Month: July 2022

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet is calling for an end to the war in Ukraine and for perpetrators of atrocities and crimes in the conduct of the war to be held accountable. Bachelet presented her latest update on the situation in Ukraine to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva Tuesday. Bachelet’s report covers the period between February 24 when Russia invaded Ukraine and May 15. The report presents an exhaustive tally of killings, widespread destruction, arbitrary detentions, forced disappearance and other gross violations of human rights. In reviewing this list of atrocities, the U.N. rights chief …

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Britain’s finance and health ministers resigned on Tuesday, in what looked to be a final blow for Prime Minister Boris Johnson who had tried to apologize for the latest scandal involving a sexual misconduct complaint over one of his ministers. Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced his resignation in a statement, saying he could “no longer continue in good conscience.” Moments later, finance minister Rishi Sunak also announced he was quitting. The resignations came as Johnson was apologizing for what he said was a mistake by not realizing that former whip Chris Pincher was unsuitable for a job in government after …

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Russia launched “massive shelling” Tuesday of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, the city’s mayor said, as Moscow’s forces initiated attacks in Donetsk province after winning control of neighboring Luhansk province.  In an interview on Ukrainian television, Mayor Vadim Lyakh first urged residents to flee. Hours later, he reversed course and advised them to take cover in shelters. Prior to Russia’s invasion more than four months ago, the city had a prewar population of about 107,000. “Artillery is already hitting the city,” Lyakh warned, saying that 40 houses were destroyed by Russian shelling on Monday. On Facebook, Lyakh said one person was …

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NATO members on Tuesday signed the accession protocols for Finland and Sweden to join the military alliance.  Both countries submitted their applications in May, breaking longstanding non-aligned stances in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  “This is a good day for Finland and Sweden, and a good day for NATO. With 32 nations around the table, we will be even stronger and our people will be even safer as we face the biggest security crisis in decades,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.  He added that “NATO’s door remains open to European democracies who are ready to and willing to contribute …

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Britain’s defense ministry said Tuesday it expects Russia to use the same tactics it employed to seize virtually all of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province as it pushes to control Donetsk province and reach its stated goal of holding the entire Donbas region. “The battle for the Donbas has been characterized by slow rates of advance and Russia’s massed employment of artillery, levelling towns and cities in the process,” the ministry said in a statement. “The fighting in Donetsk Oblast will almost certainly continue in this manner.” Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory Monday in Luhansk province as Ukrainian troops retreated …

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A group of young off-duty Ukrainian soldiers gathered at a military distribution center to enjoy a rare respite from the fighting that has again engulfed their fractured home in eastern Ukraine. As they shared jokes and a pizza, artillery explosions could be heard a few kilometers away — a reminder of the looming battle that threatens to unfold here in the city of Slovyansk, which was occupied by Russian proxy fighters in 2014. “Everyone knows that there will be a huge battle in Slovyansk,” said one of the soldiers, who could not be named for security reasons. Now, eight years …

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Pope Francis has dismissed rumors he plans to resign anytime soon, and says that he hopes to visit Moscow and Kyiv after traveling to Canada later this month. Francis also told Reuters in an interview published Monday that the idea “never entered my mind” to announce a planned retirement at the end of the summer, though he repeated he might step down some day as Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI did in 2013. He revealed that his knee trouble, which has caused him to use a wheelchair for over a month, was caused by a “small fracture” that occurred when he …

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