Wall Street Journal: Saudi Arabia pushed the Yemeni president to step down, and he was detained at his home in Riyadh and his contacts were restricted

Wall Street Journal: Saudi Arabia pushed the Yemeni president to step down, and he was detained at his home in Riyadh and his contacts were restricted

    Monday, April 18, 2022   No comments

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Saudi Arabia pushed Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to step down earlier this month and that officials detained him at his Riyadh home and restricted his communications.

Hadi announced his resignation on April 7 and handed over his powers to a new leadership council as Yemen entered into a truce seen as a rare glimmer of hope in the conflict that has riven the poorest countries on the Arabian Peninsula.

The newspaper quoted unnamed Saudi and Yemeni officials as saying that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave Hadi a written decree delegating his powers to the council, which consists of eight representatives from different Yemeni groups.

According to these sources, some Saudi officials threatened to publish what they said was evidence of Hadi's corruption as part of their efforts to persuade him to step down, the newspaper wrote.

A Saudi official told the newspaper that Hadi has been detained since leaving his post inside his home in Riyadh and has been denied access to any phones.

This reported action, if true, is the second instance of Saudi rulers placing heads of government of foreign countries under limited access and forcing them to take specific action.
In 2017, Lebanese prime minister, Sa`d Hariri was detained and forced to resign; his release was later secured by France, and upon returning to Lebanon, he resended his resignation. 

Chechen Special Purpose Police Regiment in Ukraine

Chechen Special Purpose Police Regiment in Ukraine

    Friday, April 15, 2022   No comments

Chechen Special Purpose Police Regiment, an elite unit named after Akhmad-Khadzhi Kadyrov, a Chechen revolutionary who served as chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War, are shown here in action in southeast Ukraine. Akhmad Kadyrov's son, Ramzan Kadyrov, who is now the President of the Chechen Republic, is believed to be overseeing the deployment of these fighters in person. 

 

Tehran in response to an American report on human rights: Washington is the biggest violator of human rights

Tehran in response to an American report on human rights: Washington is the biggest violator of human rights

    Thursday, April 14, 2022   No comments

On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh responded to what was stated in the annual report of the US State Department on Iran.

In its annual report on the human rights situation in the world, the US State Department accused Iran of "committing widespread violations of human rights."

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said: "It is clear that the US administration, which is addicted to lies, cannot be expected to clarify the existing facts and facts. Therefore, the biased, political and intrusive nature of this report is clear and consistent for all and for the Iranian people."

Khatibzadeh pointed out that the US administration, "with its history full of wars, coups, assaults, assassinations, kidnappings, economic blockades, and killing of innocents around the world, has been a major violator of human rights, and therefore it is not worthy in any way to talk about lofty concepts such as human rights."

He added that the United States "shed crocodile tears for the Iranian people, while its crimes against Iran, including downing a passenger plane and inciting its tails at home to assassinate the people and officials over the past decades, will remain forever alive in the minds of the Iranian people."

The spokesman described the US administration's allegations as "duplicity" and "aimed at achieving its illegitimate political goals," saying that "the US president's direct issuance of orders to assassinate Major General Qassem Soleimani, in a cowardly manner, well revealed the terrorist nature of the United States."

Khatibzadeh pointed out that the US administration "turned a blind eye to the blatant and systematic violations of human rights within its country and at its allies," noting that "everyone has repeatedly witnessed how racial discrimination against minorities and Black Americans occurs systematically and widely in America, which in turn led to protests by Black people and by the people of that country."

He stressed that "the excessive violence of the police and the killing of Black people in front of the eyes of citizens exposes the approach of the US administration against human rights."

  

Irked by Kyiv cancellation of German President's Visit to Ukraine, Olaf Scholz says he won't visit Ukraine Soon

Irked by Kyiv cancellation of German President's Visit to Ukraine, Olaf Scholz says he won't visit Ukraine Soon

    Thursday, April 14, 2022   No comments

German Federal President Fran-Walter Steinmeier's visit to Kyiv was cancelled by Ukraine, which has irritated the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his surprise, Wednesday, at the Ukrainian government's sudden cancellation of the scheduled visit of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Kyiv.

In an interview with German RBB radio, Schulz described Kyiv's decision to cancel Steinmeier's visit as "confusing," noting that the German president was looking forward to visiting Ukraine and "it would have been good if they had received him there."

The German newspaper "Bild" had previously quoted sources in the Ukrainian government saying that Kyiv canceled Steinmeier's visit scheduled for yesterday because of his previous role in developing his country's relations with Russia.

The German chancellor indicated that "he himself does not intend to visit Ukraine in the near future," stressing that "he visited Kyiv shortly before the start of the Russian military operation in the territory of this country and since the outbreak of the conflict has been in constant contact with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky by phone."

For his part, Vice-President of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Kubiki, expressed his opposition to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit to Ukraine after it refused to receive the country's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

"I cannot imagine that the chancellor of the government supported by the FDP will go to a country that has declared the president of our country persona non grata," the DPA news agency quoted Kubiki, who is also vice-chairman of the Free Democratic Party of Germany, as saying.

 

Also on Wednesday, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov announced that more than 1,000 soldiers of the Ukrainian Marine Corps have surrendered to Russian forces in Mariupol.

"More than 1,000 soldiers of the Ukrainian marines surrendered in Mariupol, among them hundreds of wounded," Kadyrov said, adding that this was the "right choice."

The Chechen president, whose forces are fighting along Russian troops in Ukraine, said that there are about 200 wounded inside the Azovstal factory, and that they "cannot get medical help now", calling on the remaining Ukrainian forces in Mariupol to surrender.

Arrest of opposition figures in Russia and Ukraine get different coverage in Western media

Arrest of opposition figures in Russia and Ukraine get different coverage in Western media

    Wednesday, April 13, 2022   No comments

 Arrest of opposition figures in Russia and Ukraine get different coverage in Western media. Here is a sample.

News report 1:

Russian authorities on Monday arrested Vladimir Kara-Murza — a prominent Kremlin critic who has written columns for The Washington Post protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine and violations of human rights.

Kara-Murza was arrested outside his home in Moscow, the same day CNN published an interview in which he called Vladimir Putin’s government “a regime of murderers” and predicted that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would lead to the Russian president’s downfall.

Source: Washington Post

News report 2: 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Tuesday on Telegram that Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and oligarch, had been detained in a "special operation."

Zelensky posted a photo of a handcuffed and disheveled-looking Medvedchuk wearing fatigues, with the caption, "A special operation was carried out thanks to the SBU [the Security Service of Ukraine]. Well done! Details later."

Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Medvedchuk had faced allegations of treason in Ukraine and had been under house arrest. His whereabouts had been unknown in the weeks following the invasion. Some observers speculated that Medvedchuk or one of his allies might be the Kremlin's preference to lead a puppet government in Ukraine if the Feb. 24 invasion succeeded in toppling Zelensky. 

 Source: CNN

Qatar, Iran sign aviation agreements; discuss the feasability of tunnel linking the two coutnries

Qatar, Iran sign aviation agreements; discuss the feasability of tunnel linking the two coutnries

    Tuesday, April 12, 2022   No comments

April 12: Qatar and Iran have signed a bilateral agreement for operations to link Doha Flight Information Region (which was established in accordance with ICAO resolution) with the FIR in Iran.

An agreement to increase the number of flights between Qatar and Iran was also signed, in the presence of Minister of Transport HE Jassim bin Saif bin Ahmed Al Sulaiti and Iran’s Minister of Road and Urban Development Rostam Qassemi.

Besides, the meeting looked into all issues that would remove obstacles in a way that supports the promotion and facilitation of transport and trade between the ports of the two countries.

They also reviewed private investment opportunities in ports, in the presence of Al Sulaiti, and Iran’s Minister of Road and Urban Development.

Tehran and Doha to study the feasibility of the longest tunnel in the world

Iran is planning feasibility studies for what would be the longest tunnel in the world. If built, it would physically connect Iran to Qatar across the Persian Gulf.

The project would link the Iranian port of Bandar-e Deyr to an unspecified location in Qatar. The underwater tunnel would run for 190 km, with both road and railway sections, although the former is more difficult. Earlier this year, President Raisi visited Doha, his first visit to an Arab country, to sign four cooperation agreements, from energy to transport.  

     Possible location of the proposed tunnel linking Iran  and Qatar: 

India: "Our purchases in a whole month may be less than what Europe buys in one afternoon"; US: "an increase in human rights violations by some officials in India"

India: "Our purchases in a whole month may be less than what Europe buys in one afternoon"; US: "an increase in human rights violations by some officials in India"

    Tuesday, April 12, 2022   No comments

US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held "frank" video talks, which did not seem to succeed in bringing the two countries closer together on the Russian military operation in Ukraine, which is destabilizing their relationship.

At the beginning of the virtual meeting, the US president praised the "deep relationship" between the two countries, expressing his desire to "continue close consultations" in light of the military operation in Ukraine.

For his part, the Indian Prime Minister described the situation in Ukraine as "extremely worrying", noting that India supports negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, which Washington views with much pessimism.

After the meeting, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters that "it is important to urge all countries, especially those that have influence on Russian President Vladimir Putin, to stop military operations."

"It is also important that democracies speak with one voice to defend the values ​​we share," he added.

On the other hand, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to a journalist who asked him why his country did not condemn the Russian military operation, saying: "Thank you for your advice and suggestion, but I prefer to do it my way."

After the White House said Biden had warned Modi that it would not be "in India's interest to speed up" its purchases of Russian energy exports—something that would partly offset the decline in Western purchases of these exports—the Indian foreign minister's response took a very sharp tone.

"Our purchases in a whole month may be less than what Europe buys in one afternoon," the minister told reporters.

For her part, US presidential spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, later, that "the president has made it clear that he does not believe it is in India's interest to accelerate or increase its imports of Russian energy," which so far represents a very small part of its purchases, or "other raw materials." .

Psaki stressed that Washington is ready to "help" India to "diversify" its energy sources.

The Biden administration wants to strengthen US alliances in the Asia-Pacific region to confront China, especially the re-launch of the so-called "Quad" alliance between the United States, India, Australia and Japan.

The disagreement shifted the conversation to another topic often used as pretext to frame conflict: human rights.

US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, announced that the United States is monitoring what he described as "an increase in human rights violations by some officials in India," in a rare direct criticism from Washington of the human rights record in the Asian country.

These statements come after US President Joe Biden's video talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday, which did not succeed in bringing the two countries' positions on the war in Ukraine closer, and continue to destabilize their relationship.

In a joint press briefing with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Indian Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar, and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh today, Blinken emphasized: “We communicate regularly with our Indian partners on these shared human rights values, and for that, we are monitoring some developments. Alarming situation in India recently, including the increase in human rights violations by some government, police and prison officials.

Blinken did not elaborate. Singh and Jaishankar, who spoke after Blinken at the press briefing, did not comment on the human rights issue.

Mass demonstrations in support of Imran Khan in Pakistan's capital and other cities

Mass demonstrations in support of Imran Khan in Pakistan's capital and other cities

    Sunday, April 10, 2022   No comments

Pakistan is likely to go through a challegning period in the weeks and months ahead, as the country and the world for that matter is adjusting to new circumstances and conditions bound to shape the global order.

The Pakistani Prime Minister, who was ousted yesterday, Imran Khan, posted a video clip on his Twitter page, showing a large demonstration in support of him in a square in the capital, Islamabad, on Sunday evening.

Commenting on the video, Khan wrote: "Never in our history have such crowds come out so spontaneously and in such numbers to reject the imported government led by fraudsters."

Al-Mayadeen's correspondent in Pakistan had reported that "supporters of Imran Khan demonstrated in support of him in the capital, Islamabad." Our correspondent added, "Other demonstrations by supporters of Imran Khan took place in the cities of Lahore and Karachi, while calls for demonstrations spread on Tuesday."

Today, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan asserted that his country was "being exposed to a foreign plot aimed at regime change". "Pakistan became an independent country in 1947, but today the struggle for freedom begins again against a foreign plot to change the regime," Khan said on his Twitter account.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Imran Khan was impeached by the Pakistani Parliament. Our correspondent said: "The result of the vote came in favor of the withdrawal of confidence from Prime Minister Imran Khan with 174 votes."

Late last month, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that he had received a threatening letter from the United States. "The United States threatened to topple my government because I refused to establish military bases for it on our land," he explained.

____________________________

MashaALLAH people have spoken up against IMPORTED GOVERNMENT

IMPORTED Gov……Absolutely NOT !! pic.twitter.com/0T4AHoUjaO

— Ali Muhammad Khan (@Ali_MuhammadPTI) April 10, 2022

Never have such crowds come out so spontaneously and in such numbers in our history, rejecting the imported govt led by crooks. pic.twitter.com/YWrvD1u8MM

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 10, 2022

مسيرات تضامنية مع عمران خان في مدينة كراتشي #Karachi#ImranKhan#الدولار #USA #India #ImranKhan #Biden #Pakistan #باكستان #روسيا #بايدن #إنسان#امپورٹڈ_حکومت_نامنظور#BajwaSurrender#DGISPR pic.twitter.com/UOMDGRe6CG

— باكستان نيوز (@pakarabnews) April 10, 2022

Is US, UK, and Australia cooperation to develop hypersonic weapons under AUKUS alliance driving China to support Russia in its war in Ukraine?

Is US, UK, and Australia cooperation to develop hypersonic weapons under AUKUS alliance driving China to support Russia in its war in Ukraine?

    Sunday, April 10, 2022   No comments

Is US, UK, and Australia cooperation to develop hypersonic weapons under the framework of the new AUKUS alliance driving China to support Russia in its war in Ukraine?

This analysis seems to make the connection.

As the US, the UK and Australia announced they would cooperate to develop hypersonic weapons under the framework of the new AUKUS alliance and the NATO leaders are set - for the first time ever - to discuss China's influence and "coercive policies" in its next strategic concept, analysts said that the US is making use of the Ukraine crisis to speed up the coordination of NATO and the "Asian version of NATO" to serve its purpose of containing China and keep its global hegemony, which will bring greater harm to both regional and global peace, and risk a regional arms race. 

read the article in its source

China send a fleet of Y-20 transport planes loaded with missiles to Serbia

China send a fleet of Y-20 transport planes loaded with missiles to Serbia

    Sunday, April 10, 2022   No comments

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Russian ally Serbia took the delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a veiled operation this weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the time of the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region.

Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military.

The Chinese cargo planes with military markings were pictured at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport. Serbia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.

The arms delivery over the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as a demonstration of China’s growing global reach.

“The Y-20s’ appearance raised eyebrows because they flew en masse as opposed to a series of single-aircraft flights,” wrote The Warzone online magazine. “The Y-20′s presence in Europe in any numbers is also still a fairly new development.”

Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic said that “the Chinese carried out their demonstration of force.”

read more from the AP story...

China's major English language online outlet said this about the event:

A fleet of six Y-20 cargo planes of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force was reportedly spotted in Serbia on Saturday, with observers saying on Sunday that it could be the largest overseas operation by the Chinese domestically developed large transport plane yet, displaying the country's strategic transport capabilities.

Citing commercial flight trackers, US news website thedrive.com reported on Saturday that the six Y-20 aircraft were first spotted heading west in Turkish airspace late Friday night, and later local residents took photos of the Y-20s, which allegedly landed in Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade, Serbia. The aircraft later flew over the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey again on their way back to China.

China has not made an official announcement about the mission as of press time, but the Global Times learned that the Y-20s indeed have carried out such a flight.

Read GT story here...

Analysts have already connected this event to the war in Ukraine.

As the Ukraine war rages on, Serbia is feeling the heat because of its ties with Russia. While in the U.N. General Assembly, Serbia voted in favor of the resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supporting Ukrainian territorial integrity, Belgrade avoided imposing economic sanctions against Russia.

With its partnership with Russia under duress, Serbian ties with Beijing appear carefree in comparison. Indeed, the war in Ukraine provides Serbia with an opportunity to continue and boost the policy, which was already unfolding even before the war, of replacing Russia with China as Serbia’s primary non-Western partner. This policy is even more appealing as Serbia is about to undergo an electoral cycle in April 2022, making China a perfect instrument of domestic promotion for the Serbian leadership.