Recent polls have suggested that the Law and Justice Party, which has been in power since 2015, may lose the elections scheduled for October 15.
The Polish capital of Warsaw witnessed a massive protest march on Sunday amid general discontent over the country's ruling party.
The mass demonstration against the current policies of the governing Law and Justice Party (PiS) was organized by Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, who also served as president of the European Council.
Tusk, the leader of the Civic Platform (PO), an opposing center-right party, urged all political rivals of the PiS to join efforts and stand up to the party in power, calling it the "March of a Million Hearts".
There is no official data yet regarding the actual number of protesters, however, images indicate it was in the tens of thousands. According to Tusk, the Sunday march brought together one million people.
"More than a million white and red (Poland’s flag colors - ed.) hearts are beating here in Warsaw!" - wrote Tusk in his X account (former Twitter).
Protestors gathered near the Roman Dmowski Monument and walked through the center of the capital up to the Radoslaw Memorial Defenders Rondo.
Organizers brought together supporters from across other Polish regions.
The participants picked up Polish national flags and symbols of various parties and political associations. Their posters displayed both political and social slogans, sometimes explicitly. The marchers occupied a number of streets, including Jerusalem Avenue, causing massive traffic jams.
There was a large police presence but the guards did not intervene.
Another anti-government marchof around 500,000 people was held in Warsaw back in early June.
Polish parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 15. The winning party will form a new government. Recent polls indicate that the PiS, which has been in power since 2015, may lose the elections. Currently, the majority of respondents are willing to vote for PiS, but opposition parties, such as Civic Platform (PO), United Left (ZL), Poland 2050 (PL2050), and the Polish People’s Party (PSL) have a solid chance to take over 50% of seats if they manage to unite.
Ikatan Alumni Institut Teknologi Bandung atau IA ITB menyatakan tidak mendukung bakal calon presiden mana pun di Pilpres 2024. Menurut Ketua IA ITB Jawa Barat Jalu Pradhono Priambodo, sejauh ini belum pernah ada pembicaraan secara internal soal dukungan terhadap bakal calon presiden mana pun. “Kemungkinan tidak ada pembicaraan seperti itu,” katanya, Ahad, 1 Oktober 2023.
Pengurus IA ITB menyilakan komunitas alumni ITB yang ingin mendukung kontestan pemilu. Kebijakan itu sesuai amanat Undang-undang Dasar 1945 yang tidak melarang warga negara untuk berserikat dan berkumpul. “Kalau kita memberikan dukungan ke salah satu calon presiden pasti ada yang kecewa, protes begitu. Jadi biasanya kita coba tetap guyub,” kata Jalu.
Sebelumnya, tiga hari yang lalu dikabarkan, kelompok alumni ITB yang dinamakan Alpha Beta menggelar pertemuan dengan bakal calon presiden dari Koalisi Perubahan, Anies Baswedan pada hari ini. Ratusan orang yang mengenakan pakaian putih, berkumpul di Bandoengsche Melk Centrale atau BMC Jalan Aceh Kota Bandung.
Alumni ITB yang terdiri atas para profesor, doktor, aktivis, karyawan, pelaku industri, dan berbagai profesi lainnya akan melakukan konsolidasi akbar pada kegiatan Ngariung 1000 Alumni ITB untuk menyampaikan Gagasan Perubahan Demi Bangsa kepada Anies Baswedan.
Kegiatan ini akan diselenggarakan pada Ahad, 1 Oktober 2023, pukul 09.00 WIB sd selesai di Bandoengsche Melk Centrale (BMC) Jalan Aceh No 30 Bandung. Adapun kegiatan ini diinisiasi oleh Syahganda Nainggolan, Hendry Harmen, I Made Dana Tangkas, dan beberapa alumni ITB lainnya.
Salah satu inisiator kegiatan, Hendry Harmen, menyatakan bahwa gagasan yang akan disampaikan kepada Anies Baswedan sebagai calon presiden RI dibuat melalui kajian yang serius.
“Kami mengumpulkan para profesor, doktor, dan profesional alumni ITB untuk merumuskan pemecahan persoalan bangsa berbasis moral, sains, dan teknologi. Hal ini menurut kami, perlu menjadi perhatian serius para pemimpin bangsa.”
Hendry Harmen melanjutkan bahwa hasil rumusan ini akan kami serahkan langsung kepada Calon Presiden RI Bapak Anies Baswaden di hadapan ribuan Alumni ITB yang akan hadir. Hendry Harmen yakin bahwa Gagasan Perubahan yang akan disampaikan Alumni ITB sejalan dengan Agenda Perubahan yang diperjuangkan oleh Anies Baswedan jika terpilih sebagai Presiden RI 2024 nanti.
Di antara para kandidat capres RI yang namanya muncul saat ini, menurut Hendry Harmen, hanya Anies Baswedan yang menunjukkan visi pembangunan berbasis ilmu pengetahuan, teknologi, dan moral yang sangat jelas.
Terkait kehadiran Anies Baswedan pada kegiatan tersebut, Hendry Harmen menyatakan bahwa Anies Baswedan, insya Allah akan hadir.
“Saya telah menerima konfirmasi langsung dari Bapak Anies Baswedan bahwa Beliau akan hadir menjumpai Alumni ITB. Beliau merasa terhormat dan senang mendapat undangan dari Alumni ITB karena kebetulan Beliau juga memiliki ikatan historis dengan Kota Bandung.”
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin embarked on a tour of Africa this week, marking the first such visit by a Pentagon chief since 2020, when Mark Esper visited Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. In contrast to that occasion, when no attention was paid to Sub-Saharan Africa, Austin’s trip was intended to reaffirm the Biden administration’s posture that the US is “all in for Africa.”
While Africa is still marginal on America’s foreign policy agenda, Washington is persisting with its efforts to cultivate closer ties on the continent. Evidently, the US is cognizant of Russia’s recent inroads in the region, as well as China’s high visibility in most African nations.
To counter what the US perceives as “harmful activities,” Washington has recently recalibrated its behavior.
A coordinated charm offensive
Austin’s visits to Djibouti, Kenya, and Angola built on other trips to Africa by high-ranking American officials. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was first to embark on a visit in January, traveling to Senegal, Zambia, and South Africa.
US First Lady Jill Biden soon followed suit, touring Namibia and Kenya in late February. That was followed in March by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s negotiations in Ethiopia and his visit to Niger, marking the first ever trip to the country by Washington’s top diplomat.
In August, Blinken went to South Africa, DR Congo, and Rwanda. Elsewhere, Vice President Kamala Harris had already kicked off a ‘charm offensive’ of her own by heading to Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia in March. In addition, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, was also dispatched to Africa, where she visited Ghana, Mozambique, and Kenya earlier this year.
Throughout the summer, rumors persisted that arrangements were being made for a long-pending visit by Joe Biden himself. All this suggests that Austin’s trip should be viewed in the context of America’s broader reengagement with Africa amid mounting competition for influence in the region.
Making a show of friendship and kinship
The US defense chief opened his three-country tour with the small nation of Djibouti, known for hosting a dense network of foreign military bases at the mouth of the Red Sea, including Camp Lemonnier, the only permanent US military base in Africa.
Since 2002, the facility has attested to the “strategic partnership linking the two countries in the critical field of defense and security,” which Austin discussed with Djibouti’s leader, President Ismail Omar Guelleh. The two nations are reportedly considering an expansion of the base’s mandate beyond “a tandem stationed at the forefront… to fight terrorism, extremism of all kinds, and maritime piracy.”
Discussions continued in a similar vein in Kenya, where Austin thanked his counterpart, Aden Duale, “for hosting US forces at Manda Bay.” Defense cooperation between the two countries was soon reinforced by a new five-year agreement, charting the path toward upscaling Kenya’s leadership in providing security in its own subregion and far beyond, most notably in Haiti, where the country is poised to lead a Multinational Security Mission.
The accord provides for comprehensive training as well as financial and technical assistance to Kenya, which makes it a privileged partner among the few African nations that have signed Defense Cooperation Agreements with the US. These include Rwanda, South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, and Ghana. Despite flowery rhetoric, there have always been concerns in these countries as to the true benefit of such arrangements.
In Ghana, for instance, former President Jerry Rawlings was joined in 2018 by former Chief of Defense Staff Joseph Nunoo-Mensah in arguing that the agreement, similar to the one signed in Kenya, fails to reflect Ghana’s national interests.
Specifically, they claimed that the US sought to compensate for the absence in Africa of AFRICOM’s headquarters, which are now located at Germany’s Ramstein Air Base, with the deal providing Washington with an opportunity “to use the country as a staging post and permanent ground for its military operations across the African continent.”
But there was obviously more behind Austin’s trip. In Djibouti, for example, he unveiled America’s new strategic mantra for Africa: “Defense, diplomacy, and development.” The rebranded approach should cement the US as ‘a partner of choice’ for African countries, preferably as the antithesis to China and Russia. In stark contrast to the language of the US Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa, presented in August 2022, the Pentagon chief repeatedly noted: “We don’t ask countries to choose between us and other countries,” mostly referring to the Chinese base in Djibouti.
It was as if he had finally heard Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying that Moscow never drags Africans into taking sides, instead offering a balanced approach for mutual interest. This time, the US official seemed to echo this long-standing tenet of Russian diplomacy – but does Washington really mean it?
The final leg of the tour, in Angola, was much more political. In essence, security cooperation with the Southern African nation, now touted as “a highly-valued partner” and “a rising leader in the region,” was sidelined by the speech Austin delivered at the Historical Archive of Luanda.
In his remarks, the US official touched on the broader aspects of American involvement in Africa, such as conflict prevention, female empowerment, cybersecurity, the fight against infectious diseases, and climate change.
This was a programmatic address, or even a vision, on “a partnership of principle and progress,” clearly directed at an audience larger than the ministers and ambassadors in attendance. Indeed, Austin was a perfect fit for such a speech, attempting to build bridges and heal deep-rooted wounds amid the rising rhetoric of anti-neocolonialism across the continent.
“I grew up in a time of legalized and racist segregation in America, and I stand here today in Africa as America's first black secretary of defense,” said the official. His leading idea was that “Africa matters” for common prosperity and shared security, with the US being serious about its engagement. Indeed, Washington’s policy for Africa has largely been an ‘on and off’ endeavor, with interest in the continent sparking just as quickly as it waned. For Africa, other partners, even if more limited in their capabilities, were simply more reliable.
Not content to be first among equals
A prominent feature of America’s positioning in the world, much as in Africa, is how Washington promotes itself as being different from other potential partners. This time, too, the secretary of defense promised that the US sees “African nations as partners,” while other countries may see them “as proxies or even pawns.”
Stating that “the people of Africa deserve to chart their own sovereign paths,” Austin made reference to “autocrats undermining free and fair elections and blocking peaceful transitions of power.” Democracy is an attendant issue for the US in Africa.
The official strategy offers a more assertive approach than the one presented by Washington’s defense chief. In fact, the strategy deems it impossible to counter “harmful activities of external forces” – a blatant reference to Russia and China – without concomitant changes in African countries.
This reveals a certain discrepancy in America’s approach to the region. On the one hand, no one should interfere in the internal affairs of African nations; on the other hand, it is notably the US that “offers choices to Africans as they determine their own future, limit openings for negative state and non-state actors.”
For that, “the recent tide of authoritarianism and military takeovers” needs to be stemmed or even reversed, and the strategy employs the carrot and the stick for that purpose. In the official 2022 strategy document, this reads as “a targeted mix of positive inducements and punitive measures such as sanctions.”
This leaves Africans with mixed feelings. Being serious about reengagement, the US still bets on its exclusivity, rather than a willingness to be a partner among many.
North Korea’s deputy foreign minister has accused the US of “unjust and outrageous hostility” towards Pyongyang and Moscow, saying it shows Washington’s hegemonic mentality based on Cold War logic.
“The US ill-minded repugnancy toward the North Korea-Russia relations only reveals that it lacks power and wits in the showdown with the anti-imperialist independent countries,” Im Chon Il said in a statement on Sunday.
The security alliance between the US, South Korea and Japan – as well as the Washington-led NATO military bloc – are “cancer-like entities jeopardizing the international order,” the diplomat claimed, describing NATO as “the mastermind of the Ukrainian crisis.”
Im went on to say relations between North Korea and Russia have reached “the height of development” due to actions by the US and its allies, who “have gone to the extremes in their confrontational and divisive moves for gaining hegemony.”
North Korea intends to further boost its ties with Russia and other “independent sovereign countries” in order to “deter the imperialists’ military threat... and firmly defend peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in the rest of the world,” the diplomat insisted.
Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un spent almost a week in Russia, arriving in the country’s Far East by train. During the visit, he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and other officials. Among other things, Kim toured the Vostochny Cosmodrome, inspected military and civilian aviation plants, and was shown Russia’s nuclear-capable strategic bombers and fighter jets, including a MiG-31 aircraft armed with the Kinzhal hypersonic missile.
The visit caused serious concerns in Seoul and Washington, with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol claiming that “military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is illegal and unjust as it contravenes UN Security Council resolutions and various other international sanctions.”
Similar comments were made by US officials, who also speculated that Putin and Kim had been discussing the supply of shells by North Korea to Russia amid the conflict in Ukraine. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby warned that if Moscow and Pyongyang were to “decide to move forward with some sort of arms deals, well, obviously we'll take a measure of that, and we'll deal with it appropriately.”
Putin said last month that Russia intends to build “good neighborly relations” with North Korea. “We never violate anything and in this case we’re not planning to violate anything,” the Russian leader said, referring to claims that cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang were in violation of UN sanctions on North Korea. There was no mention of any arms deals being signed during Kim’s visit to Russia, by either Moscow or Pyongyang.
Ukraine has lost up to 690 soldiers both killed and wounded in six directions over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
"The enemy's losses in this [Donetsk] direction over the past 24 hours amounted to 430 Ukrainian servicepeople killed and wounded, four armored combat vehicles and two cars. In the course of counter-battery fighting, a US-made M777 howitzer, a Polish-made Krab self-propelled howitzer and a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer were hit," the ministry said.
Meanwhile, in the South Donetsk direction, Russian forces repelled two attacks by Ukrainian forces, destroying 120 servicepeople, two pick-up trucks, a US-made M777 howitzer and a Polish-made self-propelled gun-howitzer Krab, the ministry said.
In the Zaporozhye direction, Kiev lost up to 30 servicepeople, the ministry said, adding that a US-made M119 howitzer, a UK-made FH70 howitzer, as well as two D-30 howitzers and one Msta-B howitzer had been hit.
In addition, Ukraine lost about 40 servicepeople and three vehicles in the Kherson direction, as well as 20 troops, two vehicles, a US-made M777 howitzer, a Msta-B howitzer and a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer in the Kupyansk direction, the ministry added. In the Kherson direction, Russian forces also destroyed three Ukrainian ammunition depots near the villages of Kiselevka, Shlyahovoe and near the city of Kramatorsk, the ministry said.
Moreover, in the Krasny Liman direction, Russian forces repelled two attacks by the Ukrainian army, destroying up to 50 soldiers and six pieces of equipment, the ministry said.
Watch Russian Artillery Wipe Out Ukrainian Outpost in Special Op Zone
Ukraine launched its latest counteroffensive in early June. Three months later, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian counteroffensive had failed, with Ukraine suffering 71,000 casualties. Several Western officials have also admitted that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had not been successful.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense has published footage that shows artillery unleashing destruction on Ukrainian positions in the special military operation zone.
Moscow completely dominates in the air, ravaging Kiev's troops and crushing NATO-supplied military equipment, as well as crippling the much-touted counteroffensive.
Being futile from the very beginning, the counteroffensive has brought Zelensky’s regime nothing but losses and the disappointment of its Western partners
Watch POW Reveal How Scores of Ukrainian Soldiers Desert After Frontline Action
Desertion has become a major problem for the Kiev regime forces as soldiers become increasingly disenchanted with their cause, a Ukrainian soldier who was taken prisoner by Russian forces in the Zaporozhye region has revealed.
Morale in the Ukrainian forces is low as soldiers suspect that they are being sent their deaths while their commanders try to persuade them to keep fighting, a captured Ukrainian POW has revealed.
He also mentioned that the Ukrainian soldiers who deserted did so after seeing action.
“They did not say anything. They just spent a few days drinking vodka, then they grabbed their things and went AWOL,” the prisoner recalled, noting that “maybe about 50” Ukrainian soldiers deserted that way. “They just turn around and leave, maybe after realizing that their superiors are lying. Everything they [Ukrainian officers] say is a lie. People begin to think and realize that this is a meat grinder.”
Early in June, the Kiev regime launched its overhyped “counteroffensive,” essentially throwing thousands of Ukrainian soldiers equipped with armaments and military hardware generously supplied by NATO at the well-entrenched Russian forces.
In the three months that followed, the Ukrainian forces failed to breach even the first line of the Russian defenses, only succeeding in losing dozens of Western armored vehicles and weapon systems and sacrificing the lives of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers basically for nothing.
