Several dozen people including bishops, cardinals and archbishops turned out for the funeral of the controversial Cardinal George Pell in the Vatican on Saturday.. From humble beginnings, Pell climbed the ranks to become one of Pope Francis's most trusted advisers inside the Vatican.
Ukraine reported a fresh wave of attacks and hits on key infrastructure facilities on Saturday, a day after Russia claimed to have captured the ravaged eastern town of Soledar following a long battle.. - 'Help the living' - There is uncertainty about the fate of Soledar, a salt mining outpost that Russia claimed to have captured, which Kyiv denies.
The US Treasury Department said Friday it will likely begin "extraordinary measures" next week to prevent a default on government debt, setting up a high-stakes showdown in Congress over raising the nation's borrowing limit.. It would therefore need to "start taking certain extraordinary measures" to prevent a default.
Jamaican financial authorities have launched an investigation into a company holding investments for eight-times Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt after reports that he may have lost millions to large scale fraud.. Bolt retired from athletics in 2017 after a stellar career which in addition to eight Olympic golds included 11 World Championship gold medals.
A Greek court on Friday dropped espionage charges against 24 activists involved in rescuing migrants, after a lengthy trial denounced by rights groups and international organisations.. - A 'chilling effect' - Mijatovic noted that smuggling charges had been brought last month against the Greek spokesperson for the Helsinki Monitor rights group, Panayote Dimitras.
A New York judge on Friday fined Donald Trump's family business the maximum penalty available of $1.6 million for committing tax fraud.. James is seeking $250 million in penalties as well as banning Trump and his children from serving as executives at companies in New York. pdh/bgs
The imminent arrival in Ukraine of Western-made light tanks and armoured vehicles, as well as possibly heavy tanks, means Kyiv will need to quickly train up troops to use and maintain the sometimes complex equipment, analysts say.. But they have so far held off on dispatching the Western-made heavy tanks that Ukraine has repeatedly requested to push forward against Russian invaders.
Perched on the nose of the Soviet-designed tank near the Donetsk front line, one soldier in Ukrainian commander Maksym's brigade was cradling a can of kitten food repurposed as a paraffin candle.. He said that while to some that's "a design defect" because it makes the tank larger and provides a bigger target, it's a "trade off" -- one the Ukrainians appear all for.
The sarcophagus of ancient Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II is to return to Paris in April for the first time in almost 50 years, in a rare loan of the relic outside Egypt.. One of the best-known pharaohs, reputed as a great warrior and builder of temples, Ramses II ruled from 1279-1213 BC. Inscriptions on the sarcophagus' sides detail how his body was moved three times from 1070 BC, after his tomb in Luxor's Valley of the Kings was raided by grave-robbers.
Ukraine said Friday it was resisting a "high intensity" Russian offensive in Soledar, a nearly completely destroyed town in the eastern Donetsk region that is now the epicentre of the war.. The enemy relocated almost all of its main forces to the Donetsk front and is maintaining a high intensity offensive," Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said.
