Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Six In The Morning Wednesday 19 March 2025

Rosenberg: Trump-Putin call seen as victory in Russia

 Steve Rosenberg

Russia editor

Judging by some of the headlines today in Russia, Moscow believes that the latest telephone conversation between Presidents Putin and Trump went well - certainly for the Kremlin.

"Putin and Trump agreed to work together on Ukraine resolution," concludes Izvestia.

"Record-long Putin-Trump call," declares Komsomolskaya Pravda. The paper's website adds: "As things stand Russia has scored a diplomatic victory here."


Istanbul mayor arrested days before likely presidential nomination

Ekrem İmamoğlu of CHP opposition party detained alongside 100 others accused of corruption and links to terror groups

Wed 19 Mar 2025 15.12 GMT

Nigeria suspends oil-state governor, declares emergency rule

The president accused the Rivers State governor of being unable to control vandals and militants in the region. The suspension marks the first declaration of emergency rule since 2013.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu  declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended the state governor Siminalayi Fubara after an explosion of a section of the Trans-Niger Pipeline.

Though police have not yet stated an official reason behind the explosion on Tuesday, vandalism or sabotage by militant groups has not been ruled out.

The president said he received reports of "disturbing incidents of vandalization of pipelines by some militants without the governor taking any action to curtail them.


The term ‘human shield’ can neutralise the compassion we’d otherwise feel for the innocent

‘It happened at Al-Amariyya’

When the US bombed Baghdad in 1991, killing hundreds, it alleged civilians were being used as human shields. Similar claims are made about Hamas.

The term ‘human shield’ may be relatively new, but the practice is as old as war itself. ‘In the seventh century,’ note political scientists Neve Gordon and Nicola Perugini, ‘the Chinese used “barbarian” tribes on the Turko-Mongol frontier as human buffers, while the Mongols deployed prisoners as shields during their conquests’. Today, international law prohibits such practices. Article 8 (War Crimes) of the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) stipulates that in conflicts between states, belligerents must not ‘utilis[e] the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations’: ignoring this stricture constitutes a war crime. Customary law extends this prohibition to non-international armed conflicts.


Why 17th-century emperor Aurangzeb’s grave is India’s latest flashpoint

A far-right campaign to demolish the long-dead Mughal emperor’s mosque has set off Hindu-Muslim riots in Nagpur as his 300-year-old legacy continues to divide modern India.

Datta Shirke has not left his home for the past two days and fears for the safety of his family. Vehicles parked in the lane where he lives have been torched in Hindu-Muslim sectarian clashes.

Barely a mile (about 1.5km) away, Aslam, who requested to be identified by his first name only, is similarly terrified. He is avoiding going back home, where he lives with his wife and mother, because he fears being arrested by the police, who he says are detaining innocent Muslims. “I have done nothing. But when police come, their eyes seek our blood,” he said.

Fury toward Netanyahu as Israelis protest renewed war in Gaza


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced fury from protesters outside Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem, a day after he resumed the war in Gaza, shattering the two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas.

On Highway 1 – the main road connecting Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – some protesters held a banner reading: “The future of the coalition or the future of Israel.”

The banner alludes to how, over nearly 18 months of war and fragile ceasefires, Netanyahu has been accused of prioritizing the solidity of his governing coalition over the security of his country, as well as the lives of Israeli hostages and Palestinians in Gaza.


No comments:

Translate