MOSCOW: Chinese President Xi Jinping has accepted Russia’s invitation to attend the commemorations of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, TASS state news agency reported on Monday.
“Chinese President Xi Jinping has accepted an invitation to take part in the celebrations on May 9 in Moscow on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War,” TASS cited Russian ambassador to China, Igor Morgulov, as telling Russian state television.
The Kremlin said in December that it had invited “many countries” to attend the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, which Russians call the “Great Patriotic War.”
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War Two, including many millions in Ukraine, but eventually pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Adolf Hitler committed suicide and the red Soviet Victory Banner was raised over the Reichstag in 1945.
Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender came into force at 11:01 p.m. on May 8, 1945, marked as “Victory in Europe Day” by France, Britain and the United States. In Moscow it was already May 9, which became the Soviet Union’s “Victory Day” in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45.
Victory Day has become Russia’s most important secular holiday.
Morgulov said that Xi in return, invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to China for the country’s commemoration of the end of World War Two, which are planned for September.
China’s Xi accepts invitation to attend Moscow’s Victory Day in May, TASS reports
https://arab.news/wjr8r
China’s Xi accepts invitation to attend Moscow’s Victory Day in May, TASS reports
- Kremlin earlier said it had invited ‘many countries’ to attend the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two
- The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War Two, including many millions in Ukraine
UK’s Starmer discussed Ukraine war with leaders of US, Italy, France and Germany
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday discussed the war in Ukraine with leaders of the US, Italy, France and Germany, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Looking ahead to US President Donald Trump’s call with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Monday, the leaders discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for Putin to take peace talks seriously, the spokesperson said.
They also discussed the use of sanctions if Russia failed to engage seriously in a ceasefire and peace talks, the spokesperson added.
UK’s Foreign Minister David Lammy on Saturday accused Moscow of obfuscating after talks between Ukraine and Russia on a possible ceasefire ended in less than two hours and Trump said “nothing could happen” until he had met directly with Putin.
Paris airport chaos to enter second day after air traffic breakdown
- The breakdown hit on Sunday and has affected thousands of passengers
ORLY, France: An air traffic control breakdown at Paris-Orly airport caused the cancelation and delay of hundreds of flights and the aviation authority said the chaos would extend into Monday.
The breakdown hit on Sunday and has affected thousands of passengers with some already sat in planes at the French capital’s second biggest airport when flights were canceled.
The control tower breakdown forced the cancelation of about 130 flights in and out of Orly Sunday, officials said.
It had not been resolved by late Sunday and the DGAC French civil aviation authority said it was “asking airlines to reduce their flight schedules by 15 percent” on Monday and warned that “delays are expected.”
“The situation is improving but still requires traffic regulation,” the DGAC said.
The authority blamed an air traffic control “malfunction.” An airport source said there had been a “radar failure.”
Flights to European and North Africa destinations and across France were among those hit. Long queues formed at terminals amid a frenzied rush to find alternative transport.
“We were in the aircraft, all seated and strapped in, ready to go, when they made us disembark and collect our bags ... then began the ordeal,” said Azgal Abichou, a 63-year-old business owner.
“The only option is a 300 euro flight — and there’s only one seat left, but there are two of us and we are not even sure it will take off,” said Romane Penault, a 22-year-old student. “So for now, we’re going home.”
Agnes Zilouri, 46, tried desperately to find a seat for her 86-year-old mother and six year old son in the terminal. The family should have taken a flight to Oujda in Morocco on Sunday evening to go to a funeral.
“The flight is canceled. Fortunately I am with my mother,” she said.
Last year Orly handled about 33 million passengers, approximately half the number of the main Paris Charles de Gaulle international airport.
Authorities say suspect in California fertility clinic bombing left behind ‘anti-pro-life’ writings
- US Attorney Bilal “Bill” Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in the area, called the writings “anti-pro-life”
A 25-year-old man the FBI believes was responsible for an explosion that ripped through a Southern California fertility clinic left behind “anti-pro-life” writings before carrying out an attack investigators are calling an act of terrorism, authorities said Sunday.
Guy Edward Bartkus of Twentynine Palms, California, was identified by the FBI as the suspect in the apparent car bomb detonation Saturday that damaged the clinic in the upscale city of Palm Springs in the desert east of Los Angeles.
Investigators believe Barktus died in the blast, which a senior FBI official called possibly the “largest bombing scene that we’ve had in Southern California.” A body was found near a charred vehicle outside the clinic.
Bartkus attempted to livestream the explosion and left behind writings that communicated “nihilistic ideations” that were still being examined to determine his state of mind, said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. US Attorney Bilal “Bill” Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in the area, called the writings “anti-pro-life.”
The Associated Press reported Saturday night that those writings professed a sentiment that the world should not be populated.
“This was a targeted attack against the IVF facility,” Davis said Sunday. “Make no mistake: we are treating this, as I said yesterday, as an intentional act of terrorism.”
The bombing injured four other people, though Davis said all embryos at the facility were saved.
“Good guys one, bad guys zero,” he said.
Authorities were executing a search warrant in Twentynine Palms, a city of 28,000 residents about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Palm Springs, as part of the investigation.
The suspect posted writings online and attempted to record the explosion, though authorities said the video failed to upload. An official who was not authorized to discuss details of the attack spoke on condition of anonymity to the AP.
The blast gutted the single-story American Reproductive Centers clinic, though a doctor said its staff members were safe.
“Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients,” Dr. Maher Abdallah, who leads the clinic, told the AP in a phone interview Saturday.
Former US President Biden diagnosed with ‘aggressive’ prostate cancer
- Biden, 82, was diagnosed on Friday after having experienced urinary symptoms
Former US President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that has metastasized to the bone, his office said in a statement on Sunday.
Biden, 82, was diagnosed on Friday after having experienced urinary symptoms, and he and his family are reviewing treatment options with doctors, the statement said.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” his office said.
Biden, who served as president from 2021 to 2025, abruptly ended his bid for reelection last July, weeks after a halting performance during a debate against Republican candidate Donald Trump prompted panic among his fellow Democrats. Vice President Kamala Harris took over as the party’s nominee but lost in November to Trump.
Biden’s physical health and mental acuity drew intense media scrutiny even before the debate. At the time of his election, Biden was the oldest person to win the presidency.
Trump, 78, broke that record when he defeated Harris last year.
Anti-immigration minister becomes leader of French conservatives
- Bruno Retailleau has become leader of the conservative Republican party (LR), which traces its origins to postwar leader Charles de Gaulle
PARIS: France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who has called for radical action to cut immigration numbers, easily won an election to become leader of the conservative Republican party (LR), according to results released Sunday.
Retailleau won 74 percent of the vote from party members against 25 percent for Laurent Wauquiez, the head of the party in the French national assembly.
Although LR and its allies hold only 60 seats in France’s 577-member national assembly and the party candidate barely registered in the 2022 presidential vote, experts predict a better run in 2027 when President Emmanuel Macron must step down.
The LR’s last leader Eric Ciotti quit the party last year after calling for an alliance with the far-right National Rally (RN). The LR has wrangled since over its stance but has adopted a tougher line on issues such as immigration.
National opinion polls currently suggest the RN would perform well in the 2027 election, which has however been shaken by legal woes for its figurehead Marine Le Pen.
Retailleau, in his government post since last year, has emerged as one of the most high-profile ministers in the centrist-led coalition government. He said he would stay in the government but he is likely to use his victory to press his case for the presidency.
“Our political family is now able to carry our project forward for the presidential election,” Retailleau told broadcaster TF1 after the results were announced.
The LR is the successor of the UMP, which traces its origins to postwar leader Charles de Gaulle and was the party of former presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy.
Some 80 percent of the 120,000 LR party members took part in the weekend vote for the leader. The LR membership had increased from 43,859 to 121,617 in the two months before the leadership election.
