World

Kyiv’s Once-Busy Streets Empty as Russia Targets Capital

Published

2 years ago

March 14, 2022

KYIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian capital feels nearly empty, its huge avenues principally abandoned apart from troopers at sandbagged checkpoints on the primary intersections.

However it’s a sprawling metropolis the place an estimated two million persons are nonetheless dwelling — half its prewar inhabitants — in miles of residential areas and condo blocks that span the 2 sides of the Dnieper River.

When an artillery shell slammed into an condo constructing within the Obolon district within the metropolis’s north simply after daybreak Monday, many residents have been jolted from sleep. After greater than two weeks of bombardment within the capital, that they had grown used to the sound of artillery strikes — however that they had by no means thought their constructing can be a goal.

“We don’t have a army goal close to us,” mentioned Yuriy Yurchik, 30. “We didn’t suppose we ourselves can be a goal.”

In a flash, a single shell at 5 a.m. struck the condo block and killed one particular person, wounded 10 others and left 70 others shaken and homeless.

Hours later, just some miles away within the Kurenivka neighborhood, the remnants of a rocket hit a avenue as buyers lined up exterior a kiosk for sausages and milk and a taxi ferrying a buyer handed by. One particular person was killed and 6 have been wounded there.

Russian forces have been placing the northern suburbs persistently because the first day of the invasion, when advance models managed to succeed in the town’s heart, solely to be killed in a firefight.

In some outlying districts the 2 sides are combating at shut quarters as Russian forces probe Ukrainian defenses. One American journalist died and a second was wounded when their automotive got here beneath hearth within the district of Irpin on Sunday. Three Ukrainian troopers additionally died in the identical space.

As Russia has stepped up its air assaults across the nation, and Ukrainian air protection methods have been taking pictures down incoming missiles, residents on the bottom typically discover themselves caught between a bewildering array of sudden explosions.

On the condo constructing in Kyiv’s Obolon district early Monday, it was an artillery shell, metropolis officers mentioned. Within the Kurenivka neighborhood later that morning, it was the remnant of a rocket. And at a shopping mall within the western a part of the town, it was one other artillery shell.

But whilst explosions sounded off within the center distance and the roar of rocket launches pierced the air, folks within the Obolon district, in northern Kyiv, walked to outlets and gathered exterior a financial institution hoping to attract their pensions.

Yuriy Yurchik, 30, was asleep at house when the condo constructing was hit. He was woken by a white flash earlier than the sky all of a sudden full of an orange gentle and a loud explosion rocked the constructing. He hid beneath his blanket because the home windows shattered and glass blew throughout the room.

“I regarded out and noticed the left a part of the constructing was burning, and on the bottom folks have been operating and screaming,” he mentioned.

His grandparents have been sleeping throughout the corridor, and the blast tore their bed room door from its body and hurled it into their room. “You sleep together with your ears open,” his grandmother, Tatyana Fedun, 69, mentioned. “I used to be thrown into the air.”

After the blast, the household gathered their issues and commenced to make their method all the way down to the road. Ms Fedun’s husband, Yuriy Fedun, 74, a former welder, is partially paralyzed from a stroke and walks with problem. However he appeared unfazed by the explosion.

“I used to be calm as a snake,” he mentioned

Ms. Fedun gathered their medicines. Her grandson, a pc scientist learning for his doctorate, noticed flames and grabbed the household’s paperwork, his laptop computer and his Ph.D. dissertation.

“We had some issues prepared, however we needed to take extra,” Mr. Yurchik mentioned.

Firemen exterior have been dousing the hearth and carrying the wounded out on stretchers. Mr. Yurchik’s father, a safety guard at a close-by secondary faculty, was ready and rushed them into the college basement with different survivors.

The Ukrainian authorities evacuated 70 folks from the constructing, bringing them to a close-by kindergarten.

“They brought about us a really nice ache,” Ms. Fedun mentioned of the Russian forces who unleashed the missile strike. “Why? Why do they arrive to this small place? Russia is so big.”

“What do they wish to obtain?” she requested. “Attacking us won’t resolve their issues.”

Resting later in an underground shelter on the opposite facet of the town, Ms. Fedun sorted her medicines and sighed deeply. Her husband sat beside her, leaning on his strolling stick and strolling slowly up and down the room.

“If I used to be not sick, I might be on the entrance,” he mentioned.

Ms. Fedun mentioned she thought that the assault on her condo constructing had been deliberate, since there have been no army or strategic targets within the space, and that the Russians’ objective was to unfold panic.

Her husband put it extra succinctly: “It’s their ambition,” he mentioned.

Again on the wrecked condo constructing, the hearth was out and Mr. Yurchik’s father, Konstantin, was sifting via his broken house. A mechanical engineer and Soviet Military veteran, he mentioned he wouldn’t flee.

“We’ll rebuild,” he mentioned. “After some time.”

It was the primary time the speedy neighborhood had been hit, he mentioned, and he bristled at a suggestion that the world was changing into too harmful. He had protected 13 displaced folks in a single day within the faculty basement, and can carry on doing so, he mentioned.

And now the federal government has promised the lads within the space weapons, he mentioned. “I’ll take up arms,” Mr. Yurchik mentioned. “My home is there.”

His son mentioned he would keep, too. One in every of his pals has already joined the territorial protection forces.

“If there’s a selection,” he mentioned, “I’ll keep and defend, as a result of it’s our territory. And God is on our facet. We didn’t damage others, they invaded us.”

Mr. Yurchik paused in thought.

“However it’s a pity to start your day checking who’s alive,” he mentioned.

World

The Take: The art of the debate – What the Biden-Trump face-off was missing

Published

36 mins ago

July 1, 2024

Press Room

The Take: The art of the debate – What the Biden-Trump face-off was missing

Podcast, The Take

After chaotic Biden-Trump debate, we hear from students about why school debate programmes are important to democracy.

The first US presidential debate of 2024 left many watchers wondering about the state of debate and democracy in the United States. We hear debating lessons from students who still believe the skill is essential to keeping democracy alive.

In this episode:

KM DiColandrea (@dico_nyc) – Founder and executive director of the Brooklyn Debate League
Jonathan Conyers (@iamjonconyers) – Debate coach and former student debater
Student Debaters: Gabrielle Lewis, Madison Wheeler, Karl McGhie, and Long Jiang

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by David Enders and Ashish Malhotra with Fahrinisa Campana, Sonia Bhagat, Mohamed Zain Shafi Khan, Veronique Eshaya, and our host Malika Bilal.

The Take production team is Amy Walters, Ashish Malhotra, Catherine Nouhan, Chloe K. Li, David Enders, Duha Mosaad, Khaled Soltan, Manahil Naveed, Marcos Bartolomé, Sarí el-Khalili, Sonia Bhagat, Mohamed Zain Shafi Khan, Veronique Eshaya, and Tamara Khandaker.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

World

Max Christie is getting a 4-year, $32 million deal to return to the Lakers, an AP source says

Published

6 hours ago

June 30, 2024

Press Room

Max Christie is getting a 4-year, $32 million deal to return to the Lakers, an AP source says

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Promising wing Max Christie is returning to the Los Angeles Lakers with a four-year, $32 million contract, a person with knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because the Lakers haven’t announced the deal for their former second-round draft pick. ESPN first reported it.

The 21-year-old Christie has averaged 3.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists while playing inconsistently during his first two NBA seasons, but the Lakers clearly believe in his potential.

The Michigan State product is a career 37.8% shooter on 3-point attempts, and he showed promise as a three-and-D wing during his stretches in the Lakers’ rotation last season, including seven starts.

New Lakers coach JJ Redick mentioned Christie prominently when he spoke of the team’s promising young talent ripe for development during his introductory news conference last week.

Even with two years of NBA experience, Christie is two years younger than Dalton Knecht, the Lakers’ first-round draft pick last Wednesday.

Christie’s brother, Cam, was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers last week.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

World

Macron on edge as France’s right-wing National Rally party gains momentum in first round of elections

Published

7 hours ago

June 30, 2024

Press Room

Macron on edge as France’s right-wing National Rally party gains momentum in first round of elections

Join Fox News for access to this content

You have reached your maximum number of articles. Log in or create an account FREE of charge to continue reading.

By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.

Please enter a valid email address.

France’s right-wing National Rally party on Sunday made considerable gains in the country’s first round of elections, putting the centrist President Emmanuel Macron and his supporters on edge.

Early projections suggest that the National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, stands a good chance of winning a majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time, with an estimated one-third of the first-round vote, nearly double their 18% in the first round in 2022.

French polling agencies indicated that Macron’s grouping of centrist parties could finish a distant third in the first-round ballot. Their projections put Macron’s camp behind both the National Rally and a new left-wing coalition of parties that joined forces to keep Le Pen”s anti-immigration party from potentially forming the most conservative government since World War II.

Still, the election’s ultimate outcome remains uncertain, and the decisive final vote will happen next Sunday, July 7.

BOLIVIA’S PRESIDENT DENOUNCES ‘SELF-COUP’ ACCUSATIONS AS ‘LIES’ AS SUPPORTERS RALLY

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron leave the voting booth in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Yara Nardi, Pool via AP)

Earlier this month, Macron dissolved parliament and called for a surprise vote after the National Rally clobbered his party in the European Parliament election. The move was seen as a risky gamble that French voters, complacent about the European election, would be motivated to back moderate forces to keep the National Rally out of power.

Many French voters are frustrated about inflation and other economic concerns, as well as the leadership of Macron, who is seen as arrogant and out of touch. Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally party has tapped that discontent, notably via online platforms like TikTok, and led in pre-election opinion polls.

Voters in Paris had issues from immigration to the rising cost of living on their minds as the country has grown more divided between the right-wing and left-wing blocs, with a deeply unpopular and weakened president in the political center.

Le Pen called on voters to give the National Rally an “absolute majority” in parliament. She said a National Rally majority would enable the right to form a new government with party President Jordan Bardella as prime minister to work on France’s “recovery.”

Marine Le Pen, with local Mayor Steeve Briois, after voting in the parliamentary election, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Henin-Beaumont, northern France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

“Following historic victories for conservatives in the EU elections a few weeks ago, France today reaffirmed the drastic shift we are seeing in Europe away from the failed left-wing playbook in favor of a common-sense conservative agenda centered around lower taxes, a crackdown on illegal immigration, and support for freedom of speech,” Matt Mowers, EU-US Forum founding board member and former State Department official, told Fox News Digital. “Today’s results serve as another major message to bureaucrats in Brussels – Europeans want conservative policies and leaders.”

KENYAN POLICE CONFRONT PROTESTERS DAY AFTER PRESIDENT WITHDRAWS TAX INCREASE BILL

Turnout on Sunday stood at an unusually high 59% three hours before polls closed – 20 percentage points higher than turnout at the same time in the last first-round vote in 2022.

The first polling projections emerged after final polling stations closed. Early official results were expected later Sunday.

The second round of voting next Sunday will be more decisive, but questions will still remain about how Macron will share power with a prime minister who is hostile to most of his policies.

Jordan Bardella waiting to be interviewed

National Rally President Jordan Bardella waits for the start of an interview on the French TV channel TF1, in Boulogne-Billancourt, outside Paris, on June 20, 2024. (Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images)

In the scenario of a National Rally victory, Macron would be expected to name the party’s president, 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, as prime minister in an awkward power-sharing system known as “cohabitation.” While Macron has said he won’t step down before his presidential term expires in 2027, cohabitation would weaken him at home and on the world stage.

The results of the first round will give a clear picture of voter sentiment, but not necessarily the overall makeup of the next National Assembly. Predictions are difficult because of the complicated voting system, and because parties will work between the rounds to make alliances in some constituencies or pull out of others.

Bardella, who has no governing experience, said he would use the powers of prime minister to stop Macron from continuing to supply long-range weapons to Ukraine for the war with Russia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.