Monday, April 11, 2022

Six In The Morning Monday 11 April 2022

 

Russia readying tens of thousands for eastern battle - Zelensky

Why is Russia losing so many tanks in Ukraine?

Ukraine's armed forces say Russia has lost more than 680 tanks within the two months since the invasion began.

And on top of that, Oryx - a military and intelligence blog - suggests Russia has lost more than 2,000 other armoured vehicles.

Military experts put the losses down to the advanced anti-tank weapons western nations have given to Ukraine, and to the poor way Russia has used its tanks.

But how much is down to Russian incompetence? Read the full piece here.

Summary

  1. President Zelensky says Russia is concentrating tens of thousands of soldiers for its next offensive in eastern Ukraine
  2. Ukraine's president tells lawmakers in South Korea "we need more help if we are to survive this war"
  3. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks in Moscow
  4. Nehammer will become the EU's first leader to meet the Russian president since the start of the war
  5. The UK has warned of a possible use of phosphorus munitions by Russia as fighting intensifies in Mariupol
  6. Ukraine's economy is set to shrink by almost half this year as a result of the war, the World Bank says
  7. The bodies of more than 1,200 people have been found in the Kyiv region, says Ukraine's prosecutor general



Shanghai to ease lockdown despite surge in Covid cases



China’s most populous city to allow ‘appropriate activity’ in areas where there have been no cases for at least two weeks


 China affairs correspondent

Shanghai authorities will start easing lockdown in some areas on Monday, despite reporting a record of more than 25,000 new Covid cases in the country’s most populous city and one of its most significant financial centres.

The metropolis of nearly 26 million people will allow what city official Gu Honghui said was “appropriate activity” in some neighbourhoods where there have been no positive cases for at least two weeks. Residents of these neighbourhoods are not allowed to travel to those still under severe lockdowns.

“Each district will announce the specific names of the first batch [of communities],” Gu told a news briefing. It is unclear how many residents stand to have lockdowns immediately eased.


Pakistan: Parliament elects Shehbaz Sharif as new PM

Shehbaz Sharif is the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, who was prime minister three times before. His victory was secured when members of the opposition party of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan resigned

Shehbaz Sharif was elected the new prime minister of Pakistan by Parliament Monday, following Sunday's no-confidence vote ousting Imran Khan.

Sharif, 70, was the favorite to win following the country's weeklong constitutional crisis. He is the younger brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who served three times in the role.

He called for better relations with the US upon his selection as prime minister. Sharif's remarks came as the US Department of State denied accusations of interference in Pakistan's internal affairs following accusations by ousted prime minister Khan.


With traditional parties on the wane, French political landscape has become a ‘three-way split’

Far-right and hard-left supporters turned out for French presidential elections on Sunday, which saw traditional mainstream parties perform catastrophically. As voters gravitate more towards political extremes, France’s political landscape is witnessing a reorganisation experts have dubbed a 'three-way split'. 

Projections have confirmed that President Emmanuel Macron will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the second round of France’s presidential elections on April 24. Garnering over 27 percent of the vote in the first round, Macron was slightly ahead of Le Pen, who earned 23 percent in total. Jean-Luc Mélenchon came in third with 22 percent of votes, an uptick from the 20 percent he drew five years ago.

The parties that once dominated France’s political landscape on the left and on the right, however, have fallen by the wayside. Together, the historic right-wing Republicans party and left-wing Socialists got less than 10 percent of votes, a devastating blow to both. Their humiliating co-elimination puts the two parties at a decisive moment, in which they can either work to rebuild a feasible political project or see themselves relegated to the history books.



‘Here we are beggars’: Afghan refugees languish in Madagascar


A small group of Afghan refugees say they are trapped on African island nation without healthcare, education or work.



Bibi Maria fled Afghanistan shortly after the Taliban killed her husband, a supplier for US and NATO troops. That was in 2018, and the mother of four said she felt it was a matter of time before threats against the rest of her family were realised.

With few countries open to Afghans, she decided to travel to Madagascar, an island nation off the coast of southeast Africa that she had never visited and where she knew no one, but where she and her four children could get a visa on arrival.

But four years later, with her adult children unable to continue school, receive proper healthcare, or make money in the country, and no updates on her 2019 application to relocate to the United States under the US Refugee Admissions Program, she wondered if she made the right choice.


Turkish drones have become a symbol of the Ukrainian resistance



By Jomana Karadsheh and Isil Sariyuce, CNN


"Those shiny tanks are being set ablaze -- Bayraktar -- that's the new craze," go the lyrics of a popular Ukrainian song dedicated to a drone that has become one of many symbols of the nation's resistance.

The "Bayraktar" has become so popular that Ukrainians are now naming their pets after the Turkish-made drone. Last month, the mayor of Kyiv announced that a newborn lemur at the city's zoo would be named Bayraktar and the foreign ministry tweeted a photo of another Bayraktar, a puppy at the Kyiv police dog training center.
Western and Ukrainian officials have praised Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 drones for playing a part in countering Russian attacks. Last month the British defense secretary Ben Wallace reportedly told UK lawmakers the drones were "delivering munitions" onto Russian "artillery and their supply lines." He added that was "incredibly important" to slow down and block the Russian advance.





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