Germany to tighten security checks

BERLIN: Germany said Wednesday it plans to tighten security checks for staff in sensitive areas of government and business amid growing espionage fears. Berlin has seen an increase in suspected spying cases linked to Russia since the Ukraine war, and also to China with ties to Beijing under growing pressure. A draft law will expand review measures for staff in sensitive fields, such as IT and communications, in government and in “critical infrastructure” like railway control centers, the interior ministry said. Intelligence services will also be involved in conducting the checks. — AFP

Pope to meet Ukraine’s Zelensky

ROME: Pope Francis will meet Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday at the Vatican, officials said, while media reported the Ukrainian leader would also meet Italy’s prime minister in Rome. A calendar event sent by the Vatican to the media indicated a half-hour meeting between the pope and Zelensky beginning at 9:30 am (0730 GMT) on Friday at the Vatican. Italian media reported that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni would be meeting with the Ukranian president Thursday evening, although nothing has been officially confirmed. — AFP

Three Kosovo Serbs on trial

PRISTINA: Three Kosovo Serbs went on trial on Wednesday over an armed incursion a court heard was part of a plot to seize Serb-majority northern Kosovo and unite it with Serbia. Forty-two others are also being sought over a deadly standoff between Kosovo authorities and Serb gunmen last year, with the court in Pristina yet to decide whether to try them in absentia. The trial comes amid mounting tension between Serbia and its former breakaway province, which declared independence in 2008. — AFP

Uganda confirms mpox case in prison

KAMPALA: Uganda on Wednesday confirmed a prison inmate has contracted mpox in a central area that is the epicenter of the outbreak in the East African country. “We recorded one confirmed case of mpox in one of our prisons and the patient has been isolated and containment measures have been put in place,” Uganda Prisons spokesman Frank Baine told AFP. “The confirmed case was of a prisoner who had been remanded on charge of murder.” He said the male inmate could have contracted the disease before he was remanded in the prison in the town of Nakasongola in central Uganda. — AFP

Soldier killed after abduction in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: A soldier was abducted by suspected militants and killed in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said Wednesday, hours after results were announced for the disputed region’s first local elections in a decade. Two soldiers were kidnapped on Tuesday evening in Anantnag district, a police officer told AFP. “One of the soldiers managed to escape. He has two bullet wounds and is undergoing treatment,” said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media. — AFP