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Europe
Hungary
01 May 2023 At the conclusion of Pope Francis’ 41st Apostolic Journey abroad, the Primate of Hungry said the “people felt the Holy Father’s warmth and responded to it, and that the Holy Father, amid these troubling times, truly came as a pilgrim of peace and man of faith." Cardinal Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, reflects on Pope Francis' Apostolic Journey to Hungary, and says the Pope brought the faithful a sense of immense joy and a call to work for peace. "I have the feeling that the Holy Father came here first of all with great love, specifically love for us,” according to him. "The visit of Pope Francis was a special joy for the Hungarian Catholic community in particular, but I believe also for the whole nation," said Cardinal Erdő. “It is not some international event or other purpose that has brought him here, but specifically pastoral love; that he wanted to visit us,” he said, noting, “This is a great encouragement for us.” “When we went to St. Stephen's Basilica, the city was full of people. Not only in the square in front of the basilica, but also along the streets, crowds were greeting him," he said, adding that the Pope expressed great affection for those whom he met. Pope Francis frequently stopped his popemobile - or papal golf cart - to shake hands with the faithful and to show his affection for babies and young children. "It was really a great, loving relationship with the faithful community," he said. “There were numerous ecumenical guests, representatives of social life, many of whom were not Catholics or non-believers," he said, “who were overjoyed to receive the Holy Father, because they saw that this journey is for us,” he said. “Through the person of the Pope we experience that Christ is coming to us - and that is a very great thing," said the Cardinal. "Jesus comes in every Mass. We see Him in the poor person. And yet, when the Pope comes, we are emotionally affected by this reality." In his Regina Coeli address at the end of Mass on Sunday, Pope Francis offered Hungary and Europe to the protection of the Virgin Mary and prayed for peace. "It was especially beautiful at the end of the Mass," said the Cardinal, "because we know that it was he who last year called on the bishops of the world to consecrate Ukraine and Russia to the Blessed Virgin Mary. And we Hungarians have a very old tradition of this, because it was Saint Stephen who, according to historical tradition, dedicated the whole country, the whole nation, to the Virgin Mary." A statue of St Stephen, he recalled, still stands in Fatima in memory of that historic event. "We made this gesture last year, and the faithful - Eastern and Western Christians - have come to understand that here we are truly entrusting this situation to Divine Providence and the intercessory love of the Virgin Mary, which we cannot resolve by human power alone," said the Cardinal. He recalled that Pope Francis prayed before the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the end of Mass on Sunday. "This is the icon which, according to historical tradition, found its way to the Bakócz Chapel when the city of Esztergom was liberated from the Turks, and this old icon was found under the ruins of the basilica," he said. “They displayed and prayed before it, and many of them thanked the Virgin Mary." The Cardinal concluded the interview by reflection on a few highlights of the Apostolic Visit. "Great encouragement was felt by bishops, priests, deacons, religious, teachers of the faith, and all those actively involved in the life of the Church, as well as by the poor, the disabled, the blind children, the homeless, and of course, refugees, and those who care for refugees," he said. The Hungarian faithful will never forget the unforgettable testimony offered by a refugee family in St. Elizabeth's Church, the Pope's reverent and moving visit to the Greek Catholic Community, and the contagious joy and peaceful and prayerful atmosphere of the Holy Mass in 'Parliament Square" on Sunday morning, Cardinal Erdő said. (Source: VaticanNews)
France
1 May 2023 Protestors and police clashed during demonstrations over the French governments plans over pension as groups of extremists allegedly caused chaos in Paris, France. Bank windows and bus stops were smashed, bicycles were torched and cops were also hit by objects after Mr Macron raised the retirement age from 62 to 64 last month. Around a million marched across France as part of the protest with 500,000 pouring onto the streets of Paris. The General Confederation of Labour (France) claim the figure is much higher with 2.3m demonstrators across the country. French union members were joined by labour activists from other countries, environmental activists and other groups fighting for economic justice, or just expressing anger at Macron. Activists are also opposed to the 2024 Paris Olympics and their impact on society and the environment also demonstrated. Clashes with police were also reported in Lyon and Nantes. Around 108 police officers were reportedly injured across France, including 20 in Paris. French police deployed drones exceptionally to film unrest, a move that has raised concerns among privacy defenders and activist groups. (Source: DailyStar)
Germany
May 01, 2023 In spring 2022, Germany had expelled some 40 Russian diplomats who Berlin believed to represent a threat to its security. Last October, the head of German's cybersecurity agency, Schoenbohm, was fired after news reports revealed his proximity to a cybersecurity consultancy believed to have contacts with Russian intelligence services. A month later, a German reserve officer received a suspended prison sentence of a year and nine months for spying for Russia. Germany expelled Russian diplomats mid-April in order "to reduce the presence of intelligence services" in the country, the government said today. The Foreign Ministry had been in contact with Russia in recent weeks about the matter. The departure of the diplomats triggered the expulsion of some 20 German embassy staff in Moscow. They left Moscow today. (Source: VoANews)
Russia
01.05.2023 A freight train derailed in the western Russian region of Bryansk, around 60 kilometers north of Russia's border with Ukraine, after an "explosive device" detonated on the rail tracks, local governor Bogomaz said on Telegram, adding there were "no casualties." The incident occurred at 10:17 Moscow time (0717 GMT). The locomotive and seven freight wagons were derailed and the locomotive caught fire. The governor of Russia's Leningrad region near St. Petersburg said a power line had been blown up overnight and an explosive device found near a second line. (Source: DW)
May 01, 2023 Imagery shows that Russia “has made a particular effort” to strengthen the northern border of occupied Crimea, “including with a multi-layered defensive zone near the village of Medvedevka,” the British Defense Ministry posted on Twitter today. In addition, Russia has dug “hundreds of miles of trenches well inside internationally recognized Russian territory, including in the Belgorod and Kursk regions.” (Source: VoA)
May 01, 2023 'More than 19,000 children from Russian-occupied territories have been subjected to forced deportations to Russia', according to Children of War, a Ukrainian national database. Ukraine has retrieved 364 of them. Earlier this month at a Moscow news conference, Lvova-Belova, the Russian official 'overseeing the deportations of Ukrainian children' to Russia was saying her commission acted on humanitarian grounds to protect the interests of children in an area where military action was taking place. (Source: VoA)
May 1, 2023 Russia's defence ministry said today its forces had carried out missile strikes overnight against Ukrainian military sites, including weapons depots and ammunition factories, and that all its designated targets had been hit. "The work of enterprises making ammunition, weapons and military equipment for Ukrainian troops has been disrupted," it said. Ukraine said 15 of 18 cruise missiles launched by Russia were successfully shot down, shielding the capital Kyiv and other major cities. The air strikes - the second such wave in three days - had caused a fire in the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad, a railway hub behind the southern and eastern fronts, wounding at least 34 people and damaging dozens of homes. (Source: Reuters)
Ukraine
May 1, 2023 Thousands of fighters from across the post-Soviet world have come to Ukraine’s aid since the Russian invasion. Foreigners from Chechnya and former Soviet republics Belarus and Georgia say their countries will never enjoy freedom or democracy unless Russia is defeated in Ukraine. And so Ukraine’s war is their war. Cmdr. Mamuka “Ushangi” Mamulashvili heads the Georgian Legion of Ukraine. He has some 1,800 men under his command, 65% of them battle-hardened Georgians. “The guys are very experienced,” he says. 'They were prepared by NATO instructors. They can use NATO equipment. They can use post-Soviet equipment, and that makes them effective.' Moscow invaded Georgia in 2008, capturing Abkhazia and South Ossetia in an operation that foreshadowed the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 'Ukrainian volunteers also fought in Georgia against Russia in 2008'. The Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment (named for a Polish-Belarusian 19th-century revolutionary) was formed in March 2022 and is made up entirely of Belarusian opposition volunteers. The Belarusian regiment is less experienced in warfare than its Georgian counterpart. The Belarusian government’s close ties with Moscow complicate Belarusian volunteers’ efforts to join the fight in Ukraine. On the one hand, President Lukashenko’s security forces seek to track down potential combatants; on the other, Ukrainian security forces are suspicious of would-be fighters. They found three people who were agents of the Belarusian KGB. The Chechens fighting with Ukrainian forces are in a particularly unusual position. Those continuing the battle against Russia alongside Ukrainian troops in the Dzhokhar Dudayev Chechen Peacekeeping Battalion find themselves up against other Chechen troops, loyal to Chechen strongman and close Putin ally Kadyrov. Both sides hate each other and see each other as traitors who betrayed the idea of the nation. Chechens who come to Ukraine get screened by security services. For young Chechens, the war in Ukraine offers an opportunity to gain the kind of military experience their elders earned in the two Chechen wars against Moscow, or more recently in Iraq and Syria, where some Chechens fought with radical Islamist groups. (Source: TheChristianScienceMonitor)
Vatican
May 01, 2023 The Holy See has a project underway related to peace between Russia and Ukraine. "There is a mission underway that is not public yet; when it is public, I will tell you about it," Pope Francis told reporters traveling with him from Budapest, Hungary, back to Rome on his two-hour flight April 30. Pope Francis spent about 20 minutes answering five questions from reporters traveling with him. Asked if he had discussions in Budapest with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and with Russia Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion of Budapest and Hungary about peace in Ukraine or sought contacts with Moscow during his meetings with them, the pope responded that "peace is made by opening channels. You cannot create peace with closure. I invite everyone to open doors, channels of friendship." As for his conversation with Metropolitan Hilarion, the pope said, "well, we weren't talking about Little Red Riding Hood." "I am willing to do anything that must be done" to promote peace, he said. He also said discussions already were underway with Indigenous communities in Canada for the repatriation of cultural artifacts held in the Vatican Museums. What can be returned to its rightful owners should be, the pope said. "This is good for everyone, so no one gets used to putting their hands in someone else's pocket." Other topics included his health and his travel plans. Pope Francis said that when he got sick in late March, he did not lose consciousness, as some media reported, but he was in such pain that he skipped lunch and went to take a nap. He spent three nights March 29-April 1 in Rome's Gemelli hospital. "It was a strong case of pneumonia in the lower part of the lungs," he said. The day before the trip to Hungary, Pope Francis said, he had seen his doctor, "who came to look at things a bit," and they spoke about his travel plans, which include Lisbon, Portugal, in early August for World Youth Day. "Then there is the trip to Marseille (France), a trip to Mongolia and there's another one that I don't remember." During the inflight news conference, Pope Francis refused to criticize Orbán directly on migration even though the prime minister has enacted a tough "no migrants" policy and built fences along Hungary's borders with Serbia and Croatia. Asked about Hungary's policy, Pope Francis insisted - as he has before - that the European Union must act. Currently, he said, only five countries - Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain and Malta - are bearing a disproportionate burden in taking in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing poverty and civil strife. After Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal met Pope Francis at the Vatican April 27, the prime minister told reporters he had asked for the Vatican's help in returning to Ukraine children taken by force to Russia. Asked on the plane if he thought the Vatican could help, Pope Francis responded, "I think so because the Holy See has been a go-between in some of the prisoner exchanges" between Russia and Ukraine. "The Holy See is willing to try because it's the right thing and we have to help," the pope said. He explained it's not about helping with the war effort, but with a humanitarian cause. "All humanitarian gestures help," he said. "Gestures of cruelty do not." (Source: UnionofCatholicAsianNews)
Asia
Syria
Monday 01/05/2023 Turkish President Erdogan said Sunday that Turkish intelligence forces killed islamic state (isis) leader al-Quraishi in Syria. “This individual was neutralised as part of an operation by the Turkish national intelligence organisation in Syria yesterday,” Erdogan said in an interview. In some cases, senior isis figures have been targeted while hiding out in areas where Turkey has major influence. Syrian local and security sources said the raid took place in the northern Syrian town of Jandaris, which is controlled by Turkey-backed rebel groups and was one of the worst-affected in the February 6 earthquake that hit both Turkey and Syria. Isis selected al-Quraishi as its leader in November 2022 after the previous isis leader was killed in a US operation in southern Syria. The isis' remaining thousands of extremist fighters have in recent years mostly hid out in remote hinterlands of Syria and Iraq, though they are still capable of carrying out major hit-and-run attacks. The US-led coalition alongside a Kurdish-led alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is still carrying out raids against is officials in Syria. (Source: TheArabWeekly)
North America
United States
May 1, 2023 More than 20,000 Russian troops have died and another 80,000 were wounded in five months of fighting in eastern Ukraine, particularly in Bakhmut, White House official National Security Council spokesman Kirby said today. Citing newly declassified US intelligence, he said that about half of those killed were soldiers recruited by the private military company Wagner. Kirby said he was not giving estimates of Ukrainian casualties. The White House will not put “information in the public domain that makes it any harder” for the 'close Western ally', whose army is being armed and trained by a US-led coalition of countries, he said. (Source: TheDefensePost)
May 01, 2023 The First Republic Bank was closed by regulators today in the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history. It was seized by California regulators and sold to JPMorgan Chase, which will assume responsibility for all deposits and assets. Depositors with First Republic Bank will have their accounts switched over to JPMorgan Chase and can still access their money. This is the third central bank failure of 2023, following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. (Source: macon)
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