CARACAS: A fleet of Russian warships and aircraft on Wednesday entered the Caribbean in what some see as a projection of strength as tensions grow over Western support for Ukraine.
The US military expects the exercises will involve a handful of Russian ships and support vessels, which may also stop in Venezuela.
Russia is a longtime ally of Venezuela and Cuba, and its warships and aircraft have periodically made forays into the Caribbean. But this mission comes less than two weeks after President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use US-provided weapons to strike inside Russia to protect Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, prompting President Vladimir Putin to suggest his military could respond with “asymmetrical steps” elsewhere in the world.
“Most of all, the warships are a reminder to Washington that it is unpleasant when an adversary meddles in your near abroad,” said Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center think tank, referring to the Western involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine. “It also reminds Russia’s friends in the region, including US antagonists Cuba and Venezuela, that Moscow is on their side.”
Although the fleet includes a nuclear-powered submarine, a senior US administration official told The Associated Press that the intelligence community has determined no vessel is carrying nuclear weapons. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that had not been announced publicly, said Russia’s deployments “pose no direct threat to the United States.”
US officials last week said the Russian ships were expected to remain in the region through the summer.
In December 2018, a pair of Russian nuclear-capable Tu-160 strategic bombers visited Venezuela in what the Russian military described as a training mission. Russia also sent Tu-160s and a missile cruiser to Venezuela in 2008 amid tensions with the US after Russia’s brief war with Georgia. A pair of Tu-160s also visited Venezuela in 2013.
Russian ships have occasionally docked in Havana since 2008, when a group of Russian vessels entered Cuban waters in what state media described as the first such visit in almost two decades. In 2015, a reconnaissance and communications ship arrived unannounced in Havana a day before the start of discussions between US and Cuban officials on the reopening of diplomatic relations.
A State Department spokesperson told the AP that Russia’s port calls in Cuba are “routine naval visits,” while acknowledging its military exercises “have ratcheted up because of US support to Ukraine and exercise activity in support of our NATO allies.”
Russian military and defense doctrine holds Latin America and the Caribbean in an important position, with the sphere seen as under US influence acting as a counterweight to Washington’s activities in Europe, said Ryan Berg, director of the Americas Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“While this is likely little more than provocation from Moscow, it sends a message about Russia’s ability to project power into the Western Hemisphere with the help of its allies, and it will certainly keep the US military on high alert while they are in theater,” Berg said.
The timing of this year’s mission may serve Russia’s purposes, but it is also raising questions of whether Venezuela’s government may use it as an opportunity to shore up President Nicolás Maduro’s bid for a third term in the July 28 election.
Venezuela’s chief opposition coalition is threatening the ruling party’s decadeslong grip on power, and engineering a crisis built on simmering tensions with Guyana is among the scenarios that analysts believe Maduro’s government could use to delay or cancel the vote.
“It is almost unthinkable that Maduro will risk actually losing power,” said Evan Ellis, Latin America research professor with the US Army War College.
“The most obvious alternative, consistent with Venezuelan military’s recent moves ... is to fabricate an international crisis that would provide an excuse for ‘postponing’ Venezuela’s election,” he continued. “The presence of Russian warships in the vicinity would greatly add to the escalation risk of any such crisis that Maduro would fabricate, which is possibly the point.”
Venezuelan voters approved a referendum in December to claim sovereignty over the Essequibo territory, which accounts for two-thirds of Guyana and lies near big offshore oil deposits. Venezuela argues it was stolen when the border was drawn more than a century ago.
Guyana is awaiting a decision regarding Venezuela’s claim from the International Court of Justice, but Maduro’s government does not recognize its authority.
The US supports Guyana in the ongoing dispute and assisted it with surveillance flights late last year when Venezuela had threatened to invade the country. Guyana’s government last month gave permission for the US military to fly two powerful F/A-18F Super Hornet jets over its capital in a demonstration of close cooperation.
Guyana’s Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on June 6 acknowledged that the Russian fleet does not represent “a direct threat.”
“Nevertheless, we’re vigilant, and we’re keeping this issue firmly in our policy radar,” Jagdeo said in a press conference.
Russian warships and aircraft enter the Caribbean for military exercises
https://arab.news/25je5
Russian warships and aircraft enter the Caribbean for military exercises
- Russia is a longtime ally of Venezuela and Cuba, and its warships and aircraft have periodically made forays into the Caribbean
- This mission comes less than two weeks after President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use US-provided weapons to strike inside Russia to protect Kharkiv
UAE partnership gives boost to Philippines’ energy transition
- Coal still accounts for over half of Philippines’ power generation
- Cooperation with Masdar will provide up to 1 GW of clean power by 2030
MANILA: The Philippines is on track to achieve its energy transition goals following a $15 billion renewable energy deal with UAE’s state-owned energy firm Masdar to develop solar, wind and battery energy storage systems.
Manila has been working to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and aims to increase the share of renewable sources in the energy mix from around 22 percent currently to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.
The deal with Masdar, which was signed last week in Abu Dhabi, will provide up to 1 gigawatt of clean power by 2030, with plans to scale up to 10 GW by 2035, according to the Philippines’ Department of Energy.
“This collaboration will significantly advance our goal of achieving 35 percent renewable energy in power generation by 2030,” Philippine Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said in a statement.
The new partnership followed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s inaugural visit to the UAE last November, which saw the two countries signing various new agreements, including in investment, artificial intelligence and energy transition.
The deal with Masdar will not only increase energy security in the Philippines but also deliver “significant economic benefits” for the country as it creates new jobs and drives technology transfer, Lotilla said.
“Together, we are positioning the Philippines as a regional leader in sustainable energy.”
The project also marks Masdar’s entry into the Philippines’ renewables market.
The Southeast Asian nation has been exploring clean and sustainable options to generate power as the country regularly suffers outages and faces high tariffs. Coal is the main source of electricity in the Southeast Asian state, accounting for more than half of its power generation.
Indonesia opens carbon credit market to foreign buyers to help finance climate action
- Initial carbon credit certificates up for trade are worth 1.78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent
- Jakarta has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, plans to build 75 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity
JAKARTA: Indonesia began offering carbon credit certificates for international buyers on Monday, as one of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters seeks to raise funds to achieve its climate goals.
The move comes after countries agreed on the rules for a global market to buy and sell carbon credits at the COP29 climate conference last November, which its proponents say will mobilize billions of dollars into projects to help fight climate change.
Indonesia is ready to issue carbon credit certificates from emission reductions from a number of power projects on Java island worth about 1.78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said.
“The implementation of international carbon trading is a reflection of Indonesia’s commitment following COP29,” he said at a launching ceremony in Jakarta.
“It can be ensured that the emission reduction certificates issued by Indonesia are of high integrity … It is hoped that this will serve as (a) foundation for global climate action that (turns) ambition into action, aligning economic growth with environmental responsibility.”
Carbon credits are generated by activities that avoid or reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas. They can be purchased by companies or countries seeking to “offset” or cancel out some of their own emissions to help reach their climate goals.
Indonesia, an archipelago with the world’s third-largest rainforest area, is one of the world’s biggest polluters. It has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, including by phasing out hundreds of coal-fired power plants and replacing them with renewables.
With goals to build around 75 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2040, the government plans to raise some of the required funds through carbon offset projects.
Monday’s launch was an “important milestone in our collective journey towards a sustainable future,” Nurofiq said.
Indonesia’s carbon credit market has attracted little interest after it was first launched for domestic players in September 2023.
Trading value as of December 2024 was 50.64 billion rupiah ($3.10 million), while trading volume reached 908,018 tons of CO2e, according to Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority.
Taliban deputy foreign minister calls for girls’ high schools to open
- Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai said restrictions on girls, women’s education were not in line with Islamic Sharia law
- The comments were among the strongest public criticism in recent years by a Taliban official of the school closures
KABUL: The Taliban’s acting deputy foreign minister called on his senior leadership to open schools for Afghan girls, among the strongest public rebukes of a policy that has contributed to the international isolation of its rulers.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, who previously led a team of negotiators at the Taliban’s political office in Doha before US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, said in a speech at the weekend that restrictions on girls and women’s education was not in line with Islamic Sharia law.
“We request the leaders of the Islamic Emirate to open the doors of education,” he said, according to local broadcaster Tolo, referring to the Taliban’s name for its administration.
“In the time of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), the doors of knowledge were open to both men and women,” he said.
“Today, out of a population of forty million, we are committing injustice against twenty million people,” he added, referring to the female population of Afghanistan.
The comments were among the strongest public criticism in recent years by a Taliban official of the school closures, which Taliban sources and diplomats have previously told Reuters were put in place by the supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada despite some internal disagreement.
The Taliban have said they respect women’s rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan culture.
They made a sharp u-turn on promises to open high schools for girls in 2022, and have since said they were working on a plan for the schools to re-open but have not given any timeline. They closed universities to female students at the end of 2022.
The policies have been widely criticized internationally, including by Islamic scholars, and Western diplomats have said any path toward formal recognition of the Taliban is blocked until there is a change on their policies toward women.
A Taliban administration spokesman in the southern city of Kandahar where Haibatullah is based did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Stanekzai’s remarks.
Trial opens into UK stabbing spree that sparked riots over misinformation attacker was Muslim
- Authorities blame far-right agitators for violence, including by sharing misinformation alleged attacker was Muslim asylum seeker
- Unrest, which lasted several days, saw far-right rioters attack police, shops, hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques
LONDON: The trial of a teenager accused of killing three young girls in a stabbing spree last year that sparked the UK’s most violent riots in a decade is set to begin Monday.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, is due to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court, accused of murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last year in Southport, northwest England.
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were killed in the attack in the seaside resort near Liverpool on July 29, 2024.
Ten others were injured, including eight children, in one of the country’s worst mass stabbings in years.
Rudakubana faces a total of 16 charges, including three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and one count of possessing a blade days after the attack.
The trial is expected to last four weeks after pleas of not guilty were entered on his behalf.
The stabbings sent shock waves across the UK, triggering unrest and riots in more than a dozen English and Northern Irish towns and cities, including in Southport and Liverpool.
Authorities blamed far-right agitators for fueling violence, including by sharing misinformation claiming the alleged attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.
The unrest, which lasted several days, saw far-right rioters attack police, shops, hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques, with hundreds of participants subsequently arrested and charged.
Rudakubana was born in Wales to parents of Rwandan origin and lived in Banks, a village northeast of Southport.
Despite being 17 years old at the time, restrictions on reporting Rudakubana’s name were lifted in August due to concerns over the spread of misinformation.
“Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum,” judge Andrew Menary said as he lifted the restrictions.
Taylor Swift, then in the middle of her Eras tour, wrote on Instagram that she “was completely in shock” the day after the attack on the dance class at the start of the school holidays.
The pop star reportedly met two of the survivors of the attack during her August shows in London.
The UK’s head of state King Charles III also traveled to Southport in August to meet with survivors, inspecting a sea of floral tributes laid outside the city’s town hall.
And Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Prince William visited Southport in October “to show support to the local community,” Kensington Palace said. It was their first joint public engagement since Kate ended a course of chemotherapy for cancer.
In October, the suspect was charged with two additional offenses in relation to evidence obtained “during searches of Axel Rudakubana’s home address” following the attack, the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS), which brings public prosecutions, said.
The charges were for the “production of a biological toxin, namely ricin,” and “possessing information ... likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.”
The terrorism offense related to suspicion of possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual, although the attack was not treated as a terrorist incident.
Following speculation on social media related to policing decisions in the case, Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said she realized the added charges could trigger fresh rumors.
“We would strongly advise caution against anyone speculating as to motivation in this case,” Kennedy was quoted as saying.
She urged people to be patient and “don’t believe everything you read on social media.”
Rudakubana has appeared in several hearings since the attack, often wearing a grey sweatshirt, and refusing to speak in all of them.
In the last hearing in December, he appeared via videolink at Liverpool Crown Court from high-security Belmarsh prison, in southeast London.
The Attorney General and Merseyside police have warned the press and public against publishing any material that risks prejudicing the trial.
Russia says captured two more villages in east Ukraine
MOSCOW: Russian forces have captured two more villages in east Ukraine, including one just a few kilometers from Pokrovsk, a key supply hub for Kyiv’s forces, the defense ministry said Monday.
Army units “liberated” Shevchenko and Novoyegorivka in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk respectively, it said. Shevchenko is around three kilometers (two miles) from Pokrovsk.
