Month: September 2022

More than 1,300 people have been arrested at demonstrations across Russia against President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a partial mobilization of civilians to fight in Ukraine, a police monitoring group said Wednesday.   The OVD-Info monitoring group counted at least 1,332 people detained at rallies in 38 cities across the country after Putin’s morning address to the nation. The protests were the largest in Russia since demonstrations that broke out following the announcement of Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine in February. AFP journalists in the center of the Russian capital, Moscow, said at least 50 people were detained by police …

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Britain pledged on Wednesday to cap wholesale electricity and gas costs for businesses at less than half the market rate from next month, helping relieve the pressure of soaring energy costs but adding to the government’s fast-rising spending. Wholesale prices for electricity will be capped at about 211 pounds ($239) per megawatt hour (MWh) and for gas at 75 pounds per MWh, compared to forecast market rates of 600 pounds and 180 pounds respectively. “We have stepped in to stop businesses collapsing, protect jobs and limit inflation,” finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng said. Wholesale gas and electricity prices in Europe surged …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday the partial mobilization of his country’s military reserves in a move that follows Ukrainian gains in a counteroffensive in northeastern Ukraine. Putin said in a televised address the mobilization is necessary to protect Russia’s homeland and sovereignty. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military would be calling up 300,000 reservists. Putin said the West is trying to weaken and destroy Russia, and that his country will “use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people.” He also reiterated Russia’s goal in its now seven-month-old invasion of Ukraine is to …

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The global consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were in the spotlight Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly, as the annual debate got underway. Leaders spoke of the urgency to get fertilizer, in particular, to the world’s farmers at a reasonable price and in time for the planting season, which in some parts of the world has started already. “Without action now, the global fertilizer shortage will quickly morph into a global food shortage,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of what could lie ahead next year. He said there are reports of farmers in West Africa and other regions cultivating fewer …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s surprise admission at last week’s summit in Uzbekistan that China had “questions and concerns” about what was happening in Ukraine offered the first clue that Beijing is increasingly worried about the war.    “You’re talking about huge investments either invested by China directly or with China serving as contractors,” said China expert Victor Gao, citing damages to China-invested shipbuilding projects, iron and steel mills, highways and other infrastructure projects.  What China may have thought would be a quickly fought “military exercise” has turned into a devastating war that has damaged tens of billions of dollars of …

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After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, several nations that have long had a British monarch as their head of state are pondering charting a new course to become republics. In the Americas, this includes Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica and the Bahamas, following the decision by Barbados to shed the monarchy earlier this year. Republicanism has also been on the rise in Australia, where a vote on leaving the monarchy could be held in coming years, according to some experts. But what about in Canada, a culturally diverse nation with a substantial proportion of French speakers? Observers say the …

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