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‘Brave, direct, anti-nationalist’: Why Zelenskyy is Moscow’s nightmare

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‘Brave, direct, anti-nationalist’: Why Zelenskyy is Moscow’s nightmare

He was a multimillionaire comic, the voice of Paddington Bear and gained Dancing with the Stars.

After his TV sequence primarily based round a person who by chance turns into president turned a success, he based his personal get together and was elected president in actual life.

Now, he is main a rustic being invaded by the second strongest army on the planet.

Those that assist the way in which Volodymyr Zelenskyy is helming the nation within the midst of an invasion neglect that Ukraine was already at struggle for years when he took workplace in a stunning landslide victory in 2019. He pledged, like many different Ukrainian politicians, that he would put an finish to it.

“He was attempting to do all the pieces to attain peace,” Iuliia Mendel, a journalist and former spokeswoman for Zelenskyy, advised Euronews.

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“He promised to complete the struggle quickly,” Mendel defined.

The negotiations with Russia over the breakaway Kremlin-backed territories in Donbas led to profitable ceasefire agreements, and Zelenskyy managed to deliver dwelling round 150 prisoners of struggle.

Russian President Vladimir Putin grew more and more irritated by his Ukrainian counterpart, who virtually predicted his political trajectory together with his Sluga narodu or Servant of the Individuals hit TV present, the place he performed an idealistic, unpretentious historical past instructor know-it-all pressured to slug his method via a system riddled with corrupt bureaucrats.

Putin might need additionally change into involved by Zelenskyy’s rising recognition in Russia, in response to Mendel.

After buying the complete sequence in 2019, Russian channel TNT solely ran one episode earlier than pulling the present from the air, claiming it solely aired it as a advertising and marketing ploy.

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It additionally censored a joke within the episode wherein Putin is claimed to be carrying a Hublot watch — a reference to a racy anti-Putin chant.

On the identical time, Zelenskyy grew extra disgruntled with Putin’s interpretation of the Minsk Agreements, signed to determine a ceasefire between the 2 sides and outlined the connection between the Kyiv authorities and the occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk.

After which Putin massed round 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s border, beginning within the spring of 2021, which had been later withdrawn solely to seem once more within the winter.

Zelenskyy gave an interview to the Monetary Instances, wherein he brazenly criticised the Western-brokered 2014 and 2015 peace agreements and stated he wouldn’t speak to Donbas separatists, calling them “terrorists” – a significantly harsher tone than he had earlier in his presidency.

“He truly publicly stated that the Minsk agreements didn’t work. After that, their rhetoric modified so much and so they declined any conferences and completely blocked the dialogue,” Mendel stated, recalling the Russian response.

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“And though Zelenskyy’s ideology did not change, his rhetoric went from milder to stronger.”

However Putin’s claims of the nation being run by “Nazis and drug addicts” are outrageous, Mendel insisted. Zelenskyy, specifically, is as far faraway from a hardline nationalist as one could possibly be.

“Zelenskyy at all times stated that Ukrainians are totally different — we’ve totally different religions, we communicate totally different languages — however we’re all united as a nation, and he was at all times pleased with the variety that exists in Ukraine as one thing that should make us stronger, not weaker.”

Zelenskyy exceeds expectations

Identical to his character’s surname on the “Servant of the Individuals”, Goloborodko — which means “beardless,” but additionally poor or moist behind the ears — many took Zelenskyy’s freshly shaven, youthful search for naivety.

Some even accused him of working for the Kremlin, most notably his most important opponent within the elections, former president Petro Poroshenko. Zelenskyy comes from the primarily Russian-speaking area of Kryvyi Rih.

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“There have been lots of well-organised assaults by the opposition on him when he got here to energy, saying that he was a Russian speaker and that he’ll take Ukraine to Russia,” Mendel stated.

“However that was by no means true. I used to be with him on the very starting of his presidency, and he was at all times dedicated to Ukraine.”

After information of US intelligence broke of an imminent Russian assault on Ukraine earlier in February, many had been greatly surprised by his fixed appeals for calm and statements that there’s “no want for panic”.

A few of his critics accused him of being “dispiritingly mediocre,” as one op-ed within the New York Instances claimed on the eve of the invasion.

In actual life and the midst of struggle, Zelenskyy proved to be way more astute.

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Now sporting a five-o’clock-shadow and olive-green fatigues, Zelenskyy rapidly grew into the main motivating voice for each his military and his residents, showing in movies in downtown Kyiv after being labelled “goal primary” and repeatedly rejecting Western presents to go away the nation.

“I’m right here. We’re all right here. We’re in Kyiv. We’re defending Ukraine,” he stated in a single video filmed on his cellphone on Friday night time as air raid sirens permeated the streets of the capital.

Resulting from his relaxed fashion and the occasional lack of diplomatic language that might make method for sarcasm and barbed retorts, folks puzzled if he was severe or performing, Daniel Bilak, a Canadian lawyer and former advisor to 2 Ukrainian prime ministers, advised Euronews.

However the way in which Zelenskyy responded to the struggle has “just about utterly rehabilitated him in all of his doubters’ eyes within the area of a number of days,” he stated.

“This isn’t a efficiency. Individuals really feel the fervour. Individuals really feel the ache as a result of we’re going via it each day.”

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What additionally helped Ukraine stand as much as the aggression was that Zelenskyy modified the management of the armed forces final August, Bilak defined.

“He put into place who needs to be there. These had been battlefield commanders who had expertise within the east, none of them had served within the Soviet army, which was one thing new,” he stated.

Whereas the brand new army management had just a few months to arrange, Zelenskyy’s requires calm signalled that the federal government was conscious of what was to return. And it labored, Bilak stated.

“Ukrainians didn’t panic, didn’t lose their heads over this, and that is actually essential as a result of at its essence this can be a psychological struggle of attrition. Of who will crack first,” he said.

Path to EU solid in struggle

For the reason that invasion, Zelenskyy’s repeated appeals for NATO and EU help have resulted within the latter deciding to buy and ship weapons to the nation – for the primary time in its historical past – whereas Russia and its management face crippling sanctions.

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However the two blocs have averted a direct reply to any formal talks concerning Ukraine’s membership to this point, its aspirations being dismissed by claims that the nation is much from prepared.

Bilak believes that that is too exhausting on a rustic that has undergone vital progress because it declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

“It is a democratic nation value defending,” he stated. “Ukraine is a messy, vibrant, rising democracy. This nation can provide most European nations classes in democratic authorities, frankly.”

Though Ukraine signed its stabilisation and affiliation settlement in June 2014, Brussels has largely ignored the concept of any of its Japanese Partnership nations coming into the bloc. The nation was at struggle, and the membership course of comprises gruelling reforms.

Now Zelenskyy may simply discover himself in one other function – that of a frontrunner who lastly brokered a deal, even when it was accomplished by forcing the bloc’s hand in dire circumstances. Whereas Kyiv was below intense shelling, he signed an utility for membership along with the prime minister and the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.

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Though the EU has acted way more rapidly and collectively than most individuals thought attainable, the highway to the EU may nonetheless be an extended one, Anthony Zacharzewski, founding father of Democratic Society, a Brussels-based NGO, believes.

“At greatest, the EU will hearth the beginning gun on a membership marathon,” he advised Euronews.

“The Treaties do not present for rushing up entry – possibly with goodwill on each side it could possibly be accomplished in 5 years, however everybody thinks that there’s a want for a normal revision of the Treaties and that might take even longer.”

As an alternative, Zacharzewski envisions a makeshift resolution.

“One attainable method could be for the EU to create a brand new mannequin of accession settlement giving non-voting ‘ready room’ membership to nations that meet democracy and rule of legislation standards and make a agency dedication to affix.”

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But the struggle will decide not simply Ukraine’s future but additionally that of Russia, as Zelenskyy can carry the rising legitimacy ahead, whereas Putin is now the world’s pariah.

“If Zelenskyy survives, he could have immense private authority at dwelling and with Europe. Will probably be exhausting to withstand requires Ukraine to swiftly be made a candidate nation – if he manages peacetime in addition to he has managed struggle,” Zacharzewski defined.

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Drake Hogestyn, ‘Days of Our Lives’ Veteran Who Played John Black, Dies at 70

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Drake Hogestyn, ‘Days of Our Lives’ Veteran Who Played John Black, Dies at 70

Drake Hogestyn, who played John Black on “Days of Our Lives” for 38 years, has died due to pancreatic cancer.

The actor’s family announced the news in a statement posted to the Instagram account of the long-running soap opera.

“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Drake Hogestyn. He was thrown the curve ball of his life when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but he faced the challenge with incredible strength and determination,” reads the statement. “After putting up an unbelievable fight, he passed peacefully surrounded by loved ones. He was the most amazing husband, father, papa and actor. He loved performing for the ‘Days’ audience and sharing the stage with the greatest cast, crew, and production team in the business. We love him and we will miss him all the Days of our Lives.”

Hogestyn first appeared on “Days of Our Lives” on Jan. 24, 1986. He went on to play John Black — the mysterious and heroic spy, mercenary, police officer, private investigator and secret agent — in more than 4,200 episodes of the NBC soap (which, since 2022, has aired episodes on Peacock). Together with Deidre Hall as Marlena Evans, Hogestyn helped form one of daytime TV’s most famous romances.

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Hogestyn’s credits outside of “Days of Our Lives” included the musical CBS series “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and a handful of TV movies in the 1980s and ’90s, including “Generation,” “Beverly Hills Cowgirl Blues,” “One Stormy Night” and “Night Sins.”

Kassie DePaiva, who played Eve on “Days of Our Lives,” paid tribute to Hogestyn on social media, writing on X, “I’m so saddened by this news. One of the kindest people I have ever worked with. What an amazing life he lived. He will be missed. He made the world a better place.”

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Pope gets an earful from Belgian king and abuse victims over scandals and failures to respond

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Pope gets an earful from Belgian king and abuse victims over scandals and failures to respond

On a brutal day for Pope Francis, the king of Belgium, its prime minister and the rector of the Catholic university that invited him here all ripped into the institution he heads for a spectrum of sins: for covering up cases of clergy sex abuse and being far behind the times on embracing women and the LGBTQ+ community in the church.

And that was all before Francis met with the people most harmed by the Catholic Church in Belgium — the men and women who were raped and molested by priests as children. Seventeen abuse survivors spent two hours with Francis on Friday evening, telling him of their trauma, shame and pain and demanding reparations from the church.

ARGENTINA SEES DIPS IN POPULARITY IN POPE FRANCIS, NEW POLL FINDS

Through it all, Francis expressed his remorse, begged forgiveness and promised to do everything possible to make sure such abuses never occur again. “This is our shame and humiliation,” he said in his first public remarks on Belgian soil.

Francis has visited countries with wretched legacies of church wrongdoing before. He made a sweeping apology to Irish abuse survivors in 2018 and traveled to Canada in 2022 to atone for the church-run residential schools that traumatized generations of Indigenous peoples.

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Pope Francis delivers his message during a meeting with the authorities and the civil society in the Grande Galerie of the Castle of Laeken, Brussels, Friday. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

But it is hard to think of a single day where the leader of the 1.3-billion strong Catholic Church had been subjected to such strong, public criticisms from a country’s highest institutional figures — royalty, government and academia — over the church’s crimes and its seemingly tone-deaf responses to the demands of today’s Catholics.

Luc Sels, the rector of Leuven Catholic University, the 600th anniversary of which was the official reason for Francis’ trip to Belgium, told the pope that the abuse scandals had so weakened the church’s moral authority that it would do well to reform if it wants to regain its credibility and relevance.

“Wouldn’t the church be a warmer place if women were given a prominent place, the most prominent place, also in priesthood?” Sells asked the pope.

“Wouldn’t the church in our region gain moral authority if it were not so rigid in its approach to gender and diversity issues? And if it did, like the university does, open its arms more to the LGBTQ+ community?” he asked.

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The comments certainly reflected the views of European social progressives. But they also reflected the reform-minded church that Francis has embraced, to a degree, in seeking to make the universal church more relevant and responsive to Catholics today.

The day began with King Philippe welcoming Francis to Laeken Castle, the residence of Belgium’s royal family, and citing the abuse and forced adoption scandals in demanding the church work “incessantly” to atone for the crimes and help victims heal.

He was followed by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who was also allowed to speak in an exception to typical Vatican protocol. He used the opportunity of a face-to-face public encounter to demand “concrete steps” to come clean with the full extent of the abuse scandal and put victims’ interests over those of the church.

“Victims need to be heard. They need to be at the center. They have a right to truth. Misdeeds need to be recognized,” he told the pope. “When something goes wrong we cannot accept cover-ups,” he said. “To be able to look into the future, the church needs to come clean on its past.”

It was one of the most pointed welcome speeches ever directed at the pope during a foreign trip, where the genteel dictates of diplomatic protocol usually keep public remarks outrage-free.

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But the tone underscored just how raw the abuse scandal still is in Belgium, where two decades of revelations of abuse and systematic cover-ups have devastated the hierarchy’s credibility and contributed to an overall decline in Catholicism and the influence of the once-powerful church.

Overall, victims welcomed the words from both church and state. Survivor Emmanuel Henckens said that “to an extent they went to the crux of the evil. He said it was no longer possible to look the other way.”

But another abuse survivor, Koen Van Sumere, said it was now essential for the church to provide victims with substantial financial settlements.

“If you want to move toward forgiveness and reconciliation it is not sufficient to only say ‘I am sorry’ but you have to bear the consequences it entails and you should compensate the damages,” Van Sumere said. He said so far what the Belgian church had paid out “amounted to alms” and that the settlement he received for his abuse didn’t even cover the costs of his therapy.

The victims, 17 of whom met with Francis at the Vatican residence Friday evening, had penned an open letter to him demanding a universal system of church reparations for their traumas. In a statement after the meeting, the Vatican said Francis would study their requests.

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“The pope was able to listen and get close to their suffering, expressed gratitude for their courage, and the feeling of shame for what they suffered as children because of the priests to whom they were entrusted, noting the requests made to him so that he could study them,” said a statement from the Vatican spokesman.

Revelations of Belgium’s horrific abuse scandal have dribbled out in bits over a quarter-century, punctuated by a bombshell in 2010 when the country’s longest-serving bishop, Brugge Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, was allowed to resign without punishment after admitting he had sexually abused his nephew for 13 years.

Francis only defrocked Vangheluwe earlier this year, in a move clearly designed to remove a lingering source of outrage among Belgians before his visit.

In September 2010, the church released a 200-page report that said 507 people had come forward with stories of being molested by priests, including when they were as young as 2. It identified at least 13 suicides by victims and attempts by six more.

Victims and advocates say those findings were just the tip of the iceberg and that the true scope of the scandal is far greater.

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In his remarks, Francis insisted that the church was “addressing firmly and decisively” the abuse problem by implementing prevention programs, listening to victims and accompanying them to heal.

But after the astonishing dressing-down by the prime minister and king, Francis went off-script to express the shame of the church for the scandal and voice his commitment to ending it.

“The church must be ashamed and ask for forgiveness and try to resolve this situation with Christian humility and put all the possibilities in places so that this doesn’t happen again,” Francis said. “But even if it were only one (victim), it is enough to be ashamed.”

The prime minister, king and pope also referred to a new church-related scandal rocking Belgium, over so-called “forced adoptions,” which echoed earlier revelations about Ireland’s so-called mother and baby homes.

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After World War II and through to the 1980s, many single mothers were forced by the Belgian church to offer their newborns up for adoption, with money changing hands.

Francis said he was “saddened” to learn of these practices, but said such criminality was “mixed in with what was unfortunately the prevailing view in all parts of society at this time.”

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‘He was like a father to us’: Hezbollah supporters mourn Hassan Nasrallah

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‘He was like a father to us’: Hezbollah supporters mourn Hassan Nasrallah

Beirut, Lebanon – On Friday evening, Mariam* was in her apartment with her teenage daughter and mother when her building began rumbling and shaking. Agonising screams and the buzzing of Israeli warplanes soon followed.

Israel had just launched a major air attack that killed Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as an unknown number of civilians in Dahiyeh, the southern suburb of Lebanon’s capital Beirut.

Shortly after the strike, Israel called on thousands of civilians to “evacuate” from Dahiyeh, claiming they were living near Hezbollah operation centres.

Mariam quickly packed a few bags of clothes and fled to downtown Beirut, where she is now sleeping on the steps of a mosque with hundreds of other people displaced from her community.

But while Israel has upended her life, she said that nothing compared to the anguish of losing Nasrallah.

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“When I first heard the news, I thought it was a lie. I thought, ‘It can’t be true’,” she told Al Jazeera, holding back her tears. “Nasrallah was our brother and we always felt safe with him. Now, we don’t know what will be our fate.”

A tent installed by the scouts on Beirut’s Ramlet el-Bayda beach hosts people displaced by Israeli air strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs [Philippe Pernot/Al Jazeera]

A brother, a father

Nasrallah became Hezbollah’s leader after Israel assassinated his predecessor, Abbas al-Musawi, in 1992. Al-Musawi, his wife and five-year-old son were killed by an air strike on their home.

Once Nasrallah took over, he quickly began expanding Hezbollah from a rebel movement to one of the most powerful armed groups in the world as well as a formidable bulwark against Israeli aggression.

Under his stewardship, Hezbollah liberated south Lebanon from Israel’s 18-year occupation, lending him the status of a hero throughout the region.

His charisma and shrewdness made him one of the most respected  – and feared – leaders in the Middle East.

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He then became a polarising figure – in Lebanon and the region –  after Hezbollah intervened in Syria’s civil war to rescue President Bashar al-Assad from a pro-democracy uprising that quickly turned into an armed conflict after al-Assad’s forces turned their guns on protesters, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands.

Throughout the war,  the Syrian government and Hezbollah committed atrocities, according to news reports and rights groups.

These reports damaged Nasrallah’s popularity across the region but his most fervent supporters stood by him out of fear that nobody else would be able or willing to protect Lebanon from Israel.

Many Lebanese Shia Muslims are now mourning a man they call a “brother” and even a “father” to their people.

In downtown Beirut, displaced families from Dahiyeh described Nasrallah as a “martyr” who gave his life to stand up to Israel.

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“I just want to listen to his voice again. He was like a father to us. He wasn’t just a politician,” said Nivine, a Hezbollah supporter and Dahiyeh resident who has been uprooted by the strikes.

“But we will continue on [Nasrallah’s path]. We will continue to fight to bring down Israel, which was always his wish,” she told Al Jazeera.

Lavine from Dahiyeh
Nivine, who has fled Israeli air strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, distributes Lebanese manakish to other displaced people at Beirut’s central Al-Amin Mosque [Philippe Pernot/Al Jazeera]

Lack of protection?

With Nasrallah gone and Hezbollah reeling from losing scores of senior commanders in recent days, many Lebanese Shia Muslims fear they have nobody to protect them.

“Don’t you see all the crimes of Israel? They are bombing and destroying everything, killing women and children. And no Arabic or Western country is intervening to stop it,” Nivine said.

But Nivine, like other residents from Dahiyeh, believes that Hezbollah will ultimately survive the recent blows from Israel.

Hassan, 25, spoke matter-of-factly about Nasrallah and the “resistance” – a term commonly referring to Hezbollah and other Iran-aligned armed groups that oppose Israel and the US role in the region.

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“We will continue and the movement will continue. People will be martyred, but [the resistance] will continue,” he told Al Jazeera.

Hassan added that he was particularly upset about Nasrallah’s death because he was such a major symbol of defiance. In his view, Nasrallah was the only world leader to help Palestinians in Gaza by opening a “support front” against Israel from southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has said that its aim is to relieve pressure on Hamas, which is fighting for its survival after launching an attack on southern Israel on October 7, which killed 1,139 people.

Israel responded by attacking Gaza and killing more than 40,000 people since October.

Nasrallah’s decision to support Hamas cost him his life.

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“He stood up for Gaza,” Hassan said with resignation on the steps of a mosque. “I know he died. But he’s in a better place now than the one we are all living in.”

Displaced Lebanese in downtown Beirut, Lebanon
Children play on their family’s luggage in Beirut’s central Al-Amin mosque, where they found refuge from Israeli air strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs [Philippe Pernot/Al Jazeera]

Uncertain future

Mohamad, a Syrian national who has been living in Lebanon since 2009, said that he fled from south Lebanon to Dahiyeh after Israel and Hezbollah began to exchange fire on October 8, 2023.

He said the bustling neighbourhood welcomed him, his daughter and his wife to the community soon after they arrived.

He, too, is mourning Nasrallah.

‘I was in shock when I heard the news. We will remember him as the one that stood up to the Zionists and went to war with Israel,” he told Al Jazeera.

“But now that he’s gone, there is fear and uncertainty. We don’t know what will happen. Will there be more bombing now across Beirut? Will the situation get worse? Or will it stop? Nobody knows.”

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Mariam, who fled with her mother and daughter, expressed the same ambivalence about her life and the fate of Lebanon. Everything dear to her has been torn apart due to Israel’s relentless bombing of Dahiyeh in the last 24 hours, she said.

She is mourning the loss of a neighbourhood that envelops a lifetime of memories – good and bad. She is also grieving the loss of several friends, many of whom were killed in Israeli strikes, and others who remain missing. But like many people from her community, she said Nasrallah’s death is the toughest news to swallow.

“We felt safe when he was here with us,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “Now, we don’t know if we’ll ever be safe again.”

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