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Ukraine and its allies are bracing for an urgent Russian onslaught in the eastern Donbas region to deliver a military and propaganda triumph for the Kremlin in time for a prestigious annual parade on May 9.
The Victory Day celebrations in Moscow, marking the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, are a symbolic annual show of national pride and are typically attended by President Vladimir Putin in Red Square.
This year’s parade will come in the shadow of a Russian offensive in Ukraine which, after seven weeks of fighting, has so far failed to deliver the kind of swift victories that analysts believe Mr Putin was seeking.
Amid reports of heavy losses and low morale among Russian troops, the invasion suffered another embarrassing setback on Thursday when Russia admitted the sinking of its flagship missile cruiser Moskva.
Ukraine says Russia has turned its attention to the Donbas in an offensive that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an overnight address was being carried out “as if they want only stones to be left”.
His top diplomat, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, recently briefed his Nato colleagues that “Putin needs a trophy for May 9”, according to Luxembourg’s Jean Asselborn, one of the ministers present.
Mr Putin "will do everything to liberate the Donbas, as he sees it,” Mr Kuleba was described as saying. “In the next three weeks we will see something happen in Donbas that recalls the Second World War.”
Russia is also continuing its assault on the southern city of Mariupol, the capture of which would create a land bridge between Russian-occupied territories in the Donbas and the annexed Crimean peninsula.
Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said Russia was planning to declare victory in the city on May 9 if it can seize control of the southern port by then – giving it something to celebrate on the politically significant date.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a television interview during his re-election campaign that the weeks before then were unlikely to produce many concessions from Russia in its tentative peace talks with Ukraine.
“May 9 is a national celebration, an important military date and it is more or less certain that it has to be a day of victory for President Putin,” said Mr Macron, who has held lengthy talks with the Russian leader.
Parades commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany could also be used to underscore the Kremlin’s rhetoric that it is “de-Nazifying” Ukraine, a notion rejected by western powers as a spurious pretext for war.
Russian news agency Tass said parades in memory of fallen Soviet troops, known as Immortal Regiment marches, would take place in person again this year after two years of online events due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Similar marches could take place in “liberated Ukrainian territories” if it is safe to do so, organiser Sergey Makarov was quoted as saying.
The main parade in Moscow typically involves tanks rolling across Red Square in a show of Russian military power while Mr Putin speaks to Soviet war veterans and lays a wreath at a tomb for an unknown soldier.
Analysts at think tank Rusi said it “may be challenging” for Russia to organise full-scale parades if its armed forces are busy with the invasion and suffering what Ukraine says are heavy losses.
A running tally published by Ukraine claims Russia has lost almost 20,000 troops during the 51-day war, as well as 750 tanks, 160 aircraft, 140 helicopters and 120 multiple rocket launcher systems.
Ukraine, which was part of the Soviet Union when it defeated Nazi Germany, also marks Victory Day on May 9. But Mr Zelenskyy called for modesty during last year’s commemorations and said the day should pass without “euphoria or dizziness”.
“This is not a carnival, not a costume party, and certainly not a photo shoot of politicians in the uniform of an army which they had nothing to do with,” he said at the time.
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HIJRA
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Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Elvis
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Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
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Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
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About RuPay
A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank
RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards
It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.
In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments
The name blends two words rupee and payment
Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs
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Greenheart Organic Farms
This Dubai company was one of the country’s first organic farms, set up in 2012, and it now delivers a wide array of fruits and vegetables grown regionally or in the UAE, as well as other grocery items, to both Dubai and Abu Dhabi doorsteps.
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Modibodi
Founded in Australia, Modibodi is now in the UAE with waste-free, reusable underwear that eliminates the litter created by a woman’s monthly cycle, which adds up to approximately 136kgs of sanitary waste over a lifetime.
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The Good Karma Co
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Lush
Lush provides products such as shampoo and conditioner as package-free bars with reusable tins to store.
www.mena.lush.com
Bubble Bro
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Coethical
This company offers refillable, eco-friendly home cleaning and hygiene products that are all biodegradable, free of chemicals and certifiably not tested on animals.
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