Latest news with #Germ
12-06-2025
- Politics
3 killed and scores injured as Russia targets Ukraine with new attacks
KYIV, Ukraine -- Russian forces have pummeled Ukraine with drones and other weapons, killing three people and injuring scores of others despite international pressure to accept a ceasefire, officials said Thursday. According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched a barrage of 63 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight. It said that air defenses destroyed 28 drones while another 21 were jammed. Ukraine's police said two people were killed and six were injured over the past 24 hours in the eastern Donetsk region, the focus of the Russian offensive. One person was killed and 14 others were also injured in the southern Kherson region, which is partly occupied by Russian forces, police said. The head of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said that 15 people, including four children, were injured by Russian drone attacks overnight. Kharkiv city mayor Ihor Terekhov said Russian drones targeted residential districts, educational facilities, kindergartens and other civilian infrastructure. 'Kharkiv is holding on. People are alive. And that is the most important thing,' Terekhov said. The Russian military has launched waves of drones and missiles in recent days, with a record bombardment of almost 500 drones on Monday and a wave of 315 drones and seven missiles overnight on Tuesday. The recent escalation in aerial attacks has come alongside a renewed Russian battlefield push along eastern and northeastern parts of the more than 1,000-kilometer (over 600-mile) front line. While Russian missile and drone barrage have struck regions all across Ukraine, regions along the front line have faced daily Russian attacks with short-range exploding drones and glide bombs. Ukraine hit back with drone raids. Russia's Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 52 Ukrainian drones early Thursday, including 41 over the Belgorod region that borders Ukraine. Regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said three people were injured by Ukrainian attacks Thursday. The attacks have continued despite discussions of a potential ceasefire in the war. During their June 2 talks in Istanbul, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators traded memorandums containing sharply divergent conditions that both sides see as nonstarters, making any quick deal unlikely. Speaking at a meeting of leaders of southeast European countries in Odesa, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the European Union to toughen its latest package of sanctions against Russia. He argued that lowering the cap on the price of Russian oil from $60 to $45 as the bloc has proposed isn't enough. 'Real peace comes with a $30 cap -– that's the level that will truly change thinking in Moscow,' Zelenskyy said. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv Thursday on an unannounced visit, noting that the stepped-up Russian attacks on Ukraine send a message from Moscow that it has 'no interest in a peaceful solution at present,' according to German news agency dpa. Pistorius said his visit underlines that the new German government continues to stand by Ukraine. 'Of course this will also be about how the support of Germany and other Europeans will look in future – what we can do, for example, in the area of industrial cooperation, but also other support,' he said.
India Gazette
07-06-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
All-party delegation in Germany engages with lawmakers, think-tanks to highlight India's zero-tolerance stand on terrorism
Berlin [Germany], June 7 (ANI): The all-party delegation led by BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad to Germany met senior representatives from German Government, Parliament (Bundestag) and Think-Tanks to convey India's principled position of 'Zero-Tolerance against Terrorism' and its strategy to tackle cross-border terrorism, especially in light of the dastardly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, the Indian Embassy in Germany said in a statement on Friday. 'During its first day of engagements in Berlin, the All-Party Parliamentary Delegation, led by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon'ble Member of Parliament & former Union Minister, met with senior representatives from German Government, Parliament (Bundestag) and Think-Tanks to convey India's principled position of 'Zero-Tolerance against Terrorism' and its strategy to tackle cross-border terrorism, especially in light of the dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir. The delegation also briefed the German counterparts and interlocutors about Operation Sindoor - India's firm, precise, targeted and non-escalatory response to the terror attack', the statement said. As per the statement, the delegation called on Johann Wadephul, Foreign Minister of Federal Republic of Germany. Recalling his recent interaction with Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, Wadephul reiterated Germany's strong support for India's fight against terrorism and the right of every nation to defend itself from such terror attacks. The statement observed that the delegation deeply appreciated Germany's strong condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack and expression of solidarity with India. The delegation also emphasized the need to hold the perpetrators of terrorist acts accountable and called for multi-lateral cooperation in this regard. The delegation called on Omid Nouripour, Vice President of the German Parliament (Bundestag) and outlined the three salient features of India's policy in dealing with terrorism- Zero tolerance, not giving in to nuclear blackmail and resolving the issues with Pakistan bilaterally. The delegation emphasised that terrorism is a global threat and must be met with a unified international response. The delegation also met with Armin Laschet, Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee of Bundestag, Ralph Brinkhaus, Member of Bundestag (MdB) and Hubertus Heil, MdB. The delegation conveyed their appreciation for prompt expression of condolences for victims of the Pahalgam terror attack by Germany's top political leadership. They highlighted that the attack was designed to disrupt the booming tourism economy of Jammu & Kashmir and to sow seeds of communal tension in India, as per the official statement. It further observed that during their interaction, the delegation emphasised that Operation Sindoor received support from across the spectrum in India and conveyed India's united stance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The delegation interacted with senior members of German Parliament (Bundestag) active in the fields of foreign policy and international affairs and a leading think-tank in Germany, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS). Ending the day's engagements, the delegation also had an interaction with representatives from leading German think-tanks and eminent personalities at a reception hosted by Ambassador of India to Germany, Ajit Gupte, the statement read. Notably, during the interactions, the delegation highlighted the measured, precise, responsible and non-escalatory nature of the steps taken by India in response to the terrorist attack. They emphasised that nuclear blackmail should not be allowed as a cover for terrorism and discussed India's strategy against cross-border terrorism in future. German interlocutors expressed support for India's stance, with a shared recognition of the urgent need for the international community to come together in the fight against terrorism. Both sides also discussed India-Germany cooperation in the field of Defence, Security and Counter-Terrorism as part of the deepening Strategic Partnership between the two countries. (ANI)
The Guardian
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘British feminism needs reshaping': Kate Nash on her new single about trans rights
In Kate Nash's new single, released last week, the 37-year-old musician and actor has coined a new acronym, Germ: 'girl, exclusionary, regressive, misogynist'. In the lyrics, she states: 'You're not radical … You're not rad at all,' and that 'using feminism to erase the rights of others and endanger them is inherently un-feminist'. It arose from Nash seeing 'trans-exclusionary radical feminist' – the contentious term 'terf' – as something of a misnomer. Those who espouse gender-critical views are, in her opinion, neither radical nor feminist. The song was written in response to last month's supreme court ruling that the legal definition of 'woman' ought to be based on biological sex (a judgement that doctors at the British Medical Association have called 'scientifically illiterate'). 'I have a lot of trans people in my life that I care about,' Nash tells me on the day the track is released. 'This feminist-trans 'debate' – it's not a debate to me. A friend of mine was the victim of a hate crime last year. I took the ruling very personally.' She says the time felt right for her to speak out. 'The LGBTQIA+ community supports women so much, and they have been there for me in my life and career. That's why I think cis women really owe it to trans people to step up at this moment. This song is for that community.' Within hours of the song going live, Nash was trending on X. On the one hand, Nash was praised by LGBTQ+ advocates and allies for showing support for trans people at a time when their rights are being eroded. 'A lot of the queer community have been really grateful,' says Nash. 'I've received some beautiful messages about what it means, when there's so much uncertainty and fear and a loss of confidence for a lot of trans people. That's been really moving.' On the other hand, gender-critical voices online suggested that Nash was 'enabling abusers' by calling for trans women to be admitted into single-sex spaces. Nash finds the accusation 'absurd'. Critiquing different ideologies is important, she says, 'but there's a difference between critical thinking and what's happening in this debate. I'm really open to nuanced conversations. I was preparing myself for this really amazing argument that stitches me up, a big 'gotcha' moment'. But all the insults are calling me old, a bint, a slag, a has-been. I'm shocked at how juvenile and misogynistic the comments are.' 'Germ', Nash is aware, is another insult now added into the mix. 'I'm taking my artistic liberty there as a musician – I can be highbrow and I can be lowbrow. But I also do think it's important for feminists to voice that transphobia is not feminist, so I stand by it.' She is ready for the inevitable backlash. 'I've been trolled since I was 18. Bring it on. I'm OK with whatever insults people want to throw at me – I can handle it. It's not going to be as difficult as what a trans person is having to go through at this moment.' She hopes the song encourages others to speak up despite it being such a divisive subject. 'It felt like a scary thing to voice, because it's this hot topic, but as a musician you can make something that's quite fun and catchy and a little bit empowering.' Nash has long been an advocate for women's rights, calling herself a feminist in interviews since she started releasing witty, acerbic songs in the mid-2000s, before Taylor Swift and Beyoncé made the term a pop cultural concern. She is worried that the label has been hijacked by a gender-critical group who are 'very vocal and very organised', and that resources would be better spent finding solutions to more pressing problems faced by women, such as sexual violence and femicide, which occur overwhelmingly at the hands of men. 'Taking away the rights of vulnerable people who are not a threat is obviously the wrong thing to be doing,' she says. 'I'm not willing to trample on people that have less autonomy over their bodies and less safety in the world than me in order to protect myself. I do not think cis women are more important or better than trans people.' Nash also made headlines earlier in the year by announcing she was selling photos on OnlyFans to help subsidise her tour. This was done in part to make a serious point about the ways the music industry is failing artists, especially those from working-class backgrounds: 'Artists can't make money from touring and they can't make money from recorded music.' Nash explains that touring comes with a whole raft of costs, such as renting a tour bus, paying for a band and crew, food, petrol, hotels. Streaming was 'built unethically from the start', she says, with major labels and streaming services defining the terms and conditions – not artists – and not updating pre-streaming contracts to reflect the new reality. 'Who you listen to isn't where your money directly goes, and I don't think that's right. The way the music industry has been structured, historically, has been exploiting artists. And we've been exploited yet again.' Nash has personal experience of the shadier side of the business. Her former manager misappropriated large amounts of her money during the mid-2010s. (They reached an out-of-court settlement.) During a lengthy legal battle, Nash had to move back in with her parents. 'It was a really difficult thing for me to experience,' she says. 'But overall I think it's informed me, and I feel capable of speaking on issues like this now. I feel really empathetic to artists – it's made me aware of how toxic the environment is.' The decision to sell her pictures online drew criticism, with people accusing Nash of being a bad influence on young girls. 'I'm a fantastic influence for young girls,' she counters. 'I've fought my entire career for young women – representation is extremely important to me.' The photos were also a way of taking control of her sexuality. As an actor on Netflix series Glow, 'I've been naked on TV,' she says. 'I've simulated a threesome. I use my body all the time on stage to move, to sing, to connect with an audience. But if I'm completely in control of it, that's 'wrong'. Is it wrong? Our bodies are so politicised, and the world has an opinion about how to prevent us from being able to make choices about them.' Last weekend, Nash premiered Germ at the Mighty Hoopla festival along with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Later this month she will headline Glastonbury's Left Field stage on the Saturday night. She is excited to play the song in front of an audience: 'I think that will be quite a punk, exciting moment in the set.' Nash is undeterred by the internet noise the song has caused. 'I mean, sure, attack me online, but I'm still right,' she says. 'I wanted to leave a record in musical history of a feminist who is outspoken as a cis woman: this is my opinion, and I don't want the loudest cultural voice in the room to be anti-trans. That is not what feminism has taught me.'
Telegraph
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Kate Nash takes swipe at JK Rowling in new pro-trans single
Kate Nash has taken an apparent swipe at JK Rowling in a new pro-trans single. Germ, a spoken word track, consists of a repeated declaration that an unnamed 'girl' is 'exclusionary, regressive, misogynist' for raising concerns about transgender issues. Nash has said it is transphobic to exclude trans women from female-only lavatories and sports, and declared in the track that she had 'never felt threatened by a trans person'. The track appears to reference the Harry Potter author posing with a cigar to celebrate the Supreme Court ruling that trans women are legally male. It states: 'you can call a cigar a cigar' but 'a cigar cannot be compared to a human being can it, you f---ing idiot'. Nash also shared the image of JK Rowling with a cigar to her Instagram story to promote the track, along with the words 'a trans exclusionary feminist will always be a GERM'. In the song, the unnamed 'girl' is also accused of aligning herself with 'Peterson, Musk and Trump'. The track goes on to state that 'society is nonsense', and quotes a Guardian article, which claims trans people are more likely to face violence. While Rowling is unnamed, the track appears to reference her vocal opposition to allowing biological men to participate in women's sports and enter women's bathrooms. Rowling has become the most high-profile gender-critical figure in recent years and has been vocal in her defence of women-only spaces. Nash shot to fame in 2007 when her album Made of Bricks reached number one. Earlier this year, she revealed that she was making money with her 'bum' by putting images on OnlyFans. The performer said the money generated would fund future tours.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
European Equities Close Higher in Tuesday Trading; UBS Expected to Lose Bid to Soften Swiss Capital Proposal
The European stock markets closed higher in Tuesday trading as the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.71%, Germ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
