Li Qiang, Xi confidant, takes reins as China’s premier
Beijing, China Reuters Four years before Li Qiang gained notoriety as the force behind the two-month COVID-19 lockdown of Shanghai, the man who became China’s premier on Saturday worked quietly behind the scenes to drive a bold revamp of the megacity’s sclerotic stock market. Li’s back-channelling – sources said he bypassed the China Securities Regulatory […]
Mass protests against Israeli judicial overhaul enter 10th week
Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters Israelis packed city streets on Saturday in nationwide demonstrations now in their 10th week against plans by the hard-right government to curb the Supreme Court’s powers, which critics see as a threat to judicial independence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says his aim is to balance out branches of government, wields […]
Russian shelling kills Kherson residents, Zelenskiy denounces “terrorist attacks”
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Russian shelling killed three civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, denouncing what he called “brutal terrorist attacks” by pro-Moscow units. Police investigators inspect a shell crater left by a Russian military strike in a supermarket car park, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, […]
More than 1,300 migrants brought ashore in Italy after multiple rescues
Updated: 8am, 12th March, 2023 (AEDT) Rome, Italy Reuters More than 1,300 migrants have been rescued in three separate operations off the southern tip of Italy, the coastguard said on Saturday, two weeks after at least 74 people died when their boat hit rocks near the coast. Growing numbers of migrant arrivals have piled pressure […]
Latvia donates drunk drivers’ cars to Ukraine’s war effort
Riga, Latvia Reuters Latvia began seizing cars from heavily drunk drivers this year, and as hundreds of vehicles began overfilling impound lots, decided to send them to Ukrainian military and hospitals. Seven cars were driven in a snowstorm onto a trailer and out of a state impound lot on Wednesday, destined for Ukraine. Reinis Poznaks, […]
Fukushima water release stokes fresh fears for fisherman
Shinchimachi, Japan Reuters A chilly dawn paints the sky magenta and purple as Japanese fisherman Haruo Ono unloads his catch of flounder, crab and sea bass from his boat at the small port of Shinchimachi. A third-generation fisherman, Ono, 71, has been putting to sea for half a century from Shinchimachi, 55 kilometres north of […]
Tiny Baltic island finds itself ‘a pawn’ in Nord Stream gas drama
Christiansö in the Baltic Sea, Denmark Reuters Inhabitants of the tiny island of Christiansö in the Baltic Sea found themselves in the glare of global media attention this week after reports alleging a boat moored off the rocky outcrop was used to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines. “Practically the entire world called me […]
Fake bombs and failed coup: Moldova smoulders on border of Russia’s war
THOMAS ESCRITT, of Reuters, reports from the former Soviet republic amid growing tensions with Russia…
Ukraine orders Russian-aligned Orthodox church to leave Kyiv monastery
Reuters Ukrainian officials on Friday ordered a historically Russian-aligned wing of the Orthodox Church to leave a monastery complex in Kyiv where it is based, the latest move against a denomination regarded with deep suspicion by the government. Kyiv is cracking down on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – which accepted the authority of the Patriarch […]
Argentine child abuse victims urge Pope Francis to hear their grievances
Rome, Italy Reuters A group representing victims of child abuse in Argentina is calling on Pope Francis, a fellow Argentine, to invite it to the Vatican to hear their grievances. Clerical sex abuse and cover-up scandals have for decades rocked the nearly 1.38-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, undercutting its moral authority and taking a toll on […]