Month: April 2022

“Our musicians wear body armour instead of tuxedos,” he told stars including Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, referring to the ongoing war with Russia.

“They sing to the wounded in hospitals, even to those who can’t hear them. But the music will break through.”

He urged musicians to “fill the silence” left by Russian bombs “with your music”.

Read more about the war in Ukraine

“Support us in any way you can, but not with your silence,” he continued. “Fill the silence with music.”

The video message was played ahead of a performance by John Legend of a new song, called Free.

The US star was joined on-stage by Ukrainian musicians Mika Newton and Suzanna Iglidan, while a poem was read by their compatriot Lyuba Yakimchuk, who recently fled the country.

“Rain down freedom until we’re all free” sang Legend, who was also accompanied by a gospel choir, as images of those affected by the conflict played out on screens behind him.

At the end of the track, viewers were given the details of a charity helping Ukrainian refugees.

Prior to Legend’s performance Mr Zelensky asked: “What’s more opposite to music?… The silence of ruined cities and killed people.

“The war doesn’t let us choose who survives and who stays in eternal silence,” he added, but spoke of his country defending its freedom “to live, to love, to sound”.

He signed off his video message by saying he hoped his countrymen and women could soon “be free like the people on the Grammy stage”.

Since the conflict began in February, many Ukrainian musicians, producers and DJs have joined the fight against Russia, and also found themselves acting as war reporters and military fundraisers.

“I created Truth Social… to stand up to the tyranny of big tech,” he said.

“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter yet your favourite American president has been silenced.”

The app launched on Presidents’ Day, 21 February, but six weeks later is beset by problems. A waiting list of nearly 1.5 million are unable to use it.

Truth Social looks a lot like Twitter, a platform that banned Mr Trump after a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building.

Twitter believed Donald Trump, by making false claims the election had been “stolen”, had incited violence. He was banned for life on 8 January, 2021.

Truth Social might look like Twitter, but it isn’t available on Android phones, web browsers or, apparently, to most people outside the US.

“It’s been a disaster,” Joshua Tucker, director of NYU’s Center for Social Media and Politics, said.

And a Republican ally of Mr Trump’s, who did not wish to be identified, said: “Nobody seems to know what’s going on.”

On 21 February, Truth Social was one of the App Store’s most downloaded apps – but many who downloaded it were unable to use it.

There was an assumption this problem would soon be resolved and Mr Trump would start posting his “truths” in the coming days – but neither of those things happened.

My attempt to register, this week, was placed at number 1,419,631 on the waiting list.

While YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook are among the 10 most downloaded apps, according to Similar Web, Truth Social is outside the top 100.

Users who find their way in can find the app a little empty, as many big voices on the American right have so far stayed away.

Another study found downloads have fallen by as much as 95%.

And many are feeling frustrated.

“Signed up for Truth Social a couple weeks ago and still on a waiting list,” one Twitter user said, on Tuesday.

“By the time I’m off the waiting list and on to Truth Social for real, Trump will be President again,” joked another.

Truth Social chief executive Devin Nunes said its goal was to be “fully operational” by the end of March.

But quite why the app is having so many problems has baffled experts.

Some have pointed to Truth Social’s partnership with Rumble, a video-sharing platform that looks a bit like YouTube.

Popular with conservatives and the far right, Rumble was supposed to provide a “critical backbone” for the site’s infrastructure.

But if Truth Social is having server problems, why has it taken so long to fix?

“It should take a few days to fix, not six weeks,” a Republican source close to Mr Trump said.

“There’s always going to be hiccups at the beginning – but at this point, I would have thought it would have been resolved.

“Nobody seems to understand why.”

Mr Trump is said to be furious, asking why more people are not using Truth Social.

He has about 750,000 followers but has not posted a “truth” for well over a month.

“Maybe they’re holding him back,” Mr Tucker said.

“That’s his last chance to launch it – when suddenly Trump comes in and starts being really active on it, that will get a buzz.”

Much maligned, Truth Social could still rival competitors such as Gab and Gettr.

Mr Trump retains star quality and any “free speech” app would bend over backwards to have him on its platform.

But at the moment, Truth Social has become a little embarrassing.

A platform supposed to stand up to Silicon Valley’s heavyweights has barely been able to get to its feet.

People fled through the streets after rapid gunfire rang out in an area packed with restaurants and bars in the early hours of Sunday.

Police nearby responded to the gunfire and came across a “very large crowd”, police chief Katherine Lester said.

No suspect is yet in custody in the wake of the shootings.

“This is a really tragic situation,” Chief Lester said.

The officer said investigators had arrived at the scene and urged the public to come forward with any information that might help identify those responsible.

The shooting took place at around 02:00 (09:00 GMT) near the junction of 10th Street and K Street, in an area that leads to the Golden One Center, where the Sacramento Kings play basketball.

It is also only a few streets from the state Capitol building.

Pamela Harris said her daughter called her at 02:15 to say that her 38-year-old son, Sergio, had been shot and killed outside a nightclub.

“She said he was dead. I just collapsed,” Harris told Reuters at the scene of the shooting.

“I cannot leave here now until I know what’s going on. I’m not going anywhere. It seems like a dream.”

Kay Harris, 32, said she was asleep when one of her family members called to say they thought her brother had been killed. She said she thought he was at London, a nightclub on 10th Street, the Associated Press reports.

She said she has been to the club a few times and described it as a place for “the younger crowd”.

Community activist Berry Accius reached the scene at about 02:30 after a city council member called him about the shooting.

“The first thing I saw was like victims,” he was quoted as saying by CBS News.

“I saw a young girl with a whole bunch of blood in her body, a girl taking off glass from her, a young girl screaming saying, ‘They killed my sister.’ A mother running up, ‘Where’s my son, has my son been shot?'”

The incident is certain to inflame the ongoing debate about gun violence and the prevalence of lethal weapons in US society.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg tweeted that the numbers of dead and wounded were “difficult to comprehend”.

“Rising gun violence is the scourge of our city, state and nation, and I support all actions to reduce it,” he said.

In a tearful statement to reporters, city council member Katie Valenzuela – who represents the district where the shooting happened – said: “I’m heartbroken and I’m outraged.”

“Our community deserves better than this,” she said, pledging to do whatever she can so young people “don’t get shot down on K Street when they’re out trying to have a good time”.

Firearms are involved in approximately 40,000 deaths a year in the US, including suicides, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.

The 60-year-old ran on a promise of shaking up traditional party politics in the Central American nation.

With almost all votes counted, he had a lead of more than five percentage points over ex-President José María Figueres.

Turnout was the lowest in decades as voters expressed discontent with Costa Rica’s struggling economy.

José María Figueres, who ran for a second term as president after having held the top job from 1994 to 1998, admitted defeat once his rival’s lead had become too big to be overcome.

Many Costa Ricans said they were looking for a break with the politicians of the past, a trend which went against Mr Figueres, who comes from one of the country’s most influential political families.

While Mr Chaves is not entirely new to politics – he did serve in the outgoing government of President Carlos Alvarado as economy minister for six months – he has emphasised his plan to break with what he calls “privileges” of Costa Rica’s established political parties.

Rodrigo Chaves has moved away from the country’s traditional political parties and presented himself as a maverick and an outsider to the established order.

He has said he is prepared to use referendums to bypass Congress and shake up the usual stable political system in the Central American nation.

In large part, he benefited from widespread discontent in the country, as Costa Ricans are frustrated at what they see as worsening corruption in a country whose tourism-based economy has been badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Following an at times acrimonious campaign, Mr Chaves struck a conciliatory note as his win became clear.

“Tonight, let’s set aside the party colours that can easily divide us,” he told his supporters. “I humbly ask you that we unite beneath the blue, white and red of our national flag.”

Supporters of Mr Chaves took to the streets of the capital, San José, to celebrate their candidate’s win.

One of those celebrating told Reuters news agency that there was a “hunger for real change” in Costa Rica. “We need new faces to save the country,” the man said.

His right-wing Fidesz party had 53.1% of votes with 98% counted, preliminary results show.

The opposition alliance led by Peter Marki-Zay was far behind with 35%.

In his victory speech, Mr Orban criticised Brussels bureaucrats and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling them “opponents”.

Mr Zelensky has repeatedly criticised Mr Orban’s ban on the transfer of arms to Ukraine, with which it shares a border. However, Mr Orban – who has close ties with Moscow – has condemned the Russian invasion, and taken in half a million refugees since the war began in February.

“We never had so many opponents,” he said cited by AFP. “Brussels bureaucrats… the international mainstream media, and the Ukrainian president.”

Mr Orban added that his “huge victory” could be seen “from the Moon, but certainly from Brussels as well”.

When officially confirmed by Hungary’s electoral commission, the victory will be Fidesz’s fourth successive win since 2010. The National Election Office said Fidesz would have 135 seats, a two-thirds majority, and the opposition alliance would have 56 seats – again, based on preliminary results.

Mr Orban, 58, has had a fraught relationship with the EU, which considers that Fidesz has undermined Hungary’s democratic institutions.

In his 12 years in power, Mr Orban has rewritten the constitution, filled the top courts with his appointees, and changed the electoral system to his advantage.

During campaigning, the opposition’s catch-phrase was “Orban or Europe”.

Their candidate Peter Marki-Zay argued that Hungary should join Poland, the UK and others in supplying arms to Ukraine. And if called upon, and only within a Nato framework, should even consider sending troops.

The opposition complained that Fidesz had isolated Hungary from the European mainstream, and from consensual democracy, fairness and decency.

You could almost hear the collective thud of EU hearts sinking last night.

A self-styled illiberal democrat, Hungary’s leader has repeatedly clashed with Brussels over rule of law issues such as press freedom and migration.

They’ve fallen out over Moscow too. Mr Orban is famed for his warm relations with Vladimir Putin. He signed up to Western sanctions – but refuses to supply Ukraine with weapons. He’s the only EU leader to openly criticise President Zelensky.

Hungary is becoming increasingly isolated in the EU and Nato – but Mr Orban knows neither institution is keen to ostracise him. They want a show of Western unity to display to Russia.

His new term in office means he’ll remain an unpredictable thorn in their side.

More than 200 international observers monitored the election in Hungary, along with thousands of volunteers from across the political spectrum.

Turnout hit 68.69%, almost matching the record number of voters in the last national elections in 2018.

Mr Marki-Zay, the conservative opposition leader, conceded defeat late on Sunday evening.

“I will not hide my sadness and my disappointment,” he told supporters, accusing Fidesz of running a campaign of “hate and lies”.

He claimed the opposition had done “everything humanly possible” but that the campaign had been “an unequal fight” as anti-Fidesz politicians got so little showing in state media.

All 26 ministers submitted letters of resignation – but not Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa or his brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Many angry protesters demanding the resignation of the Rajapaksa family say the move is meaningless.

On Sunday, many defied a curfew to take to the streets in several cities.

The country is grappling with what is said to be its worst economic crisis since independence from the UK in 1948.

It is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which is used to pay for fuel imports. With power cuts lasting half a day or more, and shortages of food, medicines and fuel, public anger has reached a new high.

Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told reporters on Sunday that the cabinet’s ministers had tendered their resignation letters to the prime minister.

The prime minister’s own son, Namal Rajapaksa, was among those who resigned, tweeting that he hoped it would help the president and PM’s “decision to establish stability for the people and the government”.

However, many protesters who allege that the president and his family are to blame for the situation in the country are angry at the fact that he will remain in power.

Another called it a “play from the dictator’s playbook”.

“We want all of you gone – the Rajapaksas, the cabinet,their political henchman, the corrupt cronies, their media guys. All of them,” another social media user added.

On Sunday, thousands of people across the country defied a curfew order and a special notification banning anyone from from being on any public road, in a park, on trains or on the seashore unless they have written permission from the authorities.

The curfew, along with a ban on social media sites including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, was meant to halt a planned day of protests, after a demonstration outside the president’s house on Thursday night turned violent.

The demonstrations mark a massive turnaround in popularity for Mr Rajapaksa who swept into power with a majority win in 2019, promising stability and a “strong hand” to rule the country

I met opposition leader Sajith Premadasa at another impromptu protest on Sunday, where he along with other members of his party were stopped at police barricades as they tried to enter the city’s Independence square.

“The supreme law of the land protects the right of the people to share their opinions, to demonstrate and to engage in peaceful democratic activities, so that right cannot be violated,” he said, adding that the curfew and social media ban were dictatorial, autocratic and draconian steps.

I also met several people who had defied the curfew to come out and protest.

Suchitra was one of dozens gathered at a protest outside an Asian restaurant by what’s usually a busy road.

As he cradled his 15 month-old baby boy, who shares his name, Suchitra told me about the daily problems he faced with power cuts.

“Without electricity our fans don’t even work. In this heat it’s impossible for the baby, or us, to sleep.”

“I came out today because my rights have been taken away, and I’m very angry,” said Anjalee Wandurgala, one of a few hundred students who gathered in a part of Colombo.

“Why have they put this curfew? Is it to protect us?” she asked. “It doesn’t make sense at all”.

Freelance advertising copywriter Sathsara says it is the first time he has ever protested.

“I’m freelance, but I can’t earn money as there’s no gas, no electricity. I’m totally broke,” he says.

He’s one of many young Sri Lankans struggling to see a way forward through this crisis.

“We are at the prime of our lives, how are we going to achieve our dreams with all this happening?”