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Reactions abroad to Russia’s presidential election

Reactions abroad to Russia’s presidential election

FOLLOWING are reactions from foreign governments and officials to Russia's presidential election, which handed Vladimir Putin a landslide win and another six-year term in office, according to first official results. WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON "The elections are obviously not free nor fair given how Mr. Putin has imprisoned political opponents and prevented others from running against him." UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY "These days, the Russian dictator is simulating another election. It is clear to everyone in the world that this figure, as it has already often happened in the course of history, is simply sick for power and is doing everything to…
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Biden jokes about Trump’s mental fitness at Washington’s Gridiron dinner

Biden jokes about Trump’s mental fitness at Washington’s Gridiron dinner

U.S. President Joe Biden took jabs at former President Donald Trump with jokes about the mental fitness of his election opponent during a speech at the Gridiron Club dinner, a Washington tradition that began in the 1880s. Biden's appearance at the dinner, in which politicians and journalists trade humorous barbs in a white-tie formal affair, was the first time a president has attended in person since former President Donald Trump in 2018. Biden, 81, recently clinched the Democratic Party's nomination for this year's presidential election and will face off against Trump, 77, in a rematch in November. Biden is trying…
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Netanyahu says Israel to press on with Rafah assault plan

Netanyahu says Israel to press on with Rafah assault plan

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would keep on with the military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, where aid agencies say famine is looming, while ceasefire talks were set to resume. Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting that Israel would push into Rafah, the last relatively safe place in the tiny, crowded Gaza enclave after more than five months of war, despite international pressure for Israel to avoid civilian casualties. "We will operate in Rafah. This will take several weeks, and it will happen," he said, without clarifying if he meant the assault would last for weeks or would begin…
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Thousands of Russians join Navalny-inspired ‘noon against Putin’ election protest

Thousands of Russians join Navalny-inspired ‘noon against Putin’ election protest

THOUSANDS of people turned up at polling stations in Russia and capitals across the world to take part in what the anti-Kremlin opposition said was a peaceful but symbolic protest against the re-election of President Vladimir Putin. In an action called "noon against Putin", Russians who oppose the veteran Kremlin leader went to their local polling station at midday to either spoil their ballot paper or to vote for one of the three candidates standing against Putin, who is widely expected to win by a landslide. Others had vowed to write the name of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last month in…
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U.N. agency in Gaza says one in three children under 2 is acutely malnourished

U.N. agency in Gaza says one in three children under 2 is acutely malnourished

ONE in three children under age 2 in northern Gaza is now acutely malnourished and famine is looming, the main U.N. agency operating in the Palestinian enclave said on Saturday. "Children's malnutrition is spreading fast and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza," the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said in a social media post. More than five months into Israel's air and ground campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas' attack on October 7, much of the enclave is in ruins with most of its 2.3 million population displaced and facing a major humanitarian crisis. Hospitals in Gaza…
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Jail terms of up to 7 years for 12 who stormed Hong Kong legislature

Jail terms of up to 7 years for 12 who stormed Hong Kong legislature

A Hong Kong court sentenced 12 people to jail terms from more than four years to nearly seven years in a high-profile rioting case linked to the storming of the city legislature during a pro-democracy protest in 2019. The incident was a pivotal moment in the months-long protests that embroiled the China-ruled city in the boldest populist uprising against Chinese Communist Party rule since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. Protesters broke into Hong Kong's legislative council building on July 1, 2019, smashing windows and streaming inside as public anger mounted over an extradition bill that would have allowed…
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Russia accuses Kyiv of election sabotage, Medvedev warns ‘traitors’

Russia accuses Kyiv of election sabotage, Medvedev warns ‘traitors’

RUSSIA accused Ukraine of using "terrorist activities" to try to disrupt its presidential election and former President Dmitry Medvedev decried as "traitors" the scattered protesters who have tried to set fire to voting booths and pour dye into ballot boxes. The Ukraine war has cast a shadow over voting in the election, which is all but certain to hand President Vladimir Putin six more years in the Kremlin but has been marked by sporadic acts of protest. On the second of three days of voting, the Russian foreign ministry said Kyiv had "intensified its terrorist activities" in connection with the election "to demonstrate its…
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Pope Francis reflects on his life and mortality in memoir

Pope Francis reflects on his life and mortality in memoir

POPE Francis, at 87 increasingly weak and wobbly, takes a trip down memory lane and speaks of his hopes for the Roman Catholic Church's future in a new book reflecting on his life and its intersection with major world events. "Life - My Story Through History," a memoir written with Italian journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona and published by HarperCollins, goes on sale on March 19, the 11th anniversary of Francis' installation as the first Latin American pope. While offering little that is new, the 230-page book is a breezy, conversational-style read starting with his childhood in Buenos Aires to today. It is…
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Hamas presents ceasefire proposal detailing exchange of hostages, prisoners

Hamas presents ceasefire proposal detailing exchange of hostages, prisoners

HAMAS has presented a Gaza ceasefire proposal to mediators and the U.S. that includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for freedom for Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving life sentences, according to a proposal seen by Reuters. Hamas said the initial release of Israelis would include women, children, elderly and ill hostages in return for the release of 700-1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, according to the proposal. The release of Israeli "female recruits" is included. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Thursday a new Gaza truce proposal presented by Hamas to mediators was still…
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Trump launched CIA covert influence operation against China

Trump launched CIA covert influence operation against China

TWO years into office, President Donald Trump authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to launch a clandestine campaign on Chinese social media aimed at turning public opinion in China against its government, according to former U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the highly classified operation. Three former officials told Reuters that the CIA created a small team of operatives who used bogus internet identities to spread negative narratives about Xi Jinping’s government while leaking disparaging intelligence to overseas news outlets. The effort, which began in 2019, has not been previously reported. During the past decade, China has rapidly expanded its global…
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