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Zelensky says Russians destroyed Kherson’s critical infrastructure

Zelensky says Russians destroyed Kherson’s critical infrastructure
Residents of Kherson temporarily living in Odessa, holding Ukrainian flags, celebrate the liberation of their native town in front of The Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Odessa, on Saturday. (AFP)
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Updated 12 November 2022
Reuters

Zelensky says Russians destroyed Kherson’s critical infrastructure

Zelensky says Russians destroyed Kherson’s critical infrastructure
  • “Before fleeing from Kherson, the occupiers destroyed all the critical infrastructure,” Zelenskiy said in a video address
Updated 12 November 2022
Reuters

DUBAI: Russian forces destroyed the critical infrastructure in the southern city of Kherson before fleeing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday, adding that local authorities were starting to stabilize the city.
Jubilant residents welcomed troops arriving in the center of Kherson on Friday after Russia abandoned the only regional capital it had captured since the start of the war.
“Before fleeing from Kherson, the occupiers destroyed all the critical infrastructure: communications, water, heat, electricity,” Zelensky said in a video address.
“(Russians) everywhere have the same goal: to humiliate people as much as possible. But we will restore everything, believe me,” he continued.
Zelensky said Ukrainian troops had taken control of more than 60 settlements in the Kherson region.
“Police have launched stabilization measures. Stabilization measures are also underway in Kherson,” he said.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Kherson Volodymyr Zelensky

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Wildfire on Canada’s Atlantic coast forces evacuation of 16,000 people

Wildfire on Canada’s Atlantic coast forces evacuation of 16,000 people
Updated 58 min 14 sec ago
AP

Wildfire on Canada’s Atlantic coast forces evacuation of 16,000 people

Wildfire on Canada’s Atlantic coast forces evacuation of 16,000 people
  • “It’s extensive. It’s heartbreaking,” said Premier Tim Houston, who announced a ban on woodland activity after visiting the disaster area to get a sense of the damage
  • The forest protection manager in the province's wildfire management group said it is safe to say that all of these fires were “very likely human-caused”
Updated 58 min 14 sec ago
AP

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia: Nova Scotia’s leader begged people to stay out of the woods and avoid any activity that could start more fires after a wildfire on Canada’s Atlantic coast damaged about 200 houses and other structures and prompted the evacuation of 16,000 people.
“It’s extensive. It’s heartbreaking,” said Premier Tim Houston, who announced a ban on woodland activity after visiting the disaster area to get a sense of the damage.
Many residents were eager to return Tuesday to see whether homes and pets had survived, while fire officials expressed concern that dry, windy conditions could cause a “reburn” in the evacuated subdivisions. The extended forecast is calling for hotter weather on Wednesday and no rain until Friday at the earliest.
Houston said the ban extends to all travel and activity in all wooded areas. That includes all forestry, mining, hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, off-road vehicle driving and all commercial activity on government lands, he said.
“Don’t be burning right now. No burning in Nova Scotia. Conservation officers reported six illegal burns last night. This is absolutely ridiculous with what’s happeniung in this province — three out-of-control fires, eight fires yesterday, 12 on Sunday. Do Not Burn!” Houston said Tuesday. “We have to do what we can to make sure we don’t have new fires popping up.”
Scott Tingley, the forest protection manager in the province’s wildfire management group, said it is safe to say that all of these fires were “very likely human-caused.”
“Much of it probably is preventable. Accidents do happen and so that’s why we certainly appreciate the premier’s message,” Tingley said.
Firefighters have been working to extinguish hotspots in the fire that started in the Halifax area on Sunday, Halifax Deputy Fire Chief David Meldrum said. He said Tuesday that it was too early to give an exact count of homes damaged or destroyed, but the municipal government put the toll at about 200 buildings.
Dan Cavanaugh was among two dozen people waiting Tuesday in a Halifax-area parking lot to learn if their suburban homes had been consumed.
“We’re like everyone else in this lot,” said the 48-year-old insurance adjuster. “We’re not sure if we have a house to go back to.”
Police officers wrote down names of residents and were calling people to be escorted to see what had become of their properties.
Sarah Lyon of the Nova Scotia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said an eight-member team was going into the evacuation zone to retrieve animals left behind.
In all, about 16,000 people were ordered to leave their homes northwest of Halifax, most of which are within a 30-minute drive of the port city’s downtown. The area under mandatory evacuation orders covers about 100 square kilometers (38 miles).
Sonya Higgins, who runs a cat rescue operation in Halifax, said she and more than 40 others waited in a nearby supermarket parking lot to be led into the evacuation area. They hoped to retrieve seven cats from two homes. She said the pet owners contacting her have been “frantic” to find their animals and get them to safety.

Topics: Canada Nova Scotia wildfires forest

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Pakistan ex-PM Khan in court as rights watchdog issues warning

Pakistan ex-PM Khan in court as rights watchdog issues warning
Updated 44 min 3 sec ago
AFP

Pakistan ex-PM Khan in court as rights watchdog issues warning

Pakistan ex-PM Khan in court as rights watchdog issues warning
  • The Islamabad High Court and a specialist corruption court granted Khan bail on Wednesday in the same graft case
  • Thousands have been rounded up since the Supreme Court declared that detention illegal and allowed him to walk free
Updated 44 min 3 sec ago
AFP

ISLAMABAD: Embattled Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan returned to court on Wednesday, as the nation’s human rights watchdog warned all sides are to blame in a rapidly deteriorating democratic crisis.
Khan’s brief arrest earlier this month sparked days of deadly unrest before Islamabad orchestrated a crackdown on his party, including mass arrests and a pledge to try some protesters in army courts.
The Islamabad High Court and a specialist corruption court granted Khan bail on Wednesday in the same graft case which prompted his arrest on May 9, his lawyers said.
Thousands, including grassroots supporters and key Khan aides, have been rounded up since the Supreme Court declared that detention illegal and allowed him to walk free.
Islamabad says the arrests are justified because it was targeted by anti-state terrorism, while Khan claims his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is being quashed ahead of elections due by October.
But Hina Jilani, the head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), issued a stark warning to “all political stakeholders.”
“Unless they desist from any further measures that could imperil the country’s fragile democracy, they may find themselves unable to steer the country safely through the multiple crises it is facing.”
Since he was ousted from office in a no-confidence vote last spring, Khan has waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against Pakistan’s powerful military establishment, which analysts say was behind his rise and fall from power.
His arrest was widely seen as payback ordered by top brass after he repeated incendiary allegations that they plotted an assassination attempt against him.
The HRCP said “civilian supremacy has emerged as the greatest casualty” from the deepening political crisis, which comes as Pakistan suffers from a flatlining economy and worsening security situation.
“The government’s inability — or unwillingness — to safeguard civilian supremacy” and PTI’s “incessant humiliation of law... has led to making military interference in politics inevitable,” Jilani said.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch criticized Islamabad for agreeing to try 33 civilians in military courts for allegedly attacking army installations during the unrest.
“Pakistan’s military courts, which use secret procedures that deny due process rights, should not be used to prosecute civilians,” said associate Asia director Patricia Gossman.
As the clampdown on PTI continues, several senior figures have defected, leaving former cricket star Khan increasingly isolated.
He says arrests are being used to force resignations. Nonetheless he remains far and away Pakistan’s most popular politician.

Topics: Pakistan Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan Islamabad court

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Indonesia’s creative sector sets sights on pilgrims in Saudi Arabia

Indonesia’s creative sector sets sights on pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
Updated 31 May 2023
Sheany Yasuko Lai

Indonesia’s creative sector sets sights on pilgrims in Saudi Arabia

Indonesia’s creative sector sets sights on pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
  • Southeast Asian nation aims to become regional creative economy hub by 2045
  • Minister looks to set up Saudi base for Indonesian creative products
Updated 31 May 2023
Sheany Yasuko Lai

JAKARTA: Indonesia is setting its sights on pilgrims in Saudi Arabia for its creative economy products, a minister told Arab News, as Jakarta sought to make the sector its main source of exports.

Indonesia’s creative economy, led by fashion, crafts, and culinary products, contributed around 7.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2022, when its export value for the first time exceeded $25 billion.

The country wants to become a regional creative and digital economy hub under its Vision 2045 plan and make them its key export products. The sector has been growing steadily over the years and has been important in helping Indonesia bounce back after the coronavirus pandemic.

Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said: “The driving force behind economic revival and job creation has been the creative economy.”

As millions of Muslims from around the world visit Saudi Arabia for Umrah and Hajj every year, Uno pointed out that pilgrims were a potential market for Indonesian creative economy products.

During a meeting with Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, in November, Uno discussed Indonesia’s opportunity to “enter the ecosystem and provide many beneficial programs to improve the quality and experience for pilgrims.”

The minister noted that Indonesian pilgrims themselves could help promote their goods and small- and medium-sized enterprises.

“The pilgrims could also be good promotional ambassadors when they wear Indonesian products,” he said, adding that there was substantial “growth opportunity for the two countries” as they could bank on a high purchasing power and strong consumer demand in the Middle East in general.

The world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia will send around 229,000 Hajj pilgrims to the Kingdom this year, while another 3 million are expected to travel for Umrah.

“This is a good way that we promote Indonesian SME products that could set up base in Saudi Arabia to create economic benefits,” Uno said.

“All the important goods and services including handicrafts, textiles, furniture, food and beverages, and creative products have potential to attract customers.”

Topics: Indonesia Saudi Arabia

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Milosevic spymasters get longer jail terms in last UN court verdict

Milosevic spymasters get longer jail terms in last UN court verdict
Updated 31 May 2023
AFP

Milosevic spymasters get longer jail terms in last UN court verdict

Milosevic spymasters get longer jail terms in last UN court verdict
  • Judges rejected appeals by the late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic's state security service boss Jovica Stanisic and his deputy Franko Simatovic
  • Prosecutors hailed the verdict as crucial because for the first time it formally linked atrocities in Bosnia to the regime of Serbia's Milosevic
Updated 31 May 2023
AFP

THE HAGUE: A UN court slapped two former Serbian spy chiefs with longer prison sentences Wednesday in the last major Hague war crimes trial from the 1990s Bosnian conflict.
Judges rejected appeals by the late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic’s state security service boss Jovica Stanisic and his deputy Franko Simatovic against their 2021 convictions, and increased their original jail terms from 12 to 15 years.
The court found that Stanisic, 72, and Simatovic, 73, had been part of a criminal plan to “ethnically cleanse” non-Serbs from large parts of Bosnia and Croatia — reversing their acquittal on that charge at the initial trial.
Prosecutors hailed the verdict as crucial because for the first time it formally linked atrocities in Bosnia to the regime of Serbia’s Milosevic, who died in custody in The Hague in 2006.
“It’s really important,” chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz told reporters outside court.
“It’s the only decision we have with the direct involvement of officials from Belgrade convicted as part of a joint criminal enterprise.”
Munira Subasic, president of one of the “Mothers of Srebrenica” associations that campaigns for justice for victims of the 1995 massacre, said the verdict could help ease the tensions that still plague the Balkans.
“Without truth, there is no justice. Without justice, there is no trust. And without trust, there is no reconciliation,” Subasic told reporters.
Only Stanisic was in court for the verdict, wearing a blue jacket and wide-collared white shirt, and occasionally wringing his hands. Simatovic watched by videolink from his cell.
The court upheld the pair’s convictions for the war crime of murder and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, forcible transfer and deportation.
It said they had aided and abetted a Serb death squad that terrorized the Bosnian town of Bosanski Samac in April 1992 with killings, rapes and looting.
But judges also found them guilty of being part of a broader conspiracy to commit wider crimes across the Balkans, and for being responsible for a murder in Croatia in June 1992.
“The appeals chamber dismisses Stanisic’s and Simatovic’s appeals in their entirety... and imposes a sentence of 15 years” on each, head appeals judge Graciela Gatti Santana said.
“Stanisic and Simatovic shared the intent to further the common criminal purpose to forcibly and permanently remove the majority of non-Serbs from large areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
Stanisic has already served seven years and Simatovic just over eight years, the judge added.
Suspects including Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and military chief Ratko Mladic have previously been sentenced to life by the Hague tribunal, but it has been harder to link crimes to Serbia itself.
Prosecutor Brammertz said Wednesday’s verdict showed that “political leadership from neighbor countries, here in particular from Belgrade, were involved in the planning of those large ethnic cleansing campaigns.”
The Stanisic and Simatovic case has been running for two decades, making it the longest and the last at the UN tribunal dealing with crimes from the wars that tore apart Yugoslavia after the fall of communism.
The pair were arrested in 2003 and cleared at an initial trial in 2013, but the court ordered a retrial.
“This pronouncement marks a milestone in the mechanism’s history... The appeals chamber pronounces the last appeal judgment,” Gatti Santana said.
The court, formally known as the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (MICT), has taken over cases left over from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
The ICTY closed in 2017.
The Balkans wars left about 130,000 people dead and millions displaced.
Tensions continue to simmer in the region, with clashes erupting on Monday in northern Kosovo between ethnic Serbs and NATO-led peacekeepers.

Topics: Serbia Slobodan Milosevic UN court The Hague Bosnia

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Philippine lawmakers approve $8.9bn sovereign wealth fund

Philippine lawmakers approve $8.9bn sovereign wealth fund
Updated 31 May 2023
AFP

Philippine lawmakers approve $8.9bn sovereign wealth fund

Philippine lawmakers approve $8.9bn sovereign wealth fund
  • National government will be the biggest contributor to the 500-billion-peso ‘Maharlika Investment Fund’
  • Private financial institutions and corporations will also be allowed to invest
Updated 31 May 2023
AFP

MANILA: Philippine lawmakers approved the creation of an $8.9 billion sovereign wealth fund on Wednesday to boost growth and cut poverty, but critics insisted it was a “scam” and should be scrapped.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr had called for a swift passage of the bill, filed by his son and cousin late last year, to enable the debt-laden government to earn extra funds to finance infrastructure projects.
The national government will be the biggest contributor to the 500-billion-peso “Maharlika Investment Fund,” drawing seed funds from the central bank, gaming revenue, and two government-owned banks.
Private financial institutions and corporations will also be allowed to invest.
House of Representatives deputy speaker Aurelio Gonzales declared the Senate’s version of the bill approved during a session. It will be sent to Marcos to be signed into law.
The original proposal was for a $4.9 billion fund that would be partly bankrolled by state-run pensions for government and private sector workers, sparking public fears that retirement savings could be put at risk.
The final version of the bill said pension funds would not have to contribute.
“I assure our countrymen they need not worry. All the safeguards that could be put in were put in place,” Senate President Miguel Zubiri told reporters.
Senator Mark Villar, the main author of the Senate bill, said the fund would create infrastructure projects, resulting in stronger growth, more jobs and reduced poverty.
“This would help the government manage its budget and mitigate fiscal pressures during economic downturns,” Villar said in a statement Tuesday.
The fund will be allowed to make a wide range of investments, including in corporate bonds, equities, joint ventures and infrastructure projects.
Activists and opposition figures have questioned the need for a sovereign wealth fund in the poverty-plagued country and raised concerns about the potential for corruption.
Business groups have said the government was already running huge budget deficits and the proposed law risked downgrading its credit rating.
Conventional sovereign wealth funds are seeded by windfall government profits from natural resources, such as oil or minerals.
The left-wing Akbayan Party said Wednesday the measure was “the country’s largest investment scam” and warned the public to “remain vigilant.”
“This bill shouldn’t even exist,” the party said in a statement.
“Safeguards may be in place now, but a law is only as good as its execution.”

Topics: Philippines

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