Nigerian gunmen kill eight, including police chief
Reuters Gunmen in north central Nigeria have killed eight people, including a divisional police chief, in the latest violence ahead of a presidential and parliamentary election later this month, police and a security source said on Wednesday. Insecurity is a big issue for voters in a country where armed gangs terrorise people in villages and […]
Sight-Seeing: When suffering comes, God is close
NILS VON KALM says God never promised to keep us from suffering, but promised to be with us through it…
UK’s teachers and civil servants join mass strike on ‘Walkout Wednesday’
London, UK Reuters Up to half a million British teachers, civil servants, and train drivers walked out over pay in the largest coordinated strike action for a decade on Wednesday, with unions threatening more disruption as the government digs its heels in over pay demands. The mass walkouts across the country shut schools, halted most […]
Ukraine raids home of billionaire in war-time anti-corruption crackdown
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Security services searched the home of one of Ukraine’s most prominent billionaires on Wednesday, moving against a figure once seen as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s sponsor in what the authorities called a wartime anti-corruption purge. The action, days before a summit with the European Union, appears to reflect determination by Kyiv to demonstrate […]
Myanmar junta extends emergency as coup anniversary marked by ‘silent protest’
Reuters Myanmar’s junta extended the country’s state of emergency by another six months, the acting President said at a leadership meeting broadcast on state TV on Wednesday, as protesters marked the anniversary of a 2021 military coup with a “silent protest”. Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing, in a meeting on Tuesday with the army-backed […]
Pope hears harrowing tales of Congo violence and says: ‘Enough!’
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo Reuters Pope Francis heard harrowing accounts from victims of conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, including rape, amputation, forced cannibalism and sexual slavery, and he condemned the atrocities as war crimes. In a poignant encounter at the Vatican’s embassy in the capital Kinshasa, victim after victim told their […]
Kyiv Zoo keeps Tony the gorilla warm despite daily power cuts
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Tony the gorilla, like other African primates, hates the cold and it is a constant challenge for his keepers at Kyiv Zoo to keep him warm and comfortable in the face of hours-long power cuts every day caused by the war. Russia has been bombarding Ukraine’s power grid and heating infrastructure in […]
Haitians in the US feel pressure to sponsor friends, family back home
Reuters Haitians in the United States are facing enormous pressure to help family and friends under a US migration program announced last month that may help some people escape Haiti’s escalating violence but is also putting strain on the nation’s diaspora. Giubert St Fort, a South Florida resident from Haiti said he was inundated with […]
StrangeSights: AI finds play; an axolotl museum; and, celebrating a 200th…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
In Mexico, broken baby Jesus statues flood restorers ahead of feast day
Mexico City, MexicoAP It is Maximinio Vertiz’ busy season. Dozens of beloved but worn and broken baby Jesus figurines will pass through this 49-year-old craftsman’s hands, restoring them in time for their annual pilgrimage to church for a Candlemas blessing. Holding a putty knife with a steady hand, Vertiz went about this meticulous task on […]