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German defence major TKMS and India’s MDL sign pact eyeing Indian Navy’s Rs 43,000-crore submarine project

Roshan Bilung
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German defence major TKMS and India’s MDL sign pact eyeing Indian Navy’s Rs 43,000-crore submarine project

German defence major TKMS and India’s MDL sign pact eyeing Indian Navy’s Rs 43,000-crore submarine project

New Delhi (PTI)- Eyeing the Indian Navy’s Rs 43,000 crore contract to procure six stealth submarines, German defence major Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and state-run Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) signed a framework agreement on Wednesday to bid for one of the biggest “Make in India” projects.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in Mumbai in the presence of German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.

The MoU was signed a day after Pistorius held wide-ranging talks with Defence Minister Rajnatjh Singh, following which he said TKMS is well-placed to execute the mega project.

READ MORE : US defense secretary discusses upgrading ties with India to counter China

“I was particularly pleased that I was able to be present at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Mazagon Docks Limited and German company TKMS,” the German defence minister told the media in Mumbai.

Pistorius described the partnership between TKMS and MDL as an “important signal” for the possible construction of the six submarines.

“We have, thus, sent a very important signal today — a milestone one could say for a new flagship project. The Indian partners were full of praise for the German technology, the reliability and the longevity of the equipment, submarines and ships of the last decades,” he said.

The bidding process for the project called P-75 India ends in August.

TKMS said as the market leader for non-nuclear submarines, it signed the MoU with MDL on the “intended construction” of conventional, air independent-propulsion submarines.

In June 2021, the defence ministry cleared the mega project to domestically build six conventional submarines for the Indian Navy.

The submarines will be built under the much-talked-about strategic partnership model that allows domestic defence manufacturers to join hands with leading foreign defence majors to produce high-end military platforms to reduce import dependence.

The defence ministry is likely to finalise the winner of the contract by the end of this year or early next year.

According to the MoU, TKMS would contribute to the engineering and design of the submarines as well as provide consultancy support to the joint project, while MDL would take the responsibility of constructing and delivering the respective submarines, officials said.

The construction of the submarines would take place in India and is expected to have significant local content.

“We look back on a trusting and decade-long partnership with India. The boats we built in the 1980s are still in service today. We are very proud of that and would be delighted to continue contributing to India’s national security in the future. We are ready when India calls,” said Oliver Burkhard, CEO, TKMS.

TKMS said with the signing of the MoU, it has laid the foundations for a possible cooperation with MDL to compete in the Indian Navy’s tender process.

With this MoU, TKMS is proactively striving to contribute to Germany’s strategic cooperation with India, it said.

“Both parties can draw on many years of expertise, knowledge and professional competence in fulfilling this project to everyone’s complete satisfaction. They have already cooperated closely in completing great projects in India and look forward to close cooperation,” the company said in a statement.

TKMS has built and delivered vessels for the Indian Navy in the past.

In his comments to the media, Pistorius reaffirmed that India is an important strategic partner not only for Germany, but also for the European Union (EU).

“You know that our navy has been operating safely and efficiently with TKMS products for decades and we are not the only ones and that is a good sign of how well positioned the German armaments industry is, especially when it comes to such systems,” he said.

“My encounters and conversations over the last few days have impressively shown how important our commitment here is, how important our presence is, how important it is to show that we have an interest in this region,” he added. PTI MPB RC

This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

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President Droupadi Murmu arrives in Belgrade on three-day state visit to Serbia

Shasi Kumar
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President Droupadi Murmu arrives in Belgrade on three-day state visit to Serbia

President Droupadi Murmu arrives in Belgrade on three-day state visit to Serbia

Belgrade, Serbia (PTI)- President Droupadi Murmu said that India is on the way to become the third-largest economy of the world before the end of this decade. President Murmu was addressing the Indian community and friends of India at a community reception in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. The President is on a 3-day state visit to Serbia.

The President also said that new infrastructure is coming up all over the country at a breathtaking pace and India is planning to be a developed state by 2047.

Talking about women empowerment, President Murmu said early indications suggest that our gender ratio is now shifting towards the favourable.

Before the start of the program of community reception, a minute of silence was observed to remember those who lost their lives in the tragic accident at Balasore, Odisha.

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As President Murmu arrived in Serbia, she was received by the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić at the Nikola Tesla airport today.

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, tweet Welcome to Serbia!

Thereafter, President Murmu paid floral tributes to the bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Gandijeva Street.

Tomorrow, the President will lay a wreath at the monument of the unknown hero at Mount Awala.

She is on the second and final leg of her six-day visit to Suriname and Serbia to bolster India’s bilateral engagement with the two countries.

She is in Serbia from June 7 to 9.

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A special feature of the visit is a business engagement where a 20 member business delegation is arriving separately from India to Serbia. The delegation will include members from 3 major Indian chambers; ASSOCHAM, FICCI and CII.

The focus of the ongoing visit is to encourage the business communities of both the countries to explore possibilities and prospects of business opportunities.

“She will be on a state visit to Serbia on the invitation of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic,” Secretary (West) in the MEA Sanjay Verma said on June 2 in New Delhi.

The President will have a bilateral meeting with President Vucic, and meet Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, and Speaker of the National Assembly Vladimir Orlic. She will also address a business event and interact with the Indian community.

Mr. Verma said it will be her first-ever visit to Europe after she became the President.

“This is also the first-ever state visit at the level of head of state between the two countries,” he said.

Ms. Murmu arrived here after completing her three-day state visit to Suriname — her first since assuming office in July last year.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger gives a guided tour of his many lives in Netflix’s ‘Arnold’

Mikey Peres
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Arnold Schwarzenegger gives a guided tour of his many lives in Netflix’s ‘Arnold’

Arnold Schwarzenegger gives a guided tour of his many lives in Netflix’s ‘Arnold’

(CNN) —The many lives of Arnold Schwarzenegger get neatly divided into three equal parts in “Arnold,” a Netflix documentary-cum-self-led tour through his remarkable success story as bodybuilder, actor and politician, each more improbable than the other. Now acting again (in a series for Netflix, conveniently), Schwarzenegger’s missteps aren’t ignored in the doc, but the emphasis is on how he pursued and achieved his goals, envisioning his stardom before making it a reality.

Spanning the globe from his early home in Thal, Austria to chomping on cigars in his US estates, the docuseries finds time for amusing asides, like Schwarzenegger’s competitive feud in the 1980s with Sylvester Stallone, a rift that became so toxic, Stallone says, they couldn’t be in the same room together.

The two have long since mended those fences, and Stallone speaks fondly of Schwarzenegger now, saying, “We are the last dinosaurs.”

READ MORE : Extraction 2: Chris Hemsworth Welcomes Thor Co-Star to Franchise in New Clip

Breezily told by director Lesley Chilcott, “Arnold” starts with Schwarzenegger’s worship of bodybuilder Reg Park, who parlayed that into playing Hercules in sword-and-sandal epics in the 1960s. Schwarzenegger later followed that path, meeting and befriending Park – whose son is among those interviewed – along the way.

Schwarzenegger’s rise included surviving an abusive father, whom he describes as a broken man after World War II, and throwing himself into bodybuilding, winning multiple Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia titles.

Conquering acting came harder, but Schwarzenegger applied the same discipline to that sphere, from his role in “Conan the Barbarian” to “The Terminator,” which – as director James Cameron notes – was initially supposed to feature him as the hero opposite O.J. Simpson.

The real genius move career-wise, though, may have come when Schwarzenegger augmented his action niche by branching into comedies like “Twins,” “Junior” and “Kindergarten Cop,” cementing his status as a box-office draw before his turn into politics, and the related revelations about on-set groping of women for which he eventually apologized.

Schwarzenegger admits he’s uncomfortable discussing his “failures,” as he puts it, among them the fact that he fathered a child with a household employee during his marriage to Maria Shriver. There’s also emotion surrounding his brother, Meinhard, who died in a 1971 car crash, with Schwarzenegger not returning home for his funeral or that of his father.

As for his run for governor in California’s 2003 recall election, Jay Leno remembers being genuinely surprised and perplexed when the actor officially announced his candidacy on “The Tonight Show,” thinking of his broadly popular guest taking the risky leap into politics, “What are you doing?”

Although his ability to weather scandal – and blame the media for covering it – seemingly foreshadowed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Schwarzenegger became a different kind of Republican in California, advocating for action on climate change and, after a rocky start, finding areas of common ground with Democrats.

Referring to his elder-statesman status now, former chief of staff Susan Kennedy says of the place the 75-year-old Schwarzenegger has come to occupy in speaking out about issues like the climate crisis and public health during Covid, “The world needs him.”

Hardly known for a lack of ego, Schwarzenegger nevertheless balks at the description of him as a “self-made” man, citing all the people who helped him at various stages of his career.

However Schwarzenegger got there, “Arnold” reminds us of his often-surprising and mostly charmed life, failures and all. And while one is tempted to say, “He’ll be back,” the truth is that when it comes to fame, Schwarzenegger hasn’t left the stage, in one field or another, since he first muscled onto it.

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US Secretary Blinken meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Mikey Peres
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US Secretary Blinken meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

US Secretary Blinken meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, June 7 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the early hours of Wednesday and discussed a wide range of bilateral issues, in an “open, candid” conversation, a U.S. official said.

The top U.S. diplomat arrived in Saudi Arabia late on Tuesday for a much anticipated visit amid frayed ties due to deepening disagreements on everything from Iran policy to regional security issues, oil prices and human rights.

US Secretary Blinken tweet

Met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss our shared priorities, including countering terrorism through the D-ISIS Coalition, achieving peace in Yemen, and deepening economic and scientific cooperation.

Washington is also hoping to further conversations on the possible and eventual normalization of ties between the kingdom and Israel, while countering expanding Chinese and Russian influence in the region.

Blinken and the crown prince, the de-facto ruler of the kingdom who is also known as MbS, met for an hour and forty minutes, a U.S. official said, covering many topics including Israel, the conflict in Yemen, unrest in Sudan as well as human rights.

“There was a good degree of convergence on potential initiatives where we share the same interests, while also recognizing where we have differences,” the U.S. official said.

“As president, it is my job to keep our country strong and secure. We have to counter Russia’s aggression, put ourselves in the best possible position to outcompete China, and work for greater stability in a consequential region of the world,” Biden wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

READ MORE : Antony Blinken Vietnam visit put China in tension, meeting of both foreign ministers in Hanoi

A good part of the discussion was expected be dominated by the possible normalisation of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, even though officials had played down the likelihood of any immediate or major progress on the issue.

“They discussed the potential for normalization of relations with Israel and agreed to continued dialogue on the issue,” the U.S. official said, without providing further details.

Saudi Arabia, a Middle East powerhouse and home to Islam’s two holiest shrines, gave its blessing to Gulf neighbors United Arab Emirates and Bahrain establishing relations with Israel in 2020 under the previous U.S. administration of Donald Trump.

Riyadh has not followed suit, saying Palestinian statehood goals should be addressed first. In April, Saudi Arabia restored ties with Iran, a regional rival and Israel’s arch-foe.

Developing a civilian nuclear programme is among Riyadh’s conditions for normalizing ties with Israel, a source familiar with the discussions said, confirming a New York Times report from March. Saudi or U.S. officials have not publicly confirmed that.

Hours before departing for Saudi Arabia, at a speech in Washington, Blinken said the United States had a “a real national security interest” in advocating for normalising Saudi-Israeli ties but cautioned about the time frame.

“We have no illusions that this can be done quickly or easily,” Blinken said.

MbS and Blinken also discussed Yemen and potential ways to resolve remaining issues, while Blinken thanked the crown prince for the kingdom’s role in pushing for a ceasefire in Sudan and helping evacuate U.S. citizens.

Blinken also raised human rights issues with MbS, the U.S. official said, both on a broad level and relating to specific cases, although did not say which cases.

The kingdom has been pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into transforming and opening its economy to reduce dependence on crude oil. The reforms have been accompanied by a raft of arrests of critics of MbS, as well as of businessmen, clerics and rights activists.

Most recently in March, Saudi authorities released a U.S. citizen jailed for 19 years for posting criticism of the government on Twitter but he has remained banned from travelling.

(REUTERS and AP)

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Ukrainian dam destroyed, thousands evacuated due to flooding

Shasi Kumar
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Ukrainian dam destroyed, thousands evacuated due to flooding

Ukrainian dam destroyed, thousands evacuated due to flooding

KHERSON, Ukraine — Ukraine accused Russia of a “terrorist attack” after an explosion blew a large hole in a dam and hydroelectric plant on the Dnipro River, flooding several nearby towns and sparking a mass evacuation from what was already a war zone.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the 30-metre-high Nova Kakhovka dam had been destroyed by an “internal detonation” early Tuesday, leading to the flooding of at least eight communities and threatening the city of Kherson. Russia claimed the dam collapsed after being hit by Ukrainian shelling, while some local officials suggested the 67-year-old structure had burst due to poor maintenance and record-high water levels.

READ MORE : Russia says Ukraine is launching major attacks; Kyiv accuses Moscow of misinformation

President Zelensky, who convened an immediate meeting of the country’s National Security and Defence Council, said 80 communities and thousands of people were immediately threatened by the rising water. “We do everything to save people. All services – military, government, presidential office, are involved,” he wrote on Telegram. “A set of international and security measures was agreed upon to hold Russia accountable for this terrorist attack.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa that the destruction of the dam “was another example of the horrific consequences of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine” and would have “absolutely devastating for lives and livelihoods across the region.” Writing on Twitter, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made a more direct accusation, calling it “an outrageous act, which demonstrates once again the brutality of Russia’s war in Ukraine.”

Both Ukraine and Russia called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the incident. Ukraine accused Russia of an “ecological and technological act of terrorism,” while Russia decried what it called an “act of sabotage carried out by Ukraine.” Both sides accused the other of carrying out the act to distract the world from the situation on the battlefield, where Ukraine is believed to be on the verge of launching a major counteroffensive aimed at liberating Russian-occupied areas of the country.

Intentional destruction of the dam would constitute a war crime under the Geneva Conventions, which ban attacks on dams because of the danger to civilians. Floodwaters – already reported at 11 metres high in some communities along the swelling banks of the Dnipro – are expected to peak Wednesday.

The disaster endangered communities on both sides of the river, which serves as the de facto frontline in southern Ukraine.

READ MORE : Italy floods leave 13 dead and force 13,000 from their homes

“It’s a calamity. You can’t rationalize it,” said Pavel Buznik, the head of a Red Cross emergency response team that evacuated 70 people with mobility issues from Kherson to nearby Mykolaiv on Tuesday. “We were going into homes where the water was already knee-high. I was driving down the street, and this dog was swimming, drowning beside me, and I couldn’t open the door to help it because of the water.”

Videos of the disaster site showed a torrent of water rushing through a large gap in the dam, completely submerging the 357-megawatt hydroelectric plant, which had 251 employees and provided power to much of southern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials had been warning since last fall that Russia planned to destroy the dam, unleashing the 18 million cubic metres of water stored in the Kakhovka Reservoir.

Ukraine began running evacuation trains from Kherson to Mykolaiv on Tuesday, though only a few residents decided it was time to leave. Oleksandr Sosnovchik, a Ukrainian railway employee who was working on the evacuation train, said Kherson came under artillery fire as soon as they arrived in the city Tuesday afternoon. After the barrage ended, only 43 people took the offer to relocate to Mykolaiv. “There were young people, old people, people with small children, people with pets,” Mr. Sosnovchik said. “There was no panic, but people were depressed at having to take their things and leave their homes.”

Dementiy Beliy, a writer who lives in Kherson, said most of the city was watching and waiting to see how high the water would rise. “It is clear that for those who live in private houses, there is no way but to leave. But those in apartment buildings hope to wait on upper floors,” he said in an exchange of messages. “The situation will worsen at night … the unknown awaits us all. As long as there is opportunity to hold on in Kherson, I will stay. This is my homeland. But we’ll see.”

(THE GLOBE and AP)

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UNSC: EU member Slovenia overwhelmingly defeats Moscow ally Belarus for a seat on the UN Security Council

Diplomat Times
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UNSC: EU member Slovenia overwhelmingly defeats Moscow ally Belarus for a seat on the UN Security Council

UNSC: EU member Slovenia overwhelmingly defeats Moscow ally Belarus for a seat on the UN Security Council

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In an election that reflected strong global opposition to Russia’s war against Ukraine, NATO and European Union member Slovenia soundly defeated Moscow’s close ally Belarus on Tuesday for a seat on the U.N. Security Council starting in January.

The race between the two members of the U.N.’s East European group was the only contested election for five seats on the U.N.’s most powerful body, and was closely watched because of their opposing views on Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine.

In the secret ballot election in the 193-member General Assembly, Slovenia received 153 votes while Belarus got 38 votes.

“U.N. member states doubtlessly decided that Belarus’ grave human rights abuses at home and whitewashing of Russian atrocities in Ukraine disqualify it from serving on the Security Council, a crucial body for safeguarding human rights,” said Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch.

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

The four other countries elected to the Security Council to serve two-year terms, who faced no opposition, were Guyana, which received 191 votes, Sierra Leone with 188 votes, Algeria with 184 votes and South Korea with 180 votes.

The 10 non-permanent seats on the council are allotted to regional groups, who usually select candidates, but sometimes cannot agree on an uncontested slate.

The five new council members will start their terms on Jan. 1, replacing five countries whose two-year terms end on Dec. 31 — Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and United Arab Emirates.

They will join the five veto-wielding permanent members of the council — the United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom and France — and the five countries elected last year: Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland.

The Security Council is charged with maintaining international peace and security, but because of Russia’s veto power it has been unable to take action on Ukraine.

Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon told reporters she was surprised at the support for her country. She said it proves that Slovenia convinced the vast majority of U.N. member nations that it can be “a reliable partner.”

As a small country committed to multilateralism it’s extremely important to speak to everyone and “embrace all parts of the world, and to work together for a better world,” Fajon said. She would not talk about the Ukraine war.

Slovenia, which was part of Yugoslavia before it broke up in the early 1990s, will be joining the council for the second time since 1998-99. This will also be Sierra Leone’s second time on the council.

Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister David Francis told reporters it was “a great day for this small, progressive, confident country … that has made the transition from war to peace” to return to the council after 53 years.

Francis said his country knows the devastation of civil war and the plight of bitterly divided communities, and will bring its experience to the Security Council because it knows “what the United Nations can do in terms of deploying large peacekeeping and peace support operations.”

South Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Joonkook Hwang said his country’s four priorities when it joins the council will be peacekeeping and peacebuilding, promoting women in these activities, cybersecurity, and the impact of climate on security as well as counterterrorism and North Korea’s nuclear program.

He expressed hope that the council, which has been blocked by Russia and China from responding to the North’s escalating nuclear and ballistic missile programs, will be able to speak with a “unified voice, because this is not just about your politics” but about violations of international law and multiple Security Council resolutions.

This will be the third time on the council for South Korea and Guyana and the fourth time for Algeria.

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Who is Helena Seger, partner of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and mother of his two children

Kyung An
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Who is Helena Seger, partner of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and mother of his two children

Who is Helena Seger, partner of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and mother of his two children

Sweden(DTBEATS)- Helena Seger has been Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s partner for over 20 years, even though the two have never married. She is Swedish and 11 years older than the champion, she worked as a model, and then devoted herself to the family. She had two sons by him, Maximilian and Vincent.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic he has had his beautiful partner by his side for over 20 years Helena Seger. Former model of Swedish origins, Helena is 52 years old and is extremely reserved, so much so that she is not active on social media. After a past on the runways, she dedicated herself full time to her family, taking care of the two sons had by the player, Maximilian And Vincent.

Who is Helena Seger, former model and partner of Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Class of 1970 born in Sweden, with a past as a model, Helena Seger is 11 years older than her partner, whom she met in 2001. The two are really close and inseparable, despite the age difference that separates them, Helena she has always shown self-confidence and has never regretted having left her job to devote herself entirely to the family and follow her partner, effectively becoming his manager and taking care of his assignments, which bring him around 12 million euros all ‘year. A life spent next to each other without feeling the desire to get married, but showing more united than ever.

Helena Seger and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are the parents of Maximilian and Vincent

In 2006 and 2008 Helena Seger gave birth to Maximilian and Vincent, the two sons of Ibrahimovic, to whom the Swedish footballer is very close. According to sources close to the couple, the former model would never have wanted to support her in raising her babysitter’s or nannies’ children, taking care of their needs herself. It seems that in the couple there is an unwritten pact according to which once the sportsman has put down his boots, it will be up to him to take care of the two boys who are now 14 and 12 years old.

The love story away from the spotlight and the gossip about Ibrahimovic

The one between Helena Seger and Zlatan Ibrahimovic has always been a love story away from the spotlight. The two have never loved worldliness and have always shunned the gossip chronicles. Meanwhile, over the years, there has been no shortage of gossip around the footballer, who according to numerous rumors would have entertained flirts with various women, all promptly denied or in any case never confirmed. The latest in chronological order would be what I saw next to Diletta Leotta. But with Dazn’s presenter it was just a professional feeling and nothing more.

Helena Seger and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are still not married

In an interview given to Sports worldthe former model explained why she never wanted to marry the champion: “Getting married might upset my sense of independence. I don’t want to be labeled just a gamer’s wife.” he clarified. “I think people don’t know how much I’ve studied, worked and fought.” However, the pair have a seemingly perfect balance, despite their character differences: “It’s not easy living with him, but I admit it, not even with myself.”

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Report says 2.3 billion people globally use polluting fuel to cook; 675 million have no electricity

Mark Kenya
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Report says 2.3 billion people globally use polluting fuel to cook; 675 million have no electricity

Report says 2.3 billion people globally use polluting fuel to cook; 675 million have no electricity

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Up to 2.3 billion people around the world are still using polluting fuels to cook and 675 million don’t have electricity, according to a report released Tuesday by five international organizations.

The report said that at current rates, 660 million people are projected to be without electricity and 1.9 billion won’t have clean cooking opportunities by 2030. That’s the target date to achieve a United Nations goal set in 2015 “to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.”

The report by the International Energy Agency, International Renewable Energy Agency, U.N. Statistics Division, World Bank and World Health Organization said that at the midway point toward the goal, the world is not on track to reach the energy target, which will negatively impact the health of millions and accelerate climate change.

“The energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to have a profound impact on people all around the world,” International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement. “High energy prices have hit the most vulnerable hard, particularly those in developing economies.”

READ MORE : United Nations House opened in Qatar

He said that while the transition to clean energy is happening faster than people think, a great deal of work is still needed to provide it to the billions still living without it.

According to the report, global access to electricity increased from 84% in 2010 to 91% in 2021, but the pace of growth slowed in 2019-2021, which includes the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the electrification of rural areas contributed to progress, there is still a large gap in urban areas, it said.

More than 80% of those without electricity — 567 million in 2021 — lived in sub-Saharan Africa, similar to the deficit in 2010, it said.

The report also found that up to 2.3 billion people still use polluting fuels and technologies, including firewood.

Francesco La Camera, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency, said: “Cost-competitive renewable energy has yet again demonstrated remarkable resilience, but the poorest in the world are still largely unable to fully benefit from it.”

According to estimates by WHO in 2019, 3.2 million premature deaths every year were attributable to household air pollution from polluting fuels and technologies.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said investing in clear and renewable solutions to achieve universal energy access “can play a crucial role in protecting the health of our most vulnerable populations.”

Guangzhe Chen, the World Bank’s vice president for infrastructure, called for urgent efforts “to ensure that the poorest and hardest-to-reach people are not left behind.”

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Kuwait Election: Kuwait only Gulf Arab nation with a powerful assembly, holds another election mired in gridlock

Diplomat Times
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Kuwait Election: Kuwait only Gulf Arab nation with a powerful assembly, holds another election mired in gridlock

Kuwait Election: Kuwait only Gulf Arab nation with a powerful assembly, holds another election mired in gridlock

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Voters in Kuwait were casting ballots on Tuesday for a third time in as many years, with little hope of ending a prolonged gridlock between the ruling family and assertive lawmakers after the judiciary dissolved the legislature earlier this year.

Kuwait is alone among Gulf Arab countries in having a democratically elected assembly that exerts some checks on the ruling family. But in recent years, the political system has been paralyzed by infighting and unable to enact even basic reforms.

“People on the ground are not very optimistic right now about change, and that’s why you see this frustration and probably a low voter turnout and low number of people running,” said Dania Thafer, executive director at the Gulf International Forum, a Washington-based think-tank.

The polls will close at 8 p.m. and the results are expected on Wednesday.

READ MORE : Turkey’s Erdogan takes oath of office, ushering in his third presidential term

The last election, held a mere eight months ago, delivered a mandate for change, bringing 27 new lawmakers into the 50-member assembly, including conservative Islamists and two women. Some had served in earlier parliaments.

But in March, Kuwait’s Constitutional Court annulled the decree dissolving the previous parliament, which was elected in 2020, effectively restoring it. A few weeks later, the ruling Al Sabah family dissolved that parliament for a second time, setting up this week’s vote.

Kristin Diwan, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, says the turmoil partly stems from divisions within the ruling family following the death in 2020 of Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, a veteran diplomat who had ruled the country for nearly 15 years.

The 91-year-old was succeeded by his ailing half-brother, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, with Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah assuming day to day rule. Both are in their 80s, and the line of succession after Sheikh Meshal is unclear.

Another member of the royal family, Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al Sabah, the current emir’s son, was appointed prime minister in 2022 but has recently emerged as a lightning rod of criticism.

“There’s a lack of clear direction and energy coming from the top,” Diwan said. “There is kind of an overall vacuum where you can see other political institutions and social forces kind of taking advantage and stepping into that gap.”

The emir appoints the prime minister and the Cabinet, and can dissolve parliament at any time. But lawmakers can approve or block legislation, and can question ministers and call for their removal. There are no political parties.

Two former parliamentary speakers are hoping to return to the relatively influential office.

Marzouq al-Ghanim, the scion of an influential family and a prominent member of the country’s powerful business community, led the assembly elected in 2020. He recently unleashed scathing criticism on the prime minister, calling him a “danger to the country” and further undermining his authority.

As speaker, al-Ghanim “was willing to use all the tools that he had within the parliament to really concentrate power … in a way that was more authoritarian,” Diwan said. His harsh criticism of the prime minister, a prominent member of the ruling family, was “really striking,” she added.

He will likely face off against Ahmed al-Saadoun, a veteran politician who managed to unite a broad array of opposition lawmakers in the parliament that convened last year. They have pushed for policies that would more widely disperse the country’s massive oil wealth, including debt relief for consumer loans, which the government views as fiscally irresponsible.

Kuwait has the sixth largest oil reserves and is among the world’s wealthiest countries, with cradle-to-grave welfare for its 1.5 million citizens. But many say the government has not properly invested in education, health care and other services.

Opposition figures have also called for electoral reforms that would bring more women and young people into the assembly, including a return to an earlier system in which people could vote for more than one candidate in their district.

“There’s a feeling that if people have only one vote, it forces political blocs to make a lot of difficult decisions about who to run,” said Courtney Freer, a researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

“It also makes it harder for women candidates, who are already disadvantaged,” she said.

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

Dr Mohd Ramzan Ali
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Iran to reopen its diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia after a 7-year rift, state-run media say

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

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s foreign ministry announced it would reopen its diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia this week, restoring diplomatic ties after a seven-year rift, state-run media reported on Monday.

The foreign ministry’s spokesman, Nasser Kanaani said that the Iranian Embassy in Riyadh, its consulate general in Jeddah, and office of the permanent representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation would officially reopen on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In March, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to establish diplomatic ties, in a Chinese-brokered deal, representing a major breakthrough in the region.

READ MORE : After dangerous encounters, US accuses China of military ‘aggressiveness’

Saudi Arabia broke ties with Iran in 2016 after protesters invaded Saudi diplomatic posts in Tehran and the northeastern city of Mashhad during demonstrations triggered by the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric and 46 others in the oil-rich Kingdom.

Kanaani added that Iran’s Embassy in Riyadh and its consulate general in Jeddah had already begun operating to help Iranian pilgrims heading to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, set to commence by the end of June.

Last month, Tehran named Alireza Enayati as its ambassador to Saudi Arabia, which had severed relations in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran was stormed during a dispute over Sunni Muslim-ruled Riyadh’s execution of a Shi’ite Muslim cleric.

The relationship had begun to deteriorate a year earlier after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervened in Yemen’s war, where the Iran-aligned Houthi movement had ousted a Saudi-backed government and taken over the capital Sanaa.

Riyadh accused Tehran of arming the Houthis, who went on to strike Saudi cities with armed drones and ballistic missiles. In 2019, the kingdom blamed an attack on Aramco oil facilities, which temporarily knocked out half of its oil output, directly on the Islamic Republic. Iran denied those accusations.

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(AP with DT and Reuters)

 

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