Scenes from Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, show Ukrainian soldiers fighting on street corners with rocket-propelled grenades. Other videos show an alleged Russian convoy that was stopped by Ukrainian soldiers, tanks driving through residential areas and various missile fragments stuck in ground near residential buildings
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Vladimir Putin puts Russian nuclear forces on high alert – video
The Russian president has ordered his military to put the country’s nuclear deterrence forces on high alert in response to 'aggressive statements' by Nato countries
Continue reading...Macron to launch re-election race, as rivals face pro-Russia allegations
The war in Ukraine is the biggest international crisis to overshadow a presidential race in decades
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, is expected to launch his campaign for re-election this week in a race shaken by the war in Ukraine, with key candidates under attack over previous pro-Russia stances.
Macron has left the official declaration of his candidacy to the last minute because of the war, but he must make a move before the 4 March deadline to register.
Continue reading...Scholz announces €100bn rise in German defence spending after Russia’s Ukraine invasion – video
Germany departed from longstanding policy again on Sunday with chancellor Olaf Scholz announcing the government would invest more than 2% of GDP in the military from its 2022 budget. He praised Russians who protested against the invasion for their bravery
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands of refugees flee Ukraine as fighting escalates – video
People are fleeing to Ukraine's borders with EU countries as they try to escape the invasion from Russia. The UN refugee agency is warning that as many as 5 million Ukrainians could leave
- Charities and opposition parties urge UK to do more for Ukrainian refugees
- Russia-Ukraine latest: Russian troops enter Kharkiv amid reports of fierce resistance – live updates
Russia-Ukraine war latest news: US condemns Putin’s nuclear deterrence order; rouble crashes as markets open – live updates
Vladimir Putin said nuclear move came after aggressive statements by Nato countries; satellite images show ground forces heading to capital; Ukrainian president says two sides to meet on Belarus border
- Moscow braces for market meltdown Monday as new sanctions hit
- Fighting on streets of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city
- Swift action at last brings meaningful sanctions against Putin
- Russia’s war in Ukraine: complete guide in maps, video and pictures
- Ukraine appeals for foreign volunteers to join fight against Russia
- How Ukrainian defiance has derailed Putin’s plans
Ukrainians are waking for the fourth day since Russia invaded and words of defiance are dominating social media this morning.
“It’s another morning in Ukraine and Russia still can’t advance in Kyiv,” Illia Ponomarenko, defence reporter at the Kyiv Independent writes.
Continue reading...‘I’m a dead man walking’: ex-Russian spy says defectors in UK are at risk
A Latvian double agent is getting death threats after British authorities inadvertently disclosed his alias
• Russia-Ukraine crisis: latest updates
In April 1997, Vechernyaya Moskva, one of the most popular newspapers in Moscow, published an article on a former Russian intelligence agent, Boris Karpichkov.
The article was illustrated with a picture of Karpichkov’s KGB identity papers, with the crosshairs of a sniper’s rifle superimposed. It warned that the ex-KGB major was wanted by Interpol, faced interrogation by the Russian authorities and was being hunted by organised crime groups.
Continue reading...The student, the Penguin and the king: elite Thai university roiled by dissent
Head of student union forced out as debate on monarchy intensifies
Just a few years ago, student activism and protests were a rarity at Chulalongkorn University – considered Thailand’s most elite and staunchly conservative campus. Yet Thailand’s oldest university, named after King Chulalongkorn, has since become yet another battleground for debate over the role of Thailand’s monarchy and political system.
On Saturday, the head of the student union, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, said he had been removed from his post by the university, which accused him of activities that damaged its reputation, undermined public order and were incompatible with Thai culture.
Continue reading...Reviled, harassed, abused: Narenda Modi’s most trenchant critic speaks out
The Indian journalist Rana Ayyub speaks about the campaign to silence her that has led to charges of sedition and ‘defaming Hindus’
When I talked to the journalist Rana Ayyub in her Mumbai home last Wednesday she was calmer than she was when I had spoken to her three days earlier. But that is not saying much. Last Sunday her words were jumbled, her voice on edge. She said she had not slept. That she could not eat or keep food down. That she had had thoughts of self-harm.
“I was on a plane yesterday and I said to my brother, ‘Can you feel me sitting next to me?’ And he said, ‘Have you completely lost it?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m just not sure I’m sitting next to you. I feel like I’m in a dream.’ And afterwards, I spoke to my psychiatrist and she said, ‘You’re dissociating. You’ve had a traumatic experience –that’s your brain shutting down.’”
Continue reading...Doomed ship of gold’s ghostly picture gallery is plucked from the seabed
Eerie photographs recovered from the 1857 wreck of the SS Central America are now being published for the first time
It is one of the most famous treasure wrecks ever discovered, a steamer named the “ship of gold” after it sank in 1857 off the coast of South Carolina with one of the largest cargoes of gold ever lost at sea. Miners who had struck it rich in the California gold rush were among those bringing home to New York their hard-earned wealth, only to lose their lives when the SS Central America was struck by a hurricane, sinking nearly a mile and a half beneath the waves.
When nuggets, ingots and coins were recovered from the seabed in various expeditions between 1988 and 2014, the world was dazzled. But, with reported values of tens of millions of pounds, it sparked a complex legal case that landed its original treasure-hunter in jail.
Continue reading...Ukraine: what will China do? There are signs it is uneasy about Putin’s methods
Analysis: Beijing has held off from backing Russia, raising questions about the extent of any partnership
China’s decision to abstain on Friday night at the end of the UN security council vote condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine may be a source of deep frustration in the west, but it will also send a nervous tremor through the Russian ministry of foreign affairs that China’s protection is not unconditional.
UK-based diplomats, looking at the stance adopted by China in the middle of the week, were expecting Beijing to join Russia in voting against the US-sponsored motion, but in common with the United Arab Emirates and India, it abstained, leaving Russia isolated in deploying its veto power as a permanent member of the security council.
Continue reading...Fighting on streets of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, as west bars Russian banks from Swift
Russian troops enter key city after attacks on oil facilities as western allies agree to block major Russian banks from international payment system
The war in Ukraine intensified on Sunday, as Russian troops entered the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and Vladimir Putin unleashed a wave of attacks on airfields and fuel facilities.
Kharkiv residents were urged to stay indoors by governor Oleg Sinegubov, who said “there has been a breakthrough in light equipment including in the central part of the city”. A nine-storey building was reportedly hit, with one woman killed.
Continue reading...The first TikTok war: how are influencers in Russia and Ukraine responding?
Social media lit up with messages and videos decrying the war, ignoring the risk that comes with speaking against a Russian dictator
Social media influencers are often maligned for their vapidity, but as the Russian army moves across Ukraine some of Russia’s biggest digital influencers have become beacons of resistance. Many are speaking out about their unease at the speed and brutality with which the Russian president is leading his country to war. Ukrainian influencers, meanwhile, are also braving the risks of attack from the advancing army to make sure to document the horror of war in mainland Europe.
Some of Russia’s biggest names in the digital sphere have spoken out against war. The daughter of Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, posted a message reading “No to war” on her Instagram story, before quickly deleting it. Max Galkin, the husband of Alla Pugacheva, and one of Russia’s biggest stars, posted a black square on Instagram and the message “Нет войне!” (“no to war!”) to his 9.4m followers. Fashion designer Svetlana Taccori took time out of Milan fashion week to post a photo holding a Ukrainian flag and the same message. Influencer Lova Olala painted the Russian and Ukrainian flag on each cheek and the caption “I have nothing to say”. The independent Russian journalist Ilya Varlamov has posted regular photos and videos highlighting Russian brutality, calling for a cessation of violence in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Uncharmed: why Chinese film fans are shunning Hollywood
Even the worldwide smash Encanto failed to satisfy millions of cinemagoers who now demand homemade fare
Matt William Knowles, a 36-year-old Hollywood actor, has been packing for a forthcoming trip to China in the past week. He’s looking forward to his first China visit since the pandemic. “The last time I was in China was late 2019 when I served as the honorary mayor for a village in southern China.”
While his career in Hollywood continues to blossom, finding work in China hasn’t been easy these past few years for Knowles. The pandemic changed the film industry, and the deteriorating diplomatic relations between America and China sandwiched individuals like him who straddle both nations. For a period of time in 2019, amid a souring trade war between the two countries, Chinese studios put an informal ban on American actors.
Continue reading...Toni Morrison novel The Bluest Eye off banned list in St Louis schools
Nobel laureate’s classic debut was removed from libraries but backlash and lawsuits prompted vote to restore
A banned book by the Nobel laureate Toni Morrison will be available again to high school students in a district in St Louis, Missouri, after the Wentzville school board reversed its decision to ban The Bluest Eye, in the face of criticism and a class-action lawsuit.
The board made national news last month when it voted 4-3 to removed the book from school libraries, citing themes of racism, incest and child molestation.
Continue reading...Donald Trump defends calling Putin ‘smart’, hints at 2024 presidential bid
Ex-president tells CPAC he could have stopped ‘appalling’ Russian invasion of Ukraine before giving strongest indication he will run again
Donald Trump, the former US president, has defended his description of Russia’s Vladimir Putin as “smart” while seeking to blunt accusations that he admires the invasion of Ukraine.
Trump reiterated his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen by voter fraud as he argued that the invasion of Ukraine would never have happened if he was still in the White House.
Continue reading...North Korea test fires possible ballistic missile in sea in eighth launch this year
After pausing launches during the Winter Olympics, North Korea has fired a possible ballistic missile, according to Japan’s coast guard
North Korea has fired what may be a ballistic missile, South Korean and Japanese officials said, after a seemingly quiet month without launches during the Beijing Olympics.
South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff reported on Sunday that North Korea had fired one suspected ballistic missile toward the sea off its east coast from a location near Sunan, where Pyongyang’s international airport is located.
Continue reading...Ukrainian resistance: man tries to push back Russian tank – video
A video posted to social media shows a Ukrainian citizen attempting to stop a Russian tank with his body weight. The man first climbs on to the tank before hopping down and attempting to push it back with his arms. When that fails, he kneels in front of the tank in a desperate bid to stop its advance. The moment, captured in Bakhmach in northern Ukraine, is one of a string of defiant acts caught on video showing unarmed Ukrainians confronting Russian soldiers
- Video shows Ukrainian ‘tank man’ trying to block Russian military convoy – video
- 'Can I tow you back to Russia?': Ukrainian confronts soldiers by broken armoured vehicle – video
- Elderly resident reprimands Russian soldiers: 'You have your own country' - video
- Russia-Ukraine latest news
Ukraine oil terminal near Kyiv and gas pipeline in Kharkiv on fire after attack – video
Videos posted to social media are believed to show an oil terminal outside of Kyiv on fire after a Russian attack. There are also reports that a gas pipeline in Kharkiv has been targeted after the city came under heavy fire. Residents have been advised to keep their windows shut against hazardous chemical fumes
Continue reading...Swift action at last brings meaningful sanctions against Putin regime
Selected Russian banks banned from global payments system, while Russian central bank will find it harder to spend $500bn war chest
It has taken a week to reach this point, but western governments have put down their peashooters and wheeled out the financial howitzers against Vladimir Putin.
Far-reaching new sanctions against Russia were announced on Saturday night in a joint statement from the EU, UK, US and Canada.
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