Wednesday, June 4, 2014
HUNDREDS DEAD AMONG REBELS IN EAST UKRAINE
As Kiev’s “anti-terrorist operation” continues in Eastern Ukraine, a spokesman for the operation said that government forces had killed more than 300 rebel fighters and injured some 500 in the past 24 hours in Sloviansk, Reuters reports. Russia’s Foreign Ministry Commissioner for Human Rights was quoted by Russian news agency Itar-Tass as saying that “the events in Luhansk and Sloviansk surpass all sad records,” referring to unconfirmed reports that “Right Sector finished off injured people at hospitals.”
After his meeting with elected Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Barack Obama said the two had discussed “ways the U.S. can help train Ukrainian law enforcement and military personnel,” Reuters wrote. Washington also announced an additional $23 million in aid.
Yesterday, Obama pledged an extra $1 billion in spending to boost American presence in Eastern Europe.
In an interview due to be broadcast tonight by French network TF1, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Washington of having “the most severe and aggressive policy,” arguing that unlike the U.S., Russia had “almost no troops abroad.” He however said that he was “always open for talks” with Obama.
25TH ANNIVERSARY OF TIANANMEN SQ. PROTESTS
Chinese authorities have deployed a massive security operation around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, on the 25th anniversary of the tragic crackdown on pro-democracy protesters which is believed to have killed hundreds of people. Amnesty International said in a statement that an estimated 66 people, including journalists and activists, had been arrested, questioned or had gone missing in recent weeks, in a bid to “prevent people from publicly remembering those who died in the crackdown.” According to the BBC, the Internet is also affected by the clampdown, as search terms related to the 1989 events have been blocked.
In its editorial, the authorities’ mouthpiece Global Times accuses the West and “Chinese exiles” of trying to “deal a heavy blow to the stability of Chinese society,” and claims that the censorship of the events was imposed “in a bid to wield a positive influence on the smooth development of reform and opening-up”
SNAPSHOT
Learn more about yesterday's elections in Syria here.
BOKO HARAM KILLS DOZENS IN NEW ATTACKS
At least 30 people were killed in fresh attack on villages in northern Nigeria launched by Boko Haram fighters, the BBC reports, citing local sources. In one of the attacks, witnesses said that they were ordered into a church compound before the gunmen opened fire on the crowd. Yesterday, a court martial found 15 senior military officers guilty of supplying information and ammunition to the Islamist group, with one top security source telling Nigerian newspaper Leadership “this was why many soldiers have been ambushed and killed.” The Nigerian military claimed later that the report was false and “unfortunate.”
OBAMA LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH AL-SISI
In a statement released this morning, the White House said it “looks forward to working with Abdelfattah al-Sisi,” after Egypt’s Presidential Election Commission published the final results of last week’s vote, which the former army leader won with 96.6%. Washington also expressed its concerns about “limits on freedom of peaceful assembly, association, and expression,” as the Egyptian Interior Ministry asked foreign tech firms to help it monitor social networks.
MASS GRAVE UNCOVERED IN IRELAND
Scandal and outrage are mounting in Ireland after a local historian discovered previously unreleased records suggesting that as many as 796 young children died at an orphanage for children of unwed mothers between 1925 and 1961, and were buried in a septic tank, The Irish Times reports. According to the records, the children, aged from 0 to 9, died of malnutrition and neglect, as well as illnesses like tuberculosis and pneumonia. Speaking to The Washington Post, historian Catherine Corless said of the mentalities at the time: “Families would be afraid of neighbors finding out, because to get pregnant out of marriage was the worst thing on Earth. It was the worst crime a woman could commit, even though a lot of the time it had been because of a rape.”
WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO
A trip down the 19 kilometers of Valiasr Street, the avenue that splits Tehran in two, is like walking through a metaphor for Iranian society, says Claudio Gallo on assignment forLa Stampa. "It is said that the rich and the poor are stuck together in the same boat, both victims of the crisis and sanctions that have strangled the country. But there are obvious differences — and that’s without even counting the wheeler-dealers who made serious money from the embargoes, and can now be seen cruising around the city in their Porsches."
Read the full article, Tehran Postcard: What Has Rouhani Changed In One Year?
MY GRAND-PÈRE’S WORLD
$25
Egypt's aviation ministry has announced tourists leaving Egypt from Cairo International Airport will now be required to pay a fee to actually be able to exit.
FAREWELL
“Godfather of Ecstasy” Sasha Shulgin took his final trip, at age 88.
WHAT’S A SPERM-BOT?
German researchers are developing a mini robot that can be programmed to travel in liquids, with potential for future use like drilling tiny holes in tissues inside the body, or fixing cancer cells. Another exciting possibility is targeted drug delivery, reports Discover magazine.
SOCCER GRANDPA
Street style soccer champion Sean Garnier recently blew away a group of young players, disguised as a grandpa, treating them to a expand=1] series of dribbles that you probably won’t see at the FIFA World Cup.
