DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Guinea-Bissau President Embalo says a coup was foiled on Friday
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Guinea Bissau's President Umaro Sissoco Embalo attends a meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin following the Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 29, 2023. Sergei Bobylyov/TASS Host Photo Agency via REUTERS/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsBISSAU, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said on Saturday that gunfire and clashes that had erupted in the capital of the West African nation on Friday were an attempted coup. At least six people were killed during a failed attempt to overthrow Embalo in February 2022. We still need to put an end once and for all on these upheavals in Guinea-Bissau," Embalo said. Reporting by Alberto Dabo; Writing by Bate Felix; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Umaro Sissoco Embalo, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Bobylyov, Embalo, Alberto Dabo, Bate Felix, Jonathan Oatis, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Guinea, Agency, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Russia, Africa, Saint Petersburg, Guinea, Bissau, West, Dubai, Portugal

☆ Russian lender Sovcombank eyes valuation of up to $2.5 bln post-IPO
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A view shows a board with the logo of Sovcombank at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia June 17, 2022. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Russian lender Sovcombank said on Friday it expects a market capitalisation of 200-219 billion roubles ($2.24-$2.46 billion)after its initial public offering (IPO) on Moscow Exchange later this month, the latest in a small flurry of Russian market debuts. Sovcombank said it has already received offers for half of the expected overall offer size from a number of major Russian institutional investors to participate in the IPO. Russian companies have raised around 29 billion roubles this year through IPOs, with listings characterised by small volumes and the presence of domestic retail investors. Pawn broker Mosgorlombard also announced its intention to list on Friday, expecting a free float of 36% after an early-December debut.

Persons: Maxim Shemetov, Sovcombank, Dmitry Gusev, Mosgorlombard, Elena Fabrichnaya, Alexander Marrow, Guy Faulconbridge, Susan Fenton Organizations: St ., Economic, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: St, St . Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, IPOs

☆ A Russian soldier says his regiment lost over 1,000 men in just 10 days of fighting in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Russian soldier said his regiment lost over 1,000 men in just 10 days of fighting in Donetsk. Verkiev Igor Gennadievich was making a desperate plea for donations in a video shared by Ukraine. AdvertisementA Russian soldier said that more than 1,000 of his comrades were killed during a 10-day period while fighting in Donetsk, according to a video shared by a Ukrainian official on Tuesday. In it, Gennadievich said that his regiment was suffering "heavy losses," according to Gerashchenko's translation, adding that: "I was absent there for 10 days. Russia is also suffering losses as it tries to hold back Ukrainian advances on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River.

Persons: Verkiev Igor Gennadievich, —, Anton Gerashchenko, Gennadievich Organizations: intel, Service, UK's Ministry of Defence, MOD, Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, Donetsk, Verkiev, Ukraine, Russia, Avdiivka, Saint Petersburg, Ukrainian, Adviivka, Dnipro

☆ Pope to proceed with COP28 trip despite health issues, Vatican says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pope Francis leads the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square, at the Vatican, November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane Acquire Licensing RightsVATICAN CITY, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Pope Francis, who is recovering from a lung inflammation, will attend the COP28 climate meeting in Dubai as planned, the Vatican said on Tuesday. "The pope is doing well," Bruni said, adding that the Vatican will decide before the trip whether to take any extra precautions for the 86-year-old pope's health. The Vatican announced on Monday that the pope would limit his activities this week in order to conserve his strength. Also on Tuesday, the Vatican released a schedule of papal activities for the Christmas season.

Persons: Pope Francis, Guglielmo Mangiapane, Matteo Bruni, Francis, Bruni, Philip Pullella, Alison Williams, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Vatican, REUTERS, CITY, Thomson Locations: Saint Peter's, Dubai, Argentina, Rome

☆ Russia's sanctioned Sovcombank requests US licence to make UN climate payments
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Elena Fabrichnaya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A view shows a board with the logo of Sovcombank at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia June 17, 2022. "We have funds in foreign currency for these payments, but we have not received any response from them yet, unfortunately." Avtukhov said Sovcombank was in dialogue with the UN on the matter. "We have not suspended our membership in international organisations," Avtukhov, who also sits on Sovcombank's board, said. There are certain difficulties with making payments in general for Russian participants of this programme," Avtukhov said.

Persons: Maxim, Sovcombank, Mikhail Avtukhov, Avtukhov, Elena Fabrichnaya, Alexander Marrow, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: St ., Economic, REUTERS, U.S . Treasury, United, Reuters, European Union, Foreign Assets, United Nations Environment, Finance Initiative, U.S, Treasury, UN, Thomson Locations: St, St . Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Ukraine MOSCOW, Russian, United Nations, Sovcombank, Ukraine, Washington, Moscow

☆ Pope says Israel-Hamas conflict has gone beyond war to 'terrorism'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Pope Francis speaks during the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, November 22, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane Acquire Licensing RightsVATICAN CITY, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Wednesday met separately with Israeli relatives of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinians with family in Gaza and said the conflict had gone beyond war to become "terrorism". Speaking in unscripted remarks at his general audience in St. Peter's Square shortly after the meetings in his residence, Francis said he heard directly how "both sides are suffering" in the conflict. He asked for prayers so that both sides would "not go ahead with passions, which, in the end, kill everyone". Nakba is the Arab word for catastrophe and refers to the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians in the 1948 war that surrounded Israel's founding.

Persons: Pope Francis, Guglielmo Mangiapane, Peter's, Francis, Janet Lawrence Organizations: Vatican, REUTERS, CITY, Wednesday, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Saint Peter's, Gaza, St, Israel's, Israel

☆ Russia's 'ghost ships' could be targeted at a sea choke point in a bid to enforce the West's oil price cap
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia has been using so-called "ghost ships" to skirt the West's oil price cap. Russia sends millions of barrels of crude oil through a choke point at the Danish straits, per the outlet. AdvertisementRussian oil tankers could face a crackdown at a key choke point, according to the Financial Times. But Denmark could struggle to stop the ghost ships because of constraints on its own navy, according to maritime experts. Blocking commercial traffic in the Danish straits would come close to a declaration of war," Hans Peter Michaelsen, an independent defense analyst, told Reuters.

Persons: —, Hans Peter Michaelsen Organizations: EU, Financial Times, Service, European Union, KSE, Bloomberg, FT, UN, Reuters Locations: Russia, Denmark, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, EU, Danish

☆ Pope to meet relatives of hostages, Palestinians with family in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Pope Francis gestures as he leaves after the weekly general audience, in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, November 15, 2023. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsVATICAN CITY, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Pope Francis will meet separately next week with relatives of hostages held by Hamas militants and with a group of Palestinians with family members in Gaza, the Vatican said on Friday, confirming a Reuters report. One source said 12 relatives of Israeli hostages would meet the pope early on Wednesday morning before his weekly general audience. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Rome, Parolin said the Vatican was working on a meeting between the pope and relatives of the hostages but gave no time frame. About 240 hostages were taken by Hamas gunmen when they stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Persons: Pope Francis, Remo Casilli, Matteo Bruni, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Parolin, Francis, Philip Pullella, Gareth Jones, Jonathan Oatis, Toby Chopra Organizations: Vatican, REUTERS, CITY, Hamas, Reuters, State, Thomson Locations: Saint Peter's, Gaza, Israel, Rome

Skochilenko, an artist and musician known as Sasha to her friends, has admitted replacing price tags in a supermarket in her native St Petersburg on March 31 2022 with small pieces of paper urging an end to the war and criticising the authorities. But Skochilenko, who has already spent over a year-and-a half in prison, denies the formal charge of knowingly spreading false information about the Russian army. Skochilenko is due to make a final statement on Thursday to a court in St Petersburg which is expected to deliver a verdict on the same day. Amnesty International has declared Skochilenko "a prisoner of conscience" - someone who is imprisoned solely because of who they are or what they believe. Reporting by Reuters Writing by Andrew Osborn Editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Alexandra, Sasha, Skochilenko, Said, Alexandra Skochilenko, Russia's, Moscow, Vladimir Putin, Yana Nepovinnova, Andrew Osborn, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Amnesty International, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Russian, St Petersburg

☆ Vatican confirms ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pope Francis gestures as he leaves after the weekly general audience, in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, November 15, 2023. REUTERS/Remo Casilli Acquire Licensing RightsVATICAN CITY, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The Vatican has confirmed a ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons, a centuries-old secretive society that the Catholic Church has long viewed with hostility and has an estimated global membership of up to six million. "Active membership in Freemasonry by a member of the faithful is prohibited, because of the irreconcilability between Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry," the Vatican's doctrinal office said in a letter published by Vatican media on Wednesday. The letter on Freemasons cited a 1983 declaration, signed by the late Pope Benedict XVI, at the time the Vatican's doctrine chief, stating that Catholics "in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion". The group says it has 180,000 male members, with two parallel female lodges in England having another 5,000 members, and estimates global Freemasonry membership at around six million.

Persons: Pope Francis, Remo Casilli, Pope Benedict XVI, Queen Elizabeth's, Prince Philip, Winston Churchill, Peter Sellers, Alf Ramsey, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, Alvise Armellini, Nick Macfie Organizations: Vatican, REUTERS, CITY, Freemasons, Catholic Church, United, Lodge of, Thomson Locations: Saint Peter's, Philippines, Lodge of England, England

☆ Russia relishes divisions between China and the U.S., pouring cold water on Xi-Biden talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his press conference at the Konstantin Palace on July 29, 2023 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Russian media have already reveled in pouring cold water on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit where Xi and Biden are due to meet Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin was not invited due to U.S. sanctions so Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk is representing Russia at the summit. A range of Russian newspapers including Kommersant, Izvestia, Argumenty i Fakty, Nezavisimaya Gazeta and Komsomolskaya Pravda did not feature any news on the APEC summit or Xi-Biden talks. China's President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden at the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian island of Bali on Nov. 14, 2022.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Konstantin, Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, Xi, Biden, Katherine Tai, Tai, David Paul Morris, Xi's, Alexei Overchuk, Dmitry Peskov, Kamala Harris, Kent Nishimura, Komsomolskaya, Putin, — Xi, Sergei Guneyev, Ian Bremmer, Saul Loeb Organizations: Getty, U.S, Economic Cooperation, Novosti, APEC, U.S . Trade, Russian Federation, San Francisco International Airport, American, Bloomberg, Getty Images Bloomberg, Israel, Kremlin, SAN FRANCISCO, Merchant Exchange Club, Tass, Kommersant, Izvestia, Gazeta, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Sputnik, AFP, West, Analysts, Eurasia Group, China's, Afp Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, Russian, San Francisco, China, Beijing, Washington, Moscow, Asia, United States, San Francisco , California, Ukraine, Pacific, U.S, CALIFORNIA, Taiwan, Nusa Dua, Indonesian, Bali

Authorities have detained nearly 20,000 people for anti-war activity and opened over 800 criminal cases against anti-war dissidents, according to the OVD-Info rights group. Skochilenko replaced price tags in a supermarket in her native St Petersburg on March 31 2022 with five small pieces of paper urging an end to the war. "Even you, your honour (the judge), even you, the state prosecutor, you also don’t want people to die prematurely, for young soldiers to lie in the fields, for civilians to die." Copies of the imitation price tags produced by Skochilenko are on display on a website maintained by her supporters. Another alleges Russia was sending conscripts to fight in Ukraine, which Russia has also denied.

Persons: Alexandra, Sasha, Skochilenko, Alexandra Skochilenko, Moscow's, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Gladyshev, Putin, Andrew Osborn, Mark Trevelyan, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Authorities, Moscow, Wednesday, Amnesty, NATO, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Russian, St Petersburg, Mariupol, Moscow

☆ Private jets of Russian oligarchs keep flying but not to Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Gleb Stolyarov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

A view shows the Boeing 737-700 BBJ (plane number RA-73890) private aircraft on the tarmac of the Pulkovo International Airport in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 14, 2023. The Boeing linked to Yevtushenkov was among at least 50 private jets re-registered under the Russian flag since the February 2022 invasion, according to previously unreported national aircraft registry data up to early August reviewed by Reuters. Several of the repatriated private jets were associated with prominent politicians and business figures, according to two senior Russian aviation industry sources, who were not authorised to speak to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. Because of sanctions, Russian planes are prohibited from entering the 27-country European Union, where Russia's oligarchs previously flew frequently for business and leisure and where many private jets linked to them were registered before the war, tail numbers show. VEB, Uralkali and Mazepin did not respond to requests for comment on the registration of the jets in Russia.

Persons: Luba, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, Yevtushenkov, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Mazepin, Putin, Igor Shuvalov, Mazepin, Gleb Stolyarov, Mike Collett, White, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Boeing, Pulkovo, REUTERS, Soviet, Reuters, Sistema, Ministry, Transport, JETS, Russian, Union, Bombardier Challenger, Uralkali, Bombardier, VEB.RF, VEB, EU, United Arab, Thomson Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, Riviera, Belarus, oligarch, Ukraine, Turkey, Dubai, China, Russian, Maldives, Seychelles, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Yevtushenkov, United Kingdom, Aruba, of, Uralkali, UAE, Prague, Bishkek, States, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Latvia, Britain, Oman, Soviet

☆ Sberbank CEO expects 'serious cooling' in Russian mortgage market
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Elena Fabrichnaya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Russia's biggest bank Sberbank (SBER.MM) expects a sharp cooling of the mortgage market following an expected 80% rise in mortgage lending this year, CEO German Gref said on Wednesday. Gref said the bank's mortgage issuance for the whole of 2023 was expected to reach 4.6 trillion roubles ($50.1 billion). VTB, Russia's number two bank, expects mortgage loans across the entire sector to total 7.2 trillion roubles this year, falling to between 5 and 5.5 trillion roubles in 2024. Vyacheslav Dusaleyev, head of retail business at Rosbank, gave corresponding forecasts of 7.3 trillion roubles this year and 5 trillion next year. Mortgage demand has remained buoyant in part because of the wide range of preferential offers available, according to the central bank.

Persons: Maxim, Gref, Sberbank, Vyacheslav Dusaleyev, Olga Polyakova, Elena Fabrichnaya, Mark Trevelyan, Christina Fincher Organizations: St ., Economic, REUTERS, Rights, Mortgage, Thomson Locations: St, St . Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Moscow, Rosbank

Two other Baltic telecoms cables were damaged on the same night of Oct. 7 along the route that the ship was travelling, according to shipping data reviewed by Reuters. NewNew Shipping, the owner and operator of the NewNew Polar Bear, has previously declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. TRAIL OF DAMAGEIn total, three Baltic telecoms cables and one pipeline were damaged in the space of less than nine hours. Data from shipping intelligence firm MarineTraffic, reviewed by Reuters, showed that the NewNew Polar Bear passed over a Swedish-Estonian telecoms cable at 1513 GMT, then over the Russian cable at around 2020 GMT, the Balticconnector at 2220 GMT and a Finland-Estonia telecoms line at 2349 GMT. Finnish police announced on Oct. 24 that they had found a ship's anchor near the broken gas pipeline.

Persons: Anton Vaganov, Rostelecom, Vladimir Putin, Gasgrid, Mark Trevelyan, Nerijus Adomaitis, Anne Kauranen, Terje Solsvik, Bill Berkrot, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Rostelecom, St ., Economic, REUTERS, Reuters, NewNew Shipping, Kremlin, Communications Ministry, St, Thomson Locations: St, St . Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Finland, Estonia, Baltic, Beijing, Ukraine, China, Swedish, Estonian, St Petersburg, Kaliningrad, London

☆ Putin looks set to run for president in 2024 — and there's no one who can oppose him right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - SEPTEMBER 9: (RUSSIA OUT) Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the concert marking the City Day on September 9, 2023 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images) Contributor | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesRussian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly decided to run in the March 2024 presidential election and he's likely to win another six-year term in office, essentially because there's no one that can oppose him. Analysts say that the bitter truth in modern Russia is that there is no one who can oppose Putin, for now. In this pool image distributed by Sputnik agency, Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with the regional head of Inigushetia in Moscow's Kremlin, on August 15, 2023. MOSCOW, RUSSIA - SEPTEMBER 9: (RUSSIA OUT) Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the concert marking the City Day on September 9, 2023 in Moscow, Russia.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Sobyanin, he's, —, Vladimir Milov, Alexander Kazakov, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Alexei Navalny, Yulia Morozova, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Sergei Medvedev, Mikhail Svetlov, Medvedev, deigning, Prigozhin's Wagner, Wagner, Kirill Shamiev, Milov Organizations: Moscow's, Getty, Kremlin, Reuters, CNBC, Sputnik, AFP, Kremlin's, Communist Party, Liberal Democratic Party, Russia, IK, Wagner Group, Analysts, Saint Petersburg, Economic, Prigozhin's Wagner Group, Anadolu Agency, European Council, Foreign Relations, Putin Locations: MOSCOW, RUSSIA, Moscow, Russia, Russian, Moscow's Kremlin, Ukraine, Vladimir, Iran, North Korea, SAINT PETERSBURG, Concord, Saint Petersburg, Belarus, Prigozhin, Russia's, Tver

☆ Pope says he will attend COP28 climate summit in Dubai, a first by a pontiff
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pope Francis leads the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, October 18, 2023. The pope told Italy's state-run RAI television TG1 news in an interview that he expected to be in Dubai Dec. 1-3. In Dubai, the pope is expected to drive home his recent appeal for action to curb global warming. Francis, 86, has made protection of the environment one of the hallmarks of his papacy and met last month with COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber. Failure in Dubai, Francis said in the document, "will be a great disappointment and jeopardize whatever good has been achieved thus far".

Persons: Pope Francis, Italy's, Francis, Sultan al, Jaber, Deum, Joe Biden, Philip Pullella, Diane Craft, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Vatican, Handout, REUTERS, Rights, RAI, TG1, Thomson Locations: Saint Peter's, Dubai, el, Sheikh, Egypt, Glasgow, Scotland

☆ Russians struggle to keep alive memory of Stalin's victims
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

She was expelled to Uglich (about 740km from St Petersburg). "He was shot in Moscow, but as we all live in St. Petersburg, we have made this memorial plaque here. Yet for many Russians, Stalin's name still evokes the savage repression that culminated in the Great Terror of 1936-1938. The Big House is the nickname of the St Petersburg headquarters of Stalin's NKVD secret police, which later became that of the Soviet KGB and now the Russian FSB. It was to help people like Gerchikova that the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial International was founded as the Soviet Union collapsed - to document Soviet political repression and help to rehabilitate its victims.

Persons: Anton Vaganov, Joseph Stalin's, Natalia Anafonova, Stalin, Vladimir Putin, Zinaida Gerchikova, I've, Gerchikova, Sergei Gorshvo, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, PETERSBURG, Big, St, Soviet KGB, Thomson Locations: Levashovo, Saint Petersburg, Russia, dribs, Soviet, Petersburg's, St Petersburg, Moscow, St . Petersburg, Russian, Soviet Union, Nazi, Ukraine, Sverdlovsk region

☆ Pope Francis may attend global climate talks in Dubai
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pope Francis leads the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, October 18, 2023. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsVATICAN CITY, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Pope Francis may attend the COP28 climate conference starting next month in Dubai, Vatican sources say, to drive home his recent appeal for action to curb global warming. It would be the first time a pope has attended a U.N. climate change conference since they began in 1995. Other Vatican sources put the probability that the pope would go to the Nov. 30-Dec. 12 event as high as 90 percent. Failure in Dubai, Francis said in the document, "will be a great disappointment and jeopardize whatever good has been achieved thus far".

Persons: Pope Francis, Francis, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Joe Biden, Sultan al, Jaber, Philip Pullella, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: Vatican, Handout, REUTERS, CITY, State, Reuters, Catholic, Thomson Locations: Saint Peter's, Dubai, Vatican, Rome, el, Sheikh, Egypt, Glasgow, Scotland, Mongolia, French, Marseilles

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 26, 2023. "Egypt rejects any attempt to resolve the Palestinian issue by military means or through the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land, which would come at the expense of the countries of the region," he said. Sisi said the Egyptian people would "go out and protest in their millions ... if called upon to do so" against any displacement of Gaza's residents to Sinai. Egypt is wary of insecurity near its border with Gaza in northeastern Sinai, where an Islamist insurgency intensified a decade ago. Any transfer of Palestinians to Sinai would mean "that we move the idea of resistance, of combat, from the Gaza Strip to Sinai, and so Sinai would become the base for launching operations against Israel", Sisi said.

Persons: Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Vladimir Putin, Alexei Danichev, Olaf Scholz, Osama Hamdan, Jordan, Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Israel, John Kirby, Biden, Nayera Abdallah, Nadine Awadalla, Amr Abdallah Dalsh, Sherif Fahmy, Mohamed Abdel, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Aidan Lewis, Gareth Jones, Philippa Fletcher, Alistair Bell, Grant McCool Organizations: Sputnik, Rights, West Bank, U.S, Israeli, United, Volunteers, Cairo University, State, Thomson Locations: Russia, Africa, Saint Petersburg, Rights CAIRO, Sinai, Gaza, Cairo, Israel, Egypt, Beirut, Rafah, United States, Dubai, Ghany

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 26, 2023. The border between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip is the site of the only crossing from the Palestinian territory that is not controlled by Israel. Sisi said the Egyptian people would "go out and protest in their millions... if called upon to do so" against any displacement of Gaza's residents to Sinai. Egypt is wary of insecurity near its border with Gaza in northeastern Sinai, where it faced an Islamist insurgency that escalated a decade ago. Any transfer of Palestinians to Sinai would mean "that we move the idea of resistance, of combat, from the Gaza Strip to Sinai, and so Sinai would become the base for launching operations against Israel", Sisi said.

Persons: Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Vladimir Putin, Alexei Danichev, Olaf Scholz, Osama Hamdan, Jordan, John Kirby, Joe Biden, Biden, Israel, Nayera Abdallah, Nadine Awadalla, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Aidan Lewis, Gareth Jones, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Sputnik, Rights, West Bank, United, Volunteers, Islamic Jihad, Thomson Locations: Russia, Africa, Saint Petersburg, Rights CAIRO, Sinai, Gaza, Cairo, Israel, Egypt, Beirut, Rafah, United States

It reflects deep-rooted Arab fears that Israel's latest war with Hamas in Gaza could spark a new wave of permanent displacement from land where Palestinians want to build a future state. Some 700,000 Palestinians, half the Arab population of what was British-ruled Palestine, fled or were driven from their homes, many spilling into neighbouring Arab states where they or many of their descendants remain. Israel contests the assertion it drove Palestinians out, pointing out it was attacked by five Arab states the day after its creation. Palestinians and Arab states say a deal should include the right of those refugees and their descendants to return, something Israel has always rejected. After an emergency Arab League meeting on Wednesday, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said all Arab states agreed to confront any attempt to displace Palestinians from their homeland.

Persons: Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Vladimir Putin, Alexei Danichev, Jordan, Israel, Gazans, Jordan's King Abdullah, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, Gilad Erdan, Erdan, U.N, Khan Younis, Mariam al, Ayman Safadi, Maya Gebeily, Suleiman Al, Aidan Lewis, Tom Perry, Aiden Nulty, Michelle Nichols Organizations: Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Hamas, West Bank, Israel, Arab League, United, United Nations, Muslim, Royal United Services Institute, Jordan's, Thomson Locations: Russia, Africa, Saint Petersburg, Egypt, AMMAN, BEIRUT, Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, Jordan, British, Palestine, Gaza City, United States, Farra, Sinai, Israeli, Rafah, Cairo, Khalidi, Amman

[1/2] Pope Francis looks on as he leads the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, October 11, 2023. REUTERS/Remo Casilli Acquire Licensing RightsVATICAN CITY, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Pope Francis, in his strongest comments since the start of the conflict in Gaza, on Wednesday called for the release of all hostages taken by Hamas militants and said Israel has a right to defend itself. On Saturday, Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip rampaged through parts of southern Israel, in the deadliest Palestinian militant attack in Israel's history. The pope's mention of Israel's right to self defence followed diplomatic pressure from Israel for him to make such a statement, following earlier statements from the pope and Vatican officials which Israel saw as too timid. But I would like to hear stronger words about Israel's right to defend itself."

Persons: Pope Francis, Remo Casilli, Israel, Raphael Schutz, Francis, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Vatican, REUTERS, CITY, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Saint Peter's, Gaza, St, Israel, Palestine, Rome

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks before a press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin following the Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 29, 2023. The army said it would soon go on the offensive after the biggest mobilisation in Israeli history. The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital - all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war. The Quartet, set up in 2002, consists of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia. He said Russia was in contact with the Palestinians to find out if any Russians had been injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Bobylyov, Lavrov, Sergei Lavrov, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Israel, Aboul Gheit, Hosni Mubarak’s, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Agency, REUTERS, Kremlin, League, Quartet, Arab League, West Bank, United Nations, European Union, Thomson Locations: Russia, Africa, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, MOSCOW, Israel, Palestinian Territories, United States, Gaza, East, Iran, Palestinian, East Jerusalem

Wagner communications channels were silent, but some supporters and patriotic bloggers expressed disbelief. 'LAUGHABLE' EXPLANATIONWestern diplomats say Putin ordered the killing of Prigozhin after the humiliation of the mutiny. "Two heroes of great Russia died in this plane crash, just in case someone forgot, and not druggies," said the Southern Front Telegram channel. And that is why Prigozhin himself did not just die, but became a 'downed pilot'," Pastukhov wrote on Telegram. (But) he needs society to understand the hint unambiguously: this is how everyone (who betrays us) will be dealt with."

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Anton Vaganov, Putin, Vladimir Putin's intimation, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, CHVK, Vladimir Pastukhov, Pastukhov, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Embraer, Federal Security Service, Wagner, KGB, Southern Front Telegram, Zone, Thomson Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, Said, MOSCOW, St Petersburg, Moscow

Search resuls for: "Saint Peter"

25 mentions found