BEIJING: A detachment of warships of Russia’s Pacific Fleet and the Chinese Navy entered the Sea of Okhotsk in the western Pacific as part of joint navy exercises, Russia’s Interfax agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Pacific Fleet’s press service.
“During the sea passage, the detachment carried out tasks of joint manoeuvring, countering unmanned boats of a mock enemy, conducting reconnaissance and monitoring the surface situation with the involvement of deck helicopters,” Interfax reported, citing the press service.
Russia said on Saturday it was starting the joint Russian-Chinese “Beibu/Interaction — 2024” naval exercise that would include anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons.
Russian large anti-submarine destroyers Admiral Panteleyev and Admiral Tributs as well as corvettes MPK-82 and MPK-107 were among the warships taking part in the drills, Interfax reported.
China was represented by the destroyers Xining and Wuxi, the frigate Linyi and the integrated supply ship Taihu, the agency added.
“(The ships) will perform artillery firing, as well as the use of anti-submarine and anti-aircraft weapons systems under a single plan,” Interfax reported.
The Sea of Okhotsk in the western Pacific Ocean is located between Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast and Japan’s island of Hokkaido to the south.
Russia, China warships enter Sea of Okhotsk for drills
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Russia, China warships enter Sea of Okhotsk for drills
- The joint Russian-Chinese “Beibu/Interaction — 2024” naval exercise included anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons
Meryl Streep says a ‘squirrel has more rights’ than an Afghan girl
- Women and girls have borne the brunt of restrictions — including being barred from public parks, universities and singing in public — which the United Nations has labeled “gender apartheid”
Taliban authorities have implemented an austere interpretation of Islamic law since returning to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led forces.
Women and girls have borne the brunt of restrictions — including being barred from public parks, universities and singing in public — which the United Nations has labeled “gender apartheid.”
“A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban,” Streep said on Monday during a discussion on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not, and a woman may not in public,” the Oscar-winning actor said.
“I feel that the international community as a whole, if they came together, could affect change in Afghanistan, and stop the slow suffocation of an entire half (of) the population.”
The Taliban government, which is yet to be recognized by any other country, published a widely criticized law in August further tightening restrictions on women’s lives.
While many of the measures had been informally enforced since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, their formal codification sparked an outcry from the international community and rights groups.
The “vice and virtue” law dictates that a woman’s voice should not be raised outside the home and that women should not sing or read poetry aloud.
It requires them to cover their entire body and face if they need to leave their homes, which they should only do “out of necessity.”
Asila Wardak, a leader of the Women’s Forum on Afghanistan, said at the UN discussion Afghan women were there to remind world leaders that “this fight is not only an Afghan fight” but “a global fight against extremism.”
Speaking about the situation of Afghan women during the General Assembly this week was “a small sign of hope” for them, said Fawzia Koofi, a former member of parliament in Kabul.
“But it’s not enough,” she said, calling for the appointment of a UN special envoy to put pressure on the Taliban government.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that discrimination against women was causing major damage to Afghanistan.
“Educating girls is one of the fastest ways to kick-start economic development and improve the health, well-being and prosperity of communities and entire societies,” Guterres said.
“Women’s participation and leadership has proven benefits for peace and security, social protection, environmental stability and more,” he said.
“Afghanistan faces serious challenges in all these areas.”
Ethiopia worried over arms supplied to Somalia, state news agency says
NAIROBI: Ethiopia’s foreign minister said he was concerned ammunition supplied to Somalia would end up in the hands of terrorists, Ethiopia’s state news agency reported on Tuesday, a day after an Egyptian warship offloaded heavy weaponry in Mogadishu.
Ukraine says China is key route for foreign tech in Russian weapons
- Moscow has been able to replenish its military machine with western microchips and semiconductors
BRUSSELS: Roughly 60 percent of the foreign parts found in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine come via China, Ukraine’s presidential adviser Vladyslav Vlasiuk told reporters on Tuesday.
“If you take all the usual types of weapons and count the foreign made components – about 60 percent would be coming from China. We have had lengthy discussions with some manufacturers about this,” Vlasiuk said.
“The PRC (China) is the biggest problem I would say.”
He said important parts used in surveillance, drones and missiles have also originated from the United States, the Netherlands, Japan and Switzerland among other western countries.
Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and despite sweeping western sanctions, Moscow has been able to replenish its military machine with western microchips and semiconductors.
Sweden says Iran behind 2023 hacker attack that urged revenge for Qur’an burning
- Some 15,000 messages “calling for revenge against Qur’an burners” had been sent in the summer of 2023
STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s prosecutors on Tuesday accused Iran’s intelligence service of hacking an SMS operator in 2023 to send messages encouraging people to take revenge on protesters who had burned the Qur’an.
Sweden’s Prosecution Authority said in a statement that some 15,000 messages “calling for revenge against Qur’an burners” had been sent in the summer of 2023, following a slew of protests involving desecrations of the Qur’an.
“The aim was to create division in Swedish society,” the authority said.
In a separate statement, Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo said it had determined that a hacker group had acted “on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to carry out an influence campaign.”
“The aim was, among other things, to paint the picture of Sweden as an Islamophobic country, Fredrik Hallstrom, chief of operations at Sapo, said in a statement.
On August 1, 2023, Swedish media reported that a large number of people had received text messages calling for revenge against people who had burned the Muslim holy book, the authority noted.
According to prosecutors, an investigation had shown that a group called Anzu team was behind the operation, adding that the investigation had been closed, as it was deemed unlikely that it would be possible to bring the suspects to justice.
“Since the actors are acting on behalf of a foreign power, in this case Iran, our assessment is that the conditions necessary to bring charges abroad or an extradition to Sweden are missing for those suspected of being behind the attack,” senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said.
In August last year, Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo raised its threat level to four on a scale of five after a series of protests that included Qur’an burnings had made the country a “prioritized target.”
Relations between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries were strained by the protests which were concentrated over the summer of 2023.
Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July of that year, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.
The Swedish government condemned the desecrations while noting the country’s constitutionally protected freedom of speech and assembly laws.
At least four arrested in south-western Germany on suspicion of human smuggling
At least four people were arrested in south-western Germany early Tuesday in a series of raids conducted on suspicion of human smuggling, a spokesperson for the federal police said.
The raids were carried out in Mannheim and in the areas surrounding Karlsruhe and Worms, with a total of 24 properties searched, the spokesperson said.
A total of 400 police officers were deployed to conduct the raids, with federal police, the public prosecutor’s office and central customs involved.
The case pertains to a group of migrants from the Caucasus region that were smuggled into Germany to work illegally and therefore below the statutory minimum wage, including at construction sites, the spokesperson said.
The investigation was launched after one of the migrants in question was apprehended trying to leave Germany via Franfurt airport, according to police.
Earlier this month, the German government imposed tighter controls at all of the country’s land borders in what it called an attempt to tackle irregular migration and protect the public from security threats.
The restrictions are part of a series of measures Germany has taken to toughen its stance on irregular migration in recent years following a surge in arrivals.
