BERLIN (Reuters) -- Germany’s biggest opposition party the Alternative for Germany is harboring a growing number of right-wing extremists, the domestic spy agency said in its annual report on Tuesday, reporting also a surge in overall crime motivated by right-wing extremism. The number of extremists within the AfD, which came second in a federal election in February, rose by 77% last year to 20,000 in tandem with a growth in party membership and its shift rightwards, the agency said. The agency last month classified the party at large as “extremist” on the basis of a 1,100-page experts’ report enabling it to step up monitoring of the AfD, although the party has legally challenged this. Party statements frequently included xenophobic and anti-Muslim positions, with migrants from predominantly Islamic countries often accused of cultural incompatibility and a strong inclination toward criminal behavior, the agency said on Tuesday.

 

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia plans to step up cooperation with African countries, including in “sensitive areas” such as defense and security, the Kremlin said. Asked what this meant for Russia’s role in Africa, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The Russian presence in Africa is growing. We really intend to comprehensively develop our interaction with African countries, focusing primarily on economic and investment interaction. “This also corresponds to and extends to such sensitive areas as defense and security. In this regard, Russia will also continue interaction and cooperation with African states.” Russia’s growing security role in parts of the continent, including in countries such as Mali, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea, is viewed with concern by the West, and has come at the expense of France and the United States.

 

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MANILA (Reuters) -- Philippine senators on Tuesday voted to send an impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte back to the lower house for clarification, just hours after convening a trial that could see her banned from politics for life. After a series of debates among members that included a motion presented by a Duterte ally to dismiss the case, the Senators voted in favor of returning it to the lower house to certify that the complaint was constitutional. The lower house in February voted to impeach the vice president for alleged high crimes and betrayal of the public trust, allegations she has vehemently denied. The outcome of the trial could not only make or break Duterte, but also carries big implications for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his agenda for the remaining three years of his presidency and beyond. 

 

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BOGOTA (Reuters) -- Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, a potential presidential contender, remains in critical condition but is stable after being shot in Bogota on Saturday, the hospital treating him said on Tuesday. Uribe, 39, is a member of the opposition right-wing Democratic Center party and was shot in the head as he was addressing a campaign event in a public park in the capital. The shooting, which was captured on video, has shaken Colombia, evoking the political violence of previous decades. Leftist President Gustavo Petro, who has vowed to bring peace to the country’s conflict, said on Sunday he had ordered additional security for opposition leaders in response to more threats. He said that former president Alvaro Uribe, and right-wing politicians Maria Fernanda Cabal, Abelardo de la Espriella and Victoria Eugenia Davila will receive additional security immediately. 

 

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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Prosecutors in Taiwan on Tuesday indicted four former members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party on charges of spying for China, authorities said. It wasn’t clear whether the four had volunteered their services, but the indictments point to China’s willingness to exploit any opening to gain confidential information about the island it claims as its own territory. It is alleged that confidential information, including details about the schedules of the president and vice president during their trips abroad, may have been obtained. The four included Huang Chu-jung, a former assistant to a county councilor representing the DPP that has run Taiwan for the past nine years, who was allegedly recruited while on a business trip to China. the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. The three others had also formerly served as advisers in the presidential office, the National Security Council and other bodies, the prosecution statement said. 

 

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LONDON (Reuters) -- Britain will invest a further 14.2 billion pounds ($19.25 billion) to build the Sizewell C nuclear plant in southeast England, the government said on Tuesday, as part of its wider spending review which will define its priorities over the next four years. The funding announced on Tuesday takes the total amount the government has committed to the project to 17.8 billion pounds, with 3.6 billion pounds invested prior to the spending review. The Sizewell C plant in Suffolk is expected to create around 10,000 jobs during the peak of construction, and produce enough electricity to power around 6 million homes when built. It would be only the second new nuclear plant built in Britain in more than two decades, after French state-owned EDF’s Hinkley Point C which has had several delays and cost overruns and is currently expected to start operations in 2029, with an estimated cost of between 31 and 34 billion pounds at 2015 prices.