administration, Berlin appeared to be ready to change its tone.

Merz, a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), had pressed Scholz to send the Taurus to Ukraine and for Germany to adopt a stronger stance against Russia as an opposition member.

During his election campaign, Merz promised to support Ukraine more concretely, including by sending long-range missiles. The SPD is also a part of his coalition government, though.

In what appeared to be a compromise position, Merz promised Zelenskyy German support on Wednesday when they agreed to launch long-range missiles on Ukrainian territory. The chancellor promised that financing for the project would be discussed subsequently at the Group of Seven summit to be held in Canada in June.

According to Atlantic Council analyst Michael Bociurkiw, the pledge is still “pretty significant,” adding that it was one of Germany’s first genuine pledges to Ukraine. He said, “I believe it shows that Ukraine has capabilities.”

On Monday, Merz had spoken to the public broadcaster WDR about the range restrictions enforced by NATO members and said there were “no longer any range restrictions for weapons that have been delivered to Ukraine – neither by the British, nor by the French, nor by us, and not by the Americans either”.

Merz’s comments, which did not specifically mention Germany sending the Taurus to Ukraine, sparked a speculative frenzy in the eyes of many analysts. Merz made it clear on Tuesday that he was specifically referring to his support for Ukraine’s right to strike deeply inside Russia.

“Hence yesterday in Berlin, I was describing something that already happened months ago”, Merz said.

However, Merz’s comments received criticism from both his own CDU and the SPD. Some people claimed that his statements and actual events were contradictory.

CDU lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter said in a post on Tuesday on X that Germany was “irrelevant” in the long-range missile conversation because it has refused to send Ukraine the Taurus and he saw no willingness to do that under the current coalition.

We should also refrain from making contradictory statements about this issue. Despite Russia’s unprecedented escalation, I continue to see no political will to act appropriately and with strength and consistency in the coalition. Such statements are therefore overall unhelpful because they highlight Europe’s weakness to Russia”, he wrote.

Additionally, SPD head and vice-chancellor Lars Klingbeil stated at a press conference on Tuesday that no restrictions on the use of German weapons in Ukraine had been changed.

Even if Germany sends the Taurus at this point, according to expert John Foreman, who is associated with the UK think tank Chatham House, it might have a more symbolic and tactical impact.

A Taurus delivery would arrive “too late to change the overall trajectory of the war”, Foreman told Al Jazeera, adding that Germany would have to supply a significant number to make a difference.

Over the past three years, Russia has developed more skill at dispersal, air defense, and camouflage to complicate targeting, he continued.

What other long-range missiles does Ukraine possess?

From the US, Ukraine has received about 40 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), which can fire ballistic missiles carrying cluster munitions up to a range of 300km (190 miles). Russian military installations, runways, and energy infrastructure can all be struck by them. Six ATACMS were used by Ukraine on a Russian weapons depot in the Bryansk border region after Biden lifted the ban on using US weapons inside of Russia. In March, The Associated Press news agency reported that Ukraine ran out of ATACMS in January, and it’s unclear if the US has supplied more since then.
• In addition, the UK delivered Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine as the first nation to do so in May 2023. A cruise missile launched from an aircraft rather than a ground is the Storm Shadow, which has a price of about $1 million each. It has a range of up to 250km (155 miles) and can reach deep into Russian territory from Ukrainian airspace to destroy bunkers and weapon storage facilities. Ukraine has used them to attack high-value military installations in occupied areas like Crimea and Luhansk. A Russian military general in Kursk and several North Korean soldiers reportedly fighting for Moscow were killed when Ukraine launched the missiles into Russian territory for the first time in November. One hundred to 200 units have reportedly been delivered.
• Scalp, France’s version of the Storm Shadow, has comparable capabilities. Both missile components are produced in the UK, France, and Italy by European manufacturer MBDA, who built them in a UK factory.

How might Russia react to the news?

Russia has not commented on Germany’s decision to work with Ukraine to build long-range missiles in the nation.

Russia has consistently warned that any attack on the country by Western-provided weapons would be seen as an escalate, as Putin predicted in September, which could lead to nuclear retaliation. But Merz’s move attempts to circumvent that threat.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova repeatedly stated that Russia would launch a Taurus strike as a result of Germany’s “direct” involvement in the conflict following Merz’s victory in the election in April and his continued assurances that he would send Taurus missiles to Ukraine.

According to the Russian news agency TASS, Merz’s comments this week have also had an impact on the Kremlin. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Merz “has confused everyone, if not himself”, after the vice chancellor denied that such decisions had been made. Poskov cautioned Berlin against an escalation, calling it an “extremely dangerous decision” that would conflict with current peace efforts.

He claimed that adding more confrontation would literally be several steps in the right direction.

Zakharova added that Germany would “drive itself deeper into the hole in which the Kyiv regime it supports has long been”.

When Luis Enrique takes the helm of his Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) team to Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final against Inter Milan, the coach will be aiming to win the French national team’s top prize for the first time and end years of fan dissatisfaction there.

This is the club which, until recently, boasted superstar players the caliber of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr, but failed to win any European silverware since the third-tier UEFA Intertoto Cup way back in 2001.

Enrique has radically altered PSG since his arrival in 2023, overseeing Messi’s undoubted exits, Neymar’s, and Mbappe, and made the transition from a team of aging galacticos to one of Europe’s most exciting attacking sides.

What happens in the Champions League final in Munich will determine whether Enrique’s strategy is effective.

Enrique the player

Who is the real Luis Enrique, who led this radical change at PSG, away from the actual events of the pitch?

The 55-year-old started his football career in 1988 by playing for Sporting Gijon, a team from the Spanish Segunda Division.

In 1991 he was signed by mega club Real Madrid where he helped Los Blancos win La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Super Cup. Enrique struggled to live up to expectations, which is primarily due to his playing in more defensive roles and positional shifts.

In 1996, bitter rivals FC Barcelona acquired Enrique, who had lost his preferred central midfield position. &nbsp, It paid dividends for the Catalan giants and Enrique went on to win La Liga, the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup trophies with Barca.

He left the game in 2004 and joined management, according to reports from Pep Guardiola, the current Manchester City manager.

Enrique began his coaching career at FC Barcelona “B” before joining AS Roma in the 2011-2012 campaign. The Spaniard was sacked at the end of the season, with a year still remaining on his contract, after Roma finished a disappointing seventh in the premier domestic competition.

Managing expectations

His next move was to Spanish La Liga side Celta Vigo – but he also departed from that club after just one year. Enrique re-entered Barcelona as the first team manager, which was the moment that changed his managerial career.

The “Big-3” of Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar led the attacking line in the Champions League final in 2015, completing a rare treble for the club: Spanish League (La Liga), Spanish Cup (Copa del Rey), and European (Champions League) titles. Barca won the trophy in 2015 with a victory in the Champions League final against Juventus, completing his four-year reign at the Nou Camp.

If PSG win the Champions League final on Saturday, Enrique will make history be becoming the only man to ever achieve a treble on two occasions.

Enrique made his first international football team-building debut when he was appointed Spain’s 2018 coach.

Spain was anticipated to win the FIFA World Cup in Qatar 2022. However, after a crushing round of 16 loss to underdogs Morocco, Enrique announced his resignation from the national side.

Enrique’s next managerial position was reportedly linked to a move to England’s Premier League, according to persistent media speculation.

Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea spoke with him, but it was PSG, much to the surprise of many, that signed him.

Perhaps it was the unique challenge of winning the Champions League with one of only two European super clubs never to have achieved the milestone – Arsenal being the other – which made him head to Paris.

Perhaps it was a desire to show off his vision of attacking football by rebuilding a team his way.

Take me to Paris

Enrique’s well-known animosity toward the media was revealed in a recent three-part documentary produced by Zoom Sport Films that captured an intimate look at the coach.

You Don’t Have Any F****** Idea (You Don’t Have Any F****** Idea) exposes a determined man who shares his family’s passion for football.

Viewers see Enrique arriving at PSG speaking only a few words of French. He nevertheless imposes his personality right away on the club.

Lucho, Enrique, is a nickname he goes by, and he travels with a Spanish-speaking coaching staff to speak to the players in his native tongue with the help of a French translator.

As relations with his biggest star – Mbappe – appear to worsen, viewers are treated to Enrique giving the star player what former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson used to call the “hairdryer treatment”, or a huge telling off.

Enrique calls it “C’est Catastrophique (It’s catastrophic)” on a large presentation screen for the striker because this is France. After PSG lost to Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinal with a score of 2-3 in April of last year, the Spaniard is referring to Mbappe’s apparent refusal to defend at all.

Despite the manager-star player bust-up, PSG would move on to the semifinals, where they were ultimately beaten by Borussia Dortmund. Enrique’s post-match comments may prove prophetic after a year:

“Sport can sometimes be that way, but it’s a sad moment right now.” We have to try to create something special next year and win it”.

Behind the scenes with Lucho

Curiously for a football manager, he spends much of his day studying his team on a series of computer screens. This is broken down with workouts. He advises that you move every half-hour. &nbsp, In the documentary, Enrique is seen, in his plush Parisian house, regularly doing various strenuous exercises or cycling.

He mixes team discussions with plunges into his ice pool during the PSG training camp. As long as the manager is healthy, it pays off. But when he walks around the pitch, it is always barefoot as he believes in “grounding” or getting back in touch with nature.

The documentary combines both the good and bad parts of Enrique’s illustrious career and those from Barca and Real Madrid. Unsurprisingly, the lowest point occurs when Morocco dethrones Spain and knocks the bookmaker’s favorite out of the World Cup.

Away from football, we also see a tender side to Lucho when the documentary touches on his close relationship with his youngest daughter, Xana, who died at the age of nine from osteosarcoma, a bone tumour, in 2019.

Enrique and his wife Elena Cullell founded a foundation in her name to assist other families who are dealing with the same fate.

Graham Hunter, a producer on the documentary and a football journalist who is friends with Enrique, described his personality as “demanding and inspirational”.

He excelled as a football player. a Roy Keane from Spain. His ability to play everywhere on the pitch slightly cut how good he was because managers used him all over the pitch. He claims that he had many awards at Barca and Madrid.

“He initially did not want to be a coach.” ]He] Accepted an invitation from Pep]Guardiola] I think to coach Barca B. Although he had a few moments of physical conflict with Messi and Luis Suarez, the 2015 Champions League victory was incredible. The treble was won by them.

Hunter believes Enrique changed the playing style of the Spain team during his managerial tenure, introducing young talent like Pedri.

He claimed that he credited him with creating what has grown into a successful franchise and that he was very proud of it.

Hunter claims Enrique didn’t just leave PSG to win the Champions League.

“He went to PSG to imprint his brand of football and to convince the players, the fans that it was a brilliant, modern way to play football and to do that, you have to win the Champions League. He is interested in how people view his football as inspiring and attacking, just like they do winning medals.