The speaker of Canada’s House of Commons has apologised for praising an individual who served in a Nazi unit during World War II in a session attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Speaker Anthony Rota recognised Yaroslav Hunka, 98, as a “Ukrainian hero, a …
Read More »Anger in Japan after report on plan to clear student debt in exchange for having kids
Japan’s ruling party faced backlash from opposition lawmakers and the public this week after reports surfaced that it is mulling a plan to forgive student debt for those who have a child. A panel of the Liberal Democratic Party, which has dominated Japanese politics since World War II, said on …
Read More »Japan says disputed islands ‘illegally occupied’ by Russia
Japan described four disputed islands as “illegally occupied” by Russia for the first time in nearly two decades on Friday as ties sour between the countries over the war in Ukraine. The two nations have long been engaged in attempts to agree a post-World War II treaty, but the islands …
Read More »Suspect in 2015 Paris attacks says deaths of 130 people ‘nothing personal’
The key defendant in the 2015 Paris attacks trial said Wednesday that the ISIS network which struck the city was attacking France and that the deaths of 130 people were “nothing personal.” Wearing all black and declining to remove his black mask, Salah Abdeslam was the last of the 14 …
Read More »Poland recalls envoy to Israel amid spat over Holocaust restitution law
Poland has recalled its ambassador to the Israeli-occupied territories two days after Tel Aviv did the same, amid a row over a Polish law restricting World War II-era property restitution claims. In a statement released on Monday, Poland’s Foreign Ministry said that its envoy, Marek Magierowski, who is in his …
Read More »Russia to build more military infrastructure on Kuril islands: Report
Russia plans to build 51 more pieces of military infrastructure on the Kuril islands, the state TASS news agency quoted Russia’s defense ministry as saying on Monday. Part of the chain is claimed by Japan and the territorial dispute over some of the islands dates back to the time when …
Read More »Hiroshima marks 76th anniversary of US atomic bombing
The Japanese city of Hiroshima has marked the 76th anniversary of the first atomic bombing by the US that killed over 140,000 people, as its mayor called world leaders to join efforts for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. “Nuclear weapons, developed to win wars, are a threat of total …
Read More »Stolen Picasso painting found nine years after Athens art heist
Greek police have unearthed a painting by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso that was stolen more than nine years ago in a daring heist at the National Gallery in Athens. The Picasso painting, Woman’s head, was found with a damaged work by Dutch painter Piet Mondrian in a warehouse about 50 …
Read More »Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors call for disarmament 75 years on from nuclear attacks
Testimonies of hibakusha ‘very important in changing the entire narrative about nuclear weapons’ “In a city of two hundred and forty-five thousand, nearly a hundred thousand people had been killed or doomed at one blow; a hundred thousand more were hurt.” These haunting words, written by the journalist John Hersey …
Read More »Survivors mark 75th anniversary of world’s 1st atomic attack
Survivors of the world’s first atomic bombing gathered in diminished numbers near an iconic, blasted dome Thursday to mark the attack’s 75th anniversary, many of them urging the world, and their own government, to do more to ban nuclear weapons. An upsurge of coronavirus cases in Japan meant a much …
Read More »France Holds a Small Ceremony to Commemorate the Normandy Landings
A ceremony to honor the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in the D-Day landings in 1944 was held on Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-Sur-Mer in France Saturday. Due to the coronavirus restrictions, the commemoration was much smaller than previous annual events, when tens of thousands or people congregated on …
Read More »Hundreds of Second World War graves restored in Iraq.
Hundreds of Second World War graves that were damaged in Iraq have been restored after decades when it was thought too dangerous to risk carrying out the work. The graves, in the Habbaniya War Cemetery 60 miles west of Baghdad, are the last resting place of 173 Second World War …
Read More »D-Day 75th Anniversary: What was and What happened.
Donald Trump is set to join Queen Elizabeth II and 15 other heads of state in the British city of Portsmouth Wednesday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day; the largest joint military operation ever was undertaken. World leaders, royalty and veterans will gather at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial to …
Read More »“Honor to Mussolini”: Fascist symbols and rhetoric on rise in Italian EU vote
A banner emblazoned with the words “Honor to Mussolini,” unfurled just steps from the Milan piazza where the fascist dictator’s body was hung upside down after his 1945 execution. One-armed salutes and fascist slogans shouted at protests. Italy’s right-wing interior minister skipping commemorations for the 74th anniversary of the country’s …
Read More »