World News Roundup: Russia kills 19 with missiles near Odesa after abandoning Snake Island; We'll be with you on 'long road' to membership, EU tells Ukraine and more

Kanhaiyalal Teli's son told Reuters his father had reposted a Facebook post in support of a now-suspended spokesperson of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party, whose incendiary remarks about the Prophet in a television debate had led to national and international outrage in June. In Hong Kong, Xi says 'one country, two systems' is here to stay There is no reason to change Hong Kong's "one country, two systems" formula of governance, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on a rare visit to the global financial hub after swearing in the city's new leader, John Lee, on Friday.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 01-07-2022 18:38 IST | Created: 01-07-2022 18:32 IST
World News Roundup: Russia kills 19 with missiles near Odesa after abandoning Snake Island; We'll be with you on 'long road' to membership, EU tells Ukraine and more
Representative Image Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Russia kills 19 with missiles near Odesa after abandoning Snake Island

Russia rained missiles near Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa on Friday, hitting an apartment building and a resort and killing at least 19 people, Ukrainian officials said, hours after Russian troops were driven off the nearby Snake Island. One section of a nine-story apartment block was completely destroyed by a missile that struck at 1:00 a.m. The walls and windows of a neighboring, 14-story apartment block had also been damaged by the blast wave. Residents were helping rescue workers comb the rubble.

We'll be with you on 'long road' to membership, EU tells Ukraine

Ukraine now has a "very clear European perspective" but the road to EU membership will take time and require hard work, the president of the EU executive told the country's parliament on Friday. EU leaders last week granted Ukraine candidate status to join the bloc, formally opening a process that is expected to take years before it becomes a member of the union that now comprises 27 countries.

After submarine row, Macron tells Australian PM he wants to focus on future

French President Emmanuel Macron told new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese he wanted to focus on the future as they try to rebuild relations badly strained by his predecessor's decision to ditch a submarine contract with Paris.

Relations between the two Western allies reached a low last October when Australia canceled a multi-billion dollar French submarine program and opted for submarines to be built with U.S. and British technology instead.

Ottawa bracing for Canada Day anti-government protests

The first in-person Canada Day celebrations in three years on Friday will include a huge police presence and street closures throughout downtown Ottawa to prevent anti-government "freedom" protesters from disrupting the festivities. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the free concerts and other activities usually held on the national holiday, which celebrates the founding of the country, were last held in 2019.

Taliban leader hails Afghan victory at gathering to forge national unity

The reclusive supreme leader of the Afghan Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzada, hailed the Islamists 2021 takeover of Afghanistan during a meeting on Friday called to forge national unity and attended by religious leaders from around the country.

Taliban spokesmen confirmed that Akhundzada, who is based in the southern city of Kandahar, had come to the capital Kabul for the all-male gathering of some 3,000 participants.

Tunisia's Saied unpicks young 'Arab Spring' democracy

President Kais Saied has proposed a new constitution that would formalize his sweeping seizure of powers after dismantling much of Tunisia's young democracy over 11 turbulent months. But as he prepares for a referendum to approve his changes, challenges loom ever larger, with the economy facing collapse and opposition to his rule growing.

Russian envoy to Bulgaria says she will ask Moscow to shut embassy

Russia's ambassador to Bulgaria said on Friday she would ask Moscow to close down its embassy in the Balkan country after her appeal for Sofia to reverse a decision to expel 70 Russian diplomatic staff was ignored. In a statement addressed to the Bulgarian people, the ambassador, Eleonora Mitrofanova, said the closure of the Russian embassy would inevitably lead to the closure of Bulgaria's embassy in Moscow too.

Special Report-Dozens of Russian weapons tycoons have faced no Western sanctions

As Russia's military continues to pound Ukraine with missiles and other lethal weapons, Western nations have responded in part by targeting Russia's defense industry with sanctions. The latest round came on Tuesday when the United States issued new sanctions on some arms makers and executives at the heart of what it dubbed Russian President Vladimir Putin's "war machine." But a Reuters examination of companies, executives and investors underpinning Russia's defense sector shows a sizable number of players have yet to pay a price: Nearly three dozen leaders of Russian weapons firms and at least 14 defense companies have not been sanctioned by the United States, the European Union or the United Kingdom. In addition, sanctions on Russia's arms makers and tycoons have been applied inconsistently by these NATO allies, with some governments levying penalties and others not, the Reuters review showed.

How an 'inflammatory' Facebook post led to a killing and sectarian tension in India

Two weeks before a Hindu tailor in India was hacked to death by two Muslim men who filmed the act, he was briefly detained by police after a rival tailor accused him of an "inflammatory" Facebook post on Prophet Mohammad. Kanhaiyalal Teli's son told Reuters his father had reposted a Facebook post in support of a now-suspended spokesperson of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party, whose incendiary remarks about the Prophet in a television debate had led to national and international outrage in June.

In Hong Kong, Xi says 'one country, two systems is here to stay

There is no reason to change Hong Kong's "one country, two systems" formula of governance, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on a rare visit to the global financial hub after swearing in the city's new leader, John Lee, on Friday. Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997, with Beijing promising wide-ranging autonomy, unfettered individual rights and judicial independence at least until 2047.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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