Small wins buoy Ukraine; West says Russians losing momentum

Almost three months after Russia shocked the world by invading Ukraine, its military faces a bogged-down war, the prospect of a bigger NATO and an opponent buoyed Sunday by wins on and off the battlefield.

Top diplomats from NATO met in Berlin with the alliance’s chief and declared that the war “is not going as Moscow had planned.”

“Ukraine can win this war,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, adding that the alliance must continue to offer military support to Kyiv. He spoke by video link to the meeting as he recovers from a COVID-19 infection.

On the diplomatic front, both Finland and Sweden took steps bringing them closer to NATO membership despite Russian objections. Finland announced Sunday that it was seeking to join NATO, citing how the invasion had changed Europe’s security landscape. Several hours later, Sweden’s governing party endorsed the country’s own bid for membership, which could lead to an application in days.

While Moscow lost ground on the diplomatic front, Russian forces also failed to make territorial gains in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine said it held off Russian offensives in the east, and Western military officials said the campaign Moscow launched there after its forces failed to seize the capital of Kyiv has slowed to a snail’s pace.

Ukraine, meanwhile, celebrated a morale-boosting victory in the Eurovision Song Contest. The folk-rap ensemble Kalush Orchestra won the glitzy pan-European competition with its song “Stefania,” which has become a popular anthem among Ukrainians during the war.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed that his nation would claim the customary winner’s honor of hosting the next annual competition.

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The new jet set - why private plane usage has soared

The pandemic led to more people using private jets, but is the increase set to continue?

source https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61391638?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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Blinken offers support to family of slain Palestinian journalist

US State Secretary Antony Blinken spoke with the family of slain Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh after criticising Israel's use of force at her funeral, an official said on Sunday.

Blinken, during his flight on Saturday to Berlin for a meeting of Nato foreign ministers, offered “deep condolences” in a phone call with family members of Shireen Abu Akleh, a State Department official said.

The top US diplomat “noted Abu Akleh's journalistic body of work and the importance of a free and independent press,” the official said on customary condition of anonymity.

Blinken offered the support of US diplomats in Jerusalem to the family of Abu Akleh, who also held US citizenship.

Abu Akleh, a prominent journalist for Al Jazeera television, was killed on Wednesday when she covered an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.

Al Jazeera said Israel shot her “in cold blood”.

Israel, which has been facing a series of attacks, initially said Palestinian gunmen could be to blame before backtracking and promising to investigate.

At her funeral on Friday, baton-wielding Israeli police descended upon mourners and grabbed Palestinian flags, with the pallbearers struggling not to drop her casket.

Blinken earlier said he was “deeply troubled” by the Israeli police's actions and the State Department urged a transparent investigation into her killing.

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Sri Lanka eases curfew amid cabinet formation

Sri Lanka lifted a nationwide curfew for 12 hours on Saturday, further easing tight curbs as new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe made his cabinet appointments after clashes between pro- and anti-government groups.

More than a month of predominantly peaceful protests against the government turned violent this week after supporters of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stormed an anti-government protest camp in the commercial capital Colombo, burning tents and clashing with protesters and police.

The initial violence and reprisals against government figures also left more than 300 injured.

Hit hard by the pandemic, rising oil prices and tax cuts by the populist government, Sri Lanka is in the throes of its worst economic crisis since independence from Great Britain in 1948. Useable foreign reserves have dwindled, and rampant inflation and shortages of fuel have brought thousands onto the streets in protest.

The government lifted the curfew from 6am (0030 GMT) on Saturday until 6pm. A 24-hour curfew imposed on Monday had been lifted for a few hours on Thursday and Friday to allow purchase of essential supplies.

Rajapaksa stepped down after violence flared on Monday, leaving his younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa to rule on as president while Wickremesinghe, a five-time prime minister, was appointed to another term late Thursday.

He appointed four ministers from the Rajapaksas’ Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), a decision unlikely to satisfy the protesters demanding the removal of the party from power.

The appointments, announced by the president’s office, include G.L. Pereis, the SLPP chairman who had held the post before resigning on Monday.

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Ten killed in 'racially motivated' shooting at New York grocery store

A heavily armed 18-year-old white gunman shot 10 people dead on Saturday at a Buffalo, New York grocery store in a "racially motivated" attack that he live-streamed on camera, authorities said.

The gunman, who was wearing a helmet and tactical gear, was arrested after the massacre, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia told a news conference.

Gramaglia put the toll at 10 dead and three wounded. Eleven of the 13 people struck by gunfire were Black, officials said. The two others were white. The racial breakdown of the dead was not made clear.

The gunman first shot four people in the parking lot of the Tops supermarket, three of them fatally, then went inside and continued firing, Gramaglia said.

Among those killed inside the store was a retired police officer who was working as an armed security guard.

The guard "engaged the suspect, fired multiple shots," but the gunman — who was protected by body armor — shot him, Gramaglia said.

When police arrived, the shooter put the gun to his neck, but was talked down and ultimately surrendered, he added.

Stephen Belongia, special agent in charge of the FBI's Buffalo field office, told the news conference that the shooting is being investigated as a hate crime.

"We are investigating this incident as both a hate crime and a case of racially motivated violent extremism," Belongia said.

Eerie County Sheriff John Garcia described the attack as "pure evil."

"It was straight up racially motivated hate crime form somebody outside of our community," he said.

John Flynn, the district attorney for Eerie County, where Buffalo is located, said the suspect would be arraigned on charges of murder in the first degree, which carries a sentence of life without parole.

Byron Brown, the mayor of Buffalo — which is located in western New York, along the US border with Canada — said the shooter "traveled hours from outside this community to perpetrate this crime."

"This is a day of great pain for our community," Brown said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said US President Joe Biden had been briefed on the "horrific shooting."

Biden "will continue to receive updates throughout the evening and tomorrow as further information develops. The president and the first lady are praying for those who have been lost and for their loved ones," Jean-Pierre added.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the senior US senator from New York, said in a tweet: "We are standing with the people of Buffalo."

The governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, also tweeted that she was monitoring the situation, and asked people in Buffalo to "avoid the area and follow guidance from law enforcement and local officials."

Last month, a "sniper-type" shooter opened fire in an upscale Washington neighborhood, wounding four people before taking his own life.

Police suspected that graphic video of that shooting which circulated online shortly afterward was filmed by the shooter himself, but have not confirmed the authenticity or if it was live-streamed.

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Prime Minsiter of New Zealand's COVID test came out positive

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern tested positive for COVID-19 with moderate symptoms, her office said in a statement on Saturday.

She will not be in parliament for the government's emissions reduction plan on Monday and the budget on Thursday, but "travel arrangements for her trade mission to the United States are unaffected at this stage," the statement said.

Ardern had been symptomatic since Friday evening, returning a weak positive at night and a clear positive on Saturday morning on a rapid antigen test, it said.

She has been in isolation since Sunday, when her partner Clarke Gayford tested positive, it said.

Due to the positive test, Ardern will be required to isolate until the morning of May 21, undertaking what duties she can remotely.

Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson will address media in her place on Monday.

"This is a milestone week for the Government and I'm gutted I can't be there for it," Ardern said in the statement.

"Our emissions reduction plan sets the path to achieve our carbon zero goal and the budget addresses the long-term future and security of New Zealand's health system," she said. "But as I said earlier in the week isolating with COVID-19 is a very kiwi experience this year and my family is no different."

Ardern also said on Saturday that her daughter Neve had tested positive on Wednesday.

"Despite best efforts, unfortunately I’ve joined the rest of my family and have tested positive for COVID 19," Ardern posted on her official Instagram page.

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Violence clouds Jerusalem funeral of Al Jazeera journalist

Thousands of people packed Jerusalem s tense Old City on Friday for the burial of veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, after Israeli police stormed the start of the funeral procession.

Television footage showed pallbearers struggling to stop Abu Akleh s coffin from falling to the ground as baton-wielding police officers charged towards them, grabbing Palestinian flags from mourners.

Washington said it was "deeply troubled" by the scenes, while the European Union said it was "appalled" by the "unnecessary force."

The Jerusalem Red Crescent said 33 people were injured during the procession, of whom six were hospitalised.

Israeli police said they made six arrests. A government official said mourners had thrown "rocks and glass bottles".

In the occupied West Bank, an Israeli commando was killed during a fresh shootout with Palestinian gunmen near the flashpoint city of Jenin. The Islamic Jihad group said its fighters were responsible.

Israel and the Palestinians have traded blame over the fatal shooting of Abu Akleh during an Israeli raid in Jenin on Wednesday.

The Israeli army said an interim investigation could not determine who fired the fatal bullet, noting that stray Palestinian gunfire or Israeli sniper fire aimed at militants were both possible causes.

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Asteroid mining: Helping to meet Earth's natural resource demands

With Earth's natural resources running out, people are looking to mineral-rich asteroids to meet demand.

source https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-61421787?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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News Headlines: Gregg Jarrett: The Hillary Clinton crony behind the phony dossier identified in Durham indictment

Gregg Jarrett: The Hillary Clinton crony behind the phony dossier identified in Durham indictment



The national nightmare known as Russian collusion was an odious invention from Hillary’s fictive imagination and carried out by her cadre of loyal lieutenants who worked secretly in the shadows to smear Donald Trump as a Kremlin asset.

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