A 90-year-old Hong Kong cardinal will go on trial alongside four fellow democracy supporters on Monday over their role in running a fund to help defend people arrested in anti-government protests.. Zen's group acted as trustees of a now-defunct fund that helped pay legal and medical costs for those arrested during huge and sometimes violent democracy protests three years ago.
Wearing T-shirts showing Russian bears, waving flags with "Z" symbols, and holding pictures of Putin aloft -- the Ukraine war has not deterred Bulgarian Russophiles, who rallied in the centre of the country on Sunday to show their support.. - 'Like loving your sister'- Unlike in most other European countries, regular pro-Russian rallies have been held alongside pro-Ukrainian gatherings.
Tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews gathered in the Ukrainian city of Uman for their annual pilgrimage, officials said Sunday, despite authorities asking them to skip the trip because of the war.. The central Ukrainian city of Uman is relatively far from the frontline, but Ukrainian and Israeli authorities urged worshippers to skip the celebrations taking place between September 25 and 27 this year.
Cubans went to the polls Sunday to vote in a landmark referendum on whether to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption, allow surrogate pregnancies and give greater rights to non-biological parents.. This month, the Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops announced its stand against several points in the new code, including surrogate pregnancies and adoption by same-sex couples.
Russian authorities on Sunday promised to fix the mistakes in their troop call-up for Ukraine, after some public outrage over students, older or sick people being mistakenly ordered to report for duty.. Several students told AFP they were given call-up papers, despite Russian authorities promising they would be left out of the recruitment drive.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday his country was determined to never again rely on a single energy supplier and touted "progress" in gas projects while visiting the United Arab Emirates.. "We have made progress on a whole series of projects here in terms of the production and purchase of diesel and gas," Scholz told reporters in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi.
Just a handful of kilometres from the frontline, a shattered village school in the southern Mykolaiv region is a stark sign of the war damage inflicted by Russia on Ukrainian education.. According to UNESCO, citing Ukrainian Ministry of Education figures, almost 300 schools have been destroyed since the invasion began, and over 2,550 damaged.
A volunteer organisation run by ex-soldiers, Mozart says it wants to save lives in Ukraine by offering aid and military training -- choosing its name as a "tongue in cheek" nod to the notorious Russian paramilitary group Wagner.. Naming the group Mozart was "a tongue in cheek" retort to the group, according to Andy Bain, a former US marine reserve officer.
Switzerland votes Sunday on a slew of issues, including a proposed ban on factory farming and divisive pension reform that would raise the retirement age for women.. - Another hotly debated topic on the ballot is a popular proposal to ban intensive livestock farming, essentially eradicating factory farms in largely rural Switzerland.
Metallica and Mariah Carey on Saturday led an A-list of musicians, and President Joe Biden made a surprise video appearance, as the Global Citizen Festival sought to mobilize action against poverty and climate change.. But Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados warned that action against climate change cannot come quickly enough for islands such as hers.
