London — The people of Southport, England, came together Sunday for the first of the funerals for three girls killed during a dance class, remembering 9-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar’s radiant smile and calling for an end to the unrest that has convulsed Britain since the attack two weeks ago. Hundreds of mourners packed St. Patrick’s …
Read more “Southport, England, mourns young stabbing victim, calls for end to unrest”
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New York — In the Ryan Reynolds-Blake Lively box-office showdown, both husband and wife came out as winners. Reynolds’ Marvel Studios smash “Deadpool & Wolverine” remained the top movie in North American theaters for the third straight week with $54.2 million in ticket sales according to studio estimates Sunday. Worldwide, it’s now surpassed $1 billion. “Deadpool …
Read more “Reynolds-Lively husband and wife team wins weekend box office”
VARNAVA/ATHENS — Residents fled their homes Sunday in the village of Varnava near Athens as fire crews struggled to contain a fast-moving wildfire fueled by hot, windy weather that sent smoke clouds over the Greek capital. More than 250 firefighters backed by 12 water-bombing planes and seven helicopters battled the blaze that broke out at 3 …
Read more “Greek residents flee as wildfire rages uncontrolled near Athens”
Paris — French police evacuated the area around the Eiffel Tower after a man was seen climbing the Paris landmark hours before the Olympics closing ceremony Sunday. The shirtless man was seen scaling the 330-meter (1,083-foot) tall tower in the afternoon. It’s unclear where he began his ascent, but he was spotted just above the Olympic …
Read more “Police arrest man climbing Eiffel Tower hours before Olympic closing ceremony “
KYIV, Ukraine — Days after Ukraine began a surprise military incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy broke the government’s silence on it late Saturday by indirectly acknowledging ongoing military actions to “push the war out into the aggressor’s territory” in his nightly address. Overnight into Sunday, a Russian drone and missile barrage …
Read more “Ukraine’s president indirectly confirms daring military incursion onto Russian soil”
NEW YORK — Visitors to corn mazes across the country are finding a familiar and joyous figure in the winding labyrinth of tall stalks. Snoopy. More than 80 farms in the U.S. and Canada have teamed up with Peanuts Worldwide to create “Peanuts”-themed mazes to celebrate the beloved strip’s 75th birthday this summer and fall. A …
Read more “Farmers honor ‘Peanuts’ creator with corn mazes in US, Canada”
PARIS — Paris is getting a colorful splash of Olympic creative spirit with nearly 30 vibrant street art pieces that have popped up on bustling metro station walls, a large billboard at the airport and in front of City Hall. One shows a drawing of French fencer Ysaora Thibus in action. Another has canoers paddling down …
Read more “Street art pops up throughout Paris, adding Olympic color to major landmarks”
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London — Thousands of anti-racism demonstrators rallied Saturday across the United Kingdom to protest recent rioting blamed on the far right in the wake of the Southport knife attack that killed three children. Crowds massed in London, Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester and numerous other towns and cities as fears of violent confrontations with anti-immigration agitators failed to …
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moscow — Moscow on Saturday launched a “counter-terror operation” in three border regions adjoining Ukraine to halt Kyiv’s biggest cross-border offensive in the two-and-a-half year conflict. Ukrainian units stormed across the border into Russia’s western Kursk region on Tuesday morning in a shock attack and have advanced several kilometers, according to independent analysts. Russia has deployed …
Read more “Russia launches new operation to halt advancing Ukrainian troops”
BANGKOK — In Bangladesh, weeks of protests against a quota system for government jobs turned into a broad uprising that forced the prime minister to flee the country and resign. The demonstrations began peacefully last month and were primarily led by students frustrated with the system that they said favored those with connections to the ruling …
Read more “Bangladesh not the first student uprising to help bring about radical change”
PARIS — Women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics has highlighted the complexity of drafting and enforcing sex eligibility rules for women’s sports and how athletes like Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan are left vulnerable in the fallout. When eligibility for women’s events has come into question, it often has been a legally …
Read more “Sex eligibility rules for female athletes are complex, legally difficult”
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NEW YORK — Renowned French high-wire artist Philippe Petit marked the 50th anniversary of his famous walk between New York’s Twin Towers with a performance in a Manhattan cathedral, accompanied by live music from Sting. Petit walked between the spires of the World Trade Center skyscrapers, 1,350 feet up, on August 7, 1974. A photographer captured …
Read more “Tightrope walker marks Twin Towers stunt, 50 years on”
washington — China said Friday that it had filed an appeal with the World Trade Organization regarding hefty European Union tariffs placed on the import of Chinese electric vehicles. The EU in July imposed tariffs of up to 37.6% on vehicles made in China after it found that the automakers had received large government subsidies that …
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The U.S. presidential campaign is being closely followed in Ukraine as its outcome could significantly impact regional security, U.S. foreign policy, NATO support, aid to Ukraine, and relations with Russia. VOA Eastern Europe Chief Myroslava Gongadze reports. Camera: Daniil Batushchak, Vladyslav Smilianets …
KYIV — Russia declared the situation in the Kursk region a “federal level” emergency and sent reinforcements there on Friday, four days after hundreds of Ukrainian troops poured over the border in what appeared to be Kyiv’s biggest attack on Russian soil since the war began. Meanwhile, a Russian plane-launched missile slammed into a Ukrainian shopping …
By the beginning of 2024, the war in Ukraine had inflicted over $150 billion of damage on Ukraine’s infrastructure, according to the Kyiv School of Economics. But some scholars in the U.S., alongside Ukrainian anti-corruption activists, are already looking ahead to the end of the war and the opportunity to rebuild. Princeton University recently created …
Read more “Princeton University to help Ukraine rebuild, reduce corruption risks”
BARCELONA — Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont was on his way back to Belgium on Friday, having appeared at a rally in central Barcelona despite an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Spain, his party’s general secretary said on Friday. Jordi Turull told RAC1 radio that he did not know whether Puigdemont had already reached his …
Read more “Catalan separatist Puigdemont leaves Spain after avoiding arrest, ally says”