Russia starts exercises with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles

Russia starts exercises with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles
A Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launcher parades through Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow (AFP)
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Updated 29 March 2023

Russia starts exercises with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles

Russia starts exercises with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles
  • The drills involve the Strategic Missile Forces comprehensive control checking of the Omsk missile formation together with a command and staff exercise

Russia has begun exercises with its Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system and several thousand troops, its defense ministry said on Wednesday, in what is likely to be seen as another attempt by Moscow to show off its nuclear strength.
President Vladimir Putin has aimed to make the Yars missile system, which replaced the Topol system, part of Russia’s “invincible weapons” and the mainstay of the ground-based component of its nuclear arsenal.
“In total, more than 3,000 military personnel and about 300 pieces of equipment are involved in the exercises,” the defense ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging service.
The drills involve the Strategic Missile Forces comprehensive control checking of the Omsk missile formation together with a command and staff exercise with the Novosibirsk missile formation equipped with the Yars systems.
During the exercises, the Yars mobile systems will conduct maneuvers in three Russian regions, the ministry said, without identifying the regions.
“Also, strategic missilemen will carry out a set of measures to camouflage and counter modern aerial reconnaissance means in cooperation with formations and units of the Central Military District and the Aerospace Forces.”
There are few confirmed tactical and technical characteristics of the Yars mobile intercontinental ballistic missile systems, which reportedly have an operational range of 12,000 km (7,500 miles).
According to military bloggers, the systems are able to carry multiple independently targetable nuclear warheads and can be mounted on a truck carriers or deployed in silos.
Since launching an invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Russia has conducted numerous military exercises on its own or with other countries, such as China or South Africa.
It has also increased military training with Belarus, which borders both Russia and Ukraine, conducting a series of comprehensive drills over the past year.
Belarus has said it had decided to host Russian tactical nuclear weapons was a response to Western sanctions and what it said was a military build-up by NATO member states near its borders.
US President Joe Biden had indicated he would be concerned by the decision although the United States said it had not seen any indications that Russia was closer to using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.


India eyes promising startup exchanges after talks with Saudi G20 rep

India eyes promising startup exchanges after talks with Saudi G20 rep
Updated 13 sec ago

India eyes promising startup exchanges after talks with Saudi G20 rep

India eyes promising startup exchanges after talks with Saudi G20 rep
  • Prince Fahad bin Mansour represents Saudi Arabia at G20’s Startup20
  • India has the world’s third largest startup ecosystem

NEW DELHI: India expects promising exchanges with the Middle East in the startup ecosystem, the chief of Startup20 said on Saturday, after consultations with Saudi Arabia’s representative to the G20 engagement group.
Startup20 is one of 11 official networking groups of the Group of 20 largest economies. It was initiated under India’s G20 presidency this year, and aims to help implement policies that support startups, entrepreneurs, and ecosystem builders for their sustainable growth in member countries.
The engagement group is composed of representatives from various countries. Saudi Arabia — the only Middle Eastern member of G20 — is represented by Prince Fahad bin Mansour Al-Saud, the chair of the board of directors of the Saudi Entrepreneurship Vision.
The group’s delegates met in Goa last week to produce its recommendations and policy directives. The meeting was also attended by Oman, on India’s special invitation as the G20 host.
“The India-Middle East exchange, especially between their startup ecosystems, holds much promise,” Startup20 chair, Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, told Arab News.
“India has the world’s third largest startup ecosystem with close to 100,000 startups and 115 unicorns. The Middle East is both building a vibrant ecosystem as well as progressively investing in startups. There are synergies between the two at various levels.”
Vaishnav also discussed with Prince Fahad how to advance this collaboration.
“Prince Fahad and I, on behalf of Startup20, discussed how to make this movement grow exponentially and make it an ongoing feature of the G20 architecture going forward,” he said.
After the summit, Prince Fahad told local media he was there to learn from the experiences of others.
“We have had a fruitful and smooth discussion that led us to where we are today,” he said.
“We believe that the Indians did a great job in putting together the recommendations and giving everyone the chance to collaborate and share their suggestions and recommendations.”
During the Goa summit, the engagement group called on G20 nations to invest $1 trillion into the development of startup ecosystems by 2030.
Its members also agreed to a policy communique of which key action points were the creation and adoption of a definition framework for startups, creating a network institution to support startups and ecosystem stakeholders across G20, increasing and diversifying access to capital, easing market regulations for startups, and prioritizing the inclusion of underrepresented communities within the startup ecosystem as well as the scaling up startups of global interest.


Gratitude and sacrifice as Sri Lankans embark on this year’s Hajj  

Gratitude and sacrifice as Sri Lankans embark on this year’s Hajj  
Updated 12 min 56 sec ago

Gratitude and sacrifice as Sri Lankans embark on this year’s Hajj  

Gratitude and sacrifice as Sri Lankans embark on this year’s Hajj  
  • Sri Lanka still gripped by the most severe downturn since independence 
  • Pilgrims say they used lifetime savings to cover costs of travel 

COLOMBO: Departing for Saudi Arabia on Saturday, Abdul Hassan Mohammed Azwer is joining thousands of other Sri Lankans who have made it to the country’s Hajj contingent — often with sacrifices, as their country remains gripped by its worst financial crisis. 

Muslims constitute about 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s 22 million population, which is predominantly Buddhist. This year, 3,500 of them will perform the spiritual journey that is one of Islam’s five pillars.  

They have been boarding special flights to the Kingdom since last week, and many have used lifetime savings to afford the travel. 

“So many sacrifices were made with the support of the family. Raising funds was extremely difficult,” Azwer told Arab News as he and his wife prepared for the journey.

“We do not have words to express our gratitude to the creator Almighty Allah for giving me and my wife the opportunity to visit the House of Allah, the Kaaba.” 

While Sri Lanka, which last year defaulted on its foreign debt, is still gripped by the most severe downturn since independence in 1948, the situation is slowly improving, which is reflected by a higher number of pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia. 

The 2022 Hajj season took place at the peak of the economic crisis, and only some 960 people could afford to meet their government’s requirement to pay in foreign currency to travel.

This year, too, while more people were able to go, they had to seek the help of others, usually relatives. 

Ibrahim Sahib Ansar, who oversees Hajj logistics at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, said even life savings were often insufficient for pilgrims after many months of enduring skyrocketing inflation. 

“It is very difficult to commit a large amount of money for the purpose of Hajj pilgrimage, particularly during the financial crisis,” he told Arab News. 

But the commitment to fulfill their religious obligation, Ansar added, made many people welcome “certain sacrifices to perform Hajj this year.” 

For Mohammed Yahya Mohammed Muhular, a 72-year-old schoolteacher, the opportunity to perform the Hajj came after years of waiting. 

“I had my savings for the pilgrimage, but a major part of the financing came from my son,” he said. 

Next week, when Muhular and his wife see the Kaaba for the first time, he said they will offer “sincere prayers” for Sri Lanka’s financial crisis to finally end. 


Wife renews plea for release of ‘unlawfully imprisoned’ husband from Baghdad jail

Wife renews plea for release of ‘unlawfully imprisoned’ husband from Baghdad jail
Updated 17 min 8 sec ago

Wife renews plea for release of ‘unlawfully imprisoned’ husband from Baghdad jail

Wife renews plea for release of ‘unlawfully imprisoned’ husband from Baghdad jail
  • Engineer Robert Pether’s family says international tribunal’s decision strengthens case for freeing him
  • UN working group on arbitrary detention says it received allegations that Perther was subjected to ‘extreme cold, threats of death, humiliation and psychological abuse’

DUBAI: An Australian engineer’s wife, who says her husband was “maliciously prosecuted” and “unlawfully imprisoned” in Iraq in 2021, has renewed her plea for his release following an international tribunal’s decision.
Engineer Robert Pether and his coworker Khalid Radwan were detained in April 2021 over a contractual disagreement between their company, Cardno ME, and Iraq’s Central Bank, reported The Guardian on Saturday.
The company’s services were hired by the Central Bank to construct its Baghdad headquarters, yet the contractual relationship between them soured in 2020 over seven months of unpaid bills and the bank’s bid to modify the agreement.
In February 2023, the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration handed out a ruling in CME’s favor after finding the bank accountable for the contractual disagreement.
According to The Guardian’s report, the tribunal’s decision was made public recently, after which, Perther’s wife, Desree Pether, renewed her plea for the immediate release of her husband, who has spent over two years in jail.
She said the decision has strengthened the case for releasing Radwan and her husband.
“However, it has been news to the Central Bank obviously since February, and still Robert and Khalid are unlawfully imprisoned and the Central Bank have advised they are pushing forward with the $50 million civil case against (them),” she said.
“So even with a ruling in an international tribunal in favor of CME, the malicious prosecution against two innocent employees continues,” Perther’s wife was quoted as saying.
The engineering firm had withdrawn its employees, but in April 2021 the duo was lured back to Iraq under the pretext of resolving the dispute. On allegations of having defrauded the bank, Pether and Radwan were apprehended during a meeting with bank officials and sentenced to five years in jail. They were also slapped with a fine of $12 million.
Very recently, it was revealed that the dispute and the pair’s arrest had been taken up before the International Court of Arbitration.
According to the tribunal’s recently published judgment, the bank was found in breach of its contractual commitments and ordered to pay the engineering firm $13 million.
The tribunal deemed the amount as enough to cover the outstanding invoices, compensation, legal costs, and the release of a performance bond provided by CME.
The Australian engineer’s trial was “deeply compromised” and the duo’s imprisonment was “arbitrary,” according to a report issued last year by a UN working group on arbitrary detention.
Deeming the men’s detention as a breach of international law, the working group demanded their immediate release, saying it had received allegations that “(Pether) was exposed to extreme cold, threats of death, humiliation and various forms of psychological abuse.”
Guardian Australia said Pether has also alleged that a “confession” statement used against him was mistranslated by a biased employee of Iraq’s Central Bank before being handed to court.


Pope recovering well from surgery but to skip Sunday blessing

Pope recovering well from surgery but to skip Sunday blessing
Updated 10 June 2023

Pope recovering well from surgery but to skip Sunday blessing

Pope recovering well from surgery but to skip Sunday blessing
  • Chief surgeon Sergio Alfieri said the 86-year-old had agreed with doctors to stay there for at least all of next week
  • Francis underwent a three-hour operation to repair an abdominal hernia on Wednesday

ROME: Pope Francis’ recovery from surgery is going well but doctors advised him not to deliver his Sunday blessing from a hospital balcony to avoid strain on his abdomen.
Briefing reporters at the Gemelli hospital on Saturday, chief surgeon Sergio Alfieri also said the 86-year-old had agreed with doctors to stay there for at least all of next week.
Francis underwent a three-hour operation to repair an abdominal hernia on Wednesday.
“Only three days have passed. We asked the Holy Father to be prudent and avoid the strain (of standing at the balcony),” Alfieri said. “Each time he gets out of bed and sits in an armchair puts stress on the abdominal walls.”
A mesh prosthetic was inserted into the abdominal wall to help it heal and doctors want it to settle and attach properly to avoid another operation if it breaks, he added.
“You can understand how that would not be pleasing for him, and for me,” Alfieri joked.

PORTUGAL, MONGOLIA TRIPS STILL ON SCHEDULE
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the pope would say Sunday’s traditional noon Angelus prayer in his hospital suite and the faithful could say it at the same time.
Alfieri said the pope was taken off intravenous tubes on Friday and had started a semi-liquid diet. All medical parameters were within the norm, there were no cardiac problems and complete healing of the abdominal scars would take about three months, he added.
The Vatican said blood test results were good and chest X-rays showed no problems.
Francis had part of one lung removed because of an illness when he was 21-year-old in his native Argentina.
Doctors had said after the operation that the pope should have no limitations on travels and other activities after recovery. He has trips to Portugal on Aug. 2-6 for World Youth Day and to visit the Shrine of Fatima, and to Mongolia Aug. 31-Sept. 4, one of the remotest places he will have visited.
Bruni reiterated that all audiences had been canceled until June 18 but after that the pope’s schedule would remain for now.
The pope traditionally takes all of July off, with the Sunday blessings being his only public appearance, so he will have the entire month to rest before the Portugal trip.


Indonesia set to deport Australian surfer who apologized for drunken rampage

Indonesia set to deport Australian surfer who apologized for drunken rampage
Updated 10 June 2023

Indonesia set to deport Australian surfer who apologized for drunken rampage

Indonesia set to deport Australian surfer who apologized for drunken rampage
  • Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, 23, from Queensland, was detained in late April on Simeulue Island, a surf resort
  • Police accused him of going on a drunken rampage that left a fisherman with serious injuries

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s authorities were set to deport on Saturday an Australian surfer who apologized for attacking several people while drunk and naked in the deeply conservative Muslim province of Aceh.
Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, 23, from Queensland, was detained in late April on Simeulue Island, a surf resort, after police accused him of going on a drunken rampage that left a fisherman with serious injuries.
Risby-Jones was released from prison on Tuesday after he went through a restorative justice process, apologized for the attack and agreed to pay compensation to the fisherman. That allowed him to avoid going to court and facing a possible charge of assault that could have landed him up to five years in prison.
His lawyer, Idris Marbawi, said the two sides agreed that Risby-Jones would pay the fisherman’s family for hospital fees and a traditional peace ceremony. The total payment was 300 million rupiah ($20,000). The fisherman underwent surgery in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, for broken bones and an infection in his legs.
“Risby-Jones is the first foreigner to successfully resolve a case through restorative justice in Aceh province,” Marbawi said. “He deeply regretted what happened and vowed to return to Indonesia for surfing.”
After his release, Risby-Jones stayed at an immigration detention center. He was due to depart for Melbourne on Saturday evening, Marbawi said.
Footage of his release on Tuesday showed Risby-Jones being escorted by officers to a bus after hugging and saying goodbye to several prison wardens.
“It’s been a long time coming and I’m feeling amazing and super happy and grateful,” he said. “Everyone has been very nice and accommodated me well. Thank you.”
Violent acts by foreigners are rare in Aceh, the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia that practices Shariah, a concession made by the central government in 2001 as part of efforts to end a decades-long war for independence.