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By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis demanded swift action on Thursday to save the planet from environmental ruin, urging world leaders to hear “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” and plunging the Catholic Church into political controversy over climate change. In the first papal document dedicated to the environment, he called for “decisive action, here and now,” to stop environmental degradation and
Boko Haram militants attacked two villages in southern Niger’s Diffa region overnight, killing at least 30 civilians, two security sources said on Thursday. Its government has declared a state of emergency for the region and has arrested more than 600 people it accuses of links to the group.
A senior U.S. State Department official played down on Thursday an announcement by Russia that it will add more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles to its nuclear arsenal this year. “Those kinds of announcements when made publicly like that obviously have a rattling effect,” Victoria Nuland, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European affairs, told reporters on a visit to the Czech capital. “When we look at what is
By Mohammed Ghobari and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA/SANAA (Reuters) – A fistfight erupted on the sidelines of peace talks in Geneva on Thursday between supporters of different warring factions in Yemen, underlining the divisions that have thwarted United Nations efforts broker a truce in the near three-month conflict. Yemeni opponents of the Houthi forces that drove the government into exile interrupted a news conference by Houthi officials, throwing shoes and insulting
By Oksana Kobzeva and Polina Devitt ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) – A former finance minister proposed on Thursday bringing forward the next presidential election to give his ally, Vladimir Putin, a stronger mandate to reform the economy and guide Russia through a financial “storm”. Russia is sliding into recession, with economic sanctions imposed by the West over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine conflict taking a toll and lower global oil
Pomp, pageantry and a vast array of elaborate hats make Royal Ascot a truly English affair –- but Britain’s most prestigious horse race meeting is attracting a growing international contingent. More than 300,000 people are expected during the course of the five-day extravaganza in Berkshire, southeast England, attended yearly by Queen Elizabeth II — with Ladies Day on Thursday a sartorial highlight of the upper class social calendar. Taiwanese couple
Geneva (AFP) – The number of people forced to flee war, violence and persecution has soared to a record 60 million, half of them children, the United Nations said Thursday, warning that the situation was raging out of control.
A 21-year-old white gunman accused of killing nine people at a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, was arrested on Thursday, said U.S. officials, who are investigating the attack as a hate crime. Law enforcement officials caught alleged gunman Dylann Roof, whose rampage on Wednesday came in a year that has seen months of racially charged protests across the United States over killings of black men. U.S. Attorney General
The UN’s refugee chief on Thursday urged the world including Western states to open up their borders and follow Turkey’s example in hosting Syrian refugees. Turkey, which has taken in some 1.8 million Syrian refugees since the conflict started in 2011, has repeatedly said that it has been left to shoulder a disproportionate burden as Western states stand by. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told reporters in Istanbul
FBI investigating attack on historic black church as a hate crime.
