Fire in packed Hong Kong building kills five, dozens in hospital
Hong Kong Reuters A fire broke out in a densely populated residential building in Hong Kong’s bustling Kowloon district on Wednesday, killing five people and injuring 35 others, the city’s hospital authority and fire services said. People inside the 16-storey building waved towels at windows to signal for rescue, broadcaster RTHK said, adding that the […]
Dozens of Christians arrested after shutting down US Senate lunch in protest of Gaza famine
Washington DC, US RNS “Woe to you who eat while others go hungry,” shouted two lines of Christian pastors and laypeople. With arms linked, they stood between the food and cash registers in the US Senate cafeteria and brought lunch to a standstill for about half an hour before US Capitol Police quickly completed arrests. […]
Arizona’s top court revives 19th century abortion ban
Reuters Arizona’s top court on Tuesday revived a ban on nearly all abortions under a law from 1864, a half century before statehood and women’s suffrage, further restricting reproductive rights in a state where terminating a pregnancy was already barred at 15 weeks of gestation. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled four-to-two in favour of an […]
StrangeSights: New claim for world’s oldest man; proposing during a solar eclipse; and, music, not too fast, not too slow, in Chechnya
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Sudan’s war spills into farming state hosting displaced people
Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters Drones hit the Sudanese city of al-Gadaref on Tuesday, eyewitnesses and the local governor said, bringing the country’s devastating war to a calm farming state where almost half a million displaced people have taken refuge. Gadaref is the capital of al-Gadaref State that has remained under military control as the […]
South Koreans vote for new parliament after economy, corruption dominate campaign
Seoul, South Korea Reuters South Koreans vote to elect a new parliament on Wednesday in a bitterly fought race seen by some analysts as a referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose popularity has suffered amid a cost of living crisis and a spate of political scandals. The opposition Democratic Party (DP), which already dominates […]
UN nuclear watchdog’s board sets emergency meeting after Zaporizhzhia attacks
Vienna, Austria Reuters The UN nuclear watchdog’s Board of Governors will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday at the request of both Ukraine and Russia to discuss attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, after the enemies accused each other of drone attacks. The International Atomic Energy Agency has said drones struck the Russian-held facility […]
Spain’s parliament to draft amnesty bill for undocumented migrants
Madrid, Spain Reuters Spain’s lower house of parliament voted on Tuesday to start working on a bill that would legalise hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants, based on a proposal by civil society groups that had collected more than 600,000 signatures backing it. Political parties now have up to two months to amend the proposal […]
UN records sharp rise in civilian deaths, injuries in Ukraine in March
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters United Nations monitors have recorded a sharp increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine last month as Russian forces have stepped up attacks, the UN Human Rights Office said on Tuesday. The toll included at least 57 children killed or injured in March, double the number from February, it said. Emergency workers carry […]
Slavery tribunal?: Africa, Caribbean unite on reparations
CATARINA DEMONY, of Reuters, reports on the support building for the creation of an international tribunal on atrocities dating to the transatlantic trade of enslaved people…