Six In The Morning Tuesday 1 February 2022

 

Will Vladimir Putin turn the Second Cold War into a hot one?

Analysis by Nathan Hodge, CNN

Updated 1554 GMT (2354 HKT) February 1, 2022

As war talk over Ukraine reached fever pitch and invasion fears crested over the past week, one world leader remained decidedly above the fray: Russian President Vladimir Putin.

No, Putin wasn't on vacation. The Kremlin leader kept up a full schedule, but he made scant public remarks about an international crisis that had reached full boil.

Last Wednesday, the United States and NATO delivered their written responses to Russian security demands, offering Moscow what US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described as a diplomatic off-ramp from a dangerous path of escalation toward war.

Silent strike empties streets in Myanmar on anniversary of coup

Shops abandoned as public defies military threats and stays at home a year after ousting of government

Min Ye Kyaw and Rebecca Ratcliffe

Tue 1 Feb 2022 10.56 GMT

Streets were deserted and shops abandoned across many of Myanmar’s towns and cities on Monday, as the public defied threats by the military junta and stayed at home in a “silent strike” on the first anniversary of the country’s coup.

Images posted on social media showed usually congested roads with no traffic and stores shuttered. In a photograph shared by Khit Thit Media, the usually busy Sule Pagoda road in downtown Yangon was completely empty. In Mandalay, the second largest city, a normally bustling market had virtually no customers.

Images posted online showed similar scenes across the country: from Myitkyina and Namati in Kachin, Myanmar’s northernmost state, to Dawei and Myeik in Tanintharyi region in the south of the country.

Ukraine to increase army by 100,000 as war fears with Russia continue

Troop announcement was made for future ‘peace’, said Ukraine’s leader

Rory Sullivan

Ukraine’s army will grow by 100,000 troops over the next three years amid ongoing tensions with Russia, the country’s president has said.

Volodymyr Zelensky announced the decision in parliament on Tuesday, saying the move should not be seen as an indication that war with its neighbour Russia is imminent.

Under the plans, the size of the Ukrainian armed forces will expand from roughly 250,000 to 350,000 soldiers, which is still less than half the number at Moscow’s disposal. Personnel will also receive higher pay.

Germany's battle against online hate speech

Beginning in February, Germany is stepping up its efforts to combat hate speech on the internet, including a central monitor for hate crimes. But is it enough to stem the growing tide of online abuse?

Regina Nagel has learned that caution must be her guiding principle on the internet. She keeps posts and comments to a minimum, and is careful about who her Facebook friends are. But all that precaution still wasn't enough.

Last September, a friend shared one of her posts which ended up triggering some shocking hate speech. Nagel is a parish officer in the Catholic Church. At the same time, she is also a member of a reform movement within the Church known as the Synodal Path, which was established in response to the child abuse scandal that continues to rock the Catholic Church.

WHO warns it is 'premature' to declare victory or stop fight against Covid-19

The World Health Organization chief warned Tuesday that it is too early for countries to either declare victory over Covid-19 or give up attempts to halt transmission.

"It is premature for any country to either surrender or to declare victory," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

"This virus is dangerous, and it continues to evolve before our very eyes."

His comment came as Denmark on Tuesday became the first EU country to lift all of its domestic Covid-19 curbs despite record numbers of cases of the milder Omicron variant, with a number of other countries considering similar moves.

Israel imposing ‘apartheid’ on Palestinians: Amnesty

Israeli authorities must be held accountable for enforcing a system of oppression and domination against Palestinians, Amnesty International says.

Israel is carrying out “the crime of apartheid against Palestinians” and must be held accountable for treating them as “an inferior racial group”, Amnesty International says in a new report, joining the assessment of other rights groups.

Released on Tuesday, the 280-page report [PDF] by the leading rights group details how Israeli authorities enforce a system of oppression and domination against the Palestinians.

Its damning investigation lists a range of Israeli abuses, including extensive seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, administrative detention and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians.