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US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone

US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone
US officials say the Pentagon is speeding up its delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, opting to send a refurbished older model that can be ready faster. (AP/File)
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Updated 21 March 2023
AP

US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone

US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone
  • Pentagon officials are expected to make the announcement soon
  • It's unclear how soon the U.S. would begin training Ukrainian forces on how to use, maintain and repair the tanks
Updated 21 March 2023
AP

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is speeding up its delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, opting to send a refurbished older model that can be ready faster, with the aim of getting the 70-ton battle powerhouses to the war zone in eight to 10 months, US officials told The Associated Press.
The original plan was to send Ukraine 31 of the newer M1A2 Abrams, which could have taken a year or two to build and ship. But officials said the decision was made to send the older M1A1 version, which can be taken from Army stocks and will be easier for Ukrainian forces to learn to use and maintain.
The officials spoke on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been publicly announced. Pentagon officials are expected to make the announcement soon.
The Biden administration announced in January that it would send the tanks to Ukraine — after insisting for months that they were too complicated and too hard to maintain and repair. The decision was part of a broader political maneuver that opened the door for Germany to announce it would send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow Poland and other allies to do the same.
It’s unclear how soon the US would begin training Ukrainian forces on how to use, maintain and repair the tanks. That training pipeline could affect the amount of time it takes for the tanks to be used in battle. The Pentagon will also have to ensure that Ukrainian forces have an adequate supply chain for all the parts needed to keep the tanks running.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict US Abrams tanks

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Belarus’s Lukashenko says there can be ‘nuclear weapons for everyone’

Belarus’s Lukashenko says there can be ‘nuclear weapons for everyone’
Updated 19 sec ago

Belarus’s Lukashenko says there can be ‘nuclear weapons for everyone’

Belarus’s Lukashenko says there can be ‘nuclear weapons for everyone’
Updated 19 sec ago
BELARUS: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that if any other country wanted to join a Russia-Belarus union there could be “nuclear weapons for everyone.”
Russia moved ahead last week with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, in the Kremlin’s first deployment of such warheads outside Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, spurring concerns in the West.
In an interview published on Russia’s state television late on Sunday, Lukashenko, President Vladimir Putin’s staunchest ally among Russia’s neighbors, said that it must be “strategically understood” that Minsk and Moscow have a unique chance to unite.
“No one is against Kazakhstan and other countries having the same close relations that we have with the Russian Federation,” Lukashenko said.
“If someone is worried ... (then) it is very simple: join in the Union State of Belarus and Russia. That’s all: there will be nuclear weapons for everyone.”
He added that it was his own view — not the view of Russia.
Russia and Belarus are formally part of a Union State, a borderless union and alliance between the two former Soviet republics.
Russia used the territory of Belarus as a launchpad for its invasion of their common neighbor Ukraine in February last year, and since then their military cooperation has intensified, with joint training exercises on Belarusian soil.
On Sunday, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said that another unit of the S-400 mobile, surface-to-air missile systems arrived from Moscow, with the systems to be ready for combat duty soon.

China plans to land astronauts on moon before 2030, another step in what looks like a new space race

China plans to land astronauts on moon before 2030, another step in what looks like a new space race
Updated 38 min 48 sec ago
AP

China plans to land astronauts on moon before 2030, another step in what looks like a new space race

China plans to land astronauts on moon before 2030, another step in what looks like a new space race
  • China to send civilian to space for the first time
Updated 38 min 48 sec ago
AP

BEIJING: China plans to land astronauts on the moon before 2030, which would be another advance in what’s increasingly seen as a new space race.
The US aims to put astronauts back on the lunar surface by the end of 2025.
Deputy Director of the Chinese Manned Space Agency Lin Xiqiang confirmed China’s goal at a news conference Monday but gave no specific date.
Lin also said China plans to expand its orbiting crewed space station with an additional module. A new three-person crew is scheduled to head to the Tiangong station on Tuesday aboard the Shenzhou 16 craft and will overlap briefly with the three astronauts already aboard.
The fresh crew includes a civilian for the first time. All previous crew members have been in the People’s Liberation Army, the military wing of the country’s ruling Communist Party.
Gui Haichao, a professor at Beijing’s top aerospace research institute, will join mission commander Jing Haipeng and spacecraft engineer Zhu Yangzhu as the payload expert.
China completed the Tiangong space station in November with the third of three modules, centered on the Tianhe living and command module.
China’s first manned space mission in 2003 made it the third country after the former Soviet Union and the US to put a person into space.
China built its own station after it was excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to US objections over the Chinese space programs’ intimate ties to the PLA.
Space is increasingly seen as a new area of competition between China and the United States — the world’s two largest economies and rivals for diplomatic and military influence. The astronauts NASA sends to the moon by the end of 2025 will aim for the south pole where permanently shadowed craters are believed to be packed with frozen water.
Plans for permanent crewed bases on the moon are also being considered by both countries, raising questions about rights and interests on the lunar surface. US law tightly restricts cooperation between the two countries’ space programs and while China says it welcomes foreign collaborations, those have thus far been limited to scientific research.
In addition to their lunar programs, the US and China have also landed rovers on Mars and Beijing plans to follow the US in landing a spacecraft on an asteroid.

Topics: China China space

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North Korea announces ‘satellite’ launch: Japan

North Korea announces ‘satellite’ launch: Japan
Updated 48 min 27 sec ago
AFP

North Korea announces ‘satellite’ launch: Japan

North Korea announces ‘satellite’ launch: Japan
  • Pyongyang has informed Japan’s coast guard that a rocket will be launched between May 31 and June 11
Updated 48 min 27 sec ago
AFP

TOKYO: Japan said Monday it is preparing for North Korea to launch in the coming weeks what Pyongyang has described as a satellite, but Tokyo believes may be a ballistic missile.
Pyongyang has informed Japan’s coast guard that a rocket will be launched between May 31 and June 11 and will fall in waters near the Yellow Sea, East China Sea and east of Luzon Island in the Philippines, a coast guard spokesman told AFP.
However, the prime minister’s office in a tweet said Fumio Kishida issued instructions “on North Korea’s notification about the launch of a ballistic missile that it describes as a satellite.”
He has told officials to gather intelligence, remain vigilant and closely coordinate with allies including the United States and South Korea, the tweet added.
And Japan’s defense ministry has issued an order for the Air Self-Defense Force to destroy any ballistic missile confirmed to be on course to fall into the country’s territory.
The troops would be authorized to use Standard Missile SM-3 and Patriot Missile PAC-3 to shoot down a projectile in mid-air, the ministry said.
“Even if it’s described as a satellite, a launch using ballistic missile technology would be a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and a serious problem that threatens the safety of people,” Kishida told reporters.
Pyongyang has intensified its missile launches in recent months, with some triggering emergency warning systems in parts of Japan.
Seoul and Tokyo have meanwhile been working to mend long-frayed ties, including with greater cooperation on North Korea’s military threats.
Asked about possible negotiations with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, Kishida on Monday reiterated that Tokyo is open to talks, adding he was interested in “making concrete progress.”
North Korean state media meanwhile published a statement from its vice-minister of foreign affairs, appearing to endorse a conciliatory approach to relations with Japan — an unusual stance from Pyongyang.
If Japan avoids “being shackled by the past, and seeks a way out for improving the relations, there is no reason for the DPRK and Japan not to meet,” the statement from Pak Sang Gil said.

Topics: North Korea Japan

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South Korean faces up to 10 years in prison for opening plane door

South Korean faces up to 10 years in prison for opening plane door
Updated 29 May 2023
AP

South Korean faces up to 10 years in prison for opening plane door

South Korean faces up to 10 years in prison for opening plane door
  • The 33-year-old told investigators that he felt suffocated and tried to get off the plane quickly
Updated 29 May 2023
AP

SEOUL: A man who opened an emergency exit door during a flight in South Korea was formally arrested Sunday and faces up to 10 years in prison on a charge of violating the aviation security law, officials said.

During a preliminary questioning, the 33-year-old told investigators that he felt suffocated and tried to get off the plane quickly, according to police.

Twelve people were slightly injured on Friday after he opened the door of the Asiana Airlines Airbus A321-200, causing air to blast inside the cabin and terrifying passengers. Some testified they suffered severe ear pain and saw others screaming and crying. A video shared on social media shows passengers’ hair being whipped by air blowing into the cabin.

Normally, the emergency exit doors cannot be opened mid-flight due to the difference in air pressure inside and outside of the aircraft. But during Friday’s incident, the man succeeded in opening the door likely because the plane was flying at a low altitude while preparing to land and there wasn’t much difference in pressure, according to Asiana Airlines officials.

The Transport Ministry said the plane was at 213 meters when the man pulled the door open. The plane was preparing to land in Daegu on an hour-long flight from the southern island of Jeju with 200 people on board. They included teenage athletes on their way to a track and field competition, according to Asiana Airlines.

On Sunday, a district court in Daegu approved a warrant to formally arrest the man. Police earlier sought the arrest warrant, citing the graveness of the crime and a possibility the man may flee, according to Daegu police.

“I wanted to get off the plane soon,” the man, whose face was covered by a black hoodie, a cap and a mask, told reporters at the court ahead of its review of his arrest warrant. “I’m really sorry to kids,” he said, in a likely reference to the teenage athletes.

Daegu police said they have up to 20 days to investigate the man before determining whether to send him to prosecutors for a possible indictment.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for breaching the aviation security law that bars passengers from handling entry doors, emergency exit doors and other equipment on board, according to the Transport Ministry.

Daegu police said the man, surnamed Lee, told them that he was under stress after losing a job recently and that he wanted to get out of the plane soon because he was feeling suffocated just before landing.

The people who were taken to hospitals were mainly treated for minor problems such as breathing difficulties.

Asiana Airlines said in a statement that starting from Sunday, it stopped the sale of emergency exit seats on its 174-seat A321-200 planes and the 195-seat A321-200s as a safety precaution. Lee was seated near the emergency exit, airline officials said.

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Indian PM inaugurates new parliament building amid opposition boycott

Indian PM inaugurates new parliament building amid opposition boycott
Updated 28 May 2023

Indian PM inaugurates new parliament building amid opposition boycott

Indian PM inaugurates new parliament building amid opposition boycott
  • Opposition describes inauguration by Narendra Modi ‘direct assault’ on democracy
  • New parliament part of controversial, $2.8bn Central Vista project
Updated 28 May 2023
Sanjay Kumar

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated on Sunday a new parliament building in New Delhi amid a boycott of the ceremony by 20 opposition parties.

The triangle-shaped, four-storey building located in the heart of the capital cost nearly $120 million and is part of a controversial $2.8 billion revamp of the capital’s historic center called the Central Vista project.

Modi said the new parliament building was a “reflection of the aspirations of new India.”

“The new parliament building will be a testament to the dawn of a self-reliant India. It will be a witness to our journey toward a developed India,” he said at the inauguration ceremony.

FASTFACT

The triangle-shaped, four-story building located in the heart of the capital cost nearly $120 million and is part of a controversial $2.8 billion revamp of the capital’s historic center called the Central Vista project.

“Some moments in the developmental journey of a nation get immortalized, today is one such day. The new parliament complex will witness the realization of our developed India resolution.”

Modi also installed the Sengol, or a symbolic scepter, in the legislature’s lower house, a gold-plated object that the government claimed was gifted to India’s first prime minister on the eve of its independence from Great Britain in 1947.

The Central Vista project covers new construction of various government offices, including a residence and office for the premier as well as 10 blocks of buildings to house ministries and departments.

The government has stated that the new upgrades were necessary to increase seating capacity and allow for better facilities. The original parliament building, for example, dates to 1927 and had only around 800 seats combined for both the lower and upper house, while the newly inaugurated building had room for more than 1,000 seats.

Yet the project has sparked controversy since it was first announced, as civil society groups, opposition politicians, and environmentalists questioned the cost and need for all-new buildings.

Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has also been facing backlash for sidelining the President Droupadi Murmu by asking the PM to inaugurate the building instead. Though the Indian president is a non-elected and non-executive position, they are considered a ceremonial figurehead as the country’s first citizen and highest constitutional authority.

The opposition boycott was sparked by Modi’s decision to “inaugurate the new parliament building by himself,” which national and regional opposition parties said was “not only a grave insult but a direct assault on our democracy.”

A joint statement issued by the opposition parties on Wednesday said: “When the soul of democracy has been sucked out from the parliament, we find no value in a new building.”

Aditya Mukherjee, writer and former professor at Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University, criticized the timing of the project and how it was carried out.

He told Arab News: “The whole project has been mired in controversy right from the beginning because the foundation was laid at a time when the whole nation was passing through a deadly second wave of coronavirus.

“No consultation was held before the foundation stone for the new parliament was laid.”

Sunday’s ceremonial event, which also involved religious rituals and Hindu priests, also came under scrutiny.

“The whole effort is just to glorify the current prime minister. It is a matter of great shame that a parliament of the world’s largest democracy is being inaugurated in the absence of the main opposition parties,” Mukherjee said.

 

Topics: India

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