Allies fail to agree on heavy tanks sought by Ukraine

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)
Allies fail to agree on heavy tanks sought by Ukraine
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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

Allies fail to agree on heavy tanks sought by Ukraine

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. 
 


Over 1,400 migrants are rescued from overcrowded boats off Italy by coast guard

Over 1,400 migrants are rescued from overcrowded boats off Italy by coast guard
Updated 07 June 2023

Over 1,400 migrants are rescued from overcrowded boats off Italy by coast guard

Over 1,400 migrants are rescued from overcrowded boats off Italy by coast guard
  • There were 47 migrants, including two children in immediate need of medical care, aboard the sailboat in distress off the region of Calabria
  • The rescues began late Monday night and ended in the early hours of Wednesday in the Ionian Sea off Calabria's east coast

ROME: More than 1,400 migrants have been rescued from overcrowded vessels, including a sailboat, in four separate operations in the Mediterranean Sea off southern Italy, the Italian coast guard said Wednesday.
There were 47 migrants, including two children in immediate need of medical care, aboard the sailboat in distress off the region of Calabria, in the “toe” of the Italian peninsula, a coast guard statement said. They were rescued by a coast guard motorboat early Tuesday.
The statement said the rescues began late Monday night and ended in the early hours of Wednesday in the Ionian Sea off Calabria’s east coast. One coast guard vessel took on around 590 migrants from aboard a fishing boat, and then later brought on around 650 migrants from another fishing boat, the statement said.
A coast guard motorboat and an Italian border police ship came to the assistance of a fourth vessel, with 130 migrants aboard.
Authorities didn’t immediately give details on the nationalities of the passengers or routes taken by the migrant vessels. But generally, many boats with migrants sighted off the Ionian Sea set out from Turkiye’s coast, where smugglers launch crowded and unseaworthy boats.
Earlier this year, a migrant boat navigating on that route slammed into a sandbank just off a Calabrian beach town and broke apart. At least 94 migrants perished and 80 others survived.
That shipwreck is under criminal investigation, including the role of several members of Italy’s border police corps, which operates vessels off the country’s long coastline. Four suspected smugglers have been arrested.
In addition, prosecutors want to know if rescue efforts could have been launched hours earlier. Italian border police boats reportedly turned back to port because of rough seas, and by the time a coast guard vessel, better equipped to navigate in poor sea conditions, reached the area, bodies were already in the water. In that case, the migrant boat had been spotted hours earlier by a surveillance aircraft operated by Frontex, the European Union’s border monitoring force.
Wednesday’s statement by the coast guard said that crew on a Frontex surveillance plane had spotted a fishing boat with the 590 migrants aboard. A Frontex patrol boat and a Frontex support vessel were among the assets involved in the rescue operations for the two fishing boats, according to the coast guard.
Alarm Phone, a nongovernmental organization that frequently receives satellite calls from migrant vessels in distress and relays the information to maritime authorities in Italy and Malta, was among the organizations signaling the need for rescue for the 130 people aboard the fourth boat.


Erdogan proposes destroyed dam probe in Zelensky call

Erdogan proposes destroyed dam probe in Zelensky call
Updated 07 June 2023

Erdogan proposes destroyed dam probe in Zelensky call

Erdogan proposes destroyed dam probe in Zelensky call
  • Moscow and Kyiv have traded blame for the destruction of Kakhovka hydroelectric dam
  • President Erdogan said that a commission could be established with the participation of experts from the warring parties, the United Nations and the international community

ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday proposed, in a call with his Ukrainian counterpart, creating an international commission to probe the destruction of a major dam in southern Ukraine, his office reported.
Moscow and Kyiv have traded blame for the destruction of Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, which was ripped open early Tuesday after a reported blast.
“President Erdogan said that a commission could be established with the participation of experts from the warring parties, the United Nations and the international community, including Turkiye, for a detailed investigation into the explosion at Kakhovka dam,” his office said after the call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Kakhovka dam sits on the Dnipro River, which feeds a reservoir providing cooling water for the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Europe’s largest, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) upstream.
The destruction of the dam caused torrents of water to pour into the Dnipro, pushing thousands of civilians to flee the flooded areas while raising fears of an ecological disaster.
NATO member Turkiye, which has good ties with Moscow and Kyiv.


Marcos to strengthen ties with countries hosting Filipino workers

Marcos to strengthen ties with countries hosting Filipino workers
Updated 07 June 2023

Marcos to strengthen ties with countries hosting Filipino workers

Marcos to strengthen ties with countries hosting Filipino workers
  • Philippines celebrates Migrant Workers’ Day every June 7
  • Overseas ‘heroes’ are key drivers of the Philippine economy

MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on Wednesday his administration would foster stronger ties with countries that host overseas Filipinos to ensure their safety and welfare.

Nearly 2 million migrant workers are key drivers of the Philippine economy and a main source of the country’s foreign reserves.

Often referred to as “modern-day heroes,” Marcos said overseas Filipinos “fuel the engine of progress” in the Philippines. They sent around $36 billion in personal remittances last year, making up about 8.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, according to central bank data.

“We understand the challenges that you faced being far from your loved ones, adjusting to new cultures and overcoming barrier(s),” Marcos said in a video message broadcast to mark Migrant Workers’ Day in the Philippines.

“That’s why this administration will continue to foster stronger ties with countries that host our migrant workers, ensuring safety, welfare and well-being.”

Nearly a quarter of overseas Filipinos, or OFWs, work and live in Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Singapore and Qatar.

“In every corner of the globe, you have left an indelible mark that uplifted both your host countries and our nation in the process,” Marcos said, adding that their sacrifices had “nurtured dreams, elevated livelihoods, and fueled the engine of progress” in the Philippines.

The Philippines celebrates Migrant Workers’ Day every June 7 in commemoration of enacting the 1995 Migrant Workers’ Act, which introduces standards for the protection and welfare of those working abroad, their families and overseas Filipinos in distress.

In 2021, former president Rodrigo Duterte signed a law establishing the Department of Migrant Workers, which is tasked with overseeing policies protecting OFWs.

The DMW’s Secretary Susan Ople announced on Wednesday training and mentorship programs for OFWs with the Department of Trade and Industry to help Filipino migrant workers start their own businesses once they return to home.

“Our OFWs contribute to our economy through their dollar remittances but at some point in their lives, they would also need to come home and create sustainable sources of income through entrepreneurship, sound investments or by landing a better job here at home,” Ople said.

“We want them to come back with excitement in their hearts on what the future holds for them and their families, through meaningful partnerships across the government bureaucracy and with NGOs and private companies serving as their mentors and cheerleaders.”


Poll suggests most Asian, Black people in UK face regular discrimination

Protesters with banners and placards march from Toxteth into central Liverpool in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Protesters with banners and placards march from Toxteth into central Liverpool in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Updated 07 June 2023

Poll suggests most Asian, Black people in UK face regular discrimination

Protesters with banners and placards march from Toxteth into central Liverpool in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
  • Majority of respondents say Britain needs to make more progress on racial issues over next 25 years

LONDON: A new report has revealed that more than two-thirds of Black and Asian people in the UK face racial discrimination in their daily lives, the Metro reported.

The study by British Future, a think tank, explored British public attitudes on race, identity, and bias, using polling data covering almost 2,500 people, including 1,000 from an ethnic minority background.

The polling was conducted by Focaldata in March and April.

Though 80 percent of ethnic minority participants said that the UK was a better place to live for minorities than the US, Germany, and France, 67 percent said that they still faced discrimination in Britain on a daily basis.

When White British participants were asked if the UK was a better place to live for minorities compared to other major Western countries, 73 percent reckoned the statement was true while 27 percent did not.

But when asked if it was easier to “get on” in Britain if you were white, 48 percent of white British respondents and 60 percent of ethnic minority participants said that they believed it was.

And more than half of all respondents said that Britain’s political and media culture had become more divisive and polarized, including on racial issues, which two-thirds of people said should involve a less-heated debate.

On Britain’s progress on racial issues over the last 25 years, 68 percent of ethnic minority participants and 71 percent of white respondents said that the country had made “significant” changes.

However, a majority of all respondents — 64 percent of white Britons and 80 percent of minority groups — agreed with the statement that Britain “needs to make much more progress on race in the next 25 years.”


Attacks by suspected militants in Burkina Faso kill 21

Attacks by suspected militants in Burkina Faso kill 21
Updated 07 June 2023

Attacks by suspected militants in Burkina Faso kill 21

Attacks by suspected militants in Burkina Faso kill 21
  • Burkina Faso struggling with a militant insurgency that swept in from neighboring Mali in 2015
  • Nearly a third of the country lies outside the government’s control, according to official estimates

OUAGADOUGOU: Twenty-one people, most of them members of the security forces, have been killed in Burkina Faso in attacks by suspected militants, security sources said on Wednesday.
Fourteen members of the VDP volunteer militia and four soldiers died on Monday in Sawenga in central-eastern Burkina, while five were wounded, a source said.
Another security source confirmed the toll, saying that the clash occurred during an operation to secure the area, and that “more than 50 terrorists were neutralized” in an airborne counter-attack.
Separately, a police source said a policeman and two civilians were killed on Monday night in an attack on a police border post at Yendere, on the southwestern frontier with Ivory Coast.
A trucker in the area confirmed the attack, adding that many local people had already fled into Ivory Coast because of militant incursions.
Ivory Coast hosts around 18,000 Burkinabe refugees, more than double the tally for 2022, according to the UN’s refugee agency.
One of the poorest and most troubled countries in the world, Burkina is struggling with a militant insurgency that swept in from neighboring Mali in 2015.
Nearly a third of the country lies outside the government’s control, according to official estimates.
More than 10,000 civilians, troops and police have died, according to an NGO count, while at least two million people have been displaced.
Anger within the military at failures to roll back the insurgency sparked two coups last year, culminating in the ascent of a young army captain, Ibrahim Traore.
The junta has ruled out any negotiations with the militants.
It is staking much of its anti-militant strategy on the VDP — the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland militia.
The force comprises civilian volunteers who are given two weeks’ military training and then work alongside the army, typically carrying out surveillance, information-gathering or escort duties.
Since its inception in December 2019, the VDP has suffered hundreds of casualties, especially in ambushes or roadside bombings.
Despite the losses, the authorities launched a successful recruitment drive last year, encouraging 90,000 people to sign up, far exceeding the target of 50,000.