India explores ‘untapped potential’ with UAE as foreign minister visits Abu Dhabi

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Updated 24 June 2024
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India explores ‘untapped potential’ with UAE as foreign minister visits Abu Dhabi

India explores ‘untapped potential’ with UAE as foreign minister visits Abu Dhabi
  • Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s UAE visit seen as strong indicator of bilateral relations
  • Visit was his first to the Gulf country since his re-appointment earlier this month 

 

NEW DELHI: India is exploring new areas of cooperation with the UAE, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday after the foreign minister’s first official trip to Abu Dhabi since his re-appointment.

 

India-UAE relations have grown considerably since 2022, when they signed a landmark comprehensive economic partnership agreement to boost two-way trade and investment.

On Sunday, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Abu Dhabi to meet with his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, where they reviewed bilateral relations and discussed new opportunities.

“Both ministers reviewed the multifaceted India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and expressed happiness at the substantive progress in diverse areas of bilateral cooperation,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

“They also discussed new areas with untapped potential for further enhancing collaboration.”

Jaishankar’s UAE trip, which came within two weeks of his re-appointment, “signifies the importance India attaches to its relations with the country,” the ministry said.

“The visit marks the continuation of high-level contact between the two countries.”

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who won a historic third term as the country’s prime minister earlier this month, has visited the UAE three times, the ministry said, while UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has visited the South Asian nation twice.

Kabir Taneja, a fellow at the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, said Jaishankar’s visit indicates the focus of India’s foreign policy in Modi’s new term.

“It is very interesting. The first state visit to India was by the Bangladesh prime minister, and the first visit of the Indian foreign minister was to the UAE. It shows the centrality of the UAE in India’s policy towards West Asia,” he told Arab News, referring to Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina’s trip to New Delhi over the weekend.

“It shows that India has really put the UAE on the mantle so to speak as a strategic partner, trade partner, as an economic partner … I think it’s a very strong positioning of the bilateral (relations) between the two countries.”


Heat wave shuts down schools in nearly half Philippine capital

Heat wave shuts down schools in nearly half Philippine capital
Updated 11 sec ago
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Heat wave shuts down schools in nearly half Philippine capital

Heat wave shuts down schools in nearly half Philippine capital
  • National weather service advisory warns heat index to reach ‘danger’ levels in Manila and two other areas of the country
  • The capital region has a student population of more than 2.8 million according to education department data
MANILA: Soaring temperatures shut down schools in nearly half the Philippine capital on Monday, local officials said, as the torrid dry season started in the tropical Southeast Asian country.
A national weather service advisory warned the heat index, a measure of air temperature and relative humidity, was set to reach “danger” levels in Manila and two other areas of the country.
“Heat cramps and heat exhaustion are likely” at that level, the advisory said, warning residents in affected areas to avoid prolonged exposure to the sun.
A heat wave struck large areas of the Philippines in April and May last year, leading to almost daily suspensions of in-person classes, affecting millions of students.
Manila’s temperature hit a record 38.8 Celsius (101.8F) on April 27 last year.
While temperatures were only expected to hit 33C on Monday, local governments in Manila and six other districts ordered classrooms closed as a precaution.
The capital region has a student population of more than 2.8 million according to education department data.
In Manila’s Malabon district, education department official Edgar Bonifacio said the suspensions affected more than 68,000 students across 42 schools.
“We were surprised by the heat index advisory,” Bonifacio said, adding: “We cannot feel the heat yet outside.”
However, due to protocols adopted during last year’s heat wave, the district’s school superintendent recommended suspending in-person classes.
“Our main concern is we’re near the end of the school year (in mid-April),” Bonifacio said. “This would mean a reduction of the number of school days available.”
In Valenzuela district, school official Annie Bernardo said its 69 schools had been instructed to shift to “alternative” learning models, including online classes.
Global average temperatures hit record highs in 2024 and even briefly surpassed the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold.
In January, UN children’s agency UNICEF said extreme weather disrupted the schooling of about 242 million children in 85 countries last year, including the Philippines, with heat waves having the biggest impact.
Human activity, including the unrestricted burning of fossil fuels over decades, has warmed the planet and changed weather patterns.
That has meant wetter wet periods and dryer dry periods, intensifying heat and storms and making populations more vulnerable to disasters.

US defense chief pauses cyber offensive against Russia: reports

US defense chief pauses cyber offensive against Russia: reports
Updated 18 min 38 sec ago
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US defense chief pauses cyber offensive against Russia: reports

US defense chief pauses cyber offensive against Russia: reports
  • The order was part of an overall reevaluation of US operations against Moscow, , according to the New York Times
  • Reported change comes as US President Donald Trump has been pushing for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a pause on all of the country’s cyber operations against Russia, including offensive actions, multiple US media reports said on Sunday.
The order was part of an overall reevaluation of US operations against Moscow, according to the New York Times, with the duration or extent of the pause unclear.
The Pentagon declined to comment when queried by AFP.
“Due to operational security concerns, we do not comment nor discuss cyber intelligence, plans, or operations,” a senior defense official said.
“There is no greater priority to Secretary Hegseth than the safety of the Warfighter in all operations, to include the cyber domain.”
The reported change comes as US President Donald Trump has been pushing for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, and days after the US leader berated his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, in a stormy White House meeting.
Western countries have accused the Kremlin of masterminding a string of incidents aimed at trying to undermine support for Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion.
Trump, meanwhile, has cast himself as a mediator between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky, sidelining Kyiv and Europe while pursuing rapprochement with Putin.
“We should spend less time worrying about Putin,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform late Sunday.
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, speaking Sunday to broadcaster CNN about reopening links to Russia, denied reports of the cyber policy change.
“That has not been part of our discussions,” Waltz said. “There will be all kinds of carrots and sticks to get this war to an end.”


Ukraine ready to sign minerals deal: Zelensky

Ukraine ready to sign minerals deal: Zelensky
Updated 03 March 2025
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Ukraine ready to sign minerals deal: Zelensky

Ukraine ready to sign minerals deal: Zelensky
  • The US leader had previously said the proposed minerals deal would be “very fair”

LONDON: Ukraine is ready to sign a minerals deal with the United States, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told UK media on Sunday.
“The agreement that’s on the table will be signed if the parties are ready,” he told a late-night huddle with some UK media after a landmark summit in London.
The deal, which was supposed to be a step toward helping to end the conflict in Ukraine, fell through on Friday after a televised Oval Office clash with US President Donald Trump.
“It is our policy to continue what happened in the past, we’re constructive,” Zelensky said, quoted by the BBC.
“If we agreed to sign the minerals deal, we’re ready to sign it.”
Zelensky had traveled to Washington for a full White House visit on Friday to sign a US-Ukrainian deal for the joint exploitation of Ukraine’s vast mineral resources, as part of a post-war recovery in a US-brokered peace deal.
But in their Oval Office meeting, Trump berated Zelensky, telling him to be more “thankful” for US support in the three-year war and that without US assistance Ukraine would have been conquered by Russia.
“You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out,” Trump added. “And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”
The US leader had previously said the proposed minerals deal would be “very fair.”
The proposal was to give Washington financial benefits for helping Ukraine in a truce, even if Trump has repeatedly refused to commit any US military force as a back-up to European troops who might act as peacekeepers.
After the heated exchange, Zelensky drove off in his motorcade shortly after having been asked to leave, without holding a planned joint press conference. The resources deal was left unsigned, the White House said.
Ukraine’s allies rallied around Zelensky on Sunday at a summit hosted by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer who said many European leaders had pledged to spend more on security and assemble a coalition to defend any truce.
French President Emmanuel Macron, flying back from the London summit, said in a newspaper interview that France and Britain wanted to propose a partial one-month truce with Russia.
 

 


Drone hits apartment building in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, injures seven, mayor says

Drone hits apartment building in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, injures seven, mayor says
Updated 03 March 2025
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Drone hits apartment building in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, injures seven, mayor says

Drone hits apartment building in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, injures seven, mayor says
  • Kharkiv resisted capture in the early days of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has since been a frequent target of air attacks

A Russian drone struck a multi-story apartment building late on Sunday in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, triggering a fire and injuring eight people, the city’s mayor said.
Kharkiv resisted capture in the early days of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has since been a frequent target of air attacks. A medical center was damaged in one of several drone strikes in the city on Friday.
Mayor Ihor Terekhov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the fire triggered by Sunday’s attack spread to several apartments on the top floor of the building.
None of the injured had required hospital treatment, he said. Three other residential buildings were damaged, with well over 100 windows smashed.
Emergency crews were working at the site, the mayor added.


Anti-DOGE protests at Tesla stores target Elon Musk’s bottom line

Anti-DOGE protests at Tesla stores target Elon Musk’s bottom line
Updated 03 March 2025
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Anti-DOGE protests at Tesla stores target Elon Musk’s bottom line

Anti-DOGE protests at Tesla stores target Elon Musk’s bottom line
  • Musk is taking direction from Trump to slash federal spending and sharply reduce the workforce

BOSTON: Demonstrators gathered outside Tesla stores across the US Saturday to protest the automaker’s billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, and his push to slash government spending on behalf of President Donald Trump.
The demonstrations are part of a growing backlash in North America and Europe to Musk’s disruptive role in Washington.
Critics of Trump and Musk hope to discourage and stigmatize purchases of Tesla, the electric car company that is the world’s most valuable automaker. Liberal groups for weeks have organized anti-Tesla protests in hopes of galvanizing opposition to Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and energizing Democrats still demoralized by Trump’s November victory.
“We can get back at Elon,” said Nathan Phillips, a 58-year-old ecologist from Newton, Massachusetts, who was protesting in Boston on Saturday. “We can impose direct economic damage on Tesla by showing up at showrooms everywhere and boycotting Tesla and telling everyone else to get out, sell your stocks, sell your Teslas.”
Musk is taking direction from Trump to slash federal spending and sharply reduce the workforce, arguing that Trump’s victory gave the president and him a mandate to restructure the US government. DOGE officials have swiftly gained access to sensitive databases, directed thousands of federal job cuts, canceled contracts and shut down sections of the government, including the US Agency for International Development.
Musk’s critics say his actions defy Congress’s power to control the US budget and present a host of ways for him to enrich himself. Musk leads several other companies, notably SpaceX, which conducts launches for NASA and the intelligence community, and the social media platform X.
“Protests will not deter President Trump and Elon Musk from delivering on the promise to establish DOGE and make our federal government more efficient and more accountable to the hardworking American taxpayers across the country,” said White House spokesperson Harrison Fields.
Tesla did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
More than 50 demonstrations were listed Saturday on the website Tesla Takedown, with more planned later in March from coast to coast in the United States along with England, Spain and Portugal. News reports showed demonstrations in recent days in US cities including Tucson, Arizona; St. Louis; New York City; Dayton, Ohio; Charlotte; and Palo Alto, California.
Some Tesla owners have also reported their vehicles vandalized with spray painted swastikas amid what Jewish groups and observers fear is a rise in antisemitism.
Federal prosecutors charged a woman in connection with a string of vandalism against a Colorado Tesla dealership, which included Molotov cocktails being thrown at vehicles and the words “Nazi cars” spray painted on the building.
Saturday’s demonstration in Boston had a festive atmosphere, with a brass band playing music as protesters carried signs and chanted. Several of the signs mocked Musk and DOGE, with one reading: “Stop Elon and his despicable Muskrats.”
“This government led by Trump and Musk, it’s gone completely off the rails and we are here to stop that,” said Carina Campobasso, a retired federal worker. “And I hope they listen.”
About 300 demonstrators protested at a Tesla dealership in New York City on Saturday. Police said nine people were taken into custody but did not elaborate on the charges they faced.
Tesla’s share price has fallen by nearly a third since Trump took office, though it’s still higher than it was a year ago. Musk’s current net worth is an estimated $359 billion, according to Forbes, which calculated his 2024 net worth as $195 billion.