Russia, China warships enter Sea of Okhotsk for drills
Russia, China warships enter Sea of Okhotsk for drills/node/2572545/world
Russia, China warships enter Sea of Okhotsk for drills
Warship takes part in the joint strategic command and staff exercise "Ocean 2024" involving the Russian Navy and the Chinese Navy in the Sea of Japan. (File/Reuters)
Russia, China warships enter Sea of Okhotsk for drills
The joint Russian-Chinese “Beibu/Interaction — 2024” naval exercise included anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons
Updated 24 September 2024
Reuters
BEIJING: A detachment of warships of Russia’s Pacific Fleet and the Chinese Navy entered the Sea of Okhotsk in the western Pacific as part of joint navy exercises, Russia’s Interfax agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Pacific Fleet’s press service.
“During the sea passage, the detachment carried out tasks of joint manoeuvring, countering unmanned boats of a mock enemy, conducting reconnaissance and monitoring the surface situation with the involvement of deck helicopters,” Interfax reported, citing the press service.
Russia said on Saturday it was starting the joint Russian-Chinese “Beibu/Interaction — 2024” naval exercise that would include anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons.
Russian large anti-submarine destroyers Admiral Panteleyev and Admiral Tributs as well as corvettes MPK-82 and MPK-107 were among the warships taking part in the drills, Interfax reported.
China was represented by the destroyers Xining and Wuxi, the frigate Linyi and the integrated supply ship Taihu, the agency added.
“(The ships) will perform artillery firing, as well as the use of anti-submarine and anti-aircraft weapons systems under a single plan,” Interfax reported.
The Sea of Okhotsk in the western Pacific Ocean is located between Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast and Japan’s island of Hokkaido to the south.
Colombia denies UN claims of 20,000 bodies at Bogota airport
Bogota Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan denied the report
The UN said its report was based on information it had received from local authorities
Updated 57 min 16 sec ago
AFP
BOGOTA: Colombian authorities on Friday denied a United Nations report claiming that the bodies of 20,000 people who were forcibly disappeared over decades of conflict were being kept at Bogota airport.
On Thursday, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances stated that “thousands of unidentified bodies lie in poorly managed cemeteries or storage facilities,” citing “a hangar at Bogota airport where around 20,000 unidentified bodies are currently stored.”
Bogota Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan denied the report, which followed a visit by a UN delegation to Colombia, and asked the UN to substantiate its claims.
Isabelita Mercado, senior adviser on peace and reconciliation at Bogota town hall, told the W station the city’s cemeteries held the bodies of around 5,500 unidentified missing people or people who had been identified but whose bodies have not been claimed.
The UN said its report was based on information it had received from local authorities but didn’t say which ones.
A press officer did not respond to AFP’s requests for comment.
The Search Unit for Persons Reported Missing, which is in charge of locating and identifying the thousands of people who disappeared over the course of six decades of conflict, said it had “no information” on the existence of a “site of forensic interest” near the airport.
The organization has counted more than 104,000 people who went missing during the conflict between security forces, guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug cartels which began in the 1960s.
The biggest guerrilla group, FARC, laid down arms after signing a peace deal in 2016 but a handful of armed groups remain active in the country.
Ghanaians see presidential vote as a way out of hardship
Ghana’s presidential elections have historically been two-horse races
Updated 07 December 2024
AP
ACCRA: Joseph Antwi knows what he wants as a young person in Ghana casting his vote for the first time on Saturday when the West African nation elects its next president.
What he is not sure of, though, is whether the election’s outcome would improve the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation in Ghana, one of the region’s economic powerhouses which has struggled in recent years with high public debt, a weakened local currency and high inflation.
“I want to vote to kick out the current government because they have not been kind to young people,” said Antwi, a trader in the capital of Accra, accusing the outgoing government of President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo of breaking its electoral promises since it was first elected eight years ago.
But the options for a candidate that will bring change are limited, he said, echoing the concerns of some of the 18.7 million people registered to vote for both president and members of parliament.
Ghana’s presidential elections have historically been two-horse races. This time is no different.
Although 12 candidates are running to become Ghana’s next president, it is seen as a tight race between Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party government that has struggled to resolve the economic crisis, and immediate past President John Mahama, the leader of the main opposition National Democratic Congress.
In their final campaign rallies on Thursday, both candidates made a last push to pitch their political parties as the answer to Ghana’s economic woes.
Bawumia, a former deputy governor of the central bank, promised to build on the outgoing administration’s efforts and stabilize the economy. “I know what I want to do from day one in the presidency,” Bawumia, 61, told cheering supporters in Accra.
Mahama, on the other hand, restated his promise to “reset” the country on various fronts. “We need to reset our democracy, governance, economy, finances, agriculture, infrastructure, environment, health sector, and all that we hold dear as a people,” the 65-year-old former president said.
Across the city, the election mood has been high-spirited with political rallies, while election jingles and songs blast from public speakers.
In addition to the economic hardship, illegal gold mining — known locally as galamsey — has also been a major source of concern, triggering protests in recent weeks.
Ghana is Africa’s top gold producer and the world’s sixth largest, but illegal gold mining, which pollutes rivers and the environment, has spiked as people become more desperate for a better life.
Voters will be looking at whoever will promise to solve the problem of unemployment and hardship, said Lord Mawuko-Yevugah, a professor of political economy at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.
Ghana’s opposition parties have also alleged plans by the election commission to rig the vote in favor of the ruling party, although without providing any evidence. The claims raised fears for a country seen as a beacon of democratic values at a time when democracy in West Africa is threatened by coups.
“We view transparency, responsiveness, and inclusiveness as critical to ensuring, credible and fair processes,” said Jean Mensa, head of the Ghanaian electoral commission. “And we have demonstrated these three elements in all aspects of our work.”
Dozens arrested across Britain in people-smuggling crackdown
The CTA allows British and Irish citizens only to travel without passports between the islands of Ireland, Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands
Updated 07 December 2024
AFP
LONDON: Police have arrested dozens of people in a cross-border crackdown against people-smuggling gangs exploiting free movement between the UK and Ireland, Britain’s Interior Ministry said.
The crackdown “has led to the arrest of 35 people in multiple locations across the UK and Ireland,” the UK Home Office said in a statement.
Immigration staff and police raided locations in Northern Ireland, England and Scotland as part of the three-day operation, it said.
It targeted criminal groups exploiting the Common Travel Area and abusing UK borders on all fronts, said the statement.
SPEEDREAD
• Earlier this year, after a surge in people applying f or asylum in the republic, Dublin said most had come over the land border with Northern Ireland.
• The Home Office said that checks at major ports, airports, road networks and private addresses across the country had detected the gangs’ activities.
• Operating in the UK and internationally, they exploit vulnerable migrants.
The CTA allows British and Irish citizens only to travel without passports between the islands of Ireland, Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
But it has sparked unease in Ireland amid allegations that migrants are using Belfast as a backdoor to the republic, and in the other direction into Britain.
Earlier this year, after a surge in people applying for asylum in the republic, Dublin said most had come over the land border with Northern Ireland.
The Home Office said that checks at major ports, airports, road networks and private addresses across the country had detected the gangs’ activities.
Operating in the UK and internationally, they exploit vulnerable migrants, charging them thousands of pounds to enter the UK illegally, it added.
Hague court lays fresh charges against ex-Kosovo leader Thaci
Thaci “has been charged with three counts of obstruction of official persons in performing official duties,” said a statement released by prosecutors
Thaci resigned from the presidency in late 2020
Updated 06 December 2024
AFP
PRISTINA: Prosecutors with a special international court in The Hague on Friday charged Kosovo’s former president Hashim Thaci, who is on trial for war crimes, with obstruction and contempt of court.
Thaci “has been charged with three counts of obstruction of official persons in performing official duties, four counts of violating secrecy of proceedings and four counts of contempt of court,” said a statement released by prosecutors.
A separate statement by the Kosovo Specialists Chambers (KSC) in The Hague said “the indictment charges the accused with offenses related to alleged unlawful efforts to influence witness testimonies in the Thaci et al war crimes trial.”
The KSC is a court located in The Hague to prosecute mainly former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) fighters for war crimes.
Among them is former KLA commander Thaci, who dominated Kosovo’s politics after it declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and rose to become president of the tiny country.
Thaci resigned from the presidency in late 2020 to face war crimes and crimes against humanity charges, and has pleaded not guilty.
‘We love our food’: Malaysians cheer as breakfast culture joins UNESCO list
Malaysia’s breakfast traditions recognized on Intangible Cultural Heritage list
This is the first time Malaysia has received UN recognition related to gastronomy
Updated 06 December 2024
Kanyakumari Damordaran
KUALA LUMPUR: For many Malaysians, breakfast has always been the highlight of the day — and now, it is also a source of pride after gaining a place on UNESCO’s cultural heritage list.
The UN body voted on Thursday to include Malaysia’s breakfast culture, “a living heritage related to the traditional dietary practices,” on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The recognition was immediately welcomed by the Ministry of Culture as a “historic milestone” as it was Malaysia’s first UNESCO entry related to food and gastronomy. It also drew delighted responses from all those from whom breakfast is an integral part of family and social life.
Heng Wei Boon, a 47-year-old engineer, still remembers the food his mother used to prepare when he was growing up in Penang. The usual menu was half-boiled eggs with toast, porridge, or noodle soup. All three dishes until now remain his breakfast favorites until now.
“It did not matter if it was a school day. If it is, breakfast is at 6.30 a.m. If not, it’s around 7:45 or 8 a.m,” he said.
“It is a meal to start the day and here in Malaysia, we take it very seriously.”
From home kitchens to kopitiams — traditional coffee houses — to roadside stalls and office cafeterias, the first meal of the day is like a ritual in all of Malaysia’s multi-ethnic communities.
“I grew up in a kampung (village) neighborhood, in the city, and back then, sometimes, some of the moms took turns making breakfast for the kids ... It was such a fun time, and it is a memory so many of us cherish and still talk about,” Nur Natasha Siraj, a 35-year old pharmacist in the Klang Valley told Arab News.
“Now, as a working adult, taking that time for breakfast — to sit and share a meal to start my day — is an important part of my routine, as it is for many Malaysians. The boomers in my hospital would never not go for breakfast and even give us a scolding for missing breakfast. Not so much because they care about our health, but because it is our time to check in with one another and bond before the rush of the day begins.”
A screengrab from a 2023 clip by Malaysia's Department of National Heritage shows a food vendor serving nasi lemak. (UNESCO)
Her favorite breakfast item was nasi lemak — fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk and with pandan leaves, accompanied by sambal chili sauce and various garnishes like fresh cucumber slices, fried anchovies, roasted peanuts, and boiled or fried eggs.
Traditionally served in banana leaves, it is one of the most popular staples.
Mahalakshmi Sundarasekaran, a Kuala Lumpur vendor who sells nasi lemak and idli — savory Indian rice cakes — runs out of her menu items within two hours from opening her stall in the morning.
“People are always in a good mood when having breakfast. I enjoy seeing that. I am glad Malaysia got recognized for this,” she said.
“We, Malaysians, love our food, give it to us three times a day, five times a day, we will eat. But there’s something about breakfast. A good breakfast to start your day ... This recognition is so appropriate.”
Other iconic breakfast items include roti canai — a flaky, crispy South Indian flatbread served with lentil or meat curry — and mi soto, a soup dish that combines broth spiced with turmeric, ginger and lemongrass, and thick yellow noodles.
Sulaiman Ramly, who owns a mi soto stall in Kota Bharu in the northern state of Kelantan, told Arab News that breakfast was a “reset time” for Malaysians.
“It is when they set their bearings for the day. For someone like me who sells breakfast for a living, I know that a good meal to start your day sets the tone for the whole day,” he said.
“In Malaysia, there is no shortage of good food and especially not of good breakfast.”
