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Saudi Arabia and UAE join Time to Act climate conference in Tokyo

Saudi Arabia and UAE join Time to Act climate conference in Tokyo
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Saudi Arabia and UAE made contributions to the Time to Act Forum in Tokyo on Wednesday as the international climate conference COP28 in Dubai approaches at the end of November. (ANJ)
Saudi Arabia and UAE join Time to Act climate conference in Tokyo
2 / 2
Saudi Arabia and UAE made contributions to the Time to Act Forum in Tokyo on Wednesday as the international climate conference COP28 in Dubai approaches at the end of November. (ANJ)
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Updated 19 October 2023
Arab News Japan
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Saudi Arabia and UAE join Time to Act climate conference in Tokyo

Saudi Arabia and UAE join Time to Act climate conference in Tokyo
  • Mohammed Al-Dahlawi from the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia talked about the Red Sea Project
  • “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has taken decisive action toward achieving a more sustainable future”
Updated 19 October 2023
Arab News Japan
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TOKYO: Saudi Arabia and UAE made contributions to the Time to Act Forum in Tokyo on Wednesday as the international climate conference COP28 in Dubai approaches at the end of November.
Mohammed Al-Dahlawi from the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia talked about the Red Sea Project, which concerns regenerative tourism and will include 50 hotel facilities completely powered by renewable sources. It is being designed by Japanese architect KUMA Kengo.
Al-Dahlawi also highlighted the collaboration with Japanese companies, which can obtain low carbon credits in exchange for their collaboration with the Kingdom, and outlined measures taken by his government to help reduce the effects of climate change.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has taken decisive action toward achieving a more sustainable future,” he said. “The Saudi Green Initiative unites environmental protection, energy transition and a sustainability program with the overarching aim of offsetting and reducing carbon emissions.”
Shihab Al Faheem, the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, who concluded the session, talked about the key points to be developed heading toward COP28 in Dubai. “Accelerating energy transition, addressing climate finance, prioritizing people and encouraging total inclusiveness for all,” he said.
“With COP28 being less than a month away, I think it’s very important for us to see the results of the first global stocktake. This is the time to show our commitment to reversing climate change and accelerating decarbonization.”
Speakers agreed that fossil fuels still have a lot of importance in the real economy, along with nuclear energy and it was not immediately possible to move directly to renewable energies without global finance making sufficient efforts to achieve this.
 

Topics: COP28 Japan UAE Saudi Arabia

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Iran summons Afghan envoy for ‘disrespecting’ anthem

Iran summons Afghan envoy for ‘disrespecting’ anthem
Updated 20 September 2024
AFP
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Iran summons Afghan envoy for ‘disrespecting’ anthem

Iran summons Afghan envoy for ‘disrespecting’ anthem
  • Afghan visiting official remained seated as Iran’s national anthem played at a conference in Tehran
  • The visiting official later posted a video apology, describing sitting during anthems as Afghan custom
Updated 20 September 2024
AFP

TEHRAN: Iran summoned the acting head of Afghanistan’s embassy Friday after saying a visiting Afghan official disrespected the country’s national anthem by not standing, days after a similar incident in Pakistan.
Following the incident at a conference in Tehran on Islamic unity, the Afghan delegate apologized, but said this was because music in public is banned by the Taliban.
An Iranian foreign ministry statement said a “strong protest” had been lodged after his “unconventional and unacceptable action.”
It accused Kabul’s representative to the Islamic Unity Conference of “disrespecting the national anthem of the Islamic Republic.”
The foreign ministry “condemned this action, which went against diplomatic custom.”
Afghanistan’s representative remained seated when Iran’s national anthem was played, mirroring a similar event involving Afghan officials in Pakistan.
“Apart from the obvious necessity of the guest respecting the symbols of the host country, paying respect to the national anthem of countries is internationally recognized behavior,” Iran’s statement added.
Islamabad on Tuesday summoned the Afghan charge d’affaires over “disrespect for the national anthem” by Afghanistan’s acting consul general and another official at an event in Peshawar on Monday, Pakistani officials said.
Pakistani media quoted a spokesman for Afghanistan’s consulate as saying the officials did not stand because of the music, and that no disrespect was meant.
“Because the anthem had music, the consul general and an official did not stand. We have banned our national anthem because of the music,” the Afghan spokesman was quoted as saying.
On Friday the Afghan official in Tehran for the conference posted a video apology, saying he meant no disrespect but that sitting during anthems is their custom.
Shiite-majority Iran shares a 900-kilometer (550-mile) border with Afghanistan, but has not officially recognized Taliban’s government since it came to power in August 2021 after US forces withdrew.

Topics: Iran

Rotterdam knife attack possibly a terrorist act, prosecutors say

Rotterdam knife attack possibly a terrorist act, prosecutors say
Updated 20 September 2024
Reuters
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Rotterdam knife attack possibly a terrorist act, prosecutors say

Rotterdam knife attack possibly a terrorist act, prosecutors say
  • The 22-year-old man stabbed his first victim in a parking garage beneath Rotterdam’s Erasmus Bridge before moving to street level
  • Prosecutors said he had been charged with murder and attempted murder with a terrorist motive
Updated 20 September 2024
Reuters

AMSTERDAM: Dutch prosecutors on Friday said a knife-wielding assailant who allegedly stabbed and killed a man and wounded another in Rotterdam on Thursday night may have had a terrorist motive.
The 22-year-old man stabbed his first victim in a parking garage beneath Rotterdam’s Erasmus Bridge before moving to street level, where he fatally attacked another person, local media reported.
He was subsequently overpowered by bystanders and police and taken into custody.
Prosecutors said he had been charged with murder and attempted murder with a terrorist motive.
“Initial investigation shows the suspect was possibly driven by ideology,” the prosecutors said in a statement, as they said the man had shouted “Allahu Akbar,” which means “God is Greater” in Arabic, several times during the attack.
“But other motives cannot be excluded,” they added.
The victim who was killed was a 32-year-old man from Rotterdam, while the one who was wounded was a 33-year-old man from Switzerland, the prosecutors said.
The suspect lives in Amersfoort, a city located about 80 km (50 miles) from Rotterdam, they said.
De Telegraaf newspaper reported that a personal trainer who had been giving an outdoor class knocked the suspect unconscious with a squat stick that he had broken in two, and other bystanders threw chairs at him.
Witnesses described the suspect as carrying two large knives and targeting random individuals.

Topics: Netherland Dutch prosecutors knife attack Rotterdam terrorist

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Russia charges soldiers with killing pro-Moscow US fighter

Russia charges soldiers with killing pro-Moscow US fighter
Updated 20 September 2024
AFP
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Russia charges soldiers with killing pro-Moscow US fighter

Russia charges soldiers with killing pro-Moscow US fighter
  • The authorities did not say what had motivated the soldiers to kill Russell Bentley
  • The Russian Investigative Committee said on Friday it had “established all the persons involved in the death of Russell Bentley and the circumstances of the offenses committed“
Updated 20 September 2024
AFP

MOSCOW: Russia on Friday charged four of its soldiers serving in occupied Ukraine with torturing a US citizen living in Russian-held Donetsk who had fought with pro-Moscow forces since 2014.
It is rare instance for Russia to accuse active soldiers in Ukraine — who are glorified at home — of committing crimes.
The authorities did not say what had motivated the soldiers to kill Russell Bentley, who regularly appeared on pro-Kremlin social media channels, backing Moscow’s full-scale military offensive in Ukraine.
Known as “Texas,” 64-year-old Bentley was declared dead in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk in April. His wife said at the time he had been abducted and killed by Russian troops.
The Russian Investigative Committee said on Friday it had “established all the persons involved in the death of Russell Bentley and the circumstances of the offenses committed.”
It named the four soldiers involved as Vladislav Agaltsev, Vladimir Bazhin, Andrei Iordanov and Vitaly Vansyatsky.
They are accused of “using physical violence and torture, causing the death of a victim by negligence, as well as the concealment of a particularly serious crime by moving the remains of the deceased to another place,” the committee said.
According to the investigation, the soldiers tortured and killed Bentley in Donetsk on April 8.
Two of them then blew up a military car containing his body, before another moved the remains to cover up the crime, investigators said.
Moscow said the soldiers were “familiarising” themselves with the charge before the case is sent to court.
Bentley, from Austin in Texas, had served in the US army in the 1980s.
He often wore a cap, styled on Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, with a red badge bearing hammer and sickle.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Donetsk Russell Bentley torture

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Ukraine joins NATO drill to test anti-drone systems

Ukraine joins NATO drill to test anti-drone systems
Updated 20 September 2024
Reuters
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Ukraine joins NATO drill to test anti-drone systems

Ukraine joins NATO drill to test anti-drone systems
  • The drills at a Dutch military base tested cutting-edge systems to detect and counter drones and assessed how they work together
  • The 11-day exercise ended with a demonstration of jamming and hacking drones in a week when their critical role in the Ukraine war was demonstrated once again
Updated 20 September 2024
Reuters

VREDEPEEL, Netherlands: NATO concluded a major anti-drone exercise this week, with Ukraine taking part for the first time as the Western alliance seeks to learn urgently from the rapid development and widespread use of unmanned systems in the war there.
The drills at a Dutch military base, involving more than 20 countries and some 50 companies, tested cutting-edge systems to detect and counter drones and assessed how they work together.
The 11-day exercise ended with a demonstration of jamming and hacking drones in a week when their critical role in the Ukraine war was demonstrated once again.
On Wednesday, a large Ukrainian drone attack triggered an earthquake-sized blast at a major Russian arsenal. The following day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was ramping up drone production tenfold to nearly 1.4 million this year.
The proliferation of drones in the war – to destroy targets and survey the battlefield – has prompted NATO to increase its focus on the threat they could pose to the alliance.
“NATO takes this threat very, very seriously,” said Matt Roper, chief of the Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center at the alliance’s technology agency.
“This is not a domain we can afford to sit back and be passive on,” he said at the exercise site, Lt. Gen. Best Barracks in the east of The Netherlands.
Experts have warned NATO that it needs to catch up quickly on drone warfare.
“NATO has too few drones for a high-intensity fight against a peer adversary,” a report from the Center for European Policy Analysis think tank declared last September.
“It would be severely challenged to effectively integrate those it has in a contested environment.”

THREAT EVOLUTION
The drills that wrapped up on Thursday — complete with ice cream for onlookers provided by a radar company — were the fourth annual iteration of the exercise.
Claudio Palestini, the co-chair of a NATO working group on unmanned systems, said the exercise had adapted to trends such as the transformation of FPV (first-person view) drones — originally designed for civilian racers – into deadly weapons.
“Every year, we see an evolution of the threat with the introduction of new technology,” he said. “But also we see a lot of capabilities (to counter drones) that are becoming more mature.”
In a demonstration on Thursday, two small FPV drones whizzed and whined at high speed through the blue sky to dart around a military all-terrain vehicle before their signal was jammed.
Such electronic warfare is widespread in Ukraine. But it is less effective against long-range reconnaissance drones, a technology developer at Ukraine’s defense ministry said.
The official, giving only his first name of Yaroslav for security reasons, said his team had developed kamikaze drones to destroy such craft – a much cheaper option than firing missiles, which Ukraine had previously done.
“You need to run fast,” he said of the race to counter the impact of drones. “Technology which you develop is there for three months, maybe six months. After, it’s obsolete.”

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict NATO anti-drone

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Norway to increase, extend aid to Ukraine

Norway to increase, extend aid to Ukraine
Updated 20 September 2024
AFP
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Norway to increase, extend aid to Ukraine

Norway to increase, extend aid to Ukraine
  • The extension brings the aggregate aid package to 135 billion kroner from a previous total of 75 billion kroner through 2027
  • To get the increased package through parliament, Store’s center-left minority government will need the support of the opposition
Updated 20 September 2024
AFP

OSLO: Norway will increase civilian aid to Ukraine by five billion kroner ($475 million) this year and extend its aid package by three years to 2030, the prime minister said Friday.
The extension brings the aggregate aid package to 135 billion kroner from a previous total of 75 billion kroner through 2027.
The Scandinavian country had already pledged 22 billion kroner in military and civilian aid for this year, and the additional five billion kroner will be dedicated to “important civilian needs, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told journalists after meeting parliamentary leaders.
“We are living through a very dangerous situation in Europe,” Store said.
To get the increased package through parliament, Store’s center-left minority government will need the support of the opposition, which has largely backed greater assistance to Ukraine.
Norway is a major gas and oil exporter, and has benefitted from the run-up in prices brought about by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to a finance ministry document seen by AFP Thursday, Germany is planning to increase its military aid to Ukraine by almost 400 million euros ($445 million) this year, on top of the 7.5 billion euros it had already earmarked.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Norway Jonas Gahr Store aid

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