StrangeSights: Seagull screeching champions; playing chess for 60 hours; and Russians give toads a helping hand…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
More than 400 detained in Russia at events in memory of Navalny, rights group says
St Petersburg, Russia Reuters More than 400 people have been detained at events across 32 Russian cities since the death of Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most formidable opponent, according to rights group OVD-Info, as Russians continued to gather and lay flowers. It has been the largest wave of arrests at political events in Russia […]
Russia rounds up thousands of migrants at New Year’s Eve festivities – reports
Reuters Russia’s police have detained thousands of migrants across the country in New Year’s Eve raids with scores of them facing deportation, Russian media reported on Monday. About 3,000 migrants were detained in Russia’s second-largest city of St Petersburg during checks “to prevent crime,” Russia’s RIA state news agency reported. “As it turned out, more […]
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy thanks Bakhmut defenders as Wagner head says town has fallen
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Fighting around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut remained “particularly hot”, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, giving no indication the city had finally fallen to Russia as claimed by the founder of the Wagner mercenary force. Yevgeny Prigozhin said his troops, involved in a months-long effort to encircle and capture the bombed-out city, […]
Russians lay flowers at improvised memorials to commemorate Dnipro dead
Reuters Russians in St Petersburg and Moscow have been laying flowers at improvised memorials to the victims of a Russian missile attack on a nine-storey apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Tuesday, after calling off search operations, that 44 people were confirmed dead from Saturday’s attack, including […]
Russia cracks down on home front as its troops invade Ukraine
Moscow, RussiaReuters Police on Thursday detained more than 1,600 Russians who protested against Russia’s multi-pronged military operation in Ukraine, while authorities threatened to block media reports that contain what Moscow described as “false information”. In acts of cautious, but unusual dissent, Russian pop stars, journalists, a television comedian and a footballer opposed the war online […]
World Council of Churches’ head condemns St Petersburg bombing; death toll rises to 14
The general secretary of the World Council of Churches has condemned the deadly bomb attack on a St Petersburg subway in Russia as “cruel and despicable” and called for prayer for the victims and their loved ones. The death toll has now risen to at least 14 people. Almost 50 were injured in the attack […]