Allies fail to agree on heavy tanks sought by Ukraine

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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks via video link during a January 20 meeting of NATO defense officials to discuss how to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression. (AFP)
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German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (R) gives a statement during the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at the US Air Base in Ramstein, Germany, on January 20, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 21 January 2023
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Allies fail to agree on heavy tanks sought by Ukraine

  • Germany hesitant about allowing use of Leopard vehicles sought by Ukraine to push back Russian aggressors

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday there was “no alternative” but for the West to give Ukraine heavy tanks, as Germany failed to commit its sought-after Leopard vehicles to a possible spring offensive by Kyiv.

A US-led meeting of some 50 Ukraine allies came through with billions of dollars’ worth of military hardware, including ample armored vehicles and munitions needed to push back Russian forces.
But Zelensky stressed he needed battle tanks on top of that, as US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Ukraine was expected to mount an attack against dug-in Russian troops in the coming weeks.
“We have a window of opportunity here between now and the spring... whenever they commence their operation, their counteroffensive,” Austin said at the meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Zelensky urged the group in a video address to “speed up” arms deliveries and stressed Germany’s Leopard tank was a primary need.
“Every day we make it more obvious that there is no alternative, that a decision about tanks must be made,” he said.

Expectations had grown ahead of the Ukraine Contact Group meeting, a grouping of arms providers led by Austin, that Germany would at least agree that other countries operating Leopards would be permitted to transfer them to Kyiv’s army.
The reasons for Germany’s reticence remained unclear, as Britain has agreed to send 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters: “We still cannot say when a decision will be taken, and what the decision will be, when it comes to the Leopard tank.”
Austin defended Germany against criticism that it was not doing enough to help Kyiv.
“We could all do more,” Austin said, emphasising that Berlin was a “reliable ally.”

US officials said Ukraine still faces an uphill battle against Russian forces, who still occupy one-fifth of the country, 11 months after invading.
But they spoke of a possible coming campaign by Ukraine to retake parts of that.
US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley pointed to the substantial amount of equipment — much of it armored vehicles and artillery — that Ukraine was being pledged at Ramstein, as well as the large-scale training of its forces by allies.
“I do think it’s very possible for the Ukrainians to run a significant tactical or even operational-level offensive operation to liberate as much Ukrainian territory as possible,” Milley said.
A senior White House official, speaking on grounds of anonymity, said Kyiv should not fixate on defending the eastern city of Bakhmut at all costs and instead use a window of opportunity to prepare a major counter-offensive against Russian forces.
The official said the months-long defense of Bakhmut has had little value for Ukraine and a Russian victory there would not result in any significant shift in the war.
Instead, Ukraine should focus on building a more sophisticated and heavily armed force capable of launching an offensive in the south, the official said.
The Kremlin meanwhile warned Friday that Western tanks will make little difference.
“One should not exaggerate the importance of such supplies in terms of the ability to change something,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“We see an adherence to the dramatic delusion about the possibility of Ukraine having success on the battlefield,” said Peskov.
“This will add problems for Ukraine, but this will change nothing in terms of the Russian side advancing on the path to achieving its goals.”

The siege of Bakhmut hardly slowed, as on Friday a couple stood across the street from their apartment building in the city, watching helplessly as their home burned, set ablaze after a shell hit nearby.
“Look, look, it’s my flat, it’s the only flat I have,” said Olga Tomakh, 70, on the verge of tears.
About 15 kilometers from Bakhmut, in Soledar, the United Nation’s first humanitarian convoy arrived in the town that has been largely reduced to rubble.
Russia claims to have seized Soledar, but Ukraine insists the fighting, in which both sides have suffered heavy losses, is ongoing.

Meanwhile, the United States said it was officially designating the Wagner private military group, which has taken the lead in the Bakhmut-Soledar campaign, as a “transnational criminal organization.”
The White House showed US intelligence photographs of North Korea supplying arms to Wagner for its Ukraine operations, and said the private army had become a rival to the formal Russian military. 
 


Most Arab Americans hold conservative views on illegal immigration, abortion: Poll

Updated 6 sec ago
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Most Arab Americans hold conservative views on illegal immigration, abortion: Poll

  • An Arab News-YouGov survey found that a majority would like to see US border controls and rules around abortion tightened
  • Immigration policy and abortion rights are among the key fault line issues between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump

LONDON: A survey conducted for Arab News by YouGov reveals that although 62 percent of Arab Americans describe themselves as politically moderate (35 percent), liberal (13 percent) or very liberal (13 percent), a majority express conservative views on two key domestic issues: illegal immigration and abortion.

Perhaps most surprisingly for a population of immigrants or descendants of immigrants, 56 percent of respondents think US border controls should be tightened.

However, 24 percent think border controls should be relaxed — a liberal viewpoint that chimes with the position of neither the Democratic nor Republican candidate. Just 5 percent of over-55s want to see controls relaxed.

Fifty-one percent of respondents believe there are too many illegal immigrants in the US. This view is most common among those over 55 (61 percent) and those with the least education (66 percent).

“Interestingly, immigration seems to rank very highly in the minds of Arab Americans and honestly, as an immigrant myself, I wasn’t completely surprised by this,” Firas Maksad, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told the Arab News podcast “Frankly Speaking.”

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He added: “Those who immigrated here legally and went through the process and paid their taxes tend to feel pretty strongly about those who are cutting in line and not paying their fair share.”

This, he said, could partly explain the large percentage of support for Republican candidate Donald Trump among Arab Americans.

As an issue, “illegal immigration often plays in favor of Trump rather than (Democratic candidate Kamala) Harris,” Maksad added.

However, one in three respondents rejected the suggestion that the US has too many illegal immigrants, while 16 percent said they do not know. 

On abortion, one of the key fault lines between pro-choice Harris and Trump, who is seen as responsible for the Supreme Court overturning the landmark Roe v Wade decision — which since 1973 had guaranteed the right to pregnancy termination in the US — Arab Americans emerge as broadly conservative in their outlook.

Although only 14 percent (17 percent of men and 11 percent of women) believe abortion should be completely banned, 40 percent agree with the proposition: “Abortion should be allowed only under certain circumstances, including rape and threat to life.” Again, more men (44 percent) than women (37 percent) hold this position.

However, almost as many (38 percent) are in favor of abortion being allowed up to the ninth week of pregnancy, which is officially when an embryo turns into a fetus. Women (44 percent) are more supportive of this than men (33 percent).

One issue of concern to many Arab Americans is their experience of racism, harassment or hate attacks related to their ethnicity, religion or origins — 46 percent said they had experienced this and 50 percent said they had not. 

Intriguingly, given the support for Trump revealed by the survey (45 percent said they will vote for him, against 43 percent for Harris), 46 percent of respondents said they expect racism and hate attacks against Arab Americans to increase during a Trump presidency, compared with 23 percent if Harris becomes president.

For 39 percent of respondents, Harris is also seen as being more sensitive to the national needs of Arab Americans than Trump (31 percent). 

 

 


Proportion of women killed in conflict doubled in 2023: UN

Updated 31 min 32 sec ago
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Proportion of women killed in conflict doubled in 2023: UN

  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres painted a stark picture showing “progress made over decades is vanishing before our eyes“
  • “Amid record levels of armed conflict and violence... generational gains in women’s rights hang in the balance around the world,” the report said

UNITED NATIONS: The proportion of women killed in conflict in 2023 doubled compared to the previous year, according to a UN report that denounced “oppressive patriarchal” structures and called out an increase in sexual violence in war zones.
In the annual “Women and Peace and Security” report published on Tuesday evening, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres painted a stark picture showing “progress made over decades is vanishing before our eyes.”
According to the UN’s data, of at least 33,443 civilian deaths recorded in conflicts around the world in 2023 — 72 percent more than in 2022 — four out of 10 were women, a 100 percent increase, and three out of 10 were children.
“Amid record levels of armed conflict and violence... generational gains in women’s rights hang in the balance around the world, undercutting the transformative potential of women’s leadership and inclusion in the pursuit of peace,” the report said.
UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous said the trends were part “of a larger war on women.”
“Women continue to pay the price of the wars of men,” she said.
“The deliberate targeting of women’s rights is not unique to conflict-affected countries but is even more lethal in those settings.”
In 2023, more than 170 armed conflicts were recorded, with around 612 million women and girls living within 50 kilometers (30 miles) of these conflicts — 150 percent more than a decade ago, the report said.
The number of cases of sexual violence against women in those conflict zones increased by 50 percent, the UN’s data showed, with the number of girls affected by “grave violations” in active conflict areas increasing by 35 percent.
“Perpetrators of sexual violence still largely enjoy impunity,” the report said. “In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than 123,000 cases of gender-based violence were reported in 2023, a 300 percent increase in only three years.”
Women also made up a tiny fraction of those involved in peace negotiations, the UN’s data showed.
Preliminary data from 50 peace processes showed that in 2023, on average, women made up only 9.6 percent of negotiators, 13.7 percent of mediators and 26.6 percent of signatories to peace agreements and ceasefire agreements.
The proportion of women signatories dropped to 1.5 percent if agreements in Colombia were excluded.
“Power and decision-making on peace and security matters remain overwhelmingly dominated by men, and progress has been disturbingly slow in terms of ending impunity for those who perpetrate atrocities against women and girls,” the report said.


ICC to sentence Mali militant in November over war crimes

Updated 23 October 2024
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ICC to sentence Mali militant in November over war crimes

  • “The judges may impose a prison sentence of maximum 30 years or, when justified by the extreme gravity of the crime,” the ICC said
  • The Hague-based court will sentence Al Hassan on November 20 from 2 p.m. local time

THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court on Wednesday said it would sentence in November a Malian militant police chief convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Timbuktu.
Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, 46, was found guilty in June of crimes including torture and outrages upon personal dignity during a reign of terror in the fabled Malian city.
Al Hassan played a “key role” overseeing amputations and floggings as police chief when militants from the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Ansar Dine groups seized control of Timbuktu for almost a year from early 2012, a judge previously said.
“The judges may impose a prison sentence of maximum 30 years or, when justified by the extreme gravity of the crime and the individual circumstances of the convicted person, life imprisonment,” the ICC said in a statement.
“They may also add a fine or forfeiture of the proceeds, property and assets derived directly or indirectly from the crime committed.”
The Hague-based court will sentence Al Hassan on November 20 from 2 p.m. local time (1300 GMT), according to the statement.
Notices of appeal against verdict were filed in September by both the defendant’s legal team and the prosecutor.
Al Hassan was also convicted of “contributing to the crimes perpetrated by other members” of the militant groups including mutilation and persecution.
He told investigators that the people of Timbuktu were “scared out of their minds,” according to the prosecutor.
The militant was however acquitted of the war crimes of rape and sexual slavery, as well as the crime against humanity of forced marriage.
Founded between the fifth and 12th centuries by Tuareg tribes, Timbuktu is known as the “Pearl of the Desert” and “The City of 333 Saints” for the number of Muslim sages buried there during a golden age of Islam.
But militants who swept into the city considered the shrines idolatrous and destroyed them with pickaxes and bulldozers.
The militants from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Ansar Dine exploited an ethnic Tuareg uprising in 2012 to take over cities in Mali’s volatile north.
The ICC in June made public an arrest warrant for one of the Sahel’s top militant leaders over alleged atrocities in Timbuktu from 2012 to 2013.
Iyad Ag Ghaly, is considered to be the leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), which operates in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.


Thousands flee homes as fierce tropical storm batters Philippines

Updated 23 October 2024
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Thousands flee homes as fierce tropical storm batters Philippines

  • Trami, locally called Kristine, is the 11th cyclone to hit the Philippines this year
  • Southeastern parts of the country’s main island declare state of calamity

MANILA: The Philippines braced itself on Wednesday for the impact of Tropical Storm Trami, with thousands of people evacuated from their homes as authorities warned of an unprecedented volume of rainfall and flooding in the coming days.

The 11th cyclone to hit the country this year, Trami — locally known as Kristine — is affecting nearly all the Luzon and Visayas islands, as well as parts of Mindanao.

It has caused severe flooding and landslides in the country’s east even before making landfall, which is forecast to take place on Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning.

“The worst is yet to come, I’m afraid ... The volumes of water are unprecedented,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a briefing with disaster management authorities and the military.

“I’m feeling a little helpless here ... All we can do is sit tight, wait, hope, pray that there’s not too much damage, that there are no casualties. And then go in as soon and as quickly as possible with as much as we can to alleviate the effects, especially first to the population. And then, afterwards, we will take care of all the other infrastructure: the power, the roads.”

Government offices and schools across Luzon, the country’s largest island, have been temporarily shut down, and four provinces — Quezon and three in neighboring Bicol Region — have declared a state of calamity.

In Bicol alone, more than 47,500 people had to leave their homes and were evacuated to safety. At least two people have been reported dead and five missing.

“Because of the 24 hours of almost non-stop rains, we had 12,226 families or 47,583 people evacuated here in the Bicol region. So far, what has been reported to us are two dead,” Office of Civil Defense in Bicol spokesperson Gremil Naz said in a radio broadcast.

“We also have one reported injured and five reported missing fishermen.”

The Philippines is the country most at risk from natural disasters, according to the 2024 World Risk Report.

Every year millions of people are affected by storms and typhoons, which have lately been more unpredictable and extreme due to the changing climate.

Last month, more than a dozen people were killed when Typhoon Yagi hit the country’s east.


Bomb scare forces evacuation of major UK airport

Birmingham Airport is the UK’s seventh busiest hub with 11.5 million passengers last year. (File/Reuters)
Updated 23 October 2024
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Bomb scare forces evacuation of major UK airport

  • Birmingham Airport is the UK’s seventh busiest hub with 11.5 million passengers last year

LONDON: A major international airport serving the UK’s second-largest city was evacuated and all flights were suspended for several hours on Wednesday because of a security alert.
West Midlands Police in central England ordered the partial closure of Birmingham Airport after receiving reports of a suspicious vehicle.
Airport authorities advised passengers not to travel while those already awaiting flights were forced to leave terminals on foot with their luggage.
“Whilst we apologize for any inconvenience and disruption, the safety and security of everyone at the airport was our number one priority,” a statement read.
West Midlands Police said the evacuation was a “precautionary measure” while the vehicle was searched and assessed.
“Following a search by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EDO) team the vehicle was deemed to be safe. The vehicle is no longer being treated as suspicious,” it added.
Birmingham Airport is the seventh busiest UK airport by passenger numbers and is used as an operating base for easyJet, Ryanair, TUI Airways and Jet2.com.
Its busiest routes are to and from Dublin, Dubai, Amsterdam, Palma de Mallorca and Tenerife-South.
“Operations will slowly be returning to normal,” an airport spokesperson said. “All passengers are advised to check latest flight information from their airline.”