Los Angeles, US
RNS

Detractors and ex-members of La Luz del Mundo say its leader deserved a more severe punishment than the nearly 17-year sentence he received on Wednesday for sexually abusing young female followers who said he made them his sex slaves.

In court, five young

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Abuja, Nigeria
Reuters

Nigerian authorities suspect the insurgent group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) carried out a massacre in a Catholic church on Sunday in which 40 people were killed, Interior Minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola said on Thursday.

Assailants wielding AK-47 rifles and explosives attacked the congregation

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Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid tribute on Thursday to Tsar Peter the Great on the 350th anniversary of his birth, drawing a parallel between what he portrayed as their twin historic quests to win back Russian lands.

"Peter the Great waged the Great Northern War for 21

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Updated: 11am
Kyiv/Sloviansk, Ukraine
Reuters

Ukraine said on Thursday its forces were holding their positions in intense fighting in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and had retaken ground in the south, targetting gains in the biggest swathe of territory seized by Russia since the invasion started.

Russia

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Colombo, Sri Lanka
Reuters

Swathes of Sri Lanka were hit by electricity cuts on Thursday after a power sector union went on strike opposing new government regulations, compounding hardships as the country tackles a crippling economic crisis.

About 900 out of around 1,100 engineers of the state-run Ceylon

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London, UK
Reuters

Britain on Wednesday said it had agreed a comprehensive plan to reform the governance of the British Virgin Islands without direct rule from London at this stage after an official report found systemic dishonesty in the British overseas territory.

While an inquiry in April had

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Hattula, Finland
Reuters

Just days after Russia attacked Ukraine on 24th February, Finnish entrepreneur Sissi Moberg found herself scouring the internet for courses that could teach her skills to help defend Finland in case of a military attack.

"I felt very sad for the Ukrainians. And

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Dhaka, Bangladesh
Reuters

Police in Bangladesh on Wednesday opened an investigation into eight officials from a shipping container depot after a blaze killed at least 44 people, including 10 firefighters, and injured around 200 others, officials said.

Firefighters put out the blaze at the depot in Sitakunda, 40 kilometres

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Managua, Nicaragua
Reuters

Two former presidential candidates are among more than 180 political prisoners in Nicaragua undergoing "the worst kinds of human rights abuses," their lawyer said Wednesday. 

One year after Juan Sebastian Chamorro and Felix Maradiaga were arrested ahead of Nicaragua's disputed 2021 election, neither has spoken

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Kyiv, Ukraine
Reuters

Turkey said on Wednesday a United Nations plan to set up a sea corridor for Ukrainian grain exports overseen by Ankara was "reasonable", but required more talks with Moscow and Kyiv to ensure ships would be safe.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February halted Kyiv's

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London, UK
Reuters

Human rights groups said they had submitted papers at the High Court in London on Wednesday to get an injunction to halt next week's planned deportation of asylum seekers from Britain to Rwanda, a plan that has drawn widespread criticism.

Britain's government announced in April

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London, UK
Reuters

Russia's Orthodox Church has ousted its second most powerful bishop from his role in charge of foreign relations and sent him to Budapest, an abrupt decision indicating discord at the top of the Moscow Patriarchate over the war in Ukraine.

The Holy Synod, which met

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