Russia vows to ramp up operations as rockets pound Ukraine
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Russia said on Saturday its forces would step up military operations in Ukraine in “all operational areas” as Moscow’s rockets and missiles pounded cities in strikes that Kyiv says have killed dozens in recent days. Rockets hit the north-eastern town of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv region overnight, killing three people including a 70-year-old […]
Russian-held Popasna in Ukraine is a ghost town after end of siege
Popasna, Ukraine Reuters Two months after falling to Russian troops, the eastern Ukrainian town of Popasna that once was home to 20,000 residents has turned into a ghost town with little sign of life. Ukrainian troops retreated from Popasna in May after Russian forces launched an offensive along most of Ukraine’s eastern flank, with intense […]
“Not many of us left”: France races to record memories of 1942 Jewish roundup
Paris, FranceReuters When police came knocking on the door of his eastern Paris home on 16th July, 1942, 15-year-old French Jew Joseph Schwartz was no longer there. Forewarned, he and his father Lejbus had gone into hiding. He had assumed his mother Ruchla and younger brother Paul would be safe – the few roundups of […]
Top court warns Hong Kong against risk of prosecuting “thought crimes”
Hong Kong, ChinaReuters Hong Kong’s highest court on Friday overturned the conviction of a protester for carrying plastic zip fasteners, with judges warning that the authorities’ expanded interpretation of the law risked creating a “thought crime”. Chan Chun-kit was sentenced to five-and-a-half-months’ jail by a lower court after his arrest in November, 2019, towards the […]
Biden confronts Saudi Crown Prince over Khashoggi murder, expects action on energy
Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaReuters US President Joe Biden said on Friday he told Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman he held him responsible for the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, shortly after exchanging a fist bump with the kingdom’s de facto ruler. On a trip to reset relations with a country he had […]
Deep listening: As politics poison churches, in the US a non-profit is teaching a new skill
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, reports that Resetting the Table does not seek agreement. But it hopes the techniques it teaches will allow people to see each other in all their humanity…
Heatwave scorches Europe; health warnings issued
Leiria, Portugal/London, UKReuters Hundreds more people were evacuated from their homes as wildfires blistered land in France, Spain and Portugal on Friday, while officials in Europe issued health warnings for the heatwave in the coming days. More than 1,000 firefighters, supported by water-bomber aircraft, have battled since Tuesday to control two blazes in southwestern France […]
UN urges end to Haiti gangs weapons supply; China wanted embargo
United Nations Reuters The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously threatened targeted sanctions against criminal gangs and human rights abusers in Haiti and called on countries to stop a flow of guns to the strife-torn Caribbean country. Violence has soared since the assassination last year of President Jovenel Moise, which created a political vacuum […]
Ukrainian city grieves four-year-old girl after Russian missile attack
Vinnytsia, UkraineReuters A Ukrainian city far from the frontline grieved its dead including a four-year-old girl with Down’s Syndrome, while Russian missiles continued to rain on other cities across the country. Late on Friday, Russian missiles hit Dnipro, killing three people and wounding 15 others, the local Governor said on Telegram. Rockets hit an industrial […]
Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa ousted, search begins for next leader
Colombo, Sri LankaReuters Sri Lanka’s parliament accepted the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday after he fled the country, paving the way for lawmakers to start repairing the island’s shattered politics and resume efforts to ease its economic crisis. After suffering from crippling shortages of petrol and diesel and runaway prices of basic items […]