Azerbaijan demands Karabakh mine access as condition to end protests blocking road
Baku, Azerbaijan Reuters Azerbaijan said on Tuesday that protests which have blocked the supply route to ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh for more than two weeks would be suspended if monitors were given access to what it calls illegal mining sites in the enclave. A crowd of Azerbaijanis has been engaged in a standoff with Russian […]
UN Security Council denounces Taliban bans on women in Afghanistan
United Nations Reuters The UN Security Council on Tuesday called for the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan, denouncing a ban by the Taliban-led administration on women attending universities or working for humanitarian aid groups. In a statement agreed by consensus, the 15-member council said the ban on women and […]
Ethnic fighting kills 56 in South Sudan, official says
Juba, South Sudan Reuters Clashes have killed 56 people during four days of fighting in South Sudan’s eastern Jonglei state, after youth from the Nuer community attacked another ethnic group, a local official said on Tuesday, with the Nuer making up most of the casualties. The territory of South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan […]
UN urges countries to help Rohingya at sea as hundreds land in Indonesia
Pidie, Indonesia Reuters The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, urged countries on Tuesday to help Rohingya Muslims stranded at sea as at least 20 reportedly died and hundreds more landed in Indonesia after weeks adrift in the Indian Ocean. Nearly 500 Rohingya have reached Indonesia in the past six weeks while “many others did not […]
Russia bans oil sales to countries that accept price cap
Kyiv/Bakhmut, Ukraine Reuters Russia announced on Tuesday it would ban oil sales to countries that abide by a price cap imposed this month by the West, giving its long-awaited response to the most dramatic step taken so far to limit Moscow’s ability to raise funds for its war in Ukraine. Under the price cap, which […]
Festive season in Moscow incorporates symbols of conflict
Moscow, Russia Reuters Outside the gates of Moscow’s Gorky Park, the three Latin letters Z, V and O – frontline military symbols now used to promote the conflict in Ukraine – loom on plinths. Nearby, traditional festive decorations and a giant decorative bauble jostle for attention as parents and children walk into the park to […]
The struggle to save the tropical plants of Kyiv’s Botanical Garden
Kyiv, UkraineReuters In the lush greenhouses of Kyiv’s National Botanical Garden, staff are struggling to save a decades-old collection of tropical plants after months of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid led to electricity outages, threatening the garden’s heating supply. Liudmyla Buiun, head of Tropical and Subtropical Plants Department, stands near a barrel with firewood […]
Peru arrests six generals amid graft investigation of ex-President Castillo
Lima, PeruReuters The anti-corruption unit of Peru’s Attorney General’s office on Monday detained six generals amid an investigation into allegations the government of ousted former President Pedro Castillo illegally promoted police and military officers. Police also seized “documents and devices” during a raid of the home of Castillo’s former Defence Minister Walter Ayala, the anti-corruption […]
Driver charged after 15 killed in Johannesburg tanker explosion
Johannesburg, South AfricaReuters The death toll from a gas tanker that exploded in Johannesburg on Saturday has nearly doubled to 15, authorities said, adding that they’d arrested the driver and charged him with culpable homicide. The blast, which tore the roof off the emergency department at the Tambo Memorial hospital, destroyed two houses, several cars […]
Hearing the Word: Bible podcasts help Christians resolving to read the old, old story in the new year
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, reports that while yearlong plans taking readers from Genesis to Revelation have been around for years, podcasts have more recently become a popular way for listeners to keep up with or better understand a daily Bible reading plan…