LIVE: Israel pounds Gaza as Palestinians mourn slain Al Jazeera staff
The European Union, China and Israel's close ally, Germany, have denounced the killings, while the United Nations has described the attack as a 'grave breach of international humanitarian law'.
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Qatar Tribune
4 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Lithuania set to teach citizens how to build, operate drones
Riga: Lithuania plans to launch a new training programme in September for the construction and operation of drones for the general public and schoolchildren. According to the Defence Ministry, three drone training centres are to be opened in the Baltic country, with the number of centres set to grow to nine in the coming years. 'We are planning for 15,500 adults and 7,000 children to acquire drone control skills by 2028,' Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene was quoted as saying in a statement. Lithuania, a member of the European Union and NATO, has a population of 2.8 million. It borders Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad and its ally Belarus. According to the information provided, the content of the training programmes will be tailored to different age groups. The aim of the exercise is to strengthen the population's skills in the field of drone control and technology as well as civil resistance. More than €3.3 million ($3.8 million) is to be invested in the project, which is being carried out jointly by the Defence Ministry and the Education Ministry. Drones play a central role in modern warfare. Ukraine is increasingly relying on drones in its defensive campaign against the Russian armed forces, who in turn are using the unmanned aerial vehicles on the front line. The Defence Ministry has previously offered courses in which participants were trained in the theory and practice of using drones. (DPA)
Qatar Tribune
4 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Ukraine's borders must not be changed by force: EU leaders
agencies European leaders have warned against Ukrainian borders being redrawn by force – three days before Russia's Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump are due to hold a summit on Ukraine in Alaska. In a statement, European leaders said 'the people of Ukraine must have the freedom to decide their future'. It added the principles of 'territorial integrity' must be respected and 'international borders must not be changed by force'. The statement was signed by 26 of 27 leaders. Missing from the signatories was Hungary's leader Viktor Orban, who has maintained friendly relations with Russia and has repeatedly tried to block European Union support for Ukraine. The statement underscored the nervousness felt by Europeans about Moscow's actions in Ukraine, which many countries – particularly those bordering Russia or those in which the memory of Soviet occupation still lingers – believe could pose a direct threat in the near future. In recent years Sweden and Finland have joined NATO, Baltic countries have reinstated conscription, and Poland has set aside billions to build a barrier alongside its border with Russia. European countries have a long history of borders being redrawn by bloody wars and are extremely concerned by the prospect of the US allowing that to happen in Ukraine. A legal recognition of Russia's sovereignty over territories it conquered by force is unacceptable to the EU. Trump has insisted that any peace deal would involve 'some swapping of territories' and could see Russia taking the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and keeping Crimea. In exchange it would give up the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which it partially occupies. Last week, while admitting that some Ukrainian territory might end up being de facto controlled by Russia, NATO chief Mark Rutte stressed that this should not be formally recognised. Formal recognition would entail a change to the Ukrainian constitution that needs to be approved by a national referendum, which in turn must be authorised by the Ukrainian parliament. This would be a considerable hurdle for President Volodymyr Zelensky and may lead to the end of his government. This is why at present 'no-one is talking about international formal recognition', analyst Prof Mark Galeotti told the BBC's Today programme. 'We would be recognising that for the moment Russia does control almost 20% of Ukraine but international borders remain what they are,' Prof Galeotti said, adding that Zelensky could accept de facto control without changing the constitution. In their statement, European leaders said 'Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has wider implications for European and international security', and stressed the need for a 'just and lasting peace'. They also said Ukraine should be capable of 'defending itself effectively' and pledged to continue providing military support to Kiev, which was 'exercising its inherent right of self defence'. 'The European Union underlines the inherent right of Ukraine to choose its own destiny and will continue supporting Ukraine on its path towards EU membership,' the statement concluded.
Qatar Tribune
4 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
China's workers face unpaid leave and lower wages amid economic squeeze
Agencies Mike Chai intends to reduce wage costs at his kitchen cabinet factory by about 30% to remain competitive against other Chinese companies, many of which have ceased selling to the U.S. due to steep tariffs and are now targeting his long-time customers in Australia. Chai had already halved his workforce to 100 people since the COVID-19 pandemic and says he has no more room to trim. Instead, he is shortening shifts and asking workers to take unpaid leave – an increasingly common practice that has become a hidden deflationary force in the world's second-largest economy. 'We're in survival mode,' said the 53-year-old, adding that his company, Cartia Global Manufacturing, in the southern city of Foshan, 'barely breaks even.' 'I told them, you don't want our factory to go broke. You've worked here for 10-15 years, let's do it together.' China's headline unemployment rate has held around 5% as U.S. President Donald Trump raised tariffs on imports from China by 30 percentage points this year. Washington and Beijing extended on Monday a tariff truce for another 90 days, during which tariffs will remain at the levels reached in economists argue that underemployment – which, like other economies, is not tracked in data – is worsening due to higher levies and industrial overcapacity, thereby squeezing workers' incomes, undermining their confidence in the future, and prompting them to spend less. Consumer confidence lingers near record lows, retail sales have weakened and inflation in July was zero. Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Natixis, says it is China's manufacturing workers who suffer while exports – and the economy – keep growing despite the U.S. tariffs. 'It's the people who are hammered by this model of huge competition, lower prices, thus you need to lower costs, thus you need to lower wages. It's a spiral,' she said. 'The model is crazy. I'm sorry, but if you need to export at a loss, do not export.' Statistics will not reveal Chinese workers as 'the main losers' in the trade war because 'they will not become unemployed, but they will get unpaid leave of absence or work fewer hours,' she added. Chai has already lost two key customers in his main market of Australia after other Chinese firms cut their prices and his factory is operating at half-capacity. 'All those who have left America have come to Australia,' he said. 'A lot of new supply is knocking on my customers' doors.' While Chinese exports to the U.S. dropped 21.7% year-on-year in July, they rose by 9.2% to the European Union, 16.6% to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and 14.8% to Australia. Chai plans to cut prices by about 10%. To afford that, he is also cutting overtime, which previously made up more than a third of workers' income, from 28 days per month in total to about 10. On average, his workers earn 5,000 yuan ($697) a month before bosses are also turning to temporary workers, hiring them for new orders and dismissing them when demand dries up. Dave Fong, who co-owns three factories in southern China making everything from school bags to climbing gear and industrial machinery, says he laid off 30 full-time workers at one of the plants, then rehired some of them temporarily to fulfil unexpected orders. 'We prefer temporary contracts so we don't need to pay pension or insurance,' said Fong. 'It's by day or by hour.' 'If we don't do that, the company hits a dead end. The market is weak because consumption power has decreased. Another factor is trade, especially with the U.S.' Temporary work is common in China, especially among its nearly 300 million rural migrants. Chen Chuyan, a recruiting agent in the central city of Wuhan, says the going rate has dropped to 14 yuan per hour from 16 yuan last year. 'There's a long line of people waiting for job interviews every day, but the factories don't have that much demand,' Chen said. Alan Zhang has taken such jobs in Datang village, a cluster of small garment factories in the southern city of Guangzhou, since 2021. Back then, he earned 400 yuan a day, but now he struggles to find work paying even half that amount. 'If it's just a couple hundred yuan, I won't take it,' said the 30-year-old, after scanning handwritten ads for temporary work held by recruiters lounging on scooters. 'I don't know what happened. Suddenly, it got tough to find anything. Prices dropped fast,' said Zhang, who pays 700 yuan per month to rent a studio flat in Datang with his wife, who also works in clothing factories. He worked just 14 days in July, which worries him because he must raise 10,000 yuan every year for his son's kindergarten fees. The boy lives with his grandparents in Zhang's hometown, located in neighboring Fujian Province. 'If manufacturing wages are being squeezed, then the wider economy would feel deflationary pressure,' said Richard Yarrow, a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government. 'This is definitely a growing issue for some of the lower-skill types of manufacturing in China, such as textiles, furniture and simple electronics.' At the Longhua employment market in Shenzhen's tech hub, dozens of people browsed bulletin boards for electronics factory jobs that pay 17-28 yuan per hour. Mo, 26, who holds a degree in digital marketing but has been unable to find a job in the field, had already had two interviews by early afternoon. He declined the offers because the terms were not as advertised. 'They'll say 23 yuan, but actually give you 20,' said Mo, only giving his surname for privacy reasons. 'Then they'll take management fees, housing, cleaning and whatever else they can deduct.' Huang, 46, was checking the market for a fifth straight day, having arrived by bus from the southwestern province of Yunnan. He managed real estate projects before the property market crash. Now he is divorced and lives on a diet of 10 yuan meals, paying 25 yuan per night for a bed in a dormitory. He cannot afford anything else until he finds work. 'I had one interview this morning, but they asked for an upfront placement fee of 80 yuan,' said Huang, dragging a small suitcase. 'So I didn't go. I bought some food instead.'
