Selasa, 06 Desember 2022

Ukraine war: Russian missile strikes force emergency power shutdowns - BBC

Man with bike on a snow covered street in Borodyanka, near Kyiv on 4 DecemberGetty Images

Ukraine is switching to emergency shutdowns to stabilise its power grid after Monday's Russian missile attacks, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

He said many regions were affected, and the local authorities warned that about half of the Kyiv region would remain without electricity in the coming days.

Four people were killed in Monday's attacks.

Overnight, more missiles hit critical infrastructure near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, officials said.

In a separate development on Tuesday, the governor of Russia's Kursk region said a drone attack on an airfield set an oil storage tank alight.

Video posted online shows fierce flames and dense black smoke billowing from the site.

The fire at an airfield in Kursk was burning hours after an oil storage tank was blown up
Telegram/ak46_kursk

There were no casualties, said Roman Starovoyt, but two local schools were closed for the day. He did not say who could be behind the attack in the region that borders Ukraine.

In Ukraine, the energy minister said he hoped to significantly reduce the power deficit caused by the latest Russian strikes by Tuesday evening, bringing nuclear power stations back onto the grid.

The country is now seeing snow and sub-zero temperatures in many regions, and millions are without electricity and running water. There are fears that a number of people may die of hypothermia.

In his video address late on Monday, President Zelensky said 70 Russian missiles were fired on Monday, and "most of them were shot down".

Mr Zelensky said "the biggest number of shutdowns is in Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Khmelnytskyi and Cherkasy regions", referring to regions spanning the length and breadth of the country.

But he pledged that the authorities "will do everything to restore stability".

The Ukrainian leader said electricity supplies were also affected in neighbouring Moldova, proving that Russia's actions were "a threat not only to Ukraine, but also to our entire region".

The Russian defence ministry claimed it had carried out massive high-precision strikes on Ukraine's military command and control systems, and on other targets.

Civilians take shelter in a metro station during an airstrike alert in the centre of Kyiv on December 5, 2022
Getty Images

Monday's strikes were Russia's eighth massive missile attack in eight weeks, and came after days of repeated warnings that Moscow was planning the fresh assault.

The assault eventually arrived just hours after a series of explosions at two military airfields deep inside Russia, which Moscow blamed on Ukrainian drones intercepted by Russian air-defences.

Three servicemen were killed and two aircraft were lightly damaged at the airfields in the Ryazan and Saratov region, the Russian defence ministry said. Ukraine has not publicly commented on the issue.

The two airfields - hundreds of kilometres from Ukraine's border - house Russian strategic bombers that have been used to carry out missile attacks since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February.

President Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of Russia's security council on Tuesday - a meeting that usually happens on Fridays.

State TV showed a clip from his opening remarks, in which the Kremlin leader said the subject of the meeting would be state security.

Map showing location of Russian bases
1px transparent line

Before the latest Russian strikes, officials in Kyiv were talking about moving from highly disruptive emergency blackouts, which often last for many hours, to more manageable scheduled power cuts which offer civilians some badly needed predictability.

Moscow has been battering Ukraine's power grid since 10 October, following a string of heavy military defeats on the battlefield.

Some Western leaders have called the strategy a war crime, because of the huge amount of damage caused to civilian infrastructure.

Experts have told the BBC that Russia's tactic of hitting energy infrastructure is most likely designed to demoralise and terrorise the population, rather than gain any concrete military advantage.

Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiLmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC1ldXJvcGUtNjM4NjgxNTjSATJodHRwczovL3d3dy5iYmMuY29tL25ld3Mvd29ybGQtZXVyb3BlLTYzODY4MTU4LmFtcA?oc=5

2022-12-06 12:39:23Z
1687285030

Ukraine war: Russian missile strikes force emergency power shutdowns - BBC

Man with bike on a snow covered street in Borodyanka, near Kyiv on 4 DecemberGetty Images

Ukraine is switching to emergency shutdowns to stabilise its power grid after Monday's Russian missile attacks, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

He said many regions were affected, and the local authorities warned that about half of the Kyiv region would remain without electricity in the coming days.

Four people were killed in Monday's attacks.

Overnight, more missiles hit critical infrastructure near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, officials said.

In a separate development on Tuesday, the governor of Russia's Kursk region said a drone attack on an airfield set an oil storage tank alight.

Video posted online shows fierce flames and dense black smoke billowing from the site.

The fire at an airfield in Kursk was burning hours after an oil storage tank was blown up
Telegram/ak46_kursk

There were no casualties, said Roman Starovoyt, but two local schools were closed for the day. He did not say who could be behind the attack in the region that borders Ukraine.

In Ukraine, the energy minister said he hoped to significantly reduce the power deficit caused by the latest Russian strikes by Tuesday evening, bringing nuclear power stations back onto the grid.

The country is now seeing snow and sub-zero temperatures in many regions, and millions are without electricity and running water. There are fears that a number of people may die of hypothermia.

In his video address late on Monday, President Zelensky said 70 Russian missiles were fired on Monday, and "most of them were shot down".

The Russian defence ministry, meanwhile, said it hit all 17 of its intended targets during its "massive strike using high-precision weapons".

Mr Zelensky said "the biggest number of shutdowns is in Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Khmelnytskyi and Cherkasy regions", referring to regions spanning the length and breadth of the country.

But he pledged that the authorities "will do everything to restore stability".

The Ukrainian leader said electricity supplies were also affected in neighbouring Moldova, proving that Russia's actions were "a threat not only to Ukraine, but also to our entire region".

Civilians take shelter in a metro station during an airstrike alert in the centre of Kyiv on December 5, 2022
Getty Images

Monday's strikes were Russia's eighth massive missile attack in eight weeks, and came after days of repeated warnings that Moscow was planning the fresh assault.

The assault eventually arrived just hours after a series of explosions at two military airfields deep inside Russia, which Moscow blamed on Ukrainian drones intercepted by Russian air-defences.

Three servicemen were killed and two aircraft were lightly damaged at the airfields in the Ryazan and Saratov region, the Russian defence ministry said. Ukraine has not publicly commented on the issue.

The two airfields - hundreds of kilometres from Ukraine's border - house Russian strategic bombers that have been used to carry out missile attacks since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February.

President Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of Russia's security council on Tuesday - a meeting that usually happens on Fridays.

State TV showed a clip from his opening remarks, in which the Kremlin leader said the subject of the meeting would be state security.

Map showing location of Russian bases
1px transparent line

Before the latest Russian strikes, officials in Kyiv were talking about moving from highly disruptive emergency blackouts, which often last for many hours, to more manageable scheduled power cuts which offer civilians some badly needed predictability.

Moscow has been battering Ukraine's power grid since 10 October, following a string of heavy military defeats on the battlefield.

Some Western leaders have called the strategy a war crime, because of the huge amount of damage caused to civilian infrastructure.

Experts have told the BBC that Russia's tactic of hitting energy infrastructure is most likely designed to demoralise and terrorise the population, rather than gain any concrete military advantage.

Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiLmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC1ldXJvcGUtNjM4NjgxNTjSATJodHRwczovL3d3dy5iYmMuY29tL25ld3Mvd29ybGQtZXVyb3BlLTYzODY4MTU4LmFtcA?oc=5

2022-12-06 10:58:43Z
1687285030

Indonesia passes criminal code banning sex outside marriage - bbc.co.uk

Protesters were outside the parliament on MondayGetty Images

Indonesia's parliament has approved a new criminal code that bans anyone in the country from having extramarital sex and restricts political freedoms.

Sex outside marriage will carry a jail term of up to a year under the new laws, which take effect in three years.

The raft of changes come after a rise in religious conservatism in the Muslim-majority country.

Critics see the laws as a "disaster" for human rights, and a potential blow to tourism and investment.

Several groups of mainly young people protested against the legislation outside parliament in Jakarta this week. It's expected the new laws will be challenged in court.

They apply equally to locals and to foreigners living in Indonesia, or visiting holiday destinations such as Bali. Under the laws unmarried couples caught having sex can be jailed for up to a year.

They are also banned from living together - an act for which people could be jailed for up to six months. Adultery will also be an offence for which people can be jailed.

Ajeng, a 28-year-old Muslim woman living in the West Java city of Depok, said she was now at risk for living with her partner for the past five years.

"With the new law, both of us can go to jail if one of the family decides to make a police report," she told the BBC.

"What if there's one family member who has a problem with me and decides to send me to jail?

"I think living together or having sex outside of marriage is not a crime. In my religion, it's considered a sin. But I don't think the criminal code should be based on a certain religion."

She said she had joined the nationwide protests in 2019 when the law had first been broached. She took the sign: "For the right to cuddle, I took to the streets."

However on Tuesday, parliament unanimously approved the new code of over 600 articles.

Rights groups say the new provisions disproportionately affect women, LGBT people and ethnic minorities.

Many businesses had also been opposed to the legislation, saying it discouraged visitors and investment. But lawmakers have celebrated overhauling laws dating back to Dutch colonial rule.

"It is time for us to make a historical decision on the penal code amendment and to leave the colonial criminal code we inherited behind," law minister Yasonna Laoly told parliament.

The new legislation contains scores of new clauses criminalising immorality and blasphemy and restricting political and religious expression.

Human Rights Watch's Asia Director Elaine Pearson told the BBC it was a "huge setback for a country that has tried to portray itself as a modern Muslim democracy".

The group's Jakarta-based researcher, Andreas Harsano, said there were millions of couples in Indonesia without marriage certificates "especially among Indigenous peoples or Muslims in rural areas" who had married in specific religious ceremonies.

"These people will be theoretically breaking the law as living together could be punished up to six months in prison," he told the BBC.

He added that research from Gulf states, where there are similar laws governing sex and relationships, showed women were punished and targeted by such morality laws more than men.

There are now also six blasphemy laws in the code, including apostasy - renouncing a religion. For the first time since its independence, Indonesia will make it illegal to persuade someone to be a non-believer.

New defamation articles also make it illegal for people to insult the president or criticise state ideology.

However legislators said they had added defences for free speech and protests made in the "public interest".

Analysis box by Jonathan Head, South East Asia correspondent

Indonesia is not a secular state. Atheism is unacceptable - technically you need to follow one of six prescribed religions. So it is a multi-religious state with an official ideology, Pancasila, which prioritises no faith over any other. That was Indonesia's post-independence leader Sukarno's idea, to discourage large parts of the archipelago where Muslims are not a majority from breaking away.

But since the fall of his successor Suharto - who ruthlessly suppressed political Islamic groups - there has been growing mobilisation around Islamic values, the sense that Islam is threatened by outside influences and more conservatism in many areas of the island of Java, where more than half of Indonesians live. Political parties have responded to this and demanded tougher laws to police morals.

Current leader Joko Widodo is from the syncretic Javanese tradition that adheres to a more flexible form of Islam, but his main preoccupation is his legacy of economic development rather than tolerance and liberal values. He has shown, for example in the jailing of former Jakarta governor Ahok on blasphemy charges, that he's willing to give hardline Muslims some of what they want.

By the time the new code comes into effect, Jokowi will have left office at the end of his second term.

line

Since Indonesia's democratic transition in 1998, strict religion-based laws on sex and relationships have been introduced in some parts of the country of 267 million people.

The province of Aceh already enforces strict Islamic law and has punished people for gambling, drinking alcohol and meeting members of the opposite sex.

Many Islamic civil groups in Indonesia have been pushing for more influence in shaping public policy in recent years.

Many, including students, took to the streets and there were clashes with police in Jakarta.

Ajeng said many Indonesians who were not affected by the law had also protested in 2019 because "people don't want their taxes to be used to send people to jail just for sex".

"People are angry that their liberty is being taken. Indonesia has plenty of problems like poverty, climate change and corruption, but instead of solving a problem they've created a bill that only adds to the problem."

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiLmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLWFzaWEtNjM4NjkwNzjSATJodHRwczovL3d3dy5iYmMuY28udWsvbmV3cy93b3JsZC1hc2lhLTYzODY5MDc4LmFtcA?oc=5

2022-12-06 10:25:53Z
1669696513

Senin, 05 Desember 2022

Ukraine war: Oil prices rise as cap on Russian crude kicks in - BBC

Oil tanker on the Solent sea in the UKGetty Images

Oil prices have risen amid concerns that a new cap on the price of Russian crude could disrupt global supplies in the coming months.

A separate decision by major oil-producing countries to keep cutting how much they produce to prop up prices has also fuelled the rise.

The price of Brent crude oil rose by almost 2% on Monday to $87.25 a barrel.

But this is still well below the highs seen after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Higher oil prices tend to push up petrol prices and the cost of living which, in the UK, is rising at its fastest pace in 41 years.

Price cap

On Monday, the G7 group of major economies implemented a cap on the price of Russian oil at $60 a barrel to "prevent Russia from profiting from its war of aggression against Ukraine".

It will stop any Russian crude sold for more than that price from being shipped using G7 and EU tankers, insurance companies and credit institutions. Many major global shipping and insurance companies are based within the G7.

However, Russia - which is the world's second biggest producer of crude oil - has said it will not accept the price cap and threatened to stop exporting oil to countries adopting the measures.

Jorge Leon, senior vice-president at Norwegian energy consultancy Rystad Energy, told the BBC's Today programme that oil prices could increase as a result.

"Russia has been very clear that they will not sell crude [oil] to anybody signing up to the price cap," he said.

"So probably what's going to happen is that we will see some disruptions in the coming months and therefore probably oil prices are going to start increasing again in the coming weeks."

Meanwhile, on Sunday the group of top oil-producing countries known as Opec+ said it would stick to its policy of reducing output to prop up global prices.

Opec+ is made up of 23 oil-exporting countries, including Russia, who regularly meet to decide how much crude oil to sell on the world market.

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, global oil prices soared to more than $120 a barrel amid concerns about a shortfall in global supplies from Russia.

But they have fallen sharply since then as the global economy slows down and countries use less oil.

Man carry barrel of oil
Getty Images

"This decision by Opec+ to keep the quota where it is... is by itself an implicit sort of support to the oil market," Kang Wu of S&P Global Commodity Insights told the BBC.

Analysts said oil prices had also been boosted by the easing of Covid restrictions in some Chinese cities, which could lead to an increase in demand for oil.

More cities in China, including Urumqi in the north west, have said they will loosen strict lockdown rules after mass protests against the country's zero-Covid policy.

The $60 cap on Russian oil comes on top of an EU embargo on imports of Russian crude oil by sea and similar pledges by the US, Canada, Japan and the UK.

But this weekend Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky called the cap "a weak position" that was not "serious" enough to damage the Russian economy.

While the measures will most certainly be felt by Russia, the blow will be partially softened by its move to sell its oil to other markets such as India and China, who are currently the largest single buyers of Russian crude oil.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would respond to the latest measures, adding that they would not stop its military campaign in Ukraine.

"Russia and the Russian economy have the required capacity to fully meet the needs and requirements of the special military operation," Peskov told reporters.

line

You may also be interested in:

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiLGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL2J1c2luZXNzLTYzODU1MDMw0gEwaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmJjLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvYnVzaW5lc3MtNjM4NTUwMzAuYW1w?oc=5

2022-12-05 11:12:50Z
1679868074

Uncertainty over Iran’s morality police after official's 'disbanded' remarks - BBC

A protester holds a picture of Mahsa Amini during protests in Turkey last monthGetty Images

There is uncertainty over the status of Iran's morality police, which enforces its dress code, after a senior official suggested that it had been disbanded.

When asked about the Guidance Patrol at a conference, Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said they "have been shut down from where they were set up".

However, the government did not confirm the move and local media reported that his remarks had been "misinterpreted".

The death of a woman detained by the force has sparked nationwide protests.

Mahsa Amini, 22, collapsed and fell into a coma shortly after being arrested in Tehran on 13 September for allegedly violating the rule requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf.

There were reports that morality police officers beat her head with a baton. The police said she suffered a heart attack.

Anti-government protests - labelled "riots" by Iranian authorities - swept across Iran after Ms Amini died in hospital on 16 September.

But while her death was the catalyst for the unrest, it has also been driven by long-standing discontent over poverty, unemployment, inequality, injustice and corruption.

Iran has had various forms of "morality police" since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but the latest version - known formally as the Guidance Patrol (Gasht-e Ershad) - is currently the main agency tasked enforcing Iran's Islamic code of conduct.

They began their patrols in 2006 to enforce the dress code which also requires women to wear long clothes and forbids shorts, ripped jeans and other clothes deemed immodest.

Mr Montazeri was a religious conference when he was asked about the Guidance Patrol.

"The morality police had nothing to do with the judiciary and have been shut down from where they were set up," he said.

However, he stressed that the judiciary would continue "to monitor behavioural actions at the community level".

The Guidance Patrol is part of the national police force and control lies with the interior ministry and not with the judiciary.

After the BBC and other foreign media picked up the attorney general's statement, some Iranian state media outlets pushed back on the morality police had been disbanded.

State-run Arabic-language TV channel Al-Alam said some had "tried to misinterpret" what the attorney general said.

"The most that can be understood from Mohammed Jafar Montazeri's remarks is that the morality police's patrols have not been connected to the judiciary since their inception."

Conservative outlet Student News Network (SNN) dismissed the "false headlines" and stressed that observing hijab is "still a law in Iran".

However, the reformist Sharq newspaper said it had approached the public relations office of Tehran's police force but that officials had "dodged" its question on disbanding the Guidance Patrol.

And when asked about Mr Montazeri's remarks during a visit to Serbia, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian neither confirmed nor denied that they were correct.

"In Iran, everything is moving forward well in the framework of democracy and freedom," he said.

On Saturday, Mr Montazeri also told the Iranian parliament the law that requires women to wear hijabs would be looked at.

'A revolution is what we have'

If confirmed, the scrapping of the morality police would be a concession to the protesters.

But there are no guarantees it would be enough to halt the unrest, which has seen women waving their headscarves in the air and setting them on fire.

"Just because the government has decided to dismantle morality police it doesn't mean the protests are ending," one Iranian woman told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme.

"Even the government saying the hijab is a personal choice is not enough. People know Iran has no future with this government in power. We will see more people from different factions of Iranian society, moderate and traditional, coming out in support of women to get more of their rights back."

Another woman said: "We, the protesters, don't care about no hijab no more. We've been going out without it for the past 70 days.

"A revolution is what we have. Hijab was the start of it and we don't want anything, anything less, but death for the dictator and a regime change."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the abolition of Iran's morality police could be "a positive thing" and praised the "extraordinary courage of Iranian young people, especially women, who've been leading these protests".

"If the regime has now responded in some fashion, to those protests, that could be a positive thing," he added.

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiM2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC1taWRkbGUtZWFzdC02Mzg1MDY1NtIBN2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC1taWRkbGUtZWFzdC02Mzg1MDY1Ni5hbXA?oc=5

2022-12-05 10:52:32Z
1682669900

Ukraine war: Oil prices rise as cap on Russian crude looms - BBC

Oil tanker on the Solent sea in the UKGetty Images

Oil prices have risen after major producers agreed to continue to cut output and the G7 and its allies agreed to cap the price of Russian oil.

Brent crude rose by about 0.6% to above $86 a barrel on Monday morning.

On Friday, the G7 agreed to cap the price of Russian oil at $60 a barrel to raise pressure on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, oil producers' group Opec+ said at the weekend it would stick to its policy of reducing output.

Opec+ is a group of 23 oil-exporting countries, including Russia, which meets regularly to decide how much crude oil to sell on the world market.

"This decision by Opec+ to keep the quota where it is... is by itself an implicit sort of support to the oil market," Kang Wu of S&P Global Commodity Insights told the BBC.

Analysts said oil prices had also been boosted by the easing of Covid restrictions in some Chinese cities, which could lead to an increase in demand for oil.

More cities in China, including Urumqi in the north west, have said they will loosen curbs after mass protests against the country's zero-Covid policy.

Price cap

In a joint statement last week, the G7 and Australia said the $60 cap on Russian oil would come into force on Monday or "very soon thereafter".

They said the measure was meant to "prevent Russia from profiting from its war of aggression against Ukraine".

The price cap means only Russian oil bought for less than $60 a barrel will be allowed to be shipped using G7 and EU tankers, insurance companies and credit institutions.

This could make it difficult for Moscow to sell its oil at a higher price, because many major shipping and insurance companies are based within the G7.

Russia has said it will not accept the price cap, and has threatened to stop exporting oil to countries adopting the measures.

Man carry barrel of oil
Getty Images

Jorge Leon, senior vice-president at Norwegian energy consultancy Rystad Energy, told the BBC's Today programme that oil prices could increase as a result.

"Russia has been very clear that they will not sell crude (oil) to anybody signing up to the price cap," he said.

"So probably what's going to happen is that we will see some disruptions in the coming months and therefore probably oil prices are going to start increasing again in the coming weeks."

The G7 is an organisation of the world's seven largest so-called "advanced" economies, which dominate global trade and the international financial system. They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States.

Supply fears

Prices of oil and gas have soared on concerns that Russia's invasion of Ukraine could hit supply.

Russia is the world's second top producer of crude oil after Saudi Arabia, and supplies around a third of Europe's needs.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the price cap would further constrain Russian President Vladimir Putin's finances and "limit the revenues he's using to fund his brutal invasion" while avoiding disrupting global supplies.

However, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky called the cap "a weak position" that was not "serious" enough to damage to the Russian economy.

An EU-wide ban on Russian crude oil imported by sea will also take effect on Monday.

Although the measures will most certainly be felt by Russia, the blow will be partially softened by its move to sell its oil to other markets such as India and China, who are currently the largest single buyers of Russian crude oil.

line

You may also be interested in:

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiLGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL2J1c2luZXNzLTYzODU1MDMw0gEwaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmJjLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvYnVzaW5lc3MtNjM4NTUwMzAuYW1w?oc=5

2022-12-05 07:26:38Z
1679868074