Russia issues WW3 'retaliation' warning to London over Crimea Bridge

Russia has sent a direct warning of "an indestructible blow of retaliation" to Ukrainian allies after they supposedly planned strikes on Crimea.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that the Crimean Bridge is "again under attack". The bridge links Russia with the Crimean Peninsula, which it illegally annexed in 2014. 

Zakharova said: "[Preparations] are being carried out openly, with ostentatious bravado and with the absolute and direct support of the collective West."

Ahead of new waves of military aid on its way to Ukraine, she- also referred to a delivery of F-16 jets, "which, according to the British, can also be used in the operation to destroy the Crimean Bridge."

She added: "We would like to once again warn Washington, London and Brussels that any aggressive actions against Crimea are not only doomed to failure but will also receive an indestructible blow of retaliation."

RUSSIA-UKRAINE-CONFLICT-WAR-BRIDGE© Getty

Zakharova also discussed the reported delivery of US-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine, six of which were subsequently shot down over Crimea last week.

Ukraine used ATACMS missiles for the first time on a Russian military airfield in Crimea last month in a strike which took out Russian forces in the occupied territory, according to US officials.

The first delivery of the missiles came last year, but these were mid-range, older models with a shorter range of approximately 100 miles.

The newer missiles, however, have a range of up to 190 miles, in the range of hundreds of Russian military facilities in Crimea.

Today, the Russian Defense Ministry said its forces shot down another four ATACMS missiles over Crimea, taking the total up to 15 in recent weeks.

Russia has often claimed to take down Ukrainian missiles and drones with no damage to military targets or infrastructure, only for reports to the contrary to come out later. 

Andy Burnham makes cheeky request to people of Manchester as he’s re-elected mayor

Andy Burnham has been re-elected as mayor of Greater Manchester, having won 63.4 % of the vote - and is now asking locals to “buy him a pint” if they see him out and about celebrating.

“How can you not celebrate when you’re in Manchester City Centre?”, he remarked when asked by Sky’s Sophy Ridge how he’d be marking the occasion. 

Mr Burnham added that Labour’s success over the local elections shows the country is “crying out for change” under the Tories. 

Story by Sophie Thompson: The Independent: 

The Tory big beasts tipped to lose their seats

Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt and Suella Braverman are among Tory big beasts at risk losing their seats later this year, an analysis of the local election results has found.

The Surrey constituencies of Mr Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, and Mr Hunt, the Chancellor, are under threat, according to research by the Liberal Democrats.

The analysis also marks Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary and MP for Cheltenham, and Sir John Redwood, the MP for Wokingham who was Margaret Thatcher’s policy adviser, as in danger.

In the Surrey police and crime commissioner elections, the Tory candidate won but the Lib Dem vote share rose by 10 per cent – which the party says “serves as a warning” to Mr Gove and Mr Hunt.

The Conservatives lost four councillors in Reigate and Banstead, which had been the last of Surrey’s district and borough councils left in Tory control until it too fell in March.

Meanwhile, the party lost all five of its council seats at Cheltenham Borough Council, with four going to the Lib Dems and one to the Green Party.

The Lib Dems said they made unexpected progress in Mrs Braverman’s Hampshire council of Fareham, gaining four councillors. The Conservatives retained overall control but lost five of their seats, with four going to the Lib Dems and one to Labour.

The Lib Dems won 20 of 33 councillors in Sir John Redwood’s Wokingham constituency, and the Conservatives no longer have any.

A Lib Dem source said the analysis showed “time is up” for the “Tory big beasts”, adding: “We are going to redouble our efforts to oust senior Conservative MPs who have taken their seats for granted.

“The Home Counties are turning their backs on a Conservative party they no longer recognise. The Liberal Democrats are flipping the electoral map on its head.”

Mr Gove has spent more than a decade at the heart of British politics, while Mr Hunt has spent nine uninterrupted years in the Cabinet, including six as Britain’s longest-serving health secretary.

The unexpected announcement of a prime minister divides Haiti's newly created transitional council

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A surprise announcement that revealed Haiti’s new prime minister is threatening to fracture a recently installed transitional council tasked with choosing new leaders for the gang-riddled Caribbean country.

IDENTIFIES TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL MEMBERS - Transitional Council members, from left to right; Fritz Alphonse Jean, Laurent Saint-Cyr, Frinel Joseph, Edgard Leblanc Fils, Regine Abraham, Emmanuel Vertilaire, Smith Augustin, Leslie Voltaire and Louis Gerald Gilles, pose for a group photo after a ceremony to name its president and a prime minister in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Fils was chosen as the president of the panel. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)© Provided by The Associated Press

Four of seven council members with voting powers said Tuesday that they had chosen Fritz Bélizaire as prime minister, taking many Haitians aback with their declaration and unexpected political alliance.

Transitional council member Frisnel Joseph speaks during a ceremony to name its president and a prime minister in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. The transitional council will act as the country’s presidency until it can arrange presidential elections sometime before it disbands, which must be by February 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)© Provided by The Associated Press

The council members who oppose Bélizaire, who served as Haiti’s sports minister during the second presidency of René Préval from 2006 to 2011, are now weighing options including fighting the decision or resigning from the council.

A person with direct knowledge of the situation who did not want to be identified because negotiations are ongoing said the council’s political accord had been violated by the unexpected move and that some council members are considering other choices as potential prime minister.

The council on Tuesday was scheduled to hold an election and choose its president. But two hours and a profuse apology later, one council member said that not only a council president had been chosen, but a prime minister as well. Murmurs rippled through the room.

The Montana Accord, a civil society group represented by a council member with voting powers, denounced in a statement late Tuesday what it called a “complot” hatched by four council members against the Haitian people “in the middle of the night.”

Edgard Leblanc Fils speaks after the transitional council named him president of the council in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. The transitional council will act as the country’s presidency until it can arrange presidential elections sometime before it disbands, which must be by February 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)© Provided by The Associated Press

“The political and economic mafia forces have decided to take control of the presidential council and the government so that they can continue to control the state,” the Montana Accord said.

Haitian politics have long been characterized by secretive dealings, but many worry the country cannot afford further political instability as gangs lay siege to the capital of Port-au-Prince and beyond.

“People change parties (like) they’re changing their shirts,” said François Pierre-Louis, a professor of political science at Queens College in New York and former Haitian politician.

CORRECTS DAY - People run for cover as shots ring out near the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)© Provided by The Associated Press

He spoke during an online webinar on Tuesday evening.

Like others, he said he believed that Jean-Charles Moïse, a powerful politician who was a former senator and presidential candidate, was behind Bélizaire’s nomination.

“Interestingly, Moïse, of all the politicians there, is the one calling the shots,” Pierre-Louis said.

Moïse, however, does not sit on the council. His party, Pitit Desalin, is represented by Emmanuel Vertilaire, who is among the four council members who support Bélizaire.

Police patrol near the National Palace amid the sound of gunshots in the distance in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)© Provided by The Associated Press

The others are Louis Gérald Gilles, Smith Augustin and Edgard Leblanc Fils, the council’s new president.

They could not be immediately reached for comment.

Fils represents the January 30 political group, which is made up of parties including PHTK, whose members include former President Michel Martelly and slain President Jovenel Moïse. Meanwhile, Augustin represents the EDE/RED political party, founded by former Prime Minister Claude Joseph, and Gilles represents the Dec. 21 agreement, which is associated with f ormer Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who recently resigned.

A document shared with The Associated Press and signed by the four council members who chose the new prime minister state they have agreed to make decisions by consensus. The document is titled, “Constitution of an Indissoluble Majority Bloc within the Presidential Council.”

Henry was on an official visit to Kenya to push for the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country when gangs in Haiti launched coordinated attacks starting Feb. 29.

They have burned police stations, opened fire on the main international airport that remains closed since early March and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates. The violence continues unabated in certain part of Port-au-Prince, including the area around the National Palace.

Haitians are demanding that security be a top priority for the council, which is tasked with selecting a new prime minister and Cabinet, as well as prepare for eventual general elections.

But some Haitians are wary of the council and the decisions it’s taking.

Jean Selcé, a 57-year-old electrician, noted that most of the council members are longtime politicians: “Their past is not really positive.”

“I hope their mentality can change, but I don’t believe it will,” he said. “They don’t really love the country. Who’s dying right now? It’s Haitians like me.”

Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia, noted that some of the parties represented on the council are responsible for the current chaos in Haiti.

“It’s a contradiction,” he said. “Every time we seem to be in a crisis, we reappoint the same people and hope that they change their ways, but they do not.”

Raising the same criticism is Michael Deibert, author of “Notes From the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti,” and “Haiti Will Not Perish: A Recent History.”

He noted in a recent essay that the council is “dominated by the same political currents who have spent the last 25 years driving Haiti over a cliff, taking advantage of impoverished young men in the slums to be used as political bludgeons before - bloated on the proceeds from kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking and other criminal enterprises - these groups outgrew the necessity of their patrons.”

More than 2,500 people have been killed or injured across Haiti from January to March, according to the U.N.

In addition, more than 90,000 people have fled Port-au-Prince in just one month given the relentless gang violence. 

Story by DÁNICA COTO, Associated Press