UK has ‘confidence’ in nuclear system despite misfire

UK has ‘confidence’ in nuclear system despite misfire
This video grab released on Feb. 21, 2024 by the Ministry of Defense shows a missile firing from HMS Vigilant, which fired an unarmed Trident II (D5) ballistic missile. (AP)
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Updated 21 February 2024
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UK has ‘confidence’ in nuclear system despite misfire

UK has ‘confidence’ in nuclear system despite misfire
  • Defense minister Grant Shapps admitted to parliament that “an anomaly did occur” during an exercise on January 30
  • It is believed to be the second failed launch in a row

LONDON: The UK government said Wednesday that it had “absolute confidence” in its Trident nuclear deterrent system despite a reported missile test failure.
Defense minister Grant Shapps admitted to parliament that “an anomaly did occur” during an exercise on January 30, following reports that a missile fired from the submarine HMS Vanguard fell into the sea.
Shapps said in the written statement that it was “longstanding practice” not to comment on such tests, but that it was providing information “in recognition of the level of interest” in the operation.
“On this occasion, an anomaly did occur, but it was event specific and there are no implications for the reliability of the wider Trident missile systems and stockpile,” insisted the minister, who was on board the vessel at the time of the test.
“Nor are there any implications for our ability to fire our nuclear weapons, should the circumstances arise in which we need to do so.”
The Sun newspaper reported on Wednesday that the “first-stage” boosters on the dummy Trident 2 missile did not ignite when fired off the coast of Florida, with an anonymous source saying, “it just went plop, right next to them.”
It is believed to be the second failed launch in a row.
Despite the setback, Shapps said that the test “reaffirmed the effectiveness of the UK’s nuclear deterrent, in which the government has absolute confidence.
“The Trident missile system remains the most reliable weapons system in the world, having successfully completed more than 190 tests,” he added.
“The UK’s resolve and capability to use its nuclear weapons, should we ever need to do so, remains beyond doubt.”
But the opposition Labour party called the reports “concerning.”
The 13-meter-long Trident missile, which can aim at targets up to 4,000 miles away, are fired underwater from submarines, with boosters supposed to ignite when the weapons reach the surface.
Each Vanguard-class submarine can hold eight Trident rockets, but they are due to be replaced in the 2030s by the larger Dreadnought-class of vessels.


Militants kill 6 Pakistani soldiers in a shootout

Updated 14 sec ago
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Militants kill 6 Pakistani soldiers in a shootout

Militants kill 6 Pakistani soldiers in a shootout
The troops died in an overnight operation in North Waziristan district on Saturday, according to an army statement
It said six militants also were killed

PESHAWAR: Militants killed six Pakistani soldiers in a shootout, the army said Saturday, the latest unrest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan where armed groups including the Pakistani Taliban are active.
The troops died in an overnight operation in North Waziristan district on Saturday, according to an army statement. It said six militants also were killed.
The army said a separate operation killed two militants in Swat, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. One of them was said to be involved in an attack on a convoy of foreign ambassadors in the area earlier this month.
Also Saturday, cellphone services remained suspended in Islamabad as it entered a second day of a lockdown aimed at thwarting rallies in support of ex-leader Imran Khan. He is in prison on multiple charges.
Shipping containers blocked off the city’s entry and exit points, but videos from Khan’s PTI party showed supporters piled into vehicles and attempted to head toward Islamabad.
The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, and others in the convoy worked throughout the night to remove shipping containers from the road, according to the party.
The PTI later said that security forces arrested Gandapur for entering Islamabad in defiance of a ban on rallies. Police and officials did not immediately confirm the arrest.
Clashes broke out between Khan supporters and security forces in D-Chowk, which is close to several key government buildings including Parliament and the Supreme Court.
The PTI also said it planned to hold a rally in Lahore.

South Africa: hundreds march for Gaza on war anniversary

South Africa: hundreds march for Gaza on war anniversary
Updated 22 min 25 sec ago
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South Africa: hundreds march for Gaza on war anniversary

South Africa: hundreds march for Gaza on war anniversary
  • The marchers — many of them wearing the keffiyeh scarf that symbolizes the Palestinian struggle against Israel — walked to parliament in a protest

CAPE TOWN: Several hundred people marched through central Cape Town Saturday waving Palestinian flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans in a pro-Gaza rally to mark the first anniversary of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
With placards accusing Israel of genocide and racism, the marchers — many of them wearing the keffiyeh scarf that symbolizes the Palestinian struggle against Israel — walked to parliament in a protest organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
“Israel is a racist state” and “We are all Palestinian,” chanted some of the marchers. Others held up placards stating: “We are all Hamas” or “Zionism is racism.”
Some marchers said they agreed with the South African case before the International Court of Justice that alleges the Israeli military operation in Gaza, launched in response to the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants, amounts to “genocide.”
“I am appalled at Israel and the genocide and the attack on innocent people, children... and now moving on into Lebanon,” Linelle Arendse told the News24 channel.
Many South Africans compare Israel’s stance toward Palestinians with the racially oppressive system of apartheid that imposed white-minority rule on South Africa until the first all-race election in 1994.
“I have been through the apartheid struggle so I know the pain of the Palestinians and Lebanese,” Shafiek Barnes told News24. “I am here because I am Muslim and I feel the pain that they are going through.”
The organizers of the march handed to parliament a memorandum demanding the government implement the UN’s 1973 Apartheid Convention which declares apartheid systems a crime and allows for action against them, such as boycotts.
Also called the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, it was signed by the South African government in May 2024.
Pro-Gaza marches were also due Saturday in the cities of Johannesburg and Durban and around the world ahead of the anniversary of the October 7 attack.


Pakistan capital at standstill as Imran Khan’s supporters protest

Pakistan capital at standstill as Imran Khan’s supporters protest
Updated 26 min ago
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Pakistan capital at standstill as Imran Khan’s supporters protest

Pakistan capital at standstill as Imran Khan’s supporters protest
  • Former prime minister barred from standing in the February elections that were marred by allegations of rigging, sidelined by dozens of legal cases
  • Protests were also due Saturday in Lahore, however the main motorway linking the eastern megacity to the capital was blocked

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s capital was locked down on Saturday, swarmed by security forces with mobile Internet cut as supporters of jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan attempted to seize the streets in protest.
Khan was barred from standing in the February elections that were marred by allegations of rigging, sidelined by dozens of legal cases.
But his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has defied a crackdown to needle the government with regular demonstrations.
PTI activists began driving to Islamabad on Friday from his powerbase in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but were met with shipping container roadblocks and volleys of tear gas.
On Saturday, small and scattered convoys pressed in on Islamabad in defiance of the government which approved troops for deployment on the streets — citing the need to guarantee security ahead of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit due to open on October 15.
“I am so proud of all our people,” said a message from Khan posted on social media site X on Saturday afternoon. “You showed unfaltering resilience and courage as you came out yesterday and overcame unbelievable obstacles.”
Protests were also due Saturday in Lahore, however the main motorway linking the eastern megacity to the capital was blocked.
Amnesty International said the communications cuts and road blockades “infringe on people’s right to freedom of expression, access to information, peaceful assembly and movement.”
“These restrictions are part of a worrying clampdown on the right to protest in Pakistan,” the rights group said.
The social media site X — formerly Twitter — has also been blocked across Pakistan since after the election, when mobile Internet was likewise cut on polling day and PTI allege widespread vote tampering took place.
The 72-year-old Khan served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, when he was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote after falling out with the powerful military establishment considered Pakistan’s political kingmakers.
As opposition leader he led an unprecedented campaign of defiance before becoming tangled in slews of court cases he claims have been orchestrated to prevent his return to power.


Zelensky to attend defense talks in Germany with Biden

Zelensky to attend defense talks in Germany with Biden
Updated 05 October 2024
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Zelensky to attend defense talks in Germany with Biden

Zelensky to attend defense talks in Germany with Biden
  • Military meeting at the US air base in Ramstein near Frankfurt is expected to bring together more than 50 of Ukraine’s allies
  • Russian forces have been advancing steadily in eastern Ukraine this year against outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian troops
KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday he would attend an international meeting to discuss military support for Ukraine to be held in Germany next week.
The military meeting at the US air base in Ramstein near Frankfurt is expected to bring together more than 50 of Ukraine’s allies, including US President Joe Biden.
“We are preparing for the 25th Ramstein meeting on October 12, which will be the first to take place at the leaders’ level,” he said on social media.
Zelensky said he would present “clear, concrete steps toward a just end of the war,” adding that Russia could be stopped by “the determination of our partners and the strengthening of Ukraine.”
The last meeting in September, also at Ramstein, was attended by Zelensky, who appealed for additional weapons to repel advancing Russian forces.
The gathering will come at a crucial juncture for Ukraine ahead of the US election next month, which could upend the support that Kyiv receives from its biggest backer.
Republican candidate Donald Trump has long been critical of the billions of dollars the United States has given to Ukraine and has echoed Russian talking points about the conflict.
Ukraine meanwhile has upped the pressure on its Western supporters to be given authorization to use donated long-range weapons to strike military targets deep inside Russia.
Russian forces have been advancing steadily in eastern Ukraine this year against outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian troops.

Long waits for Canadian visas leave Gazans in limbo

Long waits for Canadian visas leave Gazans in limbo
Updated 05 October 2024
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Long waits for Canadian visas leave Gazans in limbo

Long waits for Canadian visas leave Gazans in limbo
  • Canada pledged temporary residency for up to 5,000 Gazans in May
  • Just over 300 arrived since program first launched in January

TORONTO: Reem Alyazouri’s escape from a bombarded Gaza City through Egypt ended in Toronto on Sept. 4.
But as she and her family wrestle with applications for work permits and health insurance, her mother and father remain stuck in Cairo waiting for Canadian visas after fleeing Israel’s war in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza seven months ago.
“My mind is busy with my parents,” she said. “I feel guilty, believe me. When I came here and I left them behind they told us, ‘Go and start your life. ... Don’t worry about us.’“
The family is trying to come to Canada through a temporary residence program for Gazans with relatives here. Alyazouri’s brother Hani Abushomar, a Canadian citizen, applied for six of his family members to join him in Canada hours after the program was launched in January.
Nine months and a harrowing exit from Gaza later, his mother and father remain stranded in Cairo. They completed the last major step of the visa application process — submitting biometric information — six months ago.
They are among thousands of Palestinians waiting for visas from Canada, a country that prides itself on welcoming people from around the world.
Canada said in May it would bring in up to 5,000 Gazans — expanding on a pledge in December to take in 1,000 from the Palestinian enclave. Months later, just over 300 have arrived, with 698 applications approved out of over 4,200 submitted.
Reuters spoke with multiple applicants who said they have been waiting for months since submitting biometric information, dashing their hopes of a swift reunion with relatives in Canada.
Canada has made no promises on how long it would to take to process visas for Gazans fleeing the conflict and says it has little control over who is able to leave the enclave.
A cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 last year, in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage, ignited the war that has flattened most of Gaza, displacing most of its 2.3 million people and killing more than 41,800 people, according to Gaza health authorities.
Canada’s focus “is on keeping families together and bringing them to safety as quickly as possible,” immigration department spokesperson Julie Lafortune wrote in an email. The primary barrier is getting out of Gaza, she added.
Application processing times vary “based on the details and complexity of each file, and many factors are outside of the IRCC’s control,” Lafortune said, referring to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada department.
The immigration department would not say how many applicants have submitted biometric information and are waiting in Egypt.
Barriers to entry
Immigration lawyers say the wait for Gazans is longer than those faced by other groups fleeing conflict or disaster, and that the small numbers approved contrast with hundreds of thousands of visas granted to Ukrainians under a similar program offering temporary status.
One Canadian immigration expert said some of the visa requirements for Gazans — such as having to provide employment information dating back to when they were 16 — are unusual.
“Canada has a lot of experience in designing temporary, ad hoc programs and this one has an inordinate amount of barriers and hurdles for people to meet,” said University of Ottawa law professor Jamie Chai Yun Liew, who focuses on immigration.
Liew said the Gaza program is moving slower than other Canadian temporary immigration programs, including those for Ukranians and survivors of the 2023 earthquake in Syria and Turkiye.
As of April, Canada had approved nearly 963,000 applications under the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel since March 2022. So far nearly 300,000 people have arrived in Canada under that program.
Australia has granted about 3,000 visitor visas to people from Gaza since October 2023 and about 1,300 have arrived in the country, said Graham Thom, advocacy coordinator with the Refugee Council of Australia, a research and advocacy group.
’Everything is uncertain’
Gazans who have managed to get to Egypt live in limbo, surviving off savings or donations, without access to government services, said immigration lawyer Debbie Rachlis, adding she represents dozens in that position. Many are survivors of trauma.
They beat the odds just by getting that far, and for most, the escape came at great personal risk. The Gaza City neighborhood where Alyazouri and Abushomar’s family lived has been “erased,” he said. They were forced to flee from their home multiple times. Alyazouri’s daughter was injured.
“Something in my heart is broken,” Alyazouri said.
The Canadian government said it continues to put forward the names of applicants to local Israeli officials, “but does not ultimately decide who can exit Gaza.”
“Israel has agreed to Canada’s request to the exit of extended family members in Gaza as part of their expanding humanitarian efforts. However, at present, the Rafah border crossing is closed,” Lafortune wrote, referring to the main entry point between Gaza and Egypt.
Abushomar has been waiting with his mother and father for visas in Egypt, where people in their position lack papers to work, access health care or open a bank account. He says he will eventually have to return to Canada to work and worries for his parents, especially his mother, who has dementia and joint problems.
For now, Abushomar says, “Everything is uncertain.”