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Russia retreats in northern Ukraine as Red Cross heads for Mariupol
Ukraine on Saturday said Russian forces were making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around the capital Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv as the Red Cross prepared for a fresh evacuation effort from the besieged southern port of Mariupol.
New Spain opposition chief vows moderation, dialogue
Spain's new opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo pledged to turn the page on confrontational politics and foster inclusive dialogue in his first speech after being overwhelmingly elected head of the Popular Party.
Crisis-hit Sri Lanka declares 36-hour nationwide lockdown
Sri Lanka declared a 36-hour nationwide curfew Saturday and deployed troops backed with sweeping new powers under a state of emergency to quell protests against the president, his relatives and even his most trusted shaman.
War-torn Yemen holds breath for breakthrough truce
Yemen's warring parties are set to lay down their weapons for the first nationwide truce since 2016 on Saturday with all eyes on whether the UN-brokered ceasefire will hold.
Russia pulls back from north as Red Cross pushes Mariupol rescue
Ukraine on Saturday said Russian forces were making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around the capital Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv as the Red Cross prepared for a fresh evacuation effort from the besieged southern port of Mariupol.
Iraq oil exports $11.07 bn in March, highest for 50 years
Iraq exported $11.07 billion of oil last month, the highest level for half a century, as crude prices soared amid shortfall fears following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the oil ministry said.
Pope arrives in Malta, refuge of St. Paul, in Mediterranean mission
Pope Francis began his first trip to Malta Saturday, where he is expected to ask the heavily Catholic country to do more to help migrants who have risked their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe.
The Hungarian internet TV fighting 'propaganda'
Their studio is makeshift and their funds are largely crowd-sourced, yet Hungary's top YouTube politics channel is one of the few voices left in the country critical of the government.
Swiss Cold War bunkers back in vogue as Ukraine conflict rages
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has reawakened interest in Switzerland's concrete nuclear fallout shelters, built during the Cold War with enough space to shelter everyone in the country.
East Ukrainians twice in flight from Russian offensive
Fledgling film director Eugene Koshin talks about his ordeal like images on a screen -- vivid "flashes" of action that were somehow distant and unreal.
After crisis, Spain's right-wing PP appoints new leader
Spain's opposition Popular Party (PP) on Saturday appoints Alberto Nunez Feijoo as leader in the hope the calm, experienced moderate with a pragmatic outlook will return the right-wing faction to power.
Macron holds first rally as France election race tightens
President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday holds his first rally of the French election campaign, with far-right rival Marine Le Pen eating into what once seemed his unassailable lead barely a week ahead of the ballot.
Crisis-hit Sri Lanka deploys troops to quell protests
Troops armed with sweeping powers to detain suspects were deployed in Sri Lanka Saturday, hours after the president declared a state of emergency as protests against him escalated.
Thousands flee Mariupol as Red Cross prepares fresh rescue effort
More than 3,000 people have escaped the besieged region of Mariupol in a convoy of buses and private cars, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday as the Red Cross prepared a fresh evacuation effort for the devastated southern port.
Buses carrying Mariupol residents arrive in Zaporizhzhia
Dozens of buses tightly packed with exhausted evacuees from Mariupol and other Russian-occupied cities in southeast Ukraine arrived in Zaporizhzhia Friday to the relief of waiting relatives, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.
Families of Cuban protesters left devastated by harsh sentences
Luis Frometa Compte, 59, had been back in the land of his birth for just 40 days when unprecedented anti-government protests broke out all over the country in July 2021.
Bolsonaro, Lula already in campaign mode in Brazil
There are more than four months to go until the campaign officially starts for Brazil's October elections, but far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are already in candidate mode.
Kyiv silent on airstrike in Russia, 3,000 flee Mariupol
Ukraine's president refused Friday to say whether he had ordered an airstrike on Russian soil, as a bus convoy navigated a tortuous evacuation to help thousands flee the besieged city of Mariupol.
Apocalyptic price of Ukraine's victory in Irpin
The last survivors in the ruins of Irpin have just one word to describe the Russians who have retreated after one of the pivotal battles of the war in Ukraine.
US could have done more to limit civilian toll in Raqqa battle: study
The US military could have done more to limit civilian casualties and damage during the battle for the Syrian city of Raqqa that marked the Islamic State's fall in 2017, according to a report commissioned by the Pentagon.
Kyiv silent on airstrike in Russia, some residents flee Mariupol
Kyiv refused Friday to deny it had carried out an airstrike on Russian soil, as a convoy of buses navigated a tortuous civilian evacuation passage out of the devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Stocks edge higher on solid US jobs data, oil prices retreat
Wall Street stocks finished modestly higher Friday as solid US jobs data boosted expectations for more Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, while oil prices retreated after US allies agreed to tap their emergency stockpiles.
Kyiv silent on airstrike in Russia, Mariupol rescue op fails
Ukraine refused Friday to deny it had carried out an airstrike on Russian soil, as hopes of de-escalation faded in President Vladimir Putin's war and evacuation operations for besieged Mariupol failed.
USA and Iran renew World Cup rivalry with geopolitical backdrop
The United States and Iran go into the World Cup with political and football grudges that their coaches, Gregg Berhalter and Dragan Skocic, are keen to defuse before the teams meet in November.
UN: Yemen's warring parties agree to two-month truce starting Saturday
The UN said Yemen's warring parties have agreed to a two-month extendable truce starting Saturday, the first day of Ramadan for many Muslims, and an accord on fuel shipments and Sanaa airport.
UN official heads to Moscow seeking 'humanitarian ceasefire'
A top United Nations official will visit Moscow this weekend to try to secure a "humanitarian ceasefire" in Ukraine, UN chief Antonio Guterres said Friday.
Bolshoi Theatre to show ballet in support of Russian army
Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre said a performance on Saturday will be in support of Russia's "military operation" in Ukraine, with all proceeds going towards the families of Russian soldiers who died in combat.
Sri Lanka declares emergency as street protests spread
Sri Lanka's president declared a state of emergency Friday giving sweeping powers to security forces a day after hundreds tried to storm his house in anger over an unprecedented economic crisis.
US lifting pandemic border expulsion policy in May
The United States announced Friday it was lifting a public health order imposed because of the Covid-19 pandemic that required the immediate expulsion of migrants arriving at the southern border.
Will Biden's plan to tap US oil reserves reduce gasoline prices?
Citing the need to counteract the "Putin price hike" following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, President Biden has announced a sweeping plan to make unprecedented use of US emergency oil stockpiles.
US lifting pandemic expulsion policy
The United States announced Friday it was lifting a public health order imposed because of the Covid-19 pandemic that required the immediate expulsion of migrants arriving at the border.
Smoke signals: US House votes to decriminalize cannabis
US lawmakers backed the decriminalization of marijuana nationwide in a vote Friday that will eliminate punishments for providing or possessing the drug if it is signed into law by President Joe Biden.
Street protests grip Sri Lanka as economic crisis escalates
Street protests gripped Sri Lanka Friday as demonstrators blocked main roads across the country, a day after hundreds tried to storm the president's home in anger over an unprecedented economic crisis.
On patrol with Kharkiv's elite 'Spetsnaz' police force
Shouts, the doors are kicked down and a window smashed. In a matter of seconds, the hotel is surrounded and its occupants find themselves on the ground, wrists tied, or with their hands against the wall and a Kalashnikov in the small of their back.
Survivors of Mariupol theatre strike recall 'horror' of strike
Two women that survived the Russian airstrike on a theatre sheltering civilians in Ukraine's besieged city of Mariupol earlier this month told AFP about the "horror" they endured.
Russian director in Germany after travel ban lifted
Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov was permitted to leave the country and has travelled to Berlin, his team told AFP on Friday.
Ukraine eyes Romanian port for key farm exports
Faced with a Russian blockade of its own ports, Ukraine is seeking to export the farm goods that many countries depend on via the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta.
War disfigures the cities of southern Ukraine
It is here on the charming Deribasovska pedestrian street that Viktor Oliynik has planted his easel to capture in pastel colours the wartime transformation of Odessa, whose architectural gems are now partially hidden behind sandbags.
Smoke signals: US House to vote for cannabis decriminalization
US lawmakers were expected to vote Friday to decriminalize marijuana nationwide, eliminating punishments for providing or possessing the drug in a major step towards bringing federal laws in line with the states.