‘Who started it?’ Putin sips champagne as he defends assault on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure
President Vladimir Putin made rare public comments specifically addressing the Russian military’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure Thursday, while clutching a glass of champagne at a Kremlin reception.
Speaking after an awards ceremony for “Heroes of Russia,” he addressed the group of soldiers receiving the awards. He said of the attacks, “yes, we are doing it. But who started it?”
Nine months after he ordered Russia’s military to invade Ukraine, Putin went on to list a series of events he blames on the Ukrainians: “Who hit the Crimean bridge? Who blew up the power lines from the Kursk nuclear power plant?”
Two Bangladeshi opposition leaders arrested in government crackdown
Seven killed and thousands arrested as Hasina regime continues repressive campaign against opponents
Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Shaikh Azizur Rahman
Two top leaders of Bangladesh’s main opposition party have been arrested amid a violent crackdown on government opponents during which at least seven people have been shot dead and thousands arrested.
Over recent weeks, Sheikh Hasina’s government has launched a repressive campaign against the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP), which has been holding rallies calling for her resignation.
The BNP has accused Hasina’s ruling Awami League of corruption, human rights abuses and the imposition of crippling fuel price rises. The BNP has organised an anti-government protest rally in the capital, Dhaka, which is expected to be attended by hundreds of thousands of supporters.
‘Bonkers’, but terrifying: Why Germany’s comical coup plot should be taken very seriously
Borzou Daragahi takes a look inside the QAnon-fuelled plot to overthrow Germany’s government and revive the Reich
It was an outlandish and far-fetched scheme: take control of the world’s fourth largest economy, abolish its democracy, and install an obscure septuagenarian aristocrat as “emperor”.
But when German authorities monitoring the extremist “Reichsburger” movement earlier this year began piecing together the alleged plan to violently topple the government in Berlin, they considered it a grave threat, and placed it at the top of their security priorities.
On Wednesday, 3,000 German police and special forces units fanned out across 11 of Germany’s 16 states, arresting 25 people in 130 raids. Suspects were also arrested in Italy and Austria. Nearly 30 other suspects remain under scrutiny and more arrests will be forthcoming, German authorities have said.
German’s interior minister Nancy Faeser described those involved in the plot as “enemies” of the country’s democracy. “The investigations provide a glimpse into the abyss of a terrorist threat from the Reichsburger milieu," she said in a statement.
Global outrage grows over execution of Iranian protester
The execution of an Iranian man on Thursday, the first linked to nationwide protests since September, has drawn sharp Western criticism. The UK also announced sanctions against individuals linked to Iran's judiciary.
International condemnation over the first known execution of an Iranian protester grew on Friday.
A German government spokesperson told reporters in Berlin on Friday that the government "strongly condemns the Iranian regime's death sentence and execution of a demonstator in connection with the demonstrations in Iran."
Chinese cities remain quiet amid tentative exit from 'zero-Covid' rules
Judging by Friday's quiet streets in China's capital Beijing and the adherence to virus curbs by some city eateries, the anxieties created by 'zero-Covid' policies are likely to hamper a quick return to health for the world's second-largest economy.
Although the government on Wednesday loosened key parts of the strict controls that kept the pandemic largely at bay for the past three years, many people and businesses appear wary of being too quick to shake off the shackles.
In the central city of Wuhan, where the pandemic erupted in late 2019, there were more signs of life with some areas busy with commuters on Friday. But locals say a return to normal is still a long way off.
Kremlin critic Yashin jailed for 8 years for 'fake news' on Russia war
One of Russia's most prominent opposition figures, Ilya Yashin, has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for spreading "fake news" about the country's military.
One of few Kremlin critics to stay in Russia after it invaded Ukraine, Yashin continued to speak out against the war.
He was arrested after he condemned suspected Russian war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
Soon after the invasion, Russia made reporting "false information" a crime.
No comments:
Post a Comment