Europe
Rishi Sunak fires UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman who accused police of favoring pro-Palestinian protesters
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday fired Home Secretary Suella Braverman, a divisive figure who drew anger for accusing police of being too lenient with pro-Palestinian protesters.
The government said Braverman had left her job as part of a Cabinet shuffle as Sunak shakes up his top government team. She was replaced by James Cleverly, who had been foreign secretary.
Braverman said “it has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary,” adding that she would “have more to say in due course.”
Sunak had been under growing pressure to fire Braverman — a hard-liner popular with the authoritarian wing of the governing Conservative Party — from one of the most senior jobs in government, responsible for handling immigration and policing.
Read: UN review on human rights in Bangladesh underway in Geneva
In a highly unusual attack on the police last week, Braverman said London’s police force was ignoring lawbreaking by “pro-Palestinian mobs.” She described demonstrators calling for a cease-fire in Gaza as “hate marchers.”
On Saturday, far-right protesters scuffled with police and tried to confront a large pro-Palestinian march by hundreds of thousands through the streets of London. Critics accused Braverman of helping to inflame tensions.
Last week Braverman wrote an article for the Times of London in which she said police “play favorites when it comes to protesters” and acted more leniently toward pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Black Lives Matter supporters than to right-wing protesters or soccer hooligans.
The article was not approved in advance by the prime minister’s office, as would usually be the case.
Braverman, a 43-year-old lawyer, has become a leader of the party’s populist wing by advocating ever-tougher curbs on migration and a war on human rights protections, liberal social values and what she has called the “tofu-eating wokerati.”
Read: Civilians fleeing northern Gaza's combat zone report a terrifying journey on foot past Israeli tanks
Last month she called migration a “hurricane” that would bring “millions more immigrants to these shores, uncontrolled and unmanageable.”
As home secretary Braverman championed the government’s stalled plan to send asylum-seekers who arrive in Britain in boats on a one-way trip to Rwanda. A U.K. Supreme Court ruling on whether the policy is legal is due on Wednesday.
Critics say Braverman has been building her profile to position herself for a party leadership contest that could come if the Conservatives lose power in an election expected next year. Opinion polls for months have put the party 15 to 20 points behind the opposition Labour Party.
International Forum "Primakov Readings" to be held on November 27-28 in Moscow
The ninth edition of the International Forum "Primakov Readings" will be held on November 27-28, 2023 in Moscow.
The theme of the forum is "Postglobalization Horizons". Sergey Lavrov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, will speak at the forum.
“The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, rising tensions between China and the United States, energy risks, as well as security challenges such as climate and migration crises – these and other factors are shaping the post-global world and in this regard are in the focus of this year's Primakov Readings,” Member of the Forum Organizing Committee – Director of Primakov Institute, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Feodor Voitolovsky said.
Also read: Russia takes aim at urban areas; Biden vows Putin will ‘pay’
The forum will bring together the leading Russian and foreign experts in the field of international security, world politics and economics, representatives of public organizations, politicians and diplomats.
The discussions will center on political risks for the world energy markets, Russia's cooperation with the countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus, the relationship between China and the United States, and the development of the countries of the "Global South".
Also read: Russia rehearsed 'massive' nuclear strike: Kremlin
The participants will also discuss the balance of power in the Baltic region and the prospects for Russia's relations with the countries of the Middle East and the African continent, said a media release on Tuesday.
The forum program includes a special session with the participation of Alexei Likhachev, Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation "Rosatom".
The event is organized by the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, with the assistance of its partners Primakov Center for International Cooperation, World Trade Center and the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The project is supported by the Presidential Grants Foundation.
Media accreditation is available on the official forum website (https://www.primakovreadings.ru/en).
International Scientific and Expert Forum "Primakov Readings" is an annual international discussion platform for analysing problems of world economy, politics and security with the participation of leading representatives of Russian and foreign research centers and think tanks.
Also read: Ukrainians prepare firewood and candles to brace for a winter of Russian strikes on the energy grid
It was first held in 2015 and was named after Yevgeny Primakov, a Russian scientist, politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999.
Russia rehearsed 'massive' nuclear strike: Kremlin
Russia has practised delivering a "massive" nuclear strike, Kremlin has said.
The military practice featured delivering a "response to an enemy nuclear strike," said Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, reports BBC.
Also read: Russia rains missiles on recaptured Ukrainian city
Russian state television showed him telling President Vladimir Putin about the rehearsal, it said.
It comes as Russia's parliament endorsed Moscow's departure from a worldwide treaty that prohibits all physical testing of nuclear weapons.
Also read: Ukraine accuses Russia of targeting rescue workers with consecutive missile strikes
Russia and the US perform monthly nuclear readiness simulations, with Moscow often holding its own towards the end of October, said the report.
This year's drills included "delivering a massive nuclear strike by strategic offensive forces in response to an enemy nuclear strike," according to Shoigu's report to Putin.
Also read: Russian missile and drone attack in Ukraine kills 21 people
According to a Kremlin statement, "practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles" had happened, the report added.
According to the statement, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from a test location in Russia's far-east, while another missile was launched from a nuclear-powered submarine in the Barents Sea.
The defence ministry made available video of the testing, the report continued.
Putin announced earlier this month that Russia has conducted a "final successful test" of a nuclear-powered cruise missile.
The experimental weapon, initially unveiled in 2018, was lauded as potentially having an infinite range, but President Putin's story has yet to be officially confirmed.
The new tests will be viewed as a demonstration of force.
There is no indication that the Kremlin intends to strike Ukraine with nuclear weapons, according to the US government.
Women in Iceland including the prime minister go on strike for equal pay and an end to violence
Iceland's prime minister and women across the volcanic island nation went on strike Tuesday to push for an end to unequal pay and gender-based violence.
Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said she would stay home as part of the "women's day off," and expected other women in her Cabinet would do the same.
"We have not yet reached our goals of full gender equality and we are still tackling the gender-based wage gap, which is unacceptable in 2023," she told news website mbl.is. "We are still tackling gender-based violence, which has been a priority for my government to tackle."
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Organizers called on women and nonbinary people to refuse both paid and unpaid work, including household chores, during the one-day strike.
Schools and the health system, which have female-dominated workforces, said they would be heavily affected by the walkout. National broadcaster RUV said it was reducing television and radio broadcasts for the day.
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Tuesday's walkout is being billed as biggest since Iceland's first such event on Oct. 24, 1975, when 90% of women refused to work, clean or look after children, to voice anger at discrimination in the workplace. The following year Iceland passed a law guaranteeing equal rights irrespective of gender.
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The original strike inspired similar protests in other countries including Poland, where women boycotted jobs and classes in 2016 to protest a proposed abortion ban.
Iceland, a rugged island of some 340,000 people just below the Arctic Circle, has been ranked as the world's most gender-equal country 14 years in a row by the World Economic Forum, which measures pay, education health care and other factors. No country has achieved full equality, an there remains a gender pay gap in Iceland.
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Ukrainians prepare firewood and candles to brace for a winter of Russian strikes on the energy grid
In the humble backyard of a destroyed house, a 13-year-old chops firewood to get ready for winter. His mother, Tetiana Yarema, has been preparing for months as she remembers last winter's Russian strikes on the energy infrastructure that plunged Ukraine into darkness.
"Those were dark days. I didn't want anything. I just wanted to pack my things and go abroad," said Yarema, 48, who says she ended up staying because of her son's insistence.
For the Yarema family, like millions of other Ukrainians touched by Russia's war on Ukraine, winter is an especially challenging time.
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The mother and son live in trailers that were set up in their backyard after fighting in the early days of the war destroyed their house in Moshchun, a village about 25 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of Kyiv.
"I have a feeling that when the cold sets in, they'll start bombing again," the woman said, echoing the sentiments of many Ukrainians.
This time, however, they say they are better prepared.
Sales of generators exploded toward the end of summer. Some, who can afford it, have invested in solar panels. Others, like Yarema, have been purchasing candles, batteries, flashlights, and portable lanterns and stocking up on compact gas canisters, making the most of discounted prices.
"It's a bit challenging … but I already know what to do," she said.
600 days into the war, Russia's assault on a key eastern Ukraine city appears to be weakening
Last winter was declared the most challenging in the history of Ukraine's energy system, with over 1,200 missiles and drones fired by Russians at power plants, according to Ukrainian state-owned grid operator, Ukrenergo.
The strikes impacted almost a half of Ukraine's energy capacity. People were forced to endure hours without electricity and water during the coldest months in what Ukrainian officials described as "energy terror."
Millions of people across Ukraine had to learn to work, live, and cover their basic needs without relying on electricity.
After a lull of six months, Ukraine's energy system sustained its first attack of the season on Sept. 21, resulting in damage to facilities in the central and western regions, Ukrenergo said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has committed to substantially enhancing air defense systems, which already have demonstrated greater effectiveness than the previous year.
"Everyone must play their part in defensive efforts to ensure that Russian aggression does not halt Ukraine this winter. Just as on the battlefield, in all areas, we must be resilient and strong," Zelenskyy said in a recent address to the nation.
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Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal recently announced that the United States has allocated $522 million for energy equipment and the protection of Ukraine's infrastructure.
"We stand on the threshold of a difficult winter. Thanks to the assistance of our allies, we successfully weathered the last, which was the most challenging winter season in our history," Shmyhal said.
Major retailer Epicenter said sales of generators increased 80% in August compared to the same time last year, and sales of portable charging stations increased by 25 times.
Yurii Musienko, 45, another resident of Moshchun, also plans to rely heavily on firewood, and has a wood-burning stove in his compact wooden trailer that has been provided to him for two years, and which sits next to his ruined home.
"I've already adapted," he said with a smile. The gates of his home still bear the holes from exploded ammunition that serve as a reminder of when Russian forces tried to seize the Ukrainian capital.
Biden says there’s ‘not much time’ to keep aid flowing to Ukraine and Congress must ‘stop the games’
"May no one ever have to endure such conditions," said his mother, Valentyna Kiriian, who lives in a separate plastic trailer installed in the same courtyard.
She's dressed in a hat and a coat, with multiple layers of clothing to stay warm. She notes that the cold has already set in, forcing her to sleep fully clothed, much like the previous winter.
During the power outages last winter, the mother and son relied on canned food. Occasionally, Valentyna would visit her neighbor, whose house remained intact and had a gas stove for boiling water.
"It's difficult for me to talk about. It pains my soul, and my heart weeps," she said.
Private Ukrainian energy producer DTEK has spent the last seven months restoring its damaged infrastructure and fortifying the protection of its equipment for the approaching winter.
The company invested about 20 billion Ukrainian hryvnias ($550 million) to prepare for the upcoming season, and it lost billions of hryvnias because of last year's disruptions caused by Russian attacks, according to CEO Maxim Timchenko.
"We learned our lessons," Timchenko said.
Andrii Horchynskyi, 49. who lives in the village of Maliutianka about 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of Kyiv, has invested over $30,000 in recent years to ensure his house is self-sufficient, and ramped up those efforts since Russia's invasion.
Last year, he spent $12,000 to install solar panels to help power his spacious house, where other members of his extended family came to stay for the winter — eight of them surviving comfortably.
"We had a whole ant heap here," Horchynskyi recalled.
He is convinced the Russians will try to damage Ukraine's infrastructure for gas, which he thinks will become expensive or even unavailable. So, he has installed a boiler that burns pine pellets. He also stores one and half cubic meters of water in his backyard.
"They will bombard even more this winter than the last," Horchynskyi said.
Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters march in London as Israel-Hamas war roils the world
Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through a rainy London on Saturday to demand Israel stop its bombardment of Gaza, and similar calls were heard in cities around the world as the Israel-Hamas war entered its third week.
On the day a trickle of aid entered Gaza, where more than 1 million people have left their homes because of the conflict, protesters gathered in at Marble Arch near London's Hyde Park before marching to the government district, Whitehall.
Police estimated the crowd that wound its way through the city for three hours at “up to 100,000.”
Waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Stop bombing Gaza,” participants called for an end to Israel’s blockade and airstrikes launched in the wake of a brutal incursion into southern Israel by the Hamas militant group that controls Gaza.
Authorities in Gaza say more than 4,300 people have been killed in the territory since the latest war began. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, mostly civilians slain during Hamas’ deadly incursion on Oct. 7.
Israel continued to bombard targets in Gaza on Saturday ahead of an expected ground offensive. A small measure of relief came when 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were allowed to enter Gaza across the southern Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
The war has raised tensions around the world, with both Jewish and Muslim communities feeling under threat. The British Transport Police force said it was investigating after footage was posted online that appears to show a London Underground driver leading passengers in a chant of “Free, free Palestine” over the subway intercom.
British authorities urged demonstrators to be mindful of the pain and anxiety felt by the Jewish community. London’s Metropolitan Police force says it has seen a 13-fold upsurge in reports of antisemitic offenses in October compared to last year. Reports of anti-Muslim crimes have more than doubled.
Read: Islamic parties stage protest condemning Israeli attacks on Palestine
Police said there had been "pockets of disorder and some instances of hate speech” during protests over the war, but “the majority of the protest activity has been lawful and has taken place without incident.”
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters also gathered in Belfast and in Northern Ireland’s second city, Londonderry, where speakers included lawmaker Colum Eastwood of the Irish nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party.
“The murder of children is wrong,” he told the crowd, calling for an immediate cease-fire in the conflict. “I don’t know how that is so difficult for some of our world leaders to actually utter. It doesn’t matter whether they are Israeli children or Palestinian children.”
Across the border in the Republic of Ireland, thousands marched through the capital, Dublin, calling for an end to Israel's bombardment.
In France, pro-Palestinians demonstrators gathered in several cities including Rennes, Montpellier, Dijon and Lyon, where thousands of people could be seen chanting “we all are Palestinians” in the central square.
In Marseille, the country’s second-largest city, some people took to the streets, waving Palestinians flags and shouting “Free Gaza,” despite the protest being banned by local police.
A pro-Palestinian gathering scheduled for Sunday in Paris has been allowed by police.
German police said almost 7,000 people took part in a peaceful pro-Palestinian demonstration in Düsseldorf on Saturday. The demonstrators carried Palestinian flags or banners calling for an end to “violence and aggression in Gaza.”
Police in Berlin banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration that was scheduled for Sunday in the center of the city, German news agency dpa reported. Police in the German capital have stopped several similar events in recent weeks, citing the potential of violence and antisemitic hate speech. Some pro-Palestinian demonstrators have taken to the streets anyway, resulting in clashes with police.
Read: Overwhelmed to see love and support here for people in Palestine: Ambassador
Authorities allowed a pro-Israel demonstration scheduled for Sunday that was expected to draw together thousands of people in central Berlin.
Elsewhere, several hundred people marched through Rome on Saturday, some holding signs saying “Palestine, Rome is with you,” and “No peace until we get freedom.”
“Israel carries out war crimes there, crimes against humanity there, and the international community has never acted,” said Maya Issa, president of the Movement of Palestinian Students in Italy, which organized the demonstration.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators waving Palestinian flags flooded the streets of downtown Barcelona to demand an end to the Israeli airstrikes.
In Muslim-majority Kosovo, several hundred people walked from mosques to Pristina's Zahir Pajaziti square after lunchtime prayers to express support for Palestinians.
In Australia, thousands marched through central Sydney on Saturday, shouting “Shame, shame Israel” and “Palestine will never die.”
The war sparked protests across the Arab world and beyond on Friday, including in the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians burned tires and threw stones at Israeli military checkpoints. Israeli security forces responded firing tear gas and live rounds.
Crowds gathered in Israel’s northern neighbor Lebanon; in Iraq at the country’s border crossing with Jordan; in Jordan itself; in cities and towns across Egypt; in Turkey’s capital Ankara and its most populous city of Istanbul; and in Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco and South Africa.
In New York, hundreds of protesters from Muslim, Jewish and other groups marched to U.S. Sen. Kristen Gillibrand’s Manhattan office, many shouting “cease fire now.” Police later arrested dozens of protesters who blocked Third Avenue outside Gillibrand’s office by sitting in the road.
Read more: Only dialogue, diplomacy can offer a lasting solution to Israel-Palestine conflict: Bangladesh
Thousands of demonstrators also marched through the streets of downtown Los Angeles demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Pro-Israel demonstrations and vigils have also been held around the world, many focused on securing the return of hostages captured by Hamas.
Rome’s Jewish community on Friday remembered the more than 200 people believed held by Hamas by setting a long Shabbat table for them outside the capital’s main synagogue and empty chairs for each of the hostages.
On the back of each chair was a flyer featuring the name, age and photo of each missing person. On the table were candles, wine and loaves of challah, the braided bread typically eaten during the Friday night meal.
The Guardian fires longtime cartoonist after allegations of antisemitic imagery
The Guardian newspaper has fired longtime editorial cartoonist Steve Bell after refusing to run a caricature of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that critics said drew on antisemitic imagery.
"The decision has been made not to renew Steve Bell's contract," the Guardian said.
"Steve Bell's cartoons have been an important part of the Guardian over the past 40 years — we thank him and wish him all the best," publisher Guardian News and Media said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Thursday.
Also read: As Israel readies troops for ground assault, Gaza awaits urgently needed aid from Egypt
Bell has contributed to The Guardian since 1983. Several of his hundreds of cartoons over the years have been accused of including anti-Jewish stereotypes. The latest cartoon, posted by Bell on social media, shows Netanyahu holding a scalpel and preparing to cut a Gaza-shaped incision in his abdomen, with the caption "Residents of Gaza, get out now."
It is labeled "after David Levine" and recalls a Vietnam War-era cartoon depicting U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson pointing at a Vietnam-shaped scar. American illustrator Levine drew inspiration from a photo of Johnson showing reporters his scar from gall-bladder surgery.
Bell said he had been accused of evoking the "pound of flesh" demanded by the Jewish character Shylock in Shakespeare's play "The Merchant of Venice."
Also read: Major US Muslim civil rights group cancels Virginia banquet over bomb and death threats
He told industry newspaper the Press Gazette that "The Merchant of Venice" had "nothing to do with the cartoon."
"I don't promote harmful antisemitic stereotypes. … Never have I done such a thing, I would not dream of doing such a thing," the publication quoted him as saying.
Britain has a long tradition of cartoons showing politicians in exaggerated and grotesque form. Bell has created some of the most indelible caricatures of recent British leaders, portraying former Prime Minister John Major wearing underpants over his trousers, Tony Blair with a demonic oversized eye and David Cameron with a condom over his head.
Also read: Gazans find nowhere is safe during Israel’s relentless bombing
Putin begins visit in China underscoring ties amid Ukraine war and Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a visit that underscores China’s support for Moscow during its war in Ukraine as well as Russian backing for China's bid to expand its economic and diplomatic influence abroad.
The two countries have forged an informal alliance against the United States and other democratic nations that is now complicated by the Israel-Hamas war. China has sought to balance its ties with Israel against its relations with Iran and Syria, two countries that are strongly backed by Russia and with which China has forged ties for economic reasons as well as to challenge Washington's influence in the Middle East.
Putin's plane was met by an honor guard as the Russian leader began his visit that is also a show of support for Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature “Belt and Road” initiative to build infrastructure and expand China’s overseas influence.
In an interview to Chinese state media, Putin praised the massive but loosely linked BRI projects.
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“Yes, we see that some people consider it an attempt by the People’s Republic of China to put someone under its thumb, but we see otherwise, we just see desire for cooperation,” he told state broadcaster CCTV, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin on Monday.
Putin will be among the highest profile guests at a gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Xi’s announcement of the BRI project, which has laden countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka with heavy debt from contracts with Chinese companies to build roads, airports and other public works they could not otherwise afford. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has praised the Chinese policy as bringing development to neglected areas.
Asked by reporters Friday about his visit, Putin said it would encompass talks on Belt and Road-related projects, which he said Moscow wants to link with efforts by an economic alliance of former Soviet Union nations mostly located in Central Asia to “achieve common development goals.”
He also downplayed the impact of China’s economic influence in a region that Russia has long considered its backyard and where it has worked to maintain political and military clout.
Read: With humanitarian aid blocked at Egyptian border, Gaza draws closer to total collapse
“We don’t have any contradictions here, on the contrary, there is a certain synergy,” Putin said.
Putin said he and Xi would also discuss growing economic ties between Moscow and Beijing in energy, high-tech and financial industries. China has also grown in importance as an export destination for Russia.
Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said that from China’s view, “Russia is a safe neighbor that is friendly, that is a source of cheap raw materials, that’s a support for Chinese initiatives on the global stage and that’s also a source of military technologies, some of those that China doesn’t have.”
“For Russia, China is its lifeline, economic lifeline in its brutal repression against Ukraine,” Gabuev told The Associated Press.
“It’s the major market for Russian commodities, it’s a country that provides its currency and payment system to settle Russia’s trade with the outside world — with China itself, but also with many other countries, and is also the major source of sophisticated technological imports, including dual-use goods that go into the Russian military machine.”
Read: 600 days into the war, Russia's assault on a key eastern Ukraine city appears to be weakening
Gabuev said that while Moscow and Beijing will be unlikely to forge a full-fledged military alliance, their defense cooperation will grow.
“Both countries are self-sufficient in terms of security and they benefit from partnering, but neither really requires a security guarantee from the other. And they preach strategic autonomy,” he said.
“There will be no military alliance, but there will be closer military cooperation, more interoperability, more cooperation on projecting force together, including in places like the Arctic and more joint effort to develop a missile defense that makes the U.S. nuclear planning and planning of the U.S. and its allies in Asia and in Europe more complicated,” he added.
The Chinese and Soviets were Cold War rivals for influence among left-leaning states, but China and Russia have since partnered in the economic, military and diplomatic spheres.
Just weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February, Putin met with Xi in Beijing and the sides signed an agreement pledging a “no-limits” relationship. Beijing’s attempts to present itself as a neutral peace broker in Russia’s war on Ukraine have been widely dismissed by the international community.
Xi visited Moscow in March as part of a flurry of exchanges between the countries. China has condemned international sanctions imposed on Russia, but hasn’t directly addressed an arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court on charges of alleged involvement in the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine.
600 days into the war, Russia's assault on a key eastern Ukraine city appears to be weakening
A dayslong attempt by Russian forces to storm a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine appears to be running out of steam, Kyiv officials said Monday, as the Kremlin’s war entered its 600th day.
Ukrainian forces repelled 15 Russian attacks from four directions on Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours, the Ukrainian General Staff said.
That compared with up to 60 attacks a day in the middle of last week, according to Vitalii Barabash, head of the city administration. The slackening suggests the Russian effort to capture Avdiivka has “deflated,” Barabash said.
A Washington-based think tank broadly concurred with that assessment. “Russian forces continued offensive operations aimed at encircling Avdiivka … but have yet to make further gains amid a likely decreasing tempo of Russian operations in the area,” the Institute for the Study of War said in analysis published late Sunday.
Read: What to do with 1.1 million bullets seized from Iran? US ships them to Ukraine
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, told a U.N. Security Council meeting last Friday that the ramped-up attacks in the east amounted to a new stage in Moscow’s campaign in Ukraine.
With the looming onset of wintry conditions that will limit military operations, both sides have been seeking battlefield breakthroughs that could invigorate their efforts and raise morale.
Ukraine launched its own counteroffensive about four months ago. It has made some headway but the limited success has underlined the daunting challenge of taking on the Kremlin’s more numerous forces.
Kyiv’s Western allies insist that their military and financial support for Ukraine will continue, even as the Israeli-Hamas war rages and competes for resources.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday the Biden administration will ask Congress for a combined aid package for Ukraine and Israel worth more than $2 billion.
Ukrainian officials have said their troops are holding out against fierce Russian efforts to wrest control of Avdiivka, a heavily fortified city.
Read: Biden says there’s ‘not much time’ to keep aid flowing to Ukraine and Congress must ‘stop the games’
Avdiivka lies in the northern suburbs of the city of Donetsk, in a region of the same name that Russian forces partially occupy. Avdiivka’s location grants Ukrainian forces artillery advantages over the city and could serve as a springboard for them to liberate Donetsk.
It is not possible to verify battlefield claims by either side. Misinformation and disinformation have played a central role in the war.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, speaking during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, claimed Ukrainian forces have failed to make any significant gains during their counteroffensive. Kyiv’s troops are trying to make headway without air cover and have encountered multi-layered Russian defenses.
Putin, in an interview with the China Media Group released Monday, claimed that Ukraine’s counteroffensive has achieved “no results so far, only massive losses.”
Moscow can expect more diplomatic pressure from the 57-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in coming months, according to the chief diplomat of North Macedonia, which currently holds that body’s rotating presidency.
Read: Mexico's president slams US aid for Ukraine and sanctions on Venezuela and Cuba
The country’s foreign minister, Bujar Osmani, urged Russia to cease its attacks on Ukraine and withdraw its forces. He spoke at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.
The OSCE was created during the Cold War to help to defuse tensions between East and West.
Meanwhile, Russian children’s rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova claimed Monday that her office has helped 35 Ukrainian children reunite with their relatives in Ukraine and other countries.
Lvova-Belova, who was indicted along with Putin by the International Criminal Court for war crimes connected to the deportation of children from Ukraine, claimed Russia never opposed reuniting children with their families.
Qatar's foreign ministry issued a statement saying it had been involved in recent family reunifications through its embassy in Moscow but it provided no details.
Early results in New Zealand election indicate Christopher Luxon poised to become PM
Voting closed Saturday in New Zealand and ballot counting was underway in a general election, with early results indicating people were favoring a conservative change after six years of a liberal government led for most of that time by Jacinda Ardern.
With more than one-third of the votes counted, former businessman Christopher Luxon was poised to become the nation's next prime minister.
Ardern unexpectedly stepped down as prime minister in January, saying she no longer had "enough in the tank" to do the job justice. She won the last election in a landslide, but her popularity waned as people got tired of COVID-19 restrictions and inflation threatened the economy.
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Her departure left Chris Hipkins, 45, to take over as leader. He had previously served as education minister and led the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The initial vote counting showed Luxon's National Party with over 40% of the vote. Under New Zealand's proportional voting system, Luxon, 53, was expected to form an alliance with the libertarian ACT Party.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party that Hipkins leads was getting only a little over 25% of the vote — about half the proportion it got in the last election under Ardern.
And in a result that would be particularly stinging for Labour should it hold up, National was leading in Ardern's old electorate seat, Mount Albert. The seat has long been a Labour stronghold and was also held by another former Labour prime minister, Helen Clark.
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The National Party candidate for the seat, Melissa Lee, told The Associated Press she was feeling excited but also nervous about the final result in Mount Albert.
"It's been Labour since 1946. It has been the biggest, safest Labour seat forever," she said. "It would be fantastic if we won it."
Lee said that when she was door-knocking, people had told her they were tired of the current government and were concerned with the state of the economy and the spiraling cost of living.
David Farrar, a longtime conservative pollster, said there was still a good chance that Labour would end up holding the seat once all the votes were counted. However, he said, his initial impression of voting throughout the country was that it was turning out to be a "bloodbath" for the left.
Luxon has promised tax cuts for middle-income earners and a crackdown on crime. Hipkins had promised free dental care for people younger than 30 and the removal of sales taxes on fruit and vegetables.
Also at stake in the election is the government's relationship with Indigenous Māori. Luxon has promised to axe the Māori Health Authority, which he says creates two separate health systems. Hipkins says he's proud of such co-governance efforts and has accused Luxon of condoning racism.
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Within days of taking the reins in January, Hipkins found himself dealing with a crisis after deadly floods and then a cyclone hit New Zealand. He quickly jettisoned some of Ardern's more contentious policies and promised a "back to basics" approach focused on tackling the spiraling cost of living.
Warm spring weather in the largest city of Auckland seemed to encourage voters, with queues forming outside some polling places. Early voting before Election Day was lower than in recent elections.
During a six-week election campaign, both Hipkins and Luxon traveled the country and hammed it up for the cameras.
Earlier in the week, Luxon, who served as chief executive of both Unilever Canada and Air New Zealand, told an energized crowd in Wellington that he would crack down on gangs.
"I've gotta tell you, crime is out of control in this country," Luxon said. "And we are going to restore law and order, and we are going to restore personal responsibility."
Luxon also got cheers when he promised to fix the capital's gridlocked traffic with a new tunnel project.
Luxon is relatively new to politics but held his own against the more experienced Hipkins during televised debates, according to political observers. But Luxon also made some gaffes, such as when he was asked in a 1News debate how much he spent each week on food.
His answer of "about sixty bucks" (U.S. $36) was ridiculed on social media as showing him being out of touch with the cost of living.