World News
Vladimir Putin’s New Year’s greetings: Moral and historical correctness is on our side
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Eva Deschamps / January 1, 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday for his New Year’s greetings that the “moral and historical correctness” was “on the side” of Russia, in the midst of the offensive in Ukraine and crisis with the West.
Vladimir Putin, who was speaking alongside soldiers who fought in Ukraine and whom he had just decorated, according to the Kremlin, spoke of a past year full of “truly decisive and important events” that “lay the foundations (…) of our true independence”.
“That is why we are fighting today, protecting our people in our own historical territories, in the new constituent entities of Russia,” he added.
After launching a military offensive against Ukraine in February, Russia claimed in September the annexation of four Ukrainian territories that it controls at least partially, on the pattern of that of the Crimean peninsula in March 2014.
The Russian president also blasted “a real war of sanctions that has been declared on us” by the West. “Those who launched it expected the total destruction of our industry, our finances and our transportation. This did not happen,” he added.
He accused the Americans and Europeans “of cynically using Ukraine and its people to weaken and divide Russia.”
“The West was lying about peace and preparing for aggression. And today, it is not ashamed to admit it, in broad daylight,” said the Russian head of state.
Together we will overcome all difficulties and keep our country great and independent. We will go forward and prevail, for the sake of our families and for the sake of Russia,” he concluded.
Vladimir Putin also saluted the memory of former Pope Benedict XVI after his death, praising a “defender of traditional Christian values” of which the Russian president also wants to be the apostle. “Benedict XVI was an eminent religious and state personality, a convinced defender of traditional Christian values,” he wrote in a message of condolences to Pope Francis, released by the Kremlin.
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Sylvie Claire / September 23, 2023
At least 25 people, including two children, died when a bus crashed into a ravine in the Andean region of Huancavelica, in southern Peru, the authorities announced in a revised death toll on Monday evening.
An initial police report put the death toll at 20, with a further 35 injured. A statement from the Ministry of Health later that morning put the death toll at 24. Finally, at the end of the day on Monday, the death toll stood at “25 dead and 34 wounded”, according to the Ministry of Defense.
The accident occurred on Sunday night, when the bus carrying over 50 passengers from Huanta in Ayacucho to Huancayo in the Junin region ran off the road.
Images show the damaged bus lying on its side near a river below the ravine, debris and personal belongings strewn all around.
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte expressed her “condolences to the families” from New York, where she will be attending the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations. The Peruvian Episcopal Conference, for its part, urged the government to “carry out a serious investigation” to prevent such accidents from happening again.
On August 13, another accident in the same region left 13 people dead and 5 seriously injured.
Road accidents are frequent in Peru, mainly due to speeding and poor road maintenance, especially in mountainous areas.
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Sylvie Claire / September 17, 2023
In Japan, the number of people aged 100 has reached a record level: the world’s third-largest economy now has 92,139 people aged 100 or over. That’s 1,613 more than a year ago, reported the Ministry of Health in Tokyo on Friday.
For over half a century, the number of people aged 100 has been rising every year. Due to a low birth rate and almost non-existent immigration, no other industrial state is aging as fast as this East Asian country.
Japan’s population is also shrinking at a record pace. Last year, the number of Japanese fell by 801,000, the biggest drop since comparable data have been recorded. There are now 122.4 million.
When the Japanese Ministry of Health began compiling statistics in 1963, there were 153 centenarians. Twenty-five years later, there were over 10,000. According to the latest figures, around 88% of centenarians are women. Japan has the longest life expectancy in the world. Life expectancy for women is around 87 years, and 81 for men.
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Steph Deschamps / September 17, 2023
The death toll from the earthquake in Morocco has risen to 2,946, the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior announced on Wednesday evening. A further 5,674 people were injured.
The previous death toll was 2,901. The death toll is expected to rise further. Hopes of finding survivors are now very slim. Rescue workers have not yet been able to reach all the villages affected in the Atlas Mountains.
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the country on Friday night. The epicenter was located some 80 kilometers southwest of Marrakech. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 300,000 people in and around Marrakech were affected by the disaster.
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