(KPL) Party Secretary General and State President Thongloun Sisoulith on Dec 30 delivered a speech extending wishes to all Lao people on the occasion of international New Year 2023. My countrymen, year 2022 witnessed us facing a number of difficulties and challenges, including the impacts of Covid-19 pandemic and severe economic and financial difficulties. However, with the unity of the entire Party, state and the entire Lao people as well as the support and assistance from friendly countries, we have made to addressed the problems basically, saving the country from falling into a severe crisis, allowing the country to enjoy strong political stability, society to enjoy peace, economy to enjoy a gradual and constant recovery. These have laid fundamental basis for our country’s economy to grow over years to come. As for the year 2023, we will continue to overcome such challenges and obstacles. Therefore, I call on all the Lao people, both in the country and abroad to focus all mental and physical efforts and courage on achieving our cause of national protection and development as planned, leading our country to a new step of development, with people enjoying peacefulness, society enjoying unstoppable peace and civilization. On the occasion of welcoming New Year 2023, on behalf of the Party and government leaders and on my own behalf, I would like to extend best wishes to all Lao people both in the country and abroad a good health, happiness and continue to carry out your tasks with new and greater success thus elevating our country to new heights of development. May the celebration of International New Year 2023 be full of joy and peace and safety, “Happy New Year 2023”.

Watch the first flag-raising ceremony of the New Year at Beijing’s Tian’anmen Square on Jan 1, 2023. Despite the cold weather, many people waited hours in advance in the early morning, with their good wishes for a brand new life.

 The deputy head of the frontline Kherson Region, Kirill Stremousov, has been killed in a car accident, the local press office confirmed to the media on Wednesday. The region’s health minister, Vadim Ilmiev, told the media that Stremousov had been involved in a traffic incident on a road connecting Kherson to the town of Armyansk in northern Crimea. Stremousov often spoke on behalf of the regional administration, particularly when it came to the situation in the city of Kherson. He gave regular updates on social media and regularly talked to journalists about the region’s affairs. Just this morning, the late official revealed the latest information about the battlefield situation, reporting that Ukrainian attempts to advance in a town some 50km to the north from Kherson had been thwarted by Russian troops. Russia incorporated Kherson Region last month, after residents there voted in a referendum to break away from Kiev and be accepted into Russia. Kiev dismissed the ballot as a “sham” and continued its military push toward the regional capital. Kherson is located on the right bank of the Dnieper River and is relatively close to Ukrainian positions. The regional administration urged civilians to leave the city due to the threat from Ukrainian forces and has moved its headquarters to the other side of the river. Stremousov came to prominence in the national media after earlier having a brush with death. In September, his office in Kherson was hit by a Ukrainian rocket, but he was not there due to a scheduled appearance on a talk show. The blast injured several workers of the administration.

 Russia has decided to withdraw its troops from the right bank of the Dnieper River, including the regional capital of Kherson. The Defense Ministry explained that it wants to avoid unnecessary losses among its forces and spare the lives of civilians. While admitting that the decision is not an easy one, the commanders see little sense in keeping the troops on the right bank, the chief of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, General Army General Sergey Surovikin, told Defense Minister Sergey Schoigu on Wednesday. The general pointed to continued Ukrainian attacks on the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam on the Dnieper River, arguing that it could leave the Russian troops in Kherson cut off from the rest of the force with no way to escape. A pullout would help save lives of the Russian soldiers and keep the combat effectiveness of the force grouping in the area, Surovikin said. > ***This is a very difficult decision. Yet, we would be able to preserve the most important thing: lives of our soldiers.*** “Start the pullback of forces,” Shoigu told Surovikin in a video released by media outlets. The minister ordered the general to organize secure relocation for both soldiers and civilians. Over the past weeks, the local authorities have launched an effort to bring as many civilians as possible to the left bank of Dnieper, citing a threat posed by Ukrainian forces located on the opposite side. Over 150,000 people had been moved out of the city as of today, according to Sorovikin. Russia incorporated Kherson Region last month, after residents voted in a referendum to break away from Ukraine and seek accession to Russia. Kiev rejected the vote as a “sham” and pledged to use military force to recapture all territories it considers to be under its sovereignty.

 Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he plans to personally address people’s concerns linked to the partial mobilization, by holding a public meeting. The gathering is expected to take place during his upcoming visit to the central Tverskaya Oblast. “I will also certainly meet with people, talk to them,” Putin told the regional governor, Igor Rudenya, on Monday, during a discussion about various issues linked to the recent mobilization. The people need “to be heard,” the president maintained, adding that he wants to “have feedback” on the mobilization efforts. The president also called on the governor to promptly collect all data on issues that may have arisen during the mobilization and to inform him “in advance.” He is expected to arrive in Tverskaya Oblast for a working trip later this week. Putin announced the end of the partial mobilization last week. Russia had fully met the target of calling up 300,000 troops that had been set out in the presidential decree, the defense ministry said at that time. On Monday, he said that 80,000 troops had already been sent to the combat zone, and 50,000 of them have taken part in military operations. The president ordered the partial mobilization of reservists in Russia on September 21. The Defense Ministry said at the time that it planned to boost the strength of the standing army by calling up reservists amid the military campaign in Ukraine, which Moscow launched in late February. People who were called to arms in various regions reported some issues linked to the mobilization campaign on a number of occasions, including a lack of equipment or supplies as well as payment delays. The Kremlin admitted the issues and created a special coordination committee to ensure better supplies for the newly drafted troops. “Measures are being taken, and all these issues are to be resolved,” the presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in late October. Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists that the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked. In early October, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, officially became part of Russia following referendums that saw the majority of local residents vote in favor of the accession.

 > Some eagle-eyed viewers caught the inconsistency. The same footage – but with the slogans clearly visible – can be seen, for example, in a Deutsche Welle report on the situation in Cuba. Demonstrators declaring that “*the streets belong to the revolutionaries*” are probably not the kind of Cuban protesters that Senator Cruz had in mind.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/428927 >  > > Tehran, Nov 6 (Prensa Latina) The Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter called for the U.S. government to put an immediate and unconditional end to its hostile blockade against Cuba, diplomatic sources informed Sunday. > > According to a report from the Cuban embassy in Iran, the member states expressed their unwavering solidarity with the Cuban people and government. > > The final text stressed that Cuba has heroically endured the negative impact of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by Washington for over 60 years, which represents a major disadvantage to its full economic and social development. > > The declaration signed by the 19 countries members of the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter also supports the resolution passed by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on November 3, calling for the pressing need to put an end to this genocidal policy unilaterally imposed by the White House on Havana. > > The meeting was held on Saturday in Tehran and attended by the Iranian Foreign Minister Hosein Amir Abdolahian, deputy ministers, ambassadors, special representatives and advisors of the guest States.

 The past week during which four foreign leaders from countries with different political systems and economic development paths visited Beijing attracted the world's attention, as it was a diplomacy-themed week after the Chinese top leadership laid out major strategies and blueprints for the future at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). With fruitful results, the face-to-face interactions between Chinese top leader and leaders from Vietnam, Pakistan, Tanzania and Germany signal that the China-proposed concept of building a human community with a shared future, fundamentally different from US-dominated diplomatic events that always target a third party highlighting bloc confrontation, is welcomed by more countries, experts said. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrapped up his short but meaningful visit to Beijing on Friday, agreeing on enhanced dialogue and cooperation and rejecting decoupling and bloc confrontation. As the first European leader to visit China after the 20th CPC National Congress and the first G7 leader to visit the country since the outbreak of COVID-19, Scholz had faced mounting pressure from some German and European politicians, and from Washington especially. After returning from Beijing, the German leader once again defended his visit, which, in the eyes of Chinese experts, underscored the importance and indispensable role of China as major country with great influence in international affairs. During an event held by Scholz's Social Democratic party, the German leader said on Saturday that "his and Chinese President Xi Jinping's joint statement opposing the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine had been reason enough for the visit," Reuters reported. "Because the Chinese government, the president and I were able to declare that no nuclear weapons should be used in this war, that alone made the whole trip worthwhile," Scholz was quoted as saying in the media report. While Scholz has his own interpretation of China's position, there should be absolutely no use of nuclear weapons, not only in the Ukraine crisis but also in other scenarios, Li Haidong, a professor from the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday. "This is our consistent position. No matter it's about Western hype on Russia threatening to use the nuclear weapons, or the US, along with NATO, continuously increasing its nuclear deterrence against rivals, China's position is clear that nuclear weapons should not be used," Li said. "It also shows that China plays an indispensable role in dealing with hotspot global issues such as the Ukraine crisis, climate change and the energy and food crises." In addition to China's role in handling international affairs, its alternative path to modernization incorporating high-quality opening-up and the idea of building a human community with a shared future are welcomed by countries with different political systems and at different development stage, experts said. With China's epidemic control being further adjusted in a scientific way, more countries will be attracted to enhance communication and cooperation with China, and its major foreign policy principles elaborated in a report to the Party's congress with the focus on common interests is now winning more respect and recognition around the world, experts noted. **A sharp contrast** China and Vietnam agreed on November 1 to strengthen strategic communication, enhance political mutual trust, properly manage differences in a bid to bring their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era to a new level as Chinese top leader met Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee in Beijing. The two countries released a joint statement on further strengthening and deepening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, setting the key tone for China-Vietnam relations amid a complex global situation and historic changes unseen in a century. Following Trong's visit, Xi held talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday, saying that China is ready to work with Pakistan to elevate the level of all-round strategic cooperation. The next day, Xi met Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan in Beijing, and the two leaders agreed to upgrade bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. The visit also shows the closeness of China-Tanzania relations and the important status of China-Africa ties in China's overall diplomacy. Although G7 foreign ministers are discussing how to align their approach on China, Scholz's visit to Beijing is widely believed to inject new momentum not only into China-Germany ties but also into overall China-Europe relations, setting an example for other European countries to balance their China policies. Those four countries are highly representative. Vietnam and Pakistan are neighboring countries with important cooperation with China, and Tanzania is one of the African countries with whom China had close ties, and provided help decades ago, reflecting China's responsibilities as a major power, Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday. "Germany and China rejecting decoupling is actually boosting confidence in globalization, reshaping relations with China as a partner," he said. "For our old friends, China will continue offering help. For developing countries, the Chinese modernization path could serve as an example. For some countries such as Germany and Vietnam with which we have divergences on certain issues, the cooperation has surpassed the differences now," Wang said. Some experts noted the sharp contrast between China-led diplomatic events and those held by the US, as the latter usually focuses on targeting a third-party country, particularly Russia or China, and always stresses the American interests. For example, the latest G7 foreign ministers' gathering in Germany urged "China to abstain from threats, coercion, intimidation, or the use of force," according to media reports. "China's diplomacy is bringing benefits to the world while the US-led West is trying to create divergences and divide the world. They have a completely different set of diplomatic ideas and practices," Li said. As China offers the world a predictable perspective, showing willingness to contribute its wisdom and experiences, it plays a constructive role in the global order restructuring that will win more recognition from the international community, some experts noted. In the past few days, some Western media and politicians have been closely watching Scholz's visit to China with palpable divergences existing inside the West's China policies. Chinese experts believe that China-Germany enhanced cooperation will help push forward China's relations with other Western countries, which will make Washington's goal of using different blocs like the G7 to intensify strategic competition with China unlikely to be achieved. "China-Germany cooperation will set an example and pave the way for other Western countries to enhance interaction with China. It's a question of choosing cooperation or confrontation," Li said. 

 Iranian drone and ballistic missile plants should be destroyed, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has stated. This comes after Tehran acknowledged it had handed over military drones to Russia, though it’s insisted that this was before the Ukraine conflict broke out in late February. “I believe it’s necessary to not only impose sanctions and embargoes, I believe that it could be possible to launch strikes on drones and ballistic missiles manufacturing facilities [in Iran]. Such a state cannot continue doing this with impunity,” Mikhail Podolyak stated on Friday, speaking live on local TV. The official did not elaborate on who, exactly, should launch such strikes against the Islamic Republic. Allegations around purported arms deliveries from Iran to Russia surfaced in recent weeks, after Moscow began using new kamikaze drones en masse in Ukraine. Kiev insists that the drones, known as Geran-2 (Geranium-2), are actually Iranian-made Shahed-136 UAVs. The alleged drone deliveries have left a major dent in ties between Iran and Ukraine, with Kiev downgrading its diplomatic relations with Tehran. Iran says it supplied drones to Russia before Ukraine conflict READ MORE: Iran says it supplied drones to Russia before Ukraine conflict Both Moscow and Tehran have repeatedly denied arms deliveries have taken place amid the conflict. On Saturday, however, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian admitted that his country had indeed “provided Russia with a small number of drones months before the Ukraine war.” He also denied claims that Iran had supplied Moscow with missiles. Podolyak commented on this admission, expressing doubts that such an explanation was actually true. “That is, instead of destroying our critical infrastructure, [the drones] have been laying in warehouses for eight months?” he said. Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.” In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.

 The Ukrainian military fired US-made HIMARS missiles at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam in Kherson Region on Sunday, damaging one of the floodgates, the emergency services told the media. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine aren’t giving up on their attempts to destroy the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station and create the circumstances for a humanitarian disaster,” a representative of the emergency services told RIA-Novosti. Six missiles from a US-supplied HIMARS rocket launch system targeted the dam at around 10am local time. Five of them were intercepted by the Russian air defenses, but one made it through and hit a floodgate, the representative said. The local authorities later clarified that the missile had failed to cause critical damage. In recent weeks, Moscow has been blaming Kiev for attempting numerous attacks on the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam, which stands on the Dnieper River, upstream from the city of Kherson.  The Russian authorities began relocating civilians from the city and areas on the right bank of the Dnieper last month. The caretaker governor of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, explained that there was “an immediate danger of flooding in the territories due to the planned destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam” by Ukrainian forces. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said “those living in Kherson must be evacuated from the most dangerous zone of action. The civilian population must not suffer from shelling, any kind of offensive and counter-offensive, and other activities related to military operations.” However, Ukraine has claimed that Russia had been planning to blow up the dam itself in a false-flag operation aimed at framing Kiev for the flooding. Those claims have been repeatedly denied by Moscow. Kherson Region was officially declared part of Russia in early October, together with Zaporozhye Region and the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, after people in those territories overwhelmingly supported the move in referendums. In recent weeks, the Ukrainian military has repeatedly tried to advance on Kherson, but all of those attacks have been repelled. On Sunday, Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the regional administration, said Kiev had been “deploying more and more APCs and tanks” near Kherson in what could be preparation for another offensive.

City’s contingency plan envisages the evacuation of nearly three million remaining residents, according to the newspaper

The text condemning the glorification of Nazism was only previously opposed by the US and Ukraine