Polonia: (Associated Press) Poland’s leader says his country is ready to host NATO members’ nuclear weapons to counter Russia - Poland’s president says the NATO member would be ready to host the nuclear weapons of the military alliances’s other members in response to Russia’s moving its nuclear weapons to neighboring Belarus.
- President Andrzej Duda made the comments in an interview published Monday in the Fakt tabloid.
- Russia has “recently relocated its nuclear weapons to Belarus,” Duda said, in a reference to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko’s announcement in December.
- In Moscow, a Kremlin spokesperson said any deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons in Poland would be met with steps necessary for Russia’s security.
Germania: (Associated Press) 3 Germans arrested on suspicion of spying for China, transferring info on potential military tech - Three people suspected of spying for China and arranging to transfer information on technology with potential military uses were arrested in Germany on Monday.
- Prosecutors said the three German citizens are accused of having acted for Chinese intelligence since some point before June 2022. They are also suspected of violating German export laws by exporting a special laser without permission.
- One of the suspects, identified only as Thomas R. in line with German privacy laws, was allegedly an agent for an employee of China’s Ministry of State Security and procured information in Germany on “militarily usable innovative technologies” for that person, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
- To do that, prosecutors said, he used Herwig F. and Ina. F, a couple who own a company in Duesseldorf that was used to contact and work with German researchers. The couple allegedly set up a research transfer agreement with an unidentified German university, the first step in which was to draw up a study for a Chinese partner on the technology of machine parts that could be used for powerful ship engines, including those in battleships. Thomas R.'s handler at the MSS was behind the Chinese partner and the project was financed by the Chinese state, prosecutors said.
UK: (Wall Street Journal) U.K. Hopes to Send Asylum Seekers to Live in Rwanda by Summer - The U.K. government is set to press ahead with a controversial policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as soon as this summer, with parliament poised to pass a law stating that the central African nation is a safe place to house those claiming to flee persecution.
- Across the West, including the U.S., rising numbers of migrants have overwhelmed many asylum systems and created political tensions leading some countries to try sending migrants to other nations. Britain is plowing ahead with a much delayed but closely watched policy aimed at deterring migrants from arriving on its shores.
- In 2022, Britain announced a deal with Rwanda to process and house thousands of asylum seekers who entered the U.K. illegally, often on small boats from France. Those who are flown to Rwanda would never return to the U.K. even if they are granted refugee status.
- UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, has criticized the Rwanda policy saying it “shifts responsibility for identifying and meeting international protection needs from the U.K. to Rwanda.” Most human rights groups have also opposed the plan.
(Reuters) UK police charge two men with spying for China - British police on Monday charged two men with spying for China, including one reported to have worked as a researcher in Britain's parliament for a prominent lawmaker from the governing Conservative Party.
- Anxiety has mounted across Europe about China’s alleged espionage activity and Britain has become increasingly vocal about its concerns in recent months.
- The two men, aged 32 and 29, were charged with providing prejudicial information to China in breach of the Official Secrets Act, and will appear in court on Friday.
|
