Latest news with #LiJun
The Star
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Feature: Baghdad seethes as Iraqis rally against Israel, U.S. amid escalating Israel-Iran conflict
by Xinhua writer Li Jun BAGHDAD, June 20 (Xinhua) -- "Down with Israel! Down with America!" The fierce chants echoed through Baghdad's sweltering heat, unrelenting as hundreds of Iraqis poured into the streets. Their fury ignited after the government accused Israel of using Iraqi airspace to mount a massive strike against Iran -- an allegation that poured fuel on Iraqis' long-simmering outrage over Israel's widening conflicts across the region. "Iraq's skies should not be a corridor for foreign wars," one protester said, declining to give his name. His words captured a broader fear gripping many Iraqis: their country, scarred by decades of violence, could once again be dragged into a conflict not of its making. The Iraqi government swiftly lodged a complaint with the United Nations Security Council, condemning the airstrike as a violation of its sovereignty and urging Washington to restrain its ally. But on Baghdad's streets, the anger runs deeper. "The world watched Gaza burn. Then Lebanon. Then Syria. Now Israel strikes Iran," said another demonstrator. "We fear the fire will soon reach us." The June 13 Israeli airstrike prompted Iraq to abruptly close its airspace. Except for limited flights out of Basra, commercial aviation ground to a halt for days, stranding thousands and deepening a sense of paralysis sweeping across the nation. The protests are steeped in bitter memories of Iraq's recent past: the 2003 U.S. invasion, the sectarian bloodshed that followed, and the brutal rise and fall of the Islamic State. Each chapter has left Iraq painfully exposed to the region's shifting rivalries. As tensions between Israel and Iran escalate, many here fear Iraq could once again become a battlefield. Much of the demonstrators' anger is directed squarely at Washington. Although the United States has denied any role in the Israeli strike, many Iraqis remain convinced that America and Israel operate in concert, locked in a long-standing regional alliance. "We reject the U.S. presence in the region," said Hafidh Abu Ali, standing among the crowd near Baghdad's fortified Green Zone. "Their presence endangers our sovereignty." The stakes rose further on Sunday when Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful Iraqi militia, threatened U.S. interests across the region if Washington intervened on Israel's behalf. The group demanded the closure of the U.S. embassy and a full withdrawal of American forces from Iraqi soil. Hours later, the U.S. embassy issued a security alert, urging American citizens to avoid areas frequented by foreigners and to stay clear of large gatherings. Anticipating unrest, Iraqi security forces sealed off a key bridge leading into the Green Zone. As night fell, the city remained on edge. Protesters lingered beneath the amber glow of streetlights, their chants echoing through the dark. Security forces watched from the shadows, silhouetted against the flickering skyline of a capital haunted by war. "We call on the peoples of the world to stand with Iran," said protester Abbas Kadhim. "This conflict could ignite the whole Middle East."
Zawya
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
China-Africa People-to-People Dialogue Held in Lusaka
The China-Africa People-to-People Dialogue was held from May 7 to 9, 2025, in Lusaka, Zambia. Mr. Li Jun, Vice President of the China International NGO Network for Exchanges (CNIE) and former Vice Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, Her. Honour Mutale Nalumango, Vice President of Zambia, and other senior officials attended the dialogue and delivered speeches. The event brought together over 150 participants, including H.E. Han Jing, Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, and representatives from civil society organizations, universities, media houses, businesses and other sectors across China and Africa. Mr. Li Jun said that China and Africa have always been partners who stand together through thick and thin and pursue win-win cooperation. China-Africa cooperation sets a benchmark for developing countries in exploring independent paths to modernization and contributes to advancing the reform of the global governance system. Civil societies of China and Africa should seize the opportunity to strengthen strategic planning and practical alignment, enabling civil society organizations to contribute more wisdom and strength toward building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era. Vice President Nalumango said that the Africa-China friendship transcends mountains and oceans and enjoys a long history. The Africa-China People-to-People Dialogue is of great significance, providing a platform for mutual learning, exchanges and cooperation among civil society organizations from the two sides. It is hoped that Africa and China would further strengthen collaboration in various fields such as education, science, technology and artificial intelligence, and fully leverage the crucial role of people-to-people friendship in driving state-to-state relations. The China-Africa People-to-People Dialogue was organized by the African Union's Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC). Representatives from China and Africa exchanged views on strengthening civil society partnership, establishing cooperation platforms and promoting people-to-people bonds. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Zambia.
Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
At The Movies: Horror homage Until Dawn gets dead tired, Above The Dust a terrific yet tragic tale
At The Movies: Horror homage Until Dawn gets dead tired, Above The Dust a terrific yet tragic tale Until Dawn (M18) 103 minutes, opens on April 24 ★★☆☆☆ The story: Clover (Ella Rubin) and her friends (Michael Cimino, Ji-young Yoo, Belmont Cameli and Odessa A'zion) arrive at a remote mountain valley town to search for her sister (Maia Mitchell), who went missing a year earlier. They become trapped in the abandoned visitor centre, attacked by supernatural entities. Gamer alert: The return of Swedish actor Peter Stormare as therapist Dr Hill is misleading. Until Dawn is a Hollywood adaptation of PlayStation's popular interactive video game mostly in name . It introduces a new ensemble of photogenic teens, and has the five of them murdered and revived to be killed again and again. They have to somehow survive until dawn , lest they die for real. Were this an inventive spin on the mortal time loop such as the combat science-fiction Edge Of Tomorrow (2014) or college whodunit Happy Death Day (2017), or even the original choose-your-own-adventure game, the characters would remake their choices to influence their future. But logic will not help them when there is none in a story that resets , such that they wake up each fatal night in a different horror movie to a masked psycho slasher out of Halloween (1978), torture porn inspired by Saw (2004), monsters, demonic possession and environmental apocalypse. Creepy dolls have a cameo, the director-producer being David F. Sandberg of Annabelle: Creation (2017) in his second collaboration with writer Gary Dauberman. The violent jump scares barely scare. This sandbox of tropes is about nothing more than the film-makers' love for the genre and their facility with references. It hurtles along, mindless like a zombie – which will show up too, somewhere between a witch and a mad doctor. Hot take: Live, die, repeat. This self-amused horror homage gets dead tired. Above The Dust (M18) 123 minutes, opens on April 24 exclusively at The Projector ★★★★☆ (From left) Li Jun and Ouyang Wenxin in the drama Above The Dust. PHOTO: DONGCHUN FILMS The story: Ten-year-old Wo Tu (Ouyang Wenxin) wants a water pistol like his village schoolmates in north-eastern China, circa 2009. His late grandfather (Li Jun) returns as a ghost to grant him his wish on a surreal journey that won the 2024 Golden Horse Awards' best adapted screenplay. China's 'Sixth Generation' film-maker Wang Xiaoshuai has , since his earliest work in The Days (1993) and Beijing Bicycle (2001), drawn both universal acclaim and the politburo's displeasure for his documentations of his country's social changes. The writer-director is at risk of another ban for screening Above The Dust internationally without the approval of state censors, who had demanded more than 50 edits to the politically sensitive subject. In this child's-eye magic-realist fable shot on location against the terraced hills of Gansu province, the grandfather takes Wo Tu back in time to the multigenerational trauma of the 1950s Great Leap Forward, when family farms were confiscated for communes under Chairman Mao's calamitous campaign to industrialise the agrarian society. Wo Tu would witness landowners purged and killed, among them his great-grandfather. The modernisation drive continues today with little regard for the human toll and all that is lost in pursuit of national progress: homes and, along with them, traditions and values. Mongolian actress Yong Mei from Wang's So Long, My Son (2019) is again magnificent as a careworn mother digging for fabled heirlooms under their farmstead that are symbolic of their lost ancestry. Wo Tu finally gets his toy gun. But there is no one left in the village to play with and soon, the boy with the name meaning 'fertile land' and his family, too, will join the urban exodus. Hot take: Renegade auteur Wang tills blood-stained history for a tragic tale on rural displacement. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
