Monday briefing: Putin extends his rule

Putin extends his rule after a predetermined vote

President Vladimir Putin demanded a new six-year term in a presidential contest in which he faced no real competition. He is expected to hold a rally in Red Square to formally declare victory – portraying the vote as a public show of support for his invasion of Ukraine.

Here’s the latest.

Some Russians quietly expressed their dissent yesterday. They turned the rubber-stamp election into a high-profile protest, with many forming long lines at polling stations to express their dissatisfaction with Putin as he prepares for his fifth term as president.

Aleksei Navalny, the opposition leader who died in prison last month, had urged his supporters to vote at noon local time. Lines quickly formed at polling stations in major cities, and several people in Moscow told The Times they had come to show their support for Navalny.

One woman, who gave her name as Dayana, 22, said she found it encouraging to stand among fellow Putin critics and feel “that I am not alone, that there are many of us.”

But there was no sign the protest would deter Putin, who has ruled Russia since 1999. He extended his rule until 2030 and, if he stays until the end of his next term, will have the longest term of any Russian leader since Catherine the Great. Great late 18th century.

A predetermined outcome: Even Putin’s spokesman said last year that the elections were “not really democracy” but “costly bureaucracy.” In the occupied territories of Ukraine, armed soldiers watched as people voted for a president.

What’s next: Many fear that a new wave of mobilization will soon follow the elections.

Updates from the war:

With limited aid, malnutrition in Gaza continues

A maritime aid shipment reached Gaza’s northern shores this weekend, the first in nearly two decades, and another shipment of aid is expected to leave Cyprus soon.

But experts and aid groups said diversifying delivery methods had failed to alleviate hunger and widespread malnutrition. They said that the main method had to be by land, and that the best way to prevent a famine was a ceasefire.

There could be some movement towards a lull in the fighting after Hamas weakened its demand for a permanent ceasefire. The new proposal would allow the release of hostages in exchange for a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Risks: At least twenty people were killed in an attack on aid trucks in Gaza on Thursday. Officials in Gaza accused Israel of a “targeted” attack; Israel blamed Palestinian gunmen. The UN human rights office this month documented 10 attacks on Gazans waiting for aid.

The United States: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded yesterday to Senator Chuck Schumer’s criticism: “We are not a banana republic.”

Has Australia caught a Chinese spy?

In 2020, Di Sanh Duong became the first person to be charged under Australia’s foreign interference laws. Late last month, he was sentenced to nearly three years in prison, although he is expected to serve a year.

In the case, the government battled Duong, a suburban tombstone maker, over interpretations of two words (“us Chinese”) and a $25,000 donation to a hospital that — prosecutors said — would at one point be the base become a pro-China pitch to a lawmaker. The question at stake: Was Duong a shrewd operator for Beijing, or just a bombastic braggart?

In his only in-depth interview since his arrest, Duong – who is ethnically Chinese – told The Times he was a scapegoat for the geopolitical tensions. He said his prosecution was intended to send a message: “Don’t get too close to China. ”

MORE TOP NEWS

An 82-year-old retired professor in California found a new calling: offering free driving lessons to women from Afghanistan. His waiting list is 50 deep and he sometimes teaches five consecutive classes, some up to two hours long.

“Our lives have completely changed,” said one student after she and her sister passed their mock exam.

The Australian letter: The country devotes significant time and resources to feral cat management. Domestic issues are a more difficult problem.

Conversation starters

Dangerous pet: Authorities seized a blind alligator from a New York man who had kept it for 34 years and let people into swimming pools with it.
Look after: There may be a potentially dangerous cat on the loose in Fukuyama, Japan. (It fell into a chemical tank.)
To discover: A treasure hunter found a Viking sword in an English waterway. It is probably more than 1000 years old.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Phoebe Philo’s first interview

British designer Phoebe Philo, who has been called ‘the Chanel of her generation’, transformed both Chloé and Celine. Then she left the industry almost seven years ago and virtually disappeared from view.

Late last year, Philo returned to start a brand in her name. The sky-high expectations were faltered by complaints about the prices, the vision and the impossible returns policy. As she prepared for her second drop, she spoke to our top fashion critic in her first formal interview in a decade.

“Maybe there was an expectation that I could have offered everything to everyone right away,” Philo said. “And that is simply not possible. It takes time and effort to create most things that have meaning. You have to stand for something.”