Author: Reporter

A cowardly retreat: Trump trades his “24-hour” boast for dodging blame as Ukraine peace efforts collapse

During his campaign, Donald Trump said repeatedly that he would be able to end the war between Russia and Ukraine “in 24 hours” upon taking office. He has changed his tone since becoming president again. Trump’s swaggering promise to end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in a single day now stands as one of the most humiliating and dangerous lies of his political career. Rather than deliver the miraculous peace he boasted of, Trump has presided over a chaotic, contradictory, and increasingly self-serving foreign policy that has undermined Ukraine, alienated allies, and emboldened the Kremlin. He has traded...

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Ukrainians remain hopeful but feel uncertain as Russia illegally holds thousands of civilians captive

When she heard her front door open almost two years ago, Kostiantyn Zinovkin’s mother thought her son had returned home because he forgot something. Instead, men in balaclavas burst into the apartment in Melitopol, a southern Ukrainian city occupied by Russian forces. They said Zinovkin was detained for a minor infraction and would be released soon. They used his key to enter, said his wife, Liusiena, and searched the flat so thoroughly that they tore it apart “into molecules.” But Zinovkin was not released. Weeks after his May 2023 arrest, the Russians told his mother he was plotting a...

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Capture of Chinese soldiers fighting alongside Russia is latest example of China’s geopolitical looting

The Ukrainian military has captured two Chinese men fighting alongside the Russian army in the eastern Donetsk region and has information that “significantly more” are with Russian forces, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on April 8. There was no comment from China. Beijing has not confirmed that it has provided Russia with weapons or military expertise, and it was not clear whether the Chinese had joined the fight on their own initiative. Russia allows foreigners to enlist in its military, as does Ukraine. On April 9, Ukraine expanded on its claim that significant numbers of Chinese nationals were fighting...

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Life goes on in the Ukrainian city of Sumy despite the bloody Palm Sunday attack and daily threats

The humdrum of daily life in Sumy belies the constant threat of death its people have lived with since Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago. Days after Russia targeted the city’s center in back-to-back missile strikes, killing 35 people and injuring more than 100 others in the deadliest attack on Ukrainian civilians this year, neighbors gossiped in front of their apartment block as children played soccer in the courtyard. They paused to look up only when hearing the buzzing of attack drones and familiar thud of Ukrainian air defenses before resuming what they were doing. Sumy is only about...

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Papa Francisco: el primer pontífice latinoamericano que ejerció su ministerio con humildad muere a los 88 años

El papa Francisco, el primer pontífice latinoamericano de la historia, que cautivó al mundo con su estilo humilde y su preocupación por los pobres, pero que alienó a los conservadores con sus críticas al capitalismo y al cambio climático, murió el 21 de abril. Tenía 88 años. Las campanas repicaron en los campanarios de Roma tras el anuncio, que fue leído por el cardenal Kevin Ferrell, camarlengo del Vaticano, desde la capilla de la Domus Santa Marta, donde vivía Francisco. “A las 7:35 de esta mañana, el obispo de Roma, Francisco, regresó a la casa del Padre. Toda su...

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Centuries-old rituals begin as Vatican prepares to elect new pontiff after death of Pope Francis

“Solidarity is more than a few sporadic acts of generosity. It is a call to act against the structural causes of poverty. Yes, there is an invisible thread joining every injustice, and we are all either complicit or courageous.” – Pope Francis The death of a pope starts a centuries-old ritual involving sacred oaths by the cardinals electing a successor, the piercing of ballots with a needle and thread after they’re counted, and then burning them to produce either the white or black smoke to signal if there’s a new leader for the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics. The election...

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