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Munich Security Conference skips invite to Russia, Iran  

Heusgen, roundly condemned by Israel’s ambassador to Germany for warning in October against an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza, said he expected high-ranking Israeli officials to attend...reports Asian Lite News

Russian and Iranian government officials have not been invited to this year’s Munich Security Conference, as they did not seem open to meaningful dialogue, according to the man chairing the annual event.The conference, attended by the world’s defence and security elite and sometimes known as “Davos for defence”, will take place in the southern German city on Feb. 16-18.The event will open days before the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and four months after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, which has deepened instability across the Middle East as Western nations battle Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Yemen and Syria.

Christoph Heusgen said on Tuesday he hoped the meeting would discuss these conflicts as well as others that received less attention but were causing major humanitarian crises such as the 10-month-old war in Sudan, which has displaced millions.U.S. and Chinese officials for example had spoken with one another for the first time in a long while at last year’s event, which led to further engagement, he told Reuters.“So we hope Munich offers the opportunity to make these small steps,” said Heusgen, who was a longtime foreign policy adviser to former Chancellor Angela Merkel.He also expected the attendance of high-ranking Chinese officials. Last year top diplomat Wang Yi attended the event.Heusgen told German press agency DPA the Iranian and Russian governments had not been invited because they had not shown a serious interest in negotiations. However, Iranian and Russian non-governmental organisations had been invited, he said.Heusgen, roundly condemned by Israel’s ambassador to Germany for warning in October against an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza, said he expected high-ranking Israeli officials to attend.

Germany was in a dilemma on Israel, he said, as it was committed to the country’s security but also disagreed with its current leadership on a number of issues and had therefore suspended bilateral government consultations.Heusgen praised Germany’s support for Ukraine, as the second biggest provider of military help to Kyiv. However it would need to have a discussion throughout society on the importance of higher defence spending and how to finance this, he said.

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Heavy snowfall forces cancellation of 760 flights at Munich airport

Not only was the airport affected by the heavy snow, buses, trams and some train services in Munich were also suspended…reports Asian Lite News

Heavy snowfall has led to the cancellation of some 760 flights at the Munich airport in Germany, a spokesperson said.

In a post on X on Saturday, the airport said: “Due to the continuing heavy snowfall, there will be no air traffic probably until 6 a.m. tomorrow, Dec 3. Please do not travel to the airport today and check the status of your flight with your airline before traveling to the airport tomorrow.”

Not only was the airport affected by the heavy snow, buses, trams and some train services in Munich were also suspended, CNN quoted the city’s public transport company as saying.

Munich’s central train station was closed for arrivals, while long-distance services have been suspended entirely, according to Germany’s national railway company Deutsche Bahn.

Deutsche Bahn warned that rail traffic would be “impacted severely” until Monday.

Police on Saturday asked people in the city not to use their cars unless absolutely necessary, while residents of some parts of southern Bavaria were told not to leave their homes at all, a spokesperson for Munich police told CNN.

Bavarian public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk on Saturday reported that the 44 cm of snow in the city was the most ever recorded in December in the Bavarian state capital since records began in 1933.

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Munich Conference calls for more balanced world order

The report urged efforts to re-envision the existing global order so that it can win the support of more countries…reports Asian Lite News

The West had heard the complaints from the Global South, Christoph Heusgen, chairman of the 59th Munich Security Conference (MSC), made the remarks closing the meeting on Sunday.

This year, the annual MSC invited a record number of representatives from Asian, African and Latin American countries, aiming to pay extra attention to the problems challenging these countries and their dissatisfaction with the existing global order, said Heusgen.

During the three-day conference, many Western leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, acknowledged that the current global order is imbalanced and Western countries are rapidly losing the trust of the Global South.

According to a report released by the MSC before the conference started, many countries of the Global South have so far been confined to the role of “rule-takers” under the existing global order.

The report urged efforts to re-envision the existing global order so that it can win the support of more countries.

Robert Dussey, Togo’s Foreign Minister, told Xinhua that Africa should have their own position and vision.

“We can work with China, with Western people, with everyone,” Dussey said.

Japan, South Korea foreign ministers meet

Japan’s foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi met his South Korean counterpart Park Jin and reiterated the need for continued communications between the two countries to return to a “healthy relationship”.

Meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the two foreign ministers agreed to “close communications between the two countries on each diplomatic level to resolve issues of concern”, a statement released by the Japanese foreign ministry said.

They also had a “frank” discussion about wartime labour issues, an issue that worsened relations after a South Korean court ordered the seizure of assets of Japanese companies accused of not compensating some of their colonial-era labourers, the ministry said.

Tokyo says the issue of compensation was settled under a 1965 treaty normalizing diplomatic ties and providing South Korea with economic assistance, and has warned of serious repercussions if the orders are enforced.

Japan is considering easing curbs on shipping high-tech materials, which it imposed in 2019 on South Korea over a dispute about Japan’s wartime forced labour by Korean workers, as the neighbours hold a series of talks aimed at solving the dispute, the Sankei newspaper reported in late January.

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