Dubai opens new airport... [ 1359 ]

Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum ,
New  International Airport

AFP/Dubai

A picture released by the Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International Airport authority shows the first plane which landed yesterday on the sole runway of the new airport, which is touted to become the world’s largest when completed, with services initially confined to cargo traffic

Debt-laden Dubai opened its second airport yesterday, three weeks after its flagship carrier Emirates placed a major order for Airbus 380 superjumbos, reinforcing its status as an air transport hub.
 
The first plane landed on the sole runway of the Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai Airports said in a statement.
Three air freight companies have begun operations from the new airport with 12 others due to follow, it said.
The first phase is confined to freight traffic, with a capacity to handle 250,000 tonnes annually, while passenger traffic is scheduled to begin in March 2011, with an annual capacity of 5mn passengers.
“We have achieved another important step towards completing” the airport, said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, the head of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority.
Situated on the desert outskirts of Dubai and close to the Jebel Ali port and its large free zone, DWC-Al Maktoum International is touted to become the world’s largest airport when completed at an undisclosed date.
Authorities said that when it is all up and running the new airport will be able to handle 160mn passengers and 12mn tonnes of cargo, and have five runways.
 
Dubai, a city of around 2mn people, already boasts the biggest airport in the Middle East, which handled 42mn passengers in 2009 - a figure expected to surge to 100mn by 2020, said Jamal al-Hai, Dubai Airports senior vice president for strategic affairs.
“Our development follows a strategy aimed at turning Dubai into the centre of the new silk route,” linking east to west, he said.
 
Thanks to the strategic location and developed infrastructure of Dubai, which has established itself as a popular tourist destination and a regional business hub, air transport accounts for over 25 % of the emirate’s gross domestic product, Hai said.
He said that the capacity of the current Dubai airport stands at 65mn passengers, and should increase to 75mn in 2012 with the completion of the third concourse that will be exclusively used by the A380 superjumbos.
 
Emirates, the largest Middle East carrier, had earlier this month reinforced its status as the largest single customer of the Airbus A380, by placing a new order for 32 units worth $11.5bn.
The order made in Berlin brought Emirates’ total orders of the superjumbo jet to 90 units, 10 of which are already in service.
“Emirates will be announcing new aircraft orders at the Farnborough Airshow” in England, which opens on July 19, an Emirates spokesman said.
The company is also the largest single operator of the Boeing 777 with 85 units in service and 21 on order.
 
The once bustling city state of Dubai was badly hit by the global financial crisis that forced Dubai World, the biggest state-owned conglomerate, to seek restructuring of $23.5bn of debt.
But Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid al-Maktoum justified this week Emirates’ new order by the “growth” in Dubai’s airport infrastructure, the number of passengers and tourists visiting the emirate.
 
“The worst is over and Dubai is looking for new opportunities for growth,” he said in an interview with CNN.

Afghanistan,withdrawal of Nato's troops. ?.. [ 1358 ]

Britain will not defeat Taliban and should open talks, says head of Army

Britain and its allies will not defeat the Taliban with military force and should soon open peace talks with insurgents in Afghanistan, the head of the Army said yesterday.

By Jon Swaine
Published: 6:00AM BST 28 Jun 2010

British Royal Marines fire on the Taliban in Afghanistan.....Photo: EBA

General Sir David Richards said he believed the time had come for negotiations with Nato’s enemies to pave the way for the eventual withdrawal of troops.

The Chief of the General Staff said that while British forces would continue to “punish” the Taliban battle by battle, he was “less certain” that an overall victory could now be secured.

“There's always been a point at which you start to negotiate with each other," Gen Sir David said. In his “private view” there was “no reason why we shouldn't be looking at that sort of thing pretty soon,” he said.

His comments came soon after the death of another British serviceman in the conflict. The soldier, from 4th Regiment Royal Artillery, had been injured in an explosion in Helmand Province on June 10.

It was the 19th British fatality this month, raising the total close to last June’s record of 22. In all 308 British servicemen have now died in the Afghan campaign.

Another allied soldier was killed yesterday, bringing Nato’s death toll to 91 this month, which was already the deadliest for international forces since the war began in 2001.

Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, will this week warn the public to brace itself for a summer of “increased casualties” as troops engage in more intense fighting.

About 10,000 British soldiers are fighting in Afghanistan. Many are engaged in a counter-insurgency campaign in Helmand province in the south of the country.

Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, Gen Sir David’s predecessor, told the BBC yesterday that the military must continue to put “maximum pressure” on the Taliban and have the “strategic patience” to clear them out of Afghanistan.

He urged ministers to provide an urgent boost in funding for troops on the ground, at the expense of future projects. “The here and now is staring us in the face,” he said.

He appeared to play down David Cameron’s suggestion that troops should leave in less than five years. He said the Taliban should not be given a timetable to "sit this out for five years, 10 years or whatever".

Yet Gen Sir David later said that while fighting must continue “to make sure that they don't think that we are giving up”, allied politicians and military chiefs should begin talking to the Taliban sooner rather than later.

He told BBC Radio 4 that he was sceptical a complete military defeat could ever be inflicted on the Taliban, however many smaller victories were won by British troops.

"I think on one level, the tactical level, the lower military level, we need to continue to make the Taliban feel that they are being punished for what they are doing in a military sense,” he said.

"So that needs to continue, but whether we can turn that into some sense of strategic defeat I'm less certain."

Dr Fox will this week address American politicians and military chiefs during his first official ministerial visit to Washington.

He will seek to reassure them that Britain will continue to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with the United States, but will be clear that more soldiers will die.

“Political and military leaders need to brace the public for a summer of intense fighting and increased casualties,” Dr Fox is expected to say.

Sources close to Dr Fox suggested that, like Gen Sir Richard, he would stress that Britain will have the “strategic patience” to complete the mission and not seek a “calendar-based withdrawal”.

However Nick Harvey, Dr Fox’s Lib Dem armed forces minister, warned yesterday that public support for British troops had suffered “huge damage” because of the Iraq war.

Mr Harvey said the “questionable legality and morality” of the Iraq invasion had seriously harmed the public's view of the longer mission in Afghanistan.

“It is a difficult message to get across,” he said at a memorial service in Plymouth. “We would be much further on in Afghanistan now if we had not diverted attention off to Iraq in 2003."

Gaza-bound Iranian Flotilla sail is cancelled ?..[ 1357 ]

Iranian flotilla departure postponed

AP: An Iranian lawmaker says the country's plan to send a blockade-busting ship from Iran to Gaza has been canceled.

AFP.June 27, 2010

(JTA) -- The departure of a Gaza-bound Iranian ship carrying aid and activists has been postponed after Egypt said it would prevent the ship from using the Suez Canal.

"The ship's departure has been postponed because of more restrictions imposed by the Zionist Quds occupying regime on the movement of aid to Gaza and prevention of the ship from using the Suez Canal, despite coordination with international bodies," the Red Crescent said in a statement faxed to the French news agency AFP.

A Suez Canal Authority official told AFP, however, that it would allow the ship to pass, per the requirements of an international treaty.

On June 24, an Iranian official announced that the departure of the aid ship had been canceled due to restrictions imposed by Israel.

Israel sent a letter to the United Nations last week saying that if Iranian and Lebanese ships enter the water off Gaza's coast, Israel would consider it a declaration of war and react.

Two ships had been scheduled to leave on Sunday.
Iran reportedly still plans to send aid to Gaza by plane and through Egyptian borders.

Germany 4 - England 1... [ 1356 ]

Μέρκελ και Κάμερον παρακολούθησαν μαζί τον αγώνα

ΑΝΤ1

πρίν 1 ώρα & 45'

Η γερμανίδα καγκελάριος Άγκελα Μέρκελ και ο βρετανός πρωθυπουργός Ντέιβιντ Κάμερον έφυγαν από τη σύνοδο της ολομέλειας της Ομάδας των Είκοσι (G20) στο Τορόντο για να παρακολουθήσουν μαζί στην τηλεόραση τον αγώνα Γερμανίας-Αγγλίας στο Μουντιάλ.

Οι δύο ηγέτες εγκατέλειψαν τη σύνοδο κορυφής, που είναι αφιερωμένη στην παγκόσμια οικονομική κατάσταση, για να παρακολουθήσουν στην τηλεόραση το δεύτερο ημίχρονο του παιχνιδιού αυτού που κατέληξε με την ήττα της Αγγλίας με 4-1 από τη Γερμανία και τον αποκλεισμό της από τα προημιτελικά του Μουντιάλ.

Μετά τον αγώνα η Μέρκελ δήλωσε πολύ συγκινημένη από τη νίκη της Γερμανίας. «Είμαι ακόμη πολύ συγκινημένη», είπε. «Το μόνο που μπορώ να πω είναι συγχαρητήρια στην ομάδα. Συνεχίστε έτσι».

Έπειτα από μία ανάλυση του παιχνιδιού: «Πιστεύω ότι σήμερα τα πόδια και τα κεφάλια δούλευαν πολύ καλά», η Μέρκελ προσέθεσε ότι ο Κάμερον τη συνεχάρη για τη νίκη της Γερμανίας.
«Παρακολούθησα τον αγώνα με τον Κάμερον και φυσικά, μας συνεχάρη», είπε. «Υπήρχε μια πολύ καλή ατμόσφαιρα με αθλητικό πνεύμα μεταξύ των γερμανών και των βρετανών συμμετεχόντων στη G20 που παρακολούθησαν τον αγώνα», κατέληξε.

The Russian Fleet... [ 1355 ]

Russia admits it needs to modernize its Navy

Topic: Black Sea Fleet

• 
• 

16:48 25/06/2010

© RIA Novosti. Sergey Petrosyan

Russia's reviewed plans for naval modernization include the supply of 15 new warships, including frigates, missile boats and submarines, to the Black Sea Fleet by 2020. The decision was recently made public by Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky.
Taking into account the high cost and complexity of the modern projects, the new ships will be modernized versions of already tried and tested projects.

The decision indicates that Russia's political and military leadership is dissatisfied with the speed and cost of building warships as part of new projects. Modernizing the Black Sea Fleet is also a priority because it is currently comprised of the country's oldest warships.
Analysts point out that this is the first decision on modernizing the fleet taken since Mikhail Gorbachev launched perestroika in the late 1980s.

The Black Sea Fleet has over 40 warships of different classes, many of which will be decommissioned by the early 2020s, and several dozen auxiliary vessels, which are also becoming obsolete. Moreover, it is said that only a half of these warships and vessels are in working order and combat ready.

So far it is not clear which ships and vessels will be built for the Black Sea Fleet, but some say the list includes three Project 636M submarines, three or four Project 11356 frigates and six Tornado class Project 21632 missile/artillery boats.

Russian shipyards can build large numbers of Project 11356 frigates and Project 636 submarines quickly, but the same is not true of the Tornado class missile boats. On the other hand, these missile boats will be modeled on the tried and tested Project 21630, which has a relatively simple design.
This scenario for modernizing the fleet could shorten the process and is set to cost about 100 billion rubles ($3.2 billion) by 2020. The ships and vessels to be commissioned by that time will form the basis for the fleet's subsequent strengthening as warships from new projects are added. If these plans are carried out, the Black Sea Fleet will comprise from 35 to 40 new warships with a maximum age of 10-12 years and a 30 year service life.

The Black Sea Fleet currently has two key tasks: to control the Black Sea and ensure the safety of Russia's southern borders, and deploy to the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean as needed.
If it is to be able to fulfill the former task, the fleet needs combat-ready missile boats, corvettes, small submarines as well as aircraft and coastal forces, including marines.
The latter task can be assigned only to long-range sea and ocean-faring groups, such as frigates accompanied by support ships.
Since Russia has made its interest in the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean clear, the Black Sea Fleet must have ocean-faring vessels. Its frigates would be able to carry out combat duties in the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean faster than the warships of the Baltic or Northern Fleets, which would take a lot longer just to reach either destination.

Ideally, modernizing the Black Sea Fleet, and subsequently Russia's other fleets, will allow the country to maintain naval task groups capable of discharging a wide range of duties, from peacekeeping and humanitarian operations to combat roles in the key operational theaters around the world.
But it takes more than just political will and funding to realize these plans. Russia also needs to sign a new agreement with Ukraine because the existing documents concerning the Black Sea Fleet's status stipulate that Russia has to coordinate the modernization of the fleet and its coastal infrastructure with the Ukrainian authorities.

Such coordination will not be a problem as things stand currently in terms of politics, but the situation might change over time, so it would be reasonable to use this period of good relations with Ukraine to review the status of the Black Sea Fleet and expand Russia's rights.
The renewal of the Black Sea Fleet will be financed under the state rearmament program for 2010-2020, which is still being drafted. Officers of the Russian Defense Ministry say that its bottom-line funding, 13 trillion rubles ($419 billion), will not cover the modernization of the Navy, particularly such large groups as the Northern and Pacific Fleets, which require larger groups of more powerful and expensive warships than either the Black Sea or the Baltic Fleets.
Moreover, rearmament cannot be limited to spending on warships; its cost will increase dramatically given the need for a new naval infrastructure, landing vessels, naval aircraft and auxiliary ships, as well as support vessels and repair facilities. But without them any naval modernization would be incomplete and hence ineffective.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik)