"Lord. I became weak in my eyes because of my old age," Putin joked himself.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual press conference did not pass without its lighter moments, in Moscow on Thursday.
One incident that had the audience erupt into laughter was when the president mistook the word "babay" ('Grandpa' in Tatar) for the English "bye-bye." A journalist was holding a poster reading "Babay, Putin!," which led to the confusion.
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"To sharpen your question, I see a girl over there raising a poster, on it is written - Putin, bye-bye. Let us sharpen it. Ah, 'babay,'" Putin said, "Lord. I became weak in my eyes because of my old age."
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Another joke came from Putin's press-secretary Dmitri Peskov who said he had received an SMS "in which I am being accused of treating RT like the US State Department would do, [by] not letting them ask a question."
The Russian president, who is famous for peppering his speeches with anecdotes and jokes, delivered one this time around concerning the dangers of getting dragged into an arms race with the US, which had his audience in peels of laughter. Here, Putin comments on the dangers of competing military buildups in the context of Russian defence spending plans.
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Putin said, "I sometimes tell you different jokes about this. I can tell you another one. It is kind of an old one. But still more modern. A former officer's son comes to him, and he asks his son - Son, I had a cutlass here, have you seen it? The son says - father, do not talk me out, I exchanged it for a watch. The father says - let me see, that is a good watch; and tomorrow bandits will come to us, I will be killed, mother will be killed, your elder sister will be raped and you will come out and say - Good evening, Moscow time is 12:30."
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NEW YORK (AP) — Fellow former hostages, family and coworkers celebrated the life of journalist and philanthropist Terry Anderson Wednesday, remembering a man who helped others while struggling to heal himself.
The news writer became a news subject when he was taken hostage in Lebanon by members of an Islamic extremist group in 1985. At the time, he was chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press, had one daughter and his future wife was six months pregnant. He was one of the longest-held hostages in U.S. history, captive for 2,454 days.
Anderson died on April 21 at his home in Greenwood Lake, New York. He was 76. The memorial on Wednesday was shown on YouTube by the Overseas Press Club.
More than a year into captivity, two new hostages were moved into his jail, men from Northern Ireland and England who spoke at his memorial from the AP office in New York. They said Anderson's hunger for intellectual stimulation had him verbally pounce on them, squeezing them for knowledge of current events, histories of their homelands and any shred of literature they could share.
He “prodded and poked at something for weeks and weeks until you almost had nothing left to tell him," said Brian Keenan, originally from Belfast, who was teaching English in Beirut when he was kidnapped and later found himself imprisoned with Anderson.
“Terry’s bullish, stubborn nature was a really vital part of our survival together,” said John McCarthy, a British journalist and fellow hostage who attended the memorial, crediting him for pestering guards to give them books, a radio at one point and crucially — respect. "It was about constantly reminding the men with the guns ... that we were human beings.”
Terry Anderson received a hero’s welcome when he was freed in 1991, from the AP and New York state. Mourners remembered how he kept his sense of humor. Louis Boccardi, who had been leading the AP for two-and-half-months when Anderson was kidnapped, had arranged for Anderson to spend time in the mountains in Europe to speak with trauma counselors.
“'I haven’t been in the warm sunshine for six and a half years. And you want me to go to the Alps?'” Boccardi recalled Anderson saying. The counseling was moved to the Caribbean.
Anderson struggled with PTSD and, his ex-wife revealed at the memorial, was unable to fully heal from his ordeal. But he was rarely idle and pursued healing and growth for others. Anderson taught journalism and led philanthropic efforts to help children and veterans.
“Terry wanted his students to write with purpose and conviction, to speak the truth through power, with authority and without fear,” said Keenan.
A Vietnam War veteran, Anderson helped found the Vietnam Children’s Fund, which built 51 schools in that country over decades.
On Wednesday, New York State Sen. James Skoufis presented a posthumous Liberty Medal for Anderson's contributions to journalism and his advocacy for homeless veterans in Hudson Valley. Skoufis said that Anderson spent seven years advocating for funding for a veteran's housing program, which was approved only months ago, in the form of a $1 million federal grant.
John McCarthy, a British journalist and one of three fellow hostages held with Terry Anderson, speaks at a memorial gathering for Anderson at the Associated Press headquarters in New York, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)
Louis Boccardi, who had been leading the Associated Press for two-and-half-months when Terry Anderson was kidnapped speaks at a memorial gathering for Anderson at the AP headquarters in New York, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)
New York State Senator James Skoufis, right, and Sulome Anderson, Terry Anderson's daughter, attend a memorial gathering for Anderson at the Associated Press headquarters in New York, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Skoufis presented a posthumous Liberty Medal for Anderson's contributions to journalism, and his advocacy for homeless veterans in the Hudson Valley. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)
Brian Keenan speaks during a memorial gathering for Terry Anderson at the Associated Press headquarters in New York, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Keenan, originally from Belfast, who was teaching English in Beirut when he was kidnapped and later found himself in a cell with Anderson. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)
FILE - Terry Anderson, who was the longest held American hostage in Lebanon, grins with his 6-year-old daughter Sulome, Dec. 4, 1991, as they leave the U.S. Ambassador's residence in Damascus, Syria, following Anderson's release. Fellow former hostages, family, and coworkers celebrated the life of journalist and philanthropist Terry Anderson, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, as a man who helped others while struggling to heal himself. (AP Photo/Santiago Lyon, File)
FILE - Wearing a "Hello World" sweatshirt printed with his picture, former hostage Terry Anderson greets colleagues, Dec. 10, 1991, at The Associated Press headquarters in New York, as he walks with his arm around fiancée Madeleine Bassil, center right. Fellow former hostages, family, and coworkers celebrated the life of journalist and philanthropist Terry Anderson, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, as a man who helped others while struggling to heal himself. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm, File)
FILE - Former hostage Terry Anderson, center, carries his daughter Sulome, 6, through a crunch of media upon arrival to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Dec. 10, 1991. At left is Sulome's mother, Madeleine Bassil, and at immediate right is Associated Press President Lou Boccardi. Fellow former hostages, family, and coworkers celebrated the life of journalist and philanthropist Terry Anderson, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, as a man who helped others while struggling to heal himself. (AP Photo/Ed Bailey, File)
FILE - Former hostage Terry Anderson, accompanied by his daughter Sulome and her mother, Madeleine Bassil, arrives to a festive welcome, Dec. 12, 1991, at Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Va. Fellow former hostages, family, and coworkers celebrated the life of journalist and philanthropist Terry Anderson, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, as a man who helped others while struggling to heal himself. AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File)
FILE - Former hostage and Associated Press Middle East chief correspondent Terry Anderson, center left, hugs colleague Jim Abrams during a visit to the Washington bureaus of The Associated Press in Washington, Dec. 12, 1991. Fellow former hostages, family, and coworkers celebrated the life of journalist and philanthropist Terry Anderson, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, as a man who helped others while struggling to heal himself. (AP Photo/Greg Gibson, File)
FILE - Former hostage Terry Anderson waves to the crowd as he rides in a parade in Lorain, Ohio, June 22, 1992. Fellow former hostages, family, and coworkers celebrated the life of journalist and philanthropist Terry Anderson, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, as a man who helped others while struggling to heal himself. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)
