Over 10,000 displaced in Haiti after violence escalates north of capital
Port-au-Prince, HaitiReuters More than 10,000 people have fled their homes in parts of Haiti’s central department, the United Nations’ migration agency said on Wednesday, after a series of gang attacks in recent days including in a hospital north of the capital. Under-resourced police have struggled with heavily armed gangs who gained territory and massively expanded […]
Burkina Faso junta says it thwarted coup attempt
Dakar, SenegalReuters Burkina Faso’s military junta on Wednesday said a coup attempt had been thwarted the previous day by security and intelligence services, without providing specifics on what had happened. In a statement it said officers and others had planned to destabilise the country with “the dark intention of attacking the institutions of the Republic […]
Azerbaijan arrests former top Karabakh minister as exodus tops 50,000
Goris, Armenia Reuters A former head of the breakaway ethnic Armenian government in Nagorno-Karabakh was arrested by Azerbaijan on Wednesday as he tried to escape into Armenia as part of an exodus of tens of thousands of people that has triggered a humanitarian crisis. Ruben Vardanyan, a billionaire banker and philanthropist, headed Karabakh’s separatist government […]
US soldier Travis King heads home after North Korea expels him
Washington DC, US/Seoul, South KoreaReuters Private Travis King, the US soldier who ran into North Korea in July, is in US custody and heading home after being expelled by North Korea into China, the United States said on Wednesday. While details about the diplomacy that led to King’s transfer remained scarce, the development was a […]
Books: Inspiration for the “new face of liturgy and art for the public square”
ANGELA YOUNGMAN reads a book that’s all about taking Jesus outside the church walls…
Please return if found: British Museum seeks help to recover missing treasures
London, UKReuters The British Museum launched a public hotline on Tuesday asking for help to locate some 2,000 missing artefacts, revealing they were mostly ancient Greek and Roman gems and jewellery. The museum said last month it had sacked a staff member over stolen, missing or damaged items in a crisis that highlighted internal failings […]
Philippines urges fishermen to keep up presence at China-held shoal
Manila, The PhilippinesReuters The coastguard of the Philippines urged the country’s fishermen on Wednesday to keep operating at the disputed Scarborough Shoal and other sites in the South China Sea, pledging to step up patrols there despite an imposing Chinese presence. Philippine vessels were unable to maintain a constant presence but were committed to protecting […]
StrangeSights: Stay in Shrek’s swamp; a new dog-watching record; and, messages in bottles…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Serbs in Kosovo mourn those killed in monastery shootout
Pristina, Kosovo/Belgrade, SerbiaReuters The main political party representing Serbs in northern Kosovo declared three days of mourning on Tuesday for people killed in a gunbattle in a monastery with Kosovo police, after the worst violence for years in the contested area. Kosovo authorities say around 30 heavily armed Serbs stormed the village of Banjska on […]
Russia’s Navalny faces decades behind bars as judge rejects appeal
London, UKReuters Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, lost his appeal on Tuesday against a new 19-year prison term that extends his total sentence to more than 30 years. After a hearing that was closed to the media, despite protests from Navalny and his lawyers, he stood in his black prison uniform and listened […]