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Modi, Macron Call For ‘Immediate’ End To Ukraine Hostilities

By
Zoe Maven
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France's President Emmanuel Macron (R) welcomes India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) before their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on May 4, 2022. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

India and France have called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities” in Ukraine, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi again stopping short of condemning Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.

India, which imports much of its military hardware from Russia, has long walked a diplomatic tightrope between the West and Moscow – notably refusing to denounce the latter or vote against it at the United Nations over its actions in Ukraine.

In a joint statement after they met in Paris for talks and a working dinner Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed their deep concern over the humanitarian crisis and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

They condemned the fact that civilians have been killed in Ukraine, and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in order for the two sides to come together to promote dialogue and diplomacy, and to put an immediate end to the suffering of the people.”

However, only France condemned “Russian forces’ illegal and unjustified aggression against Ukraine”.

The two countries said they would “respond in a coordinated and multilateral way” to the risk the conflict would intensify a global food crisis, with Ukraine one of the world’s main wheat producers.

Ahead of the meeting, Macron’s office had said he would “emphasise the consequences of the war for the international order well beyond the European Union, including in Asia” to Modi.

France wants to “help the Indians diversify their supply” away from Russian arms and energy.

Modi, who is on a European tour, told reporters after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Monday that “there won’t be any winners in this war and everyone will lose”.

Iraq Sandstorm Sends More Than 1,000 To Hospital

By
Zoe Maven
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More than 1,000 Iraqis were rushed to hospital with respiratory ailments on Thursday due to a sandstorm, the seventh to hit the country in the past month, according to state media.

Residents of six of Iraq’s 18 provinces, including Baghdad and the vast western region of Al-Anbar, awoke once again to a thick cloud of dust blanketing the sky.

Authorities in Al-Anbar and Kirkuk provinces, north of the capital, urged people to stay indoors, said the official INA news agency.

Hospitals in Al-Anbar province had received more than 700 patients with breathing difficulties, said Anas Qais, a health official cited by INA.

The central province of Salaheddin reported more than 300 cases, while the central province of Diwaniya and the province of Najaf, south of Baghdad, each recorded about 100 cases, the news agency added.

Iraq is particularly vulnerable to climate change, having already witnessed record low rainfall and high temperatures in the past few years.

Experts have said these factors threaten to bring social and economic disaster in the war-scarred country.

In November, the World Bank warned Iraq could suffer a 20-percent drop in water resources by 2050 due to climate change and in early April, a government official warned Iraq could face “272 days of dust” a year in coming decades.

The environment ministry said the weather phenomenon could be addressed by “increasing vegetation cover and creating forests that act as windbreaks”.

Residents of six of Iraq’s 18 provinces, including Baghdad and the vast western region of Al-Anbar, awoke once again to a thick cloud of dust blanketing the sky.

Authorities in Al-Anbar and Kirkuk provinces, north of the capital, urged people to stay indoors, said the official INA news agency.

Hospitals in Al-Anbar province had received more than 700 patients with breathing difficulties, said Anas Qais, a health official cited by INA.

The central province of Salaheddin reported more than 300 cases, while the central province of Diwaniya and the province of Najaf, south of Baghdad, each recorded about 100 cases, the news agency added.

Iraq is particularly vulnerable to climate change, having already witnessed record low rainfall and high temperatures in the past few years.

Experts have said these factors threaten to bring social and economic disaster in the war-scarred country.

In November, the World Bank warned Iraq could suffer a 20-percent drop in water resources by 2050 due to climate change and in early April, a government official warned Iraq could face “272 days of dust” a year in coming decades.

The environment ministry said the weather phenomenon could be addressed by “increasing vegetation cover and creating forests that act as windbreaks”.

Taiwan Abandons U.S. Anti-Submarine Helicopters Purchase

By
Zoe Maven
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Taiwan signaled on Thursday that it had abandoned a plan to buy advanced new anti-submarine warfare helicopters from the United States, saying they were too expensive.

Earlier, Taiwan said it was planning to buy 12 MH-60R anti-submarine helicopters, made by Lockheed Martin Corp unit Sikorsky, but domestic media said the United States had rejected the sale as not being in line with the island’s needs.

Asked in parliament about recent changes to Taiwan’s purchases of new U.S. weapons, Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng mentioned the helicopter case first.

Two other arms purchases have also been delayed – M109A6 Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer artillery systems, and mobile Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

The Raytheon Technologies’ Stingers are in hot demand in Ukraine, where they have been used against Russian aircraft, but U.S. supplies have shrunk and there are significant hurdles to producing more of the anti-aircraft weapons.

Chiu said they had already signed the contract for the Stingers and paid for them, and they would press the United States to deliver them.

Taiwan says the United States has offered it alternatives to the M109A6, including truck-based rocket launchers made by Lockheed Martin called the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS.

Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, is undertaking a military modernisation program to improve its capabilities to fend off a Chinese attack, including with precision weapons like missiles.

President Tsai Ing-wen has championed the concept of “asymmetric warfare,” which involves developing high-tech, highly mobile weapons that are hard to destroy and can deliver precision attacks.

Heavy Rain And Floods In Afghanistan Kill 22

By
Zoe Maven
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Disaster management officials say heavy rain and flooding has killed 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged crops in Afghanistan, which is already facing a humanitarian crisis.

The Taliban government, struggling to cope with the disaster that has affected more than a third of its provinces, will approach international relief organisations for help.

Head of communications and information at Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority Hassibullah Shekhani said due to flooding and storms in 12 provinces, 22 people have died and 40 injured.

The rain and flooding was particularly severe in the western provinces of Badghis and Faryab and the northern province of Baghlan.

Afghanistan has been suffering from drought in recent years, made worse by climate change, with low crop yields raising fears of serious food shortages.

The weather has exacerbated problems of poverty caused by decades of war and then a drop in foreign aid and the freezing of assets abroad after the Taliban took over, and U.S.-led forces withdrew, in August.

Shekhani said 500 houses were destroyed, 2,000 damaged, 300 head of livestock killed and some 3,000 acres of crops damaged.

He said the International Committee of the Red Cross was helping and officials would approach other international organisations for help.

The international community is grappling with how to help the country of some 40 million people without benefiting the Taliban.

UN Chief Backs Nigeria’s Integration Of Insurgents

By
Zoe Maven
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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he fully supported moves to expand facilities to reintegrate surrendering Islamist insurgents in northeastern Nigeria because it was a key step to achieving peace in Africa’s most populous nation.

Guterres, who visited a camp housing some fighters who surrendered and another housing internally displaced persons in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, later told a news conference that the integration programme would help achieve peace.

Borno state Governor Babagana Zulum said at least 40,000 Boko Haram fighters and their families have turned themselves in to authorities since last year, as the group reels from the death of its leader early in 2021 and as rival ISWAP seeks to absorb them.

Nigeria has been fighting Islamist group Boko Haram and its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) for more than a decade, in a conflict that has killed thousands and forced millions to flee their homes.

The reintegration of the fighters is creating tensions particularly in Maiduguri where weary citizens have borne the brunt of more than a decade of Boko Haram’s brutal attacks.

Guterres urged continued humanitarian support in Borno, but added that, ultimately, people in camps wanted to return to their homes “in safety and dignity.”

The Borno state government in December started closing some camps for internally displaced people, citing improved security and the surrender of Boko Haram fighters, although humanitarian groups say it is still unsafe for people to return to their homes.

Burundi Says 10 Troops Killed In Attack On AU Base In Somalia

By
Zoe Maven
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Burundian Army authorities say ten Burundian peacekeepers have been killed in a ferocious attack by Al-Shabaab jihadists on an African Union base in Somalia.

In a statement on Wednesday it said twenty-five soldiers were also wounded in Tuesday’s assault on the camp in central Somalia and five are still missing while 20 Al-Shabaab militants were killed.

It was the first such strike on a peacekeeping base since the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) replaced the previous AMISOM force on April 1.

AU forces sent in helicopter gunships after the pre-dawn attack on the camp housing Burundian troops near Ceel Baraf, a village some 160 kilometres northeast of the capital Mogadishu, according to military officials and witnesses.

A high-ranking Burundian military officer said 400 Islamist fighters stormed the base, forcing the soldiers to retreat to a nearby hillside where they continued to fight, supported by drones and helicopters.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had taken control of the camp and that 173 soldiers had been killed. Its claims could not be independently verified.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants have been waging a deadly insurgency against Somalia’s fragile central government for more than a decade.

Somalia’s government condemned the “heinous” attack and appealed to the international community to do more to support Somali forces and ATMIS “in effectively combatting terrorism.”

AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat said on Twitter he spoke to Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye to pay his respects for the “sacrifice” of the peacekeepers who lost their lives.

Hecklers Interrupt Israel PM’s Memorial Day Speech On Unity

By
Zoe Maven
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Hecklers interrupted Israel’s prime minister for several minutes during a Memorial Day address on Wednesday in which he called for unity, laying bare the country’s internal divisions even as it mourns its dead.

At one point, Bennett, whose family has received death threats in recent weeks, put his hand over his heart as he looked out over the crowd at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.

Bennett has faced vicious criticism from erstwhile allies on Israel’s nationalist right for forming a coalition government with left-wing parties and an Arab faction last year following a series of gridlocked elections.

Israeli media identified one of the hecklers as Herzl Hajaj, whose daughter was killed in an attack in Jerusalem in 2017 and who became an outspoken critic of Bennett last year.

It was a sharp display of bitterness on a day and in a setting that are among Israel’s most solemn. A few hours earlier, sirens wailing for two minutes called the country to a halt.

People stopped and stood, heads bowed, in honor of more than 24,000 people lost in the nation’s conflicts. In addition to the soldiers killed, Memorial Day honors more than 3,000 people killed in militant attacks.

Bereaved families visit cemeteries and attend memorial ceremonies, as television and radio shift programming to somber music, broadcasts of memorial services and documentaries about slain soldiers.

At sundown, the occasion turns festive, and on the following day Israelis celebrate Independence Day with military flyovers and barbecues.

Last week, as Israel remembered the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust, Bennett pleaded for Israelis to refrain from fighting one another even at a time of great division in the fragile government he leads.

Once Upon A Time – May 5 – 1921 – Perfume Chanel No. 5 Released By Fashion Designer Coco Chanel

By
Angel Gimalo
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1260 Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire

1941 Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa

1955 West Germany is granted full sovereignty by its three occupying powers

1965 First large-scale US Army ground units arrive in South Vietnam

1980 Siege at Iranian Embassy in London ends as the SAS and police storm the building

1981 After 66 days on hunger strike, 26-year-old Provisional IRA member and British MP Bobby Sands dies in the Maze Prision. Nine more hunger strikers die in the next 3 months.

Historical Events Today

Today In Film & TV

2018 Childish Gambino [Donald Glover] releases the music video to new single “This is America” to wide acclaim

Today In Music

1891 Music Hall (Carnegie Hall) opens in New York, Tchaikovsky is guest conductor

Today In Sport

1904 Cy Young pitches the first perfect game in “modern” baseball as the Boston Americans beat Philadelphia Athletics, 3-0

1969 Milwaukee Bucks sign #1 NBA Draft pick, star UCLA center Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar)

1921

Perfume Chanel No. 5 released by fashion designer Coco Chanel

1962

“West Side Story” soundtrack album goes #1 & stays #1 for 54 weeks which is more than 20 weeks longer than any other album

U.S. Resumes Limited Visa Processing In Cuba After 4 Years

By
Zoe Maven
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The U.S. Embassy in Havana has resumed processing visas for Cubans, though on a limited basis as the number of Cubans trying to emigrate illegally to United States surges.

This is coming more than four years after stopping consular services on the island amid a hardening of relations.  

A State Department official on Wednesday told Newsmen that for the time being U.S. officials in Havana will only process visa requests from Cubans who are the parents of U.S. citizens, under a category known as IR-5, and that the Biden administration in the future will evaluate expanding the services to others.

The official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name, said the U.S. government decided to process only visa requests from this group because of “the unique age, health, and mobility challenges for this category of applicants.”

Any other applicants should apply for visas through the U.S. Embassy in Guyana, as they’ve done since 2018, when the administration of former President Donald Trump withdrew embassy staff from Havana.

Operations at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba started being reduced in 2017 following reports of unexplained health problems among some employees, which became known as the “Havana Syndrome” and was a major issue during the Trump administration.

Trump increased sanctions against the Caribbean island, from the cancellation of permits to send remittances, to penalties for companies from third countries that operate in Cuba.

The sanctions affected the rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba that had been initiated by former President Barack Obama.

The resumption of visa processing in Havana came less than two weeks after the U.S. and Cuba held their highest-level diplomatic talks in four years, focused on migration.

Kenya’s Talai Clan Petitions Prince William Over Land Eviction

By
Zoe Maven
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0

A group of more than 100,000 Kenyans from the Talai clan has written to Prince William to seek an apology, and his support for reparations for human rights abuses they say they suffered during the British colonial settlement.

The letter, says the British government has declined to engage with the clan’s representatives and they’re therefore reaching out to the prince “because Kenya is special to him”.

The Talai say the British government has declined to recognise the suffering of its members during the colonial era.

A UN inquiry determined last year that gross human rights violations were committed particularly against the clan, including unlawful killing, sexual violence, torture, and arbitrary detention and displacement.

Five UN Special Rapporteurs then wrote to the British government regarding public apologies, reparations and remedy.

The clan says its members were forcefully evicted from fertile land in the highlands of the Rift Valley to pave the way for tea plantations,

In response, the UK said it had already issued a public apology and settlement in 2013 of claims made by Kenyans who lived through the emergency period and the Mau Mau insurgency, from 1952 to 1963 when Kenya gained independence.

The Talai however insist that the case the British government referred to in its response is a separate case.

The clan says its members were forcefully evicted from fertile land in the highlands of the Rift Valley to pave the way for tea plantations, some of which still exist and are owned by UK-based multinationals.

The Talai held a leadership role among the Kipsigis ethnic group in Kenya and led the resistance against European settlement.

To quash it, every member of the Talai clan was forcefully moved to detention in a tse-tse fly and mosquito infested valley near present day Lake Victoria.

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