We cover the vows of European leaders to support Ukraine’s war effort and a Trumpian presidential candidate in Colombia.
European leaders visit Kiev
Leaders of France, Italy, Germany and Romania met in Kiev on Thursday with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, where they expressed support for Ukraine’s candidate for EU membership and said they would continue Ukraine’s military efforts. support despite suggestions to the contrary.
President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, who had been criticized in recent days for the perception that they wanted to pressure Zelensky into entering into peace talks with Russia, emphasized that their support was genuine: “We are and we will continue to long-term by your side to defend your sovereignty, your territorial integrity and your freedom,” Macron said. “This is our goal, we have no other and we will achieve it.”
All four leaders expressed support for Ukraine’s candidacy for the EU, Macron said. Scholz added that “Ukraine belongs to the European family.”
European leaders also visited Irpin, a suburb of Kiev where investigators investigate reports of Russian atrocities during the war. Russia dismissed their journey as empty symbolism. Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president, derisively called the leaders “European connoisseurs of frogs, liverwurst and pasta”.
Hesitation: Ukrainian officials are wary of pressure to negotiate an end to the war with Russia over the 2014 and 2015 Minsk accords, in which the Ukrainians offered concessions in return for a ceasefire that never lasted.
Caught: With all the bridges connecting the Ukrainian twin cities of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk destroyed and fighting still raging, thousands of civilians are trapped in one of the deadliest battles of the war to date.
China is rewriting Hong Kong’s history
Schoolchildren around the world have long learned that Hong Kong was a British colony. But students in Hong Kong will soon be told another lesson: It wasn’t.
A new story pushed by Beijing — which dismisses how the British saw their relationship with the city — will be explicitly taught to high school students in Hong Kong through at least four new textbooks to be rolled out in the fall.
The textbook material is still being reviewed by directors, teachers, scholars and staff of the Hong Kong Education Bureau, but it appears to be intended for classrooms. Local news websites published draft excerpts this week and The Times looked at teacher samples.
Excerpts from the textbooks reinforce the Chinese Communist Party’s stance on Hong Kong. “The British aggression has violated the principles of international law, so the occupation of the Hong Kong region should not have been recognized as lawful,” read the trial version of the teacher’s edition of a textbook.
citable: The story, said one pro-democracy activist, “is shorthand for saying, ‘Hong Kong has always been part of China, so Hong Kongers have never been able to claim a right to self-determination.'”
Wider effort: The material is part of a wider campaign by China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, to revamp Hong Kong’s schools, “protect young minds” and educate loyal, patriotic citizens.
A Trumpian candidate shows up in Colombia
Rodolfo Hernández, a 77-year-old businessman and former mayor, has emerged as Colombia’s most disruptive presidential candidate in decades, rousing voters — and a massive TikTok fan base — with a Trump-esque “drain the swamp” message .
He is one of two remaining candidates in Sunday’s election for the nation’s presidency, the third largest in Latin America, with the winner taking power at a pivotal moment in the country’s history.
Hernández has promoted himself as an epitome of democracy, a successful businessman who keeps promises and takes care of the poor. But a Times reporter traveled to Bucaramanga, a mountain-lined city where he built his empire and once served as mayor, and found a different picture: an anti-corruption candidate indicted on corruption charges, a austerity advocate whose slash-fire policy led to a hunger strike by city workers and a construction magnate who once promised to build 20,000 homes for the poor, but that never happened.
The opponent: Hernández takes on Gustavo Petro, a former rebel and former senator who hopes to become Colombia’s first left-wing president. Their electoral success — they are roughly equal in the polls — reflects an anti-establishment fervor that swept through Latin America as long-term poverty and inequality increased during the pandemic.
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A misstep of a great game
Diablo is one of the most successful video game franchises, from one of the biggest developers in the world, Blizzard Entertainment. But the latest installment in the series, “Diablo Immortal,” has received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics who say the game’s payment model is predatory.
“Diablo Immortal” can be downloaded for free on computers and mobile devices, but there is a store where players can purchase items with real money to improve their avatar’s equipment. Those improvements are not guaranteed; players essentially pay for a virtual scratch card. By some estimates, it can cost thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars to completely upgrade a character.
Belgium and the Netherlands do not get “Diablo Immortal” due to anti-gambling rules banning these types of games. And on Metacritic, a review aggregator, users have given the PC version of the game a score of 0.2 out of 10 — one of the lowest of any Blizzard game. † German Lopez