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Russia-Ukraine Conflict

France’s support for Ukraine ‘will not waver’, Macron vows

France’s support for Ukraine ‘will not waver’, Macron vows
French President Emmanuel Macron attends the national tribute to the Armenian communist resistance fighter Missak Manouchian and his comrades at the Pantheon in Paris, France.
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Updated 24 February 2024
AFP
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France’s support for Ukraine ‘will not waver’, Macron vows

France’s support for Ukraine ‘will not waver’, Macron vows
Updated 24 February 2024
AFP
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PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin early Saturday not to “count on any fatigue from Europeans” over the war in Ukraine, pledging that France’s support for Kyiv “will not waver.”
“Battered and bruised, but still standing. Ukraine is fighting for itself, for its ideals, for our Europe. Our commitment at its side will not waver,” he wrote in a message on X marking the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion, which falls on Saturday.
A separate statement from Macron’s office touted the European Union’s support for Kyiv, including accepting refugees, offering civil and military aid, and levelling sanctions on Moscow.
“President Putin’s Russia must not count on any fatigue from Europeans,” the statement said.
“France is also committed to continuing its support on all fronts, including the supply of military equipment, cooperation between defense industries through the development of co-productions, training, intelligence and civilian aid,” it added.
“The outcome of this war will be decisive for European interests, values and security.”
The French pledge of support came as other key Ukrainian allies renewed their commitment to assisting Kyiv.
US President Joe Biden on Friday announced more than 500 new sanctions against Russia, while vowing sustained pressure to stop President Vladimir Putin’s “war machine.”
The sanctions, described as the largest single tranche since the start of the war, also seek to impose a cost for the death last week in a Siberian prison of Putin’s most vocal critic, Alexei Navalny.
Britain, meanwhile, announced Saturday a new £245 million ($311 million) defense package to help boost the production of “urgently needed artillery ammunition” for Ukraine, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisting in an earlier statement that “tyranny will never triumph.”

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Bangladesh prepares to send Hajj pilgrims by sea after 40 years

Bangladesh prepares to send Hajj pilgrims by sea after 40 years
Updated 29 sec ago
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Bangladesh prepares to send Hajj pilgrims by sea after 40 years

Bangladesh prepares to send Hajj pilgrims by sea after 40 years
  • Bangladesh has been struggling to meet its Hajj pilgrim quota due to high airfares
  • Travel by sea estimated to help decrease the cost of pilgrimage package by about $900
Updated 29 sec ago
SHEHAB SUMON

DHAKA: Bangladeshi authorities are preparing to resume sending Hajj pilgrims via the sea route, aiming to significantly reduce travel costs starting next year.

For the past few years, Bangladesh, one of the most populous Muslim-majority countries, has struggled to meet its Hajj quota, as fewer people have been able to afford the pilgrimage since international airfares surged after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The possibility of pilgrimage by sea was discussed during Bangladeshi Religious Affairs Adviser Khalid Hossain’s meeting with Saudi Hajj and Umrah Minister Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah in Jeddah last month.

Dhaka’s envoy to the Kingdom, Brig. Gen. S.M. Rakibullah, told Arab News on Thursday that the first session on the logistics was set to take place next week.

“We have received confirmation from (the) Saudi authority regarding the transportation of pilgrims by sea. A coordination meeting on this issue will be held in Jeddah on the 3rd of December,” he said.

Targeting to start sending pilgrims by sea already during next year’s Hajj season — which will take place between June 4 and June 9 — Bangladeshi authorities are planning to reduce the cost of pilgrimage packages.

The price of the current 2025 package is about $4,000.

“We will declare a new Hajj package for the pilgrims who are interested in taking the sea route,” Matiul Islam, additional secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, told Arab News.

“This new sea route will help us in fulfilling the Hajj quota ... Our assigned shipping company is working on sourcing the ship. If we get ship on time, there is no other problem at our end.”

Hajj travel by sea will take place for the first time in four decades.

“To the best of my knowledge, in 1984, Bangladeshi pilgrims traveled to the Kingdom by ship to perform the Hajj rituals for the last time,” Islam said.

Karnaphuli Ship Builders, the shipping company chosen by the Bangladeshi government to operate the route, expects that the new mode of transport will reduce the cost of the current pilgrimage package by more than 20 percent.

It plans to purchase a 32-story ship to carry pilgrims from the southern Bangladeshi port of Chottogram to Jeddah.

“The costs of the Hajj journey will be reduced by around $900,” said M.A. Rashid, the company’s managing director.

“We have already sourced a Caribbean cruise ... The ship will carry up to 3,000 pilgrims at a time. It will take eight days to reach from Chottogram Port to Jeddah.”

Last year, Saudi Arabia granted Bangladesh a quota of 127,000 pilgrims, but because of high inflation and the cost of flights to the Middle East, only 85,000 were able to embark on the spiritual journey that is one of the five pillars of Islam.

Topics: hajj Bangladesh

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Namibians vote to wind up chaotic polls

Namibians vote to wind up chaotic polls
Updated 30 November 2024
AFP
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Namibians vote to wind up chaotic polls

Namibians vote to wind up chaotic polls
  • Electoral authorities prolonged voting until Saturday in presidential and legislative polls
  • The original election day was marred by logistical and technical failures that led to hours-long queues
Updated 30 November 2024
AFP

WINDHOEK: Namibians voted Saturday on the last day of a controversially extended election after poll chaos and allegations of foul play.
Electoral authorities prolonged voting until Saturday in presidential and legislative polls, after the original election day — Wednesday — was marred by logistical and technical failures that led to hours-long queues, which some voters eventually abandoned.
On Saturday, hundreds of people queued up at the sole polling station in the capital Windhoek where some 2,500 voters had cast their ballots on Friday.
Sielfriedt Gowaseb, 27, managed to vote in less than 30 minutes on Saturday but was critical of the arrangements.
“They should have set up at least another polling station where the majority of Namibians live. We would have needed more venues, one in the suburbs. Most Namibians don’t live in the central business district,” he said.
Namibia’s opposition is hoping to bring an end to 34 years of rule by the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), which is facing its toughest challenge as disenchanted younger voters across the region reject traditionally dominant liberation-era parties.
SWAPO has governed Namibia since leading it to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990, but high youth unemployment and enduring inequalities have eroded its support, with around 42 percent of the 1.5 million registered voters aged under 35.
Naita Hishoono, executive director of the Namibia Institute for Democracy, a nonpartisan NGO, echoed popular dissatisfaction.
“It would have been helpful to open more than 36 polling stations... each constituency should have at least have one polling station open to accommodate everybody. Every voter should only stay half an hour to an hour in line and the whole voting process should take no more than 15 minutes,” Hishoono said.
SWAPO’s candidate, Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, could become the first woman to lead the country if she is elected.
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has admitted to failures in the organization of the vote, including a shortage of ballot papers and the overheating of electronic tablets used to register voters.

Topics: Namibia

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Pakistan court grants bail to journalist detained after probing protest, lawyer says

Pakistan court grants bail to journalist detained after probing protest, lawyer says
Updated 30 November 2024
Reuters
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Pakistan court grants bail to journalist detained after probing protest, lawyer says

Pakistan court grants bail to journalist detained after probing protest, lawyer says
  • Matiullah Jan was picked up off the street on Wednesday night while investigating claims of casualties in a protest march
  • The Committee to Protect Journalists had expressed ‘grave alarm’ over Jan’s ‘abduction,’ demanding his immediate release
Updated 30 November 2024
Reuters
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court approved bail for a journalist arrested this week after investigating claims of casualties in a protest march, his lawyer said on Saturday.
Matiullah Jan, a critic of military influence in Pakistani politics, was granted bail by an anti-terrorism court in the capital Islamabad in a terrorism and narcotics case, his lawyer, Imaan Mazari, said in a text message.
“He should be home by this evening,” Mazari said.
Jan was picked up off the street on Wednesday night while investigating claims of casualties in a protest march demanding the release of jailed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to a colleague and his lawyer.
The Committee to Protect Journalists had expressed “grave alarm” over Jan’s “abduction,” demanding his immediate release.
Hours before being picked up, Jan had appeared on television casting doubt over the government’s denial that live ammunition had been used when security forces dispersed the protest and that any protesters had been killed.
The government has repeatedly denied using deadly force against protesters. Police and the information ministry have not responded to request for comment on Jan’s detention.
Thousands of supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party this week stormed Islamabad. The government said they had killed four security officers.
The PTI said hundreds of protesters had been shot, and between eight and 40 killed.

Taiwan’s Lai departs for US stopover during Pacific trip

Taiwan’s Lai departs for US stopover during Pacific trip
Updated 30 November 2024
AFP
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Taiwan’s Lai departs for US stopover during Pacific trip

Taiwan’s Lai departs for US stopover during Pacific trip
  • China considers self-governed Taiwan to be part of its territory
  • Beijing opposes any international recognition of the island
Updated 30 November 2024
AFP

TAIPEI: Taiwan President Lai Ching-te departed Saturday for a stopover on US soil as part of a week-long tour of the Pacific, which has ignited fiery threats from Beijing.
China considers self-governed Taiwan to be part of its territory and opposes any international recognition of the island and its claim to be a sovereign state.
Lai, on his first trip abroad since taking office in May, will stop over in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam as he visits Taiwan’s allies Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau.
They are the only Pacific island nations among the 12 remaining allies that recognize Taiwan, after China poached others with promises of aid and investment.
In a speech shortly before take-off, Lai said the tour “ushered in a new era of values-based democracy” and he thanked the US government for “helping to make this trip a smooth one.”
Lai said he wanted to “continue to expand cooperation and deepen partnerships with our allies based on the values of democracy, peace and prosperity.”
The trip has elicited a furious response from China, which has vowed to “resolutely crush” any attempts for Taiwan independence.
China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist forces were defeated by Mao Zedong’s communist fighters and fled to the island.
Taiwan lives under the constant threat of an invasion by China, which has refused to rule out using force to bring the island under its control.
Beijing deploys fighter jets, drones and warships around Taiwan on a near-daily basis to press its claims, with the number of sorties increasing in recent years.
Taiwanese government officials have previously stopped over on US soil during visits to the Pacific or Latin America, angering China, which has sometimes responded with military drills around the island.
Lai’s tour of the Pacific was an opportunity for him “to show those countries and the world that Taiwan matters,” said Bonnie Glaser, a Taiwan-China affairs expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
“I think that the People’s Republic of China always wants to leave the impression that Taiwan is isolated and it is dependent on the PRC,” Glaser told AFP, using China’s official name.
“When Taiwan’s president travels outside Taiwan, it’s a reminder that there are countries in the world that value their diplomatic relationships with Taiwan,” she said.
“And of course, when he transits the United States, it’s a reminder, I think, to the public of Taiwan, that the United States and Taiwan have a close partnership.”
The US is Taiwan’s most important backer and biggest supplier of arms, but Washington does not have official diplomatic relations with Taipei.
Lai’s trip follows the US approving the proposed sale to Taiwan of spare parts for F-16 fighter jets and radar systems, as well as communications equipment, in deals valued at $385 million in total.
Earlier this month, Taiwan’s foreign minister Lin Chia-lung met with European Parliament members in Brussels.
It was part of a trend of more senior Taiwanese officials traveling abroad and countries publicly receiving them despite the risk of suffering retaliation from China, Glaser told AFP.
“I think there’s safety in numbers — the more countries that do something, the more that other countries are willing to do it,” Glaser said.
“There’s also greater awareness of how aggressive and assertive China has been, and so countries are willing, to some extent, to stand up to China because they don’t like China’s behavior,” she said.
“And there is recognition of Taiwan’s role in the world, especially in semiconductor chips.”

Topics: Taiwan China Lai Ching-te

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More than 100 Rohingya refugees rescued off Indonesia: UN

More than 100 Rohingya refugees rescued off Indonesia: UN
Updated 30 November 2024
AFP
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More than 100 Rohingya refugees rescued off Indonesia: UN

More than 100 Rohingya refugees rescued off Indonesia: UN
  • Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention and says it cannot be compelled to take in refugees from Myanmar
Updated 30 November 2024
AFP

Banda Aceh: More than 100 Rohingya refugees including women and children have been rescued after their boat sank off the coast of Indonesia, the United Nations refugee agency said Saturday.
The mostly Muslim ethnic Rohingya are heavily persecuted in Myanmar and thousands risk their lives each year on long and dangerous sea journeys to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
“We received a report from the East Aceh government that there are 116 refugees in total,” UNHCR’s Faisal Rahman told AFP on Saturday.
“The refugees are still on the beach right now, it has not been decided where they would be taken.”
He said the flimsy wooden boat carrying the Rohingyas was found half-submerged not far from the beach off the coast of northeastern Sumatra island.
A local fisherman, Saifudin Taher said the boat was first spotted entering East Aceh waters on Saturday morning, and a few hours later it nearly sank.
“All passengers survived, but one of them was ill and ...immediately received treatment,” Saifudin told AFP, adding the boat was only 100 meters away from the beach, and the refugees could walk easily to safety.
Rohingya arrivals in Indonesia tend to follow a cyclical pattern, slowing during the stormy months and picking back up when sea conditions calm down.
Last month, 152 Rohingya refugees were finally brought ashore after being anchored for days off the coast of South Aceh district for days while officials decided whether to let them land.
Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention and says it cannot be compelled to take in refugees from Myanmar, calling instead on neighboring countries to share the burden and resettle Rohingya who arrives on its shores.
Many Acehnese, who have memories of decades of bloody conflict themselves, are sympathetic to the plight of their fellow Muslims.
But others say their patience has been tested, claiming the Rohingya consume scarce resources and occasionally come into conflict with locals.
In December 2023, hundreds of students forced the relocation of more than 100 Rohingya refugees, storming a community hall in Aceh where they were sheltering and vandalising their belongings.

Topics: Rohingya Indonesia

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