Latest news with #WorldWar2
Time of India
14 hours ago
- General
- Time of India
World War 2 relics found in Imphal West dist
1 2 3 4 Imphal: Several World War 2 relics, believed to be left behind by soldiers involved in the Battle of Imphal in 1944, were found by labourers at Langthabal in Imphal West district on Tuesday morning, officials said. The relics were discovered four feet under the ground by labourers while digging for construction works at Langthabal. A large number of rusted empty cases, water bottles, one grenade, shells, spades, a rusted tin can, and items that are yet to be identified were recovered. Further digging is underway to recover other items, an official said. The relics are believed to be left behind by the Allied Forces, as there was an Allied camp at nearby Canchipur hills during the World War 2 period, another official said. In 1944, forces of Imperial Japan surrounded the hills of Manipur but could not overrun the massive Allied army camps set up in different parts of Imphal valley. The Battle of Imphal, along with the Battle of Kohima involving Imperial Japan, Azad Hind, and Allied Forces comprising British and Indian soldiers, is considered Britain's greatest war by the British National Army museum. The battle was a significant victory for Allied Forces and stopped the Japanese advance to then British India. More than 54,000 Japanese troops were killed or wounded, while more than 12,000 Allied soldiers died or got injured in the Battle of Imphal.
New Straits Times
15 hours ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Sleepless in Kyiv: War takes psychological toll on city's residents
SEVERAL nights a week, Daria Slavytska packs a yoga mat, blankets and food into a stroller and descends with her 2-year-old Emil into the Kyiv subway. While air raid sirens wail above, the 27-year-old tries to snatch a few hours' sleep safely below ground. For the past two months, Russia has unleashed nighttime drone and missile assaults on Kyiv in a summer offensive that is straining the city's air defences, and has its 3.7 million residents exhausted and on edge. Other towns and villages have seen far worse since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022 — especially those close to the frontline far to the east and south. Many have been damaged or occupied as Russia advances, and thousands of people have fled to the capital, considered the best-defended city in the country. But recent heavy attacks are beginning to change the mood. At night, residents rush to metro stations deep underground in scenes reminiscent of the German "Blitz" bombings of London during World War 2. Slavytska has started nervously checking Telegram channels at home even before the city's alarms sound, after she found herself in early July running into the street to reach the metro with explosions already booming in the sky. The number of people like Slavytska taking refuge in the cavernous Soviet-era ticket halls and drafty platforms of Kyiv's 46 underground stations soared after large-scale bombardments slammed the city five times in June. Previously, the loud air raid alert on her phone sent Emil into bouts of shaking and he would cry "Corridor, corridor, mum. I'm scared. Corridor, mum," said Slavytska. Now, accustomed to the attacks, he says more calmly "Mum, we should go." The subway system recorded 165,000 visits during June nights, more than double the 65,000 visits in May and nearly five times the number in June last year, said its press service. More people were heading to the shelter because of "the scale and lethality" of attacks, said the head of Kyiv's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko. He said strikes killed 78 Kyiv residents and injured more than 400 in the first half of the year. In April, a strike destroyed a residential building a couple of kilometres from Slavytska's apartment block. "It was so, so loud. Even my son woke up and I held him in my arms in the corridor," she said. "It was really scary." After seeing how stressed Emil became after the air alerts, Slavytska sought help from a paediatrician, who recommended she turn off her phone's loud notifications and prescribed a calming medication. Scientists and psychologists say the lack of sleep is taking its toll on a population worn down by more than three years of war. Kateryna Holtsberh, a family psychologist who practises in Kyiv, said sleep deprivation caused by the attacks was causing mood swings, extreme stress and apathy, leading to declined cognitive functions in both kids and adults. "Many people say if you sleep poorly, your life will turn into hell and your health will suffer," said Kateryna Storozhuk, another Kyiv region resident. "I didn't understand this until it happened to me." Anton Kurapov, post-doctoral scholar at the University of Salzburg's Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, said it was hard to convey to outsiders what it felt like to be under attack. "Imagine a situation where you go out into the street and a person is shot in front of you ... and what fear you experience, your heart sinks," he said. "People experience this every day, this feeling." As she tries to squeeze out more hours of sleep in the subway, Slavytska is looking into buying a mattress to bring underground that would be more comfortable than her mat. Others are taking more extreme measures. Small business owner Storozhuk, who had no shelter within 3km of her home, invested over US$2,000 earlier this year in a Ukrainian-made "Capsule of Life" reinforced steel box, capable of withstanding falling concrete slabs. She climbs in nightly, with her Chihuahua, Zozulia.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Exhibition digs up lost stories from the city's oldest cemeteries
Photo: Christchurch City Council A new exhibition aims to shed light on the stories from Christchurch's oldest cemeteries. Grave Insights: Plotting Lives in Christchurch Cemeteries is part of the regular series, Tuakiri Investigates. It will run from Thursday, July 24, to September 14 at Tūranga. The project has been developed to complement the Christchurch Family History Expo, which is being held from August 2-3. Said city council acting head of libraries and information Rosie Levi: 'This exhibition will appeal to anyone who might have spent time meandering in some of the city's older cemeteries and wondered at the people buried there – who they were and the lives they might have led.' Using the cemetery plans and other resources, the Tuakiri team uncovered some of those lost stories. John Guntrip was buried alongside his second wife, Sarah, in plot 89C at the Barbadoes St Cemetery. Photo: Supplied They include a grandmother and grandson buried side by side, a soldier buried at sea, and one of Christ Church Cathedral's first bell-ringers among them. John Guntrip was buried in plot 89C at the Barbadoes St Cemetery, alongside his second wife Sarah. John was head sexton at the cemetery for many years after he beat out 38 other candidates to claim the position in 1875. Originally John was a gardener from Middlesex. He arrived in the city on the Huntress in 1863 and started showing his horticultural skills, creating fruit, vegetable and flower displays for Christchurch Horticultural Society shows. He also became one of the first bellringers at the newly built Christ Church Cathedral in 1881. John died in 1916. The Rutherford Street (Woolston) Cemetery opened in 1852. Photo: Supplied Another story to arise was about Mary Ann Harvey. Mary was buried in the Rutherford St (Woolston) Cemetery following her death on February 29, 1917. Her granddaughter Lillian May Arnold, died on December 22, 1916, and was buried at the foot of the plot. Mary also rests alongside a memorial to her son, Josiah, who died at sea from influenza somewhere between Sierra Leone, West Africa, and Plymouth, England, on his way to World War 2. The Rutherford St Cemetery opened in 1851 and closed in 1885. It is the oldest cemetery in the city, followed by Woolston Cemetery, which dates back to 1866.
The Print
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
SubscriberWrites: Operation Sindoor & the rise of ‘Made in India' defence
During the recent conflict, Pakistan had literally no answer to India's missiles, drones, unmanned air vehicles which ended up with not only decimation of some of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist bases but also with serious damages to their frontline runways and vital military bases. When Pakistan tried to retaliate with drones, missiles and aircrafts, our air power, air defence systems and anti-drone systems proved to be superior and successfully repelled their attempts again and again. What shocked Pakistan, surprised rest of the world and brought joy to own citizens was the fact that most of the weapon platfoems and the air defence systems and anti drone systems used were 'Made in India'. Your Turn is a unique section from ThePrint featuring points of view from its subscribers. If you are a subscriber, have a point of view, please send it to us. If not, do subscribe here: This changes the equation between India and our immediate adversaries and also with other countries as far as defence equipment and their production is concerned. Our successes in Operation Sindoor where we outrightly dominated the Pakistanis in weapon systems and equipment has made the world sit up and notice the scientific and technological advances we have made in defence production. It is a well known fact that outcome of wars and ability of the armed forces is heavily dependent on the availability of superior quality defence equipment. They can range from basic requirement like boots and helmets worn by the soldiers to small weapons, ammunition, vehicles etc and extend to complex war platforms like modern armoured fighting vehicles, fighter aircrafts, aircraft carrier warships, submarines and many more. Modern warfare is very much technology and equipment dependent which include effective surveillance, air defence systems and anti-drone systems as demonstrated in the recent conflicts across the world. The Indian ordinance factories were set up by the British to provide ammunition, equipment and military stores to their armed forces and to the allied forces during World War 2. Until recently, the Indian Ordinance Factories controlled by the Ordinance Factory Board produced small arms like pistols and rifles, vehicles like military jeeps and trucks, armoured vehicles like tanks, artillery guns, various grades of ammunition and explosives and a wide variety of military equipment and stores. During the initial years, critical equipment, arms and ammunition were imported from countries which were ahead in technology primarily because of their power, stability and economy. One of the major concern in importing arms, ammunition and equipment is that we also need the transfer of technology so that India can produce them along with their spares (for replacement and maintenance) within the country and thus preference was given to countries like Russia (erstwhile USSR), France, Sweden and few others who were willing to transfer their technology, train our people and help in setting up the production infrastructure. It is definitely wise not to depend too much on imported equipment, arms, ammunition and war machinery. The failures and shortcomings of Chinese equipment especially their radars, missiles. anti-aircraft and other air defence systems used by Pakistan is a good reason why we should continue in our endeavour for self reliance in defence production. By developing our own weapon sysytems and war equipment we can ensure catering to the exact requirement of our defence forces as per the threat perceptions and our strategic objectives, which may not always be achieved by going for off-the-shelf products of foreign origin. Continuous supply of ammunition, spare parts and maintenance especially during conflicts and operations is another major concern which can get affected by changes in global stability, international relations, economic and political conditions in the countries of import and any such eventualities. We have been successful in producing missiles like Nag, Akash, Prithvi and Agni, primarily because of the effort of our ex-President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam who also spearheaded the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and have acquired reasonably competent expertise in this field. We have had limited success in our efforts for other war equipment because of political, economic and administrative reasons. National politics played its part in prioritising our effort of upgrading the vintage ordinance factories, setting up of a strong R&D base and revamping the production of war equipment as per the requirement of the military. The past decade has seen India planning, designing, developing and manufacturing state of the art war equipment and the results have been more than satisfactory. We have developed our own assault rifle, artillery guns, combat helicopters, fighter aircrafts, warships, aircraft carrier warships, nuclear submarines, radars, anti-drone systems and many other. The involvement of private sector is a welcome change and has given a much needed boost to defence production. The defence verticals of the private industry will attract and retain some of our best engineering brains and scientific minds which will help in R&D and production. But, this is just the beginning of our new phase in self reliance in defence production and it must remain a work in progress at a larger scale and faster pace. The government's policy of involving and encouraging the private industry has been a gamechanger in our mission to become self reliant. The combination of established defence public sector undertakings and capable frontline private sector companies and startups will help us achieve the much needed self reliance in defence production and also bring handsome revenue from export to foreign countries as decided by the government.
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Netflix now streaming World War 2 film 'more captivating than Dunkirk'
Gary Oldman won an Oscar for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, with viewers now able to stream the critically-acclaimed biopic on Netflix A fresh arrival on Netflix UK is Darkest Hour, the World War 2 drama wherein Gary Oldman delivers an Oscar-winning portrayal of Winston Churchill. Previously taken off the platform, Netflix users can watch the Oscar-winning picture again as of July 2025. Helmed by Joe Wright, who directed the wartime romance Atonement, the story unfolds during one crucial month where Churchill considers negotiating peace with Hitler or continuing the fight. The wartime drama garnered nominations across the Academy Awards, BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and beyond. The movie boasts an 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics' consensus states: "Darkest Hour is held together by Gary Oldman's electrifying performance, which brings Winston Churchill to life even when the movie's narrative falters." Acclaim for Oldman's turn was virtually unanimous, though critics were divided about the merits of the overall film. As The New Yorker put it: "How badly we need another Winston Churchill film is open to question. Nonetheless, Joe Wright's contribution to the genre is welcome, largely because of Gary Oldman in the leading role." "It's an amazing performance: the only star turn I've seen in which a famous actor visible in nearly every scene would be unrecognisable if we didn't know his name already," said The Financial Times. However, Metro praised Wright for bringing his "trademark flashes of visual aplomb" as a director, observing: "[He] captures the peril of Nazi invasion with thrilling immediacy, despite being almost entirely confined to the claustrophobic corridors of power." Reviewers also drew parallels with Dunkirk, with the Radio Times' Damon Wise calling Darkest Hour a "near-perfect companion piece" to that film. Darkest Hour plot summary The World War 2 drama focuses on a brief but pivotal moment in British history. Beginning in May 1940, the story opens as Neville Chamberlain is compelled to step down as prime minister. Churchill, unpopular even with fellow Conservatives, assumes the role of PM whilst Nazi troops push westward. Facing pressure to broker a peace deal with Germany, Churchill confronts a cabinet poised for mutiny. Despite this, Churchill launches Operation Dynamo, also known as the Dunkirk evacuation . The film concludes with Oldman delivering Churchill's iconic 'We shall fight on the beaches' address to the House of Commons that galvanised public support for the conflict. What audiences think of the film Darkest Hour boasts an 82% 'fresh' rating with Rotten Tomatoes vieweres. One person commented: "The film has it's flaws, but Gary Oldman is phenomenal in this." A Google user was moved to write: "Darkest Hour is so well crafted on a whole movie level start to finish and so well acted and again I got teared up a couple times last night after seeing DH again finally and that to me is a movie doing its job being powerful as it is!". The top Letterboxd review, with 800 likes, joked: "I want a cage match with Joe Wright and Tom Hooper [director of The King's Speech]." Drawing comparisons to Dunkirk, another said: "An electric chamber piece that couldn't more perfectly complement 'Dunkirk' if Christopher Nolan wrote it, 'Darkest Hour' is as rousing and ferocious as Winston Churchill was himself.' Meanwhile, over on the MoviePassClub subreddit, a cinema buff admitted: "I definitely enjoyed Darkest Hour more than Dunkirk, as Dunkirk did not make us care about any of its characters, other than wondering what the writers or director thought killing off the youngster in the boat accomplished for their story. Anyhow, a whole lot more context in the Churchill story than in the Dunkirk movie."
