FRANCE – Veterans and world leaders have gathered in Normandy, France, to mark the 80th anniversary of the June 6, 1944 D-Day landings, when more than 150,000 Allied soldiers arrived in the country by sea and air to drive out the forces of Nazi Germany.
With war raging in Ukraine, this year’s commemoration of this key turning point in World War II carries special resonance. Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, was not invited.
“This event and day serve as a reminder of the courage and determination demonstrated in the pursuit of freedom and democracy,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X, announcing his arrival to Thursday’s ceremonies in France.
“Allies defended Europe’s freedom then, and Ukrainians do so now. Unity prevailed then, and true unity can prevail today,” he added.
US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Britain’s King Charles and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and many other political figures are taking part in the day of tributes, which started at about 08:30 GMT with a British ceremony in Ver-sur-Mer.
In Arromanches-les-Bains, one of the beaches where Allied troops came ashore 80 years ago, small crowds filtered onto the beach as the tide withdrew on Thursday morning.
They were joined by a collection of second world war Jeeps. Later, an amphibious vehicle came ashore, carrying a bagpiper blasting a sombre tune.
With the number of veterans, many aged 100 or more, fast dwindling, this is likely to be the last significant ceremony in Normandy honouring them in their presence.
About 200 veterans, most of them American or British, are set to take part in ceremonies throughout the day on windswept beaches that still bear the scars of the fighting that erupted on D-Day, history’s largest amphibious invasion, in which thousands of Allied soldiers died.
Among those who will take part is 101-year-old Bob Gibson, who was in the second wave of soldiers to land on Normandy’s Utah Beach.
“It’s like it happened yesterday. You wouldn’t believe what I have seen. Terrible. Some of the young fellows never reached the major beach … sometimes it wakes you up at night,” he told the Reuters news agency.
Leading commemorations in Ver-sur-Mer, King Charles said that while the number of living veterans was dwindling, “our obligation to remember what they stood for and what they achieved for us all can never diminish”.
Speaking in English and in French, he paid tribute to the “unimaginable number” of French civilians killed in the battle for Normandy, and the bravery and sacrifice of the French Resistance.
“Let us pray such sacrifice need never be made again,” he said. “Our gratitude is unfailing, and our admiration eternal.”
Taking a break from campaigning for Britain’s July 4 election, Sunak paid tribute to veterans, saying their “actions freed a continent and built a better world”.
“You risked everything and we owe you everything,” he said. “We cannot possibly hope to repay that debt but we can and we must pledge never to forget.”
At the British ceremony, veterans were applauded as they filed into the event to take their seats, which were decorated with bright red poppies.
At a Canadian ceremony on Juno Beach in nearby Courseulles-Sur-Mer, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the world must continue to stand up for democracy.
“Democracy is still under threat today. It is threatened by aggressors who want to redraw borders,” he said. “Our way of life did not happen by accident, and it won’t continue without effort.”
With war also raging in the Middle East and elsewhere, some of the visitors wished for peace, as they paid their tribute to fallen soldiers at the US cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer.
“It’s very moving to see that so many young men are buried here,” said 66-year-old Brigitte Perdrix, from the nearby city of Trouville.
“A tribute to them would be for the atrocities and wars ongoing now to stop. It would be like a rose placed on each grave.” (Al Jazeera)
Photo: World leaders pay their respects during the D-Day 80-year commemorative ceremony at Normandy. (EPA)…[+]

GAZA CITY – Dozens of people were killed by an overnight Israeli airstrike on a United Nations-run school in central Gaza, authorities said, in an attack that CNN analysis found was conducted with a US-made weapon.
The school, run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), was housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp at the time of the incident, the Gaza government media office said.
At least 45 people were killed in the strike, a spokesperson from Gaza’s Ministry of Health told CNN. Authorities at the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said casualties could rise as victims were still being brought to the hospital on Thursday morning.
The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the airstrike, which it said targeted a Hamas compound operating inside the school. CNN cannot independently verify the claims.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had taken “many measures” to minimize the danger in advance of the strike, including aerial surveillance and the use of “additional precise intelligence.”
A CNN analysis of video from the scene and a review by an explosive weapons expert found that US-made munitions were used in the strike on the school. CNN identified fragments of at least two US-made GBU-39 small diameter bombs (SDB) in video filmed at the scene by a journalist working for CNN.
It marks the second time in two weeks that CNN has been able to verify the use of US-manufactured munitions in deadly Israeli attacks on displaced Palestinians, the first being a deadly IDF strike on a displacement camp in Rafah on May 26.
Thursday’s attack came after the IDF ramped up ground and air assaults in the center of the strip last Tuesday amid a deepening humanitarian crisis there. Palestinians in central Gaza have reported that the intensity and frequency of Israeli strikes in the last week have felt like the beginning of the war.
According to a journalist in the area working with CNN, the school was hit by at least three missiles that penetrated the three-story building. The facility was believed to be housing approximately 20,000 displaced people who had taken shelter in the school, its yard, and the surrounding area, according to the journalist.
“We were asleep here, (and) we suddenly saw rockets falling. I went down holding my child, we were both injured, my relative was martyred in that room,” Jaber Abu Daher told CNN on Thursday.
He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is killing the civilians, he is not killing militants, it’s innocent people asleep in a UNRWA facility… what did children and elderly do? What did they do to him? He is looking for Hamas people? Go look for them, why are you killing us in schools?”
Gaza authorities said the dead and injured continue to be brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which is operating at three times its clinical capacity, “signaling a real disaster that will lead to a greater increase in the number of martyrs,” the Gaza media office said.
UNRWA said its school was “possibly hit several times” overnight by the strikes. An UNRWA spokesperson told CNN it was not able to confirm Israeli reports that Hamas operatives had been using the school as a compound.
“We remind all parties to the conflict that schools and other UN premises must never be used for military or fighting purposes,” the spokesperson said. “UN facilities must be protected at all times.”
Munitions made in the US were also used in the deadly Israeli strike on a displacement camp in Rafah late last month, a CNN analysis of video from the scene and a review by explosive weapons experts found.
After that attack, US President Joe Biden refused calls to alter his policy towards Israel, suggesting the deadly Rafah strike had not yet crossed a red line that would force changes in American support. He had previously said in a CNN interview that he wouldn’t allow certain US weapons to be used in a major offensive in Rafah. (CNN)…[+]

BEIJING – As of last Wednesday, China had harvested 57 percent of its winter wheat, surpassing last year’s halfway mark by two to three days and bolstering the country’s food security.
A total of 190 million mu (12.67 million hectares) of winter wheat had already been harvested, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said yesterday.
The wheat harvest in southwest China’s Sichuan Province and central China’s Hubei Province, two agricultural powerhouses, has concluded, while the harvest in Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanxi and Hebei provinces will soon accelerate into full swing.
Various forms of support are being provided to facilitate the wheat harvest, including the deployment of more highly efficient, large-scale crop harvesters across the country, according to the ministry.
The weather will be suitable for harvesting and drying crops in the coming days, according to forecasts from the China Meteorological Administration.
Traditionally, the summer harvest spans from May to late June in China every year, with most of the work focusing on reaping winter wheat, a staple grain crop, and rapeseed.
China’s grain output rose 1.3 percent year on year to a record high of 695.41 million tonnes in 2023, which was the ninth consecutive year that the country reported a grain harvest of over 650 million tonnes.
To encourage farmers to grow grain, the central government increased the minimum purchase prices of wheat and rice in 2023, and improved grain subsidy policies for corn and soybean farmers.
“We will improve the systems for grain production, storage and processing, and take comprehensive steps to consolidate the foundation of food security,” the 2024 government work report stated. (Xinhua)…[+]

GEORGETOWN – The consultations hosted by oil major, ExxonMobil along the coastal communities have often been described as a tool to merely check off the boxes in the regulatory process, so that the company can receive approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to move to production.
In the Indigenous communities, the process has been heavily focused on playing up money to be made from oil rather than educating the public on the potential dangers they are exposed to as a result of the offshore activities. This startling revelation was made by the Warapoka Village Toshao, Jaremy Boyal, a key speaker at an Oil Spill forum hosted by Red Thread and the Greenheart Movement, in observance of World Environment Day. This year, World Environment Day was observed under the theme ‘land restoration, desertification and drought resilience’.
The forum brought together Guyanese experts such as International award-winning Lawyer, Melinda Janki, former Head of the EPA, Dr. Vincent Adams as well as founding member of the Trinidadian non-governmental organisation ‘Fishermen and Friends of the Sea’, Gary Aboud. A number of notable Guyanese advocates for better governance of the oil and gas sector, such as Vanda and Danuta Radzik, Frederick Collins, Elizabeth Hughes and Alfred Bhulai were among those that joined the discussions at the Cara Lodge Hotel, Quamina Street, Georgetown. There was also a large virtual attendance of the session.
Boyal in his remarks said he was really appreciative of the information shared by speakers – Dr. Adams and Aboud. For his part, Dr. Adams stressed the dangers posed by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) by increasing oil production above the safe operating limits outlined in the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) of the three projects currently producing oil. Meanwhile, Aboud, among other things, cited the fact that hydrocarbons could already be part of our diets with flow of hydrocarbons from the recently overturned vessel in Tobago.
The Village leader said, “I am really grateful for the opportunity to hear these two presenters, you could imagine we don’t have all of this information…it’s been a discussion for us, if there is an oil spill how we would be affected”.
The Toshao told the gathering that after listening to the previous speakers he was very fearful as ExxonMobil often boasts about how much profits Guyana would make and the development the country will achieve from its offshore operations. He pointed out that a research done last year concluded that Warapoka’s natural environment is intact as within six weeks 90% of all species in Guyana were recorded a presence there.
Warapoka Village is approximately 90 miles from the mouth of the Waini River; however, there are a number of other villages in close proximity, including Three Brothers, Imbotero and Morawhanna. The Toshao was keen to note: “The communities there, we survive off the natural resources, so people use the water from the creeks, from the rivers, a lot of these villages there is no running tap water; we still use ponds and lakes so we are very much dependent on the environment.”
As such he reasoned: “So thinking about that if there is an oil spill, imagine what would be the impact. It’s like losing everything and I think it’s what we do as well as a village and there’s a lot of communities now talking about eco-tourism and our product that we have is the natural environment so losing that would be losing everything as well as (our) culture because of what we depend on to survive.”
At a number of public consultations held in the past by ExxonMobil, the Toshao said he enquired about the Shell Beach protected area; however, his question has not been addressed. Oil spill modeling shows that this area can be affected by an oil spill; however, the Toshao said, “That has not been on the agenda…many times sometimes we would try to have what would be the effect, how are we playing a role if there is gonna be one, but again that is not something that we as villages are aware of.”
According to him: “We just hear one side of the story that there is so much production, that there is so much millions that we can earn in the next five, 10, 15, 20 years and the rate of development plus we are one of the fastest growing economies in the world.”
The village leader said this often appeals to the Indigenous population, especially since they are not privy to the type of information he received. During those consultations, he said for about two to three hours representatives from ExxonMobil and the EPA would provide information and allow the Toshaos to raise questions. Boyal explained however: “Most of these documents are in technical form (or language) like the Toshao and two other representatives might come but some of these leaders are not you know, highly qualified to understand very technical documents so that would definitely be a problem.”
He said topics discussed usually are “how would the drilling affect wildlife within that area as well; there is always as well the idea and the message out there that the possibility of an oil spill is almost zero so don’t worry about that.”
The Toshao said the village would often hear stories or read stories about how spills affected other countries but citizens are often afraid to speak out lest they be viewed as unqualified by their fellow villagers or even be victimised. He recalled that some years ago, the leaders were involved in a onetime oil spill response activity but even with more projects approved for the operator, there has been no further programmes to engage the community on preparation for such a disaster.
Consequently, the Village Leader said he was deeply concerned about the how the village would respond to a spill, what they would do and who would compensate them for their loss of livelihoods. “Like I said, we don’t know that and a lot villages are very close to the Waini River as well, the water would be washing up and down…I think with the little information that we have and the stories we have been hearing as well many times, if there is an oil spill and whatever likely effect is there, most of the time the people on the ground are the ones that suffer the most. The rich and the wealthy like the investors, they don’t worry about water, they will always have. The people on the ground are the ones that suffer the most and we don’t know like what the last presenter just said, we probably eating some of the stuff already coming into our system.” The Toshao therefore made an appeal for the Indigenous communities to be properly informed to participate meaningfully in any consultation activity planned by Exxon. (Kaieteur News)…[+]