Indonesia's Deputy Minister of Defence Donny Ermawan Taufanto (L) welcomes Malaysia's Chief of Defence Forces Mohd Nizam upon his arrival for a meeting with Indonesia's Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin. (AFP)
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Updated 18 April 2025
Reuters
Indonesia weighs US arms purchases to curb tariff threat, Bloomberg News reports
- Equipment includes fighter jets and munitions
Updated 18 April 2025
Reuters
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Dubai: Indonesia is considering purchasing billions of dollars worth of US-manufactured defense equipment, including fighter jets and munitions, Bloomberg news reported on Friday.
Indonesia’s Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin held a closed-door meeting of senior officials on April 8 to deliver a directive from the President Prabowo Subianto instructing them to identify US weapons that could be imported or fast-tracked for purchase, the report said, citing people with knowledge of the gathering.
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Topics: Indonesia US
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Updated 5 sec ago
Sanjay Kumar
Saudi, Indian militaries complete first army-to-army talks
- Discussions in New Delhi focus on Sada Tanseeq drill, knowledge sharing
- Agreement follows Indian PM’s visit to Kingdom earlier this week
Updated 5 sec ago
Sanjay Kumar
NEW DELHI: The first army-to-army talks between the Indian Army and the Royal Saudi Land Forces have resulted in an annual defense cooperation plan that includes joint drills, expert exchanges, and operational logistics, India’s military said on Friday.
The talks took place in New Delhi on April 23-24.
“Discussions focused on the annual defense cooperation plan, covering joint exercise Sada Tanseeq, training, military education, domain expert exchanges and engagements in areas of mutual interest,” the public information arm of the Indian Ministry of Defense said on X.
“Both sides also explored avenues of collaboration in operational logistics, battlefield management systems & niche technologies to enhance interoperability and capability development,” it said.
The Sada Tanseeq exercise, the first edition of which took place in Rajasthan in January and February, aims to enhance interoperability and joint operational capabilities between the two nations’ land forces, particularly in semi-desert terrain.
The exercise involved 90 troops from both sides focusing on training for operations under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which pertains to actions regarding threats to peace, breaches of peace and acts of aggression.
The talks in Delhi followed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia and meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman earlier this week.
During the visit the two sides expanded the Saudi-Indian Strategic Partnership Council to include a ministerial committee for defense cooperation and agreed to enhance defense industry collaboration.
“It is significant that the first army-to army staff level talks were held immediately after the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the crown prince, who decided to form a ministerial-level defense cooperation committee to give a push to already deepening defense and strategic relations between India and Saudi Arabia,” defense and strategic affairs expert Ranjit Kumar told Arab News.
“The two countries have already conducted joint army exercises in 2021 and 2023. Later, the navies of the two nations have also organized two rounds of joint naval exercises. These are indicative of growing proximity between the Indian and Saudi defense forces, which may lead to new strategic equations in the region.”
Topics: Indian army Royal Saudi Land Forces New delhi
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Magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits Ecuador coast
- Monitors said the epicenter was near the Pacific coast of Esmeraldas
Updated 19 min 30 sec ago
AFP
QUITO: A shallow 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Ecuador early Friday, the US Geological Survey reported, and was felt as far away as the Andean capital Quito.
AFP reporters felt the shake before 7:00 am local time (1200 GMT).
Monitors said the epicenter was near the Pacific coast of Esmeraldas, at a depth of about 35 kilometers (22 miles).
There were no immediate reports of victims or severe damage and Ecuadoran authorities said there was no tsunami risk.
Ecuador sits on one of the most geologically active zones on Earth, and the fault between the Nazca and South American plates runs along its coast.
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UN food, refugee agencies plan deep cuts as funding slashed, memos show
- The humanitarian sector has been roiled by funding cuts from major donors, led by the US
- WFP director Stephen Omollo said that the cuts were necessary due to the “unprecedented funding environment“
Updated 42 min 13 sec ago
Reuters
GENEVA: The UN agencies for food and refugees plan deep cuts due to an unprecedented plunge in funding, including from former top donor the US, internal memos sent to staff show, raising questions about how to maintain hunger relief.
The humanitarian sector has been roiled by funding cuts from major donors, led by the United States under President Donald Trump, and other Western countries as they prioritize defense spending prompted by growing fears of Russia and China.
The World Food Programme, a Rome-based UN agency, warned last month that 58 million people are at risk of extreme hunger or starvation unless urgent funding for food aid arrives. Millions of people facing acute food shortages in Sudan could be affected, the WFP said on Friday.
In an internal memo sent to staff on Thursday and seen by Reuters, WFP director Stephen Omollo said that the cuts were necessary due to the “unprecedented funding environment,” with the 2025 donor outlook at $6.4 billion, or a 40 percent reduction versus last year. He did not name any countries responsible.
“We remain concerned that the situation shows no sign of improving,” he said, adding that the planned cuts might not be sufficient and that further downsizing was being explored.
“In this challenging donor environment, WFP will prioritize its limited resources on vital programs that bring urgently needed food assistance to the 343 million people struggling with hunger, and increasingly facing starvation,” the WFP said in a statement to Reuters.
The United States, Germany, Britain and the European Commission have been among the top donors in recent years, its website showed. WFP, like many United Nations agencies, relies entirely on voluntary donations.
The note to staff from UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) chief Filippo Grandi dated April 23 said that it planned an overall reduction in costs of 30 percent and that the number of senior positions would be cut in half.
“We will have to close some country offices, instead covering these countries through strengthened multi-country office structures,” Grandi said.
UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler told a Geneva press briefing that the agency has been severely affected by funding uncertainty. “We have had to respond to this by stopping a lot of work we have been doing in the field,” he said.
A second spokesperson later added that UNHCR was undertaking a comprehensive review of its operations, staffing and structures, declining to give a timeline since the review is ongoing.
Topics: World Food Programme (WFP) UN agencies Food refugees US
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Hope, apprehension and politics: Cardinals search for new pope
- “We have to make decisions for the whole Church, so we really need to pray for ourselves,” added Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Hollerich
- The conclave is likely to begin right after the nine days of mourning declared by the Holy See, which end on May 4
Updated 58 min 15 sec ago
AFP
VATICAN CITY: Arriving in Rome after Pope Francis’s death, Catholic cardinals have admitted some apprehension at the responsibility of choosing his successor, as they begin setting out what they hope to see in the next head of the Church.
The task of choosing a new pope to replace the Argentine, who died on Monday aged 88, “is beyond us and yet requires us,” said French cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, summing up the mood after celebrating a mass on Thursday evening.
“We feel very small. We have to make decisions for the whole Church, so we really need to pray for ourselves,” added Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Hollerich, a Jesuit who was a close adviser to Francis.
The conclave is likely to begin right after the nine days of mourning declared by the Holy See, which end on May 4, he said, adding that he was approaching the occasion with “great hope” but also “a certain apprehension.”
Cardinal electors — those aged under 80 — will choose a new leader for the 1.4-billion-strong Roman Catholic church behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel.
Playing out under Michelangelo’s frescoes, the process is often perceived as full of intrigue and machinations.
But Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo, the bishop of Ajaccio in Corsica, said his fellow cardinals should eschew political games and listen to each other before deciding.
We must not act tactically or strategically,” he said. “We must serve and act responsibly.”
On Friday morning, all cardinals already in Rome — electors and those who are too old — gathered at the Vatican for their fourth meeting since Francis’s death.
Known as “general congregations,” these gatherings provide an opportunity to exchange views and discuss the priorities of the next pontificate.
With their trademark scarlet skullcaps, cardinals are not hard to spot around the colonnades of St. Peter’s Square — something that makes them an easy target for journalists hoping to get a steer on who the next pope might be.
“There’s a good atmosphere between us. It’s you who make the predictions,” Italy’s Fernando Filoni quipped to reporters as he entered a meeting. “We’re getting to know each other.”
Francis, who appointed 80 percent of the 135 electors eligible to choose his successor, prioritized the Global South and far-flung regions away from Rome when picking new cardinals.
British cardinal Vincent Nichols said the prospect of choosing the next pope was “quite intimidating frankly.”
Cardinals would do their “best work once the doors of the conclave have been shut,” he told the BBC, adding seclusion would allow for “peace and a prayerfulness between us.”
Yet cardinals have discretely begun work to narrow the list of candidates.
Asked whether the time had come for an African or Asian pope, Archbishop Hollerich replied: “Why not? But it’s not a given.”
Skills and personality were more important than geography, he said, adding that a pope would always be a unifying figure.
The ideal candidate would be a “simple man” who is “not too young nor too old,” “can connect with people” and “knows how to listen” to both those on the left and on the right, he said.
However German cardinal Gerhard Muller, a staunch conservative who was among the leading voices opposing Francis’s progressive approach, said the Church risked a schism if it elected another liberal.
“The question is not between conservatives and liberals but between orthodoxy and heresy,” he told British newspaper The Times.
Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras said he hoped for a pontiff who would carry Francis’s torch.
“A simple, humble person. A pontiff who will break up the power struggles in the Church,” he told Italian daily La Stampa.
Aged 82, he will not have a say in the selection but remains hopeful.
“I am convinced that in the end everyone will have common sense. Cardinals are not people without faith,” he said.
Topics: Vatican Pope Francis Cardinals
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Updated 25 April 2025
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Russian general killed by car bomb near Moscow
- Authorities named the victim as General-lieutenant Yaroslav Moskalik
- Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened a murder probe after a Volkswagen Golf blew up
Updated 25 April 2025
AFP
BALASHIKHA, Russia: An explosive device ripped through a parked car near Moscow on Friday killing a senior Russian general, investigators said, in an attack that resembled previous killings claimed by Ukraine.
Authorities named the victim as General-lieutenant Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the main operational directorate of the military’s General Staff, which is in charge of army operations.
Kyiv had not commented on the attack, which bore the hallmarks of previous assassinations of military figures and high-profile backers of the Kremlin’s offensive over the last three years.
Ukraine has called some of them “legitimate targets” and sees the attacks as retribution for Moscow’s military campaign, which has resulted in tens of thousands of people killed.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened a murder probe after a Volkswagen Golf blew up outside a block of flats in the town of Balashikha, east of Moscow.
“Our military figure was killed as a result of a terrorist attack,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
The general’s body lay on the ground close to the front door of a block of flats and a few meters from the charred remains of a white car whose rear section was torn away, footage from the scene posted by the Investigative Committee showed.
Several investigators were working at the scene.
Police had cordoned off the site on Friday, with ambulances surrounding the area, an AFP reporter saw.
A body lying on the ground could be seen from the upper floors of surrounding buildings.
Locals said they heard a loud blast at around 10:45 a.m. (0745 GMT).
“The explosion was very strong, it even gave me heart pain,” Lyudmila, a 50-year-old who lives nearby told AFP.
The killing appeared similar to previous attacks claimed by Kyiv on figures linked to Russia’s three-year offensive on the country.
Ukraine’s secret services said last December it was behind the assassination of the head of the Russian military’s chemical weapons department.
A remotely operated bomb attached to a scooter had exploded as he left an apartment block in Moscow.
Security camera footage posted by the Izvestia newspaper of Friday’s blast showed a massive explosion, sending fragments flying into the air. The blast happens just as someone can be seen walking toward the car.
The “blast was caused by the triggering of an improvised explosive device” packed with metal fragments designed to cause maximum harm, investigators said.
The Agentstvo investigative news site, citing leaked information, said Moskalik lived in Balashikha, but the Volkswagen was not registered to him.
Russian Telegram channels with links to law enforcement posted unconfirmed reports that the car had been purchased a few months ago by a man from the Ukrainian city of Sumy.
They wrote that it had been parked outside the block of flats for a few days and was equipped with a camera.
TASS reported that Moskalik was 59.
According to the Kremlin website, he had represented the Russian military at ceasefire talks with Ukraine in 2015 amid the conflict between Kyiv and Russian-backed separatists.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made Moskalik general-lieutenant in 2021.
The department where he is deputy chief was described as “a key link in planning operations in Ukraine,” by the independent Vazhniye Istorii outlet.
Russians linked to Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine had been targeted in attacks over the last three years.
They include the August 2022 car bombing of nationalist Darya Dugina and an explosion in a Saint Petersburg cafe in April 2023 that killed high-profile military correspondent Maxim Fomin, known as Vladlen Tatarsky.
Kyiv has in some cases claimed responsibility or revelled in the attacks.
It has not commented on Friday’s attack.
After the December killing of Igor Kirillov, the military’s chemical weapons chief, Putin made a rare admission of failings by his powerful security agencies.
“We must not allow such very serious blunders to happen,” he said.
Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Yaroslav Moskalik car bomb Balashikha
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