Russia acknowledges retreat north of Bakhmut, Wagner boss calls it a “rout”
Kyiv/Kostiantynivka, Ukraine Reuters Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back north of Ukraine’s battlefield city of Bakhmut after a new Ukrainian offensive, in a retreat that the head of Russia’s Wagner private army called a rout. The setback for Russia, which follows similar reports of Ukrainian advances south of the city, suggests […]
Warring Sudanese factions fight on after failing to agree truce; 200,000 have fled Sudan, says UN
Khartoum, SudanReuters Air strikes and artillery pounded Khartoum on Friday after Sudan’s warring army and Rapid Support Forces paramilitary failed to agree to a ceasefire despite committing to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access. A so-called declaration of principles was signed in Saudi Arabia late on Thursday after nearly a week of talks between the […]
Pope joins Meloni in urging Italians to have more kids, not pets
Rome, ItalyAP Pope Francis joined Italy’s conservative premier on Friday in encouraging Italians to have more children, denouncing the financial precariousness facing young couples and “selfish, egotistical” choices that have led to a record low birth rate that is threatening the country’s economic future. Francis urged concrete political action to invert the “demographic winter,” which […]
Former Pakistan PM Khan appears in court as supporters clash with police
Updated: 6:15pm (AEST)Islamabad, PakistanReuters Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived at an Islamabad court on Friday under heavy security cover as his supporters clashed with police elsewhere in the city, broadcaster Geo TV reported. Television footage showed heavily armed paramilitary troops and police outside the Islamabad High Court as Khan was brought in a […]
Snapshot: One Foot Island, Aitutaki Atoll, Cook Islands
See CHRISTOPH BURGDORFER’s image…
Mexico to launch database of over 100,000 ‘disappeared’ people
Mexico City, MexicoReuters Mexico will launch a new tool later this month to help record information on the tens of thousands of people who have gone missing, the country’s federal prosecutors office (FGR) said on Thursday. The registry is set to gather information from a number of databases covering mass and clandestine graves, arrests, torture […]
On the Screen: Grief, love – and Céline Dion
DAVID ADAMS watches ‘Love Again’…
Lutheran, Presbyterian schools moving to Chicago campus of Catholic Theological Union
Chicago, USRNS The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and McCormick Theological Seminary are moving into available space on the campus of Catholic Theological Union, creating a theological megacampus on the South Side of Chicago. The Lutheran School of Theology, a seminary belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, signed a lease on Wednesday […]
Philippine court acquits top critic of ex-President’s “war on drugs”
Manila, PhilippinesReuters A Philippine court on Friday acquitted former senator Leila De Lima, one of the fiercest critics of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, of a criminal charge stemming from allegations that as a cabinet minister she received money from drug dealers. De Lima, 63, has been in detention for the past six years and despite her […]
Israel kills senior Gaza commanders as rockets cause first death in Israel
Gaza/Jerusalem, Israel Reuters Israel killed the head of Islamic Jihad’s rocket force and his deputy, pressing an operation that has cost 30 lives in Gaza including women and children, while Palestinian cross-border rocket salvoes inflicted a first fatality in Israel on Thursday. Amid mediation efforts by Egypt, neither side seemed ready to douse the worst […]