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Amid protests and police raids, US schools try to keep the peace at graduation

Reuters Ahead of the University of Michigan’s commencement on Saturday, the school has trained staff volunteers in how to mitigate disruptions: a change from the usual duties of guiding guests around campus and showing them to their seats. Everyone facilitating the University of Illinois’ commencement the following weekend will have undergone similar special training. At […]

Chad prepares to vote in a coup-hit region, wary allies look on

N’Djamena, Chad Reuters Chad will hold presidential elections on Monday, making it the first in a string of coup-hit states across Central and West Africa to use the ballot box to try to emerge from years of military rule. Opposition groups have already cried foul. The candidate widely expected to win is Mahamat Idriss Deby […]

Democratic lawmakers tell Biden evidence shows Israel is restricting Gaza aid

Washington DC, US Reuters Scores of lawmakers from US President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party told him on Friday that they believe there is sufficient evidence to show that Israel has violated US law by restricting humanitarian aid flows into war-stricken Gaza. A letter to Biden signed by 86 House of Representatives Democrats said Israel’s aid […]

Georgian PM rejects US, EU criticism of draft ‘foreign agents’ law

Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze rejected on Friday criticism from the United States and European Union of a draft “foreign agents” law, saying opponents of the bill were unwilling to engage in a meaningful discussion. The draft legislation, which is winding its way through the Georgian parliament, would require organisations receiving more […]

Eastern Orthodox Church ordains Zimbabwean woman as its first deaconess

RNS On Thursday, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all of Africa ordained in Zimbabwe the first deaconess of any patriarchate in the global Eastern Orthodox Church, marking the culmination of years of efforts to revive the female diaconate in the church. The Archbishop of Zimbabwe, Metropolitan Serafim, ordained Angelic Molen at the St Nektarios […]

Rains in southern Brazil kill at least 39, some 70 still missing

Reuters Heavy rains battering Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul have killed 39 people, local authorities said on Friday, and the death toll is expected to rise as dozens still have not been accounted for. Rio Grande do Sul’s civil defense authority said 68 people were still missing and at least 24,000 had […]

Violence shuts crucial aid corridor into Sudan’s Darfur, UN agency says

Reuters Violence around the city of al-Fashir in Darfur, Sudan, has blocked a recently opened humanitarian corridor from Chad and time is running out to prevent starvation in the vast region, the UN World Food Programme said on Friday. Attacks around al-Fashir, the Sudanese army’s last holdout in Darfur and home to some 1.6 million […]