Ukraine marks one year after Kherson city’s liberation
Ukraine marks one year after Kherson city’s liberation/node/2406991/world
Ukraine marks one year after Kherson city’s liberation
City residents wrapped in the national flags drink champagne and hold flowers as they mark one year since Ukraine retook the city of Kherson from occupying Russian forces, in central square in Kherson, on Nov. 11, 2023. (AP)
Ukraine marks one year after Kherson city’s liberation
“Today is the first anniversary of the liberation of Kherson from Russian occupation... A city of hope,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said
“Ukraine always comes back — always!”
Updated 11 November 2023
AFP
KYIV: Ukrainian officials on Saturday celebrated the recapture of the capital of the southern region of Kherson from Russian forces a year ago, the last major shift of the front line.
Ukrainian forces liberated the southern city of Kherson last November, routing Russian troops in an embarrassing defeat for the Kremlin after eight months of occupation.
“Today is the first anniversary of the liberation of Kherson from Russian occupation... A city of hope,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, thanking soldiers and locals.
However, the sprawling front line between Russian and Ukrainian sides has remained mostly static for almost a year despite a much-touted Ukrainian counter-offensive, with Russian forces entrenched in southern and eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces based across the river from Kherson city still control swathes of territory and shell towns and villages they retreated from.
“Ukraine always comes back — always!” Zelensky said, adding “when we are united. And when we unite others.”
Ukraine’s top army commander Valery Zaluzhny praised “brave soldiers and local residents for their courage and resilience.”
He posted footage that showed residents hugging soldiers at the liberation of Kherson, and a watermelon — the symbol of Kherson.
“Today, as the yellow and blue flag flies over Kherson, we continue to fight and defend our land with determination,” Zaluzhny said.
Kherson was taken over by Russian forces at the beginning of the war in February 2022.
Zaluzhny surprised observers of the invasion last week with an unusually candid assessment that the warring parties had reached a deadlock along the front.
But Zelensky denied that the war had reached a stalemate, and has regularly met with leaders to try and stave off fatigue with the conflict.
Family of slain Kolkata doctor says police rushed them into cremation
Trainee doctor was raped killed in a classroom where she was resting during a gruelling 36-hour shift
Protesters are demanding better security at government hospitals that they say lack basic amenities
Updated 9 sec ago
Reuters
KOLKATA: The father of the doctor who was raped and murdered in India’s Kolkata city said this week that police rushed the family into cremating her even though they wanted to keep her body for some time.
Officers from Kolkata police did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The Aug. 9 attack at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital had triggered nationwide protests as people demanded justice for the trainee doctor, who was killed in a classroom where she was resting during a gruelling 36-hour shift.
A police volunteer has been arrested for the crime and is in judicial custody.
Protesters are also demanding better security at government hospitals that they say lack basic amenities like resting rooms for doctors, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, and security personnel.
“We wanted to keep the body of our daughter but extraordinary pressure was mounted on us and the body was cremated,” the woman’s father said as he joined doctors protesting at the college on Wednesday night.
He also alleged that a senior police officer had taken him aside and offered him money when his daughter’s body was brought home after an autopsy and before cremation.
“I gave him a piece of my mind and refused to take any money,” he said, without specifying why the money was offered.
The officer accused of making the offer did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment. The victim cannot be named under local laws.
West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja said on Thursday that the government would not conduct a “postmortem” of the parents’ comments.
“We respect what the family is saying, they have lost their daughter,” she said at a media briefing where she also urged the federal police, who took over the probe last month, to conclude the investigation quickly and “reveal the truth.”
Reuters reported earlier this week that the West Bengal government had, in 2019, promised to take measures to ensure better security at hospitals in the state, but failed to implement these on the ground.
The federal police has also arrested the former principal of R.G. Kar Medical College, his close aide, and two vendors of hospital supplies for alleged graft.
The incident has once again put the spotlight on the lack of safety for women in India, who activists say continue to suffer sexual violence despite tougher laws being introduced after the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a woman in a moving bus in Delhi.
Japan PM Kishida seeks to solidify South Korea ties on farewell visit
Fumio Kishida has announced he will step down as Japan’s prime minister in September
Yoon Suk Yeol has made it a diplomatic priority to mend ties with Japan and improve security cooperation
Updated 4 min 15 sec ago
Reuters
SEOUL: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived for a whirlwind visit to South Korea on Friday, seeking to seal a newfound partnership between the neighbors which will be tested by imminent changes of leaders in Tokyo and Washington.
Prodded by US President Joe Biden, Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol orchestrated an about-face in ties that had sunk to their lowest level in decades amid acrimonious diplomatic and trade disputes over Japan’s occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945.
“I would like to review the Japan-ROK (Republic of Korea) relations that have improved significantly between myself and President Yoon Suk Yeol and discuss the direction of sustainably strengthening cooperation,” Kishida said before departing Tokyo.
Kishida has announced he will step down in September and Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party will hold elections on Sept. 27 to choose his successor.
Yoon and Kishida will hold a summit meeting Friday afternoon. Kishida is expected to return to Tokyo on Saturday.
On his farewell visit, Kishida will seek to push the ties forward, broadening the relationship to partners working closely together on the international stage, a Japanese foreign ministry official told a briefing.
Their meeting will also be watched for any outcome of ongoing discussions between the two countries on evacuating each other’s citizens from an emergency in a third country and expediting border checks for travelers.
Yoon has made it a diplomatic priority to mend ties with Japan and improve security cooperation to tackle North Korea’s military threats.
At a summit with Biden at Camp David last year, the three leaders committed to deepen military and economic cooperation, agreeing to initiatives explicitly designed to prompt long-term partnership, a senior US official said.
The United States is confident Kishida’s successor will be as committed to continuing the renewed alliance and that “all of these projects we’ve been working on together are going to continue at pace under new leadership,” Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior official at the White House National Security Council, said.
“Both Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon took on a great deal of personal risk and political risk to move forward the warming of their bilateral ties in ways that prior governments just hadn’t been able to accomplish,” she said.
Despite the public expression of lasting partnership from the three capitals, there is a lingering question whether the Asian neighbors can maintain the kind of genuine rapprochement that will put their historic woes behind with new leaders in place.
“Even if a country’s foreign policy is dictated by its national interests and its values, the changes of government bring changes at least in the tones and approaches of foreign policy,” said Kim Hyoung-zhin, former South Korean deputy foreign minister recently studying in Japan.
A small group of protesters rallied outside Yoon’s office before Kishida’s arrival, saying Japan has yet to atone for its wartime past. A protest leader condemned Yoon for wasting government money on a “so-called farewell trip of the outgoing prime minister.”
First court appearance set for Georgia teen accused of killing 4 at his high school
Colt Gray will appear by video from a youth detention facility for the proceedings at the Barrow County courthouse
It’s the latest example of prosecutors holding parents responsible for their children’s actions in school shootings
Updated 55 min 52 sec ago
AP
WINDER, Georgia: The 14-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting four people at a Georgia high school was expected to make his first court appearance Friday, a day after his father was also arrested for allowing his son to possess a weapon.
Colt Gray, who is charged as an adult with four counts of murder, will appear by video from a youth detention facility for the proceedings at the Barrow County courthouse. The hearing will be held two days after authorities said the teen opened fire at Apalachee High School in Winder, just outside Atlanta.
The teen’s father, Colin Gray, 54, was charged Thursday with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey.
“His charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon,” Hosey said. Colin Gray’s first court appearance has not been set.
Father and son have been charged in the deaths of students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, according to Hosey. Nine other people were injured, seven of them shot.
It’s the latest example of prosecutors holding parents responsible for their children’s actions in school shootings. In April, Michigan parents Jennifer and James Crumbley were the first convicted in a US mass school shooting. They were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for not securing a firearm at home and acting indifferently to signs of their son’s deteriorating mental health before he killed four students in 2021.
Arrest warrants obtained by the AP accuse Colt Gray of using a semiautomatic assault-style rifle in the attack. Authorities have not offered any motive or explained how he obtained the gun and got it into the school.
The teen denied threatening to carry out a school shooting when authorities interviewed him last year about a menacing post on social media, according to a sheriff’s report obtained Thursday.
Conflicting evidence on the post’s origin left investigators unable to arrest anyone, the report said. Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said she reviewed the report from May 2023 and found nothing that would have justified bringing charges at the time.
The attack was the latest among dozens of school shootings across the US in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas. The classroom killings have set off fervent debates about gun control but there has been little change to national gun laws.
It was the 30th mass killing in the US so far this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. At least 127 people have died in those killings, which are defined as events in which four or more people die within a 24-hour period, not including the killer — the same definition used by the FBI.
Rallies in Bangladesh mark one month since ex-premier Sheikh Hasina was ousted
Demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Hasina-Modi, warning, be careful!”
Hasina fled to India on Aug. 5 after weeks of violence left over 600 people dead
Updated 06 September 2024
AP
DHAKA: Thousands of people rallied Thursday in Bangladesh’s capital to mark one month since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a mass uprising sparked by students over government job quotas.
Hasina fled to India on Aug. 5 after weeks of violence left more than 600 people dead, including students. The uprising ended the 15-year-rule of the country’s longest-serving prime minister, who began a fourth consecutive term in January following an election boycotted by the major opposition parties.
The demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Where is Hasina? Bury her, bury her!” and “Hasina-Modi, warning, be careful!” or “Naraye Takbeer, Allahu Akbar.”
They were referring to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as Hasina is known to be a trusted ally of India. Many protesters have condemned India for promoting Hinduism and for sheltering Hasina.
The central procession, styled as a “shaheedi march” or “procession for the martyrs” began from the Dhaka University campus and marched through the streets. In addition to the many Bangladeshi flags, some participants carried a giant Palestinian flag.
Tens of thousands joined rallies across the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people.
In Dhaka’s Uttara neighborhood, thousands of school and madrasah students in uniform took part in processions, chanting anti-Hasina slogans. Some carried banners and placards reading “We want Hasina’s execution” and “We want reforms of the state.”
Thursday’s protests came as Bangladesh was returning to normalcy, despite challenges such as a struggling economy. An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who had a frosty relationship with Hasina, has prioritized law and order to stabilize the country.
In a message to the nation marking the day, Yunus vowed to build a new Bangladesh.
“I am committed to fulfilling the dream that our young revolutionaries have instilled into the minds of the people of our country to build a new Bangladesh,” he said. “The sacrifices of the martyrs have inspired us to change the course of history. We want to begin a new era.”
In an interview with the Press Trust of India, or PTI, news agency released Thursday, Yunus said Hasina should stay quiet, and that her political remarks from India are an “unfriendly gesture.”
Opponents of Hasina want her and her associates to stand trial for mass killings during the demonstrations that began in July.
“If India wants to keep her until the time Bangladesh wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet,” the PTI quoted Yunus as saying.
“No one is comfortable with her stance in India because we want her back to try her. She is there and at times she is talking, which is problematic ... No one likes it,” he said.
Yunus was apparently referring to Hasina’s statement last month in which she demanded “justice”, saying those involved in recent “terror acts,” killings and vandalism must be investigated, identified and punished.
The press office of Yunus, who holds the official position of chief adviser in the interim government, told journalists Thursday that he had the backing of 197 global leaders, including 97 Nobel laureates.
It said that in a show of international support, individuals including former US President Barack Obama, entrepreneur Richard Branson and renowned activist Jane Goodall, congratulated the people of Bangladesh and Yunus in a letter.
Yunus’ administration is reorganizing police, bureaucracy and other state institutions to take control as violence and unrest escalate. On Thursday, the country’s chief election commissioner and his deputies who oversaw the recent elections resigned from office.
Days of street protests by garment workers and other industries forced owners to shut their factories for days before they resumed operations on Thursday amid heightened security in two major industrial hubs outside Dhaka.
Also, media reports said that a young Hindu man was beaten Wednesday by a Muslim mob in the presence of security officials in the southwestern Khulna region after he allegedly posted derogatory comments online about the Prophet Muhammad.
The military’s Inter Service Public Relations office said in a statement later Thursday that soldiers rescued the man, named as Sri Utso, after an angry mob attacked him inside the office of a senior police official. It said he survived and was out of danger, and he would be handed over to police for legal actions against him.
Yunus in the interview with PTI refuted earlier reports that the Hindu minority had been targeted since Hasina’s fall. Modi had also earlier voiced concern over the reports of attacks on Hindus.
Yunus said the issue of attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh is “exaggerated” and questioned the manner in which India projected it.
He said the attacks on minorities in Bangladesh are more political than communal: he described them as the fallout of political upheaval as there is a perception that most Hindus supported the now-deposed Awami League regime of Sheikh Hasina.
Also on Thursday, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a formal protest to India over the killing of a 13-year-old Bangladeshi girl, Shwarna Das of Moulvibazar district, who was shot and killed by India’s Border Security Force on Sept. 1, according to Yunus’ press office.
Bangladesh has a 4,096-kilometer (2,545-mile) border with India.
Pope heads to Papua New Guinea after final Mass in Indonesia before an overflow crowd of 100,000
Francis and the grand imam of Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque sign joint declaration pledging to work to end religiously inspired violence and protect the environment
In Papua New Guinea, pontiff’s agenda is aligned with more of his social justice priorities
Updated 06 September 2024
AP
JAKARTA, Indonesia: Pope Francis wrapped up his visit to Indonesia on Friday after celebrating Mass before an overflow crowd of 100,000, a final celebration before heading to Papua New Guinea for the second leg of his 11-day journey through Southeast Asia and Oceania.
The 87-year-old pope had no official events Friday beyond a farewell ceremony and the six-hour flight to Port Moresby, giving him something of a break after a packed three-day program in Jakarta.
The visit culminated with a jubilant Mass on Thursday afternoon before a crowd that filled two sports stadiums and overflowed into a parking lot.
“Don’t tire of dreaming and of building a civilization of peace,” Francis urged them in an ad-libbed homily. “Be builders of hope. Be builders of peace.”
A woman wears a shirt with a photo of Pope Francis at a market ahead of his visit to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on Sept. 6, 2024. (AP)
The Vatican had originally expected the Mass would draw some 60,000 people, and Indonesian authorities had predicted 80,000. But the Vatican spokesman quoted local organizers as saying more than 100,000 had attended.
“I feel very lucky compared to other people who can’t come here or even had the intention to come here,” said Vienna Frances Florensius Basol, who came with her husband and a group of 40 people from Sabah, Malaysia, but couldn’t get into the stadium.
“Even though we are outside with other Indonesians, seeing the screen, I think I am lucky enough,” she said from a parking lot where a giant TV screen was erected for anyone who didn’t have tickets for the service.
While in Indonesia, Francis sought to encourage the country’s 8.9 million Catholics, who make up just 3 percent of the population of 275 million, while also seeking to boost interfaith ties with the country boasting the world’s largest Muslim population.
In the highlight of the visit, Francis and the grand imam of Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque, Southeast Asia’s largest, signed a joint declaration pledging to work to end religiously inspired violence and protect the environment.
In Papua New Guinea, Francis’ agenda is aligned with more of his social justice priorities. The poor, strategically important South Pacific nation is home to more than 10 million people, most of whom are subsistence farmers.
John Lavu, the choir conductor at St. Charles Luwanga parish in the capital, Port Moresby, said the visit would help him grow stronger in his Catholic faith.
“I have lived this faith all my life, but the coming of the Holy Father, the head of the church, to Papua New Guinea and to be a witness of his coming to us is going to be very important for me in my life as a Catholic,” he said on the eve of Francis’ arrival.
Francis will be traveling to remote Vanimo to check in on some Catholic missionaries from his native Argentina who are trying to spread the Catholic faith to a largely tribal people who also practice pagan and Indigenous traditions.
The country, the South Pacific’s most populous after Australia, has more than 800 Indigenous languages and has been riven by tribal conflicts over land for centuries, with conflicts becoming more and more lethal in recent decades.
History’s first Latin American pope will likely refer to the need to find harmony among tribal groups while visiting, the Vatican said. Another possible theme is the country’s fragile ecosystem, its rich natural resources at risk of exploitation and the threat posed by climate change.
The Papua New Guinean government has blamed extraordinary rainfall for a massive landslide in May that buried a village in Enga province. The government said more than 2,000 people were killed, while the United Nations estimated the death toll at 670.
Francis becomes only the second pope to visit Papua New Guinea, after St. John Paul II touched down in 1984 during one of his lengthy, globetrotting voyages. Then, John Paul paid tribute to the Catholic missionaries who had already been trying for a century to bring the faith to the country.
Papua New Guinea, a Commonwealth nation that was a colony of nearby Australia until independence in 1975, is the second leg of Francis’ four-nation trip. In the longest and farthest voyage of his papacy, Francis will also visit East Timor and Singapore before returning to the Vatican on Sept. 13.