World

The ongoing truckers’ protest in the Canadian capital is “out of control,” the Ottawa mayor said Sunday, announcing a state of emergency as the city center remained blocked by opponents of anti-Covid measures.

The protesters, who first reached the capital on January 29, have parked their big rigs on city streets and put up tents and temporary shacks — paralyzing the capital to the consternation of officials and the mounting frustration of many residents.

Mayor Jim Watson announced a state of emergency that “reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government,” a statement from the city said.

Earlier in the day, Watson had described the situation as “completely out of control,” adding that the protesters “have far more people than we have police officers.”

“Clearly, we are outnumbered and we are losing this battle,” he told CFRA radio. “This has to be reversed; we have to get our city back.”

Watson called the truckers “insensitive,” as they have continued “blaring horns and sirens and fireworks, and turning it into a party.”

The demonstrations began as protests by truckers angry with vaccine requirements when crossing the US-Canadian border, but have morphed into broader protests against Covid-19 health restrictions and the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Locals have complained of the ceaseless sound of air horns and of being harassed, insulted or blocked by the protesters.

The truckers and their supporters have dug in, however, saying the protests will continue until the Covid-related restrictions are lifted.

Police on Sunday announced new measures to stop people from helping the protesters keep up their sit-in. 

“Anyone attempting to bring material supports (gas, etc.) to the demonstrators could be subject to arrest,” the force tweeted.

– ‘Extremely disruptive’ –

Similar, if smaller, demonstrations hit the cities of Toronto, Quebec and Winnipeg on Saturday. Police in Quebec said some 30 big trucks were blocking a major artery and had been warned they would face fines if they did not move soon.

In an emergency meeting Saturday with Ottawa officials, police chief Peter Sloly complained that he lacked the resources to end what he called a “siege,” and asked for reinforcements. 

Ottawa police are due to soon be reinforced by some 250 Royal Canadian Mounted Police — a federal force.

“This group is a threat to our democracy,” city council member Diane Deans said of the protesters on Saturday. “What we’re seeing is bigger than just a city of Ottawa problem, this is a nationwide insurrection. This is madness.”

The police said Sunday that they had issued some 450 tickets since Saturday morning, for a variety of mostly minor infractions including excessive noise and use of fireworks, though one truck that turned out to be stolen was seized. 

They said “extremely disruptive” protesters had in some cases endangered public safety, causing “unacceptable distress” to local residents. 

Police have opened 97 investigations into possible criminal offenses, the statement said.

In addition, it said, the police are “actively working with Canadian, US and international security agencies/authorities to investigate email-based threats to public officials.”

More than 100 African hippos descended from fewer than a handful imported as exotic pets by drug lord Pablo Escobar, face an uncertain future in Colombia.

After the government added Escobar’s so-called “cocaine” hippos Friday to a list of “introduced, invasive species,” experts say killing them may be the only viable option.

From the few individuals once housed at Escobar’s Hacienda Napoles estate, the hippos’ numbers have ballooned, with 130 now roaming free north of Bogota around the Magdalena River.

Officials say the grazing giants, endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, threaten local wildlife and humans living along the river, whom they have already come into conflict with.

Attempts have been made to sterilize the animals, which can weigh as much as 1.8 tons, but doing so is expensive and difficult.

“Sacrifice (culling) remains on the table,” said David Echeverri, head of the Cornare state environmental agency in charge of the sterilization effort.

“It is a necessary option… it could be the only way to stop the problem from getting worse,” he told AFP.

Escobar, once head of the deadly Medellin Cartel, became one of the richest men on the planet, according to Forbes, thanks to the drug trafficking empire he built.

With his wealth he built a menagerie, acquiring hippos, flamingos, giraffes, zebras and kangaroos for his ranch.

After he was shot dead by police in 1993, all but the hippopotamuses were sold to zoos. 

The semi-aquatic ungulates were left to roam Escobar’s estate and continued breeding. 

They are now believed to be the largest so-called “bloat” of hippopotamuses outside of Africa.

– ‘Complex, expensive and dangerous’ –

The creatures have long been a headache for authorities faced with a vocal anti-culling campaign.

Last Friday, the government officially declared the hippos an invasive species and announced it had a plan to “manage” their population, which studies have suggested could quadruple in 10 years.

Although the details of the plan have not been revealed, former environment minister Manuel Rodriguez has urged the government to use any means, including opening a hunt on the animals.

“Obviously there are animal activists opposed to this, but what is the alternative?” he said.

To date, Cornare has managed to surgically sterilize 11 hippos and dart another 40 with contraceptives.

The effort has cost more than $100,000, but has failed to stop hippo numbers from swelling. 

“Everything with hippos is complex, expensive and dangerous,” Echeverri told AFP.

– Potential ‘tragedy’ –

For Rodriguez, the animals pose a major threat to fishermen and other river-side inhabitants.

Last year, Cornare recorded two hippo attacks on people, neither fatal.

In Africa, hippos kill hundreds of people every year.

“We could face a tragedy,” Rodriguez warned.  

Also threatened by the hippos are the manatee — large marine mammals that make the Magdalena River their home — and a variety of native fish.

Earlier this year, activists with the backing of green parliamentary candidate Luis Domingo Gomez, proposed creating a sanctuary for the hippos with a mix of public and private funds.

But experts reject the proposal as costly and no less harmful to the local ecosystem.

“Are we going to maintain a sanctuary for hippos that attack the manatee?” asked Rodriguez.

Biologist Nataly Castelblanco, an expert on manatees, said local animals should take precedence.

“Native species have conservation priority over invasive species,” she wrote on Twitter.

Costa Ricans voted for a new president Sunday from a crowded field of candidates, with no clear favorite to tackle a worsening economy in one of Latin America’s stablest democracies.

Twelve hours of voting kicked off at 6:00 am (1200 GMT) in what is frequently rated the region’s “happiest” country, a tourist mecca and a leading green economy.

However, polls show unemployment, corruption and creeping living costs topping the concerns of 3.5 million eligible voters in the Central American country of five million people.

Unemployment has been steadily rising for more than a decade and reached 14.4 percent in 2021.

Poverty was at 23 percent last year, and a public debt at 70 percent of GDP has raised flags for multilateral agencies.

Costa Rica’s problems have worsened with the Covid-19 pandemic dealing a hard blow to its critical tourism sector.

“Voting is the most important weapon we have to solve problems,” said 35-year-old Francisco Zeledon, the first voter in line at his polling station. 

“We have to solve poverty and create jobs for people,” he said.

Polls showed about a third of voters undecided, faced with a choice from 25 presidential candidates.

But one trend was clear: the ruling Citizens’ Action Party (PAC) appeared set for a bruising defeat amid sky-high anti-government sentiment. 

Its candidate, former economy minister Welmer Ramos polled at only about 0.3 percent.

– Record unpopularity –

“The ruling party is completely weakened and has no chance” after two successive terms in office, said political analyst Eugenia Aguirre.

“The presidential unpopularity figure of 72 percent is the highest since the number was first recorded in 2013,” she added.

This meant the country’s traditional political heavyweights — the centrist National Liberation Party (PLN) and the right-wing Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) — could return to the fore after decades of a near political duopoly only recently broken by the PAC.

According to polling, former president Jose Maria Figueres (1994-98) of the PLN was leading with about 17 percent of stated support, followed by the PUSC’s Lineth Saborio on about 13 percent.

“This country has a million and a half people living in poverty and half a million in extreme poverty,” Figueres said on Sunday. 

“There is a housing shortage of 160,000 homes. We have never experienced these things in this magnitude.”

Polls showed evangelical Christian singer Fabricio Alvarado Munoz of the right-wing New Republic Party (PNR) in third spot with just over 10 percent.

He commands support from the evangelical community, which makes up about 20 percent of Costa Rica’s population.

Fourth-placed was economist Rodrigo Chaves of the newly formed centrist Social Democratic Progress Party with just over eight percent.

The highest-polling left-wing candidate was Jose Maria Villalta of the Broad Front with about 7.6 percent of stated support.

Presidents in Costa Rica cannot seek immediate re-election, leaving incumbent Carlos Alvarado Quesada out of the running.

– Problems have ‘worsened’ –

Costa Rica is known for its eco-tourism and green policies: its energy grid is entirely run on renewable sources.

Unlike many of its volatile Central American neighbors, Costa Rica has no army, has had no armed conflicts since 1948 and no dictator since 1919.

But the worsening economic situation has hit confidence in the political class.

Voters under 40 have only known “periods in which not only problems have not been resolved, but they have worsened,” university student Edgardo Soto, an undecided voter, told AFP.

Apathy and abstentionism are features of Costa Rican elections.

In 2018, 34 percent of voters stayed away, though participation is technically obligatory.

Eugenia Zamora, president of Costa Rica’s electoral tribunal, said Sunday’s vote kicked off with high turnout in the morning, and proceeded without incident.

“This is a country with a robust democracy… It offers lessons for other countries,” added Isabel de Saint Malo, head of the Organization of American States observer mission.

Outgoing president Alvarado, for his part, said Sunday’s vote was an affirmation of Costa Rica’s place among “the world’s strongest democracies.”

Costa Ricans also cast their vote Sunday for the 57-member Congress.

Initial results are expected about three hours after polls close at 6.00 pm.

If no single presidential candidate receives 40 percent of the ballots cast, there will be a runoff between the top two on April 3.

“I hope that whoever wins really thinks of the people,” said 77-year-old Mayra Sanchez after voting in the canton of Moravia, “and not of themselves.”

Morocco was in shock Sunday after emergency crews found a five-year-old boy dead at the bottom of a well in a tragic end to a five-day rescue operation that gripped the nation and the world.

The ordeal of “little Rayan” since he fell down the 32-metre (100-foot) dry well on Tuesday gained global attention and sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic Twitter hashtag #SaveRayan trending.

Pope Francis, while mourning the loss of Rayan, praised the “beautiful” sight of “how all the people gathered together” to try to save a child.

“Our hearts broke last night,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a condolence message to King Mohammed VI, while French President Emmanuel Macron said to Rayan’s family and the Moroccan people: “We share your pain.” 

There was no official information about an autopsy but a cousin told AFP that Rayan’s body had been transported to a military hospital in the capital Rabat.

His funeral is to be held on Monday in the family’s village of Ighrane where the accident took place, provincial representative Abderahim Bouazza and a relative said.

“The silence is terrible this morning in the village,” a relative said.

Earlier, the boy’s father Khaled Aourram said he was repairing the well when his son fell in, close to the family home in the Rif mountains of northern Morocco.

“We thank His Majesty the King, the authorities and all those who have helped us,” Aourram said on television Saturday evening. “Praise God, have mercy on the dead.”

– From hope to sorrow –

Throughout the major digging operation to extricate Rayan, authorities had cautioned that they did not know whether he was alive.

The shaft, just 45 centimetres (18 inches) across, was too narrow for the boy to be reached directly, and widening it was deemed too risky — so earth movers dug a wide slope into the hill and then a horizontal connecting tunnel to reach him from the side.

But progress slowed as the drill teams worked by hand to avoid any vibrations that might bring the brittle soil down on the child, local authorities said.

Late Saturday evening, crowds cheered when the rescue workers broke through the final stretch of earth to reach the boy, and volunteer digger Ali Sahraoui cleared the last soil away with his hands.

“We hoped to bring him out alive,” the man in his 50s told AFP.

But soon after, AFP correspondents saw the boy’s parents walk down the slope into the horizontal tunnel, visibly crushed. They returned and boarded an ambulance without saying a word.

It was Morocco’s royal cabinet that announced he had been found dead.

“Following the tragic accident which cost the life of the child Rayan Aourram, His Majesty King Mohammed VI called the parents of the boy who died after falling down the well,” a statement from the royal court said.

– The world watched –

Thousands of people had gathered beside the giant pit to watch the effort, singing songs to urge on the diggers, who worked through the nights under floodlights.

Many of the watchers prayed, chanting in unison “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest).

“I couldn’t sleep for the five days,” Mounir Adbib, a neighbour, told AFP. “I have a son the same age as Rayan. I think about him every time I see my little one.”

Work began Sunday to fill areas that had been excavated for the rescue operation, AFP correspondents said.

The race to rescue Rayan was followed live across the world, and as soon as the tragic conclusion was announced, tributes poured in.

Residents encountered on the streets of Rabat were in shock.

“It touched us because we also have children and we hoped he would survive because we loved this child, but God willed it,” said Amina Benkhaleq, a salesperson.

Another resident, Mourad Fazoui, called it a disaster. “May his soul rest in peace and may God open the gates of heaven to him,” the salesman said.

Moroccan-American novelist Laila Lalami tweeted: “We all of us had been holding out hope that little Rayan would make it. This is all so tragic.”

But some saw the event differently, with one internet user deploring a “dystopic world where all the Arab nations are moved by the rescue of a child in Morocco” while others die due to famine or conflict in Yemen and Syria. The writer added: “All lives matter.”

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Doubts hung Sunday over a scheduled parliamentary vote for Iraq’s president after the Supreme Court temporarily suspended former foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari, a frontrunner for the post, and leading parliamentary factions announced a boycott.

The decisions not to attend Monday’s session again highlight political divisions in a war-scarred country hobbled by corruption and poverty.

The largest parliamentary bloc, holding 73 seats and led by powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, was the first to boycott, saying on Saturday it would not attend the session which is scheduled for midday (0900 GMT).

That was followed on Sunday with a boycott by the Sovereignty Coalition, made up of 51 MPs and led by parliamentary speaker and Sadr ally Mohammed al-Halbussi.

The third party in their informal alliance, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), from which Zebari hails, said it, too, would not be there to fill its 31 seats. This is in order to “continue consultations and dialogue between political blocs”, it said.

Their decision came after the Supreme Court cited years-old corruption charges against Zebari in suspending him.

The successive boycotts could result in Monday’s session being cancelled or postponed due to lack of a quorum, which is set at two thirds of the 329-seat chamber.

A scheduled presidential vote follows October legislative elections marred by record-low turnout, post-election threats and violence, and a delay until final results were confirmed in late December.

Intense negotiations among political groups since then have failed to form a majority parliamentary coalition to name a prime minister.

– ‘Unconstitutional’ –

Zebari was one of two main contenders for the largely ceremonial post of president, which has a four-year mandate and by convention is held by a member of Iraq’s Kurdish minority.

The other favoured candidate, out of roughly 25 in total, is the incumbent Barham Saleh. He is the candidate of KDP’s rival in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

In suspending Zebari, the court said it had received a complaint from lawmakers that his candidacy was “unconstitutional” because of the graft claims.

It said the suspension was “temporary” while the court considers the case.

Iraq’s highest judicial body said the complainants consider that Zebari does not fulfil constitutional requirements that the head of state must have “a good reputation and integrity”.

The court cited his 2016 dismissal from the post of finance minister by parliament “over charges linked to financial and administrative corruption”.

Public funds worth $1.8 million were allegedly diverted to pay for airline tickets for his personal security detail.

Zebari, 68, has always denied all corruption accusations.

“I have not been convicted in any court,” Zebari said in a television interview on Friday night as the charges resurfaced alongside forecasts he would unseat Saleh.

The complaint also cited at least two other judicial cases linked to him, including when he was the country’s long-time foreign minister after the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein in the 2003 US-led invasion.

– ‘Not a consensus’ candidate –

“Our withdrawal is a message to the Kurds, in particular to the KDP, for them to agree on a single candidate,” a Sadrist MP told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The MP, whose bloc’s leader Sadr controls the complex negotiations to select a new prime minister, said Zebari was “not a consensus” candidate.

But while Sadr’s bloc claims it has enough seats for a “national majority government”, the powerful rival Shiite Coordination Framework, appealed to the Supreme Court to have their bloc recognised as the majority.

The court rejected their demand, saying it could not decide now, as parliamentary blocs could change.

“No one knows how to be in the opposition. Everyone knows how to share the pie,” Iraqi political analyst Hamzeh Hadad said

Cyclone Batsirai killed at least 10 people and displaced nearly 48,000 when it struck Madagascar overnight, the national disaster management agency said on Sunday.

The cyclone later weakened but not before wreaking havoc in the poor Indian Ocean island nation which is still reeling from a deadly tropical storm earlier this year.

Parts of the country were lashed with heavy rains and wind before the cyclone made landfall in Mananjary. 

It uprooted trees, destroyed buildings and forced residents to weigh down flimsy corrugated iron roofs along its path, AFP correspondents saw.

The rain will cause flooding across parts of the country, Madagascar’s meteorological office said on Sunday.

Batsirai made landfall late Saturday as an “intense tropical cyclone”, packing winds of 165 kilometres (102 miles) per hour, Faly Aritiana Fabien of the country’s disaster management agency told AFP.

His colleague responsible for risk management, Paolo Emilio Raholinarivo, listed 10 dead, but gave no further details.

However the national meteorological office — which had warned of “significant and widespread damage” — said on Sunday that Batsirai had weakened.

The cyclone’s average wind speed had almost halved to 80 kph, while the strongest gusts had scaled back to 110 kmh from the 235 kmh recorded when it made landfall, Meteo Madagascar said.

– Bodies exposed at cemetery –

At a cemetery in the eastern town of Mahanoro, overlooking the sea, Marie Viviane Rasoanandrasana sat on the ground watching over the bodies of her husband, father-in-law and daughter.

The waves of the rising sea eroded the sandy hill which was part of a graveyard. Several graves were ripped open, exposing their bodies and some others.

“A few days ago the sea was far away, but this morning I was told the waves had washed away part of the cemetery,” said the 54-year-old widow. 

“Daily life is already very hard,” she said, adding the family would be forced to rebury the remains in a temporary grave until they raise enough money for a “proper burial”.

– ‘City almost 95% destroyed’ –

“Mananjary is completely destroyed, no matter where you go everything is destroyed,” said one resident named Faby. Another man, Fana, was certain “almost 95 percent of the city has been destroyed”

Inland in Antsirabe, 365 km northwest of Mananjary, the storm uprooted large trees in the town’s public park.

The Meteo-France weather service had earlier predicted Batsirai would pose a “very serious threat” to Madagascar, after passing Mauritius and drenching the French island of La Reunion with torrential rain.

Some 10,000 people on La Reunion were still without electricity on Sunday, three days after the tropical cyclone passed through the island, injuring 12 people on its path.

Ana affected at least 131,000 people across Madagascar in late January, with nearly 60 people killed, mostly in the capital Antananarivo.

Ana also hit Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, causing dozens of deaths.

The World Food Programme, citing estimates from national authorities, said around 595,000 people could be directly affected by Batsirai, and 150,000 more might be displaced because of new landslides and flooding.

The storm poses a risk to at least 4.4 million people in total, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

The former French colony off Africa’s southeastern coast is in the midst of a six-month rainy season that often results in casualties and widespread damage. 

In 2018, the country suffered a double whammy with Cyclone Ava killing 51 people in January and tropical storm Eliakim leaving 20 people dead two months later.

And in March 2017, at least 78 people perished in Cyclone Enawo.

Global warming has increased the risk of flooding and tropical storms, as the atmosphere retains more water and rainfall patterns are disrupted. 

Southern parts of Madagascar are reeling from the worst drought in four decades.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa told a summit of African leaders meeting in Addis Ababa on Sunday that the continent was “experiencing the worst impacts of phenomena associated with global warming such as droughts, floods and cyclones”. 

“Despite not being responsible for causing climate change, it is Africans who are bearing both the brunt and the cost,” he said.

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Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday became the first British monarch to reign for seven decades, announcing her “sincere wish” that Camilla, the wife of her heir Prince Charles, should ultimately be known as Queen Consort.

Britain’s longest-serving monarch acceded to the throne aged 25 on February 6, 1952, following the death of her father King George VI.

She marked the historic date quietly at Sandringham, her estate in eastern England where her father died.

But in a major statement on the future of the royal family, the 95-year-old released a message to the nation, saying “it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort”.

This means Camilla, now 74, would be crowned alongside Charles, now 73, and known to the public as Queen Camilla, royal experts said.

Charles said the couple were “deeply conscious of the honour represented by my mother’s wish”, which would accord Camilla the full title of a monarch’s wife.

He praised Camilla, saying: “my darling wife has been my own steadfast support throughout”.

The heir to the throne also paid tribute to the Queen’s “devotion to the welfare of all her people”, which “inspires still greater admiration with each passing year”.

The Queen said she hoped that when Charles becomes king, the British people would give him and Camilla “the same support that you have given me”.

Camilla was long vilified for her role in the break-up of Charles’ marriage to Princess Diana.

Recognising the sensitivities, when the couple married in 2005, the royal family announced she would be known as Princess Consort after Charles became king.

But she has gradually won plaudits as the future king’s loyal wife.

– ‘Historic reign’ –

Londoners who spoke to AFP were divided over the announcement.

“I’m delighted. I think it’s high time,” said Angela Roberts, an 80-year-old retiree.

“It’s before my time but a lot of the people who grew up with Diana being the next Queen effectively, they feel like she was wronged by the royal institution,” said Tobias Fox, a 24-year-old software engineer.

“I don’t think a lot of people will be too happy that Camilla has got this role.”

“I think she’ll do well, but I think there will always be that shadow of the past that overcasts her reign,” said Alice Tomlinson, a 25-year-old working in marketing.

Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

Stressing that the Queen is still actively working, Buckingham Palace released a photo taken at Sandringham this week showing her going through one of her famous red dispatch boxes used for government business.

Behind her is a photo of her late father.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the Queen’s “inspirational sense of duty and unwavering dedication”.

With the main Platinum Jubilee celebrations set for June, he said wanted “to come together as a country to celebrate her historic reign”.

– ‘Shared ideals’ –

World leaders paid tribute Sunday including German Chancellor Olaf Schulz and Canada’s Justin Trudeau, who said she “has been a constant presence in the life of Canadians, offering steadfast leadership in times of change, hardship, or uncertainty”.

The White House on Twitter congratulated the monarch on the “historic” milestone.

“Throughout the past 70 years, she has strengthened the ties of friendship, shared ideals, and faith in democracy that forever unite our countries,” it said.

Four days of festivities are planned for early June, coinciding with the anniversary of her 1953 coronation, including a military parade and music concert, street parties, a nationwide “Big Jubilee Lunch” and a “Platinum Pudding Competition”.

During her reign, the Queen has remained a constant through periods of huge social and political upheaval — a living link to Britain’s post-war and imperial past.

In her message addressed to the public signed “Your servant, Elizabeth R”, the Queen renewed a pledge she first gave in a broadcast on her 21st birthday “that my life will always be devoted to your service”.

In September 2015, she surpassed Queen Victoria’s 63 years and seven months on the throne and, despite some health concerns over the past year, her latest message showed she is determined to continue her record-breaking reign.

After husband Philip’s death in April last year, the Queen returned to public and official engagements, including hosting world leaders at the G7 summit.

She was forced to slow down on advice from doctors, however, after an overnight hospital stay in October sparked public concern.

Since then, she has largely stayed at Windsor Castle and made few public appearances.

But on Saturday, the Queen held a reception for locals at Sandringham, reportedly her largest in-person public engagement since the autumn health scare.

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Ukraine on Sunday pushed back at “apocalyptic predictions” over a potential Russian invasion, after US officials sounded dire warnings that Moscow had stepped up its preparations for a major incursion.  

US officials said the Kremlin has assembled 110,000 troops along the border with its pro-Western neighbour but intelligence assessments have not determined whether President Vladimir Putin has actually decided to invade. 

The Russian force amassed on the frontier is growing at a rate that would give Putin the firepower he needs for a full-scale invasion — some 150,000 soldiers — by mid-February, US officials have said.

They assess that Putin wants all options at his disposal, from a limited campaign in the pro-Russian Donbas region of Ukraine to a full-scale invasion.

Russia denies that it is planning an incursion into Ukraine.

“Do not believe the apocalyptic predictions. Different capitals have different scenarios, but Ukraine is ready for any development,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter. 

“Today, Ukraine has a strong army, unprecedented international support and the faith of Ukrainians in their country. It is the enemy who should fear us.”

Presidency advisor Mykhailo Podolyak insisted that the chances of finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis remained “substantially higher than the threat of further escalation”.

Kyiv — backed up by some European allies — has consistently sought to play down fears of an imminent attack as it tries to prevent further harm to its struggling economy.

Podolyak said the latest Russian moves were “no surprise” as Moscow has sought to keep up pressure on Kyiv by conducting large-scale troop rotations, manoeuvres and weapon deployments on a regular basis since massing forces at the border last spring. 

“How long will such Russian activity last and for what purpose is it maintained? Only the Kremlin can know the exact answer to this question,” he said. 

– European diplomatic push –

The stark warnings from the US — part of a deliberate attempt from Washington to pre-empt any Russian actions — come as Europe pushes to defuse the crisis. 

French President Emmanuel Macron heads to Moscow on Monday and Kyiv on Tuesday seeking to de-escalate the crisis and push forward a stalled peace plan for the festering conflict with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also visit the region for talks with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the following week in a bid to further the diplomatic efforts. 

US officials said if Moscow does opt for a full-scale attack, the invading force could take the capital Kyiv and topple Zelensky in a matter of 48 hours.

They estimated such an attack would leave 25,000 to 50,000 civilians dead, along with 5,000 to 25,000 Ukrainian soldiers and 3,000 to 10,000 Russian ones.

It could also trigger a refugee flood of one to five million people, mainly into Poland, the officials added.

President Joe Biden has reacted to the buildup by dispatching some 3,000 American forces to bolster NATO’s eastern flank, with a new batch of US soldiers arriving in Poland on Sunday.

Scholz said Berlin was prepared to send extra troops to the Baltics in addition to 500 soldiers already stationed in Lithuania under a NATO operation.

Moscow has issued demands for NATO to guarantee that Ukraine will not enter the alliance and to withdraw forces from member states in eastern Europe. 

But US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told Fox News Sunday that Biden “is not sending forces to start a war or fight a war with Russia in Ukraine”.

“We have sent forces to Europe to defend NATO territory,” he said.

– Special forces, naval buildup –

US intelligence has concluded that Russia is continuing to muster a major military force on its border with Ukraine.

Two weeks ago, a total of 60 Russian army battalions were positioned to the north, east and south of Ukraine, particularly in the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed after an invasion in 2014.

By Friday, there were 80 battalions and 14 more were en route from elsewhere in Russia, US officials said. 

They added that some 1,500 Russian special forces soldiers known as Spetsnaz arrived along the Ukraine border a week ago.

Russia has also announced what it calls joint military manoeuvres with Belarus, where it has sent several battalions to the north of Kyiv.

A major Russian naval force is also positioned in the Black Sea, equipped with five amphibious vessels that could be used to land troops on Ukraine’s southern coast, the US officials said.

They added that another six amphibious craft were observed leaving apparently on their way to the Black Sea.

In other deployments, Russia has positioned fighter planes near Ukraine, as well as bombers, missile batteries and anti-aircraft batteries, US officials said.

Morocco was in shock Sunday after emergency crews found a five-year-old boy dead at the bottom of a well in a tragic end to a five-day rescue operation that gripped the nation and the world.

The ordeal of “little Rayan” since he fell down the 32-metre (100-foot) dry well on Tuesday gained global attention and sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic Twitter hashtag #SaveRayan trending.

Pope Francis, while mourning the loss of Rayan, praised the “beautiful” sight of “how all the people gathered together” to try to save a child.

“Our hearts broke last night,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a condolence message to King Mohammed VI, while French President Emmanuel Macron said to Rayan’s family and the Moroccan people: “We share your pain.” 

There was no official information about an autopsy but a cousin told AFP that Rayan’s body had been transported to a military hospital in the capital Rabat.

His funeral is to be held on Monday, provincial council head Abderahim Bouazza said.

The boy’s father, Khaled Aourram, had said he had been repairing the well when his son fell in, close to the family home in the village of Ighrane in the Rif mountains of northern Morocco.

“We thank His Majesty the King, the authorities and all those who have helped us,” Aourram said on television Saturday evening. “Praise God, have mercy on the dead.”

– From hope to sorrow –

Throughout the major digging operation to extricate Rayan, authorities had cautioned that they did not know whether he was alive.

The shaft, just 45 centimetres (18 inches) across, was too narrow for the boy to be reached directly, and widening it was deemed too risky — so earth movers dug a wide slope into the hill and then a horizontal connecting tunnel to reach him from the side.

But progress slowed as the drill teams worked by hand to avoid any vibrations that might bring the brittle soil down on the child, local authorities said.

Late Saturday evening, crowds cheered when the rescue workers broke through the final stretch of earth to reach the boy, and volunteer digger Ali Sahraoui cleared the last soil away with his hands.

But soon after, AFP correspondents saw the boy’s parents walk down the slope into the horizontal tunnel, visibly crushed. They returned and boarded an ambulance without saying a word.

It was Morocco’s royal cabinet that announced he had been found dead.

“Following the tragic accident which cost the life of the child Rayan Aourram, His Majesty King Mohammed VI called the parents of the boy who died after falling down the well,” a statement from the royal court said.

Work began Sunday to fill areas that had been excavated for the rescue operation, AFP correspondents said.

– Race against time –

Thousands of people had gathered beside the giant pit to watch the effort, singing songs to urge on the diggers, who worked through the nights under floodlights.

Many of the watchers prayed, chanting in unison “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest).

The race to rescue Rayan was followed live across the world, and as soon as the tragic conclusion was announced, tributes poured in.

Residents encountered on the streets of Rabat were in shock.

“It touched us because we also have children and we hoped he would survive because we loved this child, but God willed it,” said Amina Benkhaleq, a salesperson.

Another resident, Mourad Fazoui, called it a disaster. “May his soul rest in peace and may God open the gates of heaven to him,” the salesman said.

Moroccan media said the tragedy “reminded the whole world of the values of humanity”.

“Little angel, you fought until the end, a hero”, said a Twitter user called Anouar, while another said “he has brought people together around him”.

Moroccan-American novelist Laila Lalami tweeted: “We all of us had been holding out hope that little Rayan would make it. This is all so tragic.”

For AC Milan’s Algerian midfielder Ismael Bennacer, “Rayan’s courage will stay in our memories and continue to inspire us”.

He accompanied his tweet with a drawing of a child being lifted into the sky, carried by a heart-shaped balloon marked with the colours of Morocco.

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