Kyiv: Ukraine said on Saturday Kyiv had come under heavy drone attack overnight, as fresh explosions were heard in the capital and other regions were struck.
“Unfortunately, the attack by Russian drones caused damage and casualties in various districts of Kyiv,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
He said that the “constant terrorist attacks on Ukrainian cities prove that the pressure on Russia and its accomplices is not enough.”
AFP reporters heard new explosions in Kyiv on Saturday afternoon amid an air raid alert.
In the morning Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down 39 out of 71 drones launched from Russia overnight.
The drones targeted the Kyiv region surrounding the capital, the Sumy border region as well as the central Kirovograd and Poltava regions.
Twenty-one drones were lost and five returned to Russia, the air force said, adding that the drone attack was continuing.
The air force said debris from downed drones had damaged houses and blocks of flats in four regions including Kyiv, Sumy and the Black Sea Odesa region.
Kyiv’s military administration said that debris from air defenses shooting down drones fell in six districts of the capital, damaging blocks of flats and cars and sparking several fires in buildings that were extinguished.
A policeman was injured, the administration said.
In the Kyiv region outside the capital, an 82-year-old woman suffered head wounds from shrapnel, officials said.
In a village near the southern city of Kherson, a 40-year-old woman was pulled dead from rubble after Russian troops fired artillery and four were injured including three children, the governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
The health ministry said that a hospital in Kherson was struck, damaging two wards and a laboratory.
The medics and patients were uninjured as they had taken shelter.
Ukraine’s military commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky warned on Saturday that his troops on the ground were “holding back one of the most powerful Russian offensives since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.”
Kyiv comes under heavy Russian drone attack
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Kyiv comes under heavy Russian drone attack
- Ukraine said on Saturday Kyiv had come under heavy drone attack overnight, as fresh explosions were heard in the capital and other regions were struck
Saudi hospitality reaches Dhaka as immigration officers assist Hajj pilgrims
- Saudi Arabia launched Makkah Route initiative for Bangladeshi pilgrims in 2019
- About 87,000 Bangladeshis are expected to travel to Kingdom for Hajj this year
DHAKA: Bangladeshi pilgrims are enjoying the care and attention of dozens of Saudi officers who under the Makkah Route initiative are working around the clock at Dhaka’s main airport to ensure smooth immigration for Hajj.
About 87,000 Bangladeshi pilgrims are expected to perform the spiritual journey that is one of the five pillars of Islam. This year, the Hajj is expected to start on June 4 and end on June 9.
Most of the pilgrims are departing under the flagship pre-travel program, which the Kingdom launched in 2019 to help pilgrims meet all the visa, customs and health requirements at their airport of origin and save them long hours of waiting before and on arrival in the Kingdom.
“It’s a very pleasant experience for the pilgrims as they receive the heartiest welcome by the Saudi immigration officials,” Lokman Hossain, director of the Hajj Office at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, told Arab News on Wednesday.
“The immigration officials here serve the pilgrims very gently and always with a welcoming smile. It’s something that they can anticipate as the Kingdom’s hospitality for Hajj pilgrims … This is something extraordinary, and offers the pilgrims a comfort in their journey to the holy places.”
Bangladesh is among seven Muslim-majority countries — including Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco, Turkiye and Cote d’Ivoire — where Saudi Arabia is operating its Makkah Route initiative.
“The moment pilgrims enter into the airport, their Saudi immigration formalities are taken care of by the immigration staffers stationed here temporarily by the Kingdom’s authorities,” Hossain said.
“There is no need to wait in any queues. Saudi immigration officials are offering instant services to our pilgrims with more than a dozen service counters. Women immigration staffers are also deployed here, which brings ease for our women pilgrims also.”
The moment they enter the Makkah Route facilities at the airport, the pilgrims are “treated like distinguished guests,” he added.
“Sometimes, the pilgrims receive greetings in their local language too. It creates a sense of comfort in the pilgrims’ minds.”
Special pilgrimage flights from Dhaka started in late April, as many pilgrims arrive early to make the most of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fulfill their religious duty. More than 51,400 Bangladeshi pilgrims have already traveled to the Kingdom as of Tuesday.
“Makkah Route initiative is a very significant and helpful offer for our pilgrims,” Hossain said. “Our pilgrims are enjoying this facility.”
Indian Navy inducts first vessel built in ancient shipbuilding style
- Ship design is based on 5th-century artwork found in Ajanta Caves
- The ship’s first transoceanic voyage is planned from Gujarat to Oman
NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy inducted on Wednesday its first vessel constructed using traditional shipbuilding techniques dating back to the 5th century.
The 21-meter wooden ship is a stitched ship, a type of boat that is carvel-built, with its planks stitched together using cords or ropes. The technique was popular in ancient India in constructing ocean-going vessels.
Named Kaundinya, the ship is a recreation of a vessel inspired by a painting from the Ajanta Caves — a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Maharashtra state, where ancient Buddhist rock-cut monuments feature exquisite murals dating from the 2nd century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E.
“The whole concept was to kind of connect to our ancient methodology of how the construction takes place and also, subsequently, connect to the historical maritime routes which Indian seafarers took during that particular time,” Cdr. Vivek Madhwal, spokesperson of the Indian Navy, told Arab News.
Funded by the Ministry of Culture, the project was launched in July 2023 and constructed by artisans from Kerala, who were led by master Indian shipwright Babu Sankaran. The vessel was completed in February this year.
The INSV Kaundinya’s induction into the Indian Navy took place in the presence of Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat at the Naval Base Karwar in Karnataka, on the country’s western coast along the Arabian Sea.
The ship will sail its first transoceanic voyage from Gujarat to Oman.
“That is one of the routes which was used by the ancient seafarers,” Madhwal said, adding that new routes will be considered in the future, after the first journey.
The Indian Navy collaborated with the Department of Ocean Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras to conduct model testing of the vessel’s hydrodynamic behavior at sea. The navy has also tested the wooden mast system, which was constructed without the use of contemporary materials.
“Every aspect of the ship had to balance historical authenticity with seaworthiness, leading to design choices that were both innovative and true to the maritime traditions of ancient India,” the Indian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
“The combination of a stitched hull, square sails, wooden spars, and traditional steering mechanisms makes the vessel unlike any ship currently in naval service anywhere in the world.”
Japan’s agriculture minister resigns after a rice gaffe causes political fallout
- Taku Eto’s comment that he ‘never had to buy rice’ because he got it from supporters as a gift got him into trouble
- The gaffe could be further trouble for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party before a national election in July
TOKYO: Japan’s agriculture minister was forced to resign Wednesday because of political fallout over his recent comments that he “never had to buy rice” because he got it from supporters as a gift. The resignation comes as the public struggles with record high prices of the country’s traditional staple food.
Taku Eto’s comment, which many Japanese saw as out of touch with economic realities, came at a seminar Sunday for the Liberal Democratic Party, which leads a struggling minority government. The gaffe could be further trouble for the party before a national election in July. A major loss could mean a new government or could mean Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba would have to step down.
“I made an extremely inappropriate remark at a time when consumers are struggling with soaring rice prices,” Eto told reporters after submitting his resignation at the prime minister’s office. He was the first minister to resign under Ishiba’s leadership that began October.
The government has released tonnes of rice from its emergency stockpile in recent months, but the latest agricultural ministry statistics show little impact from the move. Some supermarkets have started selling cheaper imported rice.
Eto also sought to clarify the comments that got him in trouble. He said he does actually buy white rice himself and was not living on rice given as gifts. He said the gift comment referred to brown rice, which he wants people to become interested in because it can reach market faster.
Ishiba appointed popular former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of a former prime minister, to lead the ministry, noting his experience in agriculture and fisheries policies and enthusiasm for reforms.
Koizumi told reporters Ishiba instructed him to do everything to stabilize the rice supply and prices to address consumer concern.
“I was told to put rice before anything,” Koizumi told reporters. “At this difficult time, I will do my utmost to speedily tackle the high rice prices that people feel and worry about in their everyday lives.” He said he shares consumers’ concerns as he feeds his children packaged instant rice sometimes.
Ishiba, also a former farm minister, said he wants to strengthen Japan’s food security and self-sufficiency. He has proposed agricultural reforms, including increased rice production and possible exports, though critics say he should urgently fix the ongoing rice problem first.
Noting the rice situation, Ishiba said he suspects the rice price surge is “not a temporary but a structural problem.”
“It may not be easy to find an answer,” he said, but repeated his pledge to do the utmost to ease consumers’ difficulties and to reform rice policies.
Koizumi said the measures so far have proved ineffective and that he will speed the effort as soon as he formally takes office later Wednesday. He stressed the need to reform Japanese rice policy, which has focused on powerful organizations that represent farmers, to focus more on the benefit of consumers.
Japanese rice demand has decreased over recent decades as people’s diets have diversified, but rice remains a staple food and an integral part of Japanese culture and history.
“Rice is the staple food for the Japanese. When its prices are rising every week, (Eto’s) resignation is only natural,” said Shizuko Oshima, 73.
The shortfall started last August with panic buying following a government caution over preparedness for a major earthquake. The supply pressure eased after the autumn harvest, but a shortage and price increases hit again early this year.
Officials have blamed the supply shortage on poor harvests because of hot weather in 2023 and higher fertilizer and other production costs, but some experts blame the government’s long-term rice production policy.
The unprecedented release from emergency rice stockpiles was seen in part as an attempt to figure out distribution problems. The government has denied there is now a rice shortage, but officials say it’s a mystery why rice is not reaching consumers as expected. Some experts say the rice shortage could be serious but it’s difficult to trace rice as its distribution route has become so complex since the end of government control in 1995.
Pope Leo XIV calls for aid to reach Gaza and an end to hostilities in his first general audience
- Trump had referred to the Vatican’s longstanding offer to host talks in reporting on his phone call Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin
VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV called Wednesday for humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip and for an end to the “heartbreaking” toll on its people, as he presided over his first general audience in St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican said that around 40,000 people were on hand for the audience, which came just days after an estimated 200,000 people attended the inaugural Mass on Sunday for history’s first American pope.
Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago, began the audience with a tour through the piazza in the popemobile and stopped to bless several babies. In addressing specific greetings to different groups of pilgrims, Leo spoke in his native English, his fluent Spanish as well as the traditional Italian of the papacy.
“I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entrance of dignified humanitarian aid to Gaza and to put an end to the hostilities whose heartbreaking price is being paid by children, the elderly and sick people,” he said. Leo didn’t mention the plight of hostages taken by Hamas during the assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, as Pope Francis normally would.
The general audience on Wednesdays is a weekly appointment that popes have kept for decades to allow ordinary faithful to have a face-to-face encounter with the pontiff. It features the pope delivering a brief reflection on a theme or Scripture passage, with summaries provided by others in different languages and the pope directing specific messages to particular faith groups.
The encounter, which lasts more than an hour, usually ends with a brief topical appeal by the pope about a current issue or upcoming event. Leo began it with his now-frequent mantra “Peace be with you.”
To that end, Leo on Tuesday reaffirmed the Vatican’s willingness to host the next round of ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine during a phone call with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, the Italian leader’s office said.
Meloni made the call after speaking with US President Donald Trump and other European leaders, who asked her to verify the Holy See’s offer.
“Finding in the Holy Father the confirmation of the willingness to welcome the next talks between the parties, the premier expressed profound gratitude for Pope Leo XIV’s willingness and his incessant commitment in favor of peace,” Meloni’s office said in a statement late Tuesday.
Trump had referred to the Vatican’s longstanding offer to host talks in reporting on his phone call Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While low-level talks could take place in Rome, Italy would be hard-pressed to allow Putin to fly into Rome for any higher-level negotiation.
Putin is subject to an international arrest warrant against him from the International Criminal Court, of which Italy is a founding member and therefore obliged to execute its warrants.
Macron chairs meeting to address ‘threat’ of Muslim Brotherhood
- France’s authorities are eager to prevent any spread of extremist Islamist ideas in a country that has been rocked by a string of deadly jihadist attacks
PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday chaired a security meeting following the publication of a report sounding the alarm about the Muslim Brotherhood and the spread of “political Islamism” in France.
The meeting, which was to include the head of government and key ministers, addressed a report that calls for action to address the rising influence of the Islamist movement which it said poses “a threat to national cohesion” in France.
After the meeting, measures will be taken, “some of which will be announced” and others will remain classified, according to the Elysee Palace.
The report, which was commissioned by the government and prepared by two senior civil servants, “clearly establishes the anti-republican and subversive nature of the Muslim Brotherhood” and “proposes ways to address this threat,” said the Elysee Palace.
France and Germany have the biggest Muslim populations among European Union countries.
France’s authorities are eager to prevent any spread of extremist Islamist ideas in a country that has been rocked by a string of deadly jihadist attacks.
Religious radicalization has become a hot-button issue as the political landscape in France is shifting and the far-right is becoming increasingly popular. Critics have condemned what they call the rise of Islamophobia in France.
The report, a copy of which was obtained by AFP on Tuesday, pointed to the spread of Islamism “from the bottom up,” adding the phenomenon constituted “a threat in the short to medium term.”
“The movement is present in Europe and its target is clearly Europe,” the Elysee Palace said, adding that it was necessary to “raise awareness within the European Union.”
At the same time, the French presidency stressed, “we are all perfectly aligned in saying that we must not lump all Muslims together.”
“We are fighting against Islamism and its radical excesses,” added the presidency.
The report zeroed in on the role of Muslims in France (Musulmans de France), which it identified as “the national branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in France.”
The Federation of Muslims of France denounced “unfounded accusations” and warned against “dangerous” conflation between Islam and radicalism.
“We firmly reject any allegation that attempts to associate us with a foreign political project or an ‘entryism’ strategy,” it said.
“This ideological interpretation does not reflect our institutional reality or our work on the ground,” the federation said, adding it was committed to France’s values.
“Even unintentional conflations between Islam, political Islamism and radicalism are not only dangerous but counterproductive for the Republic itself,” said Muslims in France.
“Behind these unfounded accusations lies a stigmatization of Islam and Muslims.”
The “constant accusation shapes minds, fuels fears and, sadly, contributes to violent acts,” it added, pointing to the death of Aboubakar Cisse, a 22-year-old Malian who was stabbed dozens of times while praying in a mosque in southern France.
Conservative daily Le Figaro, which first published excerpts of the “shocking” report on Tuesday, said the Muslim Brotherhood “wants to introduce Sharia law in France.”
France’s tough-talking Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau expressed a similar concern, pointing to “a low-level Islamism.”
The report said however that “no recent document demonstrates the desire of Muslims in France to establish an Islamic state in France or to enforce Sharia law there.”
But the threat was real, the authors said.
“We are not dealing with aggressive separatism” but a “subtle...yet no less subversive aim for the institutions.”
Macron’s party wants to ban minors under 15 from wearing the Muslim headscarf in public spaces, saying the hijab “seriously undermines gender equality and the protection of children.”
The party also wants to introduce a “criminal offense for coercion against parents who force their underage daughters to wear the veil.”
Critics see the headscarf worn by Muslim women as a symbol of creeping Islamization after deadly jihadist attacks in France, while others say they are just practicing their religion and should wear what they want.
