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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityAsiaChinaIndiaGaganyaan: India names astronauts for maiden space flightPublished11 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsChandrayaan programmeImage source, ANIImage caption, The astronaut-designates received their “wings” on TuesdayBy Geeta PandeyBBC News, DelhiIndia has unveiled four Air Force pilots who have been shortlisted to travel on the country’s maiden space flight scheduled for next year.The Gaganyaan mission aims to send three astronauts to an orbit of 400km and bring them back after three days.India’s space agency Isro has been carrying out a number of tests to prepare for the flight.In October, a key test demonstrated that the crew could safely escape the rocket in case it malfunctioned.After its success, Isro said a test flight would take a robot into space in 2024, before astronauts are sent into space in 2025. At a function at the Isro centre in the southern city of Thiruvananthapuram (formerly Trivandrum) on Tuesday, the four astronaut-designates were described as “dreamers, adventurers and valiant men preparing to go into space”.The officers, chosen from the Indian Air Force, were introduced as Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Isro chief S Somanath pinned badges with golden wings onto their shirts and Mr Modi described them as “India’s pride”.”These are not just four names or four people. They are four powers who will carry the aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians to space. I congratulate and wish them all the best,” he said. Officials said the men were selected from a pool of Air Force pilots and had undergone extensive physical and psychological tests before being shortlisted. They have undergone rigorous training for 13 months in Russia and are now carrying on with their gruelling schedule back home. A video screened at the event showed them working out in the gym, swimming and doing yoga.Image source, Screenshot from DoordarshanImage caption, Isro’s Vyommitra is a female humanoidOn Tuesday, Isro also showed a glimpse of Vyommitra – Sanskrit word for “space friend” – the female humanoid that will be sent into space later this year.The Gaganyaan Mission is India’s first human space flight programme for which extensive preparations are underway at various Isro centres.Named after the Sanskrit word for craft or vehicle to the sky, the Gaganyaan project has been developed at the cost of 90bn rupees ($1bn; £897m). If it succeeds, India will become only the fourth country to send a human into space after the Soviet Union, the US and China.How important are India’s Moon mission findings?What has India’s rover been up to on the Moon?Last year, India made major forays into space. The country made history by becoming the first to land near the Moon’s south pole in August 2023.Just weeks later, scientists launched Aditya-L1, India’s first observation mission to the Sun which is now in orbit, keeping an eye on our solar system’s most important and volatile star. India has also announced ambitious new plans for space, saying it would aim to set up a space station by 2035 and send an astronaut to the Moon by 2040.Read more India stories from the BBC:’My bank manager stole $1.9m from my account’The Indians ‘duped’ into fighting for Russia in UkraineIndian zoo ordered to change lions’ ‘blasphemous’ namesAnger and fear in India state over elephant attacksX admits to taking down India farmers’ protest postsRelated TopicsAsiaChandrayaan programmeIndiaTop StoriesLive. 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[ad_1] The Gaganyaan mission aims to send astronauts to an orbit of 400km and bring them back after three days.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaRosenberg: How two years of war in Ukraine changed RussiaPublished2 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineImage caption, A mural of fallen Russian soldiers in SolnechnogorskBy Steve RosenbergRussia EditorAs I stood watching Russians laying flowers in memory of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a young man shared his reaction to Mr Navalny’s death in prison.”I’m in shock,” he told me, “just like two years ago on 24 February: when the war started.”It made me think about everything that has happened in Russia these last two years, since President Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is a catalogue of drama, bloodshed, tragedy.Russia’s war has brought death and destruction to Ukraine. The Russian military has suffered huge losses, too.Russian towns have been shelled and come under drone-attack;Hundreds of thousands of Russian men were drafted into the army;Wagner mercenaries mutinied and marched on Moscow. Their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin later died in a plane crash.The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s president for alleged war crimes.Now Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic is dead.24 February 2022 was a watershed moment. But looking back the direction of travel had been clear. It was in 2014 that Russia had annexed Crimea from Ukraine and first intervened militarily in the Donbas; Alexei Navalny had been poisoned with a nerve agent in 2020 and jailed in 2021. Domestic repression in Russia pre-dates the invasion of Ukraine, but it has accelerated since. As for Vladimir Putin, two years into this war he sounds increasingly confident and determined to defeat his enemies at home and abroad. He rails against America, Nato and the EU and presents Russia’s war in Ukraine as a war on Russia by the “collective West”, an existential battle for his country’s survival. How and when will it end? I can’t predict the future. I can, however, recall the past. In a cupboard at home recently I found a dusty folder with copies of my Russia despatches from more than 20 years ago: the early Putin years.Sifting through them, it was like reading about a different galaxy light-years away.Russia accused of executing prisoners of war in Avdiivka Is Russia turning the tide in Ukraine?”According to a recent poll, 59% of Russians support the idea of Russia joining the European Union…” I wrote on 17 May 2001.”Nato and Russia are actively seeking closer cooperation: a sign to both sides that the real threat to world peace lies not with each other…” [20 November 2001]So, where did it all go wrong? I’m not the only person wondering.Image caption, Former Nato chief Lord Robertson says Russia’s loss of superpower status “ate away” at Vladimir Putin”The Putin I met with, did good business with, established a Nato-Russia Council with, is very, very different from this almost megalomaniac at the present moment,” former Nato chief Lord Robertson told me recently when we met in London. “The man who stood beside me in May of 2002, right beside me, and said Ukraine is a sovereign and independent nation state which will make its own decisions about security, is now the man who says that [Ukraine] is not a nation state.”Lord Robertson even recalls Vladimir Putin contemplating Nato membership for Russia.”At my second meeting with Putin, he said explicitly: ‘When are you going to invite Russia to join Nato?’ I said, ‘We don’t invite countries to join Nato, they apply.’ And he said, ‘Well, we’re not going to stand in line beside a bunch of countries who don’t matter.’ Lord Robertson said he does not think that Putin really wanted to apply for Nato membership. “He wanted it presented to him, because I think he always thought – and increasingly thinks – that Russia is a great nation on the world stage and needs the respect that the Soviet Union had,” he told me. “He was never going to comfortably fit inside an alliance of equal nations, all sitting round the table debating and discussing interests of common policy.”‘Growing ego’Lord Robertson points out that the Soviet Union was once recognised as the second superpower in the world, but Russia can’t make any claims in that direction today. “I think that sort of ate away at [Putin’s] ego. Combine that with the feebleness, sometimes, of the West and in many ways the provocations that he faced, as well as his own growing ego. I think that changed the individual who wanted to cooperate with Nato into somebody who now sees Nato as a huge threat.” Moscow sees things differently. Russian officials claim it was Nato enlargement eastwards that undermined European security and led to war. They accuse Nato of breaking a promise to the Kremlin, made allegedly in the dying days of the USSR, that the alliance wouldn’t accept countries previously in Moscow’s orbit. “There was certainly nothing on paper,” Lord Robertson tells me. “There was nothing that was agreed, there was no treaty to that effect. But it was Vladimir Putin himself who signed the Rome Declaration on 28 May 2002. The same piece of paper I signed, which enshrined the basic principles of territorial integrity and non-interference in other countries. He signed that. He can’t blame anybody else.” Image caption, A war memorial in Solnechnogorsk commemorates Russians killed in the “special military operation”In the town of Solnechnogorsk, 40 miles from Moscow, the last two dramatic years of Russia’s history are on display in the park. I spot graffiti in support of the Wagner mercenary group. There are flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny. And there’s a large mural of two local men, Russian soldiers, killed in Ukraine. Painted alongside is a Youth Army cadet saluting them.In the town centre, at a memorial to those killed in World War Two and the Soviet war in Afghanistan, a new section has been added:”To soldiers killed in the special military operation.”Forty-six names are etched into stone.I ask Lidiya Petrovna, passing by with her grandson, how life has changed in two years. “Our factories are now making things we used to buy abroad. That’s good,” Lidiya says. “But I’m sad for the young men, for everyone, who’ve been killed. We certainly don’t need war with the West. Our people have seen nothing but war, war, war all their lives.” When I speak to Marina, she praises Russian soldiers she says are “doing their duty” in Ukraine. Then she looks across at her 17-year-old son Andrei. “But as a mother I’m frightened that my son will be called up to fight. I want peace as soon as possible, so that we won’t fear what comes tomorrow.”Related TopicsWar in UkraineRussiaVladimir PutinUkraineMore on this storyRussia accused of executing prisoners of war in AvdiivkaPublished2 days agoIs Russia turning the tide in Ukraine?Published5 days agoInside Ukraine’s struggle to find new men to fightPublished12 FebruaryThe Ukrainians ‘disappearing’ in Russia’s prisonsPublished10 FebruaryTop StoriesLive. 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VideoMoment giant Antarctica drone takes offElsewhere on the BBCFive geological wonders from around the worldFrom the very tip of the North Pole to the southernmost point of the AmericasAttributionBitesizeWhich classic did Elbow cover?The band join the BBC Concert Orchestra in the BBC Piano RoomAttributionSounds’We have built the world, perhaps inadvertently, for men’Philanthropist Melinda French Gates on what she’s learned from her life so farAttributionSoundsA tasty swap that could really improve our healthMichael discovers the benefits of incorporating wholegrains into our dietAttributionSoundsMost Read1Whale song mystery solved by scientists2Rosenberg: How two years of war have changed Russia3’Fury in Commons’ and ‘King’s tears’4Police force ‘failed’ women who were killed5Suspensions after ‘Israel’ crossed out on document6US hospital halts IVF after court says embryos are children7Biden’s dog bit Secret Service agents 24 times8Firms must make ‘adjustments’ for menopausal woman9Historical sites in Afghanistan ‘bulldozed for looting’10Baby loss certificates introduced in England](https://newsinsightplus.com/wp-content/uploads/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/664E/production/_132709162_solnechnogorskmural1.png)
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaTucker Carlson interview: Fact-checking Putin’s ‘nonsense’ historyPublished1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersImage caption, Mr Putin began the interview by claiming that that 862 was the year of the “establishment of the Russian state”By Ido VockBBC NewsUS talk show host Tucker Carlson’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin began with a rambling half-hour lecture on the history of Russia and Ukraine. Mr Carlson, frequently appearing bemused, listened as Mr Putin expounded at length about the origins of Russian statehood in the ninth century, Ukraine as an artificial state and Polish collaboration with Hitler. It is familiar ground for Mr Putin, who infamously penned a 5000-word essay entitled “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians” in 2021, which foreshadowed the intellectual justification the Kremlin offered for its invasion of Ukraine less than a year later. To historians, the litany of claims made by Mr Putin are nonsense – representing nothing more than a selective abuse of history to justify the ongoing war in Ukraine.Regardless of the historical realities, none of Putin’s assertions would form a legal justification for his invasion. A state-centred narrativeMr Putin began the interview by claiming that that 862 was the year of the “establishment of the Russian state”. This was the year that Rurik, a Scandinavian prince, was invited to rule over the city of Novgorod, the capital of the Rus – the people who would eventually develop into today’s Russians. Mr Putin contrasts what he claims is the unbroken tradition of Russian statehood dating back to the ninth century with the modern “invention” of Ukraine – a country he insists was “created” as late as the twentieth century. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, An engraving of Prince Rurik in 862But Sergey Radchenko, a historian at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, says the president’s claim is “a complete falsehood”. “Vladimir Putin is trying to construct a narrative backwards, saying Russia as a state began its development in the ninth century. You could equally say that Ukraine as a state began its development in the ninth century, exactly with the same kind of evidence and documents.”He’s trying to use certain historical facts to construct a state-centred narrative that would favour Russia as opposed to any alternative agglomerations.”Putin says deal can be reached to free US reporter Putin takes charge as Carlson gives free rein to KremlinThe former Fox star interviewing Vladimir PutinRonald Suny, a professor at the University of Michigan, says the Rus was made up of “a bunch of bandits, who burned their own capital repeatedly”. He adds that Mr Putin is repeating an “established mythology made up at certain points in the past by Muscovite tsars who trace their lineage back to Rurik”.”This mythology was crystallised in Moscow to justify their imperial hold over Ukraine.”A ‘special ethnic group’Mr Putin told Tucker Carlson that by the seventeenth century, when Poland came to rule over parts of present-day Ukraine, they introduced the idea that the population of those areas “was not exactly Russians. Because they lived on the fringe, they were Ukrainians.””Originally the word Ukrainian meant that the person was living on the outskirts of the state, along the fringes.” But Anita Prazmowska, a professor emerita at the LSE, refutes this. She says while a national consciousness emerged later among Ukrainians than other central European nations, there were Ukrainians during that period. “[Vladimir Putin] is using a twentieth-century concept of the state based on the protection of a defined nation, as something that goes back. It doesn’t.”Mr Suny says that while it may be true that Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians “came from the same stock … through time, they developed into different peoples.” ‘New Russia’Mr Putin claims that areas in the south and east of Ukraine “had no historical connection with Ukraine whatsoever”. Conquered from the Ottoman Empire by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the seventeenth century, the Russian president says that means these lands are in fact rightfully Russian. Mr Putin later refers to them using the seventeenth-century term “Novorossiya” – New Russia. Mr Suny points out that the inhabitants of these lands when they were conquered by Russia were neither Russian nor Ukrainian, but Ottoman, Tatar or Cossacks – Slavic peasants who had fled to the frontiers. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Catherine the Great conquered parts of present-day UkraineBut claiming that these territories are in reality rightfully Russian serves Mr Putin’s interests, as they are precisely the territories that Russia is attempting to conquer from Ukraine during the now decade-long conflict with its neighbour. So-called Novorossiya includes Crimea – illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. New Russia also covers areas around Kherson, Mariupol and Bakhmut, which Mr Putin declared part of Russia in 2022.An ‘artificial state’Mr Putin went on to claim that “Ukraine is an artificial state that was shaped at [Joseph] Stalin’s will,” arguing that Ukraine was created by the Soviet leadership in the 1920s and received lands that it had no historical claim to. In a sense, he is correct, says Prof Radchenko. The Soviet leadership drew up the borders of Soviet republics “almost like the Western colonial powers drew up borders in Africa – kind of randomly.”But that does not mean that Ukrainians did not exist.”More broadly, Mr Radchenko denies Mr Putin’s claims that Ukraine is not a real country because it was formed in its modern form in the twentieth century. “Any country is a fake country, in the sense that countries are created as a result of a historical process.”Russia was created as a result of decisions taken by the Russian tsars, such as the colonisation of Siberia, which came at the considerable expense of the local population.”If Ukraine is a fake country, then so is Russia.” ‘Collaborating with Hitler’Perhaps Mr Putin’s most inflammatory claim was regarding Poland. Mr Putin claimed that Poland – which was invaded by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 – “collaborated with Hitler”. The Russian president told his interviewer that by refusing to cede an area of Poland called the Danzig Corridor to Hitler, Poland “went too far, pushing Hitler to start World War Two by attacking them”. For Prof Prazmowska, President Putin’s interpretation of history is a flawed reading of the historical record. She says that while it is true that there were diplomatic contacts between Poland and the Nazis – the first treaty Hitler signed after coming to power was a non-aggression pact with Poland in 1934 – Mr Putin is conflating diplomatic outreach to a threatening neighbour with collaboration. “The accusation that the Poles were collaborating is nonsense,” says Mrs Prazmowska.”You can’t interpret these things as if this were collaboration with Nazi Germany, because it just so happened that the Soviet Union also signed treaties with Germany [at the same time].”In September 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland according to the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed between both states earlier that year. More on this storyPutin takes charge as Carlson gives free rein to KremlinPublished5 hours agoWhat do Putin and Carlson gain from Kremlin interview?Published15 hours agoTop StoriesLive. 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Video’We’ll never leave Gaza’ – People in Rafah fear Israeli assaultWhy I shared my mum’s murder story on TikTokElsewhere on the BBCBritain’s toughest job interview is backLord Sugar’s class of 2024 chase the ultimate investmentAttributioniPlayerThe art of healthy eatingProfessor Tim Spector offers a new approach to the way we eat foodAttributionSoundsThe sound effect that became the ultimate movie in-jokeIt’s used in everything from Toy Story to Reservoir Dogs, but what is the Wilhelm Scream?AttributioniPlayerExpensive vs High Street skincare products…investigating whether more expensive face creams really are worth the moneyAttributionSoundsMost Read1Alligator snapping turtle found in Cumbrian tarn2Ring doorbell customers angry at 43% price hike3Woman catches police watching Netflix in her home4Fact-checking Treasury minister’s claim on debt5Harry settles phone hacking claim with Mirror group6Dogs that killed grandmother were XL bullies7Putin takes charge as Carlson gives free rein to Kremlin8Virgin Media probed over digital switchover rules9Fact-checking Putin’s ‘nonsense’ history10Nationwide’s Dominic West advert reported by rival](https://newsinsightplus.com/wp-content/uploads/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/11526/production/_132605907_27c06ac2044771f045a161e5e4de5308d853a24d0_231_6000_33752000x1125.jpg)
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaAzerbaijan election: President Ilham Aliyev wins vote criticised by monitorsPublished2 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersImage caption, Crowds took to the streets of the capital Baku to celebrate Ilham Aliyev’s fifth consecutive termBy Ian CaseyBBC NewsAzerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has won a fifth consecutive term in power with more than 92% of the vote, according to election authorities.However, international observers say he had no meaningful challenger.The main rival parties boycotted the election, with one opposition leader calling it an “imitation of democracy”.Wednesday’s vote was planned for 2025, but a snap poll was called after the government seized control of a region run by ethnic Armenian separatists.Mr Aliyev ran against six other candidates although none were critical of his rule.Thousands of supporters took to the streets of the capital Baku to celebrate the president’s re-election. State media cited election officials as saying Mr Aliyev had received 92.05% of the vote with over 93% of ballots counted, with turnout at around 76%.The president typically wins over 85% of the vote in elections which rights groups say are neither free nor fair.Artur Gerasymov, who led an observer mission from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told reporters on Thursday that President Aliyev “was not meaningfully challenged… [which] resulted in a contest devoid of genuine pluralism”.Explained: The conflict in Nagorno-KarabakhArmenia and Azerbaijan to work towards peace dealPresident Aliyev announced the early poll after his popularity surged last year in the wake of Azerbaijan’s successful military campaign in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.Azerbaijan’s lightning offensive in September brought an end to three decades of ethnic Armenian rule in the region – which is recognised internationally as Azerbaijani territory.Most of its 120,000 ethnic Armenian residents fled to neighbouring Armenia although some of the most senior officials in the breakaway territory were arrested and have been held in pre-trial detention in Azerbaijan for months, accused of various offences.Mr Aliyev described the Karabakh victory as “an epochal event unparalleled in Azerbaijan’s history”, adding that the election would mark the “beginning of a new era” as it was being held on all of its territory for the first time.Ali Kerimali, the leader of Popular Front, one of Azerbaijan’s main opposition parties, said there were “no conditions in the country for the conduct of free and fair elections”. “Freedom of assembly is restricted, media are under government pressure, and political dissent is being suppressed,” he added.Image source, President of AzerbaijanImage caption, Ilham Aliyev, pictured casting his ballot on Wednesday, has officially won over 92% of the vote with most ballots countedMr Aliyev first took office in 2003, following the death of his father, Heydar Aliyev. His family seized power in 1993, two years after Azerbaijan gained independence from the former Soviet Union.In recent months, Azerbaijani authorities have intensified pressure on independent media outlets, arresting several critical journalists.Azerbaijan has drawn criticism from human rights group Amnesty International, which accuses authorities of repressing freedom of expression and targeting critical voices of the president.A number of foreign leaders have congratulated Mr Aliyev on his electoral win, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.Related TopicsAzerbaijanMore on this storyArmenia and Azerbaijan to work towards peace dealPublished8 December 2023Nagorno-Karabakh profilePublished30 JanuaryDeserted Karabakh reveals scale of military defeatPublished3 October 2023Top StoriesCancer waiting times in 2023 worst on recordPublished1 hour agoLive. 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