Eleven dead in Delhi rains, flights operations stutter

The death toll from this week’s sudden heavy rain has climbed to 11 in New Delhi, including four citizens who drowned in submerged underpasses, the Times of India reported, while flight operations stuttered in the Indian capital.New Delhi, which endured one of its worst heatwaves in history earlier this month, faced the biggest downpour in decades on June 28, with rainfall in a single day surpassing the city’s average for the entire month.The torrential rain caused a fatal roof collapse at one of the three terminals of Delhi’s main airport, disrupted flights, flooded underpasses, and led to massive traffic jams, power and water outages in parts of the city.Nearly 60 flights were cancelled from New Delhi’s main airport in the last 24 hours, according to data from flight tracking platform Flightaware.Operations were largely normal yesterday, with most flights from the affected terminal diverted to the other two, an airport official said but did not rule out possible flight cancellations.The Delhi airport is one of the country’s biggest and busiest.Terminal 1, the now-closed terminal, is mostly used by low-cost carriers IndiGo, operated by Interglobe Aviation, and SpiceJet, and currently has a capacity to handle 40mn passengers annually.An Indigo spokesperson did not comment on the flight cancellations and a SpiceJet spokesperson did not immediately respond to a phone call.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685756/international/eleven-dead-in-delhi-rains-flights-operations-stutter

Opposition asks Modi to look into Foxconn hiring practices

India’s opposition Congress has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to question Foxconn about its hiring practices after Reuters reported that the Apple supplier rejects married women from iPhone assembly jobs in the country.The government has sought a detailed report from the state of Tamil Nadu, site of a major iPhone factory where Reuters uncovered Foxconn’s hiring practices.The story has sparked debates on TV channels, newspaper editorials and calls from women groups, including within Modi’s party, to investigate the matter.Congress lawmaker Karti P Chidambaram wrote in a letter to Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya that Foxconn receives “substantial incentives” from the federal government and the company should be asked to explain its practices to ensure it complies with “Indian laws and values”.“While foreign investment is crucial, it should not come at the cost of disregarding our cultural values,” Chidambaram wrote in the letter, posted on X.Apple, Taiwan-based Foxconn and the ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Congress letter.The Reuters investigation found Foxconn has systematically excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone plant on the grounds they have more family responsibilities than their unmarried counterparts.Foxconn hiring agents and HR sources cited family duties, pregnancy and higher absenteeism as reasons for not hiring married women.Responding to the investigation, published on Tuesday, Apple and Foxconn acknowledged to Reuters lapses in hiring practices in 2022 and said they had worked to address the issues.All the discriminatory practices documented by Reuters at the Sriperumbudur plant, however, took place in 2023 and 2024.Foxconn said it “vigorously refutes allegations of employment discrimination based on marital status, gender, religion or any other form”.Apple said all its suppliers, including Foxconn, hire married women and “when concerns about hiring practices were first raised in 2022 we immediately took action and worked with our supplier to conduct monthly audits to identify issues and ensure that our high standards are upheld”.The Foxconn positions in India offer food and accommodation and a monthly paycheque of about $200.In China, six online job ads reviewed by Reuters showed workers engaged in iPhone assembly at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant can earn $400-800 a month.The ads did not mention marital status or gender requirements.“While they don’t discriminate in China, can they do whatever in India?” Vasuki Umanath of the Communist Party Of India (Marxist), another Modi opponent, told Reuters on Thursday. “Labour unions, women’s welfare organisations and democratic forces should raise their voice against this discrimination.”The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation party said this week that action must be taken against what it said were “exploitative and discriminatory (hiring) practice”.On Friday the women’s wing of Modi’s ruling party urged the National Commission for Women to launch an investigation.“It is imperative to conduct a thorough investigation into these claims and ensure that the rights of women employees at Foxconn Hon Hai are protected,” Vanathi Srinivasan, national president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s women’s wing wrote in a letter to the Commission, posted on X.In response to the letter, chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Rekha Sharma, wrote on X: “We are doing the needful.”She did not elaborate.The National Commission for Women has the authority to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution and other legislation, its website says.It also has powers of a civil court to summon any person.In the letter, Srinivasan referred to the reported hiring practices of Foxconn as a “grave issue”.“It has come to our notice through various media sources that Foxconn has adopted discriminatory practices against married women,” Srinivasan wrote.The letter also stated that it had come to the knowledge of the BJP’s women’s wing that women employees at Foxconn are not even allowed to use the washroom during working hours, and those who stay in hostels are not permitted to take leave.Srinivasan’s letter did not elaborate on these points.Earlier this week, Modi’s labour ministry said it has requested a report from the Labour Department of Tamil Nadu on the matter.The hiring curbs at the iPhone plant show the challenge for both Apple and Foxconn in upholding their stated global standards of inclusion while expanding their supply chains in this fast-growing but largely conservative country.Modi has previously called for removal of societal impediments that prevent many Indian women from getting jobs.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685690/international/opposition-asks-modi-to-look-into-foxconn-hiring-practices

Crossbow attacker killed outside Israeli embassy in Belgrade

A Serbian police officer killed a man who shot him in the neck with a crossbow in front of the Israeli embassy in Belgrade yesterday, in what the prime minister called a “terrorist act”.Police identified the assailant as being a “convert” to Islam, who was born in 1999 in the town of Mladenovac, some 50km from Belgrade.The attack happened around 11am last morning in the Serbian capital, when the attacker shot the officer who was on duty outside the Israeli embassy.The wounded policeman shot the attacker “who died as a result of his injuries”, said Interior Minister Ivica Dacic.Authorities said some arrests had been made and a number of people known to the security services were suspected of being linked to the attack.Police also said they were carrying out searches in a number of locations.“There are several more persons that we are looking for, certainly for one who is on the territory of Serbia,” President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters after visiting the wounded officer.The attacker and his associates had been tracked by authorities before yesterday’s attack but there was not enough evidence to arrest them, he added.The officer, who underwent surgery in hospital, was in his guard booth when the attack happened.According to authorities, the assailant had moved to live in Novi Pazar, which is a historical and political centre of the Bosniak Muslim minority in Serbia, and a centre of Islam in the country.He said several people had been arrested for “prevention reasons” and that overall security had been stepped up in Belgrade. Special prosecutors had taken over the case, added Dacic.Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic strongly condemned what he labelled a “heinous terrorist act”.“This was an act of insanity, which cannot be attributed to any religion and any nation. It is a crime of an individual,” he said, according to quotes from the Beta news agency.The prime minister said his country would firmly respond to the threat of terrorism and stressed Serbian citizens could “feel safe”.The Israeli foreign ministry called it an “attempted terrorist attack in the vicinity” of the country’s embassy in Serbia.“The embassy is closed and no employee of the embassy was injured”, it said in a statement, saying the circumstances are still being investigated.Israeli ambassador to Serbia Yahel Vilan on X voiced his gratitude to the wounded officer, “who courageously prevented the attack”.“I am convinced that the investigation by the competent authorities of this shameful attack will identify all responsible persons and further contribute to the preservation of Serbia as a safe country.”Meanwhile, Serbia’s top Islamic cleric Senad Halitovic strongly condemned the attack and wished the wounded officer a quick recovery.“Such crimes are against all religious teachings, especially the teachings of Islam. Today’s crime is the work of a mindless individual,” he said in a statement.The Balkan nation has continued arms sales to Israel. Israel’s offensive has killed at least 37,834 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685688/international/crossbow-attacker-killed-outside-israeli-embassy-in-belgrade

US apex court upholds ban on homeless camps

The US Supreme Court upheld on Friday anti-camping laws used by authorities in an Oregon city to stop homeless people from sleeping in public parks and public streets – a ruling that gives local and state governments a freer hand in confronting a national homelessness crisis.The justices ruled 6-3 to overturn a lower court’s decision that found that enforcing the ordinances in the city of Grants Pass when no shelter space is available for the homeless violates the US Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition on “cruel and unusual” punishments.Various jurisdictions employ similar laws.The court’s conservative justices were in the majority, while its three liberal members dissented.Justice Neil Gorsuch, who authored the ruling, wrote: “Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many. So may be the public policy responses required to address it. At bottom, the question this case presents is whether the Eighth Amendment grants federal judges primary responsibility for assessing those causes and devising those responses. It does not.”Homelessness remains a multifaceted problem for public officials in the United States as many municipalities experience chronic shortages of affordable housing.On any given night, more than 600,000 people are homeless, according to US government estimates.“Yes, people will disagree over which policy responses are best; they may experiment with one set of approaches only to find later another set works better; they may find certain responses more appropriate for some communities than others. But in our democracy, that is their right,” Gorsuch wrote.The case focused on three ordinances in Grants Pass, a city of roughly 38,000 people in southwestern Oregon, that together prohibit sleeping in public streets, alleyways and parks while using a blanket or bedding.Violators are fined $295. Repeat offenders can be criminally prosecuted for trespass, punishable by up to 30 days in jail.Proponents including various government officials have called such laws a necessary tool for maintaining public safety.“Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime,” liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the dissenting justices. “The city of Grants Pass jails and fines those people for sleeping anywhere in public at any time, including in their cars, if they use as little as a blanket to keep warm or a rolled-up shirt as a pillow. For people with no access to shelter, that punishes them for being homeless. That is unconscionable and unconstitutional.”Advocates for the homeless, various liberal legal groups and other critics had said laws like these criminalise people simply for being homeless and for actions they cannot avoid, such as sleeping in public.The case, which began in 2018, involved three homeless people who filed a class-action lawsuit seeking to block the measures impacting them in Grants Pass. One of the plaintiffs has since died.US Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke ruled that the city’s “policy and practice of punishing homelessness” violates the Eighth Amendment and barred it from enforcing the anti-camping ordinances.The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Clarke’s injunction against the ordinances.The city had defended itself in the case in part by noting that homeless people have alternatives outside the city, including nearby undeveloped federal land, county campsites or state rest stops.The judge said that argument “sheds light on the city’s attitude towards its homeless citizens” by seeking to drive them out or punish them if they stay.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685659/international/us-apex-court-upholds-ban-on-homeless-camps

Roof collapse at Delhi airport kills one, heavy rain disrupts capital

Heavy rainfall and winds brought down a roof at the main airport in New Delhi on Friday, killing one person and shutting down a busy domestic terminal, while flooded streets and traffic snarls caused widespread disruption in the Indian capital.About 5.85 inches of rain fell over three hours on the airport area in the early morning, more than the average for all of June, according to the national weather office.Delhi’s main Safdarjung weather station recorded nine inches of rainfall in the 24 hours ending 8.30am (0300GMT), its highest 24-hour rainfall in June in 88 years.The city of 20mn people had faced searing heatwaves earlier this month. A wall at a building site in southwest Delhi collapsed in the downpour, with three labourers feared trapped in 12 feet of deep water and mud, a fire service spokesperson said.At the airport, a portion of roof, the canopy, a column and its supporting beams at Terminal 1’s departure area collapsed, crushing four vehicles, airport authorities said in a statement.The entire terminal complex was shut down and flight operations at the terminal were suspended indefinitely, they added.Eight injured people were taken to hospital, Atul Garg, director of the Delhi Fire Service, said, adding rescue operations were now complete.Images from ANI news agency showed a taxi crushed under a wrecked metal pillar at the entrance area of the terminal with puddles all around. A column and its supporting beams collapsed on other vehicles.At least 26 flights were cancelled and more than 180 were delayed, according to data from flight tracking platform Flightaware.Domestic carrier Spicejet said it had cancelled eight flights while IndiGo said all flights from the terminal have been cancelled until midnight. From 2pm (0830GMT) flight arrivals and departures at Terminal 1 were diverted to the airport’s other two terminals, Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu said. He added that an inquiry has been ordered into the collapse.Terminal 1, one of three at the country’s biggest and busiest airport, was recently refurbished with its area more than tripled.Many other parts of Delhi were flooded, including a tunnel opposite the venue that was the site of last September’s G20 summit.Some cars were trapped in thigh-deep water in chaotic scenes across the city.Metro services were affected, people had to navigate through waterlogged roads and traffic snarls were reported. Electricity supply was switched off in some waterlogged and low-lying areas as a precautionary measure, one of Delhi’s power suppliers said.The chaos prompted complaints on social media about the capital’s creaking infrastructure.Ahead of the April-May general election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated or laid the foundation stone of new terminal buildings at 15 airports. Both Delhi’s Terminal 1 and the terminal at Jabalpur were part of the projects.Opposition parties said projects were inaugurated in a hurry before the election.“Corruption and criminal negligence is responsible for the collapse of shoddy infrastructure falling like a deck of cards, in the past 10 years of Modi Govt,” Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the main opposition Congress party, said on X.Aviation Minister Naidu defended the government, saying the roof collapse at Delhi’s airport was part of an old building that was opened in 2009 and not the one Modi inaugurated in March.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685658/international/roof-collapse-at-delhi-airport-kills-one-heavy-rain-disrupts-capital

US drone flights in Black Sea risk direct clash with NATO: Russia

Russia said Friday it had observed an increase in US drone flights over the Black Sea and vowed to respond, warning of 'direct confrontation' with NATO.Defence Minister Andrei Belousov had instructed the army 'to submit proposals on measures for an operational response to the provocations', Russia's defence ministry said.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685617/international/us-drone-flights-in-black-sea-risk-direct-clash-with-nato-russia

Biden in Georgia for debate with Trump

US President Joe Biden arrived in Georgia yesterday for his first debate of the 2024 election cycle with his predecessor Donald Trump – a high-stakes event for both candidates. Air Force One touched down at a military base about an hour’s drive from the capital Atlanta, where the debate will take place at CNN’s headquarters beginning at 9pm (0100 GMT Friday.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685613/international/biden-in-georgia-for-debate-with-trump

Kenya police face off against protesters day after president’s tax bill climbdown

Kenyan police fired teargas at dozens of protesters in Nairobi and blocked off roads to the presidential palace yesterday as crowds took to the streets again nationwide, even after the president bowed to pressure to withdraw a tax hike bill.Crowds called for President William Ruto to go further and step down in the capital, Mombasa, Kisumu and other centres, though the turnout was well down from the height of the mass rallies sparked by the tax measures over the past week.Ruto withdrew the legislation including new taxes and hikes on Wednesday, a day after at least 23 people were killed in clashes at protests sparked by his plans, and parliament was briefly stormed and set alight. He is grappling with the most serious crisis of his two-year-old presidency as the youth-led protest movement has grown rapidly from online condemnations of the tax hikes into mass rallies demanding a political overhaul.Dropping the bill has also hit plans to reduce the budget deficit and borrowing, as demanded by lenders including the International Monetary Fund. Seven people were rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds in the town of Homa Bay in western Kenya yesterday, Citizen TV reported, without going into further detail. Police commander Hassan Barua said he had sent officers to check on the report.In Nairobi, police and soldiers patrolled the streets and blocked access to State House. Police fired teargas to disperse several dozen people who had gathered in the centre of the city. Doctors volunteer group Medics for Kenya said its staff at the Jamia Mosque/Crescent hospital had been hit by teargas, and that it condemned in “the strongest terms possible violence meted out on our volunteer medical teams”.Reuters reporters saw army vehicles on the streets after the government deployed the military to help police. Elsewhere, hundreds of protesters gathered in the port city of Mombasa and in the western city of Kisumu, local television footage showed, although those gatherings appeared peaceful.“We are only coming here so that our voice can be heard, us as Gen Z, us as Kenyans, we are one,” said Berryl Nelima in Mombasa. “So the police should stop killing us, we are just peaceful protesters, we are unarmed.”The protest movement has no formal leadership structure and has largely responded to messages, banners and slogans on social media. Posts yesterday suggested protest supporters were divided on how far to carry the demonstrations.“Let’s not be foolish as we fight for a better Kenya,” Boniface Mwangi, a prominent social justice activist, said in an Instagram post. He voiced support for demonstrations on Thursday but opposed calls to invade State House, the president’s formal offices and residence, a move that he said could spur more violence and be used to justify a crackdown.While some protest supporters said they would not demonstrate on Thursday as the finance bill had been scrapped, others pledged to press on, saying only Ruto’s resignation would satisfy them. “Right now is not about just the finance bill but about #RutoMustGo,” political activist and protester Davis Tafari told Reuters in a text message.“We have to make sure that Ruto and his MPs have resigned and fresh elections are held ... We occupy State House for dignity and justice.”Eli Owuor, 34, from Kibera, an informal settlement and a traditional hotbed of protests, also said he was prepared to join a push on to State House.“We may just need to visit Zakayo today in his house to prove that after parliament we can occupy State House,” he said, using a nickname protesters have given to Ruto that references a biblical tax collector viewed as corrupt.In a speech on Wednesday, Ruto defended his push to raise taxes on items such as bread, cooking oil and diapers, saying it was justified by the need to cut Kenya’s high debt, which has made borrowing difficult and squeezed the currency.But he acknowledged that the public had overwhelmingly rejected the finance bill. He said he would now start a dialogue with Kenyan youth and work on austerity measures, beginning with cuts to the budget of the presidency.The International Monetary Fund, which has been urging the government to cut its deficit to obtain more funding, said it was closely monitoring the situation in Kenya.“We are deeply concerned about the tragic events in Kenya in recent days,” the IMF said in a statement. “Our main goal in supporting Kenya is to help it overcome the difficult economic challenges it faces and improve its economic prospects and the well-being of its people.”Ratings agency Moody’s said the shift in focus to cutting spending rather than boosting revenue will complicate the disbursement of future IMF funding and slow the pace of fiscal consolidation.Analysts at JPMorgan said they had maintained their forecasts for a deficit of 4.5% of GDP in FY2024/2025, but acknowledged the government and IMF targets could be revised in light of recent developments. They said the Central Bank of Kenya was unlikely to begin cutting rates until the final quarter of this year.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685598/international/kenya-police-face-off-against-protesters-day-after-presidents-tax-bill-climbdown

Biden, Trump lock horns in high stakes debate

Joe Biden and Donald Trump were due to square off early today in a crucial US presidential debate that carries enormous stakes for both candidates as they battle for the approval of undecided voters and any slim advantage in their tight race for the White House.Millions of Americans were expected to tune in to the highly anticipated clash – the opening salvo in what promises to be a bruising summer of campaigning in a deeply polarised country still scarred by the chaos and violence that accompanied the 2020 election.The 90-minute televised debate would be the first between a sitting president and a former one.A record 84mn watched Trump’s first debate in 2016 against Hillary Clinton.The debate takes place far earlier than normal – more than four months before the November 5 Election Day.With only two debates this election cycle and national polls showing the pair locked in the tightest of contests, the event at CNN headquarters in Atlanta – starting at 9pm (0100 GMT today, 4am Qatar time) – takes on heightened significance.For many voters, the choice between the 81-year-old Biden, the oldest ever incumbent, and the 78-year-old Trump, now a convicted felon, is an uninspiring one – a dynamic both candidates need to counter as they go head-to-head.For Trump, an instinctive political pugilist, the challenge will be to rein in the aggressive tendencies he unleashed – to his detriment – in their first chaotic debate four years ago.Biden – who arrived in Georgia about six hours before the event – will be desperate to avoid any major gaffes that could underline concerns about his age.He also will focus on his key campaign message that Trump poses an existential threat to US democracy.There is certainly no love lost between the two candidates, and both sides have agreed to a series of debate rules aimed at minimising the prospect of a shouting match.There will be no studio audience, depriving candidates of the momentum that comes from ginning up supporters, and microphones will cut out when a candidate’s speaking time is over.To coincide with the debate, both camps unleashed a series of fresh attack ads, with Trump’s team taking out TV spots accusing Biden of mismanaging the economy and encouraging illegal immigration.In a morning post on his Truth Social platform, Trump argued that Biden was the real threat to democracy, “and a threat to the survival and existence of our country itself”.The Democratic Party, meanwhile, paid for five massive billboards in Atlanta trolling Trump over his legal woes.“Donald, welcome to Atlanta for the first time since becoming a convicted felon. Congrats – or whatever...” the signs said.Trump enjoys a slight advantage in the all-important swing states, but the overall polling looks extremely close in an election likely to be decided by a few photo finishes in a handful of battlegrounds.The latest Quinnipiac University poll shows Trump edging ahead of Biden nationally, 49% to 45%.The rivals both step onstage for the 90-minute debate seeking to allay fears about serious political liabilities.Biden faces the most concern about his mental sharpness, with voters much more likely to bring up his age than Trump’s, despite the Republican being just three years younger.Ahead of the debate, both Trump and Biden have had missteps, stumbling over words or appearing muddled.Trump is also engulfed in controversy over his inflammatory rhetoric, his recent conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records, and fears that he would weaponise the presidency to settle personal scores.Two-thirds of voters said in a May Reuters/Ipsos poll that they were concerned violence could follow the election, nearly four years after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.Biden has spent the last week off the radar at the Camp David retreat near Washington, fine-tuning his attack lines in mock debates under real TV lighting.Trump’s preparation has been more relaxed, eschewing dress rehearsals in favour of informal policy roundtables and workshopping debate strategy with rally crowds.Aides have encouraged him to focus on his perceived strength on the economy and crime, while Biden will seek to paint Trump as unhinged and unfit for office.The Trump campaign has repeatedly characterised Biden as feeble and incompetent, but changed tack in recent days following warnings that setting low expectations for the Democratic president would only help him.“We know that Joe Biden, after taking an entire week off, will be ready for this,” senior Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller told reporters.One of Biden’s biggest vulnerabilities is border security, with Trump promising to combat an influx of undocumented migrants from Mexico with mass deportations and repeatedly bringing up killings by migrants.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685592/international/biden-trump-lock-horns-in-high-stakes-debate

Erdogan accuses West of backing Israeli ‘plans to spread war’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday accused Western powers of backing what he said were Israeli plans to attack Lebanon and “spread war” throughout the region.“Israel is now setting its sights on Lebanon and we see that Western powers behind the scenes are patting Israel on the back and even supporting them,” he told lawmakers from his ruling AKP party.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu’s plans to spread the war to the region will lead to a great disaster,” he said.“It is ... pathetic that states that talk about freedom, human rights and justice are captives of a mentally-ill person like Netanyahu.”His remarks came as concern soared over escalating threats and ongoing cross-border exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, fuelling fears it could descend into fully-fledged war.The Lebanon border violence erupted after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel, triggering a massive Israeli retaliatory operation, which is ongoing.Netanyahu has said Israeli forces are now winding up the most intense part of the Gaza war and will redeploy to the northern border, casting the move as defensive.Last week, Israel said its plans for an offensive in Lebanon were “approved and validated”.The Turkish leader’s remarks came two days after Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan warned Greece and Cyprus about getting involved in the ongoing Middle East conflict.Speaking to Haberturk TV late on Monday, Fidan alleged there was “serious militarisation in southern Cyprus” which was being used as a base for “intelligence and military flights” towards Gaza, citing intelligence reports.Turkiye, he said, had warned them against getting involved in the conflict.“When you get involved in the ongoing wars in the Middle East, when you take sides, this fire will come and find you too,” he said.Last week, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned Cyprus against opening its airports and bases to Israel “to target Lebanon”, saying it would face retaliation.But the Cypriot government in Nicosia swiftly denied any part in Israel’s Gaza war and said it would not “become involved in any military conflicts”.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685529/international/erdogan-accuses-west-of-backing-israeli-plans-to-spread-war

Kenya president backs down on tax hikes after deadly unrest

Kenyan President William Ruto yesterady withdrew planned tax hikes, bowing to pressure from protesters who had stormed parliament, launched demonstrations across the country and threatened more action this week.The move will be seen as a major victory for a week-old, youth-led protest movement that grew from online condemnations of tax rises into mass rallies demanding a political overhaul, in the most serious crisis of Ruto’s two-year-old presidency. But some demonstrators said on social media that despite Ruto’s climbdown they would go ahead with a rally planned for today, with many reiterating demands that he resign.Ruto announced he would not sign a finance bill including the tax increases, a day after clashes between police and protesters at the assembly and nationwide left at least 23 people dead and scores wounded, according to medics.“Listening keenly to the people of Kenya who have said loudly that they want nothing to do with this finance bill 2024, I concede. And therefore, I will not sign the 2024 finance bill, and it shall subsequently be withdrawn,” he said in a televised address with lawmakers, some clapping, seated behind him. Vice-President Rigathi Gachagua asked young people to call off the protests to avoid any further loss of life and destruction of property, and blamed the intelligence services for giving the government poor advice.“There would have been no mayhem, but they slept on the job,” Gachagua said in a speech, calling on the head of the National Intelligence Service to resign. Protesters were defiant, repeating calls for Ruto to step down and vowing further action in the streets.Boniface Mwangi, a prominent social justice activist involved in the protests, called for a “1-million-people march”.“The arrogance is gone, but the lies are still there,” he said on social media platform X. “Yesterday they unleashed goons and police to kill peaceful protesters. That will not stop us.” Other members of the protest movement continued to post on social media using the hashtag #tupatanethursday, or “see you on Thursday” in a mix of Swahili and English.Kalonzo Musyoka, a senior opposition leader and former vice-president, wrote on X that pulling the bill did not go far enough and he called on Ruto to quit.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685527/international/kenya-president-backs-down-on-tax-hikes-after-deadly-unrest

Israel pounds several areas across Gaza

Israeli forces pounded several areas across Gaza on Wednesday, and residents reported fierce fighting overnight in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave.Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah, where tanks were also trying to force their way north amid heavy clashes. The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs.Since early May, ground fighting has focused on Rafah, abutting Egypt on Gaza's southern edge, where around half of the enclave's 2.3mn people had been sheltering after fleeing other areas. Most have since had to flee again.Medics said two Palestinians were killed in one Israeli missile strike in Rafah.Later on Wednesday, an Israeli strike killed three Palestinians and wounded others near the northern Jabalia camp, one of the Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, medics said.In Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, tank shells struck an apartment, killing at least five people and wounding others, medics said.The Israeli offensive has so far killed 37,658 people, of them 60 in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said, and has left the tiny, heavily built-up Gaza Strip in ruins.More than eight months into the war, international mediation backed by the US has failed to yield a ceasefire agreement. Hamas says any deal must bring an end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in fighting.In the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinians complained of a severe lack of food and soaring prices, and health officials said thousands of children were suffering from malnutrition that has already killed at least 30 since Oct. 7.'There is only flour and canned food, there is nothing else to eat, no vegetables, no meat, and no milk,' said Abu Mustafa, who lives in Gaza City, with his family.Gaza remains at high risk of famine, though delivery of some aid has limited the projected spread of extreme hunger in northern areas, a global monitor said.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685520/international/israel-pounds-several-areas-across-gaza

Israel told to avoid war with Hezbollah

The United States is pressing Israel to avoid a major war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah, with top American officials urging a diplomatic solution in order to prevent another Middle East crisis. Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah are exchanging fire on a near-daily basis, and the Israeli army said last week that plans for an offensive in Lebanon were “approved and validated.” Washington is working to lower the temperature, but those efforts - which come on top of disagreements between the administrations of US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - may further add to tensions between the two leaders.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685495/international/israel-told-to-avoid-war-with-hezbollah

EU launches talks on membership for Ukraine, Moldova

The European Union (EU) yesterday kicked off accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, setting the fragile ex-Soviet states on a long path towards membership that Russia has tried to block.The landmark move signals in particular a vote of confidence in Kyiv’s future at a time when Moscow has momentum on the battlefield almost two and a half years into the Kremlin’s invasion.“Dear friends, today marks the beginning of a new chapter in the relationship between Ukraine and the European Union,” Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said via videolink at the start of the talks.President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a “historic day” as officials from Kyiv and the EU’s 27 member states met in Luxembourg.“We will never be derailed from our path to a united Europe and to our common home of all European nations,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on social media.Ukraine and later Moldova lodged their bids to join the EU in the aftermath of Russia’s assault in February 2022.The opening of the talks marks just the beginning of a protracted process of reforms in Ukraine that is strewn with political obstacles and will likely take many years — and may never lead to membership.Standing in the way along that journey will be not just Russia’s efforts at destabilisation but reticence from doubters inside the EU, most notably Hungary.But European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called the opening of talks “very good news for the people of Ukraine, Moldova, and the entire European Union”.“The path ahead will be challenging but full of opportunities,” she wrote on X yesterday.So far, Ukraine has won plaudits for kickstarting a raft of reforms on curbing graft and political interference, even as war rages.Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna, vowed that Kyiv “will be able to complete everything before 2030” to join the bloc.Russia’s war in Ukraine has reinvigorated a push in the EU to take on new members, after years in which countries particularly in the Western Balkans made little progress on their hopes to join.The EU in December 2023 also granted candidate status to Georgia, another of Russia’s former Soviet neighbours.It likewise approved accession negotiations with Bosnia and has talks ongoing with Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia.The meetings with Ukraine and Moldova yesterday will set off a process of screening of how far laws in the countries already comply with EU standards and how much more work lies ahead.Once that is done the EU then has to begin laying out conditions for negotiations on 35 subjects, ranging from taxation to environmental policy.Stefanishyna said the next step should come in early 2025.EU countries pushed to start the talks now before Hungary — the friendliest country to Russia in the bloc — takes over the EU’s rotating presidency next month.Budapest has been opposed to pressing ahead with Kyiv’s membership bid, arguing that Ukraine was unfairly moving ahead for political reasons.“From what I see here as we speak, they are very far from meeting the accession criteria,” Hungary’s Europe minister Janos Boka said yesterday.Accepting Ukraine — a war-ravaged country of some 40mn people — would be a major step for the EU, and there are calls for the bloc to carry out reforms to streamline how it works before accepting new members.The start of the talks resonates powerfully in Ukraine, as it was a desire for closer ties with the EU that sparked protests back in 2014 that eventually spiralled into the full-blown crisis with Russia.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685479/international/eu-launches-talks-on-membership-for-ukraine-moldova

Minister goes on hunger strike demanding more water for Delhi

A Delhi city minister has started an indefinite hunger strike to demand more drinking water for India’s capital, where taps in some of its poorest neighbourhoods are running nearly dry in the middle of searing heat.“There are 2.8mn people in the city who are aching for just a drop of water,” Delhi Water Minister Atishi said yesterday, the fourth day of her fast. Millions of Indians face water shortages every summer when water demand rises in farms, offices and homes against a limited supply, but a prolonged heatwave this year has worsened the shortfall, including in Delhi and the southern tech hub of Bengaluru.Delhi relies on the Yamuna River that runs through the capital for most of its water needs but the river slows down during dry summer months, causing shortages that lead to protests and calls for better water conservation.Atishi blamed the neighbouring farming state of Haryana for guzzling up a large share of river water. Haryana’s government responded that it was Delhi’s mismanagement that was causing water shortages. Experts said a federal-level review of decades-old water sharing pacts was needed to accommodate population growth. Delhi, a city of 20mn people, is one of the world’s most densely populated capitals, where upscale neighbourhoods and manicured lawns are just a few miles away from unplanned working-class areas and slums.But, in contrast to growing unplanned development over the years, the city’s water allocation from rivers has remained unchanged since 1994, said Depinder Kapur, the director of water programme at think tank Centre for Science and Environment.“What was true 10-15 years ago is not true anymore. So, there is a situation of crisis and it’s a distribution issue,” he said.The Delhi government is working on plans to improve the groundwater table by reviving lakes and storing water overflow from the Yamuna during the seasonal monsoon rains, but officials say the summer shortfall is difficult to tackle by these measures alone.“Water crisis in Delhi is a year-long crisis because extreme temperatures are not going anywhere,” said environmentalist Vimlendu Jha. “Delhi needs a comprehensive water management plan in which Yamuna can’t be the only major source of water.”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685412/international/minister-goes-on-hunger-strike-demanding-more-water-for-delhi

Kenya’s Ruto ready for dialogue with protesters

Kenya’s President William Ruto said yesterday that he was ready for “a conversation” with thousands of “peaceful” young anti-tax protesters, prompting new calls from the movement’s organisers to accept their demand to cancel the levies.Organised on social media and led largely by Gen-Z Kenyans who have livestreamed the demonstrations, the protests by thousands of people have caught Ruto’s government off guard, as discontent mounts over his economic policies.“I am very proud of our young people...they have stepped forward peaceful and I want to tell them we are going to engage them,” Ruto said in his first public comments on the protests.“We are going to have a conversation so that together we can build a greater nation,” Ruto said during a church service in the Rift Valley town of Nyahururu.His characterisation of the protests as “peaceful” came after rights campaigners reported two deaths following Thursday’s demonstrations in Nairobi.A protest organiser, Hanifa Adan, who told AFP that she was in hiding to avoid arrest, said Ruto needed to “respond publicly” to demands that the proposed hikes be cancelled.“President Ruto can’t claim to support us while his police brutalise peaceful protesters,” she said.“We’re past the talking stage and won’t be silenced. We demand an end to police violence, respect for our constitutional rights, and the freedom to speak up without fear of arrest or harm.” Amnesty International Kenya said yesterday that “in the last 72 hours, protest organisers, content creators, medics and protesters have been profiled, abducted and detained in violation of our laws”.The rights watchdog did not elaborate on the number of detainees, and there was no immediate comment by the police.Thursday’s demonstrations were mostly peaceful, but officers fired tear gas and water cannon throughout the day to disperse protesters near parliament.A Kenya Human Rights Commission official told AFP on Saturday that 21-year-old Evans Kiratu was “hit by a tear gas canister” during the protests and died in hospital. On Friday, a police watchdog said it was investigating allegations that a 29-year-old man was shot by officers in Nairobi after the demonstrations. The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) said it had “documented the death...allegedly as a result of police shooting” on Thursday. Several organisations, including Amnesty International Kenya, said that at least 200 people were injured in the protests in Nairobi, as thousands of people took to the streets across the country.The protesters have called for a national strike tomorrow.After smaller demonstrations in Nairobi last Tuesday, the cash-strapped government agreed to roll back several tax increases laid out in a new bill.But Ruto’s administration still intends to raise some taxes, saying they are necessary for filling the state coffers and cutting reliance on external borrowing.Kenya has a huge debt mountain whose servicing costs have ballooned because of a fall in the value of the local currency over the last two years, making interest payments on foreign-currency loans more expensive.The tax hikes will pile further pressure on Kenyans struggling with cost of living surges, with well-paid jobs remaining out of reach for young people.Ruto said yesterday that the annual budget included measures to tackle youth unemployment and improve access to higher education. After the government agreed to scrap levies on bread purchases, car ownership and financial and mobile services, the treasury warned of a budget shortfall of 200bn shillings ($1.56bn).

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685353/international/kenyas-ruto-ready-for-dialogue-with-protesters

Power cut causes chaos at Manchester airport

Manchester Airport, the third-busiest in Britain, cancelled over 100 flights affecting thousands of passengers yesterday following a major power cut.At least 20% of all outgoing and incoming flights were cancelled, a Manchester Airport spokesperson said, adding that it expected further disruption.Earlier aviation analytics firm Cirium said 66 departures and 50 inbound flights had been cancelled with easyJet experiencing the largest number of cancellations.Manchester Airports Group, which also operates London Stansted and the East Midlands airports, said the airport had been “affected by a major power cut in the area earlier this morning” and passengers at two of the three terminals were told to stay away.The power cut led to problems with airport security and baggage systems, according to Chris Woodroofe, the airport managing director. Flights resumed in the afternoon.Woodroofe said on social media he expected flights to be “back to normal operations” today.The airline Jet2 said that as well as cancelling dozens of flights, it was unable to load bags onto planes as the baggage system remained “inoperable”.EasyJet warned of “very long queues” for security and said passengers could only board flights with cabin bags. Some arriving flights were diverted to other airports including London Heathrow and Birmingham.Some flyers took to X, formerly Twitter, to describe the “chaos”, with one passenger saying they had been waiting for their bags after landing after midnight and another saying they were “stuck on the plane”.The UK travel industry has been hit by a series of technical and strike disruptions in recent years that have affecting rail and air passengers.Last month, a nationwide outage of immigration e-gates caused long delays for thousands of passengers. In August last year, Britain faced its worst air traffic control disruption in years due to a technical fault.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685350/international/power-cut-causes-chaos-at-manchester-airport

Prominent designer Van Noten bids farewell at Paris Fashion Week

There was a surprising lack of leather at Hermes, a restrained but celeb-packed Loewe show, and a farewell for fashion great Dries Van Noten (pictured) at Paris Fashion Week on Saturday.Hermes, known worldwide for its homemade leather bags and accessories, presented a show full of cotton and linen whites and blues for its spring-summer 2025 collection.It was a collection “grazed by a gentle breeze... Clothing casts reflections into the transparency of water,” designer Veronique Nichanian said in her press release.Sandals and a sleeveless bomber-style jacket were among the few signs of leather among the docker hats, trench coats and drawstring trousers.Meanwhile, Loewe, the rising Spanish star in the LVMH conglomerate, put on a minimalist show — “the radical act of restraint”, as Northern Irish creative director JW Anderson put it.On the front row were Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, US actor Jeff Goldblum and singer of the moment Sabrina Carpenter.The minimalism still carried the sort of strange and ornate touches that Anderson loves, such as long exotic or golden feathers swooping down from headbands and weird angular collars jutting out from T-shirts.The brand’s signature cargo pants came with an Ottoman harem twist.“I don’t think they were clothes for me, but I loved it,” Almodovar told AFP afterwards.“Coming here is like going to a show, to the cinema, to the opera, to the theatre: each character has to be dressed in a certain way, a lot of emotion is created that way,” he added. Meanwhile, fashion fans were awaiting the last-ever show by Dries Van Noten later on Saturday as he heads into retirement.Van Noten is not a household name but he is lauded in fashion circles for a 40-year career in which he combined audacity, sophistication and poetry.Few designers retire, healthy and successful, at 66, so news of his departure earlier this year came as a shock. He told The New York Times it was time to give up the “addiction” of fashion. “Everything’s too intense. I can’t come down anymore,” he told the newspaper.Van Noten is known for exquisite tailoring and subtle avant-garde styling with bursting clashes of colour.“I’m a gardener, so flowers automatically come up everywhere,” he once told AFP.“The starting point for a collection can be very literal or very abstract: a painting, a colour, someone’s thoughts, anything at all.”His staff will take over collections starting with the womenswear show in September, with the only condition that they remain in Antwerp, away from the Paris fashion glitz.The Puig Group, which acquired a majority stake in the label in 2018, agreed to Van Noten’s request.“After the men’s show, I’m going to have another email address,” he told The New York Times. “I’m not going to be @driesvannoten any more. I have to find an Instagram name now, because my Instagram is Dries Van Noten, and that is the brand. It’s strange. That I didn’t see coming.”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685282/international/prominent-designer-van-noten-bids-farewell-at-paris-fashion-week

2mn stranded as floods wreak havoc in Bangladesh

Monsoon rains and upstream river water from India have caused widespread flooding in northeastern Bangladesh, stranding more than 2mn people, and the situation could worsen, officials said on Friday.The UN children’s agency Unicef said trapped residents in the region, including more than 772,000 children, were in urgent need of assistance.“Children are the most vulnerable, facing heightened risks of drowning, malnutrition, deadly waterborne diseases, the trauma of displacement, and potential abuse in overpopulated shelters,” said Sheldon Yett, Unicef representative to Bangladesh.The Bangladesh Meteorological Department forecast further heavy rainfall in the next few days that could exacerbate the flooding and cause landslides in hilly areas.At least 10 people, including eight Rohingya Muslims, were killed on Wednesday after heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides in refugee camps in southern Bangladesh.The northeastern region has been particularly hard hit, with heavy rainfall and upstream water from India causing widespread inundation. Bangladesh is still recovering from a cyclone that hit its coastal belt in the south late last month. “I fear it could be as devastating as the 2022 floods,” Sylhet resident Shameem Chowdhury said, referring to flooding that was the worst in the region for 122 years.TV footage showed extensive flooding in fields and villages with people wading through knee-deep water in Sylhet city as the rainfall dangerously swelled water levels along four rivers in the region.Vast areas of land are submerged, posing a significant threat to crops if the floodwaters linger for an extended period, agriculture ministry officials said.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685237/international/2mn-stranded-as-floods-wreak-havoc-in-bangladesh

Armenia officially recognises State of Palestine

Armenia has officially recognised the State of Palestine, raising the number of countries that recognise Palestinian statehood to 149 out of the 193 member states of the UN General Assembly.In a statement on Friday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry highlighted the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the ongoing war as critical issues on the international political agenda that necessitate resolution.'The Republic of Armenia has joined UN General Assembly resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,' the statement read.The ministry emphasised Armenia's pursuit of a peaceful and comprehensive resolution to the Palestinian issue based on a two-state solution as the only way to achieve peace and security.'Based on the above and reaffirming its commitment to international law and the principles of equality, sovereignty, and peaceful coexistence among nations, the Republic of Armenia recognises the State of Palestine,' the statement concluded.This recognition follows similar declarations last month by Slovenia, Spain, Norway, and Ireland, further bolstering international support for Palestinian statehood.Qatar welcomed Armenia's recognition of the State of Palestine, and considered it an important step to support the two-state solution and achieve peace and stability in the region.In a statement on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that achieving comprehensive and just peace in the region depends on the establishment of an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.The ministry also stressed the need to end the war on the Gaza Strip immediately, and return to the political track as it is the only guarantor of achieving stability in the region.The ministry expressed Qatar's hope that more countries will recognise the State of Palestine and strengthen efforts aimed at implementing the two-state solution.The Palestinian Presidency also welcomed Armenia's decision to officially recognise the State of Palestine as an independent and sovereign nation, describing the decision as courageous and significant towards strengthening bilateral relations and fostering peace and stability in the region.In a statement, the Palestinian Presidency underscored Armenia's keenness to support the Palestinian people and their firm and legitimate rights to their homeland and self-determination, pointing out that the move comes as a good contribution from those countries that believe in the two-state solution as a strategic option that upholds international will and legitimacy.The decision positively contributes to safeguarding the two-state solution, which faces systematic challenges, and promotes security, peace, and stability for all parties involved, the statement read.The Palestinian Presidency urged other nations, particularly European countries that have yet to recognise the State of Palestine, to follow suit, in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, based on the 1967 borders, which include Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685199/international/armenia-officially-recognises-state-of-palestine

Armenia officially recognizes the Palestinian state

Armenia announced its official recognition of the Palestinian state, following the example of other countries that took a similar step recently, in light of the continuation of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since the seventh of last October.The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed in a statement today that Yerevan is interested in bringing peace and stability to the Middle East and has continued, through various international platforms, to call for a peaceful and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian issue and support “the two-state principle for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”The Ministry said in this regard: “In confirmation of the Republic of Armenia’s commitment to international law and the principles of equality, sovereignty and peaceful coexistence among peoples, it recognizes the State of Palestine.”She stressed that the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing war require a settlement today, stressing her accession to the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly that call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.The Parliament of Slovenia had previously agreed, by a majority of votes, to recognize an independent Palestinian state, following in the footsteps of Spain, Ireland and Norway, which brings the number of recognized countries to 149 out of 193 countries in the United Nations General Assembly.On April 18, the United Nations General Assembly adopted, by a majority of 143 votes, a resolution declaring the State of Palestine’s eligibility for full membership in the United Nations.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685199/international/armenia-officially-recognizes-the-palestinian-state

Rains and Floods Leave 21 People Killed in Niger

Torrential rains and floods in Niger over three weeks have left 21 dead and nearly 6,000 people affected, according to figures released by the country's Interior Ministry.Director-General of Civil Protection of Niger Bako Boubacar said on state television that 8 people had drowned and 13 had died in houses that collapsed during storm.Additionally, 26 people have been injured, and approximately 4,000 cattle have been killed or lost.Central Niger's Maradi region has been the worst hit since the onset of the rainy season, with a confirmed death toll of 14.The rainy season traditionally runs from June through September in the African nation. In 2022, about 195 people were killed and 400,000 people were affected, many of whom lost their homes.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685198/international/rains-and-floods-leave-21-people-killed-in-niger

TikTok ban in US looks 'inevitable'

TikTok and Chinese parent ByteDance yesterday urged a US court to strike down a law they say will ban the popular short video app in the United States on Jan. 19, saying the US government refused to engage in any serious settlement talks after 2022. Legislation signed in April by President Joe Biden gives ByteDance until Jan. 19 next year to divest TikTok's US assets or face a ban on the app used by 170mn Americans. ByteDance says a divestiture is 'not possible technologically, commercially, or legally.'

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685187/international/tiktok-ban-in-us-looks-inevitable

US lawmakers meet Dalai Lama, pressure China on talks

A group of US lawmakers who met the Dalai Lama in India yesterday said they would not allow China to influence the choice of his successor, comments expected to anger Beijing, which calls the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader a separatist.The remarks come as Washington and Beijing seek to steady rocky ties while India pushes China to secure lasting peace on their disputed Himalayan frontier, four years after a military clash strained ties.The lawmakers also signalled that Washington would pressure Beijing to hold talks with Tibetan leaders, stalled since 2010, to resolve the Tibet issue, with a bill they said President Joe Biden would sign soon.Although Washington recognises Tibet as a part of China, the bill appears to question that position and any change would be a major shock to Beijing, analysts said. The bipartisan group of seven, led by Michael McCaul, a Republican representative from Texas, who also chairs the House foreign affairs committee, met the Nobel peace laureate at his monastery in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala.“It is still my hope that one day the Dalai Lama and his people will return to Tibet in peace,” McCaul told a public reception after the meeting.Beijing has even attempted to insert itself into choosing the successor of the Dalai Lama, he said, but added, “We will not let that happen.”The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet. The 88-year-old, who has battled health problems for years, is set to fly to the US this week for medical treatment.The question of the Dalai Lama’s successor has been a thorny issue, which analysts say highlights the power and influence of the role, fuelling Beijing’s tussle to control it.The US group, which includes Democratic former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, arrived on Tuesday for a two-day visit.Pelosi said Congress approval of the legislation, titled the ‘Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act’, or the Resolve Tibet Act, sent a message to China that Washington was clear in its thinking on the issue of Tibet.“This bill says to the Chinese government: things have changed now, get ready for that,” she said to cheers from hundreds of Tibetans at yesterday’s event.Photographs on the Dalai Lama’s website showed him holding a framed copy of the bill as the lawmakers stood alongside.Beijing, which calls the Dalai Lama a dangerous “splittist” or separatist, has said it was seriously concerned about the bill and the lawmakers’ visit, urging them not to contact what it calls the “Dalai clique” and Biden not to sign the bill.The Indian foreign ministry offered no immediate comment on the lawmakers’ visit.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685126/international/us-lawmakers-meet-dalai-lama-pressure-china-on-talks

Russia and North Korea sign mutual defence pact

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday signed a deal with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un that included a mutual defence pledge, one of Russia’s most significant moves in Asia for years that Kim said amounted to an “alliance”.Putin’s pledge overhauls Russia’s entire post-Soviet policy on North Korea just as the US and its Asian allies try to gauge how far Russia could deepen support for the only country to have tested a nuclear weapon this century.On his first visit to Pyongyang since July 2000, Putin explicitly linked Russia’s deepening of ties with North Korea to the West’s growing support for Ukraine and said Moscow could develop military and technical co-operation with Pyongyang.After talks, they signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” pact, which Putin said included a mutual defence clause in the case of aggression against either country.“The comprehensive partnership agreement signed today provides, among other things, for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement,” Putin said.He said Western deliveries of advanced, long-range weaponry including F-16 fighters to Ukraine for strikes against Russia breached major agreements.“In connection with this, Russia does not exclude for itself the development of military-technical co-operation with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Putin said.Kim praised Russia for making what he cast as an enormously significant strategic move to support North Korea, which was founded in 1948 with the Soviet Union’s backing.Depending on the exact wording of the pact, which was not released, it could be a dramatic shift in the strategic balance in northeast Asia by placing Russia’s heft behind North Korea – which faces South Korea, backed by the US, across the heavily fortified demilitarised zone (DMZ).While North Korea has a defence treaty with China, it does not have active military collaboration with Beijing like it has developed with Russia over the past year. North Korea also signed a 1961 treaty with the Soviet Union that included promises of mutual support in the event of an attack.China, the North’s main political and economic benefactor, had no immediate response.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685125/international/russia-and-north-korea-sign-mutual-defence-pact

Families of Boeing 737 Max crash victims ask US to seek $24bn fine

Relatives of the victims of two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes asked the Justice Department yesterday to seek a fine against the planemaker of up to $24.78bn and move forward with a criminal prosecution.“Because Boeing’s crime is the deadliest corporate crime in US history, a maximum fine of more than $24bn is legally justified and clearly appropriate,” Paul Cassel, a lawyer representing 15 families, wrote in a letter to the Justice Department released yesterday.The families said the Justice Department could potentially suspend $14bn to $22bn of the fine “on the condition that Boeing devote those suspended funds to an independent corporate monitor and related improvements in compliance and safety.” The Justice Department said in May it determined Boeing violated a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement that shielded the company from a criminal charge of conspiracy to commit fraud arising from fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.Boeing last week told the government it did not violate the agreement. Federal prosecutors have until July 7 to inform a federal judge in Texas of their plans, which could be proceeding with a criminal case or negotiating a plea deal with Boeing. The Justice Department could also extend the deferred prosecution agreement for a year.Justice Department officials found that Boeing violated the deferred prosecution agreement after a panel blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet on Jan. 5, just two days before the 2021 agreement expired. The incident exposed continued safety and quality issues at Boeing.In the letter, the families also said Boeing’s board of directors should be ordered to meet with them and the department should “launch criminal prosecutions of the responsible corporate officials at Boeing at the time of the two crashes.” Boeing and the Justice Department did not immediately comment.The letter noted that Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and held a hearing with Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun on Tuesday, said, “There is near overwhelming evidence in my view as a former prosecutor that prosecution should be pursued.” The two fatal crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes occurred in 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia and led to the best-selling plane’s worldwide grounding for 20 months. A safety system called MCAS was linked to both fatal crashes.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685122/international/families-of-boeing-737-max-crash-victims-ask-us-to-seek-24bn-fine

Cuban immigrant finds ‘dream’ of work, community in US

Israel Gomez Estrada, like thousands of other Cubans and millions more immigrants from around the world, left his home and family in search of a better life in the US.Now he is legally settled in Grand Island, Nebraska — a small city with a population of 50,000, and one Cuban restaurant. Tornadoes are frequent and winters can be harsh.“Some of my friends have suggested that I move to another state, but I’m not leaving,” Gomez Estrada, 46, told AFP recently.In March, he received a coveted green card, entitling him to work. Cubans can apply for one just a year after setting foot on American soil, while other immigrants must typically wait years before they can do so.Despite difficulty with English, he quickly found a job in a food processing plant. He hopes to soon be joined by his wife and children.Immigrants come to America, “with the aim of succeeding, and with a dream,” he said. “For us, it’s not difficult, because we know how to work hard.” Nebraska is short of labour, so immigration is a solution for employers.Before taking the plunge, Gomez Estrada said he had consulted online job offers from Cuba and spotted “lots of opportunities.” “I decided to leave my country, my family, a very difficult situation, because my father has a prostate condition and the medicine doesn’t exist in my country,” he said.Gomez Estrada flicked through pictures on his phone to show his parents, his wife, his teenage children, and the parties he has missed since he left home.Because of his green card, he is now allowed to visit them in Cuba, but the plane ticket is expensive.On the coffee table in front of him sits a cup painted with the colours of his island, filled with thick, sweet Cuban coffee.He now lives in a small one-bedroom apartment at the end of a long white wooden house which has been divided into several flats, where other Cubans live.The apartment holds the promise of a new life for Gomez Estrada after a “very difficult” journey: To get to the US, he said he spent 13 days crossing the hellish jungles and rivers of Central America.He moved to Nebraska on the advice of a Cuban friend who lived in the city.But his friend had to move soon after his arrival, leaving him “in the snow, without knowing anyone.” Gomez Estrada had always dreamed of seeing snowflakes, and the first time he did so, “it was wonderful,” he said. “I never thought it would be so beautiful.” — ‘So kind’ — He found support from the congregation of the local Destiny Church, a building made from corrugated iron painted grey and orange, perched on the side of a road. He was offered accommodation for several months and even a car, saving him the seven-kilometre walk to the grocery store.Tim Rust, the church’s pastor, remembers meeting Gomez Estrada for the first time.“He was here in the country, wanted to work legally, could not,” he told AFP.Because the two men couldn’t speak the same language, they initially communicated by translating phrases on a cell phone.“I didn’t notice a lot of racism when he came into the church,” Rust said. “He was well accepted, and people loved him.” “Grand Island is open to the immigrants,” he said.“We have some people maybe don’t like it, and they don’t understand a lot of things,” he added. “But as a general rule, I think that the employers here and the people have a good attitude towards immigrants.” Gomez Estrada says he has not experienced any racism since his arrival.The subject of immigration is a sensitive one, especially in the middle of an election campaign.Two-thirds of the residents of Grand Island County voted for then-president Donald Trump in 2020.He lost to Democrat Joe Biden, but is seeking a rematch in November’s election.Biden’s policy “favours us, the immigrants,” Gomez Estrada said, adding it was “positive” that Trump wants “people who come to this country to come with the intention of working and contributing.”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685120/international/cuban-immigrant-finds-dream-of-work-community-in-us

Kenya scraps most new tax hikes as hundreds protest

Kenya’s government on Tuesday walked back plans to impose multiple tax hikes, the presidency said, amending a controversial bill that sparked protests where more than a dozen demonstrators were arrested. The East African economic powerhouse has struggled with a cost-of-living crisis, which critics warned would only worsen under the levies laid out in a bill due to be debated this week and passed before June 30.Hundreds of mostly young protesters assembled near parliament on Tuesday, with police firing tear gas and making arrests, according to AFP journalists. Hours later, the presidency announced that it would scrap many of the bill’s most contentious provisions, including taxes on bread purchases and car ownership. “The Finance Bill has been amended to remove the proposed 16% VAT on bread, transportation of sugar, financial services, foreign exchange transactions as well as the 2.5% Motor Vehicle Tax,” the presidency said in a statement.“Additionally, there will be no increase in mobile money transfer fees, and Excise Duty on vegetable oil has also been removed,” it added. The cash-strapped government had earlier defended the hikes - which were projected to raise some 346.7bn shillings ($2.7bn), equivalent to 1.9% of GDP - as a necessary measure to cut reliance on external borrowing. Lawmakers were due to debate the bill on Tuesday afternoon, but postponed the discussion to Wednesday, just before the presidency announced the changes following recommendations made by a parliamentary committee.“Because the people’s representatives have listened to the people...they have adjusted the proposals,” President William Ruto told lawmakers.The bill sparked fury among many Kenyans, who staged protests on Tuesday dubbed “Occupy Parliament”. Black-clad protesters were forced into a cat-and-mouse situation with police, with officers lobbing tear gas and - in one instance - chasing people into a church before making arrests. “I am fighting for my future,” one protester, 23-year-old Wangari, told AFP. “With such taxes, with such exploitation, I don’t see how we can build a life,” she said.“This is making it very hard for us, especially us, that are not a part of the one percent.”Her thoughts were echoed by others like 29-year-old Rara Eisa who was protesting for the first time. “I am tired. The prices of everything have gone up, life is no longer affordable,” she said, adding that the taxes “are not lenient in any way”.Many demonstrators waved signs emblazoned “do not force the taxes on us”, referring to Ruto as Zakayo, the Swahili name for the biblical tax collector Zacchaeus. Ruto came to power in 2022 on a promise to revive the economy and put money in the pockets of the downtrodden, but his policies have sparked widespread discontent.He has raised income tax and health insurance contributions, and doubled VAT on petroleum products to 16%. Last year’s tax hikes led to opposition protests, sometimes degenerating into deadly street clashes between police and demonstrators.While Kenya is among the most dynamic economies in East Africa, roughly a third of the 51.5mn population lives in poverty. Overall inflation has remained stubbornly high at an annual rate of 5.1% in May, while food and fuel inflation stood at 6.2% and 7.8% respectively, according to central bank data. The World Bank said this month that while Kenya’s real GDP growth had accelerated last year to 5.6% from 4.9% in 2022, it was expected to slow to five percent this year.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685045/international/kenya-scraps-most-new-tax-hikes-as-hundreds-protest

Dutch PM Rutte to be next Nato chief

Stoltenberg: Rutte is a very strong candidateNext Nato chief to find balance between support for Kyiv and keeping alliance out of warNetherlands under Rutte has been driving force behind military help for UkraineAfter ten years in office, Stoltenberg's term ends October 1

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, a staunch ally of Kyiv and a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, will succeed Jens Stoltenberg as Nato chief, Dutch national broadcaster NOS reported on Tuesday, after Hungary and Slovakia backed him.

Speaking at a news conference alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, Stoltenberg neither confirmed nor denied the media report.

'With the announcement of (Hungarian) Prime Minister (Viktor) Orban, I think it's obvious that we are very close to a conclusion... to select the next secretary-general, and I think that's good news,' he told reporters, while praising Rutte.

'I think Mark is a very strong candidate. He has a lot of experience as prime minister. He's a close friend and colleague, and I therefore strongly believe that very soon, the alliance will have decided on my successor,' he said. 'And that will be good for all of us, for Nato and also for me.'

Nato's next secretary-general will face the challenge of sustaining allies' support for Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion, while guarding against any escalation that could draw the military alliance directly into a war with Moscow.

In the two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Rutte has been one of the driving forces behind Europe's military support to Ukraine, stressing time and again what he said was the absolute need for a Russian battlefield defeat to secure peace in Europe.

Under his recent leadership, the Netherlands has ramped up defence spending above the 2% threshold of GDP required of Nato members, providing F-16 fighter jets, artillery, drones and ammunition to Kyiv as well as investing heavily in its own military.

Rutte's support for Ukraine is underscored by his criticism of Russia and its President Vladimir Putin, as the Netherlands holds Russia accountable for the downing of passenger flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in July 2014 - which killed all 298 passengers and crew, 196 of them from the Netherlands.

Hours before the NOS report, Hungary and Slovakia had given their support to the candidacy of Rutte, clearing a crucial hurdle on his way to Nato's top job.

Nato takes decisions by consensus, so any candidate needs the support of all 32 allies. Only Romania, whose President Klaus Iohannis is also vying for the job, is still officially opposed to Rutte's candidacy.

Hungary's backing followed a meeting Orban had with Stoltenberg last week, where the two sides agreed that Hungary would not block Nato decisions on providing support for Ukraine but has agreed that it would not be involved.

'PM Mark Rutte confirmed that he fully supports this deal and will continue to do so, should he become the next Secretary General of Nato,' Orban wrote on the X social media platform.

'In light of his pledge, Hungary is ready to support PM Rutte's bid for Nato Secretary-General.'

Orban had earlier opposed Rutte's candidacy because he had expressed 'problematic' opinions that included the idea that Hungary should leave the European Union.

Hungary has been at odds with other Nato countries over Orban's continued cultivation of close ties with Russia and refusal to send arms to Ukraine, with Budapest's foreign minister last month labelling plans to help the war-torn nation a 'crazy mission.'

Turkey and Slovakia have also changed course on Rutte's bid, with Turkey saying it would support him in late April and Slovakia announcing its support earlier on Tuesday.

Slovakia, which borders Ukraine, had stressed the need for the next Nato chief to help deal with the protection of Slovak airspace, its President Peter Pellegrini said, after the previous Slovak government donated an S-300 system to Ukraine, and allies pulled out Patriot batteries that had been temporarily placed there.

Stoltenberg's term will end on October 1, 10 years after taking office in 2014, just a few months after Russia annexed Crimea.

During his tenure, Stoltenberg oversaw Nato's shift from an alliance mainly engaged in crisis management missions in far-off places such as Afghanistan back to its roots of defence against Russia.

Four countries have joined Nato since Stoltenberg took office - Montenegro, North Macedonia, Finland and Sweden.

By giving the top job to Rutte, the alliance will pass the opportunity to see a woman, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, take the helm of Nato for the first time - something several members had lobbied for.

Kallas, a candidate mainly touted by eastern European countries, was seen as too hawkish towards Russia by some western member states.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685044/international/ukeurope/dutch-pm-rutte-to-be-next-nato-chief

Farage vows tighter borders and tax cuts in poll ‘contract’

Nigel Farage, whose entry into the election has damaged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s faint hopes of victory, set out his policy plans yesterday, describing them as the first step to becoming the dominant party on the right of British politics.Farage yesterday said the earlier-than-expected election had come too soon for his Reform UK party but called on supporters of Sunak’s Conservatives to “join the revolt” and pitched Reform as the only ones who could hold to account Labour, whose leader Keir Starmer is forecast to become the next prime minister.Farage is one of Britain’s most recognisable and divisive politicians and has pressured successive governments into more aggressive stances on cutting immigration. He played a pivotal role in the 2016 vote to leave the European Union.But his career has been spent campaigning from the sidelines of British politics, having stood unsuccessfully for a seat in parliament seven times and led parties which, despite attracting millions of votes, have failed to weaken the grip of Britain’s two main parties - the Conservatives and Labour. This time Farage is standing in Clacton-on-Sea, southeast England, where polling shows he could win a place in parliament, but under Britain’s electoral system Reform is only expected to win, at most, a handful of seats across the country. “We are not pretending that we are going to win this general election,” Farage said at the launch of a 24-page policy document, which he described as a “contract” with voters for the next five years. But he added: “Our aim and our ambition is to establish a bridgehead in parliament and to become a real opposition to a Labour government.”Reform chose Merthyr Tydfil for its launch to highlight what it says is Labour misrule in Wales.Farage’s unexpected entry into the election race - having initially said he would not run and wanted to concentrate on campaigning for Donald Trump in the US - has split support among Britain’s right-of-centre voters.The Labour Party is around 20 percentage points ahead in opinion polls and forecast to win a large majority. Reform overtook the Conservatives in one poll last week, and Farage has set a target of winning 6mn votes at the July 4 election.Other polls put them far behind the governing party. The Reform campaign has so far focused on Farage and his populist appeal. The 60-year-old received an expensive private education and worked as a commodities trader but has successfully styled himself as a man of the people taking on an out-of-touch political establishment.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684993/international/farage-vows-tighter-borders-and-tax-cuts-in-poll-contract

Israel official says PM dissolves war cabinet

A senior Israeli official told AFP on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had dissolved the war cabinet following the resignation earlier this month of centrist leader Benny Gantz.The official said on condition of anonymity that the wider 'security cabinet will continue to decide on matters regarding the war' between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.Israeli media said the move, which was not expected to trigger any major policy shift, was meant to counter pressure from far-right politicians seeking a greater say in decision-making.The war cabinet was formed after Gantz had left the opposition to join Netanyahu's government following Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack.Gantz and another member of his party, Gadi Eisenkot, both former military chiefs, had agreed to join the government on condition that a war cabinet be formed, said another Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to discuss the issue with the media.With Gantz and Eisenkot out of the government, 'there is no longer a need for' the war cabinet, said the official.'It means that the security cabinet will meet more often. The security cabinet is the body responsible for making decisions (related to the war) anyway.'Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who were all part of the war cabinet, also sit on the security cabinet -- the key forum ratifying decisions regarding the war including truce and hostage release negotiations.Gantz announced his resignation on June 9 after failing to get Netanyahu to approve a post-war plan for Gaza.Israeli media reported that Netanyahu dissolved the war cabinet to avoid including far-right coalition members in the sensitive forum, fearing harm to relations with key Western allies such as the United States.National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who are both security cabinet members and opposed to a truce before Hamas is 'eliminated', have put pressure on Netanyahu to add them to the war cabinet.The Hamas attack on southern Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 37,347 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684978/international/israel-official-says-pm-dissolves-war-cabinet

Train collision in Northern India leaves five dead, 25 injured

Five people were killed and about 25 others were injured in a train collision in the city of Siliguri in the state of Bengal, northern India.The accident involved a freight train colliding with the Kanchenjunga Express, which was en route to Sealdah station in Kolkata.Local authorities reported that the collision occurred shortly after the Kanchenjunga Express departed from New Jalpaiguri station and collided with the freight train from behind.India's railway network, one of the largest in the world, is known for frequent accidents, largely due to outdated equipment. The deadliest accident occurred in 1981 when a train fell into a river, resulting in 800 fatalities.In 2015, the Indian government announced an investment of $137 billion over five years to modernize and expand the railway network.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684974/international/india/train-collision-in-northern-india-leaves-five-dead-25-injured

Biden raps apex court at fundraiser in LA while Trump woos Michigan

President Joe Biden slammed the US Supreme Court as “out of kilter” at a glitzy fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday with former president Barack Obama and top Hollywood celebrities that has raised over $30mn.Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel began by showing a video montage contrasting Biden’s record with that of his predecessor and current Republican challenger Donald Trump.He drew cheers from the audience at a packed Peacock Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, where Hollywood celebrities George Clooney, Julia Roberts and singing icon Barbra Streisand were among the guests.Despite the Hollywood heavyweights, Biden turned serious when he spoke of his rival Trump, and how whoever wins the election will likely have at least two new Supreme Court nominations to make.“The idea that if he’s re-elected he’s going to appoint two more flying flags upside down,” Biden said, referring to recent tumult over conservative sitting Justice Samuel Alito who was recently confirmed to have had the inverted American flag – a symbol of Trump’s false election fraud claims – raised outside his homes in Virginia and New Jersey.Biden, a Democrat who has frequently denounced specific decisions but resisted a full attack on the court itself, said: “The fact of the matter is that there has never been a court that is this far out of step.”He noted that conservative Justice Clarence Thomas had said that the court, which overturned the half-century-old federal right to abortion, should reconsider such things as in vitro fertilisation and contraception.Trump nominated three of the six conservatives who control the nine-member court. He and Biden are in a tight rematch race for the November 5 election.If Trump is elected again, Biden said, he “is likely to have two new Supreme Court nominees”.Democratic lawmakers, citing the flag displays, have said Alito should recuse himself from a case involving Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from prosecution on federal criminal charges relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 results.Since Biden took office, the court’s conservative majority has also restricted affirmative action, gender minority rights, gun control and environmental regulation.It has blocked the president’s agenda on immigration, student loans, vaccine mandates and climate change.Obama said that “the power of the Supreme Court is determined by elections. What we’re seeing now is a byproduct of 2016” when Trump was elected. “Hopefully we have learned our lesson. Because these elections matter.”Obama also invoked Trump’s felony convictions to applause from the crowd.Trump was convicted by a New York jury on May 30 of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.The Biden campaign hoped the star-studded event would display strength and momentum despite Biden’s low approval ratings and concerns about the age of the president, who is 81.“This will be one of the biggest fundraisers we’ve had,” said Ajay Jain Bhutoria, deputy finance chair at the Democratic National Committee.A Biden campaign spokeswoman said that “$28mn heading into President Biden’s LA fundraiser – and counting. This is the largest Democratic fundraiser in history”.Biden campaign’s fundraising in April lagged Trump’s for the first time, after the former president ramped up his joint operation with the Republican National Committee and headlined high-dollar fundraisers.Democrats still maintained an overall cash advantage over Trump and the Biden campaign continues to have a considerably larger war chest.Trump was also on the campaign trail, boasting in Detroit, Michigan that his own fundraising is “the highest in the history of politics”.Michigan is a must-win state for Biden in November’s electoral mathematics.Aiming to eat into Biden’s key electoral support from African Americans there, Trump visited a black church in Detroit and told hundreds of voters that “crooked Joe Biden has done nothing for you except talk”.Trump then headed to a starkly different venue: a convention of high-profile hard-right Republicans and supporters of his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.At the Turning Point USA convention, Trump railed against Biden’s climate protection package, mocked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “salesman”, and renewed his incendiary rhetoric about what he branded the “Biden migrant invasion”, saying he will stop it with the biggest deportation operation in American history.In a characteristically rambling 80-minute speech – frequently interrupted by loud cheering – Trump claimed that help for migrants leaves US war veterans “lying in the streets” and veered into everything from extended complaints about modern showers to repeating his lie that his 2020 election loss was “rigged and stolen”.“We have a rigged country. We have rigged elections, we have open borders,” he said.Biden and Trump are tied in national polls with less than five months to go before the election, while Trump has the edge in the battleground states that will decide the election, recent polls show.On economic issues like inflation, Trump scores higher with voters overall than Biden.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684954/international/biden-raps-apex-court-at-fundraiser-in-la-while-trump-woos-michigan

Australian PM, China premier to discuss trade, jailed writer on Monday

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will meet on Monday in the first such visit by a Chinese premier in seven years, with trade ties, regional security and a jailed Australian writer on the host’s agenda.The visit by Li, China’s top-ranked official after President Xi Jinping, marks a stabilisation in relations between the US security ally and the world’s second-biggest economy, after a frosty period of Beijing blocking $20bn in Australian exports and friction over defence encounters.Li is on a four-day visit that Australia’s foreign minister called “really important” and which the Chinese leader said showed bilateral relations were “back on track”.Without China - which receives one-third of Australia’s exports and supplies one-fourth of Australia’s imports - Australians would pay 4.2% more for consumer items, an Australian business group said.Trade with China increased Australia’s average household disposable income by A$2,600 ($1,700) last year, contributing 595,600 jobs or 4.2% of total employment, said the study by Curtin University and the Australia China Business Council.“Managing geopolitical risks and concerns around defence and security will remain at the forefront of Indo-Pacific discussions,” the report said. “Trade is not disconnected from these discussions.”Australia is the biggest supplier of iron ore to China and China has been an investor in Australian mining projects.Li’s visit will likely raise the issue of whether Australia will continue to accept high levels of Chinese investment in its critical minerals sector, as Western security allies push to reduce reliance on Beijing for the rare earths vital to electric vehicles. Human rights is an area of less harmony for Beijing and Canberra.The suspended death sentence for China-born Australian writer Yang Hengjun was upheld by a Beijing court ahead of Li’s visit, his supporters said on Sunday.They urged Albanese to ask Li to allow Yang’s transfer to Australia on medical grounds, saying in a statement it was “not possible to achieve a stable, respectful bilateral relationship with China while their officials are threatening to execute an Australian political prisoner”.Yang, a pro-democracy blogger and spy novelist, was working in New York before his arrest at Guangzhou airport in 2019.Australia has described his February sentence as “harrowing”, casting a shadow over the recent rebound in bilateral ties.Australia has also chastised China’s military in recent months for its “unacceptable” and “unsafe” behaviour in international skies and waters, and has urged restraint in the South China Sea.Meanwhile, Australian police have beefed up security measures fearing the potential for ugly clashes between pro-China groups and human rights protesters.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684953/international/australian-pm-china-premier-to-discuss-trade-jailed-writer-on-monday

$1.5bn more US aid for Ukraine

Lucerne, SwitzerlandUS Vice-President Kamala Harris pledged America’s unwavering support for Ukraine and announced more than $1.5bn in aid for the country’s energy sector and its humanitarian situation as a result of Russia’s 27-month invasion.Harris made the announcement at the Ukraine peace summit in Lucerne, Switzerland, where she met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.“This war remains an utter failure for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Harris said during a bilateral meeting with Zelensky. “It is in our interest to uphold international norms,” she added, pledging US support for the country.The $1.5bn includes $500mn in new funding for energy assistance and the redirecting of $324mn in previously announced funds toward emergency energy infrastructure repair and other needs in Ukraine, the vice-president’s office said.“These efforts will help Ukraine respond to Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine energy infrastructure by supporting repair and recovery, improving Ukraine’s resilience to energy supply disruptions, and laying the groundwork to repair and expand Ukraine’s energy system,” Harris’ office said.She also announced more than $379mn in humanitarian assistance from the State Department and the US Agency for International Development to help refugees and other people impacted by the war. The money is to cover food assistance, health services, shelter, and water, sanitation and hygiene services for millions of Ukrainians.Harris, who will spend less than 24 hours at the gathering will be standing in for President Joe Biden at the event. The president will be just ending his participation at the G7 summit in Italy and returning to the United States to attend a fundraiser for his reelection campaign in Los Angeles.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684921/international/15bn-more-us-aid-for-ukraine

Pellegrini vows to pull Slovakia out of turbulence

Peter Pellegrini, the former Slovakia prime minister who was sworn in as the EU member’s sixth president on Saturday, is a fanatic of planes, trains and cars as well as an ally of the Russia-friendly government.Backed by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, the 48-year-old pledged to “unite a divided Slovakia” during an electoral campaign dominated by divisions over the war in neighbouring Ukraine.He told AFP that Slovakia was “divided between those who are in favour of the continuation of the war (between Russia and Ukraine) at all costs, and those who demand the start of peace negotiations”.“I belong to the latter,” said Pellegrini, known as “Pelle” to his friends.Educated in finance, he joined Fico’s populist Smer-SD party and went on to serve in his ally’s previous governments, before succeeding him as prime minister.Pellegrini founded his own Hlas-SD party in 2020. The leftist party came third in last year’s general election and joined the ruling coalition with Smer-SD and the small far-right SNS to govern the European Union and Nato state.A Slovak with distant Italian roots, Pellegrini was born on October 6, 1975 in the central city of Banska Bystrica to a car mechanic father and a teacher mother.“We lived modestly, like many other families in those days,” Pellegrini, who has one sister, wrote in his CV.“I was fascinated by my father’s world, marked by the smell of motor oil and dismantled cars, tractors and motorbikes.”Pellegrini once said he wanted to work on trains, adding: “I’m extremely interested in railways in general.”He is also a licensed pilot for single-engine light aircraft.In 2015, he posted a Facebook video from inside a fighter jet with the comment that he got “an amazing birthday gift”.Pellegrini is also fond of music and was part of a dance ensemble and played the accordion in his youth.A bachelor, Pellegrini was also once dubbed “the sexiest politician in Slovakia” by women’s magazines.When announcing his candidacy, he said he lives alone, adding: “If elected president, I would not be accompanied by a first lady or anyone else.”He does however have a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog named Gery.After studying finance, he worked as an economist and later as an adviser to a lawmaker from Smer-SD.Pellegrini became an MP for the party in 2006 and was re-elected twice. Later he served as state secretary for finance, education minister and parliament speaker.Pellegrini was prime minister from 2018 to 2020 after Fico was toppled following the murders of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee.The double murder sparked large rallies that forced Fico’s resignation as Kuciak had been working on links between the Italian mafia and Smer-SD.While head of government, Pellegrini also undertook stints as the acting minister of health, finance and interior.Pellegrini speaks Slovak, Russian, German and English.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684920/international/pellegrini-vows-to-pull-slovakia-out-of-turbulence