Ukraine’s counteroffensive is shrouded in confusion. That may be the plan
The columns of dozens of US-supplied M-ATVs kept coming, preceded by a police car, lights blaring, and tailed by dozens of muddy, civilian saloons. Where the armored vehicles were ultimately destined for was unclear. But they were still beige - the paintjob they would have had for use in Iraq and Afghanistan – suggesting they were at least a spray can or mud-shower away from being ready for use on the front line.
Over five weeks reporting along the southern frontlines, it became hard to conceive that - at least in its limited, preparatory stages - Ukraine’s counteroffensive had not got under way in late April.
The relentless pinpoint bombing of Russian military targets; the hints of small Ukrainian landings along the occupied eastern bank of the Dnipro River; and the blasts hitting fuel depots and infrastructure inside Russia’s own borders and in occupied cities – these could all be seen as indicators.
Imran Khan and Lahore police remain in tense standoff
Since ex-PM was released from custody he has only left his residence once, citing fear of being re-arrested
Imran Khan and the police have been locked in a tense standoff in Lahore, with Pakistan’s former prime minister holed up in his residence claiming he was about to be arrested and officers barricading the surrounding roads and accusing him of harbouring “terrorists”.
Since Khan was released from police custody on Friday, after his arrest in a corruption case was declared illegal, he has repeatedly expressed his fear of being re-arrested and has only left his residence once, to attend court with his wife on Monday.
Putin ‘bans officials from resigning to avoid impression of defeat’
‘In private, many (Russian) officials are likely highly sceptical about the war,’ the British Ministry of Defence said
Arpan Rai,Joe Middleton,Martha McHardy
Russia has banned its own top officials from resigning to avoid “any impression of defeatism,” according to UK.
The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said regional leaders, security officials and members of the powerful Presidential Administration have been banned from resigning while the ‘Special Military Operation’ continues.
In an intelligence update posted on Twitter, the ministry said: “In private, many officials are likely highly sceptical about the war, as well as often experiencing work stress within the dysfunctional wartime apparatus. The ban is likely enforced with strong hints that resignees will face trumped up criminal charges.”
The construction of the futuristic green Saudi city of Neom requires the resettlement of tribal people. Those who do not comply with the plans are sentenced to very long prison terms or to death.
Saudi Arabia is pushing forward with the construction of Neom, a futuristic megacity and ecological prestige project, despite international criticism over human rights violations.
According to a recent reportby the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) people from the Howeitat tribe who live in the region earmarked for the city have been displaced and their homes demolished without adequate compensation. What is more, one Howeitat man has been killed and the death sentences of three further tribe members have been confirmed, while three more have been handed 50-year jail sentences on terrorism charges.
"Despite being charged with terrorism, they were reportedly arrested for resisting forced evictions in the name of the Neom project and the construction of a 170-km (106-mile) linear city called The Line," the report said.
Erdogan's rival hardens tone, courting Turkish nationalists
Turkey's opposition leader vowed Thursday to send back millions of migrants in a strident message aimed at winning the backing of an ultra-nationalist who helped push last weekend's presidential vote to a runoff.Secular opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu delivered his first public address since a landmark election Sunday in which he came almost five points behind President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Kilicdaroglu gave the opposition's best performance in Erdogan's two-decade rule.
But it fell short of expectations set by pre-election polling and left the opposition visibly depressed.
The 74-year-old has since revamped his campaign team and toughened his message to win over Turkey's right-wing voters in the May 28 runoff.
Colombia plane crash: Children reportedly survived 16 days in jungle
By Adam Durbin & Vanessa Buschschlüter
Officials in Colombia say four children missing since their plane crashed in the jungle have been found alive and well more than two weeks later.
Their mother and the other adults were killed in the crash.
The government's child welfare agency, ICBF, said it had received information "from the field" that the children had been found in good health.
A pilot said he had also been told the children had been found by indigenous people deep in the rainforest.
Soldiers taking part in the search, however, have yet to see the children for themselves.
The Cessna 206 light aircraft they had been in was flying from Araracuara, deep in the Amazon jungle in southern Colombia, to San José del Guaviare, when it disappeared in the morning of 1 May.
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