Lithuania’s Gitanas Nauseda declares victory in presidential election
Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte conceded defeat in the final round of the Baltic nation’s presidential election. Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda has declared victory in the final round of the Baltic nation’s presidential election, as partial results showed him far ahead in the two-way race against Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. Ballots from nearly 90 percent of polling stations on Sunday showed Nauseda, 60, winning roughly three-quarters of the vote, followed by Simonyte, 49, from the ruling centre-right Homeland Union party. Simonyte conceded defeat in comments to reporters and congratulated Nauseda. This is the second time Nauseda and Simonyte have competed in a presidential run-off election. In 2019, Nauseda beat Simonyte with 66 percent of the vote. As president, Nauseda has a semi-executive role, which includes heading the armed forces, chairing the defence and national security policy body and representing the country at NATO and European Union summits. The former senior economist with the Swedish banking group SEB, who is not affiliated with any party, won the first round of the election on May 12 with 44 percent of the votes, short of the 50 percent he needed for an outright victory. Simonyte was the only woman out of eight candidates in the first round and came second with 20 percent. Both Nauseda and Simonyte support increasing defence spending to at least 3 percent of Lithuania’s gross domestic product, from the 2.75 percent planned for this year, in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Like other Baltic nations, Lithuania worries it could be Moscow’s next target. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has said he has no intention of attacking any NATO countries. The uneasy relationship between Nauseda and Simonyte has also caught the limelight in foreign policy debates, most notably on Lithuania’s relations with China. Bilateral ties turned tense in 2021, when Vilnius allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy under the island’s name, a departure from the common diplomatic practice of using the name of the capital, Taipei, to avoid angering Beijing. China, which considers self-ruled Taiwan a part of its territory, downgraded diplomatic relations with Vilnius and blocked its exports, leading some Lithuanian politicians to urge a restoration of relations for the sake of the economy. Adblock test (Why?)
UN estimates more than 670 killed in Papua New Guinea landslide
Authorities are trying to establish evacuation centres on safer ground on either side of the massive swath of debris. The International Organization for Migration has increased its estimate of the death toll from a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to more than 670. Serhan Aktoprak, the chief of the United Nations agency’s mission in the South Pacific island nation, said on Sunday the revised death toll was based on calculations by Yambali village and Enga provincial officials that more than 150 homes had been buried by Friday’s landslide. (Al Jazeera) The previous estimate had been 60 homes. “They are estimating that more than 670 people [are] under the soil at the moment,” Aktoprak said. “The situation is terrible with the land still sliding. The water is running and this is creating a massive risk for eveyrone involved,” added Aktoprak, who is based in capital, Port Moresby. Local officials had initially put the death toll on Friday at 100 or more. Only five bodies and a leg of a sixth victim had been recovered by Sunday, while seven people, including a child, had received medical treatment. Meanwhile, emergency responders were moving survivors of the massive landslide to safer ground as tonnes of unstable earth and tribal warfare, which is rife in the country’s highlands, threatened the rescue effort. Damage to infrastructure also made it more difficult for rescue and relief efforts to reach the area, according to Justine McMahon, a CARE Australia humanitarian group representative in PNG. “The ground is quite unstable, making it difficult for rescuers to get in. The main road has also been cut off by about 200 metres [656 feet], hampering relief,” she told Al Jazeera. Car-sized boulders Heavy earth-moving equipment are yet to arrive at the mountainous location 600km (370 miles) northwest of Port Moresby. At some points, the landslide – a mix of car-sized boulders, uprooted trees and churned-up earth – was thought to be 8 metres (26 feet) deep. Aid agencies said the catastrophe had effectively wiped out the village’s livestock, food gardens and sources of clean water. Government authorities were trying to establish evacuation centres on safer ground on either side of the massive swath of debris that covers an area the size of three to four football fields. “The land hasn’t settled yet,” McMahon told Al Jazeera. Besides the blocked highway, convoys that have transported relief have faced risks related to tribal fighting in one village about halfway along the route. PNG soldiers were providing security for the convoys. The government is expected to decide by Tuesday whether it will officially request more international help. The United States and Australia, a near neighbour and PNG’s most generous provider of foreign aid, are among governments that have publicly stated their readiness to do more to help the responders. Adblock test (Why?)
UK’s Sunak promises mandatory national service for 18-year-olds if elected
Ruling Conservative Party says it will bring back national service if it wins the July 4 general election. Eighteen-year-olds will have to perform a mandatory national service if the Conservative Party is voted back to power in the United Kingdom’s July 4 election, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced. The UK has “generations of young people who have not had the opportunities they deserve”, and this measure would help unite society in an “increasingly uncertain world”, Sunak said on Saturday. The prime minister’s plan would entail young people being given a choice between a full-time placement in the armed forces for 12 months or spending one weekend a month for a year volunteering in their community, the party said. The announcement came as Conservatives gear up for elections, heightening its attacks on the opposition Labour Party. The UK had national service between 1947 and 1960, with men between the ages of 17 and 21 serving in the armed forces for 18 months. The British Army has reduced in size from 100,000 in 2010 to nearly 73,000 as of January 2024, the BBC reported. The Conservative Party said the placement with the armed forces would help the teenagers “learn and take part in logistics, cybersecurity, procurement or civil response operations”. The community service option would entail helping local fire, police and the UK’s National Health Service, as well as charities tackling loneliness in elderly, isolated people. The programme would cost approximately 2.5 billion pounds ($3.2bn) a year, BBC reported. A royal commission, with experts from military and civil society, would be created to design the national service programme. The first pilot for the programme would open applications in September 2025. Following that, the Conservatives would introduce a “National Service Act” to make the measures compulsory by the end of the next parliamentary term. The Conservatives have insisted the scheme does not amount to conscription, the Guardian reported. “This new, mandatory national service will provide life-changing opportunities for our young people, offering them the chance to learn real-world skills, do new things and contribute to their community and our country,” Sunak said. “The consequences of uncertainty are clear. No plan means a more dangerous world. You, your family and our country are all at risk if Labour win,” he added. The Labour Party called the announcement “another desperate unfunded commitment” and said the foreign minister, David Cameron, introduced a similar scheme – the National Citizen Service – when he was prime minister. A Labour spokesperson said: “This is not a plan – it’s a review which could cost billions and is only needed because the Tories hollowed out the armed forces to their smallest size since Napoleon.” “Britain has had enough of the Conservatives, who are bankrupt of ideas and have no plans to end 14 years of chaos. It’s time to turn the page and rebuild Britain with Labour.” Several European countries, including Sweden, Norway and Denmark, already have some form of conscription for their armed forces. Adblock test (Why?)
Man claiming to be Israeli soldier arrested for anti-Muslim abuse in UK
NewsFeed A man who described himself as a soldier with the Israeli army was arrested for ‘racially aggravated assault’ after verbally abusing a Muslim woman at a London train station. Witnesses say he pulled a woman’s headscarf, triggering the altercation. Published On 26 May 202426 May 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Exotic dancer drama, Anora, wins Cannes top prize
Anora, a darkly funny and touching drama about a young exotic dancer who becomes involved with a Russian oligarch’s son, has won the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or. The film by US director Sean Baker beat the 21 other films in the competition lineup, including entries by established directors like Francis Ford Coppola and David Cronenberg. Jury members including US actor Lily Gladstone and Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda have said they are well aware their decision could make or break a director’s career. As head of the jury, Barbie director Greta Gerwig praised Anora as an “incredible, human and humane film that captured our hearts”. Baker’s win has made him one of the leading voices of American indie cinema. He dedicated the film to all sex workers. “This literally has been my singular goal for the past 30 years, so I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with the rest of my life,” he said, while also thanking the film’s star, Mikey Madison, as well as his wife and producer. Madison plays the character of the title, who meets Vanya, the immature son of a Russian oligarch with seemingly unlimited money, while working at a strip club. Vanya, played by Mark Eydelshteyn, hires Anora to be his girlfriend for a week, deciding on a whim to take his private plane to party in Las Vegas, where they get married. That decision upsets his disapproving parents so much that they jet over from Russia to ensure he gets an annulment. US director Sean Baker poses during a photocall for the film, Anora, at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France [Loic Venance/AFP] The second-place Grand Prix went to All We Imagine as Light, the first Indian entry in 30 years. It wowed critics with its poetic monsoon-set portrayal of two women who have migrated to Mumbai to work as nurses. Emilia Perez also won the third-place Jury Prize for its French director, Jacques Audiard. And a devastating Iranian film about a family torn apart by the country’s recent women-led protests, The Seed of the Sacred Fig was given a special jury prize for “drawing attention to unsustainable injustice”. Its director Mohammad Rasoulof, 51, fled Iran to avoid a lengthy prison sentence just before the festival. Rasoulof said his heart was with the film’s crew, “still under the pressure of the secret services back in Iran”. “I am also very sad, deeply sad, to see the disaster experienced by my people every day … the Iranian people live under a totalitarian regime,” he said. Indian director Payal Kapadia, centre, celebrates on stage with her cast Indian actress Chhaya Kadam, left, Indian actress Divya Prabha, second left, and Indian actress Kani Kusruti, right, after she was awarded the Grand Prix for the film, All We Imagine as Light, during the Closing Ceremony at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes [Christophe Simon/AFP] The 77th edition of the festival on the French Riviera, which began on May 14, saw several highly charged feminist and political movies. A trans woman won best actress for the first time, as Karla Sofia Gascon took the award for the audacious musical Emilia Perez, in which she plays a Mexican narco boss who has a sex change. The jury shared it between Gascon and her co-stars Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez – saying they were rewarding the “harmony of sisterhood” – though only Gascon was at the ceremony. She dedicated it to “all the trans people who are suffering”. “We all have the opportunity to change for the better, to be better people,” she said. “If you have made us suffer, it is time for you also to change.” Meanwhile, there were fewer meaty roles for men this year. But Jesse Plemons took the prize for Yorgos Lanthimos’s bizarro series of short stories, Kinds of Kindness, though he was not present to accept it. Adblock test (Why?)
At least 24 people, including children, killed in a fire in India’s Gujarat
The fire broke out at a family entertainment venue in Gujarat’s Rajkot district. At least 24 people, including many children, have died in a fire that broke out at a family entertainment venue in the western Indian state of Gujarat, a government official said. With rescue efforts continuing at the scene on Saturday evening in the Rajkot district, the local mayor told the Reuters news agency that the death toll was expected to rise. “Our focus is on rescue operations and saving lives. We will ensure strict action is taken against the people who are responsible for this incident,” Mayor Nayana Pedhadiya said. More than 300 people were in the two-storey structure at the TRP amusement and theme park when the blaze broke out as it was a holiday weekend, Rajkot fire officer Ilesh Kher told reporters. “People got trapped as a temporary structure at the facility collapsed near the entrance, making it difficult for the people to come out,” he said. “The flames spread rapidly because of its flammable material,” he added. Television images showed a massive fire engulfing the TRP game zone and thick clouds of smoke emanating from the site. The entire structure was gutted in the blaze. A police official at the local civil hospital said some of the bodies were also charred beyond recognition. Meanwhile, the district’s chief fire officer, IV Kher, said firefighters had almost brought the fire under control. “The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained,” he told Reuters. Gujarat Chief Minster Bhupendra Patel said that an investigation into the incident had been handed to a Special Investigation Team (SIT), and television reports added that two people had been detained by Rajkot police in connection with the incident. Gujarat is the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a post on the social media platform X, Modi said that he was “extremely distressed by the fire mishap in Rajkot” and added that the local administration was working to provide assistance to those affected. Adblock test (Why?)
Hamas official rejects talk of new negotiations with Israel
Hamas official Osama Hamdan has said that there is no need for new negotiations with Israel, amid Israeli media reports that there is an intention to renew Gaza truce talks. In a phone interview with Al Jazeera Arabic on Saturday, Hamdan said that the immediate requirement is for Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and for all aggression to stop. “We do not need new negotiations,” he said, adding that Hamas has already agreed to a ceasefire proposal that Israel has rejected. “There is no guarantee that it [Israel] will accept new proposals to go to negotiations … If there are no serious guarantees, this means giving Israel more time to continue the aggression,” he added. Earlier this month, Hamas approved a proposal for a ceasefire in the seven-month Gaza war put forward by mediators Qatar and Egypt although Israel said the proposal falls short of its demands. On Saturday, according to Israeli media, officials involved in the negotiations said the Israeli government intended to renew talks for a Gaza captive release deal the in coming days, after a meeting with mediators in Paris. According to the reports, Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea had agreed to a new framework for the stalled negotiations with mediators — CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The new offer was drafted by the Israeli negotiating team and contains possible solutions to points of disagreement in previous discussions. But defence ministry officials believe that even if Israel agrees to a temporary ceasefire, it will be able to return to war again when needed after months. Hamas has insisted that it is not willing to accept only a temporary ceasefire, but that an end to the fighting has to be permanent. Israel has insisted that the war will not end before its goals are met, including the total defeat of Hamas. However, Israel is coming under growing international pressure to stop and is increasingly isolated. Among recent blows for Israel are an International Court of Justice order for it to stop its Rafah offensive, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court seeking arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and a decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognise Palestine. Rafah crossing Meanwhile, Washington said top diplomat Antony Blinken had also spoken with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz about new efforts to achieve a ceasefire and reopen the border crossing in Gaza’s far-southern city of Rafah. Al-Qahera News said Cairo was also continuing “its efforts to reactivate ceasefire negotiations and exchange prisoners and detainees”. It added that Egypt was exerting “all kinds of pressure on Israel to urgently let in the aid and fuel” stranded at the Rafah crossing after its closure by Israel earlier this month. But a Hamas official denied Israeli media reports that Gaza ceasefire talks would resume in Cairo on Tuesday. “There is no date,” the unnamed Hamas official told the Reuters news agency when asked about the reports. Talks aimed at reaching a hostage release and truce deal for Gaza ground to a halt this month after Israel launched a military operation in Rafah. At least 35,903 people have been killed and 80,420 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from Hamas’s attack stands at 1,139, with dozens still held captive. On Saturday, thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv to demand urgent government action to bring home captives held in Gaza, after the bodies of several were retrieved. Another protest, calling for the resignation of Netanyahu and an early election, was also held nearby. Despite the immense pressure, Netanyahu and his government have so far failed to strike a deal with Hamas, with many critics doubting their desire to reach a deal. Adblock test (Why?)
Colombia’s ex-President Uribe charged with witness tampering
Uribe, who was president from 2002 to 2010, faces up to 12 years in prison for witness tampering and bribing witnesses. Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has been charged with witness tampering and bribery, becoming the first head of the state to face a criminal trial in the Latin American nation. The charges arise from an investigation into Uribe’s alleged ties to right-wing paramilitary groups. The 71-year-old leader is accused of “offering cash or other benefits” to witnesses to discredit a political opponent who was digging into his family ties to the armed groups. If convicted, Uribe faces up to 12 years in prison. Uribe, who was president from 2002 to 2010, has denied any wrongdoing and has accused Colombia’s chief prosecutor’s office of “political vengeance”. There are wiretapped phone conversations in which the former president can be heard discussing with one of his lawyers efforts to flip two former paramilitary fighters who were set to testify against him. Uribe said his conversations were intercepted illegally. “I never sought to look for witnesses. I wanted to defend my reputation,” Uribe said during the virtual hearing. Judge Sandra Heredia rejected his request to have the case scrapped. The case dates to 2012 Uribe said on Friday he felt hurt for being the first former president to have to defend himself in court. The matter dates to 2012, when Uribe, then a senator, filed a complaint against left-wing senator Ivan Cepeda, whom he accused of hatching a plot to falsely link him to paramilitary groups. But the Supreme Court decided against investigating Cepeda, instead turning its sights on Uribe. The investigation against Uribe began in 2018 and has had numerous twists and turns, with several attorneys general seeking to close the case. It has gained new impetus under Attorney General Luz Camargo, who took over in March and was chosen by Colombia’s first-ever left-wing president, Gustavo Petro – historically a foe of Uribe. Uribe, who remains a prominent voice on Colombia’s right, was known for being tough on the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) fighters and strongly opposed the historic 2016 peace accord that saw the Marxist rebels disarm. Adblock test (Why?)
Rescuers search rubble after over 300 buried in Papua New Guinea landslide
Landslide blocked highway access to affected communities making helicopters the easiest way to reach the disaster zone. Rescue teams have arrived at the site of an enormous landslide in Papua New Guinea‘s remote highlands, helping villagers search for hundreds of people feared dead under towering mounds of rubble and mud. “At this time, we are still searching for bodies who are buried by the massive landslide,” community leader Mark Ipuia told Reuters news agency on Saturday, adding that “more than 300” villagers may be entombed. So far, only four bodies have been pulled from the debris, a United Nations official based in the capital, Port Moresby, was quoted as saying. The disaster hit Kaokalam village in Enga province early on Friday morning when many villagers were at home asleep, according to government officials. According to Papua New Guinea media, at least 1,182 houses were also buried in the landslide in the area located about 600km (370 miles) northwest of Port Moresby. “There are a lot of houses under the debris that cannot be reached,” said UN official Serhan Aktoprak, who estimated as many as 3,000 people called the hillside settlement home. “The land continues to slide and move, and that makes it dangerous for people to operate,” he told AFP news agency. While the area is not densely populated, humanitarian agency CARE said that it is worried that the death toll could be disproportionately high. The landslide has also blocked highway access, making helicopters the only way to reach the area. The emergency team of medics, including military and police, also faced difficulty in reaching the area due to rugged terrain and damage to major roads. In all, more than six villages had been affected by the landslide in the province’s Mulitaka region, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said on Saturday. “Australia’s High Commission in Port Moresby is in close contact with PNG authorities for further assessments on the extent of the damage and casualties,” a DFAT spokesperson said in a statement. Social media footage posted by villager Ninga Role showed people clambering over rocks, uprooted trees and mounds of dirt searching for survivors. Women could be heard weeping in the background. Prime Minister James Marape has said disaster officials, the Defence Force and the Department of Works and Highways were assisting with relief and recovery efforts. The South Pacific county is vulnerable to natural disasters, including heavy rain and flooding, as well as earthquakes. In March, at least 23 people were killed by a landslide in a nearby province. Residents look into a demolished house at the site of a landslide at Yambali village in the region of Maip Mulitaka following the deadly disaster [AFP] Adblock test (Why?)
Some 45,000 Rohingya flee amid allegations of beheading, burning in Myanmar
UN rights chief Volker Turk urges Bangladesh, other countries ‘to provide effective protection’ to the latest refugees. Escalating violence in conflict-torn Myanmar’s Rakhine State has forced another 45,000 minority Rohingya to flee, the United Nations warned, amid allegations of beheadings, killings and burnings of property. Clashes have rocked Rakhine State since the Arakan Army (AA) rebels attacked forces of the ruling military government in November, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since a military coup in 2021. The fighting has caught in the middle the Muslim minority group, long considered outsiders by the majority Buddhist residents, either from the government or the rebel side. The AA says it is fighting for more autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine population in the state, which is also home to an estimated 600,000 members of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, who have chosen to remain in the country. More than a million Rohingya have taken shelter in neighbouring Bangladesh after fleeing Rakhine, including hundreds of thousands in 2017 during an earlier crackdown by the military that is now the subject of a United Nations genocide court case. UN rights office spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell told reporters in Geneva on Friday that tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced in recent days by the fighting in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships. “An estimated 45,000 Rohingya have reportedly fled to an area on the Naf River near the border with Bangladesh, seeking protection,” she said, as she urged the protection of civilians according to international law. UN rights chief Volker Turk was urging Bangladesh and other countries “to provide effective protection to those seeking it, in line with international law, and to ensure international solidarity with Bangladesh in hosting Rohingya refugees in Myanmar”, she said. But Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, said that with more than a million Rohingya already in the country, the government has been reluctant to take more, leaving the latest refugees stuck on the Myanmar side of the border. ‘Beheadings’ James Rodehaver, head of the rights office’s Myanmar team, described the horrifying situation many were fleeing from. He said his team had received testimonies and seen satellite images, online videos and pictures indicating that Buthidaung town had been “largely burned”. “We have received information indicating that the burning did start on May 17 … two days after the military had retreated from the town … and the Arakan Army claimed to have taken full control of the village.” One survivor had described seeing dozens of dead bodies as he fled Buthidaung, while another had said he was among tens of thousands who fled the town only to find themselves blocked by the Arakan Army on the road west towards Maungdaw town. Other survivors also said AA members had abused them and extorted money from them as they tried to make their way to Rohingya villages south of the town. In the weeks leading up to the burning of Buthidaung, Rodehaver said the rights office had documented renewed attacks on Rohingya civilians by both the AA and the military in northern Rakhine, including through air strikes. The team had documented “at least four cases of beheadings”, he said, adding that they had determined with a high level of confidence that those were carried out by the AA. There have also been previous allegations of Rohingya being used as human shields. Al Jazeera’s Chowdhury, said the Rohingya were “caught in the middle”. “They are in a precarious situation,” he said, adding that recent Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar had told him that both the AA and the military have been trying to recruit them to fight. “They are threatened that if they don’t join, their villages would be burned,” he said. Adblock test (Why?)