Pope Francis has approved a new three-year reform process for the Catholic Church, sending a strong signal he plans to continue in the post despite spending more than a month in hospital battling pneumonia. The Vatican announced on Saturday that the 88-year-old pope had signed off on the reform plans from Rome’s Gemelli hospital on earlier in the wee. Francis ...
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian troops have not been encircled by Russian forces in Kursk region, accusing Russian leader Vladimir Putin of “lying” about the situation on the ground. Ukraine launched its shock incursion into Kursk in August, swiftly capturing territory in what was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II. The ...
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s response to a US-proposed ceasefire in Ukraine is “not good enough,” Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, after hosting a virtual summit aimed at drumming up support for Kyiv and piling pressure on Russia. After hosting a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” – a group of Western nations that have pledged to help defend ...
A Peruvian fisherman has been found alive in the Pacific Ocean after spending 95 days lost at sea, Peru’s state news agency Andina reported Saturday. Máximo Napa Castro, 61, set off on his fishing boat on December 7 from Marcona, a coastal town in the south of the country, but bad weather caused him to stray from his course and ...
The shopfronts are decked out in white, blue and red, with Chinese and Russian flags hanging side by side from the ceiling. Waist-high Russian dolls greet customers at the entrance. Inside, shelves are stocked with an array of Russian goods – from chocolates and cookies to honey and vodka. In China, pop-up stores specializing in Russian-made products have become an ...
It’s a new day in Europe. Gone are the halcyon years of unshakeable American commitment to Europe’s defense against Russia. Here to stay – at least while Donald Trump is in the White House is something more transactional. And the stakes couldn’t be higher. Europe must “step up in a big way to provide for its own defense,” US Vice ...
At least 59 people died and around 150 were injured after a fire tore through a nightclub in North Macedonia, with the country’s interior minister blaming pyrotechnics. Hundreds had gathered at the ‘Pulse’ nightclub in the town of Kochani, east of the capital Skopje, to watch local act DNK perform when the blaze broke out in the early hours of ...
Just hours after Islamist rebels ousted longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood at edge of the occupied Golan Heights and looked out over Syria. The historic downfall will create “very important opportunities” for Israel, he said in a video message. As Syria plunged into chaos after Assad’s fall – its war-ravaged people grappling ...
A British national has died in Kenya after being struck by a government vehicle that was part of the president’s motorcade. The man, named as Edgar Charles Frederick, 79, was killed on Thursday following the incident as President William Ruto’s motorcade made its way to a public engagement in the capital, Nairobi. The driver of the government vehicle was arrested ...
Iran is using aerial drones, facial recognition systems, and a citizen-reporting app to enforce mandatory hijab laws on women, according to a United Nations report released Friday. The report highlights Iran’s escalating reliance on technology to monitor and punish women defying the mandatory dress code. Central to this crackdown is the “Nazer” mobile application, a government-backed tool that allows citizens ...