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Taiwan ally Tuvalu names Feleti Teo as new prime minister

Taiwan ally Tuvalu names Feleti Teo as new prime minister

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Taiwan ally Tuvalu names Feleti Teo as new prime minister

Tuvalu on Monday announced former attorney general and fisheries official Feleti Teo as its new prime minister, after he was elected unopposed by lawmakers in the Pacific Islands nation, officials said.

Former Prime Minister Kausea Natano lost his seat in a general election on Jan. 26 closely watched by Taiwan, China, the US and Australia, amid a geopolitical tussle for influence in the South Pacific.

Tuvalu, with a population of about 11,200 spread across nine islands, is one of three remaining Pacific allies of Taiwan, after Nauru cut ties last month and switched to Beijing, which had promised more development help.

Teo received unanimous support from the 16 lawmakers, two lawmakers told Reuters on Monday.

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Teo, who was educated in New Zealand and Australia, was Tuvalu’s first attorney general. He has decades of experience as a senior official in the regional fisheries organisation and has worked with the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s major political and economic group. Fishing is a major source of revenue in the Pacific islands.

“Feleti Teo was declared by the Governor General as Prime Minister for Tuvalu,” Tuvalu’s government secretary, Tufoua Panapa, said in an emailed statement.

Tuvalu lawmaker Simon Kofe congratulated Teo in a social media post.

“It is the first time in our history that a Prime Minister has been nominated unopposed,” he said.

The election result in Tuvalu had been delayed by a month as dangerous weather stopped boats from bringing new lawmakers to the capital to vote for prime minister, highlighting why climate change is the top political issue in the Pacific Islands nation.

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Taiwan’s foreign ministry said its ambassador to Tuvalu, Andrew Lin, expressed Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s congratulations to Teo, adding that deputy foreign minister Tien Chung-kwang will visit Tuvalu in the near future.

Teo is a friend of Taiwan’s and has visited many times, and has said relations are stable and that maintaining ties is the widespread consensus in Tuvalu, the ministry added.

Taiwan previously said it was paying close attention to the election after Tuvalu’s finance minister in the previous government, Seve Paeniu, said the issue of diplomatic recognition of Taiwan or China should be debated by the new government.

There had also been calls by some lawmakers to review a wide-ranging deal signed with Australia in November, that allows Canberra to vet Tuvalu’s police, port and telecommunication cooperation with other nations, in return for a defence guarantee and allowing citizens threatened by rising seas to migrate.

The deal was seen as an effort to curb China’s rising influence as an infrastructure provider in the Pacific Islands.

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Teo’s position on Taiwan ties, and the Australian security and migration pact, have not been made public.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on social media he looked forward to working with Teo.

“Australia deeply values our relationship with Tuvalu, in the spirit of the Falepili Union,” he wrote, referring to the migration pact.

Tuvalu’s ministry would be announced at an oath taking ceremony for the new government later this week, Panapa said.

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Estonia summons Russian embassy chief over GPS jamming

Estonia summons Russian embassy chief over GPS jamming

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Estonia summons Russian embassy chief over GPS jamming

Estonia’s foreign ministry has summoned the head of the Russian embassy in Tallinn to protest the jamming of GPS signals, the Baltic country said on Wednesday.

Estonia accuses neighbouring Russia of violating international regulations by disturbing GPS navigation in airspace above the Baltic states, echoing concerns from airlines that say they have contended with such interference for months.

The Estonian foreign ministry on Wednesday summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires to convey its message. Moscow and Tallinn last year expelled each other’s ambassadors as relations deteriorated in the wake of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Jamming the GPS signal is an element of Russia’s hybrid activities, disrupting everyday life and threatening the security of allies,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a statement.

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Russia’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

GPS, short for Global Positioning System, is a network of satellites and receiving devices used for positioning, navigation and timing on Earth in everything from ships and planes to cars.

The jamming of GPS signals can be disruptive to commercial airliners but they can usually navigate by other means.

Finnish carrier Finnair last month said it would pause all flights to Tartu in Estonia to allow the local airport to upgrade its navigation system, which has so far relied only on GPS.

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Australia boosts funds to Taiwan-ally Tuvalu amid Pacific contest for influence with China

Australia boosts funds to Taiwan-ally Tuvalu amid Pacific contest for influence with China

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Australia boosts funds to Taiwan-ally Tuvalu amid Pacific contest for influence with China

Australia will quadruple its financial assistance to Tuvalu, a Pacific Island nation at risk from rising seas, to cement a landmark climate migration and security deal as China also courts small island states.

On a visit to Tuvalu, foreign minister Penny Wong said on Wednesday evening Australia has committed A$110 million ($72.27 million) in its national budget to Tuvalu.

The sum includes A$50 million ($32.85 million) to build the first undersea cable connecting the island’s residents to global telecommunications services, and A$19 million for a land reclamation project to fortify Tuvalu’s coastline from rising seas.

Another A$15 million will be spent on a national security coordination centre, as well as A$10 million in direct budget support.

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The funding is a significant boost on the A$17 million ($11.17 million) Australia provided to Tuvalu in 2023-24.

China’s ambitions for a greater security presence in the Pacific became an election issue in Tuvalu in January, as two leadership contenders said Tuvalu should consider switching ties from Taiwan to Beijing for more funds, and revise a new security pact with Australia.

Neighbour Nauru cut ties with Taiwan a fortnight before Tuvalu’s vote, after China built a port and promised more aid.

Tuvalu’s new prime minister Feleti Teo pledged to stick with Taiwan, and to ratify the Falepili Union signed with Australia in November. The treaty allows Tuvalu citizens to migrate to Australia for work or study, while recognising Tuvalu continues to exist despite the rising sea levels.

“Australia has provided a security guarantee to support Tuvalu in a humanitarian disaster, a pandemic or the event of attack,” Wong said in a speech on Wednesday evening.

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“It is also the first time in history that two nations have agreed in a legally binding instrument that statehood endures in the face of sea level rise,” she added.

The treaty allows Australia to vet Tuvalu’s deals with third countries in a broad range of security areas from ports to telecommunications.

On Thursday, Wong and Teo are expected to say that the security cooperation does not limit Tuvalu’s ability to enter into diplomatic agreements with other nations, according to an advance copy of a joint statement viewed by Reuters.

“We recognise that the people of Tuvalu deserve the choice to live, study and work elsewhere, as climate change impacts intensify at home,” the text of the statement reads.

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Probe launched after Boeing cargo plane lands in Istanbul without front landing gear

Probe launched after Boeing cargo plane lands in Istanbul without front landing gear

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Probe launched after Boeing cargo plane lands in Istanbul without front landing gear

A FedEx Airlines Boeing cargo plane landed at Istanbul Airport on Wednesday without its front landing gear, a Turkish Transport Ministry official said, adding there were no casualties and authorities had launched an investigation.

The aircraft, flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, informed the control tower in Istanbul that its landing gear had failed to open and touched down with guidance from the tower, managing to remain on the runway, a ministry statement said.

Airport rescue and fire fighting teams were scrambled before landing, but no one was injured. The ministry gave no reason for the failure.

The aircraft involved is a nearly 10-year-old Boeing 767 freighter, one of the most common cargo planes and based on the 767 passenger model dating back to the 1980s.

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An official from Turkey’s transport ministry said its teams were conducting examinations at the scene as part of the ongoing investigation, but did not provide further details.

Boeing referred queries to FedEX, which said in a statement it was coordinating with investigation authorities and would “provide additional information as it is available”.

Video footage obtained by Reuters showed sparks flying and some smoke as the front of the plane scraped along the runway before coming to a halt and being doused with firefighting foam. No fire appeared to have broken out.

The video showed the pilots holding the plane’s nose above the runway for several seconds after the main wheels had touched the ground, apparently executing the emergency drill for landing with a retracted nose gear that pilots train for, according to the SKYbrary aviation database.

In June last year, a small 22-year-old Boeing 717 flown by Delta Airlines made a similar smooth landing without a nose gear in Charlotte, North Carolina, in an incident later blamed on a fractured component.

The runway was temporarily closed to air traffic, but other runways at Istanbul airport were still operating normally, the airport operator IGA said.

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Manufacturers are not typically involved in the operation or maintenance of jets once they enter service, but Boeing has been under intense media and regulatory scrutiny following a series of incidents on its smaller 737.

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