Ukrainian tanks join attacks along a 60-mile front, Russia says

Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Maryinka, an eastern city where fierce battles against Russian forces have been taking place, in the Donetsk region, on May 8, 2023. (AP)
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Updated 12 May 2023
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Ukrainian tanks join attacks along a 60-mile front, Russia says

  • The Russian Defence Ministry said 26 attacks involving over a thousand troops and up to 40 tanks near Soledar on Thursday had been repulsed
  • An attack at Soledar, just north of Bakhmut, would appear to substantiate reports by Russia's Wagner private army that Kyiv was launching its offensive

KYIV: Russia said on Friday that Ukrainian forces had attacked Russian positions along almost 100 km (60 miles) of the front line near Soledar, a small mining town near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces seized in January.
As anticipation grows of a Ukrainian counteroffensive aiming to drive Moscow’s forces out of the land they have seized in the last 15 months, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar confirmed earlier reports that Ukraine had made some gains near Bakhmut, but appeared to play down suggestions of a wider push.
The Russian Defense Ministry said 26 attacks involving over a thousand troops and up to 40 tanks near Soledar on Thursday had been repulsed. In one area, Russian forces had fallen back to “more favorable positions” near a reservoir northwest of Bakhmut.
Reuters was not able to verify the battlefield reports, and there was no immediate response from Kyiv, which during previous offensives has maintained strict silence about its operations while they were under way.
An attack at Soledar, just north of Bakhmut, would appear to substantiate reports by Russia’s Wagner private army that Kyiv was launching its offensive on the city’s north and south flanks, aiming to surround it. Earlier this week, a Ukrainian unit claimed to have routed a Russian brigade southwest of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s biggest advance for six months.
Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has said the flanks, guarded by regular troops, are crumbling, putting his group’s positions inside the city at risk. Russia’s defense ministry denied this.
Without giving details, Ukrainian deputy defense minister Maliar said Kyiv’s forces had advanced by about 2 km (1 mile) this week around Bakhmut without ceding any ground. A claim of such swift progress is rare in an attritional battle in which Russia has made incremental advances over the last 10 months without being able to claim the city.
But she seemed to imply this was not the start of the major, long-awaited assault: “This situation has actually been going on in the east for several months,” she wrote. “That’s it! Nothing more is happening.”
Moscow has been preparing since last autumn for an expected onslaught, and built lines of anti-tank fortifications along hundreds of miles of front.
It has also begun evacuating civilians who have been living near the conflict zone in Ukraine’s partially occupied Zaporizhzhia province to areas farther from the expected advance by Kyiv’s forces.
“We used to go out and watch (the shelling). Especially at night, you could see the flashes as they launch,” said Lyudmila, a 22-year-old from Kamianka-Dniprovska now in makeshift accommodation in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian port of Berdyansk.
“We’ve had shells land nearby and when it landed the entire sky was red,” she said.
In comments published on Friday, the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet said its defenses were also being tightened amid a flurry of Ukrainian drone strikes targeting its home base, the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

Ukraine is stronger now says Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in a Telegram post that “our path ahead is not easy,” but said Ukraine was “much stronger now than last year or in any other year of this war for freedom and independence of our country.”
Western countries have sent hundreds of modern tanks and armored vehicles to Ukraine and trained thousands of its soldiers in anticipation of the offensive.
On Thursday Kyiv secured a promise from Britain of long-range cruise missiles, breaking one of the last big Western taboos over weaponry previously deemed to carry too great a risk of provoking Russia. In the past, other allies have quickly followed suit after Britain announced new types of weapons.
Russia for its part has tried to dodge Western sanctions to buy weapons, such as drones from Iran, where it can. Washington has warned countries that they could face sanctions for providing material support to Russia’s invasion.
In South Africa, which says it is neutral, a minister responsible for arms control said the government had not approved any weapons shipments to Russia late last year, after the US ambassador said a Russian ship had picked up arms there in December. President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced an inquiry.
The war between two major farm exporters has worsened a global food crisis and, while an agreement brokered by Turkiye and the UN last July safely reopened some Black Sea grain shipment channels, talks to extend it have been difficult.
Russia has threatened to quit the arrangement on May 18. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said parties to the pact were nearing a deal to extend it, but the Kremlin said there was nothing new to report.


EU to start paying Tunisia under migration pact

Updated 9 sec ago
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EU to start paying Tunisia under migration pact

  • Tunisia will get 105 million euros to curb irregular migration, 150 million euros in budgetary support and 900 million euros in long-term aid
  • EU lawmakers, the bloc’s ombudsman and migrant assistance charities have questioned whether the deal with Tunisia meets European rights standards
Brussels: The EU is to start releasing money to Tunisia under a pact aimed at stemming irregular migration from the country, the European Commission said Friday.
A first payment of $135 million will be disbursed “in the coming days,” a commission spokeswoman, Ana Pisonero, said.
EU lawmakers, the bloc’s ombudsman and migrant assistance charities have questioned whether the deal with Tunisia meets European rights standards.
Under the agreement, a memorandum of understanding signed by commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in July, Tunisia will get 105 million euros to curb irregular migration, 150 million euros in budgetary support and 900 million euros in long-term aid.
Tunisia is one of the main launching points for boats carrying migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean for Europe, with most heading for Italy, in particular its island of Lampedusa.
The EU deal, strongly supported by Italy’s far-right government, aims to bolster Tunis’s coast guard to prevent boats leaving its shore. Some of the money also goes to UN agencies assisting migrants.
Pisonero said that, of the 127 million euros to be “swiftly” disbursed, 42 million euros came under the migration aspect of the July deal.
The rest was for previously agreed programs, with 60 million euros to help Tunisia with its budget.
The North African country is struggling with high debt and poor liquidity, and has suffered bread and power shortages.
Its hopes of accessing a $1.9-billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund are hobbled by a refusal to undertake IMF-mandated reforms.
Tunisian President Kais Saied has been criticized in Brussels for increasingly authoritarian rule.
The EU ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, last week demanded the commission explain how the pact with Tunisia will not breach human rights standards.
MEPs have also raised that question, pointing out that hundreds of sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia had allegedly in recent months been taken to the desert near the Libyan border and left to fend for themselves.
Tunisia has bristled at the criticism, and last week barred entry to a European Parliament fact-finding delegation.

Karabakh rebels say negotiating their troops’ withdrawal

Updated 2 min 50 sec ago
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Karabakh rebels say negotiating their troops’ withdrawal

  • Separatists and Azerbaijani officials conducted an initial round of Russian-mediated “reintegration” talks on Thursday
  • The separatists have pledged to lay down their arms as part of a cease-fire deal

YEREVAN: Nagorno-Karabakh separatists said Friday they were negotiating their troops’ withdrawal from the disputed enclave after Azerbaijan reclaimed control in a lightning offensive.
“Negotiations are underway with the Azerbaijani side under the auspices of Russian peacekeepers to organize the withdrawal process of troops and to ensure the return to their homes of the citizens displaced by military aggression,” the separatists said in a statement.
Separatists and Azerbaijani officials conducted an initial round of Russian-mediated “reintegration” talks on Thursday that ended with an agreement to meet again soon.
The separatists have pledged to lay down their arms as part of a cease-fire deal aimed at ending Azerbaijan’s one-day offensive into the ethnically-Armenian region.
Civilians in the area — estimated at up to 120,000 people — report suffering from a shortage of electricity and basic utilities.
International pressure has mounted on Azerbaijan to re-open the region’s only road leading to Armenia so that supplies and people can move in and out.
The separatist statement said the sides were also discussing “the procedure for citizens’ entry to and exit from” Nagorno-Karabakh.


Ukraine missile strike hits Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters, kills 1 serviceman

Updated 20 min 10 sec ago
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Ukraine missile strike hits Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters, kills 1 serviceman

  • Photos and video showed large plumes of smoke over the building in Sevastopol in annexed Crimea
  • The Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said no one was injured outside the burning headquarters

KYIV: Ukraine carried out a fiery missile strike Friday on the main headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, killing one serviceman, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Photos and video showed large plumes of smoke over the building in Sevastopol in annexed Crimea.
The Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said no one was injured outside the burning headquarters, and he didn’t provide information on other casualties. Firefighters battled the blaze, and more emergency forces were being brought in, an indication the fire could be massive.
Sevastopol residents said they heard explosions in the skies and saw smoke, Russian news outlets reported. Images circulated in Ukrainian Telegram channels showed clouds of smoke over the seafront. The Associated Press could not immediately verify the videos.
A stream of ambulances arrived at the fleet’s headquarters, and shrapnel was scattered hundreds of meters (yards) around, the Tass news agency reported.
The Defense Ministry said five missiles were shot down by Russian air defense systems responding to the attack on Sevastopol. It was not immediately clear if the headquarters was hit in a direct strike or by debris from an intercepted missile.
Oleg Kryuchkov, an official with the Crimean administration, said one cruise missile downed near Bakhchysarai, about 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) inland, sparked a grass fire.
Razvozhayev said civilian infrastructure wasn’t damaged but did not mention the impact on the fleet headquarters.
He initially warned Sevastopol residents that another attack was possible and urged them not to leave buildings or go to the city center. He later said there was no longer any threat of an air strike but reiterated calls not to go to the central part of the city, saying roads were closed and unspecified “special efforts” were underway.
Police asked residents to leave the central part of the city, Tass said.
Ukrainian officials, who have claimed responsibility for a series of other recent attacks on Crimea, didn’t immediately announce Kyiv launched the strike.
The attack comes a day after Russian missiles and artillery pounded cities across Ukraine, killing at least five people as President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President Joe Biden and congressional leaders in Washington with an additional $24 billion aid package being considered.
The port city of Sevastopol serves as the main base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. A Ukrainian drone hit the fleet’s headquarters in July 2022, injuring six people and causing minor damage to the building.
Last week, the Russian-installed authorities in the city accused Ukraine of attacking a strategic shipyard in the city, damaging two ships undergoing repairs and causing a fire at the facility.
The Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 in an act that most of the world considered illegal, has been a frequent target since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than 18 months ago. The attack on the shipyard was the biggest in weeks.
In other developments, ongoing shelling in the southern Kherson region killed one man and injured another, said regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin.
“Kherson has been restless since the morning,” he said on Telegram.
Russian shelling sparked fires in a residential building and a garage.
In Kharkiv, regional Gov. Oleh Synyehubov said over 14 settlements came under attack. A house was damaged and a fire broke out in Vovchansk, in Chuguyiv district. There were no casualties, the governor said.


Indonesia sends 200 cabin crew to support Saudi Vision 2030 aviation goals

Updated 22 September 2023
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Indonesia sends 200 cabin crew to support Saudi Vision 2030 aviation goals

  • Indonesian pilots and flight attendants have jobs with Saudia, flyadeal and Flynas
  • Jakarta’s manpower minister says deployment expected to strengthen Saudi-Indonesian ties

JAKARTA: Indonesian pilots and flight attendants are going to support Saudi Arabia’s aviation goals under Vision 2030, the manpower minister has said, as she sent off more than 220 cabin crew to join the Kingdom’s airlines.

Saudi Arabia has been investing heavily in the aviation sector and in March announced the creation of a new national airline, Riyadh Air, as it moves to compete with regional transport and travel hubs.

Indonesia’s Manpower Minister Ida Fauziya met 224 cabin crew who had secured jobs with Saudia, flyadeal and Flynas during a send-off ceremony in Jakarta on Thursday evening, and said that their deployment is in line with the Kingdom’s efforts to boost the tourism sector.

“You all have an important role in supporting Saudi Arabia’s vision,” she told the participants, as quoted in a statement released by the ministry.

“This will bring a positive contribution in strengthening relations between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.”

Data from the Indonesian embassy’s labor attache in Riyadh shows that 300 cabin crew from the country are already working in Saudi Arabia.

The manpower minister said that demand for Indonesian workers is high as they have an “excellent reputation in the world of international aviation.”

Earlier this month — for the fifth consecutive year — the Southeast Asian nation’s flag carrier Garuda Indonesia received the World’s Best Cabin Crew award from British-based consultancy Skytrax, which runs annual airline and airport rankings.


India to reserve one-third of parliament seats for women

Updated 22 September 2023
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India to reserve one-third of parliament seats for women

  • New law paves the way for higher number of female representatives across the country
  • But the legislation is unlikely to be implemented before 2029, says constitutional lawyer

NEW DELHI: Billed as a landmark decision, India’s parliament has passed legislation that guarantees parliamentary seats for women lawmakers, although it is expected to take years before the law comes into force.

The Lok Sabha, or the lower house of India’s parliament, approved the law on Wednesday, and the upper house, or the Rajya Sabha, passed it unanimously on Thursday evening — more than two decades after a parliamentary proposal was submitted to give greater representation to women.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media after the passage of the bill and welcomed it as “a defining moment” in India’s democratic journey.

“With the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Empowerment Reservation Bill) in Parliament, we usher in an era of stronger representation and empowerment for the women of India,” he said. “This is not merely legislation; it is a tribute to the countless women who have made our nation.”

The law reserves a third of seats for women in the lower house of parliament and state assemblies. It does not apply to the upper house of Parliament, as its members are chosen by state legislatures.

However, the new legislation will only come into effect after India conducts a census and then redraws the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies. No date has yet been announced for completing the census that was scheduled to be held in 2021 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The amendment provides that reservation will be implemented after new seats are created by delimitation after a fresh census,” Sanjay Hegde, constitutional lawyer from the Supreme Court, told Arab News on Friday.

“The census could not be done in 2021 due to COVID and may be done in 2025 or later. Compiled data may be available much later, after the census, and based on such data fresh delimitation has to be worked out. If the census is postponed, the entire cycle can be kicked further down the road to take effect in 2029 or 2034 polls or even later.”

The new law was welcomed by several women activists but the absence of a definite timeline made them wonder about the level of commitment to greater female representation in parliament.

“They passed it with the caveat that they can’t be implemented without the census and without the delimitation,” said Maimoon Mollah, president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, the largest women’s organization in India.

“We don’t know when that is going to happen.”

For Kavita Krishnan, a Delhi-based activist, the most disappointing part was that the rule would not apply in next year’s polls.

“In the next election there is not going to be any women reservation,” she said.

“Basically, they are indefinitely postponing this thing.”