World

BERLIN — German chancellor Olaf Scholz slammed as "selfish and self-serving" Donald Trump's demands for Ukrainian rare earths in exchange for US military aid, in an interview published on Saturday. 

Rare earths group metals used to transform power into motion in a vast array of things ranging from electric vehicles to missiles and there is no substitute for them.

"Ukraine is under attack and we are helping it, without asking to be paid in return. This should be everyone's position," Scholz told the RND media group, when asked about Trump's demands for a possible quid pro quo for US aid.

The German chancellor had already described Trump's demands as "very selfish" on Monday after a European Union summit in Brussels.

He had said Ukraine's resources should be used to finance everything needed after the war, such as reconstruction and maintaining a strong army. 

"It would be very selfish, very self-serving" to demand something from Ukraine in exchange for aid, he said.

Trump had said he wanted "equalisation" from Ukraine for Washington financial support, adding: "We're telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earths. We're looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they're going to secure what we're giving them with their rare earths and other things".

He added: "I want to have security of rare earth. We're putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth. And I want security of the rare earth, and they're willing to do it."

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Washington and Kyiv were planning "meetings and talks", after Trump raised a possible meeting with him next week. 

Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine was ready to receive investment from US firms in its rare earths -- or metals widely used in electronics. 

In a peace plan unveiled in October, Zelensky had, without specifically mentioning rare earths, proposed a "special agreement" with his country's partners, allowing for "common protection" and "joint exploitation" of strategic resources. 

He had cited as examples "uranium, titanium, lithium, graphite and other strategic resources of great value". 

LOS ANGELES, United States — The wreckage of a plane that went missing in Alaska has been found, US officials said Friday, with all 10 people aboard thought to have died.

The US Coast Guard said it had discovered the remnants of the Bering Air Caravan around 34 miles (55 kilometers) from Nome.

"Three individuals were found inside and reported to be deceased," the Coast Guard posted on social media.

"The remaining seven people are believed to be inside the aircraft but are currently inaccessible due to the condition of the plane."

Nome's volunteer fire department, which had scrambled in the search for the plane, said on Facebook it was helping with recovery.

"The Nome Search and Rescue Team is spooling up with assistance from the Alaska Air National Guard with recovery efforts," a post said.

"From reports we have received, the crash was not survivable. Our thoughts are with the families at this time."

The privately operated plane, with nine passengers and one pilot on board, was reported overdue Thursday on a flight from Unalakleet to Nome, Alaska state police said.

The two cities are located roughly 150 miles apart across the Norton Sound, on the state's west coast.

According to publicly available information the plane's last known position was over the water around 40 minutes after takeoff.

The crash is the latest incident in a string of aviation disasters in the United States.

On January 30, a passenger jet collided midair with a US Army helicopter in Washington, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft.

The disaster was followed closely by the crash of a medical plane into a busy Philadelphia neighborhood, killing seven and injuring 19.

GOMA, DR Congo — Rwandan-backed M23 called its first public meeting on Thursday since seizing the Congolese city of Goma after deadly clashes, as its fighters advanced towards another regional capital.

After capturing Goma, the main city in North Kivu province, last week, the M23 and Rwandan troops launched a new offensive on Wednesday in a neighbouring province.

Breaking a ceasefire it had declared unilaterally, the fighters seized the South Kivu mining town of Nyabibwe, about 100 kilometres  from the regional capital Bukavu.

The M23 anti-governmental group had said in declaring the humanitarian ceasefire that it had "no intention of taking control of Bukavu or other localities".

The battle for Goma killed at least 2,900 people, the United Nations said on Wednesday, in a much higher toll than previously announced.

Humanitarian and local sources said on Thursday that Congolese forces were bracing for an assault in the town of Kavumu, which hosts the province's airport and lies about 30 km from Bukavu.

Equipment and troops are being evacuated to avoid being captured by the advancing M23 and its Rwandan allies, the sources said.

The fall of Kavumu, the last barrier before Bukavu, would be another stinging setback for the army and government of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In more than three years of fighting, the M23's lightning offensive against Goma was a major escalation in the mineral-rich region, scarred by relentless conflict involving dozens of armed groups over three decades.

Residents of the city of 1 million people have been told to attend the M23's public meeting in the stadium on Thursday.

Men using loudspeakers went through the streets a day earlier instructing the population that their presence was mandatory, an AFP journalist saw.

Businesses are to remain shuttered on Thursday at M23's request.

'Governing differently' 

Several thousand people had already turned up first thing on Thursday morning in front of the stadium and the area's streets were crowded.

M23 members regulated the flow at the stadium gates.

Among the crowd, several people wore T-shirts saying "Governing North Kivu Differently".

Since the M23 resurfaced in late 2021, the DRC army, which has a reputation for being poorly trained and undermined by corruption, has been forced to retreat.

Fears the violence could spark a wider conflict have galvanised the international community and mediators such as Angola and Kenya in diplomatic efforts.

However, the DRC's top diplomat on Wednesday blasted it as all talk and no action.

"We see a lot of declarations but we don't see actions," Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner told journalists in Brussels.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame said he had discussed the situation in eastern DRC with European Council chief Antonio Costa and they "agreed on the need for effective de-escalation and a resolution to the conflict that... ensures lasting peace".

He and his DRC counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi, are due to attend a summit of the eight-country East African Community and 16-member Southern African Development Community in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam on Saturday.

At Kinshasa's request, a day earlier, the United Nations Human Rights Council will convene a special session on the crisis.

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court, which probes allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, said they were "closely following" events in eastern DRC.

A UN expert report said last year that Rwanda had up to 4,000 troops in the DRC, seeking to profit from its vast mineral wealth, and that Kigali had "de facto" control over the M23.

The eastern DRC has deposits of coltan, a metallic ore that is vital in making phones and laptops, as well as gold and other minerals.

Rwanda has never admitted to military involvement in support of the M23.

It alleges that the DRC supports and shelters the FDLR, an armed group created by ethnic Hutus who massacred Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

SEOUL — The commander of a crack South Korean special forces unit told a court on Thursday he had been asked by a superior officer how to cut electricity to parliament during last year's failed martial law order by impeached president Yook Suk- yeol.

Colonel Kim Hyun-tae, who leads the country's elite 707th Special Mission Group, was in charge of troops attempting to stop lawmakers voting down Yoon's shock order.

He said his superior officer, former chief of the special warfare command General Kwak Jong-keun, also asked him if troops could fight their way into the parliament building using "tasers and blank ammo".

"I told him it was not feasible," Kim told a hearing at the constitutional court, which is deciding whether Yoon's impeachment should be upheld.

Yoon, who has been arrested and suspended from duties, sat stony-faced in court -- at points closing his eyes -- as he listened to the testimony.

He plunged democratic South Korea into political turmoil when he declared martial law on December 3, suspending civilian rule and sending soldiers to parliament.

Yoon said he implemented the decree "to safeguard constitutional order", labelling the opposition "anti-state elements" intent on insurrection.

The attempt lasted just six hours as the opposition-led parliament defied troops,

The special forces soldiers faced off against parliamentary staff who piled chairs and desks around entry points inside the assembly to stop them from entering.

Kim told the court Kwak asked him "is there any way to get in, such as by shutting down the power"?

He was told specifically he needed to get into parliament to prevent lawmakers from obtaining the quorum needed to vote down martial law.

"Rather than using an aggressive tone, [Kwak] almost implored me to find a way, saying the number had to be kept under 150," he said, referring to the parliamentary majority needed to vote down the decree.

"I answered, 'No, we can't. We can't go in any further'."

Earlier this week, Yoon suggested that even if he had ordered the arrest of MPs to prevent them from voting down his decree, it would not legally matter because it had not been carried out.

Yoon has also denied instructing top military commanders to "drag out" lawmakers from parliament.

But Kwak contradicted Yoon's claim at the Thursday hearing, saying the president had ordered him to bring out the MPs.

He is being held in detention but has been attending hearings at the constitutional court, which will determine whether his impeachment is upheld.

If the court upholds impeachment, a by-election must be held within 60 days to elect a new president.

As part of a separate criminal probe, Yoon was detained in mid-January on insurrection charges, becoming the first sitting South Korean head of state to be arrested.

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine said Thursday it had captured more than 900 Russian troops in six months of fighting in the western Russian Kursk region, a shock campaign hailed by President Volodymyr Zelensky as a possible bargaining chip in peace talks.

Kyiv says a key goal of its struggling operation -- the largest by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II -- was to build up reserves of Russian soldiers to exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war.

"During the operation, Ukrainian forces captured 909 Russian servicemen, significantly replenishing the exchange fund," the Ukrainian military said in a statement. 

"This made it possible to bring home hundreds of Ukrainian defenders who had been held in Russian prisons," it added.

Kyiv and Moscow still cooperate on prisoner exchanges despite being at war for nearly three years, and Ukraine has made returning its captured troops a priority.

Last year, the Ukrainian military said its forces had captured more than 700 Russian troops during operations in the Kursk region.

On Wednesday, each side released 150 captured soldiers in the latest exchange.

Thursday marks six months since Ukraine launched its shock incursion into the Russian border region, in an embarrassing setback for the Kremlin.

Ukrainian forces have since lost swathes of Russian territory they intially captured, though they have held onto dozens of settlements where around 2,000 Russian civilians still live.

Zelensky praised his troops fighting there on Thursday, issuing several units with state awards.

"The occupier can and should be beaten on its territory," he said in a social media post.

"The Kursk operation clearly explains the meaning of the principle of 'peace through strength'," he said, referring to a message he has been promoting to secure ongoing military support from Ukraine's western partners.

Kyiv says the ground it holds in Kursk will be an important bargaining chip in any future peace negotiations with Russia, whose forces have been making steady gains across the front line in eastern Ukraine.

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump's administration appeared to backtrack Wednesday after his proposal to take over Gaza sparked uproar, with the United Nations warning against "ethnic cleansing" in the Palestinian territory.

Facing a wave of criticism from Palestinians, Arab governments and world leaders, Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any transfer of Gazans would be temporary, while the White House said there was no commitment to sending US troops.

Trump, however, insisted "everybody loves" the plan, which he announced to audible gasps during a White House press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Offering few details on how the United States could remove more than two million Palestinians or control the war-battered territory, Trump declared Tuesday: "The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it."

Rubio said the idea "was not meant as hostile," describing it as a "generous move -- the offer to rebuild and to be in charge of the rebuilding."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said Washington would not fund Gaza's reconstruction after more than 15 months of war between US ally Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.

US involvement "does not mean boots on the ground" or that "American taxpayers will be funding this effort," Leavitt said.

The United Nations warned against ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

"At its essence, the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is about the right of Palestinians to simply live as human beings in their own land," Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a speech to a UN committee that deals with the rights of Palestinians.

Guterres's spokesman Stephane Dujarric, previewing the UN chief's speech, told reporters: "Any forced displacement of people is tantamount to ethnic cleansing."

Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt said any forced displacement of the Palestinians would be unacceptable.

"It would be a serious violation of international law, an obstacle to the two-state solution and a major destabilising force for Egypt and Jordan," the two leaders said.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei called it a "shocking" plan and "a continuation of the Zionist regime's [Israel] targeted plan to completely annihilate the Palestinian nation."

Palestinian officials, Arab leaders and rights groups swiftly condemned Trump's remarks.

Hamas, which took control of Gaza in 2007, rejected the proposal, branding it "racist" and "aggressive".

Leavitt said Trump wanted Palestinians to be only "temporarily relocated" out of Gaza.

"It's not a liveable place for any human being," she said.

'We will remain' 

Israel's military offensive in response to Hamas's October 2023 attack has left much of Gaza in ruins, including schools, hospitals and most civil infrastructure. 

Rights group Human Rights Watch said the destruction of Gaza "reflects a calculated Israeli policy to make parts of the strip unlivable." 

Trump's proposed plan "would move the US from being complicit in war crimes to direct perpetration of atrocities," said Lama Fakih, an HRW regional director.

Trump, who also suggested he might visit Gaza, appeared to imply it would not be rebuilt for Palestinians.

But Leavitt later said he had been "very clear" that he expected Egypt, Jordan and others "to accept Palestinian refugees, temporarily, so that we can rebuild their home."

Even before Tuesday's explosive proposal, Trump had suggested residents of Gaza should move to Egypt and Jordan. Palestinians, however, have vowed to stay on.

"They can do whatever they want, but we will remain steadfast in our homeland," said 41-year-old Gaza resident Ahmed Halasa.

 'Winning' 

In Washington, Netanyahu hailed Trump as Israel's "greatest friend" and praised his "willingness to think outside the box."

Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday night, he called Trump's proposal "remarkable" and "the first good idea that I've heard." 

"I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone."

But he also suggested it did not mean Palestinians leaving the territory forever.

"They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back, but you have to rebuild Gaza."

The Gaza war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory response has killed at least 47,518 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

ATHENS — A fresh series of quakes hit the Greek island of Santorini early on Thursday, part of an unprecedented seismic wave that has baffled scientists and led to a mass exodus of residents.

Seven successive tremors measuring over 4.0 magnitude were recorded in the early morning by the Athens Geodynamic Institute, Greece's leading authority on earthquake analysis.

This was after a 5.2 quake, the strongest so far since the weekend, was recorded on Wednesday evening.

Experts have so far been unable to give a definitive estimate on when the seismic activity will end, but stress that it is unprecedented.

"The intensity is falling but has not yet stabilised," the institute's research director Athanassios Ganas told state TV channel ERT.

"We're at the halfway point," the institute's deputy director Vassilis Karastathis told the station.

The institute on Thursday said over 6,000 tremors had been recorded in the Aegean Sea near the islands of Santorini, Amorgos, Anafi and Ios since January 26.

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis on Thursday said Greece's "entire state mechanism has been mobilised" to prepare for "any eventuality".

Over 11,000 residents and seasonal workers have left Santorini since the weekend by sea and air, with operators adding extra flights and ferries.

Experts say the region has not experienced seismic activity on this scale since records began in 1964.

"The most likely scenario is for the seismic activity to continue for certain days or weeks at the same intensity," the head of Greece's earthquake planning and protection authority, Efthymios Lekkas, told Proto Programma radio.

Santorini lies atop a volcano which last erupted in 1950 -- but an experts' committee on Monday said the current tremors were "not linked to volcanic activity".

No injuries or damage have been reported.

Rescue teams have been sent to the area as a precaution, and additional seismic sensors have been deployed.

Lekkas on Wednesday warned there were five areas at risk of possible rockslides on Santorini, including the ports of Fira and Athinios.

Schools on more than a dozen islands in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean Sea have been shut as a precaution until Friday, prompting many people with children to leave Santorini until the quake scare eases.

Santorini attracted about 3.4 million visitors in 2023. Upwards of a million of those were cruise ship passengers.

European travel agents contacted by AFP said the number of foreign visitors to Santorini at this time of year was minimal, with more bookings expected in the spring months.