Month: October 2024

Paris — Crowds were participating in pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests and memorial events across the world Sunday on the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel. Sunday’s events follow massive rallies that took place Saturday in several European cities, including London, Berlin, Paris and Rome. Other events are scheduled through the week, with an expected peak Monday, the date of the anniversary. In Australia, thousands of people protested Sunday in support of Palestinians and Lebanon in various cities, while a pro-Israeli rally also took place in Melbourne. Samantha Gazal, who came to the rally in Sydney, said …

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Kyiv, Ukraine — Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on a surprise visit to Kyiv on Sunday that his country will invest 400 million euros ($440 million) in advanced drone development with Ukraine and deliver more F-16s in the coming months.  More than 2-1/2 years since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion, Ukraine is fighting to thwart Russia’s troops as they inch forward in the east and attack critical infrastructure ahead of the winter months.  “The war, of course, is intensifying every day, and Ukraine is setting up more brigades who all need support, who all need military equipment. We …

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SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Rescue teams from Bosnia’s neighbors and European Union countries on Sunday were joining efforts to clear the rubble and find people still missing from floods and landslides that devastated parts of the Balkan country. Bosnia sought EU help after a heavy rainstorm overnight on Friday left entire areas under water and debris destroyed roads and bridges, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens. Officials said that at least 10 people are still unaccounted for, many of them in the village of Donja Jablanica, in southern Bosnia, which was almost completely buried in rocks and rubble from a …

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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday announced he will appoint 21 new cardinals of the global Catholic Church, in an unexpected push to influence the powerful group of churchmen that will one day choose his successor. The ceremony to install the new appointees, known as a consistory, will be held on December 8, the 87-year-old pope announced during his weekly noon-time prayer with pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square. It will be the tenth consistory called by the pope since his election 11 years ago as the first pontiff from Latin America. Although popes may choose to appoint cardinals …

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rome — Blocking a road to protest inaction against climate change could soon be punishable with prison in Italy as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right government cracks down on demonstrations, even peaceful ones. A new security law passed by MPs and facing final scrutiny in the Senate has been dubbed the “anti-Gandhi” law — after pacifist Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi — by critics for taking aim at demonstrations by people ranging from prisoners to climate activists. It is specifically aimed at protests of two major infrastructure projects — a high-speed, cross-border Turin-Lyon railway to France and a mooted bridge over …

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budapest, hungary — Thousands of protesters gathered outside the headquarters of Hungary’s public media corporation Saturday to demonstrate against what they say is an entrenched propaganda network operated by the nationalist government at taxpayer expense.  The protest was organized by Hungary’s most prominent opposition figure, Peter Magyar, and his upstart TISZA party, which has emerged in recent months as the most serious political challenge for Prime Minister Viktor Orban since he took power nearly 15 years ago.  Magyar, whose party received nearly 30% of the vote in European Union elections this summer and is polling within a few points of the …

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paris — Several people, including a child, died while trying to cross the English Channel from France to England, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Saturday.  Attempts to cross the channel in small, overloaded boats are frequent despite strong currents in what is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.  “Smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will step up the fight against these mafias that organize these deadly crossings,” Retailleau said on social media platform X.  Fourteen people were on the boat. One was flown by helicopter to a hospital after a search and …

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