Pope wants to simplify papal funeral rites, be buried outside Vatican
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis, who has shunned much of the Vatican’s pomp and privilege, has decided to vastly simplify the elaborate funeral rites for a pontiff and be the first one to be buried outside the Vatican in more than a century. The Pope, who turns 87 on Sunday, disclosed plans for his funeral in […]
Postcards: Thousands gather to honour Mexico’s Virgin of Guadalupe on anniversary of 1531 apparition
FERNANDA PESCE, of Associated Press, reports from Mexico City…
Tents flooded as Gaza rain worsens misery of displaced families
Rafah, Gaza Strip Reuters Strong wind and heavy rain in Gaza overnight on Wednesday brought even worse misery to displaced families, tearing and flooding flimsy tents, drenching clothes and blankets and making everyone cold. At a tent camp in Rafah, located on sandy terrain strewn with rubbish, people were trying to recover from a horrible […]
Armenia and Azerbaijan exchange prisoners at border
Azerbaijan-Armenia borderReuters Azerbaijan and Armenia traded prisoners-of-war at their border on Wednesday in a step towards normalising their relations after Azerbaijan achieved a decisive breakthrough in their decades-old conflict. An Azerbaijani national flag is seen next to the ancient Khodaafarin Bridge near the border with Iran in the area, which came under the control of […]
Kyivstar starts restoring voice services – CEO; Nordic nations vow to back Ukraine
London, UKReuters Ukraine’s top mobile phone operator Kyivstar started restoring voice services to some clients on Wednesday after its networks were knocked out by a major cyber attack, its CEO Oleksandr Komarov said, with data and other services to follow. The company, which provides services to more than half of Ukraine’s population, sustained “huge” damage […]
UN foresees more displacement because of Gaza conflict
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The United Nations refugee chief warned that the Gaza conflict could spur more displacement in the wider region as UN officials, politicians and aid groups gathered in Geneva on Wednesday to seek solutions to a global displacement crisis. A record 114 million people around the world have been driven from their homes, including […]
Israel suffers heaviest combat losses since October, diplomatic isolation
Cairo, Egypt/Gaza/Jerusalem Reuters Israel announced its worst combat losses in more than a month on Wednesday after an ambush in the ruins of Gaza, and faced growing diplomatic isolation as civilian deaths mounted and a humanitarian catastrophe worsened in the Palestinian territory. Intense fighting was under way in both north and south Gaza, a day […]
Verdicts in big Vatican corruption trial due on Saturday
Vatican CityReuters Defence lawyers at the Vatican’s big corruption trial, in which one of the 10 defendants is a cardinal, completed their summing up on Tuesday and the court president announced that the verdicts would be announced on Saturday. A Vatican trial of 10 people accused of financial crimes, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, resumes after a chief judge […]
53 injured as Russian ballistic missiles target Kyiv – Ukraine
Updated: 9pm (AEDT)Kyiv, UkraineReuters Russia’s second missile assault on Kyiv this week injured at least 53 people, damaging homes and a children’s hospital, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pleaded in Washington for more help for his country. The windows of residential apartment blocks were blown out and frightened residents streamed out […]
StrangeSights: Pardoned piglets; an unexpected presidential stop; and, Germany in ‘crisis mode’…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…