Six In The Morning Tuesday 25 January 2022

 

The West fears Russia is about to attack Ukraine. But that's not the way Russians are seeing it on TV

Analysis by Jill Dougherty, for CNN

Updated 1524 GMT (2324 HKT) January 25, 2022

Foreign forces bristling with weapons are rolling toward the Ukrainian border. Reconnaissance planes streak overhead. Rumors of "false flag" operations run rampant.

If you're watching state TV in Moscow, you're seeing video of troops and tanks, barbed wire and snipers taking aim, but it's not Russia's forces that are poised for attack -- it's NATO's.

Welcome to Russia's mirror-image depiction of the showdown over Ukraine. In the country's alternate media landscape, NATO forces are carrying out a plan that's been in the works for years: Encircle Russia, topple President Vladimir Putin and seize control of Russia's energy resources.

Long Covid: doctors find ‘antibody signature’ for patients most at risk

Low levels of certain antibodies found to be more common in those who go on to develop long Covid

Ian Sample Science editor

@iansample

Tue 25 Jan 2022 16.00 GMT

Doctors have discovered an “antibody signature” that can help identify patients most at risk of developing long Covid, a condition where debilitating symptoms of the disease can persist for many months.

Researchers at University hospital Zurich analysed blood from Covid patients and found that low levels of certain antibodies were more common in those who developed long Covid than in patients who swiftly recovered.

When combined with the patient’s age, details of their Covid symptoms and whether or not they had asthma, the antibody signature allowed doctors to predict whether people had a moderate, high or very high risk of developing long-term illness.

‘What choice have we got?’: Ukraine’s volunteer army prepares for war

As fears over a war with Russia grow, Ukraine’s forces are being bolstered by a collection of citizen soldiers, reports Kim Sengupta in Kiev

One thing Oleksii Bida remembers vividly from the time he was kidnapped and tortured was that his interrogators knew full well that he could not answer the questions he was being asked.  

Naked, tied to a chair while being repeatedly kicked and punched, he was told his ordeal would be over as soon as he revealed the “secrets of the traitors” who were taking part in the Euromaidan protests in Luhansk.  

“But I knew no secrets. We were demonstrating just as people were demonstrating  in Kiev and so many other cities all over the country. I knew that and they knew that. I guess they just liked hurting the people they hated,” reflected the 47-year-old graphic designer. 

Afghanistan: How the Taliban stand to benefit from Norway talks

Talks with Western officials in Oslo show the Taliban desperately need recognition for their government. They have launched a diplomatic offensive to achieve this goal, and, from their point of view, they are succeeding.

Norwegian authorities have said the ongoing international talks with the Taliban are not tantamount to legitimizing the Islamist group. But human rights activists, particularly those from Afghanistan, do not agree with these claims. They have slammed Norway's decision to host the militant group, which seized power in Afghanistan last August.

The Taliban, however, are hailing the Oslo talks as an "achievement." At the end of the first day of talks on Monday, a Taliban official told the AP news agency that the meetings were a "step to legitimize the Afghan government."

Iran sentences Frenchman Benjamin Brière to eight years on spying charges

An Iranian court sentenced Benjamin Brière, a Frenchman, to eight years in prison on spying charges on Tuesday. His Paris-based lawyer has denounced the trial as a "masquerade".

Brière, who was arrested in May 2020 while traveling in Iran and is currently on hunger strike, was also given an additional eight-month sentence for propaganda against Iran's Islamic system, his lawyer Philippe Valent said in a statement. 

The 36-year-old Frenchman was on an overland trip across Asia when he was arrested in May 2020 near the Turkmenistan-Iran border and accused of spying.

Slamming the trial, which began on Thursday, as a "masquerade", Valent said his client "did not have a fair trial in front of impartial judges" and noted he had not been allowed to access the full indictment against him. 

"This verdict is the result of a purely political process that is... devoid of any basis," he added.  

Who is Paul-Henri Damiba, leader of the Burkina Faso coup?

The 41-year-old officer was promoted in December to commander of Burkina Faso’s third military region by President Kabore.

A lieutenant colonel appointed to oversee security in Burkina Faso’s capital has emerged as the leader of a military coup that overthrew President Roch Kabore after heavy gunfights in Ouagadougou.

Dressed in military fatigues and a red beret, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba was presented as the president of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR), which seized power on Monday.

“MPSR, which includes all sections of the army, has decided to end President Kabore’s post today,” a captain standing to the left of Damiba said, as he read a statement in the lieutenant colonel’s name on Radiodiffusion Television du Burkina (RTB).