Italian ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi was under fresh scrutiny Wednesday over his friendship with Vladimir Putin after being recorded describing a birthday present of vodka from the Russian leader and expressing concerns about arming Ukraine.. - Putin 'person of peace' - Immediately preceding the anecdote, Berlusconi can be heard describing his concerns about sending weapons and cash to support Ukraine.
Human Rights Watch called Wednesday for targeted sanctions and an arms embargo against Ethiopia to help protect civilians as the country's brutal war in Tigray intensifies.. "The US and EU, as well as the Security Council, should use the appropriate tools, including targeted sanctions and an arms embargo, to protect civilians at risk," she said.
Pro-Kremlin officials were pulling out of the key southern Ukraine city of Kherson on Wednesday, as Kyiv's forces advanced on territory in Russian hands since the war's earliest days.. - 'Safe evacuation' - Local officials said they were planning to evacuate up to 60,000 civilians from the city of Kherson over a period of around six days.
One of the poorest and most arid states in the world, the landlocked nation of Chad has been hit by exceptional floods that have affected hundreds of thousands of lives.. Since the end of June, more than 340,000 people in Chad have been hit by floods, according to a provisional UN report.
Ukrainian football legend Andriy Shevchenko has admitted in an interview with AFP he cried when he "saw children running through a field strewn with missile craters" in Irpin, a commuter town outside Kyiv which was liberated from Russian control.. Sales of the t-shirt raised 200,000 euros ($196,000) which will help reconstruct a children's football pitch in Irpin, destroyed by Russian missiles.
A corruption scandal surrounding the Tokyo Olympics widened on Wednesday as a former Games executive was re-arrested on suspicion of taking bribes from two firms, one of which reportedly sold official mascot toys.. They also accused him of accepting seven million yen from a merchandise firm, which Japanese media named as Sun Arrow and said was licensed to sell soft toys of the cute Games mascots.
Brazilian presidential candidate Lula da Silva criticised football star Neymar's support of far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, accusing the player of being motivated by a debt "pardon". . I think he is afraid that if I win the election I will find out what Bolsonaro pardoned from his income tax debt," Lula said in a YouTube interview on Tuesday.
An Iranian climber who caused a sensation by competing at an event abroad without a hijab was on Wednesday given a hero's welcome on her return to Tehran by supporters who raucously applauded her action.. "A hero's welcome -- including by women without the forced-hijab -- outside Tehran airport for-pro climber Elnaz Rekabi.
A cheering crowd welcomed home Iranian sports climber Elnaz Rekabi at a Tehran airport Wednesday, after she competed in South Korea without a hijab, media in the Islamic republic reported.. Rekabi, 33, was seen arriving at Imam Khomeini International Airport early on Wednesday, in a video broadcast by state news agency IRNA. Dozens of people welcomed her, cheering and clapping loudly as she emerged outside, according to a video posted online by the reformist Shargh newspaper.
Patriotic messages stating the fact that "Bakhmut is Ukraine" are scrawled on monuments all around this frontline city.. "Some of them escaped to Russia thinking they will be able to come back here afterwards" if Bakhmut falls, she said, adding that they had been "drugged" by Russian state propaganda.
