Trump tangles with judge, complains of treatment at NY fraud trial

New York City, US Reuters Donald Trump complained of unfair treatment in defiant and rambling testimony on the witness stand at the civil fraud trial about his New York business on Monday, prompting the judge at one point to threaten to cut his testimony short. Under questioning about the Trump Organization’s accounting practices, the former […]
Sight-Seeing: A good pastor is hard to find

KAREN SWALLOW PRIOR, in an article first published on Religion News Service says, in art at least, the odds of a man of the cloth turning out to be a good guy are slim…
Lebanon must be kept out of Hamas-Israel war, Patriarch says

Beirut, Lebanon Reuters Lebanon’s top Christian cleric urged state officials on Monday to shield Lebanon from the war between Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israel, as the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah clashes with Israeli forces at the border. Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai holds a mass in the memory of victims of August 4, 2020 […]
Russian air strikes wound eight in Odesa, damage museum, port, Ukrainian officials say

Odesa, Ukraine Reuters Russia launched a major air attack on the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa late on Sunday, wounding at least eight people, setting ablaze trucks loaded with grain and damaging one of the city’s principal art galleries, officials said. About 20 multi-storey buildings and more than two dozen cars were damaged in […]
Ailing Pope Francis meets with European rabbis and condemns anti-Semitism, terrorism, war

Vatican City AP Pope Francis met with European rabbis on Monday and decried anti-Semitism, war and terrorism in a written speech he declined to read, saying he wasn’t feeling well. Francis told the rabbis during the audience in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace that he was very happy to receive them, but added: “I’m not feeling well, and so […]
Somalia floods kill 10, displace more than 113,000 a year after drought

Mogadishu, Somalia Reuters Floods caused by heavy rains across parts of Somalia have displaced more than 113,000 people and “temporarily affected” hundreds of thousands, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Monday. About 10 people have died in the aftermath of the rains, and the government has declared a statement of […]
UN says Gaza war must stop as reported death toll tops 10,000

Gaza Reuters Gaza is becoming a “graveyard for children”, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday, calling for an urgent ceasefire in the enclave, where Palestinian health authorities said the death toll from Israeli strikes had exceeded 10,000. Both Israel and the Hamas militants who control Gaza have rebuffed mounting international pressure for a […]
Analysis – India-Canada diplomatic thaw remains remote despite visa easing

New Delhi, India/Ottawa, Canada Reuters Mending frayed diplomatic relations between India and Canada will be a long process after each side adopted maximalist positions, despite New Delhi’s surprise move to ease some visa curbs on Canadians, officials and experts say. India recently decided to partially restore visa services, weeks after suspending them in anger at […]
Pro-European backers confident in Moldova poll amid Russian meddling allegations

Chisinau, Moldova Reuters Backers of Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s drive to join the European mainstream expressed confidence as counting was underway in local elections after a campaign in which she accused Moscow of meddling in the poll. The candidate from Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) appeared well placed to take on the incumbent […]
Morocco unearths Roman-era second century site in Rabat

Rabat, Morocco Reuters Moroccan archaeologists said on Friday they uncovered a Roman-era site in Rabat containing a port district, a bath and a cemetery dating back to the second century. The archaeological site, now the third largest in Morocco, will offer insight into the lives of Roman settlers and romanised Moroccans or Mauro-Romans in that era, lead […]