Church bells and chanting rang throughout Ukraine's capital as Orthodox Christians attended Christmas services on Sunday, a defiant break from Russian religious leaders who will mark the holiday in two weeks. . An official breakdown was not available, but he said only a "minority" of churches were holding Christmas services on Sunday.
President Vladimir Putin blasted the West for trying to "tear apart" Russia and said his offensive in Ukraine aimed to "unite the Russian people".. He said Russia's "geopolitical opponents (were) aiming to tear apart Russia, the historical Russia," Putin said in excerpts from an interview to be aired later on Sunday.
Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for an end to the "senseless" war in Ukraine, in his traditional Christmas Day message broadcast around the world.. "May the Lord inspire us to offer concrete gestures of solidarity to assist all those who are suffering, and may he enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the thunder of weapons and put an immediate end to this senseless war!"
A French man suspected of killing three Kurds in Paris has confessed to a "pathological" hatred for foreigners, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Sunday.. Beccuau said in a statement that the suspect was "depressive" and "suicidal" and said he "wanted to kill foreigners" after a robbery in his home in 2016.
Top officials from the United Nations and dozens of NGOs operating in Afghanistan are meeting in Kabul Sunday to discuss the way ahead after the Taliban authorities ordered all NGOs to stop women employees from working, aid officials said.. The meeting will discuss whether to suspend all aid work following the latest Taliban directive, some NGO officials said.
Marwa was just a few months away from becoming the first woman in her Afghan family to go to university -- instead, she will watch achingly as her brother goes without her.. Marwa and Hamid come from an impoverished family but their parents had supported their pursuit of higher education.
Top officials from the United Nations and dozens of NGOs operating in Afghanistan are meeting Sunday to discuss the way ahead after the Taliban authorities ordered all NGOs to stop women employees from working, aid officials said.. The meeting will discuss whether to suspend all aid work following the latest Taliban directive, some NGO officials said.
The very day Russia launched its attack on her country, Svitlana Taranova enlisted in the Ukrainian army in the southern city of Mykolaiv, her birthplace.. While an AFP team was in Mykolaiv in September and October, the city was bombarded almost every night.
More than 1,000 soldiers surrounded a district in El Salvador's capital on Saturday as part of President Nayib Bukele's war on gangs, the second such operation this month in the Central American country.. Despite that criticism, El Salvador's Congress on Thursday once again extended the state of emergency for a month.
A group of armed renegades who refused to sign a 2016 peace accord in Colombia have declared a unilateral ceasefire until the new year, the country's peace commissioner tweeted Saturday.. The dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had refused to lay down their arms alongside their comrades six years ago, when the fearsome rebel army signed the deal with Bogota to end more than five decades of conflict.
