Israel to Receive New Sa'ar 6 Warships From Germany

The Haifa warship, one of two Israeli warships that just crossed into the Suez Canal on Monday, is seen in the Suez canal September 5, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer
The Haifa warship, one of two Israeli warships that just crossed into the Suez Canal on Monday, is seen in the Suez canal September 5, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer
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Israel to Receive New Sa'ar 6 Warships From Germany

The Haifa warship, one of two Israeli warships that just crossed into the Suez Canal on Monday, is seen in the Suez canal September 5, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer
The Haifa warship, one of two Israeli warships that just crossed into the Suez Canal on Monday, is seen in the Suez canal September 5, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer

Israel will receive the first of four new missile ships in December to defend its shores and vital sites, according to Israeli army spokesman.

The Sa'ar 6 ships were handed over to Israel from a marine shipyards in Germany.

"The first of the new missile ships set to defend Israel’s shores and strategic sites will arrive in early December, after it was handed over to the Navy from the Thyssenkrup Marine shipyards in Germany," the spokesman said in a statement.

He said the ships deployment aims to protect the Israel's economic zone in the Mediterranean Sea and to be capable of facing asymmetric battle methods facing the Navy from land.

The Sa'ar 6-class corvette is a class of warships initially ordered for Israel's Navy in 2015.

Command over the ship was officially transferred on October 29 from Germany to Israel.

According to the spokesman, the Sa'ar 6 has a handful of unique capabilities intended to handle various threats.

"It has numerous communications systems operated by the army in order to communicate with a handful of units, as well as an Anti-Ballistic Missile system and radar-based steep-shot shooting interception."

The ships will additionally be armed with the means for detecting aerial and field targets, allowing the Sa'ar 6 to face a wide range of threats. It can also carry a Sea-Hawk helicopter.



Seoul Court Rejects Second Request to Extend Yoon Detention

Supporters of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol (pictured on poster R) attend a rally on a road near the Constitutional Court in Seoul on January 23, 2025, after Yoon arrived at the court for hearings that will decide whether to remove him from office. (AFP)
Supporters of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol (pictured on poster R) attend a rally on a road near the Constitutional Court in Seoul on January 23, 2025, after Yoon arrived at the court for hearings that will decide whether to remove him from office. (AFP)
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Seoul Court Rejects Second Request to Extend Yoon Detention

Supporters of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol (pictured on poster R) attend a rally on a road near the Constitutional Court in Seoul on January 23, 2025, after Yoon arrived at the court for hearings that will decide whether to remove him from office. (AFP)
Supporters of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol (pictured on poster R) attend a rally on a road near the Constitutional Court in Seoul on January 23, 2025, after Yoon arrived at the court for hearings that will decide whether to remove him from office. (AFP)

A Seoul court rejected a second request Saturday to extend the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed attempt to declare martial law, putting pressure on prosecutors to quickly indict him.

Yoon was arrested last week on insurrection charges, becoming the first sitting South Korean head of state to be detained in a criminal probe.

His December 3 martial law decree only lasted about six hours before it was voted down by lawmakers, but it still managed to plunge South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.

The Seoul Central District Court on Saturday turned down a request for a detention extension, prosecutors said in a brief statement.

This follows a ruling by the same court a day earlier when a judge stated it was "difficult to find sufficient grounds" to grant an extension.

Prosecutors had planned to keep the disgraced leader in custody until February 6 for questioning before formally indicting him, but that plan will now need to be adjusted.

"With the court's rejection of the extension, prosecutors must now work quickly to formally indict Yoon to keep him behind bars," Yoo Jung-hoon, an attorney and political commentator, told AFP.

Yoon has refused to cooperate with the criminal probe, with his legal defense team arguing investigators lack legal authority.

The suspended president is also facing a separate hearing in the Constitutional Court which, if it upholds his impeachment, would officially remove him from office.

An election would then have to be held within 60 days.