Month: April 2023

The Times, Ukraine isn’t ready. Bloomberg, Orban needs to go. Poland seizes Russian school. U/1
Topic 944

https://archive.ph/k30Ls#selection-833.8-833.13

More than 500 civilians are estimated to have died since violence broke out earlier this month between rival army factions

Former Sudanese prime minister Abdalla Hamdok said on Saturday that the worsening armed conflict in the African nation could prompt a civil war, which he said would be a “nightmare for the world.”

“God forbid if Sudan is to reach a point of civil war proper,” he said, speaking at an event in Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday. He added that he believed civil wars in Syria, Yemen, and Libya would be “small play” compared to what he fears might break out in Sudan. “I think it would be a nightmare for the world,” Hamdok explained.

Around 500 civilians are thought to have lost their lives since conflict broke out in the politically turbulent country on April 15, predominantly between army forces controlled by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and those controlled by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo – otherwise known as Hemedti – who is the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The primary dispute between both parties centers around the planned integration of the RSF into Sudan’s existing army.

Read more

US helps some citizens flee Sudan

Both warring sides had tentatively agreed to several truces, but none have firmly taken hold, as violence continues in the country’s capital, Khartoum – which has reported widespread outages of electricity, as well as food and water shortages. UN estimates suggest that some 75,000 people have been displaced following the outbreak of fighting, which has also led to foreign workers leaving the country en masse.

Hamdok added that he believes the conflict to be a “senseless war.” “There is nobody who is going to come out of this victorious. That is why it has to stop,” he remarked.

Hamdok was ousted from power in Sudan by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in October 2021, in what was another flashpoint amid the country’s fragile transition to democratic rule. He returned to government under power-sharing terms with al-Burhan’s army before opting to resign in January, amid claims by some demonstrators that Hamdok’s association with the army had only served to help rubber-stamp a military takeover.

Sudan was previously governed by authoritarian leader Omar al-Bashir between 1993 and 2019, before he too was removed from office after mass protests led to a military coup.

Napoli would have won first Serie A title since 1990 with a record six games to spare if they had beaten local rivals.

Ruling Colorado Party’s Santiago Pena takes on political veteran Efrain Alegre in presidential race.

City striker becomes first player in English top-flight football to score 50 goals in all competitions since 1931.

 

French retailer Auchan said on Sunday it was fully co-operating with the French justice authorities in a probe into business practices at its Russian arm.

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump were among president’s political punching bags on Saturday at annual Washington dinner

US President Joe Biden cracked jokes at the expense of his foes as he addressed what is considered to be one of his key political fragilities – his advancing age – during Saturday’s annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

“I believe in the first amendment, not just because my good friend Jimmy Madison wrote it,” the 80-year-old Biden – the oldest serving president in the history of the US – told an audience of Washington’s political and media elite. Madison, the fourth US president sometimes referred to as a ‘father’ of the US Constitution, died in 1836.

Biden continued: “Look, I get that age is a completely reasonable issue. It’s in everybody’s mind and by everyone, I mean the New York Times. Headline: ‘Biden’s advanced age is a big issue. Trump’s, however, is not.” 

Earlier this month, Biden confirmed that he is to seek re-election to the White House, in a race that may turn out to be a rematch of the contentious 2020 election campaign which pitted him against then-President Donald Trump, who is 76.

However, polling has indicated a sizable percentage of Americans have little appetite for a second Biden term – with many respondents citing his age as a major contributing factor. But, despite this, Biden refused to dance around the issue: “They say I’m ancient; they say I’m wise; they say I’m over the hill; Don Lemon would say ‘That’s a man in his prime!’” 

Read more

Biden unlikely to complete second term – GOP candidate

Former CNN anchor Lemon was fired earlier this month following several controversial on-air moments, including suggesting that another candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, 51-year-old Nikki Haley, “isn’t in her prime.” 

Biden also used the correspondents’ association dinner, traditionally presented as a tongue-in-cheek event designed to poke fun at the Washington establishment, to deliver a series of scathing remarks to a host of his more vocal opponents.

“I want everybody to have fun tonight,” Biden said. “But please be safe. If you find yourself disoriented or confused, it’s either you’re drunk or Marjorie Taylor Greene,” he said, referring to the far-right Republican congresswoman from Georgia.

Donald Trump, Biden’s chief political critic, didn’t escape his successor’s crosshairs as the incumbent joked that he’d been offered ten dollars to keep his speech brief: “That’s a switch – a president being offered hush money,” he quipped.

The black-tie dinner returned to the Washington calendar last year after it was postponed in both 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, Biden was the first US President to speak at the event in six years, after then-President Donald Trump repeatedly refused invitations to attend.

Lithuania’s Gitanas Nauseda said Kiev should not be admitted to the military alliance until its conflict with Moscow is over

Ukraine’s aspirations of NATO membership should not materialize while the country remains locked in a military conflict with Russia, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has said. He noted, however, that a “definite road map” should be developed by mid-summer for Kiev’s eventual accession.

In an interview with Italy’s La Repubblica published on Saturday, Nauseda said letting Ukraine join the US-led military bloc right now “would be too difficult.” The leadership in Kiev is also well aware of this fact, he added.

Instead, the alliance needs to “define stages and formulae of how to act after” the conflict is over, Nauseda continued. He expressed hope that this could be done during the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11 and 12, 2023.

He acknowledged that the issue of Ukraine’s possible accession “will be the most complicated element to deal with” during the event. According to the Lithuanian head of state, some member states are still reluctant to send “strong signals” to Ukraine. 

Last week, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius asserted that “this is now not the time to decide” on Ukraine’s possible future within NATO. Echoing the Lithuanian president, he said this issue could be “carefully” considered only after Kiev succeeds in “repelling this attack.” 

The decision should be made “with a cold head and hot heart, and not the other way round,” he stated.

Read more

Poland slams German stance on Ukraine’s NATO bid

Around the same time, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban tweeted “What?!” in response to an article reporting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s remarks in Kiev last Thursday.  

During a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, the military bloc’s chief said: “Ukraine’s rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic family. Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO.” Stoltenberg added that “over time, our support will help to make this possible.”

However, he stopped short of offering any timeframe for Ukraine’s possible accession to the alliance.

Commenting on Stoltenberg’s remarks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stressed that preventing Ukraine from joining NATO remains one of the key goals of Russia’s military campaign against its neighbor. 

Explaining the need for military action against Ukraine last February, President Vladimir Putin cited the country’s possible accession to the alliance as one of the reasons for the move.

A rollercoaster match ended with Ding Liren becoming the first-ever Chinese title holder

China’s grandmaster Ding Liren prevailed over Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi on Sunday in a tiebreak to win what has been hailed as perhaps the most exciting world chess championship match in a generation. 

With the score deadlocked at a 7-7 tie after 14 grueling classical games – the final of which on Saturday clocked in at six and a half hours – the action shifted to a series of four shorter games to break the tie. Had a winner still not emerged, a series of two ‘blitz’ games would have ensued.  

The first three games ended in a draw, with neither player able to muster significant winning chances. In game four, however, Ding managed to seize the initiative with the black pieces. Nepomniachtchi, however, fought back and double-edged play followed. The Russian missed an opportunity to steer the game toward a clear draw, and so it went to a final ‘blitz’ tiebreak.

When nothing subsequently materialized for Nepomniachtchi, he appeared to choose a perpetual check line, a technique whereby a player repeats a series of checks on the opponent’s king but without being able to make any progress.

With less than two minutes on his clock and a world title on the line, Ding declined the repetition and played an unexpected and brave move that pinned his own rook to his king – but in doing so deprived his opponent of further checks. With two passed pawns as compensation for a less safe king, Ding played with razor-sharp precision and managed to push his pawns while depriving Nepomniachtchi of counterplay.

After Ding successfully parried one final shot of desperation from Nepomniachtchi, the Russian extended his hand in resignation. A stunned Ding, overcome with emotion, was unable to stand up from the board.

Read more

World chess title match headed for dramatic tiebreak

Ding’s journey to becoming China’s first-ever world chess champion and the first new title holder since 2013 was a most improbable one. He only qualified for the Candidates Tournament, the round-robin that determines who takes on the defending champion, after Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin was removed. However, because pandemic restrictions in China had left him short of the required number of rated games, he was forced to embark on a punishing schedule of tournaments hastily arranged by the Chinese Chess Federation.

Among the candidates, meanwhile, Ding finished second – to Nepomniachtchi – and was only catapulted into the championship match when five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen opted not to defend his title.

The absence of Carlsen, who has dominated professional chess for the last decade, was initially seen as diminishing the stature of the match. However, as Ding and Nepomniachtchi traded blow for blow and thrilled viewers with tense and topsy-turvy games, the encounter was increasingly seen as what former world champion Viswanathan Anand called “a match for the ages.”

Nepomniachtchi, who was making his second straight appearance in the world title match after squaring off with Carlsen in Dubai in 2021, saw his bid to join a long list of Soviet and Russian world champions fall agonizingly short. Ding will pocket €1.2 million (more than $1.3 million) for prevailing in the match, while Nepomniachtchi, as runner-up, will take home €800,000.