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This step comes at a time when Russian forces continue to bombard Ukrainian cities and towns with missiles and drones, causing damage to power stations, water supplies, and other civilian targets, as the Ukrainian war enters its nine months. Russian attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure followed an attack on Russia's symbol of power in Ukraine, the Crimean Bridge, which Russia accused Kyiv of orchestrating it.
The statement said that power outages for "certain categories of consumers" will occur daily "according to a specific schedule set by the distribution network operators for each region." The outages are expected to last six hours or more each day.
Ukraine has been suffering from blackouts and disrupted water supplies since Russia launched a barrage of missiles and drones on its energy infrastructure last month after it faced ostensible setbacks in Southern and Eastern Ukraine.
The governor of Dnipropetrovsk, Valentin Reznichenko, said on Telegram that about 40 shells were fired during the night on Nikopol. Russian forces targeted the town and its surroundings with heavy artillery. The official said that the raid led to the outbreak of two fires and damaged more than 12 residential buildings and facilities and a gas pipeline.
Russian forces also fired missiles at the Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast, which Moscow annexed. The regional governor, Oleksandr Staruch, stated that the Russian troops launched an attack shortly after midnight that damaged the buildings of three companies and many cars.
According to the Ukrainian presidency, at least three civilians were killed, and eight others were injured during the past 24 hours in the Russian bombing of nine Ukrainian regions, where drones, missiles, and heavy artillery were deployed.
With confrontation between Ukrainians and Russian armies diminished and fighting mostly done through attacks on critical infrastructure, the Ukraine War has taken a different turn, as many believed that an escalation would involve Russia using WMDs, including nuclear weapons.
A yacht with 70 passengers, mostly Iraqi Kurds, capsized in Greek territorial waters. Greek Media reported that Greek authorities launched a search and rescue mission for the missing.
Greek-based reporter Ranj Pishdari told KurdSat that a yacht with 70 passengers, mostly Iraqi Kurds, was heading to Greece two days ago, they were then trapped near an island and called for help, but their yacht overturned. The boat had set sail from the Turkish coastal city of Izmir.
A video published by KurdSat English shows the passengers crying for help at night. The boat capsized on Monday night between Evia and Andros islands.
Most of the passengers were women and children, and only nine migrants had been rescued by the Turkish navy so far, Pishdari added. The Greek coastguard said on Tuesday that nine men had been found on an uninhabited rocky islet in the Kafirea Straits between the two islands, which lie east of Athens.
More than 1,300 migrants have died in the Mediterranean and Northwest Africa since the beginning of 2022, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
The majority of yachts that overturn are due to the smuggler’s negligence of the yacht’s load capacity; the smugglers usually overload the boats, as they charge the passengers per person, according to people that cross to Europe via the route. Also, the uneven load distribution on the boat leaves even a good boat vulnerable to sinking.
"Our intelligence services have data indicating that British military specialists were directing and coordinating the attack," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a group of journalists.
Earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of attacking Nord Stream 1 and 2. Putin claimed Washington attacked to cut off Europe's access to cheap energy and sell its gas at higher prices, calling the move an "act of international terrorism" that "undermines the energy security of the entire continent."
Peskov also pointed out that "the Russian intelligence services have evidence indicating that the attack was supervised and coordinated by British military experts."
In addition, he stressed that "these actions cannot be left without a response, saying, "We will think about the measures that will be taken." He also denounced what he described as the "unacceptable silence of European capitals."
The Russian Defense, in turn, announced last week that "representatives of a British naval unit in planning and logistics participated in carrying out the terrorist act in the Baltic Sea on September 26 to sabotage the work of the two gas pipelines," without providing public evidence for this accusation.
The British Defense Ministry denied the accusation in a tweet. It said Russia seeks to cast a shadow on its failures in Ukraine by accusing the UK of sabotage.
Four major leaks were detected on February 26 in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines off the Danish Island of Bornholm, two in the Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone, and two in Denmark waters. Preliminary investigations under the sea supported the sabotage hypothesis since explosions preceded the leak.
The Nord Stream gas pipeline has been Russia's way to bypass or mitigate European sanctions. The two pipelines linking Russia and Germany have been at the center of geopolitical tensions after Moscow decided to cut gas supplies to Europe in response to Western sanctions imposed on it, for the military operation it launched on its western neighbor on February 24.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Turkey will continue its efforts for the deal to export grain through the Black Sea, despite Russia's reluctance, after Moscow suspended its participation on Sunday.
"Even if Russia acted hesitantly because it did not get the same benefits, we will decisively continue our efforts to serve humanity," Erdogan added in the speech.
"Although Russia is reluctant because it does not get the same facilities (as Ukraine), we are determined to continue efforts in the service of humanity," said the Turkish president as one of the mediators of the July 19 grain export agreement in Istanbul.
Separately, a UN spokesman said the first of Monday's planned inspections of 40 ships had been completed in Istanbul waters by only a UN and Turkish team, rather than previous teams that also included Russians and Ukrainians before Moscow suspended its role in the deal.
Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said 12 ships had moved out of Ukrainian ports today, Monday, under the Black Sea grain initiative, after a United Nations spokesman for the initiative told Reuters that teams from Turkey and the United Nations had resumed inspection of ships under the agreement.
Russia suspended its participation in the agreement to export Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports on Saturday "indefinitely" due to what it described as its inability to "guarantee the safety of civilian ships" sailing under the agreement after its Black Sea fleet was attacked, in a drone attack on Crimea. Russia said, Ukraine manipulated to the deal to attack Russia as demilitarized space in the ports were used for the attack.
"Today 12 ships left Ukrainian ports, the UN and Turkey delegations submitted 10 inspection teams to inspect 40 ships with the aim of fulfilling obligations under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the Ukrainian delegation accepted this inspection plan, the Russian delegation was informed," Kubrakov wrote on Twitter.
The United Nations said it had agreed with Ukraine and Turkey on a plan for the movement of 16 ships today, Monday, 12 of which will exit from Ukrainian ports and four will enter it, and also intends to inspect 40 ships during the day that will move out and are now anchored near Istanbul.
Russia said on Sunday that the Crimean attack drones used the "safe zone" designated for the export of grain, while Ukraine said that the Russian embargo made the export of grain "impossible."
What Happened After The Attack? Following Ukraine’s ever first drone attack on the Crimean peninsula, Moscow announced its withdrawal from deal that made exporting gran possible after months of suspension that led to record high grain prices.
Moscow said that the drones carrying out the Crimean attack may have been launched from a "civilian ship," stressing that the drones carrying out the attack included "Canadian-made navigation units."
The Russian Defense Ministry said it had recovered and analyzed the wreckage of drones used to attack the Black Sea Fleet yesterday in Crimea.
The ministry added that its analysis showed that the drones were equipped with Canadian-made navigation units, in an attack it said was carried out by Ukrainian forces under the guidance of British specialists, something that Britain denies.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that its experts "examined the Canadian-made navigation units installed on the marine drones."
Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov confirmed that Russia's suspension of an agreement allowing the export of grain from Ukrainian ports makes it "impossible" to leave tankers loaded with these products.
"A bulk tanker loaded with 40 tons of grain was supposed to leave the Ukrainian port today. This food was meant for Ethiopians who are on the verge of starvation. But as a result of Russia's closure of the 'grain corridor', export is impossible," he wrote on Twitter.
The hackers gained access to top private messages and communications with other nation's leaders, in addition to private messages between Truss and her close friend Kwasi Kwarteng, who later became finance minister, the report said.
Levelling-up secretary Michael Gove said that "he could not discuss any possible security breaches while insisting there were "robust protocols" in place over such issues, the Guardian reported. Home Scretary Suella Braverman's resigned after admiting "mistake" that breached government security rules, which Rishi Sunak later restored as Home Secretary.
"The messages are believed to have included discussions with senior international foreign ministers about the war in Ukraine, including details about arms shipments, Daily Mail wrote. Up to a year's worth of messages were downloaded, the Mail said, citing unnamed sources.
"The Government has robust systems in place to protect against cyber threats. That includes regular security briefings for Ministers, and advice on protecting their personal data and mitigating cyber threats," quoting a British government spokesperson Reuters wrote.
The hack was uncovered during the Conservative Party leadership campaign that led to Truss becoming prime minister, the Mail reported.
Truss left office last week as prime minister and was succeeded by Rishi Sunak.
Lavrov added: "We will always be ready to listen to the proposals of our Western partners aimed at de-escalation, so if realistic proposals are directed to us, based on the principles of equality and respect for each other's interests, with the aim of finding compromises and balancing the interests of all countries, of course, we will be However, as we have always been in the past."
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the willingness of the United States to listen to the concerns of the Russian Federation could open the way for dialogue between the two countries leaderships.
Russian-funded Sputnik news agency reported that Russia's concerns, including those related to security, "could become a starting point for dialogue between President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Joe Biden."
The talks between Moscow and Kyiv collapsed since the last Turkish-brokered round of negotiations in early 2022 in Istanbul, as Ukraine has repeatedly refused talks until they recapture every territory occupied by Russia, as Ukraine is now on the offensive in East and Southern Ukraine.
The authorities confirmed that the Russian forces managed to bring down all the drones that attacked the port of Sevastopol for hours on end.
"Since 04:40 a.m. and for several hours, the city's various air defense systems repelled attacks with booby-trapped drones," the city's governor Mikhail Razvogaev, said on Telegram.
The Moscow-appointed man explained, "the Russian Navy shot down all the drones in the Gulf of Sevastopol", the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet of Moscow, according to AFP.
Local officials said ferries and boats had temporarily stopped crossing the Gulf of Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Earlier this week, Razvogaev reported that a drone had attacked a thermal power plant near Sevastopol.
These attempts to target the peninsula come at a time when Ukrainian forces have pressured the Russians by launching a counter-attack in the south and northeast of the country since last month.
During the last period, the Russian army gained territories in several towns to the south and east, which prompted Moscow to change its tactics and plans by targeting electrical stations and infrastructure in all Ukrainian lands.
Drones have become the main feature of the Ukraine War amid the latest escalation. Earlier analysts warned of the dangers of escalation as it would "necessarily" mean the use of nuclear weapons, but the scenarios have unfolded differently.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed today, Wednesday, that Russia used close to 400 Iranian drones in its attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
On October 10, the Ukrainian army announced that a series of Russian attacks on dozens of cities, including Kyiv, were carried out by Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones, launched from Belarus and the Crimea. Moscow has repeatedly denied their deployment, to guard its image as a giant weapons manufacturer after reports on Russia falling short of its weapons demands to fight its “special military operation” in Ukraine. For its part, the once not taken very seriously Iran denied providing Russia with drones in Ukraine.
United States, Britain and the European Union imposed fresh sanctions on Iranian officials and entities, despite Tehran and Moscow’s denials.
"It is at this conference that we need to take a decision on helping to cover Ukraine's budget deficit next year," the Ukrainian president said during a video intervention at the international conference held on Tuesday in Berlin. For his country, he added, "this is a very large sum, it is a deficit of $38 billion."
The European Union is drawing up plans to provide Ukraine with 1.5 billion euros ($1.46 billion) in monthly economic aid over the next year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced after a summit of the 27 nations.
"The total number of that will be 18 billion for next year, which is a stable and reliable forecast," von der Leyen said at a conference in Brussels. "We have instructed the finance ministers to develop the appropriate mechanism."
It is noteworthy that the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy announced that the country's economy shrank by about 30% in the first three quarters of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, due to the Russian attack.
Zelensky also explained that this number was derived from intelligence, saying, "Intelligence estimates indicate that Russian forces have ordered about two thousand Iranian suicide drones."
He criticized Israel's neutrality regarding this "Russian-Iranian alliance" in Ukraine after it refused to provide his country with advanced anti-aircraft systems.
The Ukrainian army announced in October 2022 that a series of Russian attacks on dozens of cities, including Kyiv, was carried out by Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones launched from Belarus and Crimea.
Previously Moscow denied using Iranian drones, stressing that it had sufficient offensive capabilities. Mirroring Moscow, the Iranian foreign minister said that Iran has not supplied Moscow with weapons and asked Kyiv to present its evidence regarding Iranian-made drones in Ukraine.
Despite the Russian and Iranian denials, this issue of drones prompted the United States, Britain, and the European Union to impose new sanctions on Iranian officials and entities last week.
The New York Times reported that Iranian military advisors in Crimea were dispatched to train Russians on using Iranian drones.
Uncontrolled Escalation: During a telephone conversation with his French counterpart, Sébastien Lecornu, during which they discussed the situation in Ukraine, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu expressed his conviction that the Ukrainian authorities are constantly inclined towards further uncontrolled escalation, according to Sputnik news agency.
Dirty Bomb: Shoigu also expressed his fears of possible Ukrainian provocations, including a "dirty bomb" about a low-yield nuclear weapon or the possibility of striking a water dam in Kherson that could flood the entire city, to blame Russian forces.
Shoigu warned in separate contacts with his British counterpart Ben Wallace and Turkish Hulusi Akar against any Ukrainian provocation, also warning of the "dirty bomb."
Is It True? These statements came after RIA Novosti quoted sources in various countries, including Ukraine, "that there are indications that Kyiv is preparing a provocation through the use of a dirty bomb or low-yield nuclear weapons."
Since the launch of the Russian war on Ukrainian territory on February 24, fears have grown that the conflict will escalate beyond imagination, especially after Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted at the possibility of using an atomic bomb in a televised address on September 21.
Putin confirmed that he was ready to use "all means" in his arsenal against the West if any threat to his country's security and territory touched, a sign that many Western experts interpreted as referring to tactical nuclear weapons.
The light infantry unit nicknamed "Screaming Eagles" was trained to be deployed on any battlefield in the world within hours and combat-ready.
"CBS News" joined the Deputy Commander of the Division, Brigadier General John Lubas, and Colonel Edwin Methides, Commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, on board the Black Hawk helicopter, which flew to the outer border of NATO territory, just one mile from Romania's border with Ukraine.
Since the moment when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military operation against Ukraine on February 24, the advance of the forces to the north of the Crimean Peninsula, a Ukrainian region controlled by Moscow in 2014, and for more than seven months, Russia has been trying to push along the Black Sea coast to the Kherson region to seize the main Ukrainian ports of Mykolaiv and Odesa.
And their goal is to cut off all the entrances of Ukrainians to the sea, leaving the country and the military forces without shores. Making Ukraine a landlocked country would undermine its resistance and Russia's further push into the country.
The threat is imminent to NATO in Romania, which explains the sending of one of the most potent American air attack forces with some heavy equipment.
Lobas told CBS News: "We are capable of defending the entire area of NATO territory, and with our unique capabilities, our air capabilities and assets, we are an infantry force, but once again we do not take our capabilities and assets into account."
Along the Black Sea coast in Romania, the landing of the Black Hawk aircraft during the front operations where the American and Romanian forces were shelling targets during a joint air and land attack maneuver. The purpose of the exercises was to recreate the battles that the Ukrainian forces were fighting all day against the Russian troops directly across the border, as the military maneuvers very close to those borders are a clear message to Russia and America's allies in NATO that the American army is here.
Romanian General Lulian Berdila told CBS News: "The real meaning for me, because of the American forces here, is as if you had allies in Normandy before there was any enemy there," referring to the historic World War II battle on the northern coast of France.
The American forces were stationed at the air base of the Romanian army. Deploying around 4,700 soldiers of the 101st Airborne Forces is to strengthen the eastern wing of the NATO alliance.
Mattis told the "CBS News" network that he was the closest American force to the fight in Ukraine. And from my point of view, they are "close combat" with the Russian troops and set targets for training them. And the subject of this situation is "We stay on our toes." We conduct exercises simulating precisely what we are doing in the war.
"They are always ready to fight tonight," said the Screaming Eagles leader. While they are there to defend NATO territories, if the fighting escalates or there is any attack on NATO, they are fully ready to cross the border to Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine has experienced frequent escalations following Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions and its threat to "use all means necessary" to defend Russian territory, which now also includes areas that Ukraine is fighting to control.
When Was It Used? Ukraine has reported weeks ago that Russia launched attacks with Iranian Shahed-136 drones, drones whose warheads explode in suicide landings. Images of suspected Iranian drones were very similar to the drones used in Iran’s September 28 bombing of the Kurdistan region that involved missiles and kamikaze drones, displacing hundreds and killing 20 people. The attack was unprecedent in scale and probably served as a dry run for its use in Ukraine by Russia. The attacks success did draw customers to Iran’s growing drone market.
The World Takes it Seriously: Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei tweeted yesterday, that the parties who used to say that pictures of advanced missile equipment and Iranian drones were fabricated are now warning of their danger, and ask Iran who does its sell to. The supreme leader’s message was also published in Spanish, with the supreme leader talking about the issues subtitled in Spanish.
Kamikaze Drone: The Iran-made Shahed-136 Kamikaze drone was the same used in the Kurdistan region and Ukrainian President Zelensky said today, October 20, that his army has shot down 233 Iran-made Shahed-136 drones.
(Left) Iranian Kamikaze drone heading for target in Zir Gwezala, Sulaimani, Kurdistan region, sept, 28, 2022. (KurdSat).
(Right) An Iranian-made drone flies over Kyiv, Ukraine on Oct. 17 seconds before firing on buildings. (NIKKEI ASIA).
They Are Similar: Fighters of Kurdish Iranian opposition groups recorded a Kamikaze drone pouring down their base in Sulaimani’s Zir Gwezala region. The drones struck multiple areas of the Kurdistan region with remarkable precision. Though, the attack on the Kurdistan region did not draw much international attention and is largely ignored.
Ukraine Is Concerned: In a letter to the UN Security Council, the representative of Ukraine said, that his country's assessments indicate that Tehran plans to export hundreds of drones to Russia, adding that this is a violation of the Council Resolution 2231 of the nuclear agreement between Tehran and the West.
Drone-linked Sanctions: The European Union has threatened Iran with sanctions in response to its sale to Russia of drones used in the bombing of Ukraine, saying that it has sufficient evidence to impose sanctions on Tehran for providing Russia with the drones it uses in the war on Ukraine.
Iran Sends Its Drones Abroad: Iran has sent trainers to occupied Ukraine to help Russians overcome problems with the fleet of drones that they purchased from Tehran, according to current and former U.S. officials briefed on the classified intelligence, a further signal of the growing closeness between Iran and Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, per the New York Times.
It Is A Violation Of Iran Deal: A diplomatic source with the UN Security Council said on Wednesday that the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo confirmed, that any transfer of drones from Iran without the council's prior approval would constitute a violation of Resolution No. 2231 of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal. Reuters reported that Iran has promised to provide Russia with surface-to-surface missiles and more drones.
Used In Ukraine: The UN Security Council met, on Wednesday evening, in a closed session to discuss the Iranian drones, which the Ukrainians and their Western allies assert that Russia uses to launch attacks in Ukraine.
A spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations said that there is evidence that Russia used Iranian drones in its war on Ukraine.
The US State Department also said that it has ample evidence of the use of Iranian marches to strike civilians and infrastructure in Ukraine, stressing that it will not hesitate to use sanctions and all appropriate mechanisms against those involved in transferring these drones to Russia.
Sanctions: The Wall Street Journal had quoted diplomats as saying that the European Union had agreed to impose sanctions on 3 senior Iranian military commanders and a drone manufacturer, to be approved this morning, Thursday, in response to Iran’s supply of drones to Russia.
The assets of the Iranian Chief of General Staff Mohammad Bagheri will be frozen and he will be banned from travel.
Iran Denies Drone Export: Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian called on Ukraine to submit its documents regarding the use of Iranian drones in the Ukraine war.
Abdullahian said, in a telephone conversation with his Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlić-Radman, that Iran strongly opposes the war and arming one of its sides, adding that Tehran has had defense cooperation with Russia for years, but it did not support it in the war on Ukraine. Abdullahian also denied that his country had provided Moscow with any kind of weapons.
New Security Challenge: Iranian drones are now widely used across the Middle East. Iran backed groups have used them against their adversaries in Iraq, Kurdistan region, Lebanon and Palestine and Israel. In a region where terrorist groups dot its map, proliferation of drone and its technology would pose another threat to the region’s fragile security.
Iran-Made Shahed-136 Drone inside An Apparent Bunker
Shaheed-136: The Shahed-136 is a long-range suicide drone for hitting immovable targets. It was developed by stated-linked Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA) and entered into service in 2021. The drone gained fame following its deployment in the Kurdistan region’s September 28 attack and the Ukraine War. It is 3.5 meters long, and 2.5 meters wide with a warhead capable of carrying up to 36 kilograms of explosives, and can fly at a maximum speed of 185km/h.
The Russian President also indicated that he granted greater powers to the governors of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk regions to ensure security and help factories and institutions to support the military operation, announcing the establishment of regional defense headquarters in those joined regions.
Also, the Russian President directed his government to form a coordination council with the acceding regions headed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
The Kremlin leader also declared a state of high alert in the regions of the Central Federal District, which includes Moscow and the Southern Federal District. He called for strengthening the protection of public order, ensuring public safety, and protecting military, government and private facilities.
The Russian President accused the Kyiv regime of being behind the bombing of the Crimean Bridge, which took place on October 8. He also stressed that Ukraine rejects any offer to negotiate and continues to bomb civilians.
Since September 2022, the Ukrainian forces have launched a counter-attack, especially in the northeast and south of the country, to control towns that had been in the hands of the Russians for months, and had already achieved remarkable progress. Putin’s decision would grant its military more space to counter Ukraine’s operations.
The latest escalations in the Ukraine war have become more dangerous, with experts raising concerns over the use f WMD and nuclear weapons.
The League is Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s chief propagator of a socially less restrictive but autocratic interpretation of the faith that demands absolute obedience to the ruler.
In a bold but risky strategy, Nahdlatul Ulama, the world’s largest Muslim civil society movement with 90 million followers in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim majority-country and democracy, hopes that the alliance will undercut Saudi and League support for an Indonesian political party associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).
Against all odds, Nahdlatul Ulama also envisions its Humanitarian Islam philosophy rubbing off on the League as a result of cooperation with the Indonesian group.
The philosophy embraces religious and political pluralism, unambiguously endorses the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and advocates reform of what it terms “obsolete” elements of Islamic jurisprudence.
Persuading the League to endorse a genuinely moderate form of Islam would have enormous significance. It would lend the prestige of the Custodian of Islam's two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, to Nahdlatul Ulama's effort to reform Islam. That, however, is a long shot, if not pie in the sky.
More likely, the League sees reputational benefit in its association with Nahdlatul Ulama. The League also probably hopes to co-opt the Indonesian movement to prevent it from becoming a serious competitor for hearts and minds in the Muslim world.
Neither group may succeed in fulfilling its aspirations.
Nahdlatul Ulama has a century-long history of fiercely defending its independence and charting its moderation course.
At the same time, there is little reason to believe that the League can embrace anything but what Bin Salman authorizes.
If the last two months provide an indication, Bin Salman and his loyal lieutenant, League secretary general Mohammed al-Issa, can, at best, be expected to opportunistically pay lip service to Humanitarian Islam.
Moreover, the kingdom has long demonstrated its determination, often in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, to stymie endeavors for political change across the Middle East.
Most recently, Saudi Arabia sentenced two women to respectively 34 and 45 years in prison for tweets that allegedly “cause public unrest and destabilize civil and national security” and “tear (Saudi Arabia’) social fabric.”
Last week, a Saudi court committed to death row three members of the Howeitat tribe that was forcibly ejected to make way for Bin Salman’s US$500 billion science fiction Neom megacity on the Red Sea. The three men had resisted the ejection.
Adding fuel to the fire, Bin Salman reportedly appointed Awadh bin Ali bin Ayedh al-Mayshar al-Ahmari, a detective allegedly involved in the cover-up of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as president of the kingdom’s counter-terrorism court that handed down the recent harsh verdicts.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia has interpreted freedom of religion as inter-faith dialogue that does not stray beyond lofty statements and high-profile meetings and conferences rather than lifting a ban on non-Muslim houses of worship in the kingdom.
To be sure, Bin Salman has curbed the authority of the religious police, enhanced women’s rights and opportunities, and enabled Western-style entertainment, but that did not entail religious reform. Instead, it amounted to long overdue social change by decree.
As a result, Nahdlatul Ulama stands a better chance in loosening the ties between the League and the PKS than persuading Bin Salman that in addition to social change, genuine religious reform and good governance should be the legs of his efforts to diversify the Saudi economy.
One litmus test of the League’s relationship with Nahdlatul Ulama will be whether Hidayat Nur Wahid, a PKS luminary, remains a member of the League’s Supreme Council.
Wahid accompanied Al-Issa in 2020 to the secretary general’s initial meeting with Nahdlatul Ulama, the first in the League’s 60-year history. Yet, he refused to join Al-Issa in 2020 on his historic visit at the head of a delegation of Muslim scholars to Auschwitz, the Nazi extermination camp in Poland.
To be fair, Nahdlatul Ulama, while virulently opposed to political Islam, has demonstrated its democratic credentials by confronting the PKS politically but not disputing its right to compete in free and fair elections or being politically active within the legal confines of Indonesian democracy.
Sacrificing the PKS is a small price for the League to pay for what Nahdlatul Ulama offers.
The association has already paid off with no public indication that the League has met any of Nahdlatul Ulama’s aspirations. Instead, the League has milked its partnership with Nahdlatul Ulama for what it is worth on social media.
As the convener of the Religion Forum 20, a newly created official Group of 20 engagement group, Nahdlatul Ulama has invited the League to co-host next month’s summit of religious leaders in Bali in advance of a meeting of leaders of the G20 that groups the world’s largest economies. Indonesia is this year’s chairman of the group.
The faith summit aims to “help ensure that religion in the 21st-century functions as a genuine and dynamic source of solutions, rather than problems.”
Add to that Nahdlatul Ulama’s recognition of the League as a non-governmental organization even though it is wholly government-controlled and primarily government funded.
The invitation was in recognition of the League’s break with its past as a major vehicle in the global spread of Saudi ultra-conservatism before the rise of Bin Salman in 2015. The invitation also followed an approach by the Saudi government to its Indonesian counterparts requesting that the League have a platform at the R20.
The approach “stroked with dynamics in the Indonesian government. There was a sort of feedback loop. In the end, Nahdlatul Ulama and the government reinforced each other,” said a well-placed source.
Nahdlatul Ulama’s National Awakening Party (PKB) has four ministers in Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s government, including Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, the religious affairs minister, and a brother of the movement’s General Chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf.
Widodo has embraced Nahdlatul Ulama's push for a genuinely moderate Islam but, at the same time, has been willing to legitimize Saudi and Emirati efforts aimed at ensuring that moderation does not entail political liberalization.
In contrast to Nahdlatul Ulama, the two Gulf states have steered clear of anchoring social change in jurisprudential reform of Islamic law.
The alliance with the League spotlights Nahdlatul Ulama's difficulty balancing its domestic objectives with its effort to position itself internationally as the voice of a genuinely socially and religiously pluralistic and tolerant Islam.
Partnering with the League in the hope it will pay more than a domestic political dividend entails reputational risk, with the kingdom's troubled human rights and freedom of religion track record potentially again moving center stage due to increasingly strained US-Saudi relations.
Nahdlatul Ulama deserves credit for what is a daring strategy. The question is whether the group could have secured the domestic dividend without legitimizing an autocrat's toolkit and whether the reputational risk will prove worthwhile.
The Crimean Bridge attack triggered a wave of attacks on Ukraine's major cities; the Crimea Bridge is a symbol of Russian pride and engineering; at 19KM, the longest bridge in Europe was severely damaged by what Russia said was a Ukrainian truck bomb. Although traffic resumed on the undamaged lane of the bridge.
Today, Russia has continued to launch long-range missiles at Ukraine's energy and military infrastructure. " We achieved striking the intended targets; all the targeted facilities were hit," the Defense Ministry said.
Russian-launched missiles struck critical infrastructure in the city, leaving many areas without electricity, Lviv Mayor Andrei Sadovy said.
"As a result of the missile strike, 30% of Lviv will remain without electricity for a temporary period," Sadovy wrote on Telegram. He added that two of the city's neighborhoods were also cut off water supplies. Russian missile strikes also caused a blackout in the Lviv region on Monday.
Ukrainian media reported that the outskirts of Kyiv witnessed several explosions where the air defense system worked. Videos spread on social media show missiles that struck inside Ukrainian cities.
Sirens were sounded in several regions of the country this morning, including Kyiv, amid reports of new explosions in Kremenchuk, Poltava, Sumy, and Kirovograd. The Ukrainian emergency said that more than 300 residential areas in 5 regions of Ukraine are still without electricity, adding that the death toll from the Russian strikes on Ukraine on Monday rose to 19, and multiple injuries.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov is saying today that entering into a direct conflict with the United States and NATO is not in Moscow's interest but that Russia will respond to the West's increasing interference in the Ukrainian conflict, according to the Russian Information Agency.
"We warn and hope that they realize the danger of uncontrolled escalation in Washington and other Western capitals," Ryabkov was quoted saying.
The Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, were met on Monday with a wave of condemning and threatening Western reactions, while China called for a "stop escalation."
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces had achieved the targets for their massive strikes in Ukraine yesterday, confirming that all the target sites had been hit. Its intelligence claims to have planned the attacks since early October.
The US President will hold a virtual meeting with the leaders of the G7 countries today to support Ukraine. Biden pledged to continue supporting Ukraine to defend itself and to provide it with advanced air defense systems. The US President also stressed his continued participation with allies and partners to continue imposing sanctions on Russia and holding it accountable for what he described as "war crimes and atrocities" it is committing in Ukraine.
The European Union, in turn, said that the Russian attacks showed Moscow's choice of the indiscriminate method of bombing civilians.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry called for a halt to the escalation in Ukraine after explosions rocked several cities in what appeared to be "Russian retaliatory" strikes following the explosion of a Crimea Bridge explosion. "We hope to stop the escalation soon," ministry spokesman Mao Ning told a news briefing.