For now, links to reports from the Associated Press, National Public Radio, Tass, and Reuters; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below.  — MCM

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Dozens of POWs freed as Ukraine marks Orthodox Easter, by Hanna Arhirova | AP  KYIV — More than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released as part of a major Easter exchange with Russia, a top official said today as Orthodox Ukrainians marked the holiday for a second time since Moscow unleashed its brutal full-scale war last February. While celebrations were subdued due to security risks, with a curfew barring the faithful from . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine military says U.S. leak shows it needs more ammunition. Elissa Nadworny and Joanna Kakissis of NPR talk about how the recent intelligence leaks in the U.S. are affecting relations between allies. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Russian Armed Forces hit command posts of two territorial defense brigades. From Tass. MOSCOW — The Russian Armed Forces hit the command posts of the 125th and 102nd Territorial Defense Brigades in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Zaporozhye Region, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said today.

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EU says unilateral trade action unacceptable after Poland, Hungary ban Ukraine grain, food imports. From Reuters. WARSAW, April 16 (Reuters) – Unilateral action on trade by European Union member states is unacceptable, a European Commission spokesperson said on Sunday, after Poland and Hungary announced bans on grain and other food imports from Ukraine to protect the local agricultural sector. “Trade policy is of EU exclusive competence and, therefore, unilateral actions . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from Agence France-Presse, Tass, the Associated Press, National Public Radio, and Reuters; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, commentary from GlobalResearch and Black Agenda Report. — MCM

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Russian strike kills nine, including toddler, in Eastern Ukraine, by Jonathan Brown | AFP  Russia shelled a block of flats in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, killing nine people, authorities said today, including a two-year-old boy who was rescued from the rubble but died on his way to hospital. Friday’s strike on the quiet neighborhood came as Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill that . . . READ MORE . . .

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Wagner assault teams fighting for urban areas in western part of Artyomovsk – top brass. From Tass. MOSCOW — Assault teams from the Wagner private military company are fighting Ukrainian troops in the western districts of Artyomovsk, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday in a briefing that included other information on the special military operation in Ukraine. READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine awaits U.S. missile system after latest Russian strike. From AP. KYIV — The death toll from Russian missile strikes on eastern Ukraine’s city of Sloviansk rose to 11 today as rescue crews tried to reach people trapped in the rubble of an apartment building, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukraine’s air force said the country would soon have weapons with which to try to prevent attacks like the one Friday. The delivery of the Patriot air defense . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine hopes to rally world leaders to help fund its reconstruction. Reported by Michele Kelemen | NPR  Ukraine needs billions of dollars for reconstruction. Its prime minister has been in Washington, D.C., this week meeting finance ministers and government officials from around the world, asking for help. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Polish government bans grain and other foods from Ukraine. From Reuters. WARSAW — The Polish government has decided to ban imports of grain and other food from Ukraine to protect the Polish agricultural sector, the leader of the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS), Jaroslaw Kaczyński, said today. Large quantities of Ukrainian grains, cheaper than those produced in the European Union, have ended up remaining . . . READ MORE . . .

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In Ukraine, a kindergarten teacher returns to visit a ghost classroom. Reported by Elissa Nadworny | NPR  In Kharkiv, Ukraine, a kindergarten teacher visits her classroom which hasn’t hosted students for more than a year due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Click HERE to listen later today and, still later, to read.

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Ukraine is out of ammo. Does the Pentagon want Kiev to “cut a deal” with Russia? by Don Hank | Global Research  The U.S. has allowed the Ukrainians to run out of ammo and just about everything else. One sad fact for Ukraine is that, according to the leaked Pentagon document trove, Ukraine is down to only 9,788 artillery shells on hand, or enough to sustain combat for a few days. The report claims . . . READ MORE . . .

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The U.S. pushes Kiev into a suicidal military counter-offensive, by Dmitriy Kovalevich | Black Agenda Report / Educate!   Hostilities in Ukraine have slowed because March in Ukraine is a month when the roads are muddy and heavy equipment cannot pass over them. Military trenches are flooded with water, and travel or evacuation becomes problematic, especially in combat areas where roads  . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from Reuters, Tass, the Associated Press, National Public Radio, and Agence France-Presse; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, a veteran investigative reporter’s latest self-published article. NOTE: The NPR item, from Thursday’s “All Things Considered,” was added after 12 noon EDT. — MCM

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Ukrainians said to pull back in Bakhmut as Moscow launches new push, by Kai Pfaffenbach and Manuel Ausloos | Reuters  * Britain says Russian mercenaries, troops improve cooperation * Ukrainian officials say Russia diverting forces to Bakhmut * Capturing city would be Moscow’s first big gain in eight months * Ukraine preparing for counteroffensive | NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine — Ukrainian troops have been forced to withdraw from some parts of Bakhmut in the face of a renewed Russian assault on the ruined battlefield city, Britain said on Friday, with Moscow pressing to achieve a victory before Ukraine’s expected counteroffensive. Ukrainian officials say . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian artillery destroys two Ukrainian howitzers in Kherson area. From Tass. GENICHESK — Russian artillery destroyed two Ukrainian howitzers on the right bank of the Dnieper River in the Kherson Region, a spokesman for the regional emergency services reported today, in a report that included . . . READ MORE . . .

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G7 diplomats to grapple with Ukraine, China, N. Korea crises, by Foster Klug | AP  TOKYO (AP) — The top diplomats from some of the world’s most powerful democracies will have plenty to discuss when they gather in the hot spring resort town of Karuizawa on Sunday for the so-called Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting. The agenda will be dominated by worries over Russia, China and North Korea, and an awareness of the unmistakable interconnectedness of . . . READ MORE . . .

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New Russian law would make it difficult to avoid being drafted into war in Ukraine. Reported by Charles Maynes | NPR  Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to sign a new law cracking down on draft dodging. The proposed law raced through Russia’s lower and upper houses of parliament this week. Click HERE to listen and read.

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German FM urges China to ‘call on the aggressor Russia to stop the war.’ From AFP. BEIJING — “It is good that China has signalled its commitment to a solution,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said today after a meeting with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, “but I have to say frankly that I wonder why the Chinese position so far does not include a call . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian oil exports hit near three-year high In March: IEA. From AFP. Russian oil exports jumped to their highest level in almost three years in March despite Western sanctions, but revenues were down sharply from last year, the International Energy Agency said today. The West has imposed . . . READ MORE . . .

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Trading with the enemy, by Seymour Hersh | Substack  The Ukraine government has been using American taxpayers’ funds to pay dearly for the vitally needed diesel fuel that is keeping the Ukrainian army on the move in its war with Russia. President Volodymyr Zelensky has been buying the fuel from Russia, and the Ukrainian president and many in his entourage have been skimming untold millions from the American dollars earmarked for diesel fuel payments. One estimate . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

The presentation beginning below includes an hourlong video recording of an interview, HERE, with pioneering former Secret Service agent Abraham Bolden. — MCM

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Former JFK secret agent describes shocking lapses, current implications

By Andrew Kreig and Wayne Madsen

Abraham W. Bolden, Sr., the first African American to serve on the White House Secret Service details guarding a president, helped launch the new investigative podcast District Insiders with his powerful memories of President John F. Kennedy, left, including disturbing security threats foreshadowing JFK’s 1963 assassination.

Bolden, now 88 and living in Chicago, described in rare detail several historically important interactions with JFK, Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) and such little-known intrigues as a planned 1963 assassination shooting targeting JFK in Chicago three weeks before a similar shooting killed in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

Bolden, loyal to JFK during a period when the president’s background and policies enraged some Americans, sought to alert his chain of command to security threats he had witnessed, including a volcanic temper tantrum by LBJ five months before JFK’s death. Authorities instead framed Bolden with perjured testimony on corruption charges in 1964 and promptly imprisoned him for six years.

The District Insider hosts, both investigative reporters long based in Washington, D.C., recognized during the show Bolden’s remarkable courage and patriotism along with Biden’s boldness granting a pardon. Most officials and mainstream media since 1963 have ignored, downplayed or otherwise suppressed any suggestion conflicting with the FBI’s steadfast view, first expressed soon after JFK’s murder in 1963, that former U.S. Marine Lee Harvey Oswald, shown at left, killed JFK, acting alone.

Current implications of such secrecy are important as well. Neither investigators nor the public, for example, have been able to get clear-cut answers about Secret Service operations — and massive missing text messages — during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that endangered the lives of Vice President Mike Pence, members of Congress and Capitol staff, including police officers.

During the interview, Bolden shared in his first-ever detailed public description how he overheard through a closed door while guarding the Oval Office that an enraged LBJ threatened and cursed the president and his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), with language including “You bastards trying to send me to jail?”

Bolden, who had experienced pioneering job hires as a Black Pinkerton detective and Black Illinois State policeman before JFK personally recruited him to integrate the White House Secret Service, said he was so concerned about LBJ’s outburst that he reported the remarks to a supervisor.

Only later, he said, did he understand from news accounts and historical researchers that the Vice President was probably concerned about then-ongoing state and federal investigations of the corrupt cotton broker Billy Sol Estes (shown on a Time Magazine cover) and the mysterious shooting death on June 3 that month in Texas of Henry Marshall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture agent leading the Estes probe. Authorities ruled Marshall’s death from five shots from a bolt-action rifle plus carbon monocide poisoning as a suicide until Marshall’s family and a sympathetic U.S. marshall succeeded in more than two decades of advocacy in obtaining a 1985 court ruling of homicide, not suicide.

Estes, after serving a long prison sentence, filed an affidavit in 1984 with the Justice Department swearing that LBJ had recruited him to help arrange eight murders, including those of Marshall, LBJ’s estranged sister, Josefa Johnson (1961), her boyfriend John Kinser (1951) and JFK (1963).

U.S. Justice officials failed to prosecute in any of the cases. Bolden said he hesitated until now to . . . READ MORE . . .

First, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Tass, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, commentary from the Los Angeles Times. — MCM

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Ukraine war, already with up to 354,000 casualties, likely to last past 2023 – U.S. documents, by Guy Faulconbridge | Reuters  * Purported U.S. intelligence shows vast casualties on both sides * War of attrition in Donbas heads for ‘stalemate’, document says * U.S. worried Ukrainian attack inside Russia may stir China | MOSCOW — As many as 354,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured in the Ukraine war which is grinding towards a protracted conflict that may last well beyond 2023, according to a trove of purported U.S. intelligence documents posted online. Reuters has not been able to independently verify the documents and some countries, including Russia and Ukraine, have questioned . . . READ MORE . . .

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U.S., Ukraine say many war secrets safe from intel leaks, by Ellen Knickmeyer and Hanna Arhirova | AP  WASHINGTON — Ukraine’s leaders say they don’t see a major U.S. intelligence leak as gravely damaging future offensives. A key reason: They have long held back on sharing their most sensitive operational information, doubting Washington’s ability to keep their secrets safe. “If military operations . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine GDP shrank 29.1 percent In 2022: Official data. From AFP. Ukraine’s economy contracted by 29.1 percent in 2022, the state statistics service said, as the country has been ravaged by Russia’s assault. By comparison, the pro-Western country’s gross domestic product grew 3.4 percent in 2021. The World Bank has said that Ukraine needs $411 billion for its reconstruction and recovery in  . . . READ MORE . . .

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Wagner assault teams capture three urban areas in Artyomovsk – top brass. From Tass. MOSCOW — The assault teams of the Wagner private military company captured three urban quarters in Artyomovsk in the Donetsk area over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Wednesday in a report that included statistics of other areas . . . READ MORE . . .

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Brazil’s President Lula travels to China to find support to help end war in Ukraine. Reported by Carrie Kahn | NPR Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is in China looking for support from Beijing for Brasilia’s “peace club” of countries planning to help end the war in Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and, later, read more.

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Finland joins NATO, but can it help Ukraine? by Emma Ashford | Los Angeles Times  Officials at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were celebrating at their headquarters in Brussels on April 4 as the alliance welcomed Finland into its fold. In joining NATO, Finland has abandoned a 75-year tradition of military neutrality, throwing its lot in with the West against an increasingly isolated Russia. But U.S. and European policymakers should not exaggerate what’s . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

For now, links to reports from the Scheer Post, Reuters, Le Monde,  Agence France-Presse, Tass, the Associated Press, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Next an early-April report from the Epoch Times on Ukrainian government moves against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Then, from the Jimmy Dore Show in early April, commentary on an NBC News reporter’s allegedly being put in danger for his report from Crimea, and an NBC interview about that report and its context. — MCM  

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Leaked document appears to show NATO special operations forces are in Ukraine, by Dave DeCamp | Antiwar.com  / The Sheer Post  A Pentagon document that has appeared on the internet as part of a trove of leaks shows the number of NATO special operations forces that are inside Ukraine, according to The Guardian. The Guardian report reads: “One slide suggested that a small contingent of less than a hundred special operations personnel from NATO members France, America, Britain, and Latvia were already active in Ukraine.” According to . .  . READ MORE . . .

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Leaked U.S. intel document claims Serbia agreed to arm Ukraine, by Jonathan Landay and Aleksandar Vasovic | Reuters  WASHINGTON / BELGRADE — Serbia, the only country in Europe that has refused to sanction Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, agreed to supply arms to Kyiv or has sent them already, according to a classified Pentagon document. Serbia’s Defense Minister Milos Vucevic today dismissed the intel as “untrue.” READ MORE . . .

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Leaked Pentagon documents: What we know about their authenticity. From Le Monde. Since March 1, the publication of several dozen documents marked “confidential” and purporting to come from the American intelligence services has taken Washington by surprise. Both the content and the apparent source of the documents, an obscure discussion forum, raise many questions at this stage with no clear . . . Click HERE to read a limited part of report in English without a subscription, and HERE to read in French.

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EU, UN and Kremlin react to video of apparent beheading of Ukrainian POW. From AFP. Click HERE, HERE and HERE for brief articles.

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All administrative buildings in Artyomovsk controlled by Russian forces – DPR head. From Tass. MOSCOW — All administrative buildings in Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine) are controlled by Russian forces, acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said on Tuesday. He said he had been to Artyomovsk and had seen hardly any building not seriously damaged there . . . READ MORE . . .

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As Ukraine war drags on, civilians’ mental health needs rise, by Elena Becatoros | AP  Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians need psychological help as a result of the war since Russia’s invasion in February 2022 with millions of people displaced, bereaved, forced into basements for months due to incessant shelling or enduring harrowing journeys. Experts say the number is only expected to rise as the war . . . READ MORE . . .

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Following one Kharkiv kindergarten class since the Russian invasion. Reported by Elissa Nadworny | NPR  The Russian invasion spread families of one kindergarten class in Kharkiv across the world and forced families to make choices about how to deal with trauma manifesting in the country’s youngest. Click HERE to listen and read.

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How the war in Ukraine has forever changed the children in one kindergarten class. Reported by Elissa Nadworny and Claire Harbage | NPR  In the city of Kharkiv, in northeast Ukraine, a kindergarten classroom with bright yellow and green walls and long, gauzy curtains, toys and books. The lockers are filled with children’s belongings: shoes, backpacks and a drawing of a snowman. But there are no children. This is a blessing, given that . . . Click HERE to listen and read more.

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Ukraine steps up pressure on Orthodox Church, arrests top cleric, By Adam Morrow | The Epoch Times (April 4, 2023) The government in Kyiv has placed a Ukrainian Orthodox Church leader under house arrest and demanded that Orthodox monks vacate a 1,000-year-old monastery, amid a clampdown on the church. Ukrainian officials accuse the church of harboring pro-Russia sympathies and collaborating with Moscow. The church denies .  . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine puts NBC reporter on ‘kill list.’ Jimmy Dore and Jose Vega | The Jimmy Dore Show. They talk about the NBC News report in which reporter Keir Simmons interviews Crimea residents favorably disposed toward Russia. Click HERE for the segment.

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A rare look into Russian-annexed territory of Crimea. Andrea Mitchell interviews Kier Simmons on Feb. 28 program | NBC Simmons talks about his visit to Crimea one year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Click HERE for interview and Simmons’ report.

For now, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, The Hill, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. — MCM

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Ukraine, Russia send home around 200 troops in prisoner swap, by Hanna Arhirova | AP  KYIV — More than 200 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have returned home in a prisoner swap, the warring countries said Monday. Such exchanges represent one of the few areas of cooperation between Ukraine and Russia. The two sides have returned hundreds of each other’s soldiers, as well as the bodies of fallen troops, since the war began. Meanwhile, . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine cities pounded, U.S. scrambles to find source of leaked documents, by Pavel Polityuk | Reuters  * Ukrainian soldiers come under heavy attack in Bakhmut city * Russians launch air strikes, artillery barrages * Ukraine says counter-offensive plan not hurt by U.S. leak | KYIV — Russians forces pressed on with their offensive in the eastern Donetsk region where several cities and towns came under heavy bombardment, Ukraine’s general staff said today. Ukrainian . . . READ MORE . . .

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U.S. intelligence leak deals severe blow to Ukraine war effort, by Brad Dress and Ellen Mitchell | The Hill  The largest U.S. military leak in a decade is a serious blow to Ukraine’s war effort, creating an intelligence threat for that country’s forces ahead of an expected counteroffensive this spring. The Pentagon is still reviewing the validity . . . READ MORE . . .

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U.S. Secretary of State to discuss Ukraine, nuclear disarmament with G7 colleagues. From Tass. WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken intends to discuss topics related to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, nuclear disarmament, and food and energy security at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Japan, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State said . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

Beginning below is a review written for Truthdig of Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange, by Kevin Gosztola, published in March by Seven Stories Press. — MCM

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The Case Against the Case Against Julian Assange

A review by Stephen Rohde | Truthdig

Like the Trump administration that preceded it, the Biden administration is seeking the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to stand trial on an indictment under the infamous Espionage Act of 1917. As the unprecedented U.S. prosecution of Assange reaches a critical stage, a growing number of elite media outlets, human rights advocates and press freedom organizations around the world are demanding his release. All have expressed basic agreement with Nils Melzer, former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, who describes the case against Assange as a scandal that “represents the failure of Western rule of law.” 

Time is running out to correct this failure. Last August, Assange filed an appeal before the U.K. High Court of Justice Administrative Court arguing that his extradition would violate U.K. law because he is being prosecuted for his political opinions and protected speech; that the request itself violates the U.S.-UK Extradition Treaty and international law because it is based on “political offenses”; that the U.S. government has misrepresented the core facts of the case to the British courts; and that the extradition request and its surrounding circumstances constitute an abuse of process. If Assange loses this appeal, his last resort is the European Court of Human Rights. 

No one has covered the Assange case more tenaciously, as well as the broader attack on whistleblowers, than journalist Kevin Gosztola. In “Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange,” Gosztola expands upon his reports of Assange’s extradition hearings in London during September and October 2020, and in a clear and compelling style, recounts the key events in the case. But he also does more than that. “Guilty of Journalism” offers revelations of egregious conduct by the U.S., including the use of knowingly false testimony, illegal surveillance of Assange and his lawyers and CIA plans to kidnap and assassinate him. These disclosures compound an already shocking tale of injustice at the hands of the U.S. government. 

Opening his first chapter with the unequivocal declaration, “Julian Assange is a journalist,” Kosztola never loses sight of the extraordinary contributions WikiLeaks has made through its public disclosures since its founding in 2006. He includes an informative Appendix entitled, “Thirty WikiLeaks Files the Government Doesn’t Want You to Read,” covering climate change and the environment, corporate power, human rights abuses, regime change, foreign policy and U.S. politics.  These files, he writes, “reflect the positive impact that WikiLeaks has had by boosting our shared knowledge of a government that rules the most powerful country in the world.”

In a single volume, Kosztola succeeds in concisely describing the charges and allegations against Assange, the Chelsea Manning court-martial, the origins and history of the Espionage Act, the CIA’s war on WikiLeaks, the surveillance of Assange, FBI abuses, the federal grand jury investigation of Assange, the vital information revealed by WikLeaks, the stories of courageous whistleblowers, how the Assange prosecution threatens freedom of the press, how media organizations aided and abetted the Assange prosecution and the accusation that WikiLeaks helped Russia interfere in the 2016 election. It attains the goal Gosztola set out for himself — that of producing “a guide that will live on as a resource before, during and after Assange’s U.S. trial, should it occur.”The use of the Espionage Act, signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson two months after the U.S. entry into World War I, strongly suggests to civil libertarians and journalism groups that the Assange prosecution is politically motivated. Wilson, like Trump, . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to reports from the Associated Prsss, Reuters, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. — MCM

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In Ukrainian village, a family lives under cloud of shelling, by Vasilisa Stepanenko | AP  Despite the severity of the fighting in dozens of town and villages that span the 1,000-kilometer (more than 600-mile) front line in eastern Ukraine, many families have refused to leave their homes, rejecting evacuation attempts and choosing to risk their lives under bombardment. Aid groups concentrate . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine says Russian forces using ‘scorched earth’ tactics in battle for Bakhmut, by Pavel Polityuk | Reuters  * Ukrainian defenders of Bakhmut still holding out * Zelenskiy denounces Palm Sunday attacks * Russians launch air strikes, artillery barrages * Avdiivka also in Moscow’s sights | KYIV — Russian forces are pressing attacks in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, focusing on two cities and pounding Ukrainian positions with air strikes and artillery barrages, Kyiv said today. The assault on Bakhmut, a small city in Donetsk at the edge of a chunk of Russian-controlled territory, has for months been the focus of the biggest battle of the war. Ukraine’s Armed Forces General Staff said yesterday’s fighting was heaviest along . . . READ MORE . . .

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How the U.S. intelligence leaks impact the Ukrainian government and its war stategy. Reported by A Martínez and Joanna Kakissis | NPR The U.S. intelligence leaks, some of which detail the state of the war in Ukraine, have come to light as Ukraine is preparing for a counter-offensive sometime this spring. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

 

First, links to reports from the Associated Prsss, Reuters, Tass, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. — MCM

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Pope at Easter: Pray for Ukrainian, Russian people, refugees, by Frances D’Emilio | AP  VATICAN CITY (AP) — In an Easter message highlighting hope, Pope Francis today invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian people, praised nations which welcome refugees, and called on Israelis and Palestinians wracked by the latest surge in deadly violence to forge a “climate of trust.” Francis, along with . . . READ MORE . . .

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Two killed in Russian strike on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia, by Sergiy Chalyi | Reuters ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — A 50-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter were killed after Russian forces struck a residential building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early on Sunday, authorities said. Ukraine’s State Emergency service also reported that a 46-year-old woman . . . READ MORE . . .

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Chechnya leader says Ukrainian offensive disrupted near Zaporozhye. From Tass. GROZNY — A Chechen battalion disrupted an offensive by Ukrainian forces in the Zaporozhye direction, Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel. According to him, the battalion destroyed two tanks and an infantry fighting vehicle. Kadyrov praised . . . READ MORE . . .

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The EU is trying to sanction diamonds from Russia. Reported by Jackie Northam | NPR  A large part of the world’s supply of diamonds comes from Russia. The U.S. and Europe may try to cut off the revenue the country is raising from the gems given the war in Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and read.