Germany to hire 11,000 more military personnel this year, Bild reports
FRANKFURT, June 21 (Reuters) - The German government will provide funds for an extra 11,000 military personnel by the end of the year, an increase of around 4%, tabloid Bild reported on Saturday, citing government sources.
The money will be provided for 10,000 soldiers and 1,000 civilian employees for the military by end-2025, the newspaper said, adding the move was part of this year's budget planning to be approved by the cabinet next week.
The new jobs will cover armed, air, naval and cyber forces, the report said.
Germany's Defence Ministry declined to comment.
Germany needs up to 60,000 additional troops under new NATO targets for weapons and personnel, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier this month, as the alliance beefs up its forces to respond to what it sees as an increased threat from Russia.
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Telegraph
28 minutes ago
- Telegraph
London protesters say ‘hands off Iran' and its supreme leader
Protesters marched through central London with placards in support of Iran's supreme leader during a heated pro-Palestinian demonstration on Saturday. Among thousands of demonstrators waving Palestinian and Iranian flags, men and women were photographed carrying signs featuring Ayatollah Ali Khamenei alongside the message: 'Choose the right side of history.' Pro-Palestinian marches have taken place almost weekly in cities across the UK since the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel. But this was the second consecutive weekend in which the Palestinian flag appeared alongside Iran's red, white and green tricolour at a pro-Gaza demonstration in London. The usual 'end the genocide' and 'stop arming Israel' banners were joined by those supporting the Iranian regime. 'Free Palestine, hands off Iran,' one banner said. It comes after Israel began bombing Iran's military and nuclear facilities last Friday, pushing the Middle East to the brink of all-out war. On Saturday, signs supporting Palestine Action – the activist group ministers are planning to ban as a terrorist organisation after its attack on RAF planes – were largely absent from the protest. A notable exception was a placard held up by a woman seen walking down Whitehall. The cardboard sign read: 'Support action against Israel' with 'Support Palestine Action' written beneath it in smaller text. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, is preparing a written statement to put before Parliament on Monday, which, if passed, will make becoming a member of Palestine Action illegal. The move comes after two of the group's members breached security at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to vandalise two of the aircraft. Palestine Action announced it would stage a mass protest outside Parliament on Monday to oppose its imminent designation as a terror group. Saturday's pro-Palestinian march began peacefully at Russell Square en route to Whitehall. But as the protest moved onto the Strand, it was met with hundreds of pro-Israeli supporters, triggering a stand-off. Although the Metropolitan Police had separated the two groups, there was only a gap of about 10 metres between them. Protesters on both sides threw insults at each other, with some pro-Palestinian protestors breaking through lines to get closer to yell abuse at the pro-Israeli crowds. And on Lancaster Place, pro-Israeli protesters behind barricades used loudspeakers to taunt the pro-Palestinian marchers. Pro-Palestinian protesters yelled abuse back at the pro-Israel protesters as police were forced to reinforce lines to keep the crowds apart. Some protesters broke through lines to wave Palestinian flags or scream abuse at the counter-demonstration, which also included some Iranian dissidents. Police tackled or grabbed Palestinian protesters who tried to jump the barricades. Among those at the demonstration on Saturday was Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, who said politicians were seeking to 'turn people who protest against the invasion of Iran or the occupation of Palestine into terrorists'. Addressing crowds at the National March for Palestine in Whitehall, the Islington North MP said: 'We need to stop the bombing of Gaza, we need to stop the occupation of Gaza. 'I want to see a reconstruction of civilian life in Gaza and the West Bank. I don't want to see the destruction of Iran. I don't want to see the world's arms industries getting even more trillions for weapons of mass destruction.' 'Dogs of war of trying to sell us lies' Meanwhile, Humza Yousaf, the former Scottish first minister, said the Government was 'abusing' anti-terror laws against pro-Palestine activists. Addressing crowds at Whitehall, the former SNP leader also accused the 'dogs of war' of 'trying to sell us lies' and compared the current crisis to the run-up to the Iraq war. Musician Paloma Faith also told pro-Palestine campaigners that those 'who facilitate these crimes against humanity need to be made accountable'. It comes as Palestine Action called for an 'emergency mobilisation' for Monday at 12pm in response to Government plans to designate it a terrorist organisation. Palestine Action said the demonstration would 'show that the public stands with Palestine Action' and urged members and supporters to 'mobilise on mass'. It claimed 35 organisations, including Stop the War Coalition, would take part in the demonstration. 'We are all Palestine Action,' the post said. On Friday, Palestine Action shared footage of their members' attack on the RAF base. In one video, activists can be seen spraying red paint into the engines of two Airbus Voyager aircraft. One of the planes has previously transported prime ministers and members of the Royal family. Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation into the incident. Once proscribed, membership or support of Palestine Action will carry a sentence of up to 14 years in prison, putting it in the same category as Hamas, al-Qaeda and Islamic State. Founded in 2020 by campaigners Huda Ammori, 31, and Richard Barnard, 51, the group has carried out over 300 acts of trespass, vandalism and property damage, targeting what it calls 'Zionist' institutions, including universities, government buildings, defence contractors, banks and insurers. Mr Barnard, previously a member of Extinction Rebellion, appeared in court last year accused of encouraging criminal damage and supporting Hamas at rallies. He pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. The group's campaigns have seen several members arrested or jailed. In August, more than a dozen activists ram-raided the UK headquarters of Elbit Systems Horizon, an Israeli-owned arms firm, with a prison van and attacked police officers with sledgehammers, according to police. Last year, the group published a manual instructing activists on how to carry out 'an action'. The pamphlet prompted Chris Philp, who was the policing minister at the time, to warn that they were encouraging protesters to 'smash up businesses'. Mr Philp is among several politicians urging proscription in the wake of the RAF attack. 'This attack on Britain's military is totally unjustified. They are undermining the very organisation that protects us all,' he said. 'Palestine Action should be pursued, prosecuted and banned for what they have done. In this country, we settle disagreements through debate and democracy, not through acts of vandalism and violence.' Earlier on Friday, Nigel Farage, Robert Jenrick, Suella Braverman and Labour MP David Taylor also called for the group to be banned over its 'illegal' and 'extremist' attack on the RAF base.
Times
36 minutes ago
- Times
My week at the Channel smuggler trial that exposed their tactics
A few weeks after a dinghy overfilled with migrants sank in the English Channel, with the loss of up to eight lives, one of those accused of sending them to their deaths was bemoaning his own fate to his cousin. 'I was owed €1,200 in this case, but I only received €150,' Khaled Maiwand complained, as they chatted on the phone. 'It made me sad when I took the money, but it wasn't my fault. 'I wasn't guilty. I just went with them and helped them. It was the people at the head of the network who I work with that did everything.' The exchange was one of several that were read back by the judge to Maiwand, a 25-year-old Afghan with a mop of curly hair and bushy beard, as he stood sheepishly in a basement courtroom last week alongside eight other alleged people-smugglers. They face multiple charges, including manslaughter, for which the prosecutor has demanded sentences of six to eight years. The trial in the northern French city of Lille centres on the early hours of December 14, 2022, when the flimsy dinghy thought to be carrying 47 people — more than three times the number it was built to take — sank in freezing water. Four people, not all of whom have been identified, died. Another four were never found. Survivors reported that one of the boat's air chambers had already burst before they set off. The proceedings have provided a fascinating insight into the working of groups, mainly made up of Afghans and others from the Middle East, responsible for smuggling as many as 16,000 people across the Channel so far this year, and presenting yet another small boats headache for the British government. The size and complexity of the investigation has also shown the time and resources needed to 'smash' the gangs, long Sir Keir Starmer's preferred method of dealing with one of the most intractable problems the government faces. • Starmer urged to consider one-in, one-out migrant exchange scheme It came as French authorities — under pressure from Britain to stem the flow of refugees — revealed that they plan to change the rules finally to allow their forces to stop migrants at sea, up to 300 metres from the coast. The judge and her two colleagues will announce their verdict on June 30. The police operation began with the smugglers' phones and geo-locations that 'showed the position of the people using them', said Dorothée Assaga, the lawyer for Shoaib Shinwari, a fellow Afghan also among the accused. The alleged smugglers used their phones constantly to speak to and message each other, and also to liaise with migrants, known in their slang as 'chickens' and to arrange their 'games' (trips across the Channel), in return for payments, dubbed 'okays', which in this case ranged from €1,500 to €4,000. The accused, all Afghan and Kurdish men aged 21 to 40, also often recorded their exploits in photographs and videos shared on social media. They did not realise they were creating a trove of material that could eventually be used as a basis for tracking them down and building a case against them. 'For example, they thought that when they deleted a picture, it would disappear,' said Assaga. 'They didn't understand it would continue to exist somewhere.' Working in conjunction with their British counterparts, French investigators quickly realised the key to finding the perpetrators lay in their phone records. Their goal was to find numbers that had been used both on the afternoon of December 13 at Loon-Plage, seven miles west of Dunkirk, where the migrants were camped out, and then again between 10pm and 2am, another 35 miles or so further west in Ambleteuse and Wimereux, where they had gathered in the woods before setting off on their ill-fated voyage. Initial results produced three phones, one of which belonged to Maiwand, who was arrested in March 2023 at the hostel in Cherbourg where he lived. By tracing the numbers that he and the other two dialled, the investigators managed over the course of several months to round up the remaining accused, several of whom were by then far from the northern French coast. One, Toryali Walizai, the alleged ringleader, is still at large, and believed to be in Serbia. Another Afghan, thought to have been his deputy, is to go on trial separately in Belgium. Those in court in Lille were merely the 'petites mains' — 'the little hands' — according to Assaga. Shinwari, 21, her client, who is also accused of manslaughter, refused to accept he was responsible for the deaths, given that he had driven the migrants only as far as the woods where they initially hid, rather than on to the beach itself, she said. Prosecutors have nevertheless demanded one of the tougher sentences — seven years — because he is accused of taking part in further smuggling operations the following autumn. Yet their carefully delineated roles — whether, like Shinwari as drivers, or as logisticians or as a saraf, the one who collects and launders the money paid by migrants — were crucial to a massive illegal enterprise stretching from the Channel to the Middle East and beyond. One such saraf among the accused is alleged to have handled payments of more than €800,000 (£690,000) in just over a year. Maiwand appears typical of many young men who begin their long journeys to Britain and other European countries as migrants — whether escaping persecution or simply searching for a better life — but then end up as members of the gangs that transport their compatriots. After leaving Afghanistan when he was still underage, Maiwand headed for Germany, where his request for asylum was denied. He then moved to France, where he spent at least two years sleeping rough, and attempted to take a small boat across the Channel at least twice. By the time of the disaster, he had somehow obtained a French residence permit. Paid €700 each month in social security, he is not thought to have done any legitimate work. In an impassioned final statement to the court, he denied having received any money from smuggling, insisting that he wanted only to help people. 'I am really upset by what happened,' he said. 'I have no responsibility for it.' But his — and the others' — varying degrees of contrition appeared at odds with the matter-of-fact way in which they discussed the disaster in telephone conversations and messages played to the court. 'Like the others, he does not consider himself as a trafficker, but instead as someone who helps the traffickers. It is a big psychological difference for them,' Maiwand's lawyer, Kamel Abbas, told me earlier during a pause in proceedings. 'They think that if you are a smuggler, then you are a gangster, you take advantage of death, you make a living with it, you get rich with it,' he added. 'They admit that they cook, carry the cans of petrol, show the migrants the way and drive the vehicles, but that's all, and it's only so they can get to England.' • How small boats crisis is linked to rise in rough sleeping The charges — which also include membership of an organised band — are not the only crimes of which the men are accused. Shinwari, for example, faces another trial over his alleged participation in the gang rape of an underage male migrant. A photograph of him, taken from social media, apparently showing him committing the crime, was flashed up briefly on a screen. Asked by the judge, Marie Compère, to talk about his life, Shinwari described himself as a loving husband and father of three. This did not prevent him from also being a rapist, Compère told him. In France, she added, with the air of a teacher giving a civics lesson, you can 'love whom you like' — man or woman — but when you assault or rape them, you 'transform them into an object'. In the more than two and a half years since the disaster, close to 90,000 migrants are thought to have successfully crossed the Channel — while growing numbers lost their lives during the attempt: a record 73 migrants are confirmed to have died last year, five times more than in 2023, according to Oxford University's Migration Observatory. In the meantime, the methods of Channel crossing have changed. Under the current French rules, police and gendarmes are unable to intervene once the migrants are in the water — leading to a number of recent embarrassing incidents in which officers have been filmed watching as boats overladen with migrantsput to sea in front of them. Under the planned new '300-metre' rule, confirmed by the interior ministry and expected to be announced at Starmer's summit next month with President Macron, this would change. Yet French officers who will have to implement the new rules appear sceptical that the change will provide the instant solution the two leaders are hoping for. 'Who is going to intervene? We are talking about 200km of coast here,' said Marc Musiol, a representative for the Unité police union for the coastal area including Calais and Dunkirk, who told me he and his colleagues had only learnt of the plan from the media. Police and other law enforcement agencies have few suitable boats, and will have to be given both proper training and new operating procedures, he said. And even then, intervening once a boat is at sea could end in disaster. 'The migrants panic so much at the sight of police, that even just five metres from the beach someone could drown or a baby could be crushed underfoot on the boat.'
Times
36 minutes ago
- Times
The FTSE has a feelgood factor — but you can't rely on ‘vibes'
I s the UK equity market finally turning the corner? I've been asked this question many times in recent weeks. With the FTSE 100 up 7 per cent this year, versus the S&P's 2 per cent, the answer hinges on whether this reflects international allocators 'not buying the US' and parking capital elsewhere until events calm down over the Pond, or if they are truly 'buying the UK'. When we talk about what drives investor behaviour, there's a tendency to focus on the hard stuff: figures, data, arcane algorithms. But even as an economist and self-confessed numbers person, I'll freely admit that's only part of the picture. 'Vibes' are also important A 'good vibe' can, in the jargon of investing, equate to 'momentum', and a lot of strategies are built on it. It describes when a stock or asset class continues moving in the same direction due to investors piling into a trend, and as they do, this enthusiasm keeps propelling the value higher. Essentially, it's what happens when the rising price of an asset is strong or sustained enough to create Fomo (fear of missing out).
