28 Jun, 2023 23:27

France hit by 2nd night of unrest

More than 70 people have been detained for rioting, police said

More than 70 people have been detained in Paris suburbs as theriots sparked by the death of a teenager in a police shootingcontinued into the early hours on Thursday.

Protests broke out in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday, but have since spread to other major cities, including Toulouse, Lille, Lyon, and Nice.Rioters bombarded police with fireworks, set garbage containers on fire, and torched several cars.

Le Figaro reported that “a few dozen” people launched fireworks at a prison in Fresnes, a southern suburb of Paris, and attempted to break into the building before being driven away by police.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Wednesday eveningthat 2,000 officers and gendarmes were put on alert in the greater Paris area, 800 morethan the night before, according to French media. Police also received an emergency authorization to usesurveillance dronesin Nanterre.

A total of 77 arrests were made, police said in the early hours of Thursday, as quoted by AFP. More than 30 people were previously detained in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, including many in the Hauts-de-Seine department, where Nanterre is based.

The riots erupted after a17-year-old, later identified as Nahel M., was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop. Police said at the time that Nahel had failed to comply with the officer’s demands. The young man’s mother Mounia posted a video on TikTok calling for “a revolt” to get justice for the death of her son.

President Emmanuel Macron condemned Nahel’s death. “We have a teenager who was killed. It’s inexcusable, inexplicable and I want to express my sympathies and condolences to his family and loved ones,” Macron said during a visit to Marseilles on Wednesday.

He instructed Minister for Cities and Housing Olivier Klein to deliver the government’s condolences to the slain teenager’s family.

On Twitter, Macron urged the public to stay calm and thanked police officers who “are committed to protecting us and serving the republic.”

Opposition leader Marine Le Pen, meanwhile, calledMacron’s remarks “excessive” and “irresponsible.” It is up to the courts to decide what happened, said Le Pen, arguing that the president should not prejudice the investigation.

The officer who fired the fatal shot has been placed under arrest and charged with intentional homicide. Lawyers for Nahel’s mother have sought a change of venue, arguing that Nanterre prosecutors cannot be impartial because the suspect is one of their police officers.

(==Seems like the US is doing a color revolution on Macron for him

Embracing China, instead of being a vassal state of the US. IMO==)

https://www.rt.com/news/578877-france-nahel-riots-macron/

28 Jun, 2023 17:01

==Zelensky moves to cancel traditional Christmas=

The Ukrainian president has introduced a bill designed to “reject the Russian heritage” of celebrating the birth of Christ in January

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has proposed moving Christmas celebrations in the country to December 25 instead of January 7 – the date traditionally marked by the canonical Orthodox church – according to a bill published on the national parliament’s website.

Currently,both dates are considered official holidays in Ukraine. However, Zelensky’s new bill, which now has to be approved by the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, seeks to amend Ukraine’s labor code and limit the Christmas holiday to December 25.

An explanatory note attached to the bill claimed that the people of Ukraine were “imposed on by Russian ideology in almost all spheres of life,” including observing the Julian calendar.

Many Orthodox churches, including the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), still use the Julian calendar to determine holy days. Under the calendar, Christmas falls on January 7. Catholic, Protestant and several Orthodox churches use the Gregorian or New Julian calendars, which differ by 13 days and celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25.

“The purpose of the draft law is to abandon the Russian heritage of imposing the celebration of Christmas on January 7,” the note stated. It claimed that adopting the bill would allow the country to “reject Russian traditions and fortify national unity in Ukraine.”

The move comes amid acrackdown by Kiev on the canonical UOCand attempts to replace it with the largely unrecognized Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). The OCU announced in May that it would break away from the canonical Orthodox calendar and align itself more closely with Western Catholic and Protestant traditions by adopting the New Julian calendar and celebrating Christmas on December 25.

Russia, which has repeatedly accused Kiev of persecuting Orthodox Christians in Ukraine, has condemned Zelensky’s new bill and described it as a further attempt to marginalize followers of the UOC.

“It is obvious that a conflict is being provoked between those believers who want to live according to the old calendar, and the authorities that want to deprive them of this,” a source at the Russian Orthodox Church told the media.

https://www.rt.com/russia/578860-zelensky-cancels-traditional-christmas/

28 Jun, 2023 07:46

Lukashenko comments on abduction accusations

Claims that Belarus has kidnapped children in Donbass are “madness,” the president said

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed as “madness” accusations that his country is involved in kidnapping children in Donbass.Minsk actually co-sponsors rehabilitation for minors affected by the war, he said.

His remarks on Tuesday referred to a humanitarian program led by Belarusian businessman and Paralympian Aleksey Talay, a successful motivational speaker who lost all of his limbs to a mine laid during World War II. Talay’s charity has been bringing Donbass children to Belarus for rehabilitation for years.

“He has been going there and back, fetching those kids. He called me a dozen times,”Lukashenko said of the philanthropist. “I contacted [Russian President Vladimir]Putin, told him: Let us spend some of the money from the union state budget on those kids.”

Russia and its close ally Belarus comprise a union state, which serves as an integration institution.

Lukashenko expressed outrage that the Belarusian assistance program was being used by some critics to level accusations of abducting minors.

“They want the [International] Criminal Court (ICC) to charge me over this.What exceptional slimeballs they are! Grasping at straws!”he said, as quoted by local media.

In March, the ICC issued formal accusations against Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the presidential commissioner for children’s rights. The Hague-based body alleged that Russian officials were involved in “unlawful deportation”and “unlawful transfer” of children in the context of the armed conflict with Ukraine.

Moscow rejected the charges as coming from a politically compromised organization. In May, Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a criminal probe into possible wrongdoing by the ICC prosecutor and judges who signed off on the warrant.

Some Ukrainian officials and members of the Western-backed Belarus opposition have argued that Lukashenko should be prosecuted by the ICC on the same grounds as Putin and Lvova-Belova.

(The ICC is obviously involved wants child trafficking to continue…)

https://www.rt.com/russia/578830-lukashenko-abduction-donbass-children/