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What countries are doing to get their nationals out of Lebanon

Reuters Nations worldwide have prepared contingency plans to evacuate citizens from Lebanon after a dramatic escalation in the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah. Although no country has launched a large-scale military evacuation yet, some are chartering aircraft. People are also fleeing on their own. Passengers queue at the check-in counters at […]

Rome feels the bustle of returning synod delegates as Catholics wait for action

Vatican City RNS One can’t avoid a sense of déjà vu in Rome this week, as the everyday swarms of tourists are joined by pilgrims, pastors and prelates here for the second round of the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality, whose first round was consummated in October 2023. While a synod in the Catholic Church normally […]

Taiwan re-opens, mopping up after Typhoon Krathon

Kaohsiung, Taiwan Reuters Southern Taiwan worked on Friday to clear up damage from flooding and high winds after Typhoon Krathon slammed into a major port city, while most of the rest of the island resumed work and financial markets re-opened. Krathon, now downgraded to a tropical depression, hit land in the south-western city of Kaohsiung, […]

Yazidi woman freed from Gaza after decade in captivity

Beirut, Lebanon Reuters A 21-year-old woman kidnapped by Islamic State militants in Iraq a decade ago was freed from Gaza this week in a secret operation months in the making that involved Israel, the United States and Iraq, officials said. The woman is a member of the ancient Yazidi religious minority mostly found in Iraq […]

At least 60 dead in Nigeria boat accident, official says

Maiduguri, Nigeria Reuters At least 60 people were killed after a boat carrying mostly women and children returning from a religious festival in Nigeria’s northern Niger state capsized this week, a local official said. About 160 people have now been rescued after the wooden boat ferrying nearly 300 passengers sank on Tuesday night on the […]

UK cedes Chagos Island sovereignty to Mauritius, retains Diego Garcia airbase

London, UK/Port Louis, Chagos Islands Reuters Britain said on Thursday it would cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal it said secured the future of the UK-US Diego Garcia military base, and which could also pave the way for people displaced decades ago to return home. US President Joe Biden welcomed […]

Thousands flee gang killings in Haiti breadbasket town, media reports

Port-au-Prince, Haiti Reuters At least 11 people were killed and dozens injured in an overnight attack in a Haitian town led by the Gran Grif gang, local newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported on Thursday, as powerful armed gangs expand their influence from the capital. Thousands of residents left the town of Pont-Sonde, some 100 kilometres north […]

Church-linked groups are helping South Sudanese refugees live like locals in Uganda

Palorinya Refugee Settlement, Uganda RNS Inside the wriggly tin walls of a small, smoke-filled kiosk, Joseph Deng Chol and his wife scoop beans onto plates warmed with freshly baked flatbreads, grateful to now have the resources to run their own business. Female refugees from South Sudan in the Palabek Refugee Settlement make chip stones for […]