التصنيف: أخبار

Sir Rod Stewart has lashed out at Vladimir Putin on the eve of the second anniversary of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The music veteran branded the Russian president an “arsehole” in an interview with Sky News on Friday night.

And he said revealed his fears about the consequences of the US “pulling money away from Ukraine” as the conflict enters its third year.

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Sir Rod told Sky News’s Friday Night With Niall Patterson: “You let that arsehole into Ukraine, he’ll get into every NATO country.”

“And we’ll have to join the army,” he added.

“We have to support Ukraine right to the end,” he continued, adding: “Peace in the Middle East as well.”

Sir Rod appeared on Sky News alongside friend and fellow musician, Jools Holland to discuss their new album, Swing Fever.

“We need joy, we live in very dark times,” he told Sky News.

Sir Rod described how the album “brought them together”, while pianist and composer Holland revealed how, when Sir Rod first called him to discuss the project, he believed it was a crank call.

Read more on Sky News:
What we know about Putin and his motives
Putin on invading Poland, the war in Ukraine, American ‘spies’

Sir Rod is no stranger to speaking his mind.

In January last year, he called into Sky News to donate for medical scans after hearing NHS crisis stories.

He said it was ridiculous people had to wait long periods for essential treatment and called for a change in government.

Sir Rod said: “I personally have been a Tory for a long time but I think this government should stand down now and give the Labour Party a go, this is heartbreaking.

“In all my years in this country I’ve never seen it so bad… change the bloody government.”

Two men were shot dead in a double execution hosted at a stadium in Afganistan and ordered by the Taliban.

Thousands watched on as the men – Syed Jamal from central Wardak province and Gul Khan from Ghazni – were shot dead by the relatives of people killed in stabbing attacks.

The pair were ruled to have been responsible by the Taliban’s Supreme Court for the deaths of two victims in the separate attacks, but it was unclear if they themselves carried out the stabbings.

Crowds were gathered outside the stadium in the Ali Lala area of the city of Ghazni on Thursday to watch the execution, as religious scholars pleaded with the relatives to forgive Jamal and Khan.

However, the executions started shortly before 1pm, when 15 bullets were fired at the accused by the victims’ families, eight at one and seven at the other.

Supreme Court spokesman Abdul Rahim Rashid said the two were shot from behind. Their bodies were then taken by ambulances.

Read more:
Afghan commandos ‘betrayed’ by British and left behind – report

In a statement, the court said three lower courts and the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, had ordered the executions in retribution for their alleged crimes.

Thursday’s killings marked the third and fourth public executions since the Taliban seized power over Afghanistan in 2021, after US and NATO forces chaotically withdrew from the country.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan recorded at least 237 extrajudicial executions between 15 August 2021 and 15 June 2022, according to Amnesty International.

During their previous rule in the late 1990s, the Taliban regularly carried out public executions, floggings and stonings.

Alexei Navalny’s mother has said she was given an ultimatum to agree to a secret funeral within three hours or else her son would be buried at prison.

Lyudmila Navalnaya said she refused to negotiate with investigators because “they do not have the authority to decide how and where she should bury her son”, according to a Navalny spokeswoman.

Ms Navalnaya wants “compliance with the law” and authorities are “obliged to hand over the body within two days of establishing the cause of death”, said Kira Yarmysh.

“According to the medical documents she signed, these two days expire tomorrow,” added the spokeswoman.

“She insists that the authorities allow the funeral and memorial service to take place in accordance with normal practice.”

The update was posted on X on Friday afternoon and it’s unclear if authorities have acted on the ultimatum.

The campaigner and politician died a week ago but authorities have denied foul play and say he fell ill after going for a walk at his penal colony in Arctic Russia.

His death certificate cited “natural causes”, according to Mr Navalny’s team.

However, his wife believes he was poisoned with novichok – the same nerve agent used in an alleged assassination attempt against him by Russia in 2020.

Mr Navalny‘s death has sparked severe condemnation of Russia by the West, and on Friday the US revealed more than 500 new sanctions.

The stalling over funeral arrangements is believed to be an effort to avoid a large public event that could feature protests and embarrass the Kremlin.

Lyudmila Navalnaya said in a YouTube video on Thursday that she had finally been allowed to see her son’s body but accused authorities of “blackmailing” her.

She said they had told her “time is not working for you” and suggested the body was “decomposing”.

“Looking into my eyes, they say that if I do not agree to a secret funeral, they will do something with my son’s body,” said Ms Navalnaya.

Mr Navalny, 47, was Vladimir Putin‘s most vocal critic and the only opposition figure able to rally large numbers of people to take to the streets to protest.

He was serving a 19-year-sentence on charges his supporters say were designed to try and silence him.

Mr Navalny’s team are now offering €50,000 (£42,700) for “valuable and complete information about the murder of Alexei Navalny”.

They have also offered to arrange travel if required – suggesting they will pay for those in Russia to escape.

They previously put up a smaller reward but said it had increased “because several people wrote to us and offered to add their money”.

International condemnation over Mr Navalny’s death continued on Friday at a meeting of the UN Security Council.

UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said the campaigner had displayed “incredible courage” but “suffered terrible consequences for standing firm for Russian democracy”.

Two years on from the start of the Ukraine war, Mr Cameron also spoke in length about the conflict.

He said Mr Putin’s desire to “redraw borders” and “build his empire” must not be allowed to stand.

“Nothing should matter more to us than seeing Putin fail,” he told members. “We must not falter. We must stand firm.”