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According to Dmitry Medvedev, the situation around Ukraine is used by the West in their “geopolitical game against Russia .”

MOSCOW, Jan. 27 — Deputy Chairman of Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United States are using Ukraine to gain geopolitical leverage.

“Ukraine, unfortunately, has turned, to some extent, into a toy in the hands of NATO and the United States, as Ukraine is used as a geopolitical instrument to exert pressure on Russia,” the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Medvedev as saying during his interview with Russian media outlets.

According to Medvedev, neither the United States nor Europe “needs” Ukraine, and the situation around the country is used by the West in their “geopolitical game against Russia.”

Noting that the possibility of a direct clash between Russia and NATO over Ukraine would end up being “catastrophic,” the official hoped it would be possible to ease tensions in the foreseeable future.

Medvedev pointed out that Moscow was never opposed to the involvement of the United States in negotiations around Ukraine, but Washington was currently creating problems by trying to influence Kiev.

He expressed hope that Ukraine would sooner or later move towards normalizing ties with Russia. 

Xinhua

Published : January 28, 2022

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40011620

The troupe returns to Europe to resume its touring productions after a two-year hiatus. The pandemic forced its London home, the Royal Albert Hall, to shut its doors on March 17, 2020.

In fact, it has been 25 years now since Cirque du Soleil first brought its captivating show to the Hall’s stage.

 Inside the cobalt blue, pink and orange-lit auditorium, the intermission is over. Two years after world-famous Cirque du Soleil’s breath-taking acrobatics spectacle Luzia was forced to drop the curtain due to COVID-19, the story finally continues this month with the dazzling and awe-inspiring show returning to London.

Nevertheless, the pandemic continues to make its presence felt. During the ongoing rehearsals in the British capital’s historic Royal Albert Hall, the flying acrobats and all the other performers are masked, hand sanitizer dispensers line the theater’s corridors and social distancing remains a requirement.

“But now, we’re here … We are artists, we like to keep going. We don’t want to give up if something happens. It’s just not us,” Yan Li, a hoop diving artist from China, told Xinhua before his long-awaited daily rehearsal.

The troupe returns to Europe to resume its touring productions after a two-year hiatus. The pandemic forced its London home, the Royal Albert Hall, to shut its doors on March 17, 2020. In fact, it has been 25 years now since Cirque du Soleil first brought its captivating show to the Hall’s stage.

Artists practice during their daily rehearsals in the British capital

DEFYING GRAVITY

“All the artists and all the employees of the company are happy because we’re back live,” Li said.

Put it simply, Cirque du Soleil’s performers amaze their audience by defying physics and gravity. For them, what goes up stays up: the artists fly through the air with effortless ease. Down on the ground, the contortionists’ and jugglers’ performance is equally jaw-dropping.

Unlike before the pandemic, Li said “we now have to wear our masks during the performance. However, for some of the acts we take them off because the masks could be dangerous when we jump. They might cover our eyes.”

“Before COVID-19, we used to go down to the audience to interact with them, but now we had to cancel that for safety reasons,” said the 33-year-old.

Nevertheless, Li couldn’t hide his excitement to be on tour again. “Performing is our life, our passion. So that’s why we’re super happy, super excited to be back on the stage every night.”

Luzia, a merger of the Spanish words “luz” (light) and “lluvia” (rain), takes the audience to an imaginary Mexico and a sumptuous world suspended between dreams and reality. “The show is Mexican. If you have never been to Mexico and you come to the show, you will get some image of Mexico, the colors, the weather and the people there.”

Luzia runs from Jan. 12 until Feb. 27 at the Royal Albert Hall, which can seat up to 5,900 people.

The show incorporates traditional Chinese circus discipline, Li said. “I perform Chinese pole and hoop diving acts. We use these to enrich the story.”

In the show, the hoop divers are dressed as a flock of colorful hummingbirds, and the Chinese pole act is reminiscent of the movement of a lizard.

Artists practice during their daily rehearsals in the British capital

OVERCOMING HURDLES

Life has not been easy for the troupe of Cirque du Soleil, as COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on the performing arts industry.

“Some of us have had our own gigs mostly smaller or solo performances,” Li said.

Li, who originally trained as a professional gymnast at the Fujian Sports Vocational Education and Technical College in China and worked as a coach at a gymnastic school in Foshan in China’s Guangdong Province, said he never stopped his tough workout routine during the lockdown because “I knew that one day I would be back at the Cirque.” His preparations for the upcoming show have lasted four months now.

Li, who has been working with Cirque du Soleil since 2009, said that the team spirit and the power of mutual support have helped him cope with the challenges.

“We have social security, and we have unemployment benefits. The company is trying to help us. Of course, they had to stop paying because we were not performing. But they are still trying to support us. They have extended our insurance policies, helped us with accommodation, and gave us as much benefit as they could.”

Originally composed of 20 street performers in 1984, the Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, established in Montreal, Canada, has reinvented circus arts and become a world leader in live entertainment. It has already welcomed over 180 million spectators to its shows in 450 cities around the world.

“I am a big fan of the Cirque du Soleil. So happy to see it come back,” read a comment on Xinhua London’s TikTok page, calling the troupe one of the best of its kind in the world.

People dine outside at Covent Garden in London, Britain, Jan. 19, 2022. (Photo by Stephen Chung/Xinhua)

Published : January 28, 2022

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40011618

Researchers found in a study that a third dose increased vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization from 69 percent to 88 percent among the immunocompromised, and 82 percent to 97 percent among those without immune-compromising conditions.

Athird COVID-19 mRNA vaccine dose provides improved protection against COVID-19-associated hospitalization among immunocompromised adults, according to a new study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Thursday.

In the study involving 2,952 hospitalized adults, researchers found that a third dose increased vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization from 69 percent to 88 percent among the immunocompromised, and 82 percent to 97 percent among those without immune-compromising conditions.

The third dose was defined as a full dose in immunocompromised people or a booster dose among immunocompetent adults.

These findings underscore the importance of immunocompromised adults obtaining a third mRNA vaccine dose 28 days after the second vaccine dose, and of immunocompetent adults receiving a third dose five months after the second dose, according to the CDC. 

Published : January 28, 2022

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40011617

In the test-fire for updating the long-range cruise missile system on Tuesday local time, two long-range cruise missiles flew along the flight trajectory over the East Sea of Korea to hit the target island, according to the KCNA.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has conducted a test-fire for updating long-range cruise missile system and a test-fire for confirming the power of conventional warhead for surface-to-surface tactical guided missile, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported early Friday local time.

The tests were conducted by the Academy of Defence Science, said the report.

In the test-fire for updating the long-range cruise missile system on Tuesday local time, two long-range cruise missiles flew along the flight trajectory over the East Sea of Korea to hit the target island, according to the KCNA.

In the test-fire for confirming the power of conventional warhead for the surface-to-surface tactical guided missile on Thursday local time, “two tactical guided missiles precisely hit the target island,” said the report. 

Published : January 28, 2022

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40011616

Six young people, who are now aged between 17 and 27, sued the operator of Japan’s disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant, claiming they developed thyroid cancer due to radiation exposure after the plant’s multiple meltdowns.

The operator of Japan’s disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant were sued by six young people on Thursday over claims that exposure to radiation after the plant’s multiple meltdowns caused them to develop thyroid cancer.

They filed their lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court. 

On March 11, 2011, when a huge earthquake-triggered tsunami led to one of the world’s worst nuclear crises at the Fukushima plant, the plaintiffs, who are now aged between 17 and 27, were living in the Fukushima area.

The group’s lead lawyer Kenichi Ido told local media that they filed a class-action lawsuit against the plant’s operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) on Thursday afternoon.

According to local reports, the plaintiffs are seeking compensation totaling 616 million yen (5.35 million U.S. dollars).

Photo taken on Feb. 22, 2017 shows bags of contaminated soil at Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (Xinhua/Hua Yi)

An expert panel compiled by the local government has said there is no causal link between radiation exposure from the disaster and thyroid cancer, while a report by the United Nations has said that the disaster had not directly affected the health of locals a decade after the incident.

Meanwhile, the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation concluded that the reason why a higher rate of thyroid cancer was being detected among children was probably due to more advanced diagnostics.

Ido maintains, however, that none of his plaintiffs’ cancers were inherited and thus it is more than likely that exposure to radiation in the Fukushima region after the meltdowns was the cause of the thyroid cancers.

“Some plaintiffs have had difficulties advancing to higher education and finding jobs, and have even given up on their dreams for their future,” Ido was quoted as saying.

The plaintiffs were aged between six and 16 at the time of the meltdowns and were diagnosed with thyroid cancer between 2012 and 2018.

Published : January 28, 2022

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40011602

The Russian vessels will practice communications, safe manoeuvers in areas with intensive navigation, and air defence.

MOSCOW, Jan. 26  — More than 20 Russian warships and support vessels had left their bases for exercises in the Black Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

The naval group, which consists of frigates, patrol ships, missile ships, landing ships, anti-submarine ships and minesweepers, was sailing towards the designated areas, the defence ministry said in a statement.

On the way to the drills, the Russian vessels will practice communications, safe manoeuvers in areas with intensive navigation, and air defence, it added.

On Monday, another 20 Russian warships and supporting vessels started large-scale drills in the Baltic Sea to carry out anti-submarine, air defence and mine-sweeping tasks, according to another statement.

These drills came as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was putting forces on standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to Eastern Europe as tensions in and around Ukraine had escalated.  

Xinhua

Published : January 27, 2022

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40011579

During the weekly questions session in the House of Commons, Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson ruled out his resignation as the opposition parties’ leaders urged him to do so.

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday defiantly fended off calls for his resignation ahead of the expected release of the findings of an official inquiry into parties that allegedly took place in Whitehall and Downing Street in the past two years in breach of the country’s COVID-19 restrictions.

During the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) session in the House of Commons (lower house of Parliament), Johnson ruled out his resignation as the opposition parties’ leaders urged him to do so.

Asked by Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, if he should resign for changing his story over the gatherings and misleading Parliament, Johnson said “No.”

“I don’t deny it, and for all sorts of reasons, many people may want me out of the way, but the reason why he (Starmer) wants me out of the way is because he knows this government can be trusted to deliver,” he said.

Photo taken on Aug. 18, 2021 shows the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

When Ian Blackford, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), asked Johnson when he would “cop on” and “go,” the prime minister said “I have absolutely no intention of doing what he suggests.”

Revelations of a string of rules-busting parties at Whitehall and Downing Street have enraged the British public, who obediently followed the government-imposed social restrictions that barred them from meeting friends and families for many months in 2020 and 2021. Several grieving families were even unable to say goodbye to dying relatives or attend funerals.

A man wearing a facemask walks across Westminster Bridge in London, Britain, Jan. 19, 2022. (Photo by Stephen Chung/Xinhua)

Two weeks ago, Johnson apologized for attending a Downing Street garden party on May 20, 2020, during the country’s first COVID-19 lockdown. He said he believed it was a work event and stayed there for 25 minutes only.

British media company ITV reported on Monday that the prime minister had a birthday party on June 19, 2020, at Downing Street, which was attended by around 30 people despite the ban on social gatherings indoors.

It remains unclear when the much-anticipated report drafted by Sue Gray, the senior civil servant tasked with investigating the alleged parties at Downing Street, will be released. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Wednesday ahead of the PMQs that Downing Street had not yet received the findings of the Gray report but that it would be released very soon.

Truss told Sky News that parts of the report may be “problematic to publish” and may be “redacted” for “security” reasons.

However, she also stressed that whatever the result, Downing Street needs to mend its ways in the future.

There clearly needs to be a “change in culture,” Truss told the BBC. “We need to get the results of the report, we need to look at the results and fix the issues there are.”

On Tuesday, London Metropolitan Police announced the launch of an investigation into a number of events that took place at Downing Street and Whitehall in the past two years in relation to potential breaches of COVID-19 regulations, citing “deep public concern.”

Forensic officers work at the site of a terrorist-related incident in Streatham, south London, Britain, on Feb. 2, 2020. (Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua)

Published : January 27, 2022

By : Xinhua