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by Jonathan BROWN Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Columns of tanks and troops will parade through Red Square on Wednesday as President Vladimir Putin oversees grand World War II commemorations to stir up patriotic fervour ahead of a vote on extending his rule. Forced to postpone the country’s traditional May 9 Victory Day celebrations by the coronavirus pandemic, Putin rescheduled the parade for just a week ahead of a July 1 public vote on […]
by Cyril JULIEN Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON D.C., United States (AFP) — As the wave of anti-racism protests rocking the United States brings down monuments to figures linked to the country’s history of slavery, the spotlight is shifting to historic characters long considered untouchable. Although protesters initially focused on removing statues of Confederate generals, the movement has begun to turn its focus to icons of US history, including the nation’s founders Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, […]
by Tom BARFIELD Agence France-Presse GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AFP) — A divisive new monument to Soviet leader Lenin was unveiled in Germany on Saturday, in the middle of a global row over the controversial background of historical figures immortalised as statues. More than 30 years after the post-World War II communist experiment on German soil ended, the tiny Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) installed Lenin’s likeness in the western city of Gelsenkirchen. A few hundred gathered […]
LILLE, France (AFP) — A bust of France’s wartime resistance leader and later president Charles de Gaulle has been vandalised in northern France, local officials said Monday, prompting outrage from right-wing politicians. The bust of de Gaulle in the northern town of Hautmont near the Belgian border was splashed with bright orange paint and the back of its pedestal daubed with the slogan “slaver”. The act comes as statues are being toppled and removed globally […]
BORDEAUX, France (AFP) — As statues of slave traders and colonial figures tumble worldwide in a wave of anger against racism, Bordeaux wants to inform the public with a different tactic. Streets named after slave traders in the southwestern French city, known for its red wine but also one with a colonial past, are getting additional information plaques put up but will not be renamed, a local official said. Protesters against police brutality and racism […]
WASHINGTON DC, United States (AFP) — A handful of US Army bases named for Civil War generals of the pro-slavery South could be in for name changes as pressure builds to rid the country of monuments associated with repression of blacks. The Pentagon said Tuesday that both Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy are willing to consider the idea, as the country moved into a third week of protests over mistreatment […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — DNA research on the Dead Sea Scrolls has revealed that not all of the ancient manuscripts came from the desert landscape where they were discovered, according to a study published Tuesday. Numbering around 900, the manuscripts were found between 1947 — first by Bedouin shepherds — and 1956 in the Qumran caves above the Dead Sea that are today located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The parchment and papyrus scrolls contain Hebrew, […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britons will be urged to join a national singalong from their doorsteps and hold 1940s-style tea parties to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day or Victory in Europe Day, under a coronavirus-appropriate programme unveiled Wednesday. Queen Elizabeth II will make a televised address to the nation on May 8 to mark the day the Nazis surrendered, bringing an end to World War II in Europe. It will be followed […]
TOKYO Japan (AFP) — Thousands of people have signed an online petition against the planned demolition of two early 20th-century buildings that remained intact after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima devastated the Japanese city. A local government official confirmed to AFP on Tuesday they had received the petition signed by 12,000 citizens calling for the preservation of the buildings that stand 2.7 kilometres (2 miles) from the 1945 blast. The three-storey red-brick buildings are part […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The mayor of Hiroshima urged Japan to sign a landmark UN treaty banning nuclear weapons as the city Tuesday marked 74 years since being targeted in the world’s first atomic attack. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led commemorations at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima as residents offered silent prayers, lit candles, and placed wreaths to remember those killed in the August 6, 1945 bombing. And mayor Kazumi Matsui used the occasion […]
by Robin MILLARD © Agence France-Presse CHICHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) — An original Spitfire plane took off from Britain on Monday on an unprecedented attempt to fly the iconic World War II fighter around the globe. The gleaming silver aircraft set off from Goodwood Aerodrome outside Chichester near the south coast of England for the first leg of the epic four-month journey. The restored 76-year-old fighter served in World War II but has been de-militarized, […]
by Leila Macor with Issam Ahmed in Washington CAPE CANAVERAL, United States (AFP) — Fifty years after a mighty rocket set off from Florida carrying the first humans to the Moon, a veteran of the Apollo 11 crew returned to its fabled launch pad Tuesday to commemorate “one giant leap” that became a defining moment in human history. “We crew felt the weight of the world on our shoulders, we knew that everyone […]
