Russia celebrates victory in World War II as Putin accuses the West of fueling global conflicts

Russia celebrates victory in World War II as Putin accuses the West of fueling global conflicts
Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends the Victory Day military parade at Red Square in central Moscow. (AFP)
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Updated 10 May 2024
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Russia celebrates victory in World War II as Putin accuses the West of fueling global conflicts

Russia celebrates victory in World War II as Putin accuses the West of fueling global conflicts

MOSCOW: Russia on Thursday wrapped itself in patriotic pageantry for Victory Day, as President Vladimir Putin celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II by hailing his forces fighting in Ukraine and blasting the West for fueling conflicts around the world.
Even though few veterans of what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War are still alive 79 years after Berlin fell to the Red Army, the victory remains the most important and widely revered symbol of Russia’s prowess and a key element of national identity.
Putin has turned Victory Day — the country’s most important secular holiday — into a pillar of his nearly quarter-century in power and a justification of his military action in Ukraine.
Two days after beginning his fifth term in office, he led the festivities across Russia that recall the nation’s wartime sacrifice.
“Victory Day unites all generations,” Putin said in a speech in Red Square that came on the coldest May 9 in decades amid some snow flurries. “We are going forward relying on our centuries-old traditions and feel confident that together we will ensure a free and secure future of Russia.”
As battalions marched by and military hardware — both old and new — rumbled over the cobblestones, the sky cleared briefly to allow a flyby of warplanes, some of which trailed smoke in the white, red and blue of the Russian flag.
Putin hailed the troops fighting in Ukraine as “our heroes” for their courage, resilience and self-denial, adding that “all of Russia is with you.”
He accused the West of “fueling regional conflicts, inter-ethnic and inter-religious strife and trying to contain sovereign and independent centers of global development.”
With tensions with Washington over Ukraine soaring to their highest level since the Cold War, Putin issued another stark reminder of Moscow’s nuclear might.
“Russia will do everything to prevent global confrontation, but will not allow anyone to threaten us,” he said. “Our strategic forces are in combat readiness.”
Nuclear-capable Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles were pulled across Red Square, underscoring his message.
The Soviet Union lost about 27 million people in World War II, an estimate that many historians consider conservative, scarring virtually every family.
Nazi troops overran much of the western Soviet Union when they invaded in June 1941, before being driven back all the way to Berlin, where the USSR’s hammer and sickle flag was raised above the ruined capital. The US, U.K, France and other allies mark the end of the war in Europe on May 8.
The immense suffering and sacrifice in cities like Stalingrad, Kursk and Putin’s native Leningrad — now St. Petersburg — still serve as a powerful symbol of the country’s ability to prevail against seemingly overwhelming challenges.
Since coming to power on the last day of 1999, Putin has made May 9 an important part of his political agenda, featuring missiles, tanks and fighter jets. Medal-bedecked veterans joined him Thursday to review the parade, and many — including the president — wore the black-and-orange St. George’s ribbon that is traditionally associated with Victory Day.
About 9,000 troops, including about 1,000 who fought in Ukraine, took part in Thursday’s parade.
Although the US and UK ambassadors did not attend, Putin was joined by other dignitaries and presidents of several former Soviet nations along with a few other Moscow allies, including the leaders of Cuba, Guinea-Bissau and Laos.
In his speech, he accused the West of “revanchism … hypocrisy and lies” in seeking to play down the Soviet role in defeating Nazi Germany.
Putin described Victory Day as “very emotional and poignant.”
“Every family is honoring its heroes, looking at pictures with dear faces and remembering their relatives and how they fought,” he said.
Putin, 71, talks frequently about his family history, sharing memories of his father, who fought on the front during the Nazi siege of the city and was badly wounded.
As Putin tells it, his father, also named Vladimir, came home from a military hospital during the war to see workers trying to take away his wife, Maria, who had been declared dead of starvation. But the elder Putin did not believe she had died — saying she had only lost consciousness, weak with hunger. Their first child, Viktor, died during the siege when he was 3, one of more than 1 million Leningrad residents who died in the 872-day blockade, most of them from starvation.
For several years, Putin carried a photo of his father in Victory Day marches — as did others honoring relatives who were war veterans — in what was called the “Immortal Regiment.”
Those demonstrations were suspended during the coronavirus pandemic and then again amid security concerns after the start of the fighting in Ukraine.
As part of his efforts to burnish the Soviet legacy and trample on any attempts to question it, Russia has introduced laws that criminalized the “rehabilitation of Nazism” that include punishing the “desecration” of memorials or challenging Kremlin versions of World War II history.
When he sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Putin evoked World War II in seeking to justify his actions that Kyiv and its Western allies denounced as an unprovoked war of aggression. Putin cited the “denazification” of Ukraine as a main goal of Moscow, falsely describing the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust, as neo-Nazis.
Putin tried to cast Ukraine’s veneration of some of its nationalist leaders who cooperated with the Nazis in World War II as a sign of Kyiv’s purported Nazi sympathies. He regularly made unfounded references to Ukrainian nationalist figures such as Stepan Bandera, who was killed by a Soviet spy in Munich in 1959, as an underlying justification for the Russian military action in Ukraine.
Many observers see Putin’s focus on World War II as part of his efforts to revive the USSR’s clout and prestige and his reliance on Soviet practices.
“It’s the continuous self-identification with the USSR as the victor of Nazism and the lack of any other strong legitimacy that forced the Kremlin to declare ‘denazification’ as the goal of the war,” Nikolay Epplee said in a commentary for Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.
The Russian leadership, he said, has “locked itself up in a worldview limited by the Soviet past.”


UK’s Queen Camilla to miss events as Kate returns to public life

Updated 18 sec ago
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UK’s Queen Camilla to miss events as Kate returns to public life

UK’s Queen Camilla to miss events as Kate returns to public life
A palace spokesperson said: “While this is a source of great disappointment to The Queen, she will mark the occasion privately at home“
The events are being closely watched as they are set to see Catherine, Princess of Wales, take a major step in her recovery from cancer

LONDON: Queen Camilla, the wife of Britain’s head of state King Charles III, will miss two of the most important dates in the royal calendar this weekend because of a chest infection, Buckingham Palace said Saturday.
The 77-year-old will skip Saturday evening’s Festival of Remembrance commemorative concert and Sunday’s ceremony at the Cenotaph war memorial, events that honor Britain’s war dead.
“Following doctors’ guidance to ensure a full recovery from a seasonal chest infection, and to protect others from any potential risk, Her Majesty will not attend this weekend’s Remembrance events,” a palace spokesperson said.
“While this is a source of great disappointment to The Queen, she will mark the occasion privately at home and hopes to return to public duties early next week.”
British media reported that there had been no downturn in Camilla’s condition, and that she was mindful of minimizing the risk of passing any lingering infection to others.
The events are being closely watched as they are set to see Catherine, Princess of Wales, take a major step in her recovery from cancer as she attends her first major royal occasion since ending chemotherapy.
In March, the palace announced that Kate, as she is widely known, had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy.
The shock announcement came after the palace had announced the previous month that Charles had been diagnosed with an undisclosed cancer and would withdraw from public life to undergo treatment.
Both have since made limited returns to public duties, but Charles — who recently toured Australia and Samoa, — is still undergoing treatment.
Catherine, 42, said in September that she had completed her chemotherapy and was looking forward to undertaking more engagements “when I can.”
Charles, 75, will lead the royal family at the commemorative events, which will also be attended by his eldest son Prince William, heir to the throne and husband to Catherine.
Senior royals traditionally attend the solemn wreath-laying at the monument near parliament alongside political leaders, current and former members of the armed forces, including war veterans.
William said this week that the past year had been “brutal” and probably the “hardest” of his life because of the twin diagnoses.
“Honestly, it’s been dreadful,” he told reporters on Thursday at the end of a four-day visit to South Africa for his Earthshot prize initiative.
“So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult.”
Buckingham Palace said on Tuesday that Camilla, who accompanied Charles on his Australia and Samoa tour, had been forced to postpone her engagements for the week with a chest infection.
It added that her attendance at the weekend events would be subject to medical advice nearer the time.

One of 8 migrants sent to Albania returned to Italy

One of 8 migrants sent to Albania returned to Italy
Updated 12 min 58 sec ago
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One of 8 migrants sent to Albania returned to Italy

One of 8 migrants sent to Albania returned to Italy
  • The Egyptian man was diagnosed with “psychic problems,” which made it impossible for him to remain at the Gjadër reception center
  • Currently only seven migrants – five from Bangladesh and two from Egypt – remain at the Albanian center

ROME: One of the eight migrants brought for processing in an Albanian center after being intercepted in international waters has returned to Italy after being deemed “vulnerable,” a delegation of Italian activists and lawmakers visiting the center said on Saturday.
The Egyptian man was diagnosed with “psychic problems,” which made it impossible for him to remain at the Gjadër reception center, one of the activists said. Currently only seven migrants – five from Bangladesh and two from Egypt – remain at the Albanian center.
The group represented the second transfer of migrants since two processing centers started operating in October under a deal sealed between Italy and Albania. Human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations active in the Mediterranean have slammed the agreement as a dangerous precedent that conflicts with international laws.
The agreement allows up to 3,000 migrants intercepted by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month to be sheltered in Albania, and vetted for possible asylum in Italy or be sent back to their countries.
Italy has agreed to welcome those migrants who are granted asylum, while those whose applications are rejected face deportation directly from Albania.
The first group of 16 migrants from Bangladesh and Egypt was transferred to Albania on Oct. 16. Four were taken to Italy the same day because they were minors or had health issues. Twelve others were brought back to Italy three days later, following a ruling by Rome judges who rejected their detention because their countries of origin weren’t safe enough for them to be sent back.
The court ruling had shortened the list of countries considered “safe” by law, meaning that Rome can repatriate migrants from those countries who didn’t win asylum using a fast-track procedure. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni slammed the decision, noting that deeming countries such as Bangladesh and Egypt unsafe means that virtually all migrants would be barred from the Albania program.
On Oct. 21, Italy’s far-right government approved a new decree aimed at overcoming those judicial hurdles that risked derailing the contentious five-year migration deal with Albania.
A decision by Rome judges on the detention of the seven migrants currently in Albania is expected for Monday.


Heat, air pollution, disease: How climate change affects health

Heat, air pollution, disease: How climate change affects health
Updated 41 min 53 sec ago
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Heat, air pollution, disease: How climate change affects health

Heat, air pollution, disease: How climate change affects health
  • The latest round of UN climate summit begin next week during what is expected to be the hottest year in recorded history
  • The COP29 talks will be held in Azerbaijan as the world continues to emit increasing levels of planet-heating fossil fuels

PARIS: Record-breaking heat, extreme weather events, air pollution and the spread of infectious disease: climate change poses an already vast yet rising threat to the health of humans around the world, experts warn.
The latest round of UN climate talks begin next week during what is expected to be the hottest year in recorded history — and in the shadow of climate skeptic Donald Trump’s re-election as US president.
The COP29 negotiations will be held in Azerbaijan as the world continues to emit increasing levels of planet-heating fossil fuels, even as many nations have been lashed by devastating floods, droughts, heatwaves and storms.

Volunteers use poles and canes to search for victims in a paddy field in the Albufera national park near Catarroja, following devastating flooding in the region of Valencia, eastern Spain, on November 9, 2024. (AFP)

“Climate change is making us sick, and urgent action is a matter of life and death,” the World Health Organization warned this week.
Here are some of the ways that global warming affects health.
The EU’s climate monitor said this week that 2024 is “virtually certain” to surpass last year to become the hottest year in recorded history. It is also expected to be the first year that is more than 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average.
Out of 15 ways that climate change impacts health being tracked by experts as part of The Lancet Countdown, 10 have now “reached concerning new records,” according to the group’s latest report.
The number of over-65s who died from heat has risen by 167 percent since the 1990s, just one of the recent all-time highs, the report said.
Extreme heat leads to numerous health risks such as kidney disorders, strokes, adverse pregnancy outcomes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, organ failure and ultimately death.

This photograph taken on November 6, 2024, shows Ryan Dikan navigating his piraga past exposed portions of the rocky riverbed as droughts affect the Maroni river level, hindering navigation, near the town of Apatou, in French Guiana. (AFP/File)

Jeni Miller, executive director of the Global Climate and Health Alliance, said “this year has underlined the growing impacts of a warming climate on people’s health and wellbeing.”
She pointed to extreme heat leading to 700 deaths and more than 40,000 cases of heat stroke in India, “climate-exacerbated” rains causing a dam to collapse in Nigeria killing 320, and 48 out of 50 US states “experiencing moderate or worse drought.”
Spain is meanwhile still recovering from its deadliest floods in a generation, while parts of the United States and Cuba are picking up the pieces after recent hurricanes.
Droughts, floods and other extreme weather events are also expected to hit global crops, leading to rising hunger in many regions.
Almost all — 99 percent — of the world’s population breathes air that exceeds the World Health Organization’s guidelines for air pollution.
This pollution has been found to increase the risk of respiratory diseases, strokes, heart disease, lung cancer, diabetes and other health problems, posing a threat that has been compared to tobacco.
Almost seven million premature deaths a year are linked to air pollution, according to the WHO.

People walk along a street amid smog in Lahore on November 2, 2024. (AFP/File)

Just last week, Pakistan’s second-biggest city Lahore recorded air pollution at 40 times the level deemed acceptable by the WHO.
In better news, the Lancet Countdown report found that deaths from fossil fuel-related air pollution fell by nearly seven percent from 2016 to 2021, mainly due to efforts to reduce pollution from burning coal.
The changing climate means that mosquitoes, birds and mammals will roam beyond their previous habitats, raising the threat that they could spread infectious diseases with them.
Dengue, chikungunya, Zika, West Nile virus and malaria are all mosquito-borne diseases that could spread wider in a warming world.
The transmission risk of one dengue-spreading mosquito has risen by 43 percent over the last 60 years, according to the Lancet Countdown. A new global record of over five million dengue cases was recorded last year.
Storms and floods create stagnant water that are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and also increase the risk of water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhea.


Dutch government investigating possible missed warnings from Israel following riots

Dutch government investigating possible missed warnings from Israel following riots
Updated 09 November 2024
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Dutch government investigating possible missed warnings from Israel following riots

Dutch government investigating possible missed warnings from Israel following riots
  • Dutch police say four people remain in custody of the 63 people initially detained

AMSTERDAM: The Dutch government is investigating if possible warning signs from Israel were missed in the events leading up to this week’s assaults on Israeli football fans, Justice Minister David van Weel said in a letter to Parliament.
“An investigation is still being conducted on possible warning signs from Israel,” Van Weel said in his letter late on Friday evening.
At least five people were injured during the assaults on Thursday night and treated in hospital. All were released later on Friday. The incident concerned fans of the visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv football team.
Police on Saturday said four people remained in custody of the 63 people initially detained.
“The Public Prosecution Service has stated that it aims to apply fast-track justice as much as possible,” Van Weel said, adding that it is “the absolute priority” to identify every suspect.
He said the investigation would also examine whether the assaults were organized, with an antisemitic motive.
Political leaders have already denounced the attacks as antisemitic. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on Friday he was “horrified by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens” and had assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone that “the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted.”
Israel sent extra planes to The Netherlands to bring fans home, but a Dutch government spokesperson could not immediately confirm how many people made use of this.
Videos on social media on what happened showed riot police in action, with some attackers shouting anti-Israeli slurs. Footage also showed Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters chanting anti-Arab slogans before Thursday evening’s match.
Amsterdam banned demonstrations through the weekend and gave police emergency stop-and-search powers in response to the unrest.
Antisemitic incidents have surged in the Netherlands since Israel launched its assault on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza after the attacks on Israel by Hamas militants in October last year, with many Jewish organizations and schools reporting threats and hate mail.


China’s Xi hails ‘new chapter’ in relations with Indonesia

China’s Xi hails ‘new chapter’ in relations with Indonesia
Updated 09 November 2024
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China’s Xi hails ‘new chapter’ in relations with Indonesia

China’s Xi hails ‘new chapter’ in relations with Indonesia
  • Beijing and Jakarta are key economic allies, with Chinese companies plowing money into extracting Indonesian natural resources in recent years
  • But the two countries have sparred verbally over disputed claims in the South China Sea

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping told his Indonesian counterpart that Beijing hopes for a “new chapter” in bilateral relations, as the two leaders met on Saturday.
Xi held talks with newly sworn-in President Prabowo Subianto in Beijing, the first stop of the Indonesian leader’s inaugural foreign tour since he took office in October.
China is keen to work with Indonesia to “write a new chapter of joint self-reliance, solidarity and cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results as major developing countries,” Xi told Prabowo in front of journalists.
Beijing and Jakarta are key economic allies, with Chinese companies plowing money into extracting Indonesian natural resources in recent years, particularly the nickel sector.
But the two countries have sparred verbally over disputed claims in the South China Sea.
Prabowo said that the relationship between the two countries was “getting stronger and stronger.”
“I would like to reiterate our commitment... to work together for the mutual benefit of our two peoples and for the prosperity, peace and stability of all of Asia,” he added.
Xi held a welcome ceremony for Prabowo at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Saturday before the talks.
Prabowo, who landed in China on Friday, is also meeting Premier Li Qiang and number three official Zhao Leji on his trip, which ends on Sunday.
He will travel onwards to Washington, at the invitation of US President Joe Biden, as part of a world tour which will also include Peru, Brazil and Britain.
Prabowo has pledged to stick to Jakarta’s traditionally non-aligned foreign policy while making the world’s fourth-most populous nation more active abroad.
Confrontations over what Indonesia says are Chinese incursions into its territorial waters have weighed on the trading partners’ relationship in recent years.
In 2020, Indonesia deployed fighter jets and warships to patrol around the Natuna islands in the South China Sea after Chinese vessels entered the area.
Last month, Indonesia said it drove Chinese coast guard ships from contested waters in the South China Sea on three separate occasions.
Indonesia says it is trying to stop foreign vessels from fishing in its waters, costing the economy billions of dollars annually.
Huge unexploited oil and gas deposits are believed to lie under the South China Sea, though estimates vary greatly.
Beijing has for years sought to expand its presence in the contested waters, brushing aside an international ruling that its claim to most of the waterway has no legal basis.
It has built artificial islands armed with missile systems and runways for fighter jets, and deployed vessels that the Philippines says harass its ships and block its fishers.
The latest confrontations are an early test for Prabowo, who has pledged to bolster the defense of Indonesian territory.
Prabowo has promised to be bolder on foreign policy than his predecessor Joko Widodo, who focused more on domestic issues.