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Rahul Gandhi calls out Centre’s attempts to privatise PSUs by restricting recruitment

Diplomat Times
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Rahul Gandhi calls out Centre’s attempts to privatise PSUs by restricting recruitment

Rahul Gandhi calls out Centre’s attempts to privatise PSUs by restricting recruitment

New Delhi (TT) – Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asked whether the Narendra Modi government was conspiring to privatise public sector companies by restricting recruitments and relying on contractual jobs, arguing that over two lakh permanent jobs had vanished in the last nine years.

“PSUs (public sector units) were India’s pride and every youth dreamt of getting a job in these companies. But today the PSUs are not the government’s priority. Jobs in the country’s PSUs have decreased from 16.90 lakh in 2014 to 14.60 lakh in 2022. Is it possible that employment opportunities decrease like this in a progressive country?” Rahul tweeted today.

READ MORE : Rahul Gandhi disqualified from parliament as MP from Lok Sabha

Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asked whether the Narendra Modi government was conspiring to privatise public sector companies by restricting recruitments and relying on contractual jobs, arguing that over two lakh permanent jobs had vanished in the last nine years.

“PSUs (public sector units) were India’s pride and every youth dreamt of getting a job in these companies. But today the PSUs are not the government’s priority. Jobs in the country’s PSUs have decreased from 16.90 lakh in 2014 to 14.60 lakh in 2022. Is it possible that employment opportunities decrease like this in a progressive country?” Rahul tweeted today.

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While lakhs of vacancies in the two biggest PSU recruiters — the armed forces and the railways — have troubled India’s youth over the last many years, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has ceaselessly criticised the Modi government for creating the spectacle of Rozgar Mela for thousands of jobs instead of filling up the 30 lakh existing vacancies in the government. Now Rahul has flagged the disappearance of two lakh jobs in the PSUs.

Rahul said: “1,81,127 jobs reduced in BSNL, 61,928 in SAIL, 34,997 in MTNL, 29,140 in SECL, 28,063 in FCI, 21,120 in ONGC. Those who made a false promise of creating two crore new jobs every year wiped out two lakh existing jobs!”

The Congress has in the past alleged that decisions like demonetisation and flawed GST wiped out millions of existing jobs even in private sectors.

Rahul said: “What’s worse, contractual jobs in these companies have been doubled. Isn’t the decision to increase jobs on contract a ploy to snatch the constitutional right of reservation? Is this a conspiracy to ultimately privatise these companies? Write off the loans of industrialists and wipe out the jobs in government enterprises. What kind of Amrit Kaal is this?”

Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asked whether the Narendra Modi government was conspiring to privatise public sector companies by restricting recruitments and relying on contractual jobs, arguing that over two lakh permanent jobs had vanished in the last nine years.

“PSUs (public sector units) were India’s pride and every youth dreamt of getting a job in these companies. But today the PSUs are not the government’s priority. Jobs in the country’s PSUs have decreased from 16.90 lakh in 2014 to 14.60 lakh in 2022. Is it possible that employment opportunities decrease like this in a progressive country?” Rahul tweeted today.

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While lakhs of vacancies in the two biggest PSU recruiters — the armed forces and the railways — have troubled India’s youth over the last many years, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has ceaselessly criticised the Modi government for creating the spectacle of Rozgar Mela for thousands of jobs instead of filling up the 30 lakh existing vacancies in the government. Now Rahul has flagged the disappearance of two lakh jobs in the PSUs.

Rahul said: “1,81,127 jobs reduced in BSNL, 61,928 in SAIL, 34,997 in MTNL, 29,140 in SECL, 28,063 in FCI, 21,120 in ONGC. Those who made a false promise of creating two crore new jobs every year wiped out two lakh existing jobs!”

The Congress has in the past alleged that decisions like demonetisation and flawed GST wiped out millions of existing jobs even in private sectors.

Rahul said: “What’s worse, contractual jobs in these companies have been doubled. Isn’t the decision to increase jobs on contract a ploy to snatch the constitutional right of reservation? Is this a conspiracy to ultimately privatise these companies? Write off the loans of industrialists and wipe out the jobs in government enterprises. What kind of Amrit Kaal is this?”

The Prime Minister has inexplicably called this phase “Amrit Kaal” without giving substantive reasons for the decision. No other Prime Minister ever described any phase during the last seven decades as a special period. The Opposition parties have ridiculed Modi for calling the phase “Amrit Kaal” when prices of essential commodities have soared, with petrol crossing Rs 100 per litre, cooking gas cylinders costing Rs 1,100 for the first time, unemployment at a 45-year high and social discord acquiring dreadful dimensions.

Rahul on Sunday questioned “Amrit Kaal” in the context of rising unemployment. He said: “If it is really ‘Amrit Kaal’, why are jobs disappearing like this? Why is the country grappling with record unemployment? Unemployment is rising because the government is crushing the dreams of millions of youth for the benefits of a chosen few capitalist friends.”

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Sudan officials say airstrike kills 17 people, including 5 children, in capital Khartoum

Mark Kenya
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Sudan officials say airstrike kills 17 people, including 5 children, in capital Khartoum

Sudan officials say airstrike kills 17 people, including 5 children, in capital Khartoum

CAIRO (AP) — An airstrike in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Saturday killed at least 17 people, including five children, health officials said, as fighting continued between rival generals seeking to control the country.

The attack was one of the deadliest of the clashes in urban areas of Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan between the military and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.

There was no immediate comment Saturday from either side of the conflict on the strike, and it was not clear whether the attack was by warplanes or a drone. The military’s aircraft have repeatedly targeted RSF troops and the RSF has reportedly used drones and anti-aircraft weapons against the military.

The fighting broke out in mid-April, capping months of increasing tensions between the leaders of the military and the RSF.

Saturday’s strike hit the Yormouk neighborhood in southern Khartoum, where clashes have centered in recent weeks, according to Sudan’s Ministry of Health. The area houses a military facility controlled by the army. At least 25 houses were destroyed, the ministry wrote in a Facebook post.

READ MORE : At least 41 killed in rebel attack on Ugandan school near Congo border

The dead included five children and an unknown number of women and elderly people, and some wounded people were hospitalized, the ministry said.

A local group that calls itself The Emergency Room and helps organize humanitarian aid in the area, said at least 11 people were wounded in the strike. It posted images it said were of houses damaged in the attack and people searching through rubble. Other images claimed to show a wounded girl and man.

The conflict has plunged the African country into chaos and turned Khartoum and other urban areas into battlefields. The paramilitary force has occupied people’s houses and other civilian properties since the onset of the conflict, according to residents and activists.

The clashes have killed hundreds of civilians and wounded thousands of others. More than 2.2 million people have fled their homes to safer areas inside Sudan or crossed into neighboring countries.

The attacks intensified earlier this month. Volker Perthes, the U.N envoy in Sudan, said last week that the fighting in Genena has taken on “an ethnic dimension,” with Arab militias and armed men in RSF uniforms showing “an emerging pattern of large-scale targeted attacks against civilians based on their ethnic identities.”

On Wednesday, West Darfur Gov. Khamis Abdalla Abkar, who hails from the Masalit, was abducted and killed hours after he accused the RSF and allied Arab militias in a televised interview of attacking Genena. His slaying was blamed on the RSF, a charge the paramilitary force denied.

Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, called for bringing those responsible for Abkar’s slaying to justice, “including those who bear command responsibility.”

“Alongside liability of the direct perpetrator, Gov. Abkar was in the RSF’s custody, and it was the RSF’s responsibility to keep him safe,” Shamdasani told a news briefing in Geneva on Friday.

Abkar was the second high-profile official killed in Genena within a few days. The older brother of the traditional chief of the Masalit, Tariq Abdelrahman Bahreldin, was also killed, Shamdasani said.

Martin Griffiths, the U.N.’s top humanitarian official, decried the fighting in Darfur on Thursday, especially in Genena where trapped residents “are living a nightmare.”

“Babies dying in hospitals where they were being treated; children and mothers suffering from severe malnutrition; camps for displaced persons burned to the ground; girls raped; schools closed; and families eating leaves to survive,” he said.

Griffiths urged the international community to intervene to avert another cycle of violence such as the one Darfur experienced in the early 2000s when it was the scene of genocidal war. Ethnic Africans rebelled, accusing the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum of discrimination. Former dictator Omar al-Bashir’s government was accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes, known as Janjaweed, who targeted civilians. The Janjaweed later evolved into the RSF.

“Darfur is rapidly spiraling into a humanitarian calamity. The world cannot allow this to happen. Not again,” Griffiths said.

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Saudi foreign minister in Iran as part of restoration of diplomatic ties after a 7-year rift

Dr Mohd Ramzan Ali
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Saudi foreign minister in Iran as part of restoration of diplomatic ties after a 7-year rift

Saudi foreign minister in Iran as part of restoration of diplomatic ties after a 7-year rift

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat arrived in Iran’s capital on Saturday, the latest step in the restoration of diplomatic ties between the two Mideast rivals, Iranian state media reported.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan was officially welcomed by his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran TV said. He carried a message from the Saudi king to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the two were due to meet later Saturday, Iran TV said.

Later, Prince Faisal said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and King Salman officially invited Raisi to visit Saudi Arabia, according to the state TV broadcast of a joint news conference.

The visit comes after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Saudi Arabia earlier in June. In March, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after seven years of tensions.

Prince Faisal is expected to officially inaugurate the kingdom’s embassy in Tehran later Saturday. Until the mission is completed, the employees are working from a Tehran hotel, Iran TV said.

READ MORE : Iran to reopen its diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia after a 7-year rift, state-run media say

Both nations reopened their diplomatic missions in recent weeks.

The agreement to reestablish diplomatic relations was a major breakthrough brokered by China, lowering the chances of further conflict between Riyadh and Tehran — both directly and in proxy conflicts around the region.

Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks in recent years following the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. One of those targeted the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry in 2019, temporarily halving the kingdom’s crude production.

Relations between the predominately Shiite Iran and the majority Sunni Saudi Arabia have long been tense. The kingdom broke ties with Iran in 2016 after protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic posts there. Saudi Arabia had executed a prominent Shiite cleric along with 46 others days earlier, triggering the demonstrations.

Amirabdollahian said at the news conference that the two sides discussed cooperating on regional security and other topics. “We voiced our concern about the continuation of war in Sudan and discussed some regional and international topics of interest,” he said.

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At least 41 killed in rebel attack on Ugandan school near Congo border

Mark Kenya
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At least 41 killed in rebel attack on Ugandan school near Congo border

At least 41 killed in rebel attack on Ugandan school near Congo border

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Suspected rebels attacked a school in a remote area of Uganda near the Congo border, killing at least 41 people in a nighttime raid before fleeing across the porous frontier, authorities said. Thirty-eight students in their dormitories were among the victims.

Some students were burned beyond recognition, and others were shot or hacked to death after militants armed with guns and machetes attacked the school in the frontier district of Kasese, a local mayor told The Associated Press.

In addition to the 38 students, one guard and two residents of the local community in Mpondwe-Lhubiriha town were killed in the attack, said Mayor Selevest Mapoze. A Ugandan military statement said the rebels abducted six students, taken as porters of food looted from the school’s store.

The school, co-ed and privately owned, is located about two kilometers (just over a mile) from the Congo border.

READ MORE : At least 15 people killed and dozens injured in bus crash in Mali

Authorities are blaming the massacre at Lhubiriha Secondary School on the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, a shadowy extremist group which has been launching attacks for years from bases in volatile eastern Congo. Villagers in the Congolese provinces of Ituri and North Kivu have been the victims of the group’s alleged attacks in recent years.

But attacks on the Ugandan side of the border are rare, thanks in part to the presence of an alpine brigade of Ugandan troops in the region.

The attack has sent shockwaves in this normally peaceful East African country whose long-time leader cites security as a strength of his government. It is also a blow to the country’s armed forces, who since 2021 have deployed in parts of eastern Congo under a mission specifically to hunt down the militants accused of attacking a school.

Speaking to reporters near the scene of the attack, the commander of Ugandan troops in Congo told reporters that the rebels spent two nights in Kasese before carrying out their attack. He gave no further details.

ADF rebels, when under pressure, “divert” their pursuers’ attention by splitting into small groups that then launch violent attacks in other places, said Maj. Gen. Dick Olum, suggesting that the latest attack was an attempt by the rebels to ease battlefront pressure.

“A typical ADF signature,” he said, “because this is pressure. They are under huge pressure, and that’s what they have to do to show the world that they are still there, and to show the world that they can still do havoc.”

The school raid, which happened around 11:30 p.m., involved about five attackers, according to the Ugandan military. Soldiers from a nearby brigade who responded to the attack found the school on fire, “with dead bodies of students lying in the compound,” military spokesman Brig. Felix Kulayigye said in a statement.

Winnie Kiiza, an influential political leader and a former lawmaker from the region, condemned the “cowardly attack” on Twitter. She said “attacks on schools are unacceptable and are a grave violation of children’s rights,” adding that schools should always be “a safe place for every student.”

The ADF has been accused of launching many attacks in recent years targeting civilians in remote parts of eastern Congo. It rarely claims responsibility for attacks.

The ADF has long opposed the rule of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, a U.S. security ally who has held power in this East African country since 1986.

The group was established in the early 1990s by some Ugandan Muslims, who said they had been sidelined by Museveni’s policies. At the time, the rebels staged deadly attacks in Ugandan villages as well as in the capital, including a 1998 attack in which 80 students were massacred in a town not far from the scene of the latest attack.

A Ugandan military assault later forced the ADF into eastern Congo, where many rebel groups are able to operate because the central government has limited control there. The group has since established ties with the Islamic State group.

In March, at least 19 people were killed in Congo by suspected ADF extremists.

Ugandan authorities for years have vowed to track down ADF militants even outside Ugandan territory. In 2021, Uganda launched joint air and artillery strikes in Congo against the group.

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African leaders visit Russia to discuss their peace plan with Putin, after Ukraine trip

Shasi Kumar
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African leaders visit Russia to discuss their peace plan with Putin, after Ukraine trip

African leaders visit Russia to discuss their peace plan with Putin, after Ukraine trip

St. Petersburg(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday interrupted opening remarks by African leaders seeking to mediate in the Ukraine conflict to deliver a list of reasons why he believed many of their proposals were misguided.

Putin first welcomed leaders from Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, Congo Republic, Comoros and South Africa to the 18th-century Konstantinovsky Palace on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, stressing Russia’s commitment to the continent.

READ MORE : Ukraine war: Russian nukes are now in Belarus, says Putin

But after presentations from the Comoran, Senegalese and South African leaders, he stepped in to challenge the assumptions of the plan before the round of comments from all the representatives could go any further.

Putin reiterated his position that Ukraine and the West had started the conflict long before Russia sent its armed forces over the border in February last year.

He said the West, not Russia, was responsible for a sharp rise in global food prices early last year.

He told the delegation that Ukrainian grain exports from Black Sea ports that Russia has permitted for the past year were doing nothing to alleviate Africa’s difficulties with high food prices because they had largely gone to wealthy countries.

He said Russia had never refused talks with the Ukrainian side, which had been blocked by Kyiv.

The African plan includes a call for all children caught up in the conflict to be returned to where they came from, but Putin said Russia was not preventing any Ukrainian children from returning home.

READ MORE : St. Petersburg International Economic Forum: UAE president tells Russia’s Putin: we wish to strengthen ties

“We took them out of a conflict zone, saving their lives,” he said.

The African leaders are seeking agreement on a series of “confidence building measures” even as Ukraine last week began a counteroffensive to push back Russian forces from Ukrainian territory they occupy.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa laid out the 10 points of the African initiative, telling Putin:

“We’ve come here to listen to you, and through you the Russian people, and encourage you to enter negotiations with Ukraine in order to put an end to the difficult ordeal.

“We gave ourselves this mission because, as Africans, unfortunately, we have had to manage numerous conflicts, and it’s through dialogue and negotiations that we have succeeded at resolving them.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had said after meeting the leaders in Kyiv on Friday that peace talks with Russia would be possible only after Moscow withdrew its forces from occupied Ukrainian territory.

He added that he could not understand what could be gained from the delegation meeting Putin.

Putin said Russia was “open to constructive dialogue with anyone who wants to establish peace on the principles of fairness and acknowledgement of the legitimate interests of the parties”.

However, Russia has said repeatedly that any settlement must take account of “new realities”, meaning its declared annexation of five Ukrainian provinces, four of which it only partially controls.

Putin and the African leaders weren’t expected to comment after the meeting, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold a briefing.

Speaking at the forum on Friday, Putin declared that the first Russian tactical nuclear weapons have been deployed to Belarus, describing the move as a deterrent against Western efforts to defeat Russia in Ukraine. He previously said that the deployment would begin in July.

The African peace mission comes as Ukraine launches a counteroffensive to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from occupied areas, using Western-supplied advanced weapons in attacks in several sections of more than the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line.

Via : (AP with Reuters)

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Ukraine :Crimea Tourism Industry faces another lost Summer as War Rages On

Marietta Reformado
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Ukraine :Crimea Tourism Industry faces another lost Summer as War Rages On

Ukraine: Crimea Tourism Industry Faces Another Lost Summer as War Rages On

Crimea, Ukraine (MT) – Crimea’s tourism industry is braced for another lost summer as Kyiv’s accelerating counteroffensive raises fresh safety concerns on the annexed peninsula and millions of Russian vacationers are set to stay away from its Black Sea resorts for the second year running.

Tourist flows to Crimea — already down by around a third in 2022 — have fallen even further this year, industry figures say, with some fearing Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine is delivering a potentially fatal blow to businesses in the sector, a central part of the region’s economy.

“It’s having an extremely negative impact on the local economy. Many restaurants have closed, half of the seasonal guest houses do not open and might never be able to open again,” the owner of a hotel near the beach in Sevastopol told The Moscow Times. They asked for anonymity, saying they planned to apply for government-backed financial support and were worried how the authorities might react to any negative public comments.

READ MORE : Putin visits Crimea on anniversary of its annexation from Ukraine

Before the war, that hotel’s rooms would have been sold out months in advance. But the owner said this year, it will be at just 30% capacity in June and around 60% in the peak make-or-break months of July and August.

“We’re basically on for break-even this year — just earning enough to pay salaries. We’ve dropped our prices, but our costs are up by 30-50%. We can’t buy new linen or dishes and are having to live off our reserves,” the owner added.

President Vladimir Putin dubbed Crimea Russia’s “crown jewel” after he annexed it in 2014, promising locals prosperity, security and investment from Moscow.

Many of those promises were already ringing hollow even before Russia invaded Ukraine, with Crimea struggling under heavy sanctions and economic crises for much of the post-annexation period.

Fortunes appeared to be on the up in 2021 as pandemic-related border closures gave a much-needed boost to the domestic tourism sector, with a record 9.4 million Russians opting to summer in Crimea, according to government data.

Now the fallout of Russia’s invasion — which has resulted in multiple attacks on the region — is threatening to destroy that short-lived peak, and could push Crimea’s vital tourism and services economy into a deep financial hole.

Official government data showed 60% of firms in the tourism industry were in the red last year, with combined losses of 709 million rubles ($10 million), as tourist inflows dropped by around a third. In 2021, profits had come in at 1.8 billion rubles ($25 million).

Only 3% of Russian hotel bookings were made in Crimea last year, down from 19% in 2021, according to online booking portal Ostrovok.Ru. This year they have fallen even further, to just 1%.

Russian-installed officials and some industry figures insist Crimea is safe for tourists, despite being well within reach of Ukrainian weapons and having been rocked by attacks during the course of the 16-month war.

“Because of the information agenda right now, many are simply afraid … But I want to assure you that nothing threatens tourists in Crimea,” the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited Crimea’s Russian Governor Sergei Aksyonov as saying.

Last August, sunbathers on a Crimean beach were forced to run for cover when a series of powerful explosions rocked the nearby Saki airbase — a brazen attack on just one of the peninsula’s many military sites.

Officials say the more reduced flow of tourists is largely the result of Russia banning flights from the rest of the country to Simferopol airport and that there is still high demand to visit Crimea’s Black Sea resorts once loved by Russia’s tsars.

Train connections — heavily disrupted by the October 2019 bombing of the Kerch Bridge — have been unable to replace the 30% of arrivals that used to arrive by air.

Some are sanguine about the role the looming war that Moscow calls a “special military operation” is having on would-be tourists.

“Of course tourists have concerns about safety,” tour guide Roman Lysenko said. “The situation is unlikely to change significantly this summer.”

Amid the downturn, he said some tour guides had left Crimea and headed to Sochi or other resort towns on the Russian mainland in search of business.

Others remained outwardly bullish despite the threat of attack, waning tourist numbers and businesses chalking up losses.

“Many are scared by the ‘counteroffensive,’ but the first vacationers have already arrived, seen everything and will report back that it is calm in Crimea,” said the owner of the 117 Beach Club in the southern resort town of Feodosia, who declined to give their name.

“Let those who are pissing their pants continue to be afraid — but everything is calm here,” they added.

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National Day of Iceland, History & Celebration

Shasi Kumar
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National Day of Iceland, History & Celebration

National Day of Iceland, History & Celebration

New Delhi (Article) – Icelanders celebrate National Day every June 17 – the date in 1944 when the Republic of Iceland was officially established and the country became independent from Danish rule.

The date was chosen as it coincides with the birthday of Jón Sigurðsson (1811-1879), one of the leaders of Iceland’s independence movement. The day is usually celebrated with large public gatherings and parades, but festivities will be slightly less bombastic tomorrow due to the COVID-19 pandem.

ABOUT ICELAND

Iceland, island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. Lying on the constantly active geologic border between North America and Europe, Iceland is a land of vivid contrasts of climate, geography, and culture. Sparkling glaciers, such as Vatna Glacier (Vatnajökull), Europe’s largest, lie across its ruggedly beautiful mountain ranges; abundant hot geysers provide heat for many of the country’s homes and buildings and allow for hothouse agriculture year-round; and the offshore Gulf Stream provides a surprisingly mild climate for what is one of the northernmost inhabited places on the planet.

NATIONAL DAY CELEBRATION 

Iceland’s National Day, June 17, is celebrated every year to commemorate the establishment of a republic in Iceland in 1944. Before that time, however, the day also had a place in the hearts of Icelanders, because June 17 was Jón Sigurðsson’s birthday (1811-1879), Iceland’s main hero of independence. The day was chosen as a national holiday to honour his contribution to the Icelandic struggle for independence from Denmark.

READ MORE : Ukraine war: Russian nukes are now in Belarus, says Putin

Iceland Independence Day serves as a reminder of the nation’s freedom. It reminds people to cherish their independence. It took from 1918 to 1944 for Iceland to gain its independence from Denmark. If you’re looking for an informative way to pass an afternoon, do a bit of research into the history.

The first records of a glorious celebration on June 17 were from the year 1907 when Jón’s birthday was commemorated with a trumpet blast and speeches at Austurvellir in Reykjavík; the gathering numbered 4-6 thousand people or about half of all townspeople.

ICELAND HISTORY

Iceland was founded more than 1,000 years ago during the Viking age of exploration and settled by a mixed Norse and Celtic population. The early settlement, made up primarily of Norwegian seafarers and adventurers, fostered further excursions to Greenland and the coast of North America (which the Norse called Vinland).

Despite its physical isolation some 500 miles (800 km) from Scotland—its nearest European neighbour—Iceland has remained throughout its history very much a part of European civilization. The Icelandic sagas, most of which recount heroic episodes that took place at the time the island was settled, are regarded as among the finest literary achievements of the Middle Ages, reflecting a European outlook while commemorating the history and customs of a people far removed from continental centres of commerce and culture.

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Ukraine war: Russian nukes are now in Belarus, says Putin

Roshan Bilung
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Ukraine war: Russian nukes are now in Belarus, says Putin

Ukraine war: Russian nukes are now in Belarus, says Putin

ST. PETERSBURG (BBC) – In remarks at this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Vladimir Putin confirmed that Russia has delivered the first batch of nuclear weapons to facilities in Belarus, vowing that more warheads will arrive before the end of the year.

The US government says there is no indication the Kremlin plans to use nuclear weapons to attack Ukraine.

“We don’t see any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after Mr Putin’s comments.

Belarus is a key Russian ally and served as a launchpad for Mr Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

The tactical nuclear warheads are less powerful than much of the rest of Russia’s nuclear arsenal. Mr Putin said the transfer would be finished by the end of the summer.

READ MORE : St. Petersburg International Economic Forum: UAE president tells Russia’s Putin: we wish to strengthen ties

Answering questions after a speech at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russia’s president said the move was about “containment” and to remind anyone “thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on us”.

When asked by the the forum’s moderator about the possibility of using those weapons, he replied: “Why should we threaten the whole world? I have already said that the use of extreme measures is possible in case there is a danger to Russian statehood.”

The Russian leader is due to meet African leaders in St Petersburg after they visited Kyiv on Friday as part of a peace initiative they are presenting to both countries.

However while they were in the city it came under Russian missile attack.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called for de-escalation on both sides and negotiations for peace.

“We came here to listen and recognise what the people of Ukraine have gone through,” he said.

But Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said instead of making diplomatic overtures to Russia it should be frozen out diplomatically to send a message that the international community condemned its invasion.

Kyiv would not enter negotiations with Moscow while it still occupied Ukrainian territory, Mr Zelensky said.

Mr Putin also repeated his claim that Ukraine stood no chance of succeeding in its ongoing counter-offensive.

The Ukrainian military was also running out of its own military equipment and would soon only be using Western-donated equipment, he said.

“You can’t fight for long like that,” he said, warning that any F16 US fighter jets given to Ukraine “will burn, no doubt about it”.

Ukraine has previously dismissed similar remarks, asserting they are making progress in recapturing territory in both eastern and southern Ukraine.

The BBC cannot independently verify battlefield claims.

The Russian leader also addressed economic themes, claiming that Western sanctions on Russia had failed to isolate it and instead led to an “expansion” in its trade with “the markets of the future”.

He praised new deals with countries in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America – calling them “reliable, responsible partners”.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko declared Tuesday that his country had already received some of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons and warned that he wouldn’t hesitate to order their use if Belarus faced an act of aggression.

During his meeting Friday with Lukashenko, Putin said work on building facilities for the weapons would be completed by July 7-8, and they would be moved to Belarusian territory quickly after that.

Asked later by a Russian state TV host whether Belarus had already received some of the weapons, Lukashenko responded coyly by saying: “Not all of them, little by little.”

(BBC with AP and PBS)

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Tesla’s China expansion hits speed bump amid industry overcapacity

Kyung An
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Tesla’s China expansion hits speed bump amid industry overcapacity

Tesla’s China expansion hits speed bump amid industry overcapacity

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – Tesla’s (TSLA.O) ambitious plan to boost auto production in Shanghai, its most valuable plant globally, hinges on China’s approvals to develop 70 hectares (172 acres) of former farmland that is currently overgrown with wildflowers.

Once courted by Beijing to help spur the development of a domestic electric vehicle (EV) industry, Tesla may now be a victim of its own success in the world’s biggest auto market, challenging plans to use its cost advantage from Chinese production to power exports.

READ MORE : Demand for electric cars is booming, with sales expected to leap 35% this year after a record-breaking 2022

China’s state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), has been cautious about approving new electric vehicle (EV) production plans by all automakers because of concerns about overcapacity and a deepening price war launched by Tesla, according to executives at rival companies and analysts.

Bill Russo, the Shanghai-based founder and CEO of advisory firm Automobility, estimated that China had excess auto production capacity of about 10 million vehicles a year – equivalent to two-thirds of all North American output in 2022.

“You could argue that as Tesla, I’ve got new products, I need to have a new factory to build them in,” he said. “But viewed from the China government’s point of view, all they see is a market that’s oversupplied.”

Tesla had detailed plans to add 450,000 vehicles of annual capacity at the new Shanghai site around 3 km (1.9 miles) from its current plant in an effusive May 2022 letter that thanked the local government for its support during the Shanghai lockdown over COVID-19. Based on retail values, the annual production would be worth more than $18 billion.

While it was not disclosed in official remarks by Tesla CEO Elon Musk or Chinese authorities, the topic of the expansion came up during his whirlwind visit to China at the end of last month, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

After meetings with senior Chinese officials including Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, Musk told a small group of Tesla staff that he saw “positive progress” in discussions about the expansion without elaborating, said the person, who was not authorised to speak publicly.

Tesla and the NDRC did not respond to requests for comment.

“Tesla is doubling down on China, and while it’s hit some snags over the last year we believe Musk’s trip to China has soothed the situation over and we expect progress announcements over the coming months,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.

Construction of Tesla’s Shanghai plant took less than a year to complete after it broke ground on the site in 2019.

WHY TESLA NEEDS CHINA

Tesla’s reliance on China is a complication in the United States, where Biden administration incentives reward automakers for producing batteries and vehicles locally.

But Tesla’s Shanghai plant, which produced almost 711,000 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles last year and has lifted annual maximum capacity to more than 1 million, has been crucial to its cost advantage over its rivals and propelled exports to Southeast Asia and Canada.

With a goal of selling 20 million cars globally by 2030, up from 1.31 million in 2022, Tesla has been in discussions with India about potential manufacturing investments and has been courted by governments including South Korea and Indonesia.

Production in China, however, brings a cost advantage of as much as 20% over EVs made elsewhere, rival Nio (9866.HK) has said, citing the country’s grip over the supply chain and raw materials.

But as government concerns about oversupply rise and Tesla pushes for its Shanghai expansion, progress by aspiring market entrant Chinese consumer electronics maker Xiaomi (1810.HK) to gain a production permit has been slow.

U.S. luxury EV maker Lucid Group (LCID.O) is also keen to make cars in China but has been advised that the possibility was low, industry sources said.

At that time, analysts suggested China was using Tesla to help spur local EV development because its strength would force weaker players to move faster to survive.

“The script has definitely flipped,” said Automobility’s Russo. “China needed Tesla to open the market for retail consumers, but Tesla needs China, because the supply chain benefits of being here and the competitive bar that’s set here makes Tesla a more competitive company globally. And that’s the missed opportunity if they don’t get that unit of capacity.”

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St. Petersburg International Economic Forum: UAE president tells Russia’s Putin: we wish to strengthen ties

Dr Mohd Ramzan Ali
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St. Petersburg International Economic Forum: UAE president tells Russia’s Putin: we wish to strengthen ties

St. Petersburg International Economic Forum: UAE president tells Russia’s Putin: we wish to strengthen ties

DUBAI, (Reuters) – The president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow, told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that his nation wished to strengthen ties.

“I am pleased to be here today with you, your Excellency, and we wish to build on this relationship and we put our trust in you to do so,” Sheikh Mohammed told Putin on the sidelines of a forum in St. Petersburg on Friday.

READ MORE : Dubai’s Kanoo Group Sees Opportunities to Invest in India, China

The Middle East economic powerhouse has sought to maintain what it says is a neutral position on the Ukraine war.

“The UAE continues to support all efforts aimed at reaching a political solution through dialogue & diplomacy – towards global peace & stability,” Sheikh Mohammed tweeted after the meeting.

Putin had earlier thanked the president for his efforts on freeing prisoners of war in Ukraine.

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