Six In The Morning Thursday 2 June 2022

 

Lviv commemorates 243 dead children in Ukraine war with school buses memorial

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claims 200,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly taken to Russia

Martin Belam and Samantha Lock

The western Ukrainian city of Lviv has commemorated the children killed during the Russian invasion. Titled “excursion that will never happen”, the city’s memorial featured empty school buses with stuffed toys strapped into seats to represent each of the 243 children so far claimed to be lost in the war.

On Wednesday Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, made note of International Children’s Day during his nightly video address to the nation, saying that since Russia began its latest invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, Ukraine’s emergency services had counted 243 children as killed, 446 wounded and 139 missing.

Zelenskiy also claimed that 200,000 children had been forcibly taken to Russia, saying: “The purpose of this criminal policy is not just to steal people but to make those who are deported forget about Ukraine and unable to return. Ukraine cannot be conquered, our people will not surrender and our children will not become the property of the occupiers.”

El Salvador accused of ‘massive’ human rights violations with 2% of adults in prison

More than 36,000 people arrested in just over two months in crackdown orchestrated by President Nayib Bukele

Tom Phillips in San Salvador

Amnesty International has accused El Salvador’s government of committing “massive human rights violations” during an extraordinary security crackdown that has seen more than 36,000 people arrested in just over two months.

The clampdown was orchestrated by the Central American country’s authoritarian-minded president, Nayib Bukele, in late March after a sudden eruption of bloodshed that saw 87 murders in a single weekend.

Bukele’s response to those killings was swift and severe, with pro-government lawmakers approving a draconian state of exception which entered its third month last week. This week, Bukele’s security minister, Gustavo Villatoro, claimed 36,277 people had been detained since their “war on gangs” began: 32,163 men and 5,114 women.

China says it will work with Russia to promote ‘real democracy’

‘China and Russia should continue to join hands with peace-loving countries’

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

China will work with Russia to promote “real democracy”, said a Chinese diplomat as the West continued to corner both nations over human-rights violations.

“China is willing to work together with Russia and the global community to promote real democracy based on nations’ own conditions,” Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi was quoted by Bloomberg as saying at a China-Russia thinktank summit on Wednesday.

Both administrations, known for being authoritative in nature, have been accused by critics of violating the human rights of their citizens.

Why do tensions between DR Congo and Rwanda persist?

The atmosphere between Kinshasa and Kigali is explosive, with the two governments trading blame once more over brutal rebels. Experts say the longstanding dispute will persist until past issues are resolved.

Hundreds of houses in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo are abandoned, their owners long gone.

Thousands more in the territory of Nyiragongo, near the North Kivu capital of Goma, have now fled their homes, as fighting between the Congolese army (FARDC) and M23 rebels continues.

They emptied their homes, taking mattresses, jerrycans, kitchenware, sheep and goats, and took off in the direction of the border with Uganda. Most are hopeful that their escape to Uganda is not permanent.

‘Hindutva pop’: The singers producing anti-Muslim music in India

Behind the rising Islamophobia in India lies a network of Hindu right-wing artists composing songs played during hate campaigns.

By Quratulain Rehbar

Published On 2 Jun 20222 Jun 2022

“Insaan nahi ho saalo, ho tum kasaayi; Bahut ho chuka Hindu-Muslim bhai bhai” – You are not human, you are butchers; it’s enough of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood.

These are the lyrics of a ‘bhajan’ (devotional song) that singer Prem Krishnavanshi posted on YouTube three years ago and has been viewed thousands of times since.

Triggered by contemporary hate politics, Krishnavanshi’s song is a part of a new mass culture in India where anti-Muslim songs are played in rallies by Hindu supremacist groups, mainly in what is called the country’s “Hindi belt” northern states.

The world may be careening toward a 1970s-style energy crisis -- or worse

By Matt Egan, CNN Business

Updated 1412 GMT (2212 HKT) June 2, 2022

The world is grappling with gravity-defying energy price spikes on everything from gasoline and natural gas to coal. Some fear this may just be the beginning.

Current and former energy officials tell CNN they worry that Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the wake of years of underinvestment in the energy sector have sent the world careening into a crisis that will rival or even exceed the oil crises of the 1970s and early 1980s.

Unlike those infamous episodes, this one is not contained to oil.

"Now we have an oil crisis, a gas crisis and an electricity crisis at the same time," Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency watchdog group, told Der Spiegel in an interview published this week. "This energy crisis is much bigger than the oil crises of the 1970s and 1980s. And it will probably last longer."