Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: April 12th, 2022 |
2022-04-13 |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Korrespondent] 22:51 Arestovich called Medvedchuk "very valuable" because he "is related to Putin, to Russia, to the war, to the preparation of this war, to the organization of the pro-Russian movement in Ukraine." ![]() 22:26 Macron said in an interview with Le Point that Putin's decision to attack Ukraine was dictated by "anti-Western indignation and paranoia." According to Macron, the pandemic has increased the isolation of the Russian president. “He ended up in Sochi for months, locked himself up, he has less contact with other thinking,” Macron explained. At the same time, the French president expressed his conviction that Putin would not stop his attacks, and he needed a military victory before May 9th. At the same time, Macron stressed that he intends to continue to negotiate with his Russian counterpart in order to warn him of the danger of continued violence. 22:20 Blinken said the US cannot confirm the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, but Washington "has credible information that Russian forces may use various means of riot control", which include "tear gas mixed with chemical agents capable of cause more severe symptoms to weaken and incapacitate the Ukrainian military and civilians as part of an aggressive campaign to take Mariupol." "We're having a direct conversation with partners to try to determine what really happened," Blinken said at the State Department. 22:10 Podolyak on Medvedchuk's detention: "Today, in order to survive, Medvedchuk needs to hide in a Ukrainian prison. With a guaranteed long-term prison term. In the Russian Federation, he will definitely be liquidated as a person who regularly lied about the mood in Ukraine, stole money and eventually became one from the initiators of the war. 21:54 The head of the Poltava OVA, Dmitry Lunin, announced two new strikes on the infrastructure of Mirgorod, information about the victims and the consequences is being specified. 21:50 Head of the SBU Ivan Bakanov on the detention of Medvedchuk: "I thank all the employees of the SBU, in particular counterintelligence officers and investigators, who, following the instructions of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, proved their professionalism and carried out this lightning-fast and dangerous multi-level special operation to detain the still People's Deputy Medvedchuk "Not a single traitor will escape punishment and will be held accountable under the Law of Ukraine. To the fullest extent, for all the crimes that his personal actions led to, including." 21:37 The first suspicion in Ukraine of public calls for the genocide of the Ukrainian people was brought against Russian publicist Armen Gasparyan, the Office of the Prosecutor General said. The suspect, who is the author of the book Denazification of Ukraine. The country of unlearned lessons , systematically promoted the statement about the insolvency of the Ukrainian state to the further existence, inferiority and second-rateness of the Ukrainian nation. 21:31 In Mariupol the division of the Nikolaev 36th separate brigade of marines as a result of special operation could leave an encirclement of the enemy and unite with the Azov regiment. "I can't tell you the details, but I can say that now we have connected with the Azov regiment. Several hundred marines, including the wounded, managed to get out," the brigade officer said in a commentary to Crime.NO. 21:27 British intelligence reacted to Moscow's statements that the war in Ukraine "goes according to plan":
21:15 Zelensky was informed about the detention of Medvedchuk: 21:12 The Cabinet of Ministers allocated 200 million hryvnias for compensation to employers who employed migrants. For each of them will pay 6500 hryvnia per month. 21:07 The Russians on the territory of the Mariupol Commercial Seaport captured the crew of another ship - the Blue Star-1 dry cargo ship flying the flag of Liberia, Denisova said. 18 sailors - citizens of Ukraine, they were taken to Donetsk. It is known that the cargo ship entered the port of Mariupol at the end of February and was blocked by the Russians. Communication with the crew was lost on 25 March. According to preliminary information, about 200 crew members of several ships blocked by Russian invaders in the port of Mariupol may already be in captivity of the invaders. 21:04 The United States is working on the transfer of artillery to Kiev, a Biden aide held a two-hour conversation with Ukrainian officials about military assistance, the White House said. 21:01 Steinmeier would be happy to visit Kiev, but Zelensky does not want to see him. About difficult relations with the President of Germany - in the material Ban on Steinmeier: why he is not welcome in Kiev . 20:58 The Embassy of Ukraine to the Holy See is seeking the abolition of the joint participation in the Friday Cross Procession of a Ukrainian woman together with a Russian woman. This was announced by the head of the embassy Andrei Yurash. 20:49 Negotiations with Moscow on security guarantees for Ukraine continue online, the Ukrainian side adheres to the Istanbul Communiqué and has not changed its position, Arakhamia said. The only difference, he said, is that Kyiv does not take into account all the additional issues that were not included in the Istanbul Communiqué. "Perhaps this caused a misinterpretation of the current state of the negotiation process," the head of the Ukrainian delegation commented on the Kremlin's statement that Ukraine had changed its position in the negotiations. 20:33 The Russian Defense Ministry has updated the text of the contract for military personnel, adding a provision that establishes criminal liability for refusing to participate in the so-called "special operation" on the territory of Ukraine, said Alexander Danilyuk, head of the Center for Defense Reforms. 20:22 Stormy weather persists in the Black Sea, and it will worsen, which makes the landing of Russian troops in the Odessa region impossible, the Pivden operational command reports. At the same time, the threat of missile attacks both from the sea and from the territory of Crimea remains in the region. In addition, the Russian occupiers continue to hide behind civilians, settle in their homes and place military equipment. They are also trying to create the impression that Kherson residents are opposed to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 20:20 Yermak said that the rescue ship Sapphire, freed from Russian invaders, is already in Ukraine - it was moored in the port of Izmail, Odessa region. 20:18 The restoration of the entire infrastructure of Mariupol will require 12.5 billion dollars, said the mayor of the city Vadim Boychenko. According to him, 40% of multi-storey buildings were destroyed in the city, 84,000 families were left without apartments. The construction of new homes, according to the mayor, will require $2.3 billion. 20:15 The curfew has been reduced in the Lviv region - now it will last from 23:00 hrs to 06:00 hrs, the regional administration reported. 20:12 Erdogan is convinced that Turkey is the only country capable of ensuring progress in the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. 19:57 Journalist Yuri Butusov said that in the Izyum direction in the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian defenders completely defeated the column of the "elite" 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division of the RF Armed Forces, capturing two T-80s as trophies. According to the journalist, the military equipment was ambushed due to a story on Russian television, which showed in which direction it was moving. 19:49 In Melitopol, Zaporozhye region, Russian invaders kidnap entrepreneurs and then demand a ransom for them, Denisova said: "Entrepreneurs are detained en masse, and they are released only after the payment of" compensation ". They are searched in their offices and homes." Also, according to her, the occupiers are trying to impose "taxes and fees" on entrepreneurs in favor of Russia - in cash and goods or products. 19:45 Podolyak admitted that the Ukrainian military remains blocked in Mariupol and has problems with supplies. At the same time, he assured that the military-political leadership of the country is aware of the problem, monitors the situation in real time and has more information than is known in social networks. "The President and the leadership of the Armed Forces are doing everything possible (and impossible) to find a solution and help our soldiers. But we cannot communicate our plans and actions publicly so as not to inform the enemy. Please treat this with understanding," wrote the adviser to the head OP. 19:36 From 20,000 to 22,000 people died in Mariupol, head of the Donetsk OVA Pavel Kirilenko told CNN. He added that the situation in the city is difficult and it is difficult to clarify the number of victims. Earlier, the mayor of Mariupol, Vadim Boychenko, said that the death toll in the city definitely exceeded 10,000 people and could reach 20,000. 19:34 Steinmeier said that Germany will supply weapons to Ukraine. 19:32 Deputy mayor of Mariupol Sergey Orlov told the Air Force that the city council confirmed the "chemical poisoning" from the Russian drone: "We cannot provide more detailed information, but we have confirmation from the military that this happened. 19:28 Denisova said that at Volnovakha School No. 5, children were forced to resume their studies. At the same time, training is in Russian and according to the program of the Russian Federation. The school has 823 students and 45 teachers. 19:26 Le Pen opposes the ban on oil and gas supplies from Russia, but generally supports the rest of the sanctions against the Russian Federation. She explained that she did not want the people of France to suffer the consequences of the rejection of Russian energy. 19:24 Macron said that he is not planning a visit to Kiev yet, as he does not believe that this will bring concrete results, and does not want to "follow fashion's lead." 19:20 In the Luhansk region, the morgues are overflowing with the bodies of civilians - it is impossible to store them, therefore, in between shelling, people are buried in mass graves and in the courtyards of high-rise buildings, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai. 19:19 India plans to increase exports to Russia by another two billion dollars in order to block the supply of products banned from export to Russia by Western sanctions, writes Bloomberg. 19:15 Today, 2,671 people have been evacuated, Vereshchuk said. From Mariupol and Berdyansk, 2,343 people arrived in Zaporozhye on their own transport, of which 208 were from Mariupol. Columns of buses that left Zaporozhye to evacuate people from Berdyansk, Tokmak and Energodar, the Russians continue to block at the checkpoint in Vasilyevka. A total of 328 people were evacuated from Lisichansk, Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Kremennaya and Popasna Luhansk regions. 19:09 The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine explained why a high level of "terrorist threat" was declared in the regions of Russia bordering Ukraine: the administrative-police regime has been strengthened to prevent local residents from fixing the movement of columns of weapons and military equipment moving towards Donbass. 19:05 In major cities of Europe and the United States, Ukrainian mothers take to the streets in memory of the children who died at the hands of the Russian occupiers. The most large-scale actions were held in Krakow, Bratislava, Chisinau, Munich and Atlanta. The main attribute of such marches are dolls in bloody sheets, symbolizing the children killed by the Russian military in Bucha, Kramatorsk, Mariupol, Irpen and other cities of Ukraine. 18:59 Russia began to pull troops to the border with Finland, writes the Daily Mail. In particular, heavy weapons, including missile systems, were spotted hours after the Kremlin warned Helsinki against joining NATO. The Finnish authorities, in turn, said that they would not listen to Moscow's threats and would decide for themselves whether to join the alliance. 18:55 Venediktova said that the French experts, who arrived in Ukraine the day before to assist in the investigation of Russian war crimes, will work in Ukraine for 15 days. The mission arrived with a DNA laboratory and the necessary equipment for the examination of the bodies and identification. The collected evidence will be used in national investigations and may also be turned over to the International Criminal Court. According to the Prosecutor General, the exhumation of 49 bodies from a large mass grave near the local church has already been completed in Bucha. Three more burials with six bodies were found nearby. In one of them, according to preliminary data, a mother and two children - four and 11 years old. They burned to death in a car that was fired upon by the Russians. Also on Wednesday, April 13, the excavation of another large burial near the church in Bucha will begin. According to preliminary data, there are from 40 to 60 bodies of the dead. 18:33 It is still too early for people who left their homes due to hostilities to return, said Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar: "It is too early to return to the Kyiv region, because difficult times are still ahead of us. I mean all of Ukraine. And this may change daily, because this is a dynamic situation. Today it is too early to return, even to Kiev." 18:28 Germany is ready to withdraw India's invitation to the G7 summit due to the fact that it did not condemn Russian aggression against Ukraine, writes Bloomberg. 18:23 The OP reported that the restoration of settlements has begun in seven regions of Ukraine, where hostilities have been completely or partially stopped. In particular, according to him, there is an opportunity to start restoration work on the territory of Zhytomyr, Zaporozhye, Kiev, Nikolaev, Sumy, Kharkov and Chernihiv regions. Of the 6,000 settlements in these regions, almost 1,500 have been under occupation. 18:20 Teachers who approve of Russian aggression in Ukraine cannot work in schools, the Vilnius municipality said. 18:18 Negotiations between Kiev and Moscow "are extremely difficult, online in working subgroups, but they are taking place," Podolyak said in a commentary to the UP. According to him, Russia adheres to its traditional tactics - publicly putting pressure on the negotiation process, including through "certain public statements." 18:16 German President Steinmeier said that "a return to normality with Russia under Putin is impossible." He also confirmed that he was ready to go to Kyiv with colleagues from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, but the Ukrainian authorities considered his presence undesirable. 18:13 Eight Russian companies and banks officially announced that they were unable to pay Eurobonds in foreign currency due to sanctions, as foreign banks freeze money - these are Nordgold, Severstal, Russian Railways, Alrosa, RusHydro, SUEK, ChTPZ and Sovcombank. 18:06 Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korchok said that Bratislava is preparing the return of its diplomats to Kiev. In the coming days, an inspection team of diplomats will arrive in Ukraine to assess the security situation on the ground. 18:03 Irpin City Council allocated 100,000 hryvnias to the families of Ukrainian servicemen who died defending the city. "We are well aware that this is nothing compared to the loss suffered by parents, wives, children, relatives ... But let this be the smallest support that we can now provide to the families of the fallen defenders of Irpen," said the mayor of the city Alexander Markushin . 17:59 The United States is ready to consider the possibility of supplying Ukraine with longer-range weapons than they are currently transmitting, the Pentagon said. 17:38 The head of the Donetsk OVA, Pavel Kirilenko, confirmed that three people were injured in Mariupol as a result of exposure to an unknown substance dropped from a Russian drone. At the same time, according to him, it is too early to say what kind of substance it was and whether the attack can be classified as a chemical attack. 17:30 Bild writes, citing sources in Ukrainian government circles, that German President Steinmeier planned to visit Kiev along with delegations from other EU countries on Wednesday, April 12, but Zelensky did not want to. Other European politicians are allowed to come. The reason is Steinmeier's close ties with Russia in recent years. As head of the Foreign Ministry, he maintained contacts, in particular with Lavrov, and was also an active supporter of Nord Stream 2 and is considered the architect of the federal government's Russia-friendly policy. 17:28 According to Bild from Ukrainian government circles, German President Steinmeier planned to visit Ukraine together with other government delegations from other EU countries tomorrow, Wednesday. “But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is standing in the way. At the moment, he does not want to meet with Steinmeier in Kyiv. Other EU politicians are allowed to come,” writes Bild The reason is Steinmeier's close ties with Russia in recent years. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, he maintained contacts, in particular, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Steinmeier has also been a vocal supporter of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and is considered the architect of the federal government's Russia-friendly policy, writes Bild. 17:26 If Russia stops gas supplies to Europe, Germany will have enough of its reserves until at least late summer or early autumn, said the head of the Federal Network Agency Klaus Müller. 17:15 Briton Aidin Aislin, who has been serving in Ukraine since 2018 and as part of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine takes part in the defense of Mariupol, told his friends and family that they would lay down their arms and surrender to the Russian occupiers. The BBC and Atlas News write about this, citing family members and friends of Aislin. "48 days have passed, we have tried everything possible to protect Mariupol, but we have no choice but to surrender to Russian troops. We have no food and ammunition left," he said. The day before, on the Facebook page of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, a post appeared in Russian (although before that all messages were written in Ukrainian) that April 11 could be the last battle for the defenders of Mariupol. 17:06 Investigative journalist Khristro Grozev from Bellingcat writes that the substance that the occupiers in Mariupol could have used yesterday is similar in its mode of action to an aerosol chemical weapon that was developed by the 33rd Institute of the Russian Defense Ministry. Grozev’s Bellingcat colleague Eliot Giggins noted that it would be very difficult to prove the use of chemical weapons by the Russians on April 11 in Mariupol, since under the current conditions it is almost impossible to collect the samples necessary for testing and save them. Perhaps the only way to obtain evidence of a chemical attack, he said, is to collect fragments of the ammunition used the day before. 17:04 In New York, in Brooklyn, a shooting occurred at the Sunset Park subway station, eyewitnesses report more than ten wounded, there are also dead. The suspect fled, wearing a gas mask during the attack. 17:02 The Vatican announced that on April 15, Good Friday, the procession will be held in the Colosseum, which will be led by the Pope. The cross will be held by a Ukrainian and a Russian woman who work together in the hospice. "It is during these reflections and prayers that the cross will be in the hands of Irina and Albina, who will be under it along with their families. They arrived in Italy two decades ago, and today they work in the palliative care department, serving patients who are in severe stages of the disease" , Vatican Radio reported. 16:59 A total of 403 bodies of killed and tortured people who died during the occupation of the city by the Russian army were found in Bucha , mayor Anatoly Fedoruk said: "They were brutally tortured, killed. The procedures are being carried out, respectively, their competent authorities are carrying out under the close attention of the media" . 16:55 The British organization Airwars has published a report on the use of cluster munitions by Russia in Kharkiv. Investigators documented a total of 26 impact sites spanning 350 meters. Experts believe that the widespread damage in Kharkiv may indicate that the Russian Federation is detonating cluster munitions at a higher altitude than usual. They also suggest that the strike was carried out by a single missile. 16:52 Shmyhal spoke with Swiss President Ignazio Cassis and agreed to hold a conference on the restoration of Ukraine in the Swiss city of Lugano on July 4-5. 16:48 British Minister of the Armed Forces James Hippie said that 120 armored vehicles are "preparing" for the Ukrainian military, and this week the Ukrainian military will arrive in the UK to learn how to use them. 16:40 Podolyak on Putin's speech: "Russia says its goal in Ukraine is to 'protect the people in Donbas.' Right at this moment, Russian mobile crematoria are burning the bodies of thousands of civilians in Mariupol, the second largest city in the Donetsk region. Survivors are starving to death "What are you protecting them from? From life?" 16:37 Barack Obama believes that the threat from Putin has always existed, but his "reckless" manner of invading Ukraine ten years ago could not be predicted: "He was always seized by this distorted sense of ethnic nationalism." 16:25 The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) excluded from its latest tender several grades of oil with a high sulfur content, including Russian Urals. Previously, this company bought large volumes of Russian oil, writes Reuters. 16:23 Putin said that "Kyiv has moved away from the Istanbul agreements, returned to a deadlock." 16:18 Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian invaders, 20 media workers have died, including representatives of foreign media. The list of the dead was published by the National Union of Journalists . 16:10 "In Ukrainian Bucha - the same fake as it was with chemical weapons in Syria," Putin said. 15:59 In Ukraine, out of 3.2 million children left in their homes, about 1.6 million are at risk of living on the brink of starvation and face the risk of food shortages due to the war, Denisova said. 15:57 Putin on the war: "What is happening in Ukraine is a tragedy, but Russia had no choice." He also believes that the Belarusian platform is suitable for negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow. 15:55 Putin, speaking about the impact of Western sanctions, said that "the blitzkrieg that the West was counting on did not take place, the Russian economy and financial system are quite firmly on their feet." However, he did not rule out that in the medium and long term, the risks may increase. 15:54 On the road in the village of Krasnoe, Chernihiv region, a civilian passenger car was blown up on an anti-tank mine, the driver died. 15:52 Putin said that it became possible to start a dialogue with Ukraine "largely thanks to Lukashenka." 15:50 The Russian army is fighting today, focusing on the combat situation. The enemy command has no strategy, planning is situational. The interests of the enemy today are the east and south of Ukraine, said Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar. 15:48 EU countries will receive an additional 3.5 billion euros this year to finance the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees, the Council of the European Union announced. Funds will be allocated proportionally depending on the number of settled Ukrainians. 15:43 Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko said in an interview with the Financial Times that the state budget deficit is expected to rise to $5-7 billion in April-May. And infrastructure losses due to the Russian invasion have already risen to $270 billion. He also said that the Cabinet of Ministers cut government spending by $6 billion, but revenues are only slightly more than half of pre-war revenues. At the same time, the minister assured that Ukraine would continue to make payments on the public debt in order to avoid default. 15:35 The World Bank is preparing a $1.5 billion aid package for Ukraine to support the provision of public services to the population. 15:31 Putin said that he discussed with Lukashenka the formation of a single defense space and security issues, and also clarified the plans for the exercises. Lukashenka, in turn, said that he had discussed Bucha with Putin, calling it a "British special operation." 15:17 A large convoy of Russian military equipment is heading towards the Lugansk and Donetsk regions. Their technique was noticed in the Rostov region, writes CNN. 15:12 Investigative journalist from Bellingcat Hristo Grozev is convinced that the battle for Donbass, which is being prepared by the Russian army, risks becoming a record in terms of casualties on both sides. He predicts that it will begin this week. "I expect the conflict to be more active, more professional on both sides. It will be a clash with huge casualties for both Russia and Ukraine, perhaps a modern version of World War II," Grozev said. 15:07 There is no official confirmation from the Ukrainian authorities about the use of chemical weapons in Mariupol yet. But such an attack has long been expected. Everything that is known about this at the moment is in the material of Himataka RF in Mariupol . 15:02 The Ministry of Internal Affairs received equipment worth four million dollars to digitize Russia's war crimes. The body cameras were provided by two private companies, AXON and Benish GPS. The equipment will allow Ukrainian law enforcement officers to effectively collect and digitize evidence of Russian war crimes, and the data will be transferred to a single archive. 14:52 The Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council warns of the disinformation campaign of the Russian Federation about the alleged "victory" in the war against Ukraine. To do this, Kremlin propaganda, in addition to its own pseudo-experts, uses a supporter of the Putin regime - former US Marine Brian Berletic. This "expert" in the English-language and Russian-language information segments talks about the "Syrian scenario" - allegedly "the Ukrainian military is killing its own population in order to frame Russia." Berletik claims that "this is how the Ukrainians are trying to slow down the pace of advancement of the Russian army." 14:47 The mayor's office of Russian Belgorod calls on citizens to join "people's squads" to patrol the streets in the evening and at night, as well as help the police in law enforcement. 14:44 Russian servicemen from the 47th Panzer Division, who participated in the battles against Ukraine, did not receive the promised additional payments. The last surcharge they received was 2% of their tuition salary before the start of the war, Ukrainian intelligence said. As a result, military personnel have neither the desire nor the incentive to return to the war zone. In addition, more and more bodies of the dead are coming to Russia, so the command ordered them to be transported in small batches so as not to sow panic. And in order to prevent mass layoffs, the military contract of the Russian army includes a provision on consent to the performance of tasks in areas of military operations, regardless of their location. 14:39 The State Border Service reported that security measures have been strengthened on the border with Belarus and in the area with unrecognized Transnistria. 14:31 The line of military clashes has been moved away from the Dnipropetrovsk region and now passes through the territories of Kherson, said the head of the military administration of Krivoy Rog Alexander Vilkul. According to him, more than 15 settlements have returned under the control of Ukraine, and now infrastructure is being restored there, primarily power lines. 14:28 Ukrposhta put into circulation postage stamps Russian warship, go...! The ceremony was attended by the author of the cult phrase Roman Gribov. 14:22 According to the UN, more than 4.6 million Ukrainians have left the country since the beginning of the Russian invasion. During the day, this number increased by 68,000 people. 14:20 More than 335,000 refugees from Ukraine have officially registered in Germany, the country's Interior Ministry said. During the day, the number of Ukrainian refugees increased by 3936 people. 14:18 The village of Novoyakovlevka, Zaporozhye region, was fired upon by Russians with phosphorus bombs at night. According to the Kamyshevakhskaya UTC, due to rainy weather, the fire did not start, there were no wounded or dead, but there were damaged houses. 14:13 Arestovich reported that there are 16 enemy BTGs in the Izyum direction, and about 14 more BTGs in the Ugledar-Marinka direction. That is, only about 30 enemy BTGs are in the JFO area. 14:05 NATO predicts a new, larger stage of hostilities in Ukraine. As NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said, "everything indicates that we will soon enter the second stage of this war, very bloody, more complex, different in character from the first stage, on a much wider territory - both in the east, in the Donbass, and in the south, towards the Crimea and Mariupol. NATO hopes that the confrontation will not drag on, but admits that there is little chance of this. Probably, there will be new losses among the civilian population. 14:03 Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said that the number and intensity of shelling of residential areas of the city have increased since yesterday. To date, 1,644 residential multi-storey buildings have been destroyed; in total, about 2,000 buildings and structures have been damaged in the city. There are civilian casualties, including a child. 13:59 NACP and the Movement honestly entered the first hundred people into the register of state traitors, including 73 politicians, 13 representatives of law enforcement agencies, 13 media workers and one judge. 13:57 The headman of Staraya Zburyevka, Kherson region, Viktor Marunyak, who was captured by Russian invaders on March 21, got in touch and is returning home, the Golopristan City Council reports. 13:42 The head of the Nikolaev OVA, Vitaliy Kim, told that the Ukrainians began to read the Russian communities and the enemy uses this to reveal the positions of the Ukrainian military. In particular, they make statements that there are Ukrainian military personnel in such and such a building, and then they wait for a refutation to appear in the comments from local residents. Kim urges not to leave comments in Russian publics. 13:30 The National Bank of Ukraine and the Central Bank of Poland signed a memorandum on assistance during the war. The document will facilitate the exchange of information and mutual support between the two regulators. 13:26 The Polish authorities announced the detention of two Belarusians who were carrying out espionage activities on the instructions of the Belarusian special services. They identified "objects of critical and strategic importance for the defense of Poland." A Russian was also detained, who collected data on the combat readiness of the Polish armed forces and NATO troops at the request of the Russian special services. 13:23 There is no need to evacuate from the Sumy region at the moment - it is better to return to work for everyone who has such an opportunity, Governor Dmitry Zhivitsky said. He said that although the Russian army had not completely withdrawn from the borders of the region, there was no enemy strike force there now. The head of the region also called the preliminary amount of damage from military operations - more than 10 billion hryvnia. The Cabinet of Ministers has already allocated UAH 250 million for the priority restoration of infrastructure and residential buildings, which they plan to spend on the restoration of facilities that do not require major repairs. 13:18 The SBU exposed a group that was supposed to create "people's republics" in the western regions of Ukraine. According to one of the participants, the group began work to overthrow the constitutional order in the summer of 2021. The plan was such that if the current government does not resign itself, the group will move on to a military scenario. To seize power, the group had to recruit 500 militants, preferably from former ATO soldiers, and supply them with weapons. The implementation of the plan was to coincide with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 13:07 The Russians are resettling Ukrainians in Siberia and beyond the Arctic Circle, about 100,000 refugees found themselves thousands of kilometers from home, writes The Independent. According to official documents, 11,000 people were distributed to Siberia, 7,000 to the Far East, and another 7,000 to the North Caucasus. Also, the Ukrainians were to be sent to Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan. Residents of Mariupol were asked to sign documents stating that Ukrainian troops had shelled their city. The signatories were told that they could not return to Ukraine because they would face persecution, the newspaper notes. 12:55 Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, 20.8% of Ukrainians have changed their place of residence - this is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the company Operational Sociology commissioned by the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Studies (NIBR) and Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet). At the same time, 81.6% of Ukrainians do not plan to change their location in the next four weeks, and 59.6% of those who have left or are planning to go abroad want to return home as soon as possible. 12:46 Russia has extended the ban on flights in the south of the country until April 19 in connection with the war against Ukraine. 12:32 Zelensky in an address to the Lithuanian parliament: "The European Union is already discussing the sixth package of sanctions against Russia and it is still unknown whether oil will be subject to sanctions. Even after seeing the massacres in Bucha and other cities, some EU countries cannot decide when "They will at least significantly limit the purchase of Russian energy resources. Hundreds of European companies and banks not only have not yet refused to work on the Russian market, but are also demonstrating blatant disdain in response to demands to stop financing the military machine of the Russian Federation with their taxes, their excises." 12:17 Senior adviser to the US Congress Paul Massaro said that "all free peoples are in a huge debt to Ukraine." "We can start paying off this debt now with arms and sanctions," he added. 12:14 Putin said that "the goals of the operation to protect the Donbass will be achieved, they are noble - assistance to the Donbass." According to him, Kyiv "publicly refused" to comply with the Minsk agreements, and "it was impossible to continue to tolerate the genocide." "The Russian Armed Forces act courageously, competently, efficiently and effectively, they use the most modern types of weapons," Putin is convinced. He also stressed that Russia is not going to isolate itself, and "it is impossible to isolate it from the whole world." 12:12 British Minister of the Armed Forces James Hippie said that the British government has not yet been able to verify reports of a chemical attack in Mariupol. But Putin must know that all possible responses from the West are on the table, he stressed. 12:10 The British Foreign Office recommends that its citizens leave Russia, and if this is not possible, limit movement around the country. 12:08 The "DPR" claims that they did not use chemical weapons in Mariupol yesterday. This was stated by the representative of the "People's Militia of the DPR" Eduard Basurin, who spoke yesterday afternoon about the need to "turn to the chemical troops, who will find a way to smoke moles out of their holes," referring to the Ukrainian military at Azovstal. 12:03 Putin said that "there is no doubt that the goals and objectives of the operation in Ukraine will be fulfilled." "A clash with anti-Russian forces growing in Ukraine was inevitable, it was a matter of time," he added. 11:57 Zelensky said in an address to the Lithuanian parliament that he managed to identify the Russian military who raped children in the Kiev region: "Even this person [of the Russian military who raped a baby] has been established - Russian military Bychkov from Pskov, a paratrooper or special forces. He sent comrades, a video of what he does with a baby, how he mocks a baby.Here is such a Russian military "protector of children." 11:55 Yermak said, citing Borrell, that all 27 EU countries supported the supply of weapons to Ukraine. 11:54 Ukravtodor is building a temporary crossing on the Kyiv-Zhytomyr highway near the village of Stoyanka. It is scheduled to open early next week. 11:52 The offensive of Russian troops in the Lugansk region is slowed down due to prolonged rain, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai. 11:49 On the road near the village of Gavronshchina, Buchansky district, Kiev region, police officers found a car shot by the Russian military, in which were the bodies of three women and two children. 11:41 The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that from now on, private soldiers can be appointed to officer positions if they have combat experience. To do this, you no longer need to receive training at the appropriate level in educational institutions. 11:35 In the Zaporozhye region, Russian invaders are looking for men of military age and forcibly send them to the military registration and enlistment offices, and from the Ukrainian police, by intimidation and pressure on their families, the Russians create detachments of the so-called "people's militia", the regional military administration said. 11:32 The Azov Regiment reported that the victims of the spread of a poisonous substance of unknown origin by the enemy in Mariupol are in "relatively satisfactory condition." One of the servicemen is in a "moderate condition", the other two are under constant medical supervision. Among the injured civilians, an elderly woman is in the worst condition. The main symptoms are flushing of the face, increased blood pressure, dryness and irritation in the oropharynx, mucous membranes of the eyes. According to the Azov Regiment, the enemy used poisonous substances or potent poisonous substances with a predominantly asphyxiating effect. However, due to the complete blockade, their toxicological analysis is not possible. 11:24 Despite the death of four million chickens at Europe's largest poultry farm in Chernobaevka, there will be no shortage of eggs and chicken in Ukraine, assured Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky. He explained that before the Russian invasion, Ukraine exported up to 40% of the eggs. He is also convinced that there will be no shortage of milk and vegetables. 11:19 Klitschko said that in Kiev for the period of martial law, car parking on the streets is free, but scammers who are trying to charge a fee have become more active. The mayor urged to immediately call the police if someone demands money for parking. 11:17 Most residents of the Donetsk region have left the region, but the evacuation should be more efficient, said the head of the OVA Pavel Kirilenko. 11:10 Karl Nehammer became the first European leader to visit the Russian president after the invasion of Ukraine began. More about this in the material Controversial visit: why did Putin visit the Austrian chancellor . 11:07 Russia is planning terrorist attacks on its territory to whip up "anti-Ukrainian hysteria," said the head of Ukrainian intelligence, Kirill Budanov. According to him, the Russian special services are planning to mine and blow up residential buildings, hospitals and schools in Russian settlements, as well as launch rocket and bomb attacks on the city of Belgorod or one of the cities of Crimea. The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense explained that the failure of the plan to mobilize in the Russian Federation is forcing the Putin regime to use dirty scenarios in order to further turn the Russians against the Ukrainians. It is quite possible that these attacks will be filed as a revenge of the Ukrainians for Bucha and Kramatorsk. 11:04 Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said that information about the possible use of chemical weapons by the invaders in Mariupol is being checked, but there is an assumption that these were most likely phosphorus munitions. At the same time, she stressed that "the risk of using chemical weapons does exist, and it is quite high." 10:58 Severodonetsk and Gorskoye of the Luhansk region were left without electricity, water and gas, all communications were destroyed by night shelling, Governor Sergei Gaidai said. Also, residents of Rubizhne, Popasnaya, and partially Lisichansk have no water. A total of 146,500 consumers remain without electricity in the combat zone in the Lugansk region, and there is no gas in 38 settlements. 10:52 Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova announced mass sexual violence in Bucha. In an interview with The New York Times and the BBC, she said that during the occupation of Bucha, Russian soldiers kept about 25 women and girls aged 14 to 24 in one of the basements and raped them regularly. Nine of them are now pregnant. 10:38 Residents of the settlements of the Kiev region affected by the fighting will be able to return to their homes at the end of May, a more exact date will be known by the end of April, said the head of the Kiev OVA Alexander Pavlyuk. He said that they plan to restore power supply in the region by May 31. There is still no gas in 85 settlements, and its supply is also being gradually resumed. Pavlyuk stressed that it is still dangerous to return to these areas: there are still many mines and ammunition, mine clearance is underway. 10:27 Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Marine Guard of the State Border Service, prevented the withdrawal of eight Russian cargo ships and two tankers from Ukraine, which were in the waters of the port of Odesa region on preventive maintenance. The ships were involved in the logistics operations of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea and the Danube. 10:24 Mayor of Mariupol Vadim Boychenko told AP that the death toll in the city could exceed 20,000 people , as the bodies of the dead "litter the streets." According to him, the death toll reaches more than 10,000. He also accused the Russians of blocking convoys with humanitarian aid, as the occupiers are trying to hide what is happening in Mariupol from the outside world. 10:21 Charitable organization Caritas announced the destruction of its center in Mariupol. The Russians fired into the building from a tank. At that time, there were people inside, seven of them died, including two employees of the organization. 10:19 Russians are trying to sow panic among the residents of Chernihiv by spreading rumors about an attack on the city. The head of the OVA, Vyacheslav Chaus, urged residents of the city and the region not to believe unverified panic rumors. He also asks the residents of Chernihiv not to return to the city without a critical need yet: "We are obliged to restore critical infrastructure, and the more people return, the more resources the city will consume, give us a little more time." 10:17 In Severodonetsk, the invaders destroyed a humanitarian aid center that fed 300 people daily. As one of the organizers of the network of such centers in Severodonetsk and Lisichansk, the chairman of the Luhansk Association of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities, Mykola Nadulichny, said, on April 11, the center was subjected to massive shelling. There are no victims. 10:01 In the city of Stryi, Lviv region, a stele-monument to a Soviet soldier was dismantled. 09:49 In the Khmelnitsky region, the Russians launched a missile attack on an infrastructure facility, the OVA reported. As a result, a fire broke out, which has already been extinguished. There are no victims. 09:41 In the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation, in the Shebekinsky urban district, which borders on the Kharkov region, local authorities recorded damage to the railway tracks, the governor said. 09:37 British intelligence believes that the fighting in eastern Ukraine will intensify over the next two to three weeks, as Russia continues to redirect its efforts there. "Russian attacks remain focused on Ukrainian positions near Donetsk and Luhansk, fighting continues around Kherson and Nikolaev, and the offensive against Kramatorsk is resumed," the British Defense Ministry said in a report. It is also reported that the Russian Federation continues to withdraw troops from Belarus in order to redeploy them to support operations in eastern Ukraine. 09:33 In Zhytomyr, they may stop teaching Russian in schools as early as the next academic year, the mayor of the city Sergey Sukhomlin said: “I still want us to no longer recruit classes in our schools for the study of the Russian language from September 1. We see that our children won’t need this language for another 20-30 years.” 09:30 Putin and Lukashenko will hold a meeting today at the Vostochny cosmodrome, following which they will give a press conference, Russian media report. 09:27 The General Staff named the approximate losses of the enemy on the morning of April 12:
09:20 Religious leaders will visit Ukraine with a "mission of friendship and solidarity." The delegation will include former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Thyatira (Patriarchate of Constantinople) Nikita Lulias, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, Minister General of the Franciscan Order Massimo Fusarelli, representatives of Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist communities from different countries. The visit was organized by the international coalition Religions for Peace. According to The Church Times, the delegation will arrive in Chernivtsi on Tuesday, April 12. 09:12 Nine humanitarian corridors agreed on April 12: Mariupol, Berdyansk, Tokmak, Energodar - Zaporozhye. Evacuation from the cities of the Zaporozhye region will take place on our own transport. Also, at the checkpoint in Vasilyevka, buses sent from Zaporozhye are waiting for a pass. Severodonetsk, Lisichansk, Popasnaya, with. Gornoye, Rubizhnoye - Bakhmut. 09:06 Russia receives ammunition and military equipment from Iraq for military operations in Ukraine with the help of Iranian arms smuggling networks, writes The Guardian. According to the publication, RPGs and anti-tank missiles, as well as Brazilian-designed multiple launch rocket systems, were sent to Russia from Iraq after Moscow's unsuccessful campaign in Ukraine in March. In addition, the Iranian-made Bavar 373 missile system, similar to the Russian S-300, was donated to Moscow by the Tehran authorities. 09:03 Ukraine offers international partners to apply the "Iranian model" of sanctions against Gazprom - when Russian gas will be supplied to the EU, but the funds for it will be transferred not to Russia, but to special deposit accounts, said Deputy Energy Minister Yaroslav Demchenkov. 08:45 In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Russians attacked an old mill in the Sinelnikovsky district at night. People were not injured, said the head of the region, Valentin Reznichenko. 07:57 Japan has imposed sanctions on 398 individuals and 28 organizations of the Russian Federation. 07:24 The Russian army is trying to complete the regrouping and movement of units to the areas of concentration in the Belgorod and Voronezh regions, as well as the redeployment of the aviation of the aerospace forces to airfields that are in close proximity to the eastern borders of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports. 05:15 Out of about 1,700 prisoners held by Russia and pro-Russian separatists, 500 are women , Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk told Reuters. According to her, captured women are forced to stand, they are not allowed to sit down. They shave their heads, make them undress every day for examinations. They degrade human dignity. "I know the facts of rape, I saw beaten backs ... They want us to be scared. They want us to cry and be victims. But we are not them," Vereshchuk said. 04:49 The Pentagon cannot yet confirm the report that Russian troops used chemical weapons in Mariupol, spokesman John Kirby said, writes CNN. The Pentagon is aware of the reports and will be monitoring the situation closely, Kirby said. The British Foreign Office also promised to monitor the situation. 03:07 Europol launched Operation Oscar - it will search for criminal assets belonging to individuals or companies under sanctions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 02:12 Bulgaria has refused to exchange classified information with Russia - the corresponding decision was made by the country's government. 01:26 In the Nikolaev region, disguised Russian saboteurs tried to impersonate a group of lost evacuees local. In three civilian vehicles, they drove up to the Ukrainian positions and tried to attack them, according to OK Pivden. Ukrainian fighters destroyed five of them, the rest fled. 00:58 Zelensky said that due to the actions of the Russian army, Ukraine is now one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world. According to him, mining should also be considered a war crime. 00:40 In the Black Sea operational zone, stormy weather has significantly complicated the maneuvers of Russian ships, OK Pivden reported. Also, due to stormy wind and rain, the enemy cannot use drones for reconnaissance and fire adjustment. 00:33 Zelensky said that any new sanctions package against Russia that does not affect oil will be received in Moscow with a smile. He called on the EU to impose a total embargo on Russian oil. The President also said that Ukraine does not receive "as many weapons as necessary to end this war as soon as possible." 00:25 Zelensky said that the invaders are preparing a new stage of terror against Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine - they threaten to use chemical weapons against the defenders of Mariupol. “We are considering this very seriously. I want to remind world leaders that the possible use of chemical weapons by the Russian military has already been discussed. And by that time it meant that it was necessary to respond to Russian aggression much harder and faster,” the president stressed. 00:11 According to the World Trade Organization, a war in Ukraine could almost halve global trade growth this year, from a projected 4.7% in October 2021 to 2.4-3%. In addition, the crisis may reduce global GDP growth by 0.7-1.3 percentage points. 00:05 Andrey Biletsky, the leader of the Azov Regiment, said that a chemical attack had taken place at Azovstal, three people were injured. It was this plant that was previously discussed in the "DPR", announcing the possibility of a chemical attack on Ukrainians. "A chemical attack on Mariupol means only one thing: the Russians cannot take Mariupol and the Ukrainian defenders. And they have no choice but to use indiscriminate prohibited weapons," Biletsky said. |
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Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury to Meet for First Time |
2013-06-11 |
![]() Welby, the leader of the world's 80 million Anglicans, will also visit the tombs of St Peter and John Paul II at St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican said in a statement Monday, adding that he will be accompanied by his wife Caroline. He will also meet Swiss cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Vatican's Council for Christian Unity. Francis's predecessor Benedict XVI enjoyed generally good relations with his Anglican counterpart ![]() ... sometimes known as the Archdruid of Canterbury, an indifferent theologian and a poor communicator, so obtuse as to occasionally be mistaken for brilliant but chock full of bland New Agey Feel-Goodisms ... , though relations were strained by a Vatican move to make it easier for disaffected Anglicans to switch to the generally more conservative Catholic Church. |
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Clerics decry 'colonial' campaign in choice of new archdruid | |
2012-07-15 | |
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] As intense lobbying continues behind the scenes over who should become the new Archbishop of Canterbury -- the spiritual leader of the 77 million-strong Anglican Communion -- churches in Africa have expressed their concerns over the process. Last Sunday, Bishop Mouneer Anis of Egypt warned that many of the estimated 55 million Anglicans across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australasia and the Americas felt they had "no say" in the process of selecting a successor to Dr ![]() ... sometimes known as the Archdruid of Canterbury, an indifferent theologian and a poor communicator, so obtuse as to occasionally be mistaken for brilliant but chock full of bland New Agey Feel-Goodisms ... African clergy, in particular, have expressed their concern at a 'whispering' campaign to ensure that the candidate likely to be most favoured by Anglicans across Africa, Dr John Sentamu, the current Archbishop of York and a former asylum seeker from Uganda under the regime of Idi Amin, is not chosen.
Already pressure is being brought to bear on representatives of the 16-member Crown Nominations Commission who will make the decision to recommend to UK Prime Minister ![]() ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... who should become the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. The only person on the CNC representing the non-English members of the Anglican Communion is the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, who is known for his liberal stance on issues of sexuality. Dr Anis told Britannia's Daily Telegraph newspaper that while he "loves and respects" Dr Morgan, his nationality was relevant. "Sadly, this gives the impression that the voice of the Anglican Communion outside England is not counted as being important," he said. Dr Anis, who is the Primate of the Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, went on: "It is giving the impression that we don't own it at all -- it is all something somehow run from England. It would be acceptable in the 19th Century but not now ... It is a colonial approach." The head of Nigerian Anglican Church Nicholas Okoh said that Dr Williams, who steps down from his post in December, had divided a once happy family. "He is leaving behind a Communion in tatters: highly polarised, bitterly factionalised, with issues of revisionist interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and human sexuality as stumbling blocks to oneness." St Paul's University vice chancellor Prof Joseph Galgalo, an Anglican priest, feels that Dr Sentamu stands a good chance of taking over. "He has very balanced views especially on the issues that divide the church," Prof Galgalo told the Sunday Nation. Supporters of John Sentamu, the Ugandan-born holy man, who was the early favourite to become Archbishop of Canterbury, have also said his campaign is being undermined by racist critics. A series of reports in the UK press quoted a senior bishop criticising Dr Sentamu as "quite tribal and the African chief thing comes through". Dr Sentamu, who is currently Archbishop of York, has five main rivals for the new position. | |
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Archdruid of Canterbury to step down amid rifts |
2012-03-17 |
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Archbishop of Canterbury ![]() ... sometimes known as the Archdruid of Canterbury, an indifferent theologian and a poor communicator, so obtuse as to occasionally be mistaken for brilliant but chock full of bland New Agey Feel-Goodisms ... the spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, said Friday he will resign at the end of the year after a decade of turmoil over female and gay bishops. The bushy-bearded 61-year-old announced in a statement that he would take up a position as master of Magdalene College at Britannia's prestigious Cambridge University in January 2013. "It has been an immense privilege to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury over the past decade, and moving on has not been an easy decision," he said in the statement, released by his office, Lambeth Palace. "During the time remaining there is much to do, and I ask (for) your prayers and support in this period and beyond." The Church of England could now see its first black Archbishop of Canterbury, with John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, widely viewed as front-runner to replace Williams. Williams' successor will be formally appointed by Queen Elizabeth II, who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Lambeth Palace said Williams's intention to resign had been formally conveyed to the queen. |
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Britain |
Archbishop of Canterbury: wearing a cross does not offend non-Christians |
2012-03-16 |
The ![]() Don't go Rowan, you are a cornucopia of mirth to the plebs. But what did the non-Christians say? Isn't that more important? In a candid interview Dr Rowan Williams said he did not believe that Christianity was losing the battle against secularisation in Britain but said that the arguments were being clouded by 'dim-witted prejudice.' "What I think slightly shadows the whole thing is this sense that there are an awful lot of people now of a certain generation who don't really know how religion works, let alone Christianity in particular, and that leads to confusions, sensitivities in the wrong areas - 'does wearing a cross offend people who have no faith or non-Christians?' well I don't think it does. Isn't the job of the clergy to, you know, educate people about how religion works? Seems like the evangelicals, the missionaries, and the papists understand this a little better than you... "But people worry that it will. That is partly because there is a slight tone deafness about how religious belief works. "I think there is also a lot of ignorance and rather dim-witted prejudice about the visible manifestations of Christianity, which sometimes clouds the discussion." Dr Williams, 61, will leave at the end of December to take up a new role as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge next January. The Queen, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, has been informed. |
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Archdruid calls for new tax on bankers | ||
2011-11-02 | ||
Dr ![]() ... sometimes known as the Archdruid of Canterbury, an indifferent theologian and a poor communicator, so obtuse as to occasionally be mistaken for brilliant but chock full of bland New Agey Feel-Goodisms ... said that the Church of England had a "proper interest in the ethics of the financial world" and warned that there had been "little visible change in banking practices" following the recession. When will the Church of England sell all its treasures on the open market so as to raise money for the poor? Get back to me, your ArchDruidness, when that happens. He urged ![]() ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... and George Osborne to drop their opposition to a European-wide tax on financial transactions, which is expected to be formally proposed by La Belle France and Germany at the G20 summit of world leaders starting tomorrow. "The demands of the protesters have been vague. Many people are frustrated beyond measure at what they see as the disastrous effects of global capitalism; but it isn't easy to say what we should do differently. It is time we tried to be more specific," Dr Williams said.
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ArchDruid to retire early | |
2011-09-11 | |
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The news will trigger intense plotting behind the scenes over who should succeed the 61-year-old archbishop, who is not required to retire until he is 70. Bishops have privately been arguing for Dr Williams to stand down, with the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, telling clergy he should give someone else a chance after nearly ten years in the post. Lambeth Palace would not be drawn into confirming or denying whether the archbishop will be leaving next year. Sources close to the archbishop say he will leave after the Queen's Diamond Jubilee next June and having seen the Church finally pass legislation to allow women to become bishops. It is understood that Trinity College, Cambridge, is preparing to create a professorship for Dr Williams, who studied theology and was a chaplain at the university. | |
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Olde Tyme Religion |
The West, Islam and shariah |
2011-03-17 |
[Arab News] The issue of Shariah is gaining momentum as an increasing number of Mohammedans are living in Western societies. Despite its multicultural society, the United States is the least accommodating toward its Mohammedan population. England on the contrary, by accepting the presence of Mohammedan schools, charities, banks and Islamic arbitration tribunals, has been the least biased toward its Mohammedan citizens. As a result, Mohammedans in the UK are increasingly turning to Islamic courts mainly to resolve family disputes. Back in 2006, a study revealed that 85 unofficial Shariah courts were already operating out of mosques all over the United Kingdom. The largest of them, the Islamic Shariah Council in Leyton, set up in 1982, has handled 7,000 divorce cases. Mufti Barkatullah, one of its founders explains: "People who live in the United Kingdom undertake and abide by the law of the land, but they regard those laws as administrative laws, not a divine law. The matters of marriage and divorce don't fall into the state domain. It is a religious matter." The first Mohammedan Arbitration Tribunal, the first official Shariah law court in the UK was set up in December 2007 by scholars and lawyers at Hijaz College Islamic University in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The Mohammedan Arbitration Tribunal has binding legal status because it operates in tandem with the British legal system and decisions challenged by the losing party will be upheld by a county court bailiff or high court sheriff. The advances made by Islamic law into Britain hit the headlines when in February 2008, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr ![]() ... sometimes known as the Archdruid of Canterbury, an indifferent theologian and a poor communicator, so obtuse as to occasionally be mistaken for brilliant but chock full of bland New Agey Feel-Goodisms ... , said in a public lecture, at the Royal Courts of Justice: "my aim is only... to tease out some of the broader issues around the rights of religious groups within a secular state, with a few thoughts about what might be entailed in crafting a just and constructive relationship between Islamic law and the statutory law of the United Kingdom." These comments caused a firestorm and more than 250 articles appeared in the world press within a month. The polarized debate that followed triggered the idea for this book which explores the conflict between Western secularism and the demands of Islam as well as the issues of equality before the law and parallel jurisdictions in a multicultural society. "Shari'a in the West" is a collection of essays by leading scholars representing different political viewpoints and faith traditions. In their introduction, the editors, Rex Ahdar and Nicholas Aroney, admit that the question whether Shariah should be recognized and incorporated into the legal systems of the liberal democracies of the West is an imposing one: "The issue has become a proverbial 'hot potato' in the corridors of power, as well as the more commonplace cafes, cyberspace chat rooms, bars, and living rooms of society. Hardly a week goes by in the West without a controversy erupting over some aspects of Mohammedan ritual, symbolism, belief, or practice." On the one hand, critics fear that secularism, liberalism and individualism in Western democracies are under threat because the Shariah involves all the aspects of our life from the intimately personal, spiritual and familial, through to the management of interpersonal relations at a communal level. Shariah is also feared in the West where it conjures images of harsh physical punishments. On the other hand members of non-Christian faiths invoke the principles of Western liberalism supposed to grant the right to practice freely different religions. Wael Hallaq (quoted by Rex Ahdar and Nicholas Aroney) makes an interesting point when he says that the Western colonization of the Islamic world during the 19th and early 20th century's led to the creation of 'sovereign' nation-states and the enactment of positive legal codes embodying secular legal values. This resulted in the severing of the institutional and social roots of the old Shariah based rule of law which in time resulted in a fundamentalist resurgence with an emphasis on the reinstitution of Islamic law. |
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Anglican Church faces survival test |
2010-11-25 |
[Iran Press TV] ![]() Leader of the Church of England Rowan Williams ... sometimes known as the Archdruid of Canterbury, an indifferent theologian and a poor communicator, so obtuse as to occasionally be mistaken for brilliant but chock full of bland New Agey Feel-Goodisms ... told the meeting of the bigwigs governing the Anglican Church in England, the General Synod, that all church factions should end their disputes and agree on a common framework to ensure that the 70-million-strong Anglican Communion in Britain and other countries remain united. That framework's kinda been the sticking point, hasn't it? They've got lady bishops and homosexual clergy who don't feel any impulse toward celibacy, and they had at least one "theologian" who didn't even believe in God. Unitarians are pointing the finger at them and criticizing the mushiness of their doctrine. Members of the synod are to vote on Wednesday on the Anglican covenant amid fears that some priests, who are opposed to the ordination of women bishops, may even defect to Roman Catholicism. What the hell? Why not? They don't even have to learn Latin anymore. All 38 formerly autonomous members of the Anglican Communion around the world should approve the covenant for the church to survive its differences. Figure the odds on 38 people agreeing on much of anything. The covenant was set up following the US Episcopal Church's move to endorse an openly homosexual priest as the bishop of New Hampshire. He just couldn 't pretend to be a "bachelor." He hadda flaunt it. Discretion is so Old Age. Now with the new divisions forcing the autonomous provinces of the communion to act to keep the church uniform, critics say the covenant will weaken the position of the Church of England as the originator of the international communion. Mush didn't present a very solid foundation, does it? Yet Williams informed the synod that going on without a few changes is an "illusion" and still a "greater illusion" to believe British priests can impose their ideas on the other provinces of the Anglican Church around the world. Williams added no one can "derail the entire process" of the adoption of the covenant, which is deemed a yardstick by opponents, to determine who belongs and who does not belong to the church. "The unpalatable fact is that certain decisions in any province affect all," he said. "If we ignore this, we ignore what is already a real danger, the piece-by-piece dissolution of the communion and the emergence of structures in which relation to the Church of England and the See of Canterbury are likely not to figure very significantly," he added suggesting fears that Britain could lose its authority over the Anglican Church. Endorsing the covenant will define whether a province belongs to the Anglican Church and commits the members to refrain from any decision before gaining approval by other members. |
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Archdruid meets Pope Benedict |
2010-11-19 |
![]() The audience with the pope came as Williams visited the Vatican for a conference on the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Vatican said in a statement. "Despite new problems or difficult points in dialogue, the goal of the path towards ecumenism remains unchanged, as does the firm commitment to achieve it," Benedict told conference participants, his press office said. "This is not... a commitment that falls under political categories in which the ability to negotiate or find compromises come into play or in which you might expect agreements acceptable to everyone," he said. "The unity of Christians is, and remains, a prayer," he added. The Vatican did not provide any more information about the talks with Williams and a spokesperson for Williams said it was "a private meeting." Five Church of England bishops this month announced they would convert to Catholicism under an offer from Benedict to welcome Anglicans disaffected by moves to ordinate women and homosexual clergy. The Roman Catholic Church last year unveiled a controversial new juridical framework that made it easier for Anglicans -- both clergy and parishioners -- unhappy in the Church of England to join Catholic ranks. |
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Olde Tyme Religion |
Dean Jeffrey John, leading gay cleric, rejected as next Bishop of Southwark |
2010-07-09 |
I can reveal that Dr Jeffrey John, the openly gay but celibate Dean of St Albans, has been blocked from becoming a bishop once again. He has not been chosen as the next Bishop of Southwark. Liberals will be dismayed that the Church has lost its nerve -- but there is no reason for evangelicals to celebrate, either. This is bad news whichever way you look at it: 1) The Church has missed an opportunity to show that it is inclusive of homosexuals. 2) Jeffrey John has gained a reputation as a gifted preacher and effective pastor at St Albans cathedral and would have been a popular bishop. 3) It indicates that the Crown Nominations Commission is afraid of appointing any bishops who might bring a bit of colour. 4) A dignified and talented cleric has been embarrassed again. 5) The row over homosexual clergy could have been brought to a head, but will now fester until a gay priest is finally made a bishop. It is also bad news for Rowan Williams. Although he is only one of 14 members of the Commission, liberals will be perplexed as to why he allowed John's name to be included on the shortlist if it was only to be rejected at the last minute. To be fair, he didn't know that this fact would be leaked to me, and he is said to have been livid with the Commission that it was. But, given what happened in 2003 and his apparent distress at forcing his old friend to stand down from becoming Bishop of Reading, it will surprise many that he didn't use his influence to try and sway the few undecided members who could have secured his selection. |
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A gay bishop for the Church of England? |
2010-07-06 |
The Church of England may be on the verge of promoting a gay priest to bishop, a step that would widen the split over sexuality in the global Anglican Communion. If that happens, it would appear to be a significant turnaround for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the Church of England and the world's Anglicans, who recently imposed sanctions on the U.S. Episcopal Church for electing a lesbian bishop. According to newspaper reports, Williams is prepared to back the elevation of the Very Rev. Jeffrey John, who withdrew seven years ago from an appointment as a suffragan (assistant) bishop in the face of a heated controversy about his homosexuality. Williams' office will not comment. "I think the strength of the opposition is much weaker this time," Rev. Canon Giles Goddard, the chairman of Inclusive Church, said Tuesday. His group was founded by people disappointed by John's failure to become a bishop in 2003. John, who is now dean of St. Albans Cathedral, might be seen as a more acceptable candidate than the U.S. bishop because he has declared he is celibate--and therefore not in violation of church teaching. A Crown Nominations Commission, composed of 14 Church of England representatives, including Williams, met in secret Monday and Tuesday to choose two nominees to become bishop of Southwark diocese, the half of London that lies south of the River Thames. Prime Minister David Cameron, who has spoken strongly in favor of equal rights for gays, will have the final decision about whom to recommend to Queen Elizabeth II, who will make the formal appointment. Southwark diocese says a decision may not be announced before October. Williams has said nothing publicly about the issue. |
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