Month: August 2022

Ukraine Urges New Sanctions Amid Power Plant Shelling Worries

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for fresh sanctions against Russia’s nuclear sector amid concerns about shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.  Zelenskyy, in an address late Monday, warned of a potential “catastrophe” that would threaten other countries in the region.  “If now the world does not show strength and decisiveness to defend one nuclear power station, it will mean that the world has lost,” Zelenskyy said.  Both Russia and Ukraine have accused the other side of firing weapons near the facility.  That continued Monday with a Russia-installed official in Enerhodar saying Ukrainian artillery strikes landed near …

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Far-Right Italian Leader Meloni Rides Popular Wave in Polls 

With a message that blends Christianity, motherhood and patriotism, Giorgia Meloni is riding a wave of popularity that next month could see her become Italy’s first female prime minister and its first far-right leader since World War II. Even though her Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots, Meloni has sought to dispel concerns about its legacy, saying voters have grown tired of such discussions. Still, there are nagging signs that such a legacy can’t be shaken off so easily: Her party’s symbol includes an image of a tricolored flame, borrowed from a neo-fascist party formed shortly after the end …

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Al-Qaida Affiliate Claims It Killed Four Russian Mercenaries in Mali

Al-Qaida’s affiliate in Mali claimed Monday it had killed four mercenaries from Russia’s private military firm, the Wagner Group, in an ambush around Bandiagara in central Mali. The media unit for Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), said in a statement its fighters clashed with the mercenaries Saturday in the Mopti region, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist statements. Wagner has no public representation and could not be reached for comment. Mali is struggling to stem an Islamist insurgency that took root after a 2012 uprising and has since spread to neighboring countries, killing …

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Cameroon Blames War in Ukraine for Food Price Spikes

Officials in Cameroon are urging people to eat local foods instead of imports, following protests over shortages and price spikes caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.   President Paul Biya last week ordered ministers to explain to the public that Russia’s Black Sea blockade, not local taxes, has caused a nearly 60% increase in prices for fertilizer and imported foods.    Hundreds of people, a majority of them women, listened to explanations offered by government officials dispatched to the Mfoundi market in the capital Yaounde.   Harouna Nyandji Mgbatou, the top official in Yaounde’s first district, called on …

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South Africa’s Defense Minister in Russia for Security Conference 

South Africa’s Defense Minister Thandi Modise has arrived in Russia for a Moscow-hosted conference on international security. The visit comes amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and as Russian forces there are occupying Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. It also comes just days after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Africa in part to try to win more African support against Russia’s invasion. Despite South Africa repeatedly proclaiming its neutrality in the Russia/Ukraine war, several analysts say Modise’s attendance at the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security shows the country is siding with Russia. “We have not seen …

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Boredom, Loneliness Plague Ukrainian Youth Near Front Line

Anastasiia Aleksandrova doesn’t even look up from her phone when the thunder of nearby artillery booms through the modest home the 12-year-old shares with her grandparents on the outskirts of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine. With no one her age left in her neighborhood and classes only online since Russia’s invasion, video games and social media have taken the place of the walks and bike rides she once enjoyed with friends who have since fled. “She communicates less and goes out walking less. She usually stays at home playing games on her phone,” Anastasiia’s grandmother, Olena Aleksandrova, 57, said of the …

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New Study Reveals Britain’s Health Inequalities

People who live in the poorest regions of England are diagnosed with serious illnesses earlier and die sooner than their counterparts in more affluent regions, according to a new study. The Health Foundation study, published Monday, found that “A 60-year-old woman in the poorest areas of England has a level of ‘diagnosed illness’ equivalent to that of a 76-year-old woman in the wealthiest areas . . . While a 60-year-old man in the poorest areas of England will on average have a level of diagnosed illness equivalent to that of a 70- year-old man in the wealthiest areas.” The Health …

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