An anti-racist author and scholar Randa Abdel-Fattah lost a $ 87, 000 research grant because of criticism of her stance toward Israel.
After festival organizers demanded that she and other speakers avoid “divisive” topics and adhere to an anti-Semitism code, the Palestinian Australian author recently withdrew from a writers festival.
On Wednesday, China will host a significant military parade in Beijing’s capital to commemorate the 80th anniversary of World War II.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will introduce world leaders like North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the country’s largest military parade, showcasing the military prowess and future plans of the country.
What can I expect from the parade, and why is it significant.
According to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, the event will begin on Wednesday at 9am (01:00 GMT).
Ten years ago, China held a military parade on victory day. China first staged a grand military parade to honor the victory of the war.
A choreographed display of cutting-edge military equipment, including drones, hypersonic missiles, and fighter jets, will be featured in the parade as a display of Chinese military might.
According to Chinese military officials, the parade will feature hundreds of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft.
The parade will feature 80 buglers, honoring the 80 years since Imperial Japan’s defeat in World War II, according to state media reports.
Since Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931, more than 1, 000 musicians have been seated in 14 rows, representing each year how China has responded.
According to China’s state broadcaster, CCTV, seated spectators will be seated on chairs adorned with green, red, and gold, which represent fertile land, the people’s sacrifices, and peace, respectively.
45 troop contingents will march past Xi in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square during the “Victory Day” parade, which is scheduled to last about 70 minutes. A speech is also anticipated by Xi.
Beginning in August, when the parade rehearsals began, China increased security in Beijing.
26 foreign leaders will be present at the military parade, according to China’s Assistant Foreign Minister, Hong Lei, at a press conference on August 28.
Putin has already been in China, having spent Sunday and Monday at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin.
Other leaders who traveled to China to attend the SCO summit or other related meetings, including Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyev, will also be present for the September 3 parade.
However, they are also welcoming more people.
Kim’s armored train crossed the border between North Korea and China early on Tuesday, according to the state-controlled Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
A North Korean leader has not been in 66 years to watch a Chinese military parade. Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea and Kim’s late grandfather, was the last North Korean leader to attend a 1959 military parade in China.
Only two leaders from Europe, Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic and Slovakia’s Robert Fico, are scheduled to attend the Beijing gathering.
Fico has pushed for closer ties with Russia and traveled to Moscow for talks with Putin in December 2024, despite the country’s membership in the EU and NATO. Similar to Fico, Vucic has recently visited Moscow and criticized Russia’s sanctions against it for its war in Ukraine.
In the West, the German invasion of Poland in 1939, which led to the British and French declaring war on Germany, is widely accepted as the start of World War II.
By that time, Asia had been facing the most Japanese aggression.
Japanese and Chinese troops engaged in a number of skirmishes after the Manchuria invasion in 1931, primarily under Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). However, Japan made significant advances while the KMT and the CCP were still at war with China in the early stages of their own civil war.
Then, outside of Beijing, Japanese and Chinese troops engaged in combat in July 1937. By the time the KMT and CCP had agreed to a united front against the Japanese that would last until 1945, this had grown into a full-fledged conflict.
Invading eastern cities, including Nanjing, the Japanese military began to massacre civilians, rape children, and kill townspeople. The CCP and KMT remained in opposition. According to some estimates, the war left 20 million Chinese casualties, the majority of whom were civilians.
Under Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the US imposed an oil embargo on Japan in 1941. The US entered the war at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in December 1941 when the Japanese army launched a surprise attack on the Pacific Fleet.
In addition to capturing parts of modern-day Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and parts of modern-day India in the 1940s, Japan also seized other parts of Asian nations.
The US Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, and Nagasaki, Japan, three days later. The Soviet Union then launched a military conflict with Japan.
On September 2, Japan officially gave up.
After the communists under Mao Zedong’s leadership fled to Taiwan, where the CCP and KMT both found themselves, and the two eventually won the civil war in 1949, when Chiang and his remaining KMT troops retreated and established a parallel government there.
The Chinese government designated September 3, 2014, as Victory Day, the day Japan’s surrender occurred.
Veterans were invited to the military march in 2015 by the CCP to honor the sacrifices made by KMT soldiers during the war. Taiwan was once ruled by the KMT, which has long sought to have closer ties with mainland China under the CCP despite its historical strife.
Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has remained assertive about the self-governing territory’s sovereignty, has been in power since 2016 to date. China has criticized the DPP, insisting that Taiwan must reunite with the mainland.
If you’ve been looking for the perfect piece of furniture to elevate any room in your house, Stacey Solomon may have just the answer. She’s been giving fans a glimpse of her new favourite piece of homeware, which she praised for adding some warmth to her bedroom.
From the iconic brand Cotswolds, Stacey shared a video and an image of her Elkstone Mellow Oak 4 Drawer Chest on her Instagram story. Boasting a homely and rustic aesthetic, Stacey’s chest of drawers is a stylish and understated addition to any interior, with a chic style that’s sure to go with any home’s design.
We also found a similar oak chest of drawers from Cotwolds for more than £100 less than Stacey’s exact model if you’re willing to change the design a little.
Our fashion team predicts that the “Glamour” faux-suede trench coat will sell out.
READ MORE: With this promotion, shoppers can get the “enchanting and long-lasting” Vera Wang perfume for £8.
Stacey’s exact drawers are marketed as a practical storage option that perfectly complements the oak finish with contemporary hardware in antiqued black. Mortise and tenon joints provide a strong foundation that can seamlessly withstand any belongings you plan to store, while a handcrafted solid oak top proudly showcases the knots and grain of this natural wood.
This 4-drawer set currently has a 5-star rating on Cotwolds’ website and retails for £599. One customer, who also adds this gorgeous piece to their home, declares, “I’m really pleased with this chest of draws. It looks fantastic and has good quality. The color of the oak is lovely. The bedroom was beautifully finished by the Elkstone collection.
Another delighted customer describes it as “lovly chest of drawers.” My alcoves are perfect because of how small they are. To sit on either side of the fireplace, I purchased two. Lovely”.
A third observation reads, “This is a lovely piece of furniture. Our guest room is now completely finished.
This oak Cotswold 6 Drawer Chest is a great alternative if you want to save some money but still want to add Stacey’s subtle elegance and warm look to your bedroom. This dresser is made of comparable solid oak and oak veneers, which both have the same long-lasting durability and the same timeless design, for less than £429 from Dunelm. These drawers, which are divided into two small and four large ones, have silver handles, giving the impression of an old house that is sure to be admired.
Instead, shoppers who chose these drawers are unable to stop praising them. One satisfied customer exclaims, “Lovely set of drawers, just the right size for our room,” and they look great. They also open easily without sticking.
This customer adorns the piece of furniture with the phrase “this is very good looking and graces any bedroom” and adds more adoration.
And a third shopper writes, “Exactly what I was hoping for,” a very nice chest of drawers. Some people have the smoothest mechanism, but the appearance more than makes up for it”!
As many as 1, 000 people are feared dead after a landslide in the western region of Sudan’s Tarasin mountain village. Only one person is thought to have survived after days of torrential rains in the Marrah Mountains. Mohamed Vall from Al Jazeera explains what we currently know.
As Leicester City prepares for their Women’s Super League opener, former West Ham United assistant Rick Passmoor will take over as interim head coach.
On Tuesday, The Hammers announced Passmoor’s departure from Rehanne Skinner’s coaching staff in September 2023.
I had to make the difficult decision to leave West Ham United with 12 months left on my contract because of my family, according to Passmoor in a statement released by West Ham.
Amandine Miquel was fired by Leicester just 10 days before the new WSL season, and he will succeed the former Notts County and Leeds United boss.
Miquel, 41, helped Leicester move up to 10th place last year, finishing with 20 points from 22 games, a 10th-place finish over Crystal Palace.
In her 22 league games, she won five and added two points to the total from the years 2023 to the present.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the president and CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), attributed the recent rise in diaspora remittances to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s economic reforms and the Nigerians’ level of trust in the system.
Abdur-Rahman Balogun, the commission’s spokesperson, described the recent boom in Nigeria’s economy as “humongous” in a statement released by her on Monday in Abuja.
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Diaspora remittance inflows have tripled to $600 million per month over the past two months.
Dabiri-Erewa praised the CBN under Olayemi Cardoso’s leadership, whose various policies, including the introduction of the Non-Resident BVN and an exchange rate that, in her opinion, promoted more formal means of remitting funds, have contributed to the rise in remittances.
Dabiri-Erewa expressed confidence in the CBN Governor’s prediction that diaspora investment rates will reach $1 billion annually by 2026 and that NiDCOM will continue to promote events like the Nigerian Diaspora Investment Summit, National Diaspora Day, and Diaspora Youth Summit, as well as regular outreach to the diaspora wherever they are.
The President’s administration is determined to improve the well-being of Nigerians both domestically and abroad, according to the NIDCOM boss, who also praised the trust and patriotism of Nigerians in the diaspora.
[VIDEO] How To Recognize A Ponzi Scheme – SEC DG AgamaMeanwhile, Cardoso, who spoke at the Delta State–Brazil Business and Investment Roundtable in So Paulo, also attributed the increase to a more advantageous exchange rate and improved remittance channels, which he claimed have made it easier and more appealing for Nigerians to send money home via official platforms.
Our exchange rate is becoming significantly more competitive. No longer do those who previously used other channels to send money back home can do that,” said Cardoso.