Tag Archives: political figures – intl

World

Peshawar, Pakistan mosque: Suspected suicide attack kills more than 30 people and injures 125

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CNN
 — 

A deadly blast inside a mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar Monday was likely a suicide attack, according to authorities.

The powerful explosion left at least 31 people dead and 125 injured, according to Peshawar deputy commissioner Shafiullah Khan.

Rescue operations are now underway inside the mosque, which is situated inside a police compound in the city and is mostly attended by law enforcement officials.

No claims of responsibility have been made in relation to the attack so far, which took place in the middle of afternoon prayers.

In a statement to CNN, Peshawar Police Chief Mohammad Aijaz Khan said the blast inside the Police Lines Mosque was “probably a suicide attack,” echoing Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

“The brutal killing of Muslims prostrating before Allah is against the teachings of the Quran,” Sharif said in a statement, adding that “targeting the House of Allah is proof that the attackers have nothing to do with Islam.”

“Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan,” the prime minister continued.

“Those who fight against Pakistan will be erased from the page.”

Sharif went on to say that “the entire nation and institutions are united to end terrorism” and that there’s a “comprehensive strategy” in the works in order to restore law and order in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Peshawar is located.

Pakistan’s former leader Imran Khan, whose party the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf holds the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkwa also condemned the blast saying in a tweet that “it is imperative we improve our intelligence gathering & properly equip our police forces to combat the growing threat of terrorism.”

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Novak Djokovic’s father poses with fan wearing pro-Russia ‘Z’ symbol at the Australian Open

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CNN
 — 

The Australian Open told CNN it has “briefed and reminded” players and their entourages about the tournament’s “policy regarding flags and symbols” on Thursday after video emerged on Wednesday of Novak Djokovic’s father, Srdjan, pictured at a demonstration with fans holding Russian flags, voicing his support for Russia.

In a video posted on YouTube by a known Vladimir Putin supporter, the Serbian player’s father can be seen posing with a fan outside Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena. The man is wearing the “Z” symbol on his shirt, while holding a Russian flag with Putin’s face on it. “Long live the Russia,” he says.

The “Z” symbol is viewed as a sign of support for Russia, including its invasion of Ukraine. The symbol has been seen on Russian equipment and clothing in Ukraine.

“Players and their teams have been briefed and reminded of the event policy regarding flags and symbols and to avoid any situation that has the potential to disrupt,” an Australian Open spokesperson told CNN Thursday.

“We continue to work closely with event security and law enforcement agencies.”

The Australian Open spokesperson went on to say “a small group of people displayed inappropriate flags and symbols and threatened security guards following a match on Wednesday night and were evicted. One patron is now assisting police with unrelated matters.”

In a statement Friday that addressed criticism of his actions but stopped short of an apology, Srdjan Djokovic said he was in Melbourne “to support my son only,” and “had no intention of causing such headlines or disruption.”

“I was outside with Novak’s fans as I have done after all of my son’s matches to celebrate his wins and take pictures with them. I had no intention of being caught up in this,” he said.

“My family has lived through the horror of war, and we wish only for peace.”

He added that he would watch his son’s semifinal match against US star Tommy Paul from home on Friday “so there is no disruption … for my son or for the other player.”

Novak Djokovic will not be commenting on the situation, his management told CNN.

Earlier Friday, Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia had urged the player to state his position on the war, saying the incident with his father had amounted to a “provocation” and “shines a negative light on Novak himself as he prepares for his semi-final.”

“I think for him to dispel the speculation it’s important to make a very strong statement about where he stands on this war, and I would like to see an apology from Novak Djokovic,” Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko told CNN.

“Of course, the son cannot be responsible for the sins of his father, but maybe he has the same opinion as his father. I think the world should know where he stands.”

Tennis Australia has confirmed that four people were ejected from the tournament on Wednesday for displaying pro-war imagery.

According to the Australian Open rules Russian and Belarusian flags are banned from the event.

Tennis Australia has a “neutral flag” policy and has re-emphasized it policy amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Russia strikes Ukraine’s cities hours after Western countries pledge tanks to Kyiv

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CNN
 — 

Ukraine has urged the West to get military hardware into the hands of its troops as quickly as possible, as Russia fired missiles toward Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities just hours after Germany and the US announced their plans to provide modern tanks to the country.

Russia launched 55 missiles at Ukraine on Thursday morning, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Telegram. Shmyhal said the salvo was aimed at the country’s “energy facilities” and some power substations had been hit.

“The main targets were energy facilities to deprive Ukrainians of power and warmth,” Shmyhal said on Telegram. “The majority of missiles and drones were intercepted by our defenders. Unfortunately there were hits at substations. Nevertheless the situation in the power grid remains under control. Power engineers are doing everything to provide power supply.”

Emergency power outages were introduced in the Kyiv region after the attack.

One person died in the capital, and an air raid alert was in place across the whole country, according to the city’s mayor. The person who died was identified as a 55-year-old man, who was killed “due to the fall of missile fragments,” he head of the Kyiv city military administration, Serhiy Popko, added.

Popko accused Russia of using the Iranian-made attack drones it sent to Ukraine overnight to try and distract Ukrainian air defense units. Fifteen attack drones were fired over over the capital on Thursday, “aimed not only at hitting targets on the ground,” he said. “According to the new tactics of the aggressor, the drones constitute the first wave of a combined air attack for detecting and exhausting Ukrainian air defense.”

The fresh assault comes amid Russian rage at the West’s decision to provide Ukraine with high-tech tanks. Germany finally approved the transport of Leopard 2 tanks on Wednesday, joining the US in sending a batch of vehicles after weeks of geopolitical negotiations.

But a race to get those tanks onto the battlefield has now begun, and Thursday’s attack indicates Moscow will aim to damage Ukrainian resolve in the intervening period.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the West for further weapons supplies following the attack.”This evil, this Russian aggression can and should be stopped only with adequate weapons,” Zelensky told Ukrainians in his nightly address on Thursday. “Weapons on the battlefield. Weapons that protect our skies.”

Ukraine was able to shoot down most of the missiles, a feat Zelensky attributed to the Western-donated air defense systems.

“Today, thanks to the air defense systems provided to Ukraine and the professionalism of our warriors, we managed to shoot down most of the Russian missiles and Shaheds,” he said. “These are at least hundreds of lives saved and dozens of infrastructure facilities preserved.”

Germany is planning to deliver its 14 pledged Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine by the end of March “at the latest,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced Thursday. That will follow a period of training for Ukrainian soldiers.

”This is not too late,” Pistorius said.

The arrival of 31 American Abrams tanks is expected to take far longer, given the complexity of the systems and the logistics of getting a battalion across the Atlantic Ocean and into eastern Ukraine. In the meantime, the US will begin a “comprehensive training program” for the Ukrainians, which will require significant maintenance once they are deployed, according to the White House.

Kyiv will hope that Germany’s Leopards are incorporated into their operations before an anticipated Russian offensive in the spring begins.

Alongside Russia’s Thursday attack on Ukraine came another round of anger from the Kremlin over the supply of tanks. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that Moscow sees the delivery of modern Western battle tanks to Ukraine as “direct involvement” in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

But NATO nations dismissed Russia’s ire, and shown a willingness to open up a possible new stage of the war with weapons that will allow Ukraine to take the fighting to Moscow’s forces, rather than focus on repelling Russian attacks.

Kyiv is also continuing to press for more Western stocks, including improved missile systems and modern fighter jets. “We have to unlock the supply of long-range missiles to Ukraine, it is important for us to expand our cooperation in artillery, we have to achieve the supply of aircraft to Ukraine,” Zelensky said on Wednesday, adding he had spoken with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg about the desire.

Zelensky referred to the request as “a dream,” but also “an important task for all of us,” indicating another lengthy period of international dialogue in which Ukraine will look to warm up the West to the entire of stepping up its military aid again.

The country’s defense minister meanwhile told CNN on Wednesday that Ukraine’s “wish list” for Western-supplied weapons includes fighter jets.

“I sent a wish list card to Santa Claus last year, and fighter jets also [were] including in this wish list,” Oleksii Reznikov told Christiane Amanpour.

But he said that his government’s first priority was air defense systems, to prevent Russia from carrying out air and missile strikes. “We have to close our sky, to defend our sky,” he said. “That’s priority number one. After that, we need to get more armed vehicles, tanks, artillery systems, UAVs, etc. etc. We have people, but we need weaponry.”

On the ground, Russian forces were “intensifying their pressure” on the eastern city of Bakhmut, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister said on Wednesday.

“The intensity of the battles is increasing,” Hanna Maliar said on Telegram. “The enemy is intensifying their pressure at the Bakhmut and Vuhledar directions. Heavy fighting continues.” That account tallies with two Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut, who said Wednesday that Russian forces were attempting to advance north and south of the city, with one telling CNN that the situation was “very alarming.”

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Wagner group: US introduces new sanctions targeting Russian mercenary group

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CNN
 — 

The US Treasury Department on Thursday designated the Wagner Group, a Russian private mercenary organization heavily involved in the war in Ukraine, as a significant transnational criminal organization, and imposed a slew of sanctions on a transnational network that supports it.

The US Department of State concurrently announced a number of sanctions meant to “target a range of Wagner’s key infrastructure – including an aviation firm used by Wagner, a Wagner propaganda organization, and Wagner front companies,” according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“As Russia’s military has struggled on the battlefield, Putin has resorted to relying on the Wagner Group to continue his war of choice. The Wagner Group has also meddled and destabilized countries in Africa, committing widespread human rights abuses and extorting natural resources from their people,” the Treasury Department said in a press release.

In addition to the measures targeting the Wagner Group – which were previewed by the White House last week – both agencies announced sanctions against a wide group of individuals and companies tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine. They are the latest US punitive measures against the Kremlin and its proxies as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war approaches its second year with no signs of abating.

“This action supports our goal to degrade Moscow’s capacity to wage war against Ukraine, to promote accountability for those responsible for Russia’s war of aggression and associated abuses, and to place further pressure on Russia’s defense sector,” Blinken said in a statement.

The Treasury Department announced sanctions on a number of individuals and companies tied to Moscow’s defense industrial complex, as well as Putin allies and their family members, and two people involved with Russia’s attempts to annex parts of Ukraine.

The State Department also announced sanctions on “three individuals for their roles as heads of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, which has been reported to facilitate the recruitment of Russian prisoners into the Wagner Group,” a Deputy Prime Minister who also serves as the Minister of Industry and Trade,” “the Chairman of the Election Commission of the Rostov Region,” a network tied to an already-sanctioned Russian oligarch, and a financier to Putin, according to Blinken.

In addition, the State Department announced it will take steps to impose visa restrictions “on 531 members of the Russian Federation military for actions that threaten or violate the sovereignty, territorial integrity, or political independence of Ukraine.”

National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby last week previewed the significant transnational criminal organization designation and forthcoming sanctions against the Wagner group, telling reporters Friday, “These actions recognize the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through its ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity.”

Among the companies sanctioned by the Treasury Department for their ties to the Wagner Group and its leader, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, are Joint Stock Company Terra Tech, a “Russia-based technology firm that supplies space imagery acquired by commercially active satellites, as well as aerial images acquired by unmanned systems,” and a China-based entity “that has provided Terra Tech synthetic aperture radar satellite imagery orders over locations in Ukraine.”

“These images were gathered in order to enable Wagner combat operations in Ukraine,” the Treasury Department said.

In addition to sanctions related to the Wagner Group’s significant involvement in the war in Ukraine, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions for its illicit activities in the Central African Republic. The group was re-designated “for being responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in, the targeting of women, children, or any civilians through the commission of acts of violence, or abduction, forced displacement, or attacks on schools, hospitals, religious sites, or locations where civilians are seeking refuge, or through conduct that would constitute a serious abuse or violation of human rights or a violation of international humanitarian law in relation to the CAR.”

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New Zealand’s Education Minister Chris Hipkins is set to replace Jacinda Ardern as PM

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CNN
 — 

Chris Hipkins, New Zealand’s education minister, is set to replace Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, after her shock resignation announcement earlier this week.

Hipkins was the only candidate to be nominated for the leadership of the ruling Labour party, the party announced in a statement on Saturday morning.

“The Labour Party caucus will meet at 1pm on Sunday to endorse the nomination and confirm Chris Hipkins as leader,” Labour Party Whip Duncan Webb said in the statement.

New Zealand’s next general election will be held on October 14.

Ardern said Thursday that she would stand aside for a new leader, saying she doesn’t believe she has the energy to seek reelection in the October polls.

Speaking at a news conference then, Ardern said her term would end by February 7, when she expected a new Labour prime minister will be sworn in – though “depending on the process that could be earlier.”

Hipkins previously oversaw New Zealand’s pandemic management as Covid-19 response minister in Ardern’s cabinet.

According to his official profile, Hipkins first joined the government as senior advisor to two education ministers and later in the office of then-Prime Minister Helen Clark.

He entered Parliament in 2008 and became the spokesperson for education at the beginning of 2013.

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Inside the US and German standoff over sending tanks to Ukraine

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Washington
CNN
 — 

The Biden administration is stuck in a standoff with Germany over whether to send tanks to Ukraine ahead of a key meeting of Western defense leaders in Germany on Friday.

In recent days, German officials have indicated they won’t send their Leopard tanks to Ukraine, or allow any other country with the German-made tanks in their inventory to do so, unless the US also agrees to send its M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv – something the Pentagon has said for months it has no intention of doing given the logistical costs of maintaining them.

“They have us over a barrel,” a senior Biden administration official told CNN Thursday, adding that the Germans are demanding tanks for tanks, and not budging on considering any other offers the US has made to spur Berlin to send the Leopards.

The tank standoff comes amid a much larger debate between the US and its European allies over whether to send increasingly sophisticated weaponry to Ukraine, including longer-range missiles that would allow Ukraine to hit targets as far as 200 miles away.

The UK, Poland, Finland and the Baltic states have all been pushing for NATO members to provide heavier equipment to Kyiv amid what they believe is a key inflection point in the war. Both Ukraine and Russia appear to be gearing up for new offensives and there are signs that Moscow could be preparing an additional troop mobilization.

Last week, the British added pressure to their Western allies when they announced they would send 14 of their Challenger tanks to Ukraine. But Germany and the US were still opposed to the idea of sending their own tanks as of Wednesday.

Berlin then dragged the Biden administration deeper into the standoff, suggesting their delivery of tanks was contingent on the US doing the same.

“If America will decide that they will bring battle tanks to Ukraine, that will make it easier for Germany,” German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck told Bloomberg from Davos on Tuesday.

Asked on Wednesday at Davos about supplying tanks to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made a similar point, saying Germany was “Strategically interlocked together with our friends and partners” and that, “we are never doing something just by ourselves but together with others, especially the United States.”

A Western official explained that for Scholz, the tanks question “is a red, red, red line. German tanks [fighting] Russia again. Moral issue. Understandable, from the historical viewpoint. Still, speaking of moral burden, I wish Germans were nowadays more sympathetic with Poland. Let alone with Ukraine. Didn’t German tanks kill Ukrainians 80 years ago as well? Now they can defend them from Russian barbaric aggression.”

Ahead of a meeting on Thursday in Berlin between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his German counterpart, a senior US defense official said that the US is “very optimistic that we will make progress” on the tanks question.

But not everyone in the US government shares that optimism. A number of senior administration officials privately expressed frustration with German officials for making what the US believes is a false equivalency between the US and German tanks.

“It’s silly,” a senior administration official said of the German request for American tanks alongside German ones. “It’s as if they think they’re the same and they’re not. It doesn’t feel like they understand the difference.”

US officials familiar with the situation told CNN on Thursday that the tank question is still undecided ahead of Friday’s meeting, and that it would be surprising if Germany changed its mind, despite Austin’s private pressure campaign.

“I think if there was a concern about being alone in providing this capability, that shouldn’t be a concern but at the end of the day the German government is going to make a sovereign decision,” Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said on Wednesday.

Pressure is mounting in some corners for the US to go ahead and send Abrams tanks simply as a way to get the Germans on board.

“Scholz wants to be in lockstep with the US,” Rep. Seth Moulton told CNN after discussing the matter with Scholz this week in Davos. “I think the US should give a few tanks if that is what is required for Germany. That is called leadership.”

On Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki suggested that Warsaw may simply ignore any limits Germany seeks to impose on Poland’s export of its supply of the German-made tanks.

“Consent is a secondary issue. Either we will get this consent or we ourselves will do what must be done,” Morawiecki said. “Germany is the least proactive country out of the group, to put it mildly. We will continue pressuring the chancellor.”

This all comes as the US on Thursday announced a new $2.5 billion Ukraine security package, including for the first time Stryker combat vehicles and more armored Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

But the package does not include M1 Abrams tanks, and it is unlikely that the US is going to provide them anytime soon because they are difficult and expensive to supply and maintain, US officials said.

“One of the things that Secretary Austin has been very focused on is that we should not be providing the Ukrainians systems they can’t repair, they can’t sustain, and that they over the long term can’t afford because it’s not helpful,” Kahl said on Wednesday. “And this isn’t about a news cycle or what’s symbolically valuable, it’s what will actually help Ukraine on the battlefield.”

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh poured more cold water on the German demand on Thursday, telling reporters that providing the Abrams tanks “doesn’t make sense.”

Singh painted Leopards as the better option for Ukraine.

“It’s a little bit easier to maintain, they can maneuver across large portions of territory before they need to refuel. The maintenance and the high cost that it would take to maintain an Abrams it’s just – it just doesn’t make sense to provide that to the Ukrainians [Abrams tanks] this moment.”

Western tanks would represent the most powerful direct offensive weapon provided to Ukraine so far, and if used properly, they could allow Ukraine to retake territory against Russian forces that have had time to dig defensive lines. The US has begun supplying refurbished Soviet-era T-72 tanks, but modern Western tanks are a generation ahead in terms of their ability to target enemy positions.

Ukrainian officials have said they will need around 300 of these modern tanks to beat back the Russians, and the European Council on Foreign Relations estimates that around 2,000 Leopard tanks are spread across Europe.

“We welcome the bold and very timely decision of the United Kingdom to transfer the first squadron of Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine,” Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a joint statement on Thursday. “However, it is not sufficient to achieve operational goals.”

The Ukrainian ministers appealed to countries with the Leopard 2 tanks in their inventory, including Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey, and promised to “use these weapons responsibly and exclusively for the purposes of protecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine within internationally recognized borders.”

The debate amongst the allies about how far to go in arming Ukraine, particularly when it comes to long-range missiles, reflects a broader disagreement over the risks of escalation between NATO and Russia.

To date, the US has refused to send long-range missiles known as ATACMS to Ukraine out of concern that they could be used to attack targets inside Russia. But in keeping with London’s more forward-leaning attitude toward military support for Ukraine, some British officials have expressed an openness to supplying the longer-range systems, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

For now, the US is still opposed to the idea.

“On the ATACMS issue, I think we’re kind of at the, ‘agree to disagree’ position on that,” Kahl told reporters on Wednesday.

Taking note of the Brits’ more aggressive public posture, Ukrainian officials have asked the UK to take more of a leading role in Friday’s meeting, people familiar with their requests told CNN. They also want British officials to more aggressively brief allied foreign secretaries and defense ministers on what the Ukrainians believe are the operational realities of the war – and what they need to win it.

Those discussions are happening quietly, because the UK has traditionally not wanted to be seen as out of step with its allies. But there are signs that London is becoming more willing to break with the US publicly – most recently with its announcement that it will supply tanks to Ukraine.

Before visiting Washington this week, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also made the case in an op-ed that “now is the time to accelerate and go further and faster in giving Ukraine the support it needs.”

“This war has been dragging on for a long time already. And now is the time to bring it to a conclusion,” Cleverly added, in a conversation with CNN at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Wednesday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also jumped into the fray on Wednesday, calling for the allies to supply “heavier” and more modern weaponry.

“The main message [at Ramstein] will be more support and more advanced support, heavier weapons, and more modern weapons,” Stoltenberg said, referring to the Contact Group meeting of NATO defense leaders at Ramstein Air Base on Friday. “Because this is a fight for our values, is a fight for democracy and we just have to prove that democracy wins over tyranny and oppression.”

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Peru: Protests erupt as thousands of police officers deploy to guard capital

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CNN
 — 

Protests across Peru on Thursday saw thousands of police officers deployed to the capital Lima as hundreds of protesters marched toward the downtown area, while fierce clashes erupted in the southern city of Arequipa.

The Andean country’s weeks-long protest movement – which seeks a complete reset of the government – was sparked by the ouster of former President Pedro Castillo in December and fueled by deep dissatisfaction over living conditions and inequality in the country.

Demonstrators’ fury has also grown with the rising death toll: At least 53 people have been killed amid clashes with security forces since the unrest began, and a further 772 have been injured, the national Ombudsman’s office said Thursday.

Protesters shouted “assassins” at police and threw rocks on Thursday near Arequipa’s international airport, which suspended flights on Thursday as several people tried to tear down fences, according live footage from the city. Smoke could be seen billowing from the surrounding fields.

Protestors marching in Lima meanwhile – in defiance of a government-ordered state of emergency – demanded the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and called for general elections as soon as possible.

General Victor Sanabria, head of Peru’s National Police for the Lima region, told local media that 11,800 police officers were deployed in Lima, with key locations such as the parliament, the prosecutor’s office, select TV stations, the Supreme Court and the army headquarters receiving extra protection.

Peruvian authorities have been accused of using excessive force against protesters, including firearms, in recent weeks – a claim that police deny, saying their tactics match international standards.

Autopsies on 17 dead civilians, killed during protests in the city of Juliaca on January 9, found wounds caused by firearm projectiles, the city’s head of legal medicine told CNN en Español.

Jo-Marie Burt, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America, told CNN that what happened in Juliaca in early January represented “the highest civilian death toll in the country since Peru’s return to democracy” in 2000.

A fact-finding mission to Peru by the the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) also found that gunshot wounds were found in the heads and upper bodies of victims, Edgar Stuardo Ralón, the commission’s vice-president, said Wednesday.

Ralon described a broader “deterioration of public debate” over the demonstrations in Peru, with protestors labeled as “terrorists” and Indigenous people referred to by derogatory terms.

Such language could generate “a climate of more violence,” he warned.

“When the press uses that, when the political elite uses that, I mean, it’s easier for the police and other or security forces to use this kind of repression, right?” Omar Coronel, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, who specializes in Latin American protests movements, told CNN.

Peruvian officials have not made public details about those killed in the unrest. However, experts say that Indigenous protestors are suffering the greatest bloodshed.

“The victims are overwhelmingly indigenous people from rural Peru,” Burt said.

“The protests have been centered in central and southern Peru, heavily indigenous parts of the country, these are regions that have been historically marginalized and excluded from political, economical, and social life of the nation.”

Protesters want new elections, the resignation of Boluarte, a change to the constitution and the release of Castillo, who is currently in pre-trial detention.

At the core of the crisis are demands for better living conditions that have gone unfulfilled in the two decades since democratic rule was restored in the country.

While Peru’s economy has boomed in the last decade, many have not reaped its gains, with experts noting chronic deficiencies in security, justice, education, and other basic services in the country.

Ahead of Thursday’s demonstrations, people explained to CNN en Espanol why they had arrived in Lima to protest. Some complained about corruption in their areas, while others called Boluarte, who was former President Castillo’s vice president, a traitor.

“Right now the political situation merits a change of representatives, of government, of the executive and the legislature. That is the immediate thing. Because there are other deeper issues – inflation, lack of employment, poverty, malnutrition and other historical issues that have not been addressed,” protester named Carlos, who is a sociologist from the Universidad San Marcos, said from Lima on Wednesday.

Another protester told CNNEE that “corruption is big in Peru, unfortunately the State has abandoned the people.”

Castillo, a former teacher and union leader who had never held elected office before becoming president, is from rural Peru and positioned himself as a man of the people. Many of his supporters hail from poorer regions, and hoped Castillo would bring better prospects for the country’s rural and indigenous people.

While protests have occurred throughout the nation, the worst violence has been in the rural and indigenous south, which has long been at odds with the country’s coastal White and mestizo, which is a person of mixed descent, elites.

Peru’s legislative body is also viewed with skepticism by the public. The president and members of congress are not allowed to have consecutive terms, according to Peruvian law, and critics have noted their lack of political experience.

A poll published September 2022 by IEP showed 84% of Peruvians disapproved Congress’s performance. Lawmakers are perceived not only as pursuing their own interests in Congress, but are also associated with corrupt practices.

The country’s frustrations have been reflected in its years-long revolving door presidency. Current president Boluarte is the sixth head of state in less than five years.

Joel Hernández García, a commissioner for IACHR, told CNN what was needed to fix the crisis was political dialogue, police reform, and reparations for those killed in the protests.

“The police forces have to revisit their protocol. In order to resort to non-lethal force under the principles of legality, necessity, and proportionality and as a matter of last resort,” Hernández García said.

“Police officers have the duty to protect people who participate in social protest, but also (to protect) others who are not participating,” he added.



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Jacinda Ardern: New Zealand PM to resign before upcoming election

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CNN
 — 

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday she will stand aside for a new leader within weeks, saying she doesn’t believe she has the energy to seek re-election in the October polls.

Speaking at a news conference, Ardern said her term would end by February 7, when she expects a new Labour prime minister will be sworn in – though “depending on the process that could be earlier.”

“The decision was my own,” Ardern said. “Leading a country is the most privileged job anyone could ever have, but also the most challenging. You cannot and should not do the job unless you have a full tank, plus a bit in reserve for those unplanned and unexpected challenges.”

“I no longer have enough in the tank to do the job justice,” she added.

When Ardern became prime minister in 2017 at the age of 37, she was New Zealand’s third female leader and one of the youngest leaders in the world. Within a year, she had given birth in office – only the second world leader ever to do so.

– Source:
CNN
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See the moment Jacinda Ardern fired back at reporter’s question about gender

She was re-elected for a second term in 2020, the victory buoyed by her government’s “go hard and go early” approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw New Zealand impose some of the world’s strictest border rules, separating families and shutting out almost all foreigners for almost two years.

On Thursday, Ardern spoke candidly about the toll the job has taken and reflected on the various crises her government has faced, including both the pandemic and the 2019 Christchurch terror attack, which killed 51 people at two mosques.

The attack was a defining moment of Ardern’s leadership, and her rapid response won widespread praise. She swiftly introduced gun law reforms, wore a hijab to show her respect for the Muslim community and publicly said she would never speak the name of the alleged attacker.

“The only interesting angle that you will find is that after going on six years of some big challenges, I am human. Politicians are human,” she said. “We give all that we can for as long as we can, and then it’s time. And for me, it’s time.”

Ardern also highlighted achievements made during her tenure, including legislation on climate change and child poverty. “I wouldn’t want this last five and a half years to simply be about the challenges. For me, it’s also been about the progress,” she said.

Bryce Edwards, a political scientist at New Zealand’s Victoria University of Wellington, said Ardern’s resignation was “shocking” but not a complete surprise.

“She is celebrated throughout the world but her government has plummeted in the polls,” he said.

New Zealand’s next general election will be held on October 14.

A former DJ and lapsed Mormon, Ardern was the closest thing New Zealand had to a rockstar politician, attracting mass rallies and wall-to-wall press coverage. She enjoyed particular support among young people, in a wave dubbed “Jacindamania” during her first election.

That popularity has extended overseas, with Ardern gracing the covers of Vogue and Time magazine, and hosting American TV personality Stephen Colbert at her suburban Auckland home.

But while Ardern gained supporters globally for her fresh and empathetic approach to the role, her popularity has waned in New Zealand in recent years, with some critics arguing she has done little to deliver the transformational government she promised when first elected.

Several polls in late 2022 showed falling support for Ardern and her Labour Party, with some at the lowest level since she took office in 2017, according to CNN affiliate Radio New Zealand.

Edwards, the political analyst, said Ardern’s decision to stand down perhaps spares her a disappointing election result.

“Leaving now is the best thing for her reputation … she will go out on good terms rather than lose the election,” he said.

Edwards said there isn’t “anyone obvious” to replace her, though potential candidates include Police and Education Minister Chris Hipkins, who has a strong relationship with Ardern, and Justice Minister Kiri Allan.

Ardern said she has no firm plans about what she’ll do next – but she is looking forward to spending more time with her family again. “Arguably, they’re the ones that have sacrificed the most out of all of us,” said Ardern.

Addressing her child and fiance, she said: “For Neve, Mom is looking forward to being there when you start school this year, and to Clarke, let’s finally get married.”

Ardern has been engaged to television host Clarke Gayford since 2019.

– Source:
CNN
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A look at Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s profile

Ardern gained a reputation as a trailblazer while in office, speaking frequently about gender equality and women’s rights.

For instance, when announcing her pregnancy in 2018, she underlined women’s ability to balance work with motherhood.

“I am not the first woman to multi-task, I’m not the first woman to work and have a baby, I know these are special circumstances but there will be many women who will have done this well before I have,” she said at the time, with Gayford taking on the role of a stay-at-home dad.

After giving birth, she and Gayford brought their 3-month-old baby to the United Nations General Assembly, with Ardern telling CNN she wanted to “create a path for other women” and help make workplaces more open.

In a 2021 interview with CNN, she reflected on her rise to power, saying: “It was not so long ago that being a woman in politics was a very isolating experience.”

The announcement of her impending resignation on Thursday spurred a wave of support on social media, including from other political leaders, with many pointing out the legacy she is leaving for women in politics.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tweeted praise for Ardern, saying she “has shown the world how to lead with intellect and strength” and has been “a great friend to me.”

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong also tweeted her best wishes for Ardern, saying she was “a source of inspiration to me and many others.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared a photo on Twitter of him and Ardern walking together, thanking her for her friendship and “empathic, compassionate, strong, and steady leadership over these past several years.”

“The difference you have made is immeasurable,” he added.

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World

Brovary, Ukraine: Helicopter crash kills 16, including Ukrainian interior minister

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CNN
 — 

A helicopter crash near a kindergarten in the Kyiv region has killed at least 16 people, including the leadership team of Ukraine’s interior ministry who were traveling on the aircraft and three children on the ground, according to officials.

At least 30 others, including 12 children, are in the hospital following the incident in the city of Brovary on Wednesday, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration.

Tymoshenko has revised down the number of people killed in the crash on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital – the previous death toll was 18.

Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky, First Deputy Minister Yevheniy Yenin and State Secretary Yuriy Lubkovychis died, Anton Geraschenko, a ministry adviser, confirmed on social media.

All nine people onboard the helicopter (six ministry officials and three crew members) were killed, leaving another seven dead on the ground, including three children, Tymoshenko said. A search and rescue operation is continuing, he added.

The Ukrainian Security Services, the SBU, has launched an investigation into the crash, and posted on Facebook that “several versions of the tragedy are being considered.”

They include: “violation of flight rule, technical malfunction of the helicopter (and) deliberate actions to destroy the helicopter.”

There has been no suggestion from any other Ukrainian officials about Russian involvement in this crash. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the incident as a “tragedy.”

A CNN team on the ground in the Kyiv region noted gray skies and very low visibility.

The helicopter that crashed was a Eurocopter EC225 “Super Puma,” the CNN crew confirmed after seeing remnants of flight manuals among the debris.

The State Emergency Services of Ukraine (SES) said that this helicopter “was repeatedly involved in the transportation of personnel to emergency sites.”

An SES statement posted on Facebook added: “The crew of the aircraft was trained to perform tasks in difficult conditions and had the required number of hours of flying time.”

It landed near a kindergarten and a residential building, Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, said earlier.

“At the time of the tragedy, there were children and the staff in the kindergarten. At the moment, everyone was evacuated,” he wrote on Telegram.

Paramedics, the police and firefighters are responding at the scene, Kuleba added.

In a written statement, President Zelensky called the crash “a terrible tragedy,” adding that he has ordered the Ukrainian Security Services to “to find out all the circumstances.”

Zelensky ended his statement by saying the interior ministry officials were “true patriots of Ukraine. May they rest in peace! May all those whose lives were taken this black morning rest in peace!”

The officials are thought to be the most senior government figures to have died since Russia invaded Ukraine last February.

Monastyrsky, 42, was a lawyer by training. According to a biography published on the ministry’s website, he spent some years teaching law and management at a university in his home town of Khmelnytskyi, before deciding to turn “from theory to practice” and become involved in politics.

He worked on reforming Ukrainian law enforcement following the 2014 Euromaidan revolution, rose through the ranks and was appointed interior minister in July 2021.

Last year, Monastyrsky accompanied a CNN crew on a visit to abandoned Russian military positions in Chernobyl.

News of Monastyrsky’s death sparked a wave of reactions from many of his counterparts and other foreign leaders.

“Saddened by the tragic death of the Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky. Thoughts for all the victims of this terrible event that occurred near a kindergarten, for the children and the families,” French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly described Monastyrsky as “a true friend of the UK.”

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, also paid tribute to Monastyrsky as “a great friend of the EU.” Michel tweeted that the European Union joins Ukraine “in grief following the tragic helicopter accident in Brovary.”

Yenin, also 42, served as Ukraine’s deputy prosecutor general and deputy minister of foreign affairs before becoming Monastyrsky’s first deputy in September 2021, according to the ministry’s website.

Lubkovychis was 33 and, like the other two men, was also appointed to the ministry in 2021.

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World

‘Russia’s Rambo’ — once a Putin favorite — says he’d now fight for Ukraine and feels ‘nothing but hatred’ for his home country

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CNN
 — 

Russian actor Artur Smolyaninov was the star of one of President Vladimir Putin’s favorite films – about a Soviet unit making a last-ditch stand against Afghan insurgents. Now he is classified as a “foreign agent” and faces criminal investigation.

Smolyaninov was the hero of “Devyataya Rota” (The 9th Company), a Russian feature film that came out in 2005. He played the part of the last soldier standing during a battle in Afghanistan, which Soviet forces occupied for a decade. He was often described as Russia’s Rambo, a nod to the US action movies starring Sylvester Stallone.

Much has changed since then. Smolyaninov is in exile and in a recent interview said he was prepared to fight on Ukraine’s side and kill Russian soldiers. He told Novaya Gazeta last week: “I feel nothing but hatred to the people on the other (Russian) side of the frontline. And if I were there on the ground, there’d be no mercy.”

He said a former colleague had gone to fight on the Russian side. “Would I shoot him? Without any doubt! Do I keep my options to go fight for Ukraine open? Absolutely! This is the only way for me. And if I were to go to this war, I would only fight for Ukraine.”

A few days later, the Russian Ministry of Justice classified the actor as a foreign agent.

Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Russia’s Investigative Committee, also ordered that a criminal case be opened against Smolyaninov.

Smolyaninov has been highly critical of the campaign in Ukraine. He recently recorded a Soviet-era song – Temnaya Noch (Dark Night) – with reworked lyrics.

It included the lines: “Take a look, occupier, How maternity homes are without power, How children sit in shelters. And how books are drowned. The Russian night Has reached schools and hospitals.”

Another verse referred to “a bunker, Where one Führer hides, And a bald little cook, Feeds the Fuhrer from a spoon.” The cook was a reference to Yevgeny Prigozhin, who runs the Wagner private military company and won catering contracts from the Kremlin.

When he first spoke out against the war last summer, Smolyaninov, who at the time he was in Russia, told an interviewer it was “a catastrophe, everything collapsed: ashes, smoke, stench, tears.”

Last October, a Moscow district court imposed a fine of 30,000 rubles (430 US dollars) against Smolyaninov on charges of discrediting the Russian armed forces. That same month, he left Russia and is thought to be in Latvia at present.

Smolyaninov recounted how he’d crossed the Russian border into Norway. “I crossed the border on foot… You just walk 30 meters and there are completely different people in front of you. They are so soft. Even the look is different.”

The film “Devyataya Rota” was so popular that Putin welcomed the actors and crew, including Smolyaninov to his residence outside Moscow in November 2005, where he put on a special showing of the movie.

The Kremlin said that after watching the film, Putin talked with director Fyodor Bondarchuk and the leading actors, including Smolyaninov.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported at the time that Putin declared that the film “takes the soul, you immerse yourself in the film.”

“The film is very strong, such a real serious thing about the war and people who found themselves in extreme conditions in this war and showed themselves very worthy,” Putin said at the time.

The Russian Justice Ministry has added a number of others to its list of foreign agents in recent days, including music critic Artemy Troitsky and several journalists.

“These people were put on the register under article 7 of Russian law on the control of the activities of persons under foreign influence,” according to Russian state news agency TASS.

It was also reported this weekend that two well-known theatrical actors had been fired from the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater for criticizing the war in Ukraine. Dmitry Nazarov and his wife Olga Vasilyeva were dismissed by the artistic director of the theater, Konstantin Khabensky, who accused the actors of “anti-Russian sentiments.”

The state news agency TASS confirmed the duo had been fired, without specifying a reason.

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