Blue Origin flies thrill seekers to space, including oldest astronaut

After a nearly two year hiatus, Blue Origin flew adventurers to space yesterday, including a former Air Force pilot who was denied the chance to be the United States’ first black astronaut decades ago.It was the first crewed launch for the enterprise owned and founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos since a rocket mishap in 2022 left rival Virgin Galactic as the sole operator in the fledgling suborbital tourism market.Six people, including the sculptor Ed Dwight, who was on track to become the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa)’s first astronaut of colour in the 1960s before being controversially spurned, launched around 9.36am local time (1436 GMT) from the Launch Site One base in west Texas, a live feed showed.The passengers, also including a venture capitalist, were paying customers of Blue Origin’s space tourism business, though Dwight’s seat was sponsored by a space-focused nonprofit and a private foundation.Blue Origin has not disclosed how much it charges customers.Dwight – at 90 years, eight months and 10 days – became the oldest person to ever go to space.“This is a life-changing experience, everybody needs to do this,” he exclaimed after the flight.“I thought I didn’t really need this in my life,” he added, reflecting on his omission from the astronaut corps, which was his first experience with failure as a young man.“But I lied,” he said with a hearty laugh.Mission NS-25 is the seventh human flight for Blue Origin, which sees short jaunts on the New Shepard suborbital vehicle as a stepping stone to greater ambitions, including the development of a full-fledged heavy rocket and lunar lander.Including yesterday’s crew, the company has flown 37 people aboard New Shepard – a small, fully reusable rocket system named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space.The programme encountered a setback when a New Shepard rocket caught fire shortly after launch on September 12, 2022, even though the uncrewed capsule ejected safely.A federal investigation revealed an overheating engine nozzle was at fault.Blue Origin took corrective steps and carried out a successful uncrewed launch in December 2023, paving the way for yesterday’s mission.After liftoff, the sleek and roomy capsule separated from the booster, which produces zero carbon emissions. The rocket performed a precision vertical landing.As the spaceship soared beyond the Karman Line, the internationally recognised boundary of space 62 miles (100km) above sea level, passengers had the chance to marvel at the Earth’s curvature and unbuckle their seatbelts to float – or somersault – during a few minutes of weightlessness.The capsule then re-entered the atmosphere, deploying its parachutes for a desert landing in a puff of sand.However, one of the three parachutes failed to fully inflate, possibly resulting in a harder landing than expected.The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which oversees launchsite safety and commercial rocket mishaps, did not immediately respond to questions about the New Shepard capsule’s parachute and whether the agency would investigate.Asked for comment, a Blue Origin spokesperson stressed its system was designed with multiple fail-safes. “The capsule is designed to safely land with one parachute. The overall mission was a success, and all of our astronauts are excited to be back.”In all, the mission lasted around 11 minutes.Bezos himself was on the programme’s first ever crewed flight in 2021.A few months later, Star Trek’s William Shatner blurred the lines between science fiction and reality when he became the world’s oldest ever astronaut at age 90, decades after he first played a space traveller.Dwight, who was almost two months older than Shatner at the time of his flight, became only the second nonagenarian to venture beyond Earth.Astronaut John Glenn remains the oldest to orbit the planet, a feat he achieved in 1998 at the age 77 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.Yesterday’s mission finally gave Dwight the chance he was denied decades ago.He was an elite test pilot when he was appointed by President John F Kennedy to join a highly competitive Air Force programme known as a pathway for the astronaut corps, but was ultimately not picked.Dwight left the military in 1966, citing the strain of racial politics, before dedicating his life to telling black history through sculpture.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/682881/international/blue-origin-flies-thrill-seekers-to-space-including-oldest-astronaut

SA top court to rule on Zuma election ban

South Africa’s graft-tainted former president Jacob Zuma today will learn whether he can legally be barred from standing as a candidate in the country’s May 29 general election.The decision by the Constitutional Court could have deep implications on the result of the imminent vote, and observers fear violent unrest if the decision goes against Zuma.Zuma left office in 2018, dogged by corruption allegations, and was briefly jailed for contempt. He has since founded a party to challenge his successor Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC.The ANC has won every South African election since the country became a democracy in 1994, and Zuma served as the party’s fourth president between 2009 and 2018.But his era has come to symbolise the corruption allegations haunting the former anti-apartheid movement, and electoral authorities argue that Zuma’s 2021 conviction bars him from the ballot. Zuma and his new party, named uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) after the ANC’s former armed wing, challenged that ruling, but their case will come before the top court today. In a social media post, the court said it would make a judgment at 10.00am (0800 GMT) on whether “Mr Zuma (is) disqualified from standing as a candidate for the National Assembly”. After a South African general election, the president is chosen by MPs from among their own ranks, so if Zuma is not on the ballot he could not become president.Under section 47 of the South African constitution, anyone convicted of an offence and sentenced to 12 or more months cannot stand for office until five years after the end of the jail term.But the court will also rule on Zuma’s case that the electoral commission exceeded its authority and that a contempt of court conviction, which cannot be appealed, should not lead to a ban.Today’s ruling could have deep and destabilising political consequences. Ramaphosa’s ANC is still expected to remain South Africa’s largest party, but some polls indicate that it may struggle for the first time to win an absolute majority.Zuma’s MK does not poll well nationwide but among his native KwaZulu-Natal and among Zulus he retains support – more than 30,000 supporters cheered him at a Soweto stadium rally on Saturday. If his party eats into the ANC’s traditional support base, Ramaphosa may be forced to negotiate a coalition after the election to ensure he is re-elected to the presidency.Any attempt to strike Zuma from the ballot may also trigger a deadly wave of unrest. Rioting after his 2021 imprisonment left more than 350 people dead.South Africa’s respected Independent Electoral Commission says ballot papers have already been printed with Zuma’s image on them, but he would be unable to sit as an MP if ineligible.The ANC was the leading political force in the struggle of black South Africans against the former apartheid regime, and has led the country for 30 years.But late liberation leader Nelson Mandela’s party has struggled in the polls in the run up to this year’s vote, dogged by corruption allegations and soaring crime and unemployment rates.Just under a third of the workforce is unemployed and the murder rate has reached 84 a day.But Ramaphosa’s party still has a formidable nationwide electoral machine, has overseen the creation of a broad social welfare system, and many older South Africans remain loyal to its historic role.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/682879/international/sa-top-court-to-ruleon-zuma-election-ban

SA’s Zuma stages rally despite candidacy doubts

Graft-tainted former South African president Jacob Zuma staged a huge election rally on Saturday, vowing to return to power despite a legal challenge to his candidacy.More than 30,000 supporters packed the Orlando Stadium in Soweto to hear their champion promise black South Africans more jobs and better wages.“When we reach the final destination nobody will be poor, or unemployed, we are going to be doing things for all of us,” the 82-year-old declared to cheers.The elderly party leader appeared tired as he arrived in the stadium, escorted by MK fighters in military fatigues and traditional Zulu warriors with spears and leopard skins.But he rallied as he stepped forward to speak, leading the crowd in revolutionary song and speaking for more than an hour before launching into another chorus.Between 2009 and 2018 Zuma served as a South Africa’s fourth president in the post-apartheid era and leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).But he left office under the shadow of a corruption probe and was jailed in 2021 for contempt of court, a decision that triggered a wave of riots that left 350 people dead. He has now launched a new party, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), to challenge his ANC successor Cyril Ramaphosa for the presidency in the general election on May 29.In South Africa, a president is chosen by newly elected MPs, but electoral authorities say he should be barred from standing because of the conviction.The Constitutional Court has been called on to decide the matter after a lower tribunal found in Zuma’s favour, but Zuma’s supporters plan to push on regardless. There are concerns that if Zuma, still popular with many of his fellow Zulus, is declared ineligible at this late stage there may be another round of unrest.But the party, named after the ANC’s armed wing during the anti-apartheid struggle, will remain on the ballot and could cut into Ramaphosa’s vote.“We see him as our Moses from the religious text,” said 55-year-old job seeker Nomthandanzo Nhlapho. Observers do not credit the MK with much support outside Zuma’s native KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa’s key electoral battleground.But at the stadium in Soweto, the symbolic heart of ANC support, speaker after speaker declared that the party was on course for a two-thirds super majority.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/682793/international/sas-zuma-stages-rally-despite-candidacy-doubts

N Korea confirms missile launch

North Korea has test-fired a tactical ballistic missile equipped with a “new autonomous navigation system”, state media said on Saturday, with leader Kim Jong-un vowing to boost the country’s nuclear force.Kim oversaw the Friday test-launch into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, on a mission to evaluate the “accuracy and reliability of the autonomous navigation system”, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.The launch was the latest in a string of ever more sophisticated tests by North Korea, which has fired off cruise missiles, tactical rockets and hypersonic weapons in recent months, in what the nuclear-armed, UN-sanctioned country says is a drive to upgrade its defences.The Friday launch came hours after leader Kim’s powerful sister Kim Yo Jong denied allegations by Seoul and Washington that Pyongyang is shipping weapons to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine.Seoul’s military on Friday described the test as “several flying objects presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles” from North Korea’s eastern Wonsan area into waters off its coast. The suspected missiles travelled around 300km before splashing down in waters between South Korea and Japan, the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said.“The accuracy and reliability of the autonomous navigation system were verified through the test fire,” Pyongyang’s KCNA said Saturday, adding leader Kim expressed “great satisfaction” over the launch. In a separate report released on Saturday, KCNA said Kim visited a military production facility the previous day and urged for “more rapidly bolstering the nuclear force” of the nation “without halt and hesitation”.During the visit, he said the “enemies would be afraid of and dare not to play with fire only when they witness the nuclear combat posture of our state”, according to KCNA.Pyongyang’s nuclear force “will meet a very important change and occupy a remarkably raised strategic position” when its munitions production plan, aimed to be completed by 2025, is carried out, it added. Seoul and Washington have accused North Korea of sending arms to Russia, which would violate rafts of United Nations sanctions on both countries, with experts saying the recent spate of testing may be of weapons destined for use on battlefields in Ukraine.North Korea is barred by UN sanctions from any tests using ballistic technology, but its key ally Moscow used its UN Security Council veto in March to effectively end UN monitoring of violations, for which Pyongyang has specifically thanked Russia. But leader Kim’s sister Kim Yo-jong said on Friday that Pyongyang had “no intention to export our military technical capabilities to any country”, adding that the North’s priority was “to make the war readiness and war deterrent of our army more perfect in quality and quantity”.She accused Seoul and Washington of “misleading the public opinion” with their allegations that Pyongyang was transferring arms to Russia. The Friday launches come as Russian leader Vladimir Putin was in China on Friday, the final day of a visit aiming to promote crucial trade with Beijing - North Korea’s most important ally - and win greater support for his war effort in Ukraine.North Korea’s latest weapons tests were likely intended to attract the attention of Putin while he was in China, said Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies. The North would benefit greatly from an expected visit by Putin to Pyongyang, and “they want their country to be used as a military logistics base during Russia’s ongoing war (in Ukraine)”, he told AFP.Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said: “China and Russia’s irresponsible handling of North Korea, riding on the new Cold War dynamics, is further encouraging Pyongyang’s nuclear armament.”Inter-Korean relations are at one of their lowest points in years, with Pyongyang declaring Seoul its “principal enemy”. It has jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and threatened war over “even 0.001 mm” of territorial infringement.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/682791/international/n-korea-confirms-missile-launch

Two Palestinians martyred in Israeli airstrike on Rafah

Two Palestinians were martyred in an Israeli airstrike on Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, early Saturday morning.According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, Israeli aircraft targeted a house in central Rafah, resulting in the deaths of two Palestinians. Additionally, Israeli artillery targeted areas in the east and center of the city.The airstrikes extended to the Al Farahin area, east of Abasan Al Kabira town in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Strip.Israeli forces continue their ground invasion of wide neighborhoods in Rafah, defying international warnings against attacking this densely populated city.The Israeli occupation persists in committing genocide in the Gaza Strip for the 225th consecutive day. This ongoing aggression includes dozens of air raids and artillery shelling across Gaza, resulting in the martyrdom of 35,303 Palestinians, the majority of whom are children and women. Additionally, 79,261 others have been injured. These numbers are not final, as thousands of victims remain buried under the rubble.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/682760/international/two-palestinians-martyred-in-israeli-airstrike-on-rafah

New Caledonia ‘calm’ after deadly rioting

French marines patrolled on Friday the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, which local authorities said was “calmer” after days of riots over voting reform that have left five dead and hundreds injured.Military and police “reinforcements will control areas that have got out of our hands in recent days”, said French high commissioner Louis Le Franc, the top state official in New Caledonia.Anger over France’s plan to impose new voting rules has spiralled into the deadliest violence in four decades in the archipelago of 270,000 people, which lies between Australia and Fiji – 17,000km from Paris.French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Thursday that about 1,000 extra security forces were being sent to New Caledonia – adding to the 1,700 already present.They began landing on Thursday at the French army-controlled La Tontouta International Airport and could be seen moving through the capital Noumea in red berets, toting rifles, gas masks and riot shields.France’s EFS blood supply agency said that supplies of blood were being sent over to deal with the “critical” situation.President Emmanuel Macron cancelled a video conference with local leaders on Thursday for lack of willing participants, but began contacting pro- and anti-independence officials individually on Friday, his office said.Using state of emergency powers, security forces had imposed “a calmer and more peaceful situation” around Noumea for the first time since the unrest broke out on Monday, the high commission said.However, there were fires at a school and two companies, it added.On Friday AFP journalists saw flames and smoke pouring from a shopping centre, smouldering buildings, dozens of burned-out cars and residents dragging the remnants of vehicles off the roads.Hundreds of people lined up outside shops for desperately needed food and supplies, although authorities have promised to bring in essential goods.Le Franc described areas “where there are several hundred rioters waiting for just one thing: contact with the security forces”.Ten independence activists accused of organising violence have been placed under house arrest, according to authorities.Two gendarmes have been killed: one shot in the head and a second shot in friendly fire, officials said.Three other people – all indigenous Kanaks – have also been killed: a 17-year-old and two men aged 20 and 36.One suspect in an unspecified homicide handed himself in and a second has been arrested on suspicion of killing two Kanaks.France has accused Azerbaijan of “interference” in the politics of its Pacific territory, but Baku has rejected the claims.A French government agency, Viginum, said on Friday that it detected a “massive and coordinated” online campaign pushing claims that French police had shot pro-independence demonstrators in New Caledonia.The government pointed to the involvement of “Azerbaijani actors” in the campaign.The violence is the worst seen in New Caledonia since unrest involving independence radicals rocked the French overseas territory in the 1980s.New Caledonia has on three occasions rejected independence in referendums, but the cause retains strong support among the Kanak people, whose ancestors have lived on the islands for thousands of years.Colonised by France from the second half of the 19th century, it has special status with some local powers transferred from Paris.French lawmakers this week pushed forward plans to allow people who moved to New Caledonia at least 10 years ago to vote in the territory’s elections.Pro-independence forces say that would dilute the vote of Kanaks, who make up about 40% of the population.Groups of Kanaks have set up roadblocks around the main island, waving the territory’s flag, burning tyres and blocking or slowing traffic.Other mostly non-indigenous residents, some armed, piled up garden chairs, crates and other belongings in neighbourhood barricades.A local business group estimated the damage, concentrated around Noumea, at €200mn ($217mn).French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti has called on prosecutors to “take the strongest possible action against the perpetrators of the violence” and also indicated he was considering transferring the “criminals” to mainland France.The Noumea public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation targeting “the instigators” of the riots.Paris has accused a group known as CCAT, which gathers the most radical separatists, of being behind the riots.CCAT issued a statement on Friday calling for “a time of calm to break the spiral of violence”.Paris has closed the airport to commercial flights, shuttered schools, imposed a night-time curfew and banned gatherings, carrying weapons and the sale of alcohol.The government has also blocked social network TikTok, saying that it was being used by protesters.On Friday the Pacific Conference of Churches joined regional inter-governmental groups in calling for France to withdraw the constitutional bill, and said the United Nations should lead a dialogue mission to New Caledonia.In a statement, the churches said there had been a breakdown in dialogue between the French government and Kanak people.Pacific Elders Voice, a group of former Pacific leaders, said decisions were being made in Paris without meaningful consultation and France should listen to “indigenous Kanak voices and the Pacific-wide support for self-determination”.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/682756/international/new-caledonia-calm-after-deadly-rioting

‘Black history is American history,’ Biden says in fresh appeal to voters

President Joe Biden launched a fresh bid on Friday to bolster support from African American voters, looking to seal up cracks in the Democratic coalition that carried him to victory over Republican Donald Trump in 2020.Biden visited the popular National Museum of African American History and Culture in downtown Washington and greeted his audience by declaring: “Black history is American history.”He and Vice-President Kamala Harris later will meet privately at the White House with the Divine Nine, a group of historically black sororities and fraternities.Harris joined one of those sororities, Alpha Kappa Alpha, when she attended Howard University.On Thursday, Biden met families who had relatives involved in the Supreme Court’s landmark May 17, 1954, Brown v. Board of Education ruling 70 years ago that led to the desegregation of schools.“We learn better when we learn together,” Biden said at the museum.This leads up to Biden’s commencement speech tomorrow at Morehouse College in Atlanta, a historically black school that was the alma mater of slain civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.He will attend an event in Georgia today focused on engaging black voters.Democrats are deeply divided over Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found, fraying the coalition that he relied on four years ago to beat Trump.A New York Times/Siena College poll released early this week found Trump winning 20% of the black vote, a sign that he has made inroads into a bloc of voters who have traditionally overwhelmingly voted for Democrats.Biden singled out Trump and other Republicans for attacking programmes aimed at improving diversity, equity and inclusion.He said during the museum visit that the “extreme” Republican and his allies were trying to “erase history”.“My predecessor and his extreme MAGA friends are now going after diversity, equity and inclusion all across America,” he said, referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.“They want a country for some, not for all,” he said at the museum, which was opened in 2016 by Barack Obama, America’s first black president, and has since become a Washington landmark.Biden also criticised the “extreme” US Supreme Court which, with three judges appointed by Trump, has issued a string of controversial rulings on abortion, voting rights and diversity.Biden joined Atlanta radio show host Darian “Big Tigger” Morgan on Wednesday and had some sharp criticism for Trump, the former president who is trying to regain the office in the November 5 election.“Look, Trump hurt black people every chance he got,” Biden said. “Black unemployment, uninsurance rates went up under Trump. Trump’s tax plan reinforced discrimination.”“Typical white households got double the cut of the typical black household,” he continued. “They botched the coronavirus (Covid-19) response, leaving black people dead and Black-owned businesses shuttered.”Some Morehouse faculty members and students had wanted the college to withdraw its invitation to Biden over his administration’s staunch support for Israel’s war in Gaza, where the death toll has mounted to more than 35,000.However, the White House said the visit would go ahead as planned.Biden has taken steps that benefit black Americans, such as expanding access to healthcare coverage, and has fostered economic gains that led to record low black unemployment rates and the Child Tax Credit expansion, which helped cut childhood poverty in half in 2021.Opinion polls show the November 5 election shaping up to be a close match between Biden and Trump, making turnout among black Americans – who comprise sizable populations in key battleground states like Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – a crucial aspect of Biden’s path to victory.Biden’s re-election campaign, in a memo released by senior adviser Trey Baker, said that the president is not taking a single voter for granted.“We are not, and will not, parachute into these communities at the last minute, expecting their vote. Every day, from now until election day, we will continue working diligently to ensure that come November, black voters send Joe Biden and Kamala Harris back to the White House to continue delivering for black America in unprecedented ways,” he said.“We are meeting black voters where they are,” Baker said in an e-mail. “After Donald Trump failed us, no administration has delivered for black America like President Biden and Vice-President Harris.”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/682752/international/black-history-is-american-history-biden-says-in-fresh-appeal-to-voters

Palestinians martyred after Israeli warplanes bomb school in Nuseirat Camp in Gaza

Four Palestinians were martyred and several others were injured at dawn Friday in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering refugees in the Nuseirat Camp in central Gaza Strip.Since Thursday evening, the occupation warplanes have launched a series of airstrikes targeting various parts across the Gaza Strip, simultaneously with artillery bombardment.Local sources reported that the occupation warplanes bombed a house in the Shatea Camp, west of Gaza City, and launched airstrikes on the central of Gaza City.Earlier, one Palestinians was martyred and two others were injured in Israeli shelling near Al-Awda Roundabout in the center of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. The east of the city was also subjected to artillery shelling.Meanwhile, a number of Palestinians were injured in violent air raids launched by the occupation warplanes on the Jabalia Camp. The occupation artillery also bombed various areas in the northern Gaza Strip, and the forces blew up residential squares in the Jabalia Camp.Medical sources announced that the bodies of 9 martyrs had arrived at the Gaza European Hospital near Khan Yunis in last hours.In an infinite toll, the death toll in the Gaza Strip surged to 35,272, in addition to 79,205 injuries, since the start of the Israeli occupation aggression on Oct. 7.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/682732/international/palestinians-martyred-after-israeli-warplanes-bomb-school-in-nuseirat-camp-in-gaza

Xi, Putin hail ties as ‘stabilising force’ in a chaotic world

Leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin framed their nations’ ties as a stabilising force in a chaotic world as they met on Thursday in Beijing, where the Russian president is seeking greater Chinese support for his war effort in Ukraine.It is Putin’s first trip abroad since his March re-election and the second in just over six months to China, an economic lifeline for Russia after the West hit it with unprecedented sanctions over its military offensive in Ukraine.Putin was greeted by Xi at a grand welcoming ceremony outside Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, footage by state broadcaster CCTV showed. In a meeting, Xi then told his “old friend” Putin that China-Russia relations were “conducive to peace”.“China is ready to work with Russia to... uphold fairness and justice in the world,” Xi added.Putin, in turn, told Xi the two countries’ relations were “stabilising factors in the international arena”.“Relations between Russia and China are not opportunistic and not directed against anyone,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin readout.“Together, we uphold the principles of justice and a democratic world order that reflects multipolar realities and is based on international law,” he added.Following closed-door meetings, the two leaders then signed a joint statement on deepening their countries’ “comprehensive strategic partnership”, state news agency Xinhua said.The Russian leader’s arrival came hours after he hailed his country’s troops for advancing on “all fronts” on the battlefield in Ukraine, following a major new ground assault.And the Kremlin said Russia and China had agreed to oppose “further escalation” of the conflict in Ukraine.“The parties note the need to stop any steps that contribute to the prolongation of hostilities,” the Kremlin’s readout of their joint statement said.China has dismissed claims it is aiding Russia’s war in Ukraine and insisted that the West is exacerbating the conflict by sending arms to Ukraine.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/682730/international/xi-putin-hail-ties-as-stabilising-force-in-a-chaotic-world

Ex-PM Khan seen in court via video link, appears in good shape

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan appeared before the Supreme Court by video link from prison yesterday to plead his petition against changes in Pakistan’s anti-graft laws.His video appearance was expected to be streamed live on the court’s website and YouTube, making it the first publicly seen visuals of the jailed leader since his arrest in August last year.However, the pictures could not be seen on the website as proceedings began.It was not immediately clear why the feed was not available on the website or YouTube. The top court has lately been allowing live streaming of important cases.Posts about the appearance, however, crossed 200,000 within hours on social media platform X.Up to 15,000 of Khan’s supporters waited on the YouTube channel of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party for the court visuals to be aired.That number fell below 5,000 when it became apparent the live stream was not happening.Khan, a 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, has been appearing in other courts since being jailed on corruption charges, but cameras have not been permitted to cover those proceedings which are usually conducted on the jail premises.While Khan has been fighting dozens of cases registered against him, yesterday’s appearance was in connection with a case he has filed against amendments to Pakistan’s anti-graft legislation.During three hours of proceedings, Khan’s microphone was muted before Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa adjourned the hearing.A date for the next hearing would be given later after consultation with his fellow judges, he said.Regarding Khan’s video link appearance, he said “the same arrangement will continue”, according to a Reuters reporter inside the courtroom.His party leader Ali Mohamed Khan demanded that his appearance should be livestreamed at the next hearing.Khan’s party circulated a screen grab, which instantly went viral, that showed him wearing a sky-blue polo shirt, with sleeves rolled up and both buttons open, freshly shaven and with dyed hair.“Picture is out. So will be him, soon,” said a post on X.Though the origin of the screen grab could not be verified independently, it appeared to match what was shown on the screen inside the court, according to the Reuters reporter present.Court staff were seen checking how such an image could have been captured when phones or cameras were not allowed in the courtroom, the Reuters reporter said, but the court did not take any formal notice or issue any orders for an investigation.Khan remained seated throughout the hearing but looked uncomfortable and kept changing positions when he was not asked any questions by the court even after couple of hours, according to the Reuters reporter.The Supreme Court had this week ordered the government to ensure that Khan be produced via video link, granting his request to be allowed to represent himself instead of through a lawyer.Khan, who was removed from power in 2022, was granted bail in a land corruption case on Wednesday, but will remain in prison having been convicted in four cases, of which sentences in two have been suspended.The former prime minister, who remains widely popular in Pakistan, alleges that the cases are part of an effort by his political rivals and the country’s powerful military to sideline him and keep him from returning to power. Both deny this.Khan-backed candidates won the most seats in a national election earlier this year despite him being in jail, but they did not have the numbers to form a government.An alliance of his rivals led by previous Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif eventually formed a government.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/682725/international/ex-pm-khan-seen-in-court-via-video-link-appears-in-good-shape

Red Sea disruption is splitting global LNG trade in regions

It’s been four months since a liquefied natural gas tanker has passed through the narrow strait at the southern end of the Red Sea separating the Arabian Peninsula and Africa, testament to how violent attacks there have upended global energy trade.While dozens of such ships used to traverse the Bab al-Mandab Strait each month prior to the escalation of the Israel-Hamas war, attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have brought that number down to zero since mid-January.Vessels have been forced to reroute around Africa to transport fuel between the Atlantic and Pacific basins, leaving buyers with a limited pool of suppliers unless they’re willing to pay for higher shipping costs.The result is that the global market for LNG is growing increasingly fragmented.“At the moment, more than ever, you have cargo segmentation of the two basins, and it will be more challenging economically to move a cargo from one basin to another,” Patrick Dugas, head of LNG trading at TotalEnergies SE, said at a conference last month.Traders have had to find homes for shipments closer to where they are produced to save on transportation. Those efforts will likely intensify when fuel demand ramps up ahead of next winter, when shipping costs usually also rise.That fragmentation will make it more challenging to divert supply between regions if there is an outage at an export plant or a sudden surge in demand. And that could result in higher prices, or a widening spread between Europe and Asia.Solutions involve swapping cargoes, for example by channelling US LNG to Europe and finding equivalent supplies in Asia to meet contractual obligations to a buyer there.In the first quarter of 2024, Qatari LNG volumes that ended up in Asia reached the highest level since at least 2017, while Russia poured even more of its super-chilled fuel into Europe, according to ship-tracking data on Bloomberg.The Red Sea and Suez Canal previously accounted for about a tenth of global seaborne trade, and provided Qatar with the shortest route to Europe, which has embraced LNG since it lost pipeline flows from Russia.The longer distances ships have to travel now are tying up their availability, and adding about 4% to global demand for shipping oil products and gas, according to Clarkson Research Services, a unit of the world’s largest shipbroker.Thousands of miles away, crossings via the Panama Canal have also slumped after an unprecedented drought curbed traffic. That’s effectively close another shorter route for US LNG to Asia.TotalEnergies’s Dugas said the congestion will likely be structural as an anticipated increase in US LNG supply by the end of the decade will probably do little to alleviate the burden on the passage.The only recent entries into the Suez Canal from the north have been a tanker delivering LNG for Egypt via Jordan in April, and exiting the same route without travelling further into the Red Sea. Another one is approaching the Jordanian terminal on Friday, according to ship-tracking data on Bloomberg.So far, the daily cost of chartering a tanker has been resilient and even declined since the Red Sea disruptions escalated in January. That reflects a comfortable supply situation in markets like Europe, which experienced a mild winter and muted industrial consumption of the fuel.“It is, however, what we call the ‘shoulder month period’ in LNG, with low gas and ship demand,” said Per-Christian Willoch Fett, director and global head of LNG at shipbroker Fearnleys AS. “Let’s see how things go when we get towards the ramp up period towards the autumn.”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/682685/international/red-sea-disruption-is-splitting-global-lng-trade-in-regions