World

President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed on Wednesday that Ukraine will resist the Russian invasion “until the end” without “any concession or compromise”, as the nation marks its Independence Day as well as the six-month anniversary of the start of the war.

“We don’t care what army you have, we only care about our land,” Zelensky said in a defiant morning video address. “We will fight for it until the end.”

Referring to Russia — which launched a large-scale attack in the early hours of February 24 — he vowed Ukraine “will not try to find an understanding with terrorists”.

“For us Ukraine is the whole of Ukraine,” he said. “All 25 regions, without any concession or compromise.”

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the US is set to announce $3 billion in fresh military aid to Kyiv on the date it severed ties with the Soviet Union in 1991.

The new tranche of American funding will help Kyiv acquire more weaponry, ammunition and other supplies for its armed forces, locked in a grinding war of attrition with Russian troops in the east and south with neither side advancing significantly in weeks.

The planned White House announcement comes as Washington warned Moscow could be planning a surge in strikes on civilian targets coinciding with Independence Day observations.

Gatherings have been banned in the capital Kyiv, where air raid sirens sounded in the morning, and Zelensky has urged citizens to be on guard against “Russian terror”.

– Global support –

As the war entered its seventh month with no end in sight, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged unlimited assistance to Ukraine.

“People are fighting with steel, with courage to defend their homes and their families, and to preserve their right to decide their own destiny in their own country,” he said in a video message on Wednesday morning.

“However long it takes, the United Kingdom will stand with Ukraine and provide every possible military, economic and humanitarian support.”

On Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned Russia against further attempts to annex Ukrainian territory in the same way it did the Crimean peninsula in 2014.

Polish President Andrzej Duda also advised against any “appeasement”, saying: “There is no return to business as usual in relations with Russia.”

And French President Emmanuel Macron vowed European Union support for Ukraine would continue “for the long term”.

In an absurd message on Wednesday, the authoritarian leader of Belarus — which offered its territory as a staging ground for Russia’s invasion — gave congratulations to Ukraine on its Independence Day.

“I am convinced that today’s contradictions will not be able to destroy the centuries-old foundation of sincere good neighbourly ties between the peoples of our two countries,” Alexander Lukashenko said in a statement.

– Muted anniversary –

In the early days and weeks of Russia’s invasion, Kyiv was under siege by Russian troops which reached the suburbs of the capital.

Moscow’s offensive quickly faltered, and its forces withdrew in late March to regroup for assaults on Ukraine’s east and south.

But in the capital, Ukrainians were sombre about the anniversary after a half-year of death and destruction.

“Six months, the peace of life has been broken in every family,” Nina Mikhailovna, an 80-year-old pensioner, said at Independence Square in central Kyiv, on Tuesday.

“How much destruction, how many dead, how can we relate to it?” she asked.

Kyiv’s city administration said it would shut public service centres on Wednesday and Thursday, and shopping malls said they would close for the anniversary for safety concerns. 

– Threatened nuclear plant –

Meanwhile, discussions continued on how to protect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, occupied by Russian troops and threatened by shelling, which Moscow blames on Kyiv.

The two sides traded accusations at a Tuesday meeting of the UN Security Council on Zaporizhzhia, with Ukraine and its allies demanding Russia pull its troops out of the plant — Europe’s largest nuclear facility — and agree to a demilitarised zone.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke on Tuesday by telephone to French counterpart Catherine Colonna about an expected visit to the plant by inspectors from UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), amid worries over the high risk of a radiation accident.

IAEA head Rafael Grossi issued a statement on Tuesday deploring weekend shelling at the site, saying further damage had been caused.

“I’m continuing to consult very actively and intensively with all parties so that this vital IAEA mission can take place without further delay,” he said.

It would “help stabilise the nuclear safety and security situation at the site and reduce the risk of a severe nuclear accident in Europe”.

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Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday suspended Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha from office while it considers a legal challenge that could see him thrown out months before an expected general election.

The court agreed unanimously to hear a case brought by opposition parties who argue Prayut has reached the end of his eight-year term limit as prime minister.

Judges also agreed by five votes to four to suspend Prayut from office until the case is decided, the court said in a statement.

“The court considered the petition and supporting documents and deems the facts according to the request indicate reasonable grounds to suspect that there is a case as requested,” the statement said.

“Thus, a majority vote (five against four) for (Prayut) to be suspended as prime minister, effective August 24, 2022, until the court issues a verdict.”

The court gave Prayut 15 days to respond to the case against him.

Prawit Wongsuwan, one of Prayut’s deputies and another former army chief, will take over as caretaker prime minister while the case is decided.

“The current cabinet will continue its duty as normal because General Prayut has not been ousted from his post, only suspended from duty,” said Wissanu Krea-ngam, another deputy prime minister. 

Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the opposition Move Forward Party which was among those that backed the petition, said the country needed fresh leadership.

“It is like rowing a boat round the bathtub, going from General Prayut to General Prawit,” Pita told reporters at parliament.

– Legal wrangle –

It is not the first time the Constitutional Court has played a role in Thai politics — it cancelled the results of general election in 2006 and 2014.

The kingdom’s 2017 constitution bars the prime minister from serving more than eight years in total, and opposition parties say Prayut, who took power in a 2014 coup, has reached the limit.

Several hundred anti-government protesters rallied at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument on Tuesday ahead of the court ruling and further demonstrations are planned.

Supporters of the 68-year-old leader argue that the clock on his rule began when the 2017 constitution was instituted, or even after the 2019 general election.

If the court follows this logic, Prayut could technically continue to serve until 2025 or 2027 — if he wins a general election which is due by March.

The former army chief came to power in a military coup that ousted Yingluck Shinawatra’s democratically elected government.

He headed the junta regime for five years and continued as prime minister after the 2019 national elections.

The stern, blunt-speaking Prayut has found himself increasingly out of favour with voters. A recent opinion poll found two-thirds of respondents wanted him to vacate office immediately.

Under Prayut’s watch, the kingdom registered its worst economic performance in 30 years and his government has also faced criticism over its handling of the pandemic.

Youth-led pro-democracy rallies in Bangkok in 2020 attracted tens of thousands of people at their peak, and a key demand of the movement was for Prayut to resign.

On Wednesday, police had placed shipping containers on some streets near government buildings in anticipation of fresh protests.

China’s autumn harvest is under “severe threat” from high temperatures and drought, authorities have warned, urging action to protect crops in the face of the country’s hottest summer on record.

The world’s second-largest economy has been hit by record temperatures, flash floods and droughts this summer — phenomena that scientists have warned are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.

Southern China has recorded its longest sustained period of high temperatures and sparse rain since records began more than 60 years ago, the agriculture ministry said.

Four government departments issued a notice on Tuesday urging the conservation of “every unit of water” to protect crops.

“The rapid development of drought superimposed with high temperatures and heat damage has caused a severe threat to autumn crop production,” the statement said.

China produces more than 95 percent of the rice, wheat and maize it consumes, but a reduced harvest could mean increased demand for imports in the world’s most populous country — putting further pressure on global supplies already strained by the conflict in Ukraine.

Temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) have led multiple Chinese provinces to impose power cuts, as cities struggle to cope with a surge in demand for electricity that is partly driven by people cranking up the air conditioning.

The heat broke records in the province of Sichuan, where a temperature of 43.9 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded on Wednesday afternoon, the province’s Meteorological Service Centre said in a statement.

The megacities of Shanghai and Chongqing have turned off outdoor decorative lighting, while authorities in Sichuan have imposed industrial power cuts after water levels dropped at key hydroelectric plants.

The searing heat is also drying up the critical Yangtze River, with water flow on its main trunk about 50 percent lower than the average over the last five years, state media outlet China News Service reported last week.

– ‘Worst heatwave ever’ –

In Chongqing, where more than 1,500 people were evacuated after hot and dry conditions sparked multiple wildfires, locals were struggling.

“I feel too hot to sleep every night, and I’m awakened by the heat every morning,” Xu Jinxin, a 20-year-old student, told AFP.

“Because of the electricity shortage, we don’t leave the air conditioner on all day but rather turn it off once it’s cooled down a bit.”

The national meteorological service renewed its warnings for drought and high temperatures on Tuesday, calling for 11 provincial governments to activate emergency responses.

Authorities have already turned to cloud seeding — a method to induce rainfall — in parts of the country. 

State broadcaster CCTV published footage this month showing meteorological staff shooting catalyst rockets into the sky and firefighters transporting water to farmers in need.

“This is the worst heatwave ever recorded,” climate and energy expert Liu Junyan of Greenpeace East Asia told AFP.

“Climate science shows extreme heat is becoming exponentially worse,” she said.

“So it’s more likely that next year will have record-breaking heat.”

This year’s extreme weather is raising public awareness of climate change in China, with state media “now coming around to covering climate impacts” with unprecedented urgency, Liu said.

Government climate expert Zhou Bing warned over the weekend of mass displacement caused by climate change, describing extreme weather as nature’s “revenge” on humanity.

China has experienced three other episodes of intense heat so far this century — in 2003, 2013, 2017.

The gap between heatwaves is “significantly shortening”, according to Zhou.

For those living through the sweltering summer, “life goes on with some endurance”, said Xu, the Chongqing resident.

Angolans started casting ballots on Wednesday in what is expected to be the most competitive vote in its democratic history, with incumbent president Joao Lourenco squaring up against charismatic opposition leader Adalberto Costa Junior.

A struggling economy, the high cost of living, soaring poverty compounded by the Covid pandemic, drought in southern parts of the country and the death of a former strongman president all loom large.

The ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party, which has held power for nearly five decades in the oil-rich nation, is facing the most serious challenge since the country’s first multiparty vote in 1992.

“It’s been 20 years of peace and we are still poor,” said Lindo, a 27-year-old electrician who only gave his first name while queuing up to vote in a middle class suburb of Nova Vida. “I’m going to vote for Unita. The people want change, the government doesn’t provide for the basic needs of the people”. 

Eight political parties are running, but the real contest lies between the MPLA and its long-standing rival and ex-rebel movement the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

Opinion polls suggest that support for the MPLA — which won 61 percent of the vote in 2017 elections — will dwindle, while the UNITA, which has entered an electoral pact with two other parties, will make gains. 

But UNITA’s inroads might not be enough to unseat Lourenco, who is expected to secure a second five-year mandate. 

Still, it is unlikely to be a smooth swing back into office for the 68-year-old, who succeeded veteran leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos five years ago.

“The margins will be closer than ever before… but the advantages of incumbency mean MPLA is still odds on to pip Costa (Junior),” said Eric Humphery-Smith, an analyst at London-based Verisk Maplecroft.

– ‘An alternative’ –

The MPLA has maintained its grip on the electoral process and public media in Angola, but the opposition tells its supporters not to be intimidated.

“Don’t be afraid of an alternative,” Costa Junior told supporters at his final rally in the capital Luanda on Monday. “There is no democracy with a single party in power.”

The 60-year-old Costa Junior who is popular among the youth  — a significant and growing voting bloc — pledges to “eradicate poverty” and create jobs.

His rival, a Soviet-educated former general who had promised to usher in a new era for Angola when he was first elected, has trumpeted a list of achievements to woo voters.

“We made and restructured our economy,” he told one of his final rallies in the capital at the weekend. 

But little has changed for most of Angola’s 33 million people for whom life is a daily grind in Africa’s second largest crude oil producer.

The petro-dollars benefited the former president, the late dos Santos who died in Spain last month, his family and cronies.

The night-time and low-key repatriation of dos Santos’s remains to Angola in the final leg of campaigning has added a macabre element to the election.

Analysts warn that ruling party attempts to capitalise on dos Santos’s funeral could backfire as opinions on his legacy are not “unanimous”, especially among young people.

Some 14.7 million people are registered to vote at 13,200 polling stations across the vast southern African nation.

Angolans living overseas are for the first time able to cast ballots from abroad.

Polling opened at 7:00 am (0600 GMT) and ends 11 hours later.

Results are expected within a few days. In past elections, results have been contested in a process that can take several weeks.