Six In The Morning Saturday 21 May 2022

 

Days-long roadblocks, missiles and 'lots of blood.' Civilians recall terrifying attempts to escape Ukraine's cities as Russian forces tighten grip

As thousands of Ukrainians continue to flee Russian-occupied parts of southern Ukraine, they run a gauntlet of harassment by Russian troops, sometimes coming under fire.

More than a dozen people have spoken to CNN at length about their harrowing journeys out of the Kherson region, which has been under Russian control since the beginning of the invasion in late February. They also tell of the unexplained disappearances at night, the climate of fear and the acute shortages that led them to flee.

Ukrainian officials said Friday that the Russians have now blocked exits from Kherson to areas controlled by the Ukrainian government and are trying to send everyone who wants to leave to Crimea.

Trump shares CPAC Hungary platform with notorious racist and antisemite

Hungarian talkshow host who has called Jews ‘stinking excrement’ and Roma ‘animals’ addresses rightwing conference

Flora Garamvolgyi and Julian Borger in Washington

A notorious Hungarian racist who has called Jews “stinking excrement”, referred to Roma as “animals” and used racial epithets to describe Black people, was a featured speaker at a major gathering of US Republicans in Budapest.

Zsolt Bayer took the stage at the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Hungary, a convention that also featured speeches from Donald Trump, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

The last featured speaker of the conference was Jack Posobiec, a far-right US blogger who has used antisemitic symbols and promoted the fabricated “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory smearing prominent Democrats as pedophiles.

How a Humboldt Foundation fellow joined China's military commission

Germany's Humboldt Research Fellowships are very popular with visiting Chinese scientists. Back in China, some of them go on to do research for the military, a DW investigation has found.

This is not a spy thriller. We have therefore deliberately chosen not to name names. This is a story about the ethical gray zone of scientific collaboration between Germany and China.

There is a woman, a physicist, specializing in theoretical particle physics. After obtaining her Ph.D in China, she moves to Europe, initially for two years' research at a renowned institute of nuclear physics in Italy. She then spends three years at two German universities in Hamburg and Mainz. Scientific cooperation with China is politically desired in Germany. The government in Berlin believes it has "special significance for the long-term stability of bilateral relations."

Japan to make big companies disclose gender wage disparity

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

The government will soon require large companies to disclose systemic gender wage disparities that have given Japan the worst record among Group of Seven nations.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the policy decision to further the role of women in the workplace at a May 20 meeting of a council working to turn his pet project of new capitalism into reality.

Kishida indicated that work would proceed so the new system is in place this summer.

It would cover around 18,000 companies with more than 300 employees. In addition to disclosing the difference on remuneration between female and male workers, firms will be obligated to disclose the wage disparity between their regular and irregular employees.

Australia election: Labor party leader Albanese claims victory

Labor party leader claims victory in the national election after PM Scott Morrison concedes defeat, ending nearly a decade of conservative government.

By Adam Hancock

Published On 21 May 202221 May 2022

Australia’s Labor party leader has claimed victory in the national election after Prime Minister Scott Morrison conceded defeat even as the votes are still being counted, ending nearly a decade of conservative government.

“The Australian people have voted for change. I am humbled by this victory,” Labor leader Anthony Albanese told his supporters in Sydney on Saturday after leading his party to victory following nine years in opposition.

Putin's leadership is unraveling as he takes regular breaks for medical treatment and is constantly surrounded by doctors, says British ex-spy

Mia Jankowicz

Sat, May 21, 2022

President Vladimir Putin's grip on power is fading, and he has to take regular breaks for medical treatment, according to former British spy Christopher Steele.

"Our understanding is that there's increasing disarray in the Kremlin and chaos," Steele said in an interview with British talk radio station LBC on Wednesday.

Steele is a former MI6 operative who worked for many years in Russia, including heading up the spy agency's Russia desk for three years.

He told LBC: "There's no clear political leadership coming from Putin, who is increasingly ill, and in military terms, the structures of command and so on are not functioning as they should."