View allAll Photos Tagged BLAME
Stop blaming your family. If you want to change your body, suck it the f*ck up, drop the donut, and go on a run. If you do not want to put in the effort, you don't get the right to complain. #NoExcuses
She was sitting on her backpack at the intersection of Damen and North Avenue in Chicago's Wicker Park Neighborhood.
It was about nine in the evening.
Her and her boyfriend were travelling.
They didn't seem to know where... somehow they just ended up here.
The destination didn't seem to matter.
I only get fragments of the story on the street.
She's from Canada and he's from California.
They said travelling in Canada was too expensive.
'But they have free healthcare' I said.
They both laughed and kind of sighed at the same time.
My daughters pointed them out to me.
As soon as I started shooting she got up and we talked as I shot.
A stranger came up with a twelve pack of Goose Island beer and just started handing them bottles that they put in their pockets while we talked.
She told me that she was on facebook... under 'Blame Canada.'
They were looking for a place to sleep and take a shower.
You could see that they were weary of the road.
You could also see a certain happiness and freedom about them.
They were in love and they were on a journey together.
Faces on the street
Chicago 5.6.11
35mm 1.8 SOOC
Toronto
"Mick Jackson is an English singer-songwriter and the co-writer of the song, 'Blame It on the Boogie'. The song was co-authored by Mick's brother David Jackson and Elmar Krohn, and produced by Sylvester Levay.
Jackson recorded his version first and The Jacksons' management team picked up the song at Midem, the music industry trade fair in Cannes, where it was offered to them by Mick's publisher without Mick's knowledge. Due to a delay at the pressing plant which was producing Mick's single, in the UK the two versions were released within weeks of each other. The press at the time enjoyed the similarity in the names and release coincidence, calling the situation 'The Battle of the Boogie' as the two records jockeyed for chart positions. Radio stations got on the battle bandwagon. Radio One only played The Jacksons' version, Capital Radio only played Mick’s single. The music press was equally split. ‘Melody Maker’ didn’t review Mick’s version, but praised the Jacksons and wrongly referred to their single as a 'self-penned song' (16th Sept 1978), whereas NME hailed Mick as the winner of the battle, calling his version 'far superior' (7th Oct 1978).
Despite the immense popularity of the song, having two versions of it in the charts at the same time split the public and meant that neither version reached the top of the chart. Mick peaked at 15 and The Jacksons peaked at 8 in the UK Singles Chart. Mick Jackson's subsequent 1979 release, "Weekend" was furthermore released in the same week as The Jacksons' second single 'Destiny'. The songs entered the charts on the same day, peaking at 38 and 39 in the UK Singles Chart respectively and both 'Michael Jacksons' appearing on the same edition of Top of The Pops. Mick's single 'Weekend' spent eight weeks on the chart; thus equalling his earlier single's tenure, and also avoiding the one-hit wonder tag.
Jackson released three albums - Weekend (1979 - Atlantic Records), Step Inside My Rainbow (1980 - CBS Records) and 'Square Deal' (1982).
He has worked with many artists such as David Knopfler, Eric Burdon, Lisa Stansfield and Barry Manilow.
In 2010 filmmaker Patrick Nation made a Channel 4 documentary about Mick, entitled 'The Other Michael Jackson: Battle of the Boogie'. The documentary was co-written and presented by Mick's son Sam Peter Jackson and lead to Mick Jackson's 1978 album 'Weekend' (which features the original version of 'Blame it on the Boogie') being re-released (for download on itunes) for the first time in 30 years by Demon Music. To promote the documentary Mick gave a rare television interview to BBC Breakfast." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Jackson_(singer)
London Graffiti outlining the current badger cull experiment in some English counties to eradicate bovine tuberculosis.
photo courtesy asiannews...google images.
It’s a shame
The rest of the Muslim world
In silence unpardonable silence
Watch as the Rogue Mullahs
The Rogue Mujhaidas and Mujhaideens
Give us a bad name…
Terrorism in Islam who is to blame?
Peace and Brotherhood hijacked
By a disgruntled few with their
Misguided Martyrdom
Their notoriety to fame
If killing is puritanical Islam
They who preach such ideology
Should go back from where they came
Sectarian violence
Muslims killing Muslims
Politics seditious spirituality
Only a ball game
Masjids turned red bleeding
Allah ho Akbar
turned into a war cry
From Hate filled Minarets
We must reclaim
Its time collectively
We shoulder the blame
For remaining Silent
A raging fire killing
Our unborn children
Despoiling their future
As it destroys and maims
Doctors who kill
Hippocrates Oath
Will not be the same
Islam has to be cleansed from within
The termites the destroyers of the
Fabric of Peace …Pests of ill fame
Is Yazidiyat under an assumed name
Terrorism in Islam Who Is to Blame?
It was 5.23 pm on 21st august 2004 when Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina was wrapping up a rally protesting Sylhet blasts. A wave of grenade attacks on her left at least 16 people killed and left around 200 persons critically injured including top Awami League leaders Abdur Razzak, Amir Hossain Amu, Suranjit Sengupta, Ivy Rahman and Kazi Zafarullah.
The party secretary on Women affairs Ivy Rahman died in the Hospital later in the day. The unknown assailants fired seven bullets at the bulletproof SUV that Hasina boarded immediately after the blast.
The unusually poor deployment of police at the rally and the absence of forces on nearby building rooftops are a remarkable deviation from the usual practice.
Motaher Hossain, general secretary of AL Krishak League said some people on the roof of Ramna hotel and adjacent building were throwing bombs. At least 13 grenades exploded one after another, and also who were present on the spot told a white Microbus carried of some injured person who were among the assailant and were wounded by their own bomb.
Blame game started at the very moment Hasina spoke out loud about government’s conspiracy to kill the remaining member of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujiber Rahman’s remaining family members, BNP leaders hold back and Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan commented that they have blamed the government out of emotion. But soon BNP leaders changed their tone and started to blame AL for attacking their own rally, they argued AL had done it to destabilize the country and discredit the government only to grab the power.
Fiction and conspiracy theories were put forward by various columnists in the media. Pro Awami columnists blamed the fundamentalist forces and the right wing coalition government for this attack while pro BNP columnists blamed AL and pointed finger towards the country’s biggest neighbor India.
However most columnists inclined towards Awami league and left parties and leaders and activists of these parties discovered a pattern in the bomb blasts. In most cases secular forces and those who believe in culture, tradition and democratic values had been the target. The same group was behind the attack on Hasina’s rally.
Those pro BNP columnists pick up the same incident and argued Hasina was not the target of those assailants, if she were their target then why none of those grenades fall on the truck and also wrote thousand pages about AL’s possible motive behind this?
Some suspected it as a plot by international Muslim extremist groups; some pointed towards the association of ISI (Inter Services Intelligence); while Jamaat leader Matiur Rahman Nizami believes it is the work of “well known enemies of Islam” who masterminded, through various covert organizations, to carry out such brutal murders.
It became increasingly hard to dig out the truth from these fictions. With conspiracy theories you can use any piece of evidence to either prove or disprove your opinion and you can pick up any particular incident to strengthen your position. Truth has many faces but with conspiracy theory all you can achieve is a thousand shade of the truth and all these are equally probable and could be equally false.
In this present regime we have finally a charge sheet that clearly indicates Awami Leagues position is correct in this issue, RAB and other government intelligence agency finally concluded that Islamic militants are behind this attack and also a small fraction of BNP activists patronized this attack.
But is it the whole truth or only a facade? Lets look at the proceedings of the investigations.
To investigate 21st August 2004 bomb blast then BNP government first employed metropolitan police’s detective branch to investigate this incident, then this case was handed over to the criminal investigation department of Bangladesh Police. Five investigating officer under 3 officers in charge investigated this incident for over 4 years and they had submitted two charge sheet contradicting each other.
What is the progress in this case? When ever you ask this question to a law enforcement officer, a certain reply will be that “we are still investigating this matter. We had some lead but for the sake of this on going investigation we can not tell you anything.” Even after submitting charge sheet against 22 person in June 11, 2008 and acquitting all other person found guilty (on the first charge sheet presented by the CID), still the investigation has not been closed. So far we have 2 persons who claimed that they had actively participated in this failed assassination. On 26th June, 2005 Joj Miah from Noakhali confessed to police that for 5000 taka he carried out this attack under the order of Subrata Bain, a top terrorist. Subrata Bain and his group had close ties with some notorious AL leaders and they fled to India after alliance government took over the state in October 2001. He confessed to a magistrate that he had never seen any grenade before but Subrata Bain, Joy, Molla Masud ordered him to participate in this assassination. ASP of Police [CID] Abdur Rashid was the investigation officer then.
But the government were not satisfied with this finding so led by Munsi Atikur Rahman the investigation continued. The investigation found a paved path established by the coalition government.
So far we have two investigation reports, one of them was by Justice Jaynul Abedin, chairman of the one man investigation committee formed by the government to investigate 21st august grenade attack on Awami leagues rally. Awami League has rejected this report claiming it lacks neutrality. And another one was submitted by the Supreme Court Bar Association. According to Moudud Ahmed, who was Law minister at that time, claimed that this inquiry committee is illegal.
Jaynul Abedin’s investigation report:
Justice Jaynul Abedin had submitted his 162 pages manuscript of coalition governments collective story on 2nd October 2004. He was the member and chairman of one man inquiry committee formed by the government to investigate the grenade attack on Awami League rally on 21st august. On the eve of this submission those authorities in concern had invited journalist to give some insight of the report.
After scrutiny, critical and painstaking analysis, Jaynul Abedin did omit the possibility that coalition government and his ally, some extremist religious group and a part of Awami League was behind this heinous attack on Awami League activists.
But he did claim with certainty that a foreign intelligence agency actively participated in this event. They trained those assailants and equipped them with necessary ammunitions. He described this event on that informal press conference, “this incident is a naked attack on the independence and sovereignty of the country.”
Because Jaynul Abedin was a BNP activist in the past, Awami League questioned the neutrality of the investigation committee. Even though 123 people given their statement to this committee but that does not include Sheikh Hasina, who was the prime target of this massacre. Sheikh Hasina rejected the call for her statement.
In that one and half hour informal briefing on the report prior to its submission Jaynul concluded “the commission may not have received cooperation from all, which may have somewhat hindered the investigation, but the inquiry is in no way incomplete.”
Like any other investigation report submitted by any government formed investigation committee it also embraced the fate to remain unpublished till-to-date.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) inquiry committee report:
On 22nd august, 2004, immediately after the grenade attack, The Supreme Court Bar Association formed an inquiry committee. Barrister Kamal Hossain was elected as the chairman of that committee and the other members of this committee were Rokonuddin Mahmud, Abdul Malek, Amir-ul-Islam, M Zahir and Muhammad Ayenuddin.
While Hasina wrapped up the rally, at that very moment a grenade went off loud and it was followed by at least 10 such explosions. Awami League leaders formed a human shield to cover Hasina from the splinter, they were injured in this process and soon after they escorted Hasina to her bullet proof SUV and Hasina left for Sudha Sadan, while on the move that SUV was attacked by bullets. Witnesses on their statement confirmed the SCBA inquiry committee that they had not seen any member of the law enforcing agency in action there.
After inspecting the place of occurrence on 27th august 2004 they went to Sudha Sadan, where Hasina assured the committee her full cooperation to find out the truth. Hasina’s security personal and her driver gave their statement to this committee and this committee also inspected the SUV.
Driver on his statement told the committee that he drove towards the east, then took a left turn and then he drove towards Sudha Sadan through zero point. But police officers deployed at the rally on 21st August on their statement said to inquiry committee, SUV carrying Sheikh Hasina away from that place drove westward, took a right turn, and then went to Sudha Sadan through zero point.
On 16th, 17th, 18th September the committee watched the video tape recorded by ATN, Channel I and NTV. On ATN video tape they saw a young man purposefully looking towards the multi storied Dhaka City Bhaban. Apart from this, on Channel I and NTV footage some suspicious incidents were seen by the committee members.
The inquiry committee sent two letters to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, requesting her to extend cooperation for the inquiry and to direct the law enforcing agency to cooperate with them in interest of its work.
A letter was sent from the inquiry committee to IGP Shahudul Huq on 29 August 2004 requesting him to direct the police authorities to inform the inquiry committee of the number of persons who were deployed for maintaining the law and order in the public meeting on 21st August 2004 with the descriptions of their duties and locations.
After 3 weeks another letter was sent to him, requesting for his interview. The inquiry committee requested state minister of home affairs, but all of them turned down their request further more the law minister Moudud Ahmed on several occasion said that this inquiry committee had no legal basis and any report of any such illegal committee should not be recognized.
But the government did inform the SCBA inquiry committee that they had done every thing that is possible for them and sent a copy of the statement made by the State Minister for Home Affairs in the Parliament. In that speech the State Minister mentioned that the police made all out efforts to identify the culprits immediately after the incident and within 24 hours a Judicial Inquiry Commission was constituted with a judge of the Supreme Court as the sole Member. He also mentioned that the Government also arranged for an “international” inquiry into the 21st August incident side by side with Bangladesh police investigation and in response to the Government invitation 3 (three) teams from Interpol visited Bangladesh and helped the inquiry. Besides this, the government had also taken cooperation of FBI of USA.
The SCBA inquiry committee made repeated requests at the highest levels of the government for obtaining copies of reports of earlier bomb-blasts, the report of the ‘judicial inquiry’ into the 21 August, 2004 constituted by the Government, and other documents and information, but such requests have till-to-date were turned down.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) inquiry committee concluded it was a pre-planned attack, carried out on the basis of a carefully prepared plan, targeting Sheikh Hasina and other leaders and persons attending the rally. The firing of the bullets and grenades on the vehicle by which she was leaving the place of occurrence, confirms that she was the target.
The committee urged government to publish all reports of investigation within one month or else public may lead to believe attempt on Sheikh Hasina’s life was to some extent was patronized by this government.
The alleged HUJI rage against Awami League:
Some columnists claimed in the media that the AL government, after assuming power in 1996 barred Islamic scholars from issuing fatwa’s through a High Court order. The government also came on strong against the right wing protesters and arrested hundreds across the country. This had angered HUJI.
Mufti Abdul Hannan, the operative commander of the banned Harkatul Jihad-al-Islami revealed on 19th November 2006.
“I masterminded all grenade attacks across the country excepting the August 21, 2004 gruesome attack on the AL rally, and three people financed the outfit for carrying out the attacks”
Hannan gave another detailed statement on 1st November 2007:
“Kajol was given the responsibility to collect funds and grenades for the attack. They decided that 12 persons would carry out the attack and Kajol and Abu Jandal would select the commanders of the operation. It was decided that Kajol and Jandal brief the attackers about their positions and Jandal would throw the first grenade after getting instruction from Sayeed. The others would throw their grenades at around the same time. Hannan said the attackers targeted the truck and left the spot individually after the operation.”
However question remains as why HUJI chose to attack Hasina after all those years and during the period when there was a row of political killings of Awami League leaders (Kibria, Ahsan Master etc.) were happening. HUJI members were used but who masterminded the attack?
The BNP connection:
In January 2008, former deputy minister for information of the BNP government Abdus Salam Pintu was arrested for his involvement with the grenade attacks on Awami League rally on August 21 in 2004. He was arrested on the basis of confessional statement made earlier by detained Mufti Hannan who claimed that the attack on the AL rally was planned at the official residence of the former Deputy Minister. Hannan said that Pintu was present at the meeting and later supplied the grenades.
He made startling disclosure to interrogators about the involvement of former State Minister of Home Lutfuzzaman Babar and ‘Hawa Bhaban’ in the grenade attacks. From The New Nation:
“The CID officer said they were certain after the arrest of Mufti Hannan and Pintu that the attack on the AL rally had been aided and abetted by Lutfuzzaman Babar and the Hawa Bhaban.
“To hide the truth, former investigation officer Ruhul Amin, a CID officer, had gone to Pintu’s house several times,” he said, and added, “former State Minister of Home Babar was involved in the entire process and Pintu would regularly inquire with him about the progress.”
Pintu’s counsel Advocate Sanaullah Mia, however, told : “He was implicated only because his cousin Maulana Tajul Islam, a militant leader and an accused in the grenade attack case, had visited his house when Pintu was a Minister,”
HUJI is the culprit but who used them and why?
On June 11, 2008 charges were finally made against 22 persons including top Harkat-ul-Jihad (Huji) leader Mufti Abdul Hannan and BNP leader and former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu. Newspaper reports say:
“CID Chief Additional Inspector General Jabed Patwari said HUJI top leaders planned and carried out the attacks to kill Hasina as a few arrested attackers said in their confessional statements that Hasina would harm Islam if she was alive and came to power again.
BNP leader Pintu is not involved with Huji but he has been charged since the attackers had held two meetings at his residence to take decision about the attack.”
But the question remains whether HUJI tried to kill Hasina on their own or it was a political assassination plot linked by BNP to take out the opposition. Like every other political massacre the 21st August grenade attack on Hasina has no clear motive whatsoever and after 4 years of investigation we are not certain whether those who were behind this ghastly attack have finally been exposed. Will we be able to know the truth?
Falling in love is easy, staying in love not so much so.
You were in love once.
There was a time in your relationship when you couldn’t wait to see your partner. When, just like Tony and Maria in West Side Story, the minutes apart seemed liked hours, and the hours like days.
And when you ...
howdoidate.com/relationships/love/how-to-rise-to-the-chal...
これは私のお気に入りに属し、この種のアニメーションが大好きです、美しいカラーパレット、この品質のSFアニメーションが大好きです、これらがもっと欲しいです ♥ #manga #マンガ #anime #animation #アニメーション #BLAME #scifianimation #scifi #cyberpunk #cyberpunkanime #japan #アニメ #責め
The Doll Project is a series of conceptual digital photographs that uses fashion dolls to embody the negative messages the media gives to young girls. Though it would not be fair to blame it all on Barbie, there have been many instances in which she has come dangerously close. I chose to use Barbie dolls because they are miniature mannequins, emblems of the fashion world writ small, a representation of our culture's impossible standards of beauty scaled to one sixth actual size. The little pink scale and How To Lose Weight book are both real Barbie accessories from the 1960s. They are recurring motifs in the pictures in the series, symbolizing the ongoing dissatisfaction many girls and women feel about their weight and body image. The dolls' names, Ana and Mia, are taken from internet neologisms coined by anorexic and bulimic girls who have formed online communities with the unfortunate purpose of encouraging each other in their disordered eating. With each passing era, Ana and Mia are younger and younger, and the physical ideal to which they aspire becomes more unattainable. They internalize the unrealistic expectations of a society that digitally manipulates images of women in fashion and beauty advertisements and value their own bodies only as objects for others to look at and desire.
Read more about the project here:
tiffanygholar.blogspot.com/2008/08/doll-project.html
Purchase prints here:
A few days after this news story (which was completely politically motivated) it was announced that Fiddy would be allowed in. There was just too much money at stake! We're such f**kin hypocrites!
Hip-hop hold-up
Canadian Press, November 23, 2005
Immigration Minister Joe Volpe has been asked by one of his Liberal colleagues to prevent hip-hop artist 50 Cent from coming to Canada.
Born Curtis Jackson in Queen's, N.Y., 50 Cent -- or Fiddy, as he's also known -- is to launch a Canadian tour Dec. 3 in Vancouver.
But the rapper promotes gun violence, said Toronto MP Dan McTeague, who wants Mr. Volpe to turn back 50 Cent at the border. "I don't think people in Toronto or any urban centre need or want to hear Mr. Jackson's message right now."
The musician performed in Toronto in 2003, where Mr. McTeague points out there was a shooting.
"I think it's time we send a message of our own to those who glorify violence that their gratuitous violence and movies are not welcome in our country," Mr. McTeague said.
"We need to do a better job at protecting Canadians from people whose message runs counter to all of our efforts of trying to curb gun violence."
A spokesman for Mr. Volpe said last night that he was unaware of the letter. The Immigration Minister would not comment on an individual case anyway, Steven Heckbert said.
The rapper has a criminal record, and would be required to obtain a ministerial permit to enter Canada, although such permits are issued regularly, he added.
"It's permission that's granted typically about 12,000 times a year," Mr. Heckbert said.
50 Cent's Canadian tour is also scheduled to stop in Halifax, Saint John, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto and Ottawa.
It's a bad desktop scan of a severely underexposed slide, but it's so bad that it's artsy. I kinda like the effect.
Sitting alone in the dark
Staring into the night
Her life has never ever been the same
She cries, "It's a mystery
Can anybody see it,
How much this is hurting me?
It's black magic
It's the season of the witch.....blame the moon
Woman To Blame Tie Dyes at 2013 Austin Celtic Festival
File: DSC02027
Location: Austin, Texas
Date / Time: 11/02/2013 12:26PM CST
Camera: Sony DSLR-A560
Lens: Sony 18-55
Flash: None
newspapers without designers would make a lot of people happy. there ya go!
had this idea for the longest time. people keep crapping on newspaper designers and blaming them for the industry's problems. finally did this after reading charles apple's blog entry about a dead executive editor's essay found by his widow.
click on 'all sizes' for a full size jpg @ 72dpi. enjoy.
Really, Bellingham? The gas prices are OUR fault? You do know that "Blame Canada" wasn't a suggestion but merely a song, right?
Russia 'Storming Severodonetsk', EU Leaders Call Putin as West Runs Out of Options
Alexander Mercouris
Russia 'Storming Severodonetsk', EU Leaders Call Putin as West Runs Out of Options
www.rt.com/news/556256-putin-phone-call-scholz-macron/
Putin speaks with EU leaders
The Russian president held a phone call with Germany’s Scholz and France’s Macron
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call on Saturday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. Blaming Ukraine for freezing peace talks, Putin assured his counterparts that Moscow remained ready to negotiate an end to the ongoing conflict, and condemned the West for flooding the neighboring country with weapons.
According to a readout of the call published by the Kremlin, Putin outlined the latest developments in Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and described the return of normal life to Mariupol and other cities recently taken from Ukrainian forces.
Putin confirmed that Russia was open to a negotiated peace deal and was ready to export fertilizer and other agricultural products, but that this would require the lifting of some Western-imposed sanctions. He also said that Russia would ensure that the export of grain could take place from Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea. Until recently, such exports had been impossible due to Ukraine’s mining of the sea, according to Moscow. However, the Russian Navy has opened two corridors for civilian vessels, one in the Black Sea and another through the Azov Sea.
A readout of Saturday’s call from the German side said that both Scholz and Macron urged Putin to declare an immediate armistice and withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine. Both leaders remarked positively on Putin’s commitment to treat captured Ukrainian combatants “in accordance with international humanitarian law,” and to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross unrestricted access.
While both Scholz and Macron have condemned Russia over its military operation in Ukraine and supported EU sanctions on Moscow, the two leaders have kept in direct communication with their Russian counterpart. Conversely, a number of other Western politicians have ruled out speaking to Putin. Polish Prime Minister Matteusz Morawiecki compared the Russian president to Adolf Hitler and castigated Macron for speaking to him, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson likened Putin to a “crocodile” and dismissed peace talks.
However, while Scholz and Macron have spoken regularly to Putin since February, both leaders have donated weapons and other military aid to Kiev, and Macron has denied urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to give up some territory in exchange for a deal with Russia, as former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger suggested this week that Kiev should consider.
Putin addressed the issue of the West’s military support for Kiev on Saturday, telling Scholz and Macron that the “pumping” of arms into Ukraine “risks further destabilization of the situation and aggravation of the humanitarian crisis.”
At the end of the 80-minute call, all three leaders agreed to stay in contact.
www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/macron-scholz-urge-putin-to-...
Macron, Scholz urge Putin to release Azovstal fighters - Elysee palace
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday to release the 2,500 Ukrainian defenders of the Azovstal steel plant detained by Russian forces, the Elysee palace said.
The two European leaders, in a joint call, also urged Putin to accept a direct exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the palace said.
Russia said this month that almost 2,000 Ukrainians had surrendered after making a last stand in the ruins of Mariupol, where they had held out for weeks in bunkers and tunnels beneath the vast Azovstal steelworks.
Macron and Scholz also insisted on the urgency of lifting the Russian blockade of the port of Odesa to allow Ukrainian grain exports, the palace said.
The Kremlin said Putin told Macron and Scholz in the call that Russia was willing to discuss ways to make it possible for Ukraine to resume shipments of grain from Black Sea ports.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it called a "special operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" its southern neighbour. Ukraine and Western nations have dismissed this as a baseless pretext for war.
www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/05/28/scholz...
Scholz and Macron ask Putin for 'serious direct negotiations' with Zelensky
During an 80-minute conversation with the Russian president, the two EU leaders 'insisted on an immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian troops.'
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, May 28, asked Russia's Vladimir Putin to hold "direct serious negotiations" with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
During an 80-minute conversation with the Russian president, the two EU leaders "insisted on an immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian troops," the German chancellor's office said.
Messrs. Macron and Scholz urged Putin to have "serious direct negotiations with the Ukrainian president and (find) a diplomatic solution to the conflict."
The German Chancellor and the French President also "called on the Russian President to ensure an improvement in the humanitarian situation of the civilian population" in Ukraine.
The two European leaders "took positive note of the Russian President's commitment to treat captured fighters in accordance with international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Conventions, and to ensure unhindered access to the International Committee of the Red Cross."
The global food supply, which has been hit by Russia's action in Ukraine, was also discussed.
Putin assured that he "wants to allow the export of grain from Ukraine, especially by sea," the German chancellery said.
The three leaders also agreed on the "central role" the United Nations has to play to guarantee exports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday told the leaders of France and Germany Moscow is ready to look for ways to ship grain stuck in Ukrainian ports but demanded the West lift sanctions.
The Kremlin chief also warned French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz against ramping up arms supplies to Ukraine, saying they could further destabilize the situation in the pro-Western country.
Mr. Putin said the difficulties in supplying grain to world markets were the result of "erroneous economic and financial policies of Western countries".
"Russia is ready to help find options for the unhindered export of grain, including the export of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea ports," Mr. Putin told Messrs. Macron and Scholz, the Kremlin said.
"An increase in the supply of Russian fertilisers and agricultural products will also help reduce tensions on the global food market, which, of course, will require the removal of the relevant sanctions."
Russia's offensive in Ukraine and Western sanctions have disrupted supplies of fertilizer, wheat and other commodities from the two countries, fuelling concerns about the risk of shortages and hunger around the world. Russia and Ukraine produce 30 percent of the global wheat supply.
These young men were like young people anywhere – rash, warm, daring, hormoned, and easily-offended. They had just climbed a boundary wall (which they weren’t supposed to) to have a clear view of some girls reputed to be prettiest in this elegant neighborhood at south Delhi.
After having an uninhibited discussion on the delicate contours of the girls’ anatomy, they disappeared back.