Zelensky says Russians destroyed Kherson’s critical infrastructure

Zelensky says Russians destroyed Kherson’s critical infrastructure
Residents of Kherson temporarily living in Odessa, holding Ukrainian flags, celebrate the liberation of their native town in front of The Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Odessa, on Saturday. (AFP)
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Updated 12 November 2022

Zelensky says Russians destroyed Kherson’s critical infrastructure

Zelensky says Russians destroyed Kherson’s critical infrastructure
  • “Before fleeing from Kherson, the occupiers destroyed all the critical infrastructure,” Zelenskiy said in a video address

DUBAI: Russian forces destroyed the critical infrastructure in the southern city of Kherson before fleeing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday, adding that local authorities were starting to stabilize the city.
Jubilant residents welcomed troops arriving in the center of Kherson on Friday after Russia abandoned the only regional capital it had captured since the start of the war.
“Before fleeing from Kherson, the occupiers destroyed all the critical infrastructure: communications, water, heat, electricity,” Zelensky said in a video address.
“(Russians) everywhere have the same goal: to humiliate people as much as possible. But we will restore everything, believe me,” he continued.
Zelensky said Ukrainian troops had taken control of more than 60 settlements in the Kherson region.
“Police have launched stabilization measures. Stabilization measures are also underway in Kherson,” he said.


UK counter-terror police involved in ‘mosque attack’ probe

UK counter-terror police involved in ‘mosque attack’ probe
Updated 9 sec ago

UK counter-terror police involved in ‘mosque attack’ probe

UK counter-terror police involved in ‘mosque attack’ probe
LONDON: Counter-terrorism officers are involved in an investigation into the attempted murder of a man who was set alight after leaving a mosque, UK police said on Tuesday.
One man was arrested after the attack in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, central England, just after 7:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Monday.
It came after an 82-year-old man was set on fire outside a mosque in the Ealing area of west London on the evening of February 27.
The Birmingham force said it was aware of the previous attack.
“We are working with the Metropolitan Police Service to see whether they are linked,” a spokesman said.
West Midlands Police chief superintendent Richard North said counter-terrorism police were supporting the investigation.
They had “access to specialist capabilities to help establish the full circumstances,” he added.
In the latest attack, it is thought the victim, who was walking home from a nearby mosque, was sprayed with an unknown substance then had his jacket set on fire.
He suffered burns to his face and was taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

London lights up with Ramadan decorations

London’s West End has been decorated to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan for the first time in history. (@ramadanlightsUK)
London’s West End has been decorated to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan for the first time in history. (@ramadanlightsUK)
Updated 21 March 2023

London lights up with Ramadan decorations

London’s West End has been decorated to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan for the first time in history. (@ramadanlightsUK)
  • UK capital’s West End illuminated for first time to mark holy month

LONDON: London’s West End has been decorated to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan for the first time in history.
The famous district of the UK capital has been decked out with fanoos lanterns and lights in the shape of crescent moons and stars, with the words “Happy Ramadan” erected on Coventry Street between Piccadilly and Leicester Square, to usher in the start of the holy month.
The area is popular among tourists from the Gulf and large segments of the city’s Muslim population — which makes up around 15 percent of the total — due to its internationally renowned shopping opportunities, restaurants and entertainment venues.
Visitor numbers tend to surge during the holy month, which has led to it being dubbed the “Ramadan Rush.”
News of London’s new Ramadan-inspired decorations came days after the Royal Mint, the official manufacturer of the UK’s coinage, issued a new gold bullion bar depicting the Kaaba in Makkah, the holiest site in Islam, at a price of £1,156.22 ($1,414.43) per bar.


Russian police target Nobel Prize-winning group in mass raids

Russian police target Nobel Prize-winning group in mass raids
Updated 21 March 2023

Russian police target Nobel Prize-winning group in mass raids

Russian police target Nobel Prize-winning group in mass raids
  • Police confiscated items and equipment carrying the Memorial logo, the group said, and took some of the employees in for interrogation
  • Memorial chairman Yan Rachinsky was also subject to a raid on his home

DUBAI: Russian security forces raided the homes of former employees of the Nobel Prize-winning human rights group Memorial on Tuesday and took some of them in for questioning, the group said, in a move denounced by one opposition party as an assault on dissent.
Founded to document political repression in the Soviet Union, Memorial was officially banned in late 2021 after the authorities claimed it supported terrorism and extremism, charges that it called absurd.
Tuesday’s raids were carried out after Russian investigators accused the now dissolved group of allegedly including the names of World War Two-era Nazi collaborators on their historical list of victims of political terror.
Memorial was not immediately available to comment.
Police confiscated items and equipment carrying the Memorial logo, the group said, and took some of the employees in for interrogation.
“At present searches of some of the employees are continuing — lawyers are not allowed to see them,” Memorial wrote on Telegram.
Memorial chairman Yan Rachinsky, who collected the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the group when it won in 2022, was also subject to a raid on his home, the group said.
Opposition party Yabloko said the raids were a “new step” in Russia’s campaign of political repression.
“What happened is an example of the destructive battle against dissent in Russia,” it said in a statement.
Since invading Ukraine in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin has accelerated Russia’s drive to suppress dissenting voices, including independent media, non-governmental rights groups and political opponents.
Putin has his own Human Rights Council, a body that critics say has enabled him to pay lip service to civic freedoms while ramping up state oppression.
Last November, shortly before his annual meeting with the Council, he removed 10 of its members and brought in four new ones including a pro-war blogger-correspondent.


US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone

US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone
Updated 21 March 2023

US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone

US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone
  • Pentagon officials are expected to make the announcement soon
  • It's unclear how soon the U.S. would begin training Ukrainian forces on how to use, maintain and repair the tanks

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is speeding up its delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, opting to send a refurbished older model that can be ready faster, with the aim of getting the 70-ton battle powerhouses to the war zone in eight to 10 months, US officials told The Associated Press.
The original plan was to send Ukraine 31 of the newer M1A2 Abrams, which could have taken a year or two to build and ship. But officials said the decision was made to send the older M1A1 version, which can be taken from Army stocks and will be easier for Ukrainian forces to learn to use and maintain.
The officials spoke on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been publicly announced. Pentagon officials are expected to make the announcement soon.
The Biden administration announced in January that it would send the tanks to Ukraine — after insisting for months that they were too complicated and too hard to maintain and repair. The decision was part of a broader political maneuver that opened the door for Germany to announce it would send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow Poland and other allies to do the same.
It’s unclear how soon the US would begin training Ukrainian forces on how to use, maintain and repair the tanks. That training pipeline could affect the amount of time it takes for the tanks to be used in battle. The Pentagon will also have to ensure that Ukrainian forces have an adequate supply chain for all the parts needed to keep the tanks running.


Experimental Bangladeshi school boats engage children in play-based learning

Experimental Bangladeshi school boats engage children in play-based learning
Updated 21 March 2023

Experimental Bangladeshi school boats engage children in play-based learning

Experimental Bangladeshi school boats engage children in play-based learning
  • Floating classrooms operated by country’s largest development organization
  • Fleet of 3 boats offer unique learning experience as they drop anchor in riverine towns

Dhaka: When Abir Chandra Das boarded a floating boat instead of going to the classroom on a Monday morning, it was a completely new experience, one in which the 11-year-old grasped ethics, geometry, and astronomy simultaneously as he played.

Three boats — pink, blue, and violet — anchored on the bank of the Dakatia River near his home in Chandpur district, 110 kilometers from Dhaka, and each of them had something else to offer, from mathematics through science to values.

Launched in September by BRAC, the largest development organization based in Bangladesh, the schools made a stop in Chandpur last month on their way from the northeastern district of Sunamganj to the coastal areas of Bhola in the country’s south.

“I enjoyed different elements in all three boats, especially the games and books in the values boat attracted me a lot,” Das told Arab News.

“Apart from that, I learned the triangle, square, and so on in geometry from the mathematics boat, and got some knowledge on the cosmos and microscopes from the science boat.”

Wherever they arrive, the boats usually anchor for seven to 10 days and are open from morning until afternoon, offering children the experience of play-based learning.

They stop near primary and secondary schools with which BRAC’s teams had been in touch in advance, taking onboard young volunteer teachers from local communities to make contact with children easier.

“All of the activities, materials, and contents in these three boats have been designed in a way so that children will have fun, will enjoy learning, will be curious about learning and through that hopefully be inspired to continue their education,” BRAC education director, Safi Rahman Khan, told Arab News.

“Many of these children, they may never have had the opportunity to experience such an experiential learning space. So, in that sense, we are seeing a lot of spontaneity, a lot of curiosity, many, many visitors. A lot of children are coming, a lot of guardians are coming, and teachers.”

The boats have special ramps so that children and people with disabilities can easily access them.

“We want to ensure that these boats are a more inclusive and open space for learning for all students, for all visitors, guardians, teachers, professionals, officials, and for children and visitors who may have difficulty getting onto a boat,” Khan said.

Ipshita De Chowdhury, 10, who played on the boats when they anchored in Chandpur, told Arab News that she was “very proud” of what she had learned onboard the values boat.

“It taught me the importance of values for people,” she said. “I enjoyed the elements of the other two boats also, but the values boat attracted me more.”

The things children learn in the colorful boats are also taught at normal schools too, but the way they are introduced is different.

“The difference is we have brought them into a format which is all hands-on activities. It’s not based on just reading from a book,” Khan added. “We are seeing a lot of spontaneity, a lot of curiosity.”

All the experiments, puzzles, and games they find on board, children can solve on their own or in groups. Only if they have difficulties will a teacher come to guide them.

As children flock to the boats wherever they moor and their reactions are never short of enthusiasm, BRAC is open to sharing its methods of teaching with schools and education departments.

“We hope they will be inspired, and the teachers will be inspired, and the parents will be inspired, so that they can make learning fun to encourage the children to explore, encourage the children to try and solve various types of problems, various types of activities, on their own rather than depending on maybe a rote system of learning or a system of learning which is more passive,” Khan said.

“This is a journey that we have started and it’s a very small initiative. We hope that others will get inspired.”