Analysis: A BRICS no-show speaks volumes about Putin’s shrinking horizons
Once upon a time, Russian President Vladimir Putin was the man to see: In the weeks preceding Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, world leaders took turns shuttling to Moscow to urge the Kremlin leader to step back from the brink and call off any plans for an attack.
Those efforts failed. But the man who set a catastrophic war in motion now finds his travel options extremely limited.
That may seem a trifling matter for a man who rules a country that spans eleven time zones. After all, Putin has an open door to Beijing, and Kremlin-friendly leaders in Central Asia and Iran have rolled out the welcome mat since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
And of course, he’ll always have Minsk: Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko, who provided Russia a launching pad for the invasion, has also played host to Putin.
Thousands flee homes after rebel attack in southern Sudan city
Families said to have run away with nothing as three forces fight in South Kordofan state
Thousands of people have fled their homes in the capital of South Kordofan state in Sudan after an attack by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North rebel group, one of three forces now fighting in the area.
The SPLMN has been trying to capture the city from the regular army, known as the Sudanese Armed Forces, since June, when it entered the conflict that broke out in April between the SAF, led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
“The situation is really bad,” a resident of the state capital, Kadugli, said. “Families ran away with nothing, no food, no money. Even the international NGOs could not feed them.”
Creeping CounteroffensiveThe Never-Ending Battle for Bakhmut
Four hand-held fire extinguishers for more than 40 tons of steel – that’s the fire safety at the front near Bakhmut. It’s all they have, says the commander of an artillery battery who calls himself “Viy” as he shows off his Soviet-era howitzer. The 2S19 gun, at least 30 years old, is set up on the edge of a deciduous forest near the city in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. It is hidden in a hole in the ground, under a cage made of steel beams, camouflage netting and wire mesh designed to protect it against reconnaissance and kamikaze drones, at least a little bit.
Viy explains how Russian remote-controlled Lancet drones have managed to strike their howitzer three times in recent months. Each time, his men smothered the flames with the hand-held fire extinguishers. He describes their response as “heroic,” because the ammunition surrounding the gun, of course, could have exploded at any time. They only managed to acquire the odd cage-like structure a few weeks ago, he says.
Seine River events scrapped again, renewing doubts over Paris Olympics plan
High levels of water pollution in the Seine River caused two swimming events to be cancelled over the weekend, after two others successfully went ahead on Thursday and Friday. A year ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, organisers say there is no Plan B for swimming events set to be held in the river.
“I always dive with [an] open mouth. It’s not going to be funny if I wake up tomorrow morning with … whatever,” triathlete Kristian Blummenfelt told reporters on Wednesday, August 16, before jumping in Paris’s Seine River.
Athletes were testing out the water on Wednesday to get used to the river currents before four days of triathlon test events ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, during which multiple swimming races are set to be held in the river.
The races were a partial success for organisers. The women’s and men’s triathlons went ahead as planned on Thursday and Friday, before the swimming stages were called off for the weekend’s para triathlon and mixed relay races after high levels of E.coli bacteria were detected in the river water.
Results of water quality tests showed “significant discrepancies” in the hours leading up to Saturday’s events, organisers said in a statement.
Vietnam War: The pastor who survived 17 years in forgotten jungle army
Pastor Y Hin Nie, 75, preaches the gospel from the comfort of his church in the US state of North Carolina. But as a young man he survived nearly two decades in the jungle, giving sermons to his comrades fighting Vietnamese troops long after the war had ended – his AK-47 never far from his side.
On the run and cut off from the world, Hin Nie and his unit of insurgents foraged for food and hunted for tiger skins to pay the Khmer Rouge. His “forgotten army” did not give up arms until 1992, after Hin Nie negotiated their freedom.
The first time Y Hin Nie nearly died was on the night of 30 January 1968, when the Vietcong, fighting for the Communist North in Vietnam, launched a massive attack, firing barrages of rockets on US-held areas under the cover of Tet – or New Year – celebrations.
Kishida vows safety over Fukushima water release during on-site visit
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Sunday during a visit to the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant that he has urged the operator to prioritize safety ahead of the planned release of treated radioactive water stored at the facility into the sea.
With fishermen remaining concerned over how their businesses could be affected by the move, Kishida also told reporters that he plans to meet with the head of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations on Monday.
While Kishida refrained from specifying the exact timing of the start of the water release during the visit, he has been preparing to meet with other Cabinet ministers on Tuesday to make the final decision on the issue, with the end of the month eyed.
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