We’re masking European leaders’ vows to again the Ukrainian warfare effort and a Trumpian presidential candidate in Colombia.
European leaders go to Kyiv
The leaders of France, Italy, Germany and Romania met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Thursday in Kyiv, the place they expressed assist for making Ukraine a candidate for E.U. membership and mentioned they’d proceed to again Ukraine’s army efforts, regardless of options on the contrary.
President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, who had been criticized in current days over the notion that they have been searching for to stress Zelensky into peace talks with Russia, emphasised that their assist was real: “We’re and we’ll stay by your aspect in the long term to defend your sovereignty, your territorial integrity and your freedom,” Macron mentioned. “That is our aim, now we have no different and we’ll obtain it.”
All 4 leaders expressed assist for Ukraine’s E.U. candidacy, Macron mentioned. Scholz added that “Ukraine belongs to the European household.”
The European leaders additionally visited Irpin, a Kyiv suburb the place investigators are wanting into studies of Russian atrocities in the course of the warfare. Russia dismissed their journey as empty symbolism. Dmitri Medvedev, the previous Russian president, derisively known as the leaders “European connoisseurs of frogs, liverwurst and pasta.”
Hesitation: Ukrainian officers are cautious of stress to barter an finish to the warfare with Russia due to the 2014 and 2015 Minsk accords, by which the Ukrainians supplied concessions in trade for Russian cease-fires, which by no means held.
Trapped: With all the bridges connecting the dual Ukrainian cities of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk destroyed and combating nonetheless raging, 1000’s of civilians have been left trapped inside one of many deadliest battles of the warfare to this point.
China rewrites Hong Kong’s historical past
Schoolchildren around the globe have lengthy been taught that Hong Kong was a British colony. However college students in Hong Kong will quickly be informed a unique lesson: It wasn’t.
A brand new narrative pushed by Beijing — which rejects how the British noticed their relationship to the town — might be explicitly taught to Hong Kong highschool college students by way of at the very least 4 new textbooks that might be rolled out within the fall.
The textbook materials continues to be underneath evaluate by principals, academics, students and workers of Hong Kong’s Training Bureau, nevertheless it appears destined for school rooms. Native information web sites revealed draft excerpts this week, and The Occasions seen academics’ proof copies.
Excerpts from the textbooks reinforce China’s Communist Occasion’s place on Hong Kong. “The British aggression violated the rules of worldwide regulation so its occupation of Hong Kong area mustn’t have been acknowledged as lawful,” learn the academics’ version proof copy of 1 textbook.
Quotable: The narrative, one pro-democracy activist mentioned, “is a shorthand for saying, ‘Hong Kong was all the time part of China, thus Hong Kongers by no means might declare a proper of self-determination.’”
Broader effort: The fabric is a part of a wider marketing campaign by China’s high chief, Xi Jinping, to overtake Hong Kong’s colleges, to “shield younger minds” and to lift loyal, patriotic residents.
A Trumpian candidate emerges in Colombia
Rodolfo Hernández, a 77-year-old businessman and former mayor, has emerged as Colombia’s most disruptive presidential candidate in many years, electrifying voters — and an enormous TikTok fan base — with a Trump-like “drain the swamp” message.
He’s considered one of two remaining candidates in Sunday’s election for president of the nation, the third largest in Latin America, with the winner taking management at a pivotal second within the nation’s historical past.
Hernández has promoted himself as a paragon of democracy, a profitable businessman who makes good on guarantees and cares for the poor. However a Occasions reporter traveled to Bucaramanga, a mountain-fringed metropolis the place he constructed his empire and as soon as served as mayor, and located a unique image: an anti-corruption candidate who has been indicted on corruption fees, an austerity proponent whose slash-and-burn insurance policies led to a starvation strike by metropolis workers and a development magnate who as soon as pledged to construct 20,000 houses for the poor that by no means materialized.
The opponent: Hernández faces Gustavo Petro, a former insurgent and longtime senator who’s hoping to develop into Colombia’s first leftist president. Their electoral success — they’re roughly tied within the polls — displays an anti-establishment fervor that swept by way of Latin America as longstanding poverty and inequality intensified in the course of the pandemic.
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A serious sport’s misstep
Diablo is likely one of the most profitable online game franchises, from one of many largest builders on the earth, Blizzard Leisure. However the newest entry within the collection, “Diablo Immortal,” has obtained overwhelmingly unfavorable evaluations from critics who say the sport’s fee mannequin is predatory.
“Diablo Immortal” is free to obtain on computer systems and cell units, nevertheless it hosts a store by which gamers can use actual cash to purchase objects to enhance their avatar’s gear. These enhancements aren’t assured; gamers are, in essence, paying for a digital scratch-off ticket. By some estimates, it may take 1000’s, if not tens of 1000’s, of {dollars} to completely improve a personality.
Belgium and the Netherlands won’t get “Diablo Immortal” on account of anti-gambling guidelines that ban a majority of these video games. And on Metacritic, a evaluate aggregator, customers have given the PC model of the sport a rating of 0.2 out of 10 — among the many lowest of any Blizzard sport. — German Lopez
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