Six In The Morning Wednesday 6 April 2022

 

As the world reacts in horror to Bucha, China's state media strikes a different tone

Analysis by Simone McCarthy and Yong Xiong, CNN

Updated 1144 GMT (1944 HKT) April 6, 2022

Shocking images showing the bodies of civilians scattered across the streets of Bucha, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, have sparked global horror in recent days and raised the urgency of ongoing investigations into alleged Russian war crimes. But a starkly different narrative is playing out on China's state-run media.

There, domestic media reports on the civilian casualties in Bucha have been quick to emphasize the Russian rebuttal, with two prominent televised reports from national broadcaster CCTV this week highlighting unsubstantiated claims from Moscow that the situation was staged after Russian forces withdrew from the area.

In one report, a caption citing Russia with the words "Ukrainians directed a good show," flashes over heavily blurred footage from the Ukrainian town.

Sri Lanka facing imminent threat of starvation, senior politician warns

Speaker tells parliament ‘there will be very acute food shortages’ and economic crisis is ‘just the beginning’

Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent

Sri Lanka is facing the imminent threat of starvation for its population of 22 million as the economic crisis in the country continues to worsen and food becomes increasingly scarce, a senior politician has warned.

Speaking in a debate in parliament, held against the backdrop of the worst financial crisis to hit the country since independence – and with anti-government protests spreading across the country – the speaker of the parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, warned that this was “just the beginning”.

“The food, gas and electricity shortages will get worse. There will be very acute food shortages and starvation,” Abeywardana told the legislature.

Bucha — Dark despotism must not be allowed to win

Acts in the Russian invasion of Ukraine recall Nazi atrocities. The only way Europe can see peace is if Russian war criminals suffer a crushing military defeat at the hands of Ukraine, writes Eugen Theise.

Bucha, Irpin, Gostomel, Mariupol, Trostianets — the list of Ukrainian places, which in the eyes of the world community stands for the horrors of the Russian war of aggression, is getting ever longer.

Men whose hands were bound and then executed with a shot to the head, women who were gunned down after they left their basements, bombed-out schools and hospitals — the indiscriminate killing of civilians seems characteristic Russian actions against Ukrainians in this war. Social media has been literally flooded with eyewitness accounts and harrowing pictures after Ukrainian towns were liberated from Russian control.

Bolsonaro vetoes Covid aid for Brazil culture sector

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have provided aid funds to artists and cultural programs hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, triggering an outcry from opposition lawmakers, who vowed to override him.

Named for a widely beloved comedian and actor who died of Covid-19 last year, the Paulo Gustavo Bill aimed to provide 3.86 billion reais ($820 million) in federal funds to local and state governments to aid the cultural sector, still reeling from the impact of pandemic shut-downs.

It had passed Congress with broad support, by a vote of 74-0 in the Senate and 411-27 in the Chamber of Deputies.

The view from Moscow

by Hélène Richard

Wars are never good for the free flow of information, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February has starkly shown. Since amendments to the criminal code on 4 March, Russians risk three years in prison for ‘discrediting the armed forces’, and five years for calling for unsanctioned public action, such as demonstrations. Journalism that contradicts the defence ministry’s version of events is classed as ‘fake news’ and could mean up to 15 years in prison. An earlier decree had already banned the use of the words ‘war’ and ‘invasion’ in reference to Ukraine.

By striking fast and hard, the Russian authorities aimed to silence opponents of the war, many of whom spoke out immediately after the invasion. Dozens of petitions appeared online. One, started by the Russian human rights defender Lev Ponomaryov, collected a record one million signatures. Professional associations of architects, doctors, teachers, comedians and others in the cultural sector abandoned their usual discretion. The anti-war protests have reached unexpected places, such as the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), a prestigious training school for diplomats and senior civil servants: 1,500 of its students, alumni and staff have called for ‘honest negotiations — without ultimatums or demands for the other side’s capitulation’.

Shrinking public space for Afghan women as Taliban expands curbs

The group is reimposing draconian restrictions, especially against women, that are reminiscent of their past regime.

By Zuhal Ahad and Ruchi Kumar

Published On 6 Apr 20226 Apr 2022

 As a 35-year-old university lecturer, Nazifa regularly took the local minivan, a popular means of transport in the Afghan capital, Kabul, for her daily commute from home to the university and back. As a native of the city, she was very familiar with the highways, streets and back alleys, and rarely ever felt uncomfortable travelling by herself.

That was until last week, when the minivan that Nazifa, who requested her name be changed, was travelling in was stopped by a Taliban guard.

“I was on my way home along with another female colleague when a Taliban stopped our vehicle and asked us where our mahram [male guardian] was. When we told him we did not have one, he was furious,” she told Al Jazeera.