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[1/3] A man sits next to the body of his granddaughter who was killed during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 1, 2023. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted millions, shattered Ukrainian cities, and brought increasing attacks on Russian soil. Earlier, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), a far-right paramilitary group of ethnic Russians that supports Ukraine, had said it was fighting inside Russia. 'NO ONE OPENED SHELTER'In Kyiv, Ukraine said it shot down 10 ballistic and Iskander cruise missiles in Russia's 18th attack on the capital since the start of May. Russia denies targeting civilians or committing war crimes but its forces have devastated Ukrainian cities and repeatedly hit residential areas since the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion.

Persons: Vyacheslav Gladkov, Yaroslav Ryabchuk, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Maia Sandu, Guy Faulconbridge, Felix Light, Olena Harmash, John Irish, Andrew Gray, Andrew Cawthorne, Ros Russell, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: REUTERS, Moldova KYIV, Russia's, Russian Volunteer Corps, Belgorod region's, Soviet Union, NATO, Moldovan, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Kyiv, Moldova, MOSCOW, Russia, Ukrainian, Shebekino, Moscow, Belgorod, Soviet, Western, EU, Scandinavia, Denmark, Lithuania, NATO

☆ Protester turned protector, Ben-Gvir officiates uneasily at Jerusalem Pride
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Emily Rose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, June 1 (Reuters) - Accustomed to a hostile response from some religious residents of Jerusalem, participants in the city's Gay Pride parade on Thursday found themselves in the unwelcome situation of looking to a far-rightist former adversary for their protection. Catapulted into national politics last year at the head of the ultranationalist Jewish Power party, Ben-Gvir has disavowed his past remarks. Ahead of the event, police said three people were detained over suspected threats against the marchers. The Islamist militant group Hamas also called on Palestinians, who contest Israeli control of Jerusalem, to "confront" the Gay Pride parade. Describing Jerusalem as a "mosaic" of differing views, Ben-Gvir said he would also safeguard the right to counter-protest.

Persons: Itamar Ben, Gvir, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Meirav Cohen, Jerusalem, Alon Sheler, Dan Williams, Emily Rose, Ros Russell Organizations: Jewish Power, Hamas, Reuters, Open, Thomson Locations: Jerusalem

ACCRA, May 14 (Reuters) - Ghana expects the International Monetary Fund to approve a first loan tranche of $600 million as soon as Wednesday, paving the way for disbursement within a week, Minister of State in the Finance Ministry Mohammed Amin Adam told Reuters on Sunday. Ghana is seeking $3 billion from the Fund to shore up its battered economy. On Friday, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Ghana's official creditors had provided the necessary financing assurances for the IMF Executive Board to look at signing off on the loan. Adam said he expected negotiations with both sets of creditors to go well once the IMF signs off on the loan. Adam said the government was also in talks with the African Development Bank for over $100 million for the stability fund.

☆ In flight from Sudan, refugees in Chad give birth alone without shelter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Mahamat Ramadane | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KOUFROUN, Chad, May 1 (Reuters) - At a refugee camp in remote eastern Chad, Amné Moustapha is close to giving birth. But many of the countries hosting new arrivals, including Chad, face their own problems including food shortages, drought and high prices, creating a humanitarian crisis beyond Sudan's borders that international agencies are struggling to contain. I hear that there are midwives but since we took refuge here several women have given birth without medical assistance. Her husband said that eight other women had given birth without help in the camp in Koufroun, where temperatures soar to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit). "Several women have given birth here but have no shelter," said Moustapha's husband Khamis Asseid Ahmat Haron beside the unfinished stick frame of their new home.

☆ Syrian refugees deported from Lebanon face arrest, conscription, say relatives
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Youssef, a Syrian refugee and single father of two girls, attends an interview with Reuters, in Beirut, Lebanon April 26, 2023. One refugee told Reuters he and his three brothers were detained in a raid on a camp in Lebanon in late April. Another refugee said he was briefly held by the Fourth Division after being deported but paid smugglers to return to Lebanon. The Access Center for Human Rights (ACHR), a rights organisation, said it had documented the detention of at least two deported Syrians by the Fourth Division. Youssef, a Syrian refugee and single father-of-two, said he was so afraid of being deported and conscripted that he had stopped leaving his home in Lebanon.

☆ Jordan to host talks on Syria's return to Arab League
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Meeting brings Syrian FM together with group of Arab statesJordan seeks an Arab-led peace road mapAMMAN, April 30 (Reuters) - Jordan will host a meeting of Arab foreign ministers and Syria's top diplomat on Monday to discuss Syria's return to the Arab League as part of a broader political settlement of Syria's more than decade-old conflict, officials said. The meeting comes two weeks after talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, failed to reach agreement on Syria's possible return to the Arab fold. Arab states and those most affected by the conflict are trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to the Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh, to discuss the pace of normalising ties with Assad and on what terms Syria could be allowed back. Officials said the Jordanian initiative calls on Damascus to engage with Arab governments collectively on a step-by-step road map to end the conflict. At the Jeddah meeting there was resistance to the move to invite Assad to the Arab League summit, with Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait saying it was premature before Damascus accepts to negotiate a peace plan.

[1/5] Locals in the Chiradzulu district look at the damage on a road after mudslides and rockfalls in the area caused by the aftermath of Cyclone Freddy in Blantyre, Malawi, March 15, 2023. Most people heeded the warnings, knowing from bitter experience the damage such storms could inflict: 600 people had died in Cyclone Idai in 2019. The storm was far more deadly in neighbouring Malawi, where at least 447 were killed as Freddy tore through the country's southern tip and inundated the main commercial hub of Blantyre. Mozambique and Malawi are among the poorest 8% of countries in the world, according to United Nations data. In the case of Freddy, this extra energy allowed the storm to pick up strength again and circle back to strike again.

At a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said talks with Turkey on the possibility of restoring ties to ambassadorial level would happen at "the appropriate time". Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey would upgrade its diplomatic relations with Egypt to ambassador level "as soon as possible". "There is a political will and directives from the presidents of both countries when they met in Doha ... to launch the path towards a full normalisation of relations," Shoukry said. Consultations between senior foreign ministry officials in Ankara and Cairo began in 2021, amid a push by Turkey to ease tensions with Egypt, the UAE, Israel and Saudi Arabia. As part of that tentative reconciliation, Ankara asked Egyptian opposition TV channels operating in Turkey to moderate their criticism of Egypt.

The aim was to combat a global food crisis that was fueled in part by Russia's Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine and Black Sea blockade. The United Nations and Turkey said on Saturday that the deal had been extended, but did not specify for how long. [1/2] Commercial vessels including vessels which are part of Black Sea grain deal wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey, October 31, 2022. Dujarric said on Saturday that the United Nations was strongly committed to implementing both the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal and the pact with Moscow and urged "all sides to redouble their efforts to implement them fully." Ukraine has so far exported nearly 25 million tonnes of mainly corn and wheat under the deal, according to the United Nations.

☆ Putin visits Crimea on anniversary of its annexation from Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 18 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Crimea on Saturday on an unannounced visit to mark the ninth anniversary of Russia's annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine. Putin was greeted by the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, and taken to see a new children's centre and art school on what the official said was a surprise visit. Russia seized Crimea in 2014, eight years before launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine says it will fight to expel Russia from Crimea and all other territory that Russia has occupied in the year-long war. Reporting by Reuters Writing by Mark Trevelyan Editing by Ros RussellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Balenciaga spotlights craft at first runway show since ad controversy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Mimosa Spencer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, March 5 (Reuters) - French luxury group Kering's fashion house Balenciaga shifted the focus to fashion construction Sunday for its first catwalk show since a backlash from an advertising campaign last year. The label, which was criticised for a campaign featuring imagery of children, showed a lineup of distinctive tailoring, body-hugging silhouettes with hulking shoulders and full-length, glittering evening wear on a white-carpeted runway in Paris. "Being able to make this happen was a challenge that I knew I had to face," Balenciaga designer Demna Gvasalia, known as Demna, told journalists backstage after the show. "I wanted exactly to make it to be able to move on and do what I do best, which is making clothes," he said. The designer and Kering executives have apologized for an advertising campaign that drew criticism for featuring imagery of children that many considered inappropriate.

☆ Serbian nationalists march in protest against Kosovo talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Many Serbs view Kosovo, home to the Serbian Orthodox faith's main churches and monasteries, as the heartland of the Serb nation. Serbian nationalists who also want closer ties with Russia, Serbia's longtime ally, criticise President Aleksandar Vucic for his role in talks over a Western-backed deal with Kosovo. "The people of Serbia which soiled this land with blood will not give away Serbian Kosovo, because Kosovo is sacred," said Zorica Mojsic from Belgrade as he walked with other marchers. The Serbian Orthodox Church organised its own prayers for Kosovo, set to last until Easter, but did not endorse the march and its clergy did not participate. On Friday, the Serbian Orthodox church's Patriarch Porfirije said in a sermon "no one should teach the church ... what is Kosovo... Liberating Kosovo with words is easy."

☆ EU's von der Leyen says she will tackle US green subsidies, overcome e-fuels impasse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen walk following a closed German cabinet meeting at the government's guest house in Schloss Meseberg, near Gransee, Germany, March 5, 2023. REUTERS/Fabrizio BenschFRANKFURT, Germany, March 5 (Reuters) - EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday she is determined to counter challenges from U.S. subsidies for green technologies and to speed a currently blocked law on phasing out combustion engines from 2035. A Commission report on competitiveness, due at the same time, would help lower barriers inside the internal EU market and address shortages of specialised labour, which von der Leyen called a "brake on growth." Scholz and von der Leyen said that trade agreements were also being eyed with Indonesia and India. Von der Leyen also said the EU was keeping a close watch on whether China sticks to commitments not to help arm Russia in the Ukraine war.

☆ Saudi bourse gains on upbeat earnings, non-oil activity; Egypt falls
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Ateeq Shariff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 5 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's stock market extended gains for a third session on Sunday on buoyant earnings and upbeat non-oil business activity, while the Egyptian bourse fell further on profit taking. The kingdom's non-oil business sector activity soared to its highest level in eight years in February, a survey showed on Sunday, based on a strong increase in demand and an optimistic economic outlook. "However, the developments in oil markets could still have an uncertain impact on Saudi stocks due to the current volatility." Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30) eased 0.1%, extending losses on profit-taking after the market hit a high in February. According to a media report, the telecom firm and Huawei Egypt inked a cooperation agreement to foster cooperation in digital transformation.

☆ Lebanon hopes UNESCO danger listing could save crumbling modernist fairground
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in 1962, the collection of structures on the 70-hectare plot is considered one of the key works of 20th century modernism in the Middle East. "It was placed on the World Heritage List exceptionally, quickly and urgently – and on the list of heritage in danger because it's in a critical situation," said Joseph Kreidi, UNESCO's national programme officer for culture in Beirut. "Placing it on the World Heritage Danger List is an appeal to all countries of the world, as if to say: this site needs some care," said Kreidi. Lebanon has five other sites on UNESCO's World Heritage list, most of them citadels and ancient temples. Mira Minkara, a freelance tour guide from Tripoli and a member of the Oscar Niemeyer Foundation's Tripoli chapter, has fond – but rare – memories of the fairground as a child.

☆ French, German ministers to tell U.S. don't poach EU investments -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Feb 4 (Reuters) - France and Germany's economy ministers will tell senior U.S. officials not to try to actively poach green investments from Europe when they visit Washington next week to raise concerns about U.S. green tech subsidies, two French officials said. "One of the ministers' messages will be to not approach European companies about moving plants to the U.S. The second official said the aim was to avoid "aggressive pitches" to EU firms to invest in the United States. They will also seek a U.S. commitment to be transparent about subsidies companies receive under the Inflation Reduction Act, both officials said. That is key because it could determine how much state support European companies can receive under a European Commission proposal to allow third-country subsidies to be matched in Europe.

☆ Ukraine, Russia swap prisoners; bodies of British volunteers returned
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Ukraine and Russia traded almost 200 prisoners of war in a swap announced separately by both sides on Saturday, with the bodies of two British volunteers also being sent back to Ukraine. The Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said 116 Ukrainians had been returned, while Russian news agencies cited Moscow's defence ministry saying 63 Russian POWs had been freed. Yermak also said the bodies of British volunteer aid workers Andrew Bagshaw and Chris Parry had been sent back to Ukraine. Bagshaw and Parry were killed during an attempted humanitarian evacuation in eastern Ukraine in January, Parry's family has previously said. Russia's Defence Ministry said the released Russian servicemen included "sensitive category" persons, whose exchange was made possible through the mediation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to agencies.

☆ Brazil sinks rusting old aircraft carrier in the Atlantic
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Brazil sank a decommissioned aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean off its northeast coast, the Brazilian Navy said, despite warnings from environmentalists that the rusting 1960s French-built ship would pollute the sea and the marine food chain. The 32,000-tonne carrier had been floating offshore for three months since Turkey refused it entry to be scrapped there because it was an environmental hazard and the ship was towed back to Brazil. The Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier served the French Navy for four decades as the Foch, capable of carrying 40 war planes. It then decided to sink the Sao Paulo at high sea. The company's legal representative in Brazil, Zilan Costa e Silva, said that disposal of the carrier was the Brazilian state's responsibility under the 1989 Basel Convention on the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes.

☆ Major accident in Odesa deals new blow to Ukraine's power grid- PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, Feb 4 (Reuters) - A serious accident at a high-voltage substation has caused widespread power outages in and around Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa, Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Saturday. "The situation is difficult, the scale of the accident is significant, it is impossible to quickly restore power supply, in particular to critical infrastructure," Shmyhal wrote on Telegram. Shmyhal said authorities were now working to restore power supply to critical infrastructure and apartment blocks which needed electricity to heat homes. Shmyhal said he had ordered Ukraine's energy ministry to scramble every available high-power generator in its nationwide inventory and deliver it to Odesa within a day. He also ordered Ukraine's foreign ministry to appeal to Turkey to send powerships-- vessels which carry power plants-- to come to the city's aid.

☆ Germany's DFL presses on with deal for media rights
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Germany's soccer governing body is pressing on with plans to sell parts of the Bundesliga media rights for the country's first and second leagues to private investors, the Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL) said in a media release on Friday. Valuing the business at between 17 and 20 billion euros, the transaction could bring in 2.5-3 billion euros ($2.70-3.24 billion), Bild said. It stressed it was not about a sale of shares in the Bundesliga but a temporary minority interest in license revenue from the media rights. A spokesperson for DFL, contacted on Saturday about the Bild report, said there was no new comment beyond the Friday night press release. The rights, according to the Bild report, would be granted for 25 to 30 years, with the 36 clubs retaining control.

☆ Fire at Odesa power substation leaves Ukraine port city's grid on the brink
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"(The equipment) has been struck so many times that its state leaves much to be desired," Kudrytskyi told a briefing in Odesa, a city on the Black Sea. "We will do everything we can for the improvement of the power supply situation to take days rather than weeks," he said. "The situation is difficult, the scale of the accident is significant, it is impossible to quickly restore power supply," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Telegram. Prime Minister Shmyhal said he had ordered Ukraine's energy ministry to scramble every available high-power generator in its nationwide inventory and deliver it to Odesa within a day. At the briefing, Kudrytskyi said the city's critical infrastructure facilities were now being supplied with power.

☆ Turkey's Erdogan signals Finland's NATO bid may be considered over Sweden
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan signalled on Sunday that Ankara may agree to Finland joining NATO ahead of Sweden, amid growing tensions with Stockholm. "We may deliver Finland a different message (on their NATO application) and Sweden would be shocked when they see our message. But Finland should not make the same mistake Sweden did," Erdogan said in a televised speech aired on Sunday. Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and need all member countries' approval to join. If you don't extradite them, then sorry about that," Erdogan said, referring to Turkey's agreement with Sweden and Finland last June over their NATO application.

☆ Ukrainians mark Orthodox Christmas in Poland with a prayer to return home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WARSAW, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Victoria, a Ukrainian refugee, is celebrating Orthodox Christmas in Poland with a simple prayer - that next year she will be back at home. "The important thing is that it's still a family holiday... We hope to celebrate next Christmas with our family back home," Victoria said. "Many of our brothers who have found themselves in Poland because of the war cannot return to their homeland. Many Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, but the Russian Orthodox Church's backing for Moscow's war in Ukraine has angered many Ukrainian Orthodox believers and splintered the worldwide Orthodox Church. This year, some Ukrainians chose to celebrate Christmas with Catholics on Dec. 25 in protest at Russian aggression.

☆ EU to discuss Russia, Iran sanctions, top up of Ukraine arms fund
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 12 (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers will meet on Monday to try to agree on further sanctions on Russia and Iran and an additional 2 billion euros ($2.11 billion) for arms deliveries to Ukraine. However, it remained unclear whether Hungary will block some decisions, resorting to what diplomats have denounced as "blackmail diplomacy" due to a dispute over locked EU funds for Budapest. Foreign ministers will discuss a ninth package of Russia sanctions that is set to place almost 200 more individuals and entities on the EU sanctions list. They are also due to review new sanctions on Iranian people and organisations over human rights abuses in Tehran's crackdown on protesters and the supply of drones to Russia. Before their meeting, ministers will talk with the counterparts from the Eastern Partnership - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine - nations the EU has sought to stabilise in the face of Russia's war in Ukraine.

☆ Six Pakistanis, one Afghan soldier killed in cross-border clash
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Gul Yousafzai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

QUETTA, Pakistan, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Six Pakistani civilians and one Afghan soldier were killed on Sunday in cross border shelling and gunfire, according to officials on both sides of the frontier. Six civilians were killed and another 17 wounded on the Pakistani side by the Afghan fire, leading Pakistani troops to retaliate, the Pakistan military said in a statement. Afghan security sources said the clash started after Pakistani forces demanded Afghan forces stop building a new checkpost on their side of the border. Kandahar police spokesman Hafiz Saber said one Afghan soldier was killed and 10 other people, including three civilians, were injured. The busy Afghan border crossing at Chaman, used for trade and transit, was closed for some hours before reopening, officials on both sides said.

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