MOSCOW: Two civilians were killed in Ukrainian attacks on Russian-controlled areas of eastern and southern Ukraine, Moscow-installed officials there said on Sunday.
One man was killed and a woman wounded by artillery fire that hit the town of Nova Maiachka in the southern Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, its pro-Russian governor, wrote on Telegram.
Another man was killed in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine by an explosive dropped from a drone, according to Alexei Kulemzin, the city’s Russian-installed mayor.
Reuters could not independently verify the incidents.
At least 25 civilians were killed on Friday in two separate attacks in the Russian-held part of the Kherson region and city of Luhansk — which Russian-installed officials blamed on Ukrainian forces.
Russia’s own attacks in Ukraine have killed many thousands of Ukrainian civilians since tens of thousands of Russian troops invaded the neighboring country in 2022. The war is now well into its third year.
Two killed by Ukrainian attacks in Donetsk and Kherson, Russia says
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Two killed by Ukrainian attacks in Donetsk and Kherson, Russia says
- Russia’s own attacks in Ukraine have killed many thousands of Ukrainian civilians
Another round of anti-Trump protests hits US cities
- Organizers hope to use building resentment over Trump’s immigration crackdown, his drastic cuts to government agencies and his pressuring of universities, news media and law firms, to forge a lasting movement
NEW YORK: Thousands of protesters rallied Saturday in New York, Washington and other cities across the United States for a second major round of demonstrations against Donald Trump and his hard-line policies.
In New York, people gathered outside the city’s main library carrying signs targeting the US president with slogans like “No Kings in America” and “Resist Tyranny.”
Many took aim at Trump’s deportations of undocumented migrants, chanting “No ICE, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” a reference to the role of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in rounding up migrants.
In Washington, protesters voiced concern that Trump was threatening long-respected constitutional norms, including the right to due process.
The administration is carrying out “a direct assault on the idea of the rule of law and the idea that the government should be restrained from abusing the people who live here in the United States,” Benjamin Douglas, 41, told AFP outside the White House.
Wearing a keffiyeh and carrying a sign calling for the freeing of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian student protester arrested last month, Douglas said individuals were being singled out as “test cases to rile up xenophobia and erode long-standing legal protections.”
“We are in a great danger,” said 73-year-old New York protester Kathy Valy, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, adding that their stories of how Nazi leader Adolf Hitler rose to power “are what’s happening here.”
“The one thing is that Trump is a lot more stupid than Hitler or than the other fascists,” she said. “He’s being played... and his own team is divided.”
Daniella Butler, 26, said she wanted to “call attention specifically to the defunding of science and health work” by the government.
Studying for a PhD in immunology at Johns Hopkins University, she was carrying a map of Texas covered with spots in reference to the ongoing measles outbreak there.
Trump’s health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a noted vaccine skeptic, spent decades falsely linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) jab to autism.
“When science is ignored, people die,” Butler said.
In deeply conservative Texas, the coastal city of Galveston saw a small gathering of anti-Trump demonstrators.
“This is my fourth protest and typically I would sit back and wait for the next election,” said 63-year-old writer Patsy Oliver. “We cannot do that right now. We’ve lost too much already.”
On the West Coast, several hundred people gathered on a beach in San Francisco to spell out the words “IMPEACH + REMOVE,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Others nearby held an upside-down US flag, traditionally a symbol of distress.
Organizers hope to use building resentment over Trump’s immigration crackdown, his drastic cuts to government agencies and his pressuring of universities, news media and law firms, to forge a lasting movement.
The chief organizer of Saturday’s protests — the group 50501, a number representing 50 protests in 50 states and one movement — said some 400 demonstrations were planned.
Its website said the protests are “a decentralized rapid response to the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration and its plutocratic allies” — and it insisted on all protests being non-violent.
The group called for millions to take part Saturday, though turnout appeared smaller than the “Hands Off” protests across the country on April 5.
Ukraine’s Zelensky says Russian artillery fire has not subsided
- “Therefore, there is no trust in words coming from Moscow,” Zelensky said
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that, according to his top commander, Russian artillery fire had not subsided despite the Kremlin’s proclamation of an Easter ceasefire.
“As of now, according to the Commander-in-Chief reports, Russian assault operations continue on several frontline sectors, and Russian artillery fire has not subsided,” Zelensky wrote on the social media platform X.
“Therefore, there is no trust in words coming from Moscow.”
He recalled that Russia had last month rejected a US-proposed full 30-day ceasefire and said that if Moscow agreed to “truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly — mirroring Russia’s actions.”
“If a complete ceasefire truly takes hold, Ukraine proposes extending it beyond the Easter day of April 20,” Zelensky wrote.
Ministers from Pakistan, Afghanistan discuss security, trade cooperation, border management
- Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on visit to Kabul
- Border management also on agenda in Ishaq Dar’s talks in Kabul
ISLAMABAD: Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, held discussions on Saturday with Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on security, border management and regional trade, Pakistan’s Foreign Office reported.
Dar arrived in Kabul on Saturday morning for a day-long visit to discuss Islamabad’s security concerns and trade and investment opportunities with Afghanistan amid strained ties between the neighbors.
His visit was taking place amid surging militancy in Pakistan, which Islamabad blames on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban are accused of providing the group with sanctuaries, allegations that Kabul has repeatedly denied.
HIGHLIGHT
Dar’s visit is seen as a continuation of Pakistan’s efforts to engage with Afghanistan despite frosty ties.
Dar’s visit also takes place as Pakistan intensifies its campaign to deport what it says are “illegal immigrants,” mostly Afghan nationals, which it has blamed without evidence for being involved in suicide attacks and militancy in the country. Pakistan’s deportation drive has further soured ties between the two nations.
“The discussions encompassed a comprehensive range of topics pertaining to bilateral relations, underscoring the need to devise strategies for enhancing cooperation across diverse areas of mutual interest, including security, trade, transit, connectivity, and people-to-people contacts,” the foreign office said.
Dar stressed the importance of addressing all issues between the two countries, particularly those related to security and border management, to fully realize the potential for regional trade and connectivity, the foreign office added.
“Both parties reaffirmed their commitment to fostering mutually beneficial relations and agreed on the importance of maintaining high-level engagement,” its statement said.
The deputy prime minister was also scheduled to meet Afghanistan’s Prime Minister Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund.
Speaking to the state-run Pakistan Television before leaving for Kabul, Dar acknowledged there had been “coldness” in ties between the countries in recent years.
“I believe the security of Pakistan, its people, their lives and properties, is very important,” Dar said. “So one of our concerns is regarding terrorism, which we will discuss.”
He said there was also immense potential for economic, trade and investment opportunities between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“Our connection with Central Asian states can be established through rail links, but that’s not possible unless Afghanistan becomes a partner in this,” he said.
Dar’s visit is seen as a continuation of Pakistan’s efforts to engage with Afghanistan despite frosty ties, and its aim to address mutual concerns and explore avenues for cooperation with the country.
Russia says Ukraine struck its energy infrastructure 10 times in last 24 hours
- Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of violating a US-brokered 30-day moratorium
MOSCOW: Russia’s Defense Ministry accused Ukraine on Saturday of attacking Russian energy facilities 10 times over the past 24 hours.
The US brokered a 30-day moratorium in March between Ukraine and Russia against strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure. Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of violating it.
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, when asked if the energy moratorium was over, said it had already been a month but that no orders from the president had been received to change Russia’s position.
More than 100 inmates make deadly prison break in Chad
- The break-out occurred late Friday when an uprising happened
- A local Mongo official said prisoners broke into a manager’s office to steal guns
MONGO, Chad: More than 100 inmates escaped a Chad prison during a shoot-out that left three people dead, and wounded a state governor visiting the facility, officials told AFP on Saturday.
The break-out occurred late Friday when an uprising happened in the high-security penitentiary five kilometers (three miles) from the town of Mongo, in the center of the country.
“There are around 100 who escaped, three dead and three wounded,” Hassan Souleymane Adam, secretary general of the Guera province in which Mongo is located, said.
A local Mongo official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said prisoners broke into a manager’s office to steal guns.
“A shootout with guards ensued, at the same time the governor arrived. He was wounded,” he said.
The Mongo official confirmed there were three dead, and put the total number of escaped prisoners at 132.
He said the prisoners revolted after complaining about a lack of food.
Chad’s Justice Minister Youssouf Tom told AFP by telephone that he was about to fly to region and would be able to give “precise information once I am at Mongo in the coming hours.”
