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Former Moscow-linked Church claims religious persecution as security raids heat up | CNN

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Former Moscow-linked Church claims religious persecution as security raids heat up | CNN



CNN
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The vertically shot video revealed final November reveals no weapons, battlefield atrocities and even troopers. However the sound of a patriotic Russian track reverberating by way of a church on Kyiv’s well-known Lavra monastery grounds appeared to open a brand new entrance in Ukraine’s conflict with Russia.

The church belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) – which, regardless of the identify, has historically been loyal to the Russian Orthodox Church, and whose present chief Patriarch Kiril has brazenly supported Moscow’s brutal invasion. Splitting with Kiril, the management of the UOC denounced Russia’s assault, and final Might, declared its independence from Russia.

In a sermon days after the break up, Patriarch Kiril stated he was praying that “no momentary exterior obstacles will ever destroy the non secular unity of our folks.”

Days after the video surfaced, masked members of the Ukrainian Safety Service (SBU) performed a raid on the Lavra – formally, to stop it getting used for “hiding sabotage and reconnaissance teams” or “storing weapons.”

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By December, a handful of church leaders had been sanctioned, and dozens extra church buildings throughout the nation had been raided by the SBU – although the searches turned up little quite a lot of Russian passports, symbols and books.

“There was no point out within the findings of weapons or saboteurs. What they stated they discovered was printed matter, paperwork, which aren’t prohibited beneath Ukrainian regulation,” UOC Bishop Metropolitan Klyment advised CNN in an interview.

There’s loads of grey space, nonetheless. In a press release the Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) advised CNN that it’s not unlawful to retailer Russian propaganda, however it’s to distribute it. “If such literature is within the library of the diocese or on the cabinets of a church store, it’s apparent that it’s supposed for mass distribution,” the assertion learn.

It insisted that the raids on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church “are aimed solely at nationwide safety points. This isn’t a matter of faith.” Vladimir Legoyda, a spokesperson for the Russian Orthodox Church, nonetheless, slammed the searches as an “act of intimidation.”

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Professor Viktor Yelenskyi, Ukraine’s newly appointed non secular freedom watchdog, stated that for greater than 30 years the UOC management has been “poisoning folks with the concepts of the Russian world.” He defended the SBU’s raids, evaluating them to the crackdown on Islamic extremism after 9/11. “Ukraine remains to be a secure haven for non secular freedom.”

But, on the finish of 2022, the federal government declined to resume the church’s lease on its huge, central Lavra cathedral and turned over the keys to the equally named, however utterly separate Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). The rival OCU celebrated Orthodox Christmas (on January 7) mass there for the primary time this 12 months.

Talking exterior the church on Christmas Day, Alla, who declined to provide her final identify, stated, “I feel it ought to’ve been carried out a very long time in the past.”

“We’ve been tolerating this [UOC] evil and shutting our eyes as we thought we must be tolerant, however the conflict introduced all of it to floor.”

Father Pavlo Mityaev is pictured at the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Vita Poshtova, a village just outside Kyiv.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church held this 12 months’s Christmas mass at a smaller church down simply steps from the cathedral. Kyrylo Serheyev, a pupil on the lavra seminary, stated this 12 months particularly, he’s praying for Ukrainian troops. And regardless of authorities sanctions and scrutiny of his church, he insists “our patriotism isn’t turning into much less.”

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Viktoria Vinnyk stated she was unhappy to not have mass within the central cathedral this 12 months. Although she speaks Russian, she’s by no means been to Russia.

“I hope for higher in my nation. And I hope that the scenario will change,” she stated.

The cathedral isn’t the one holy web site to alter palms. Outdoors Kyiv, within the village of Vita Poshtova, a small church has sat perched on a hillside above the frozen lake for the reason that Soviet period. It’s the one one within the village. In September the congregation voted to transform the church from UOC to the impartial OCU. Parishioner Olha Mazurets says she was uncomfortable with any connection to Russia.

“It’s a matter of id and self-preservation. We should establish our enemy too,” she advised CNN.

The ceiling of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Vita Poshtova in Ukraine.

Father Pavlo Mityaev, the newly appointed priest says earlier than conflict, “folks didn’t take note of whether or not it was a Ukrainian or Russian-speaking church, they had been coming to God. However when the conflict began, every part modified.”

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In accordance with Klyment, as much as 400 of the UOC’s 12,000 church buildings in Ukraine have transformed to the OCU for the reason that conflict started.

The safety companies says that for the reason that full-scale invasion started, 19 church clergy have been charged and 5 have been convicted.

In December, UOC priest Andriy Pavlenko was sentenced to 12 years for passing details about Ukrainian battlefield positions within the Donbas to the Russians. Every week later, he was despatched to Russia as a part of a prisoner alternate.

Klyment acknowledges that priest’s guilt however dismisses different instances – just like the Vinnytsia priest indicted simply this week for disseminating pro-Russian propaganda – as hole accusations. He thinks the broader church is being unfairly tarnished.

“Members of the Ukrainian Orthodox … are residents of Ukraine, and typically among the many greatest residents of Ukraine, proving their patriotism with their very own lives,” he stated referring to UOC members preventing on the entrance traces.

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In his nightly deal with on December 1, President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated he was ready to transcend raids – proposing a regulation to ban church buildings with “facilities of affect” in Russia from working in Ukraine – all within the identify of “non secular independence.”

“We are going to by no means enable anybody to construct an empire contained in the Ukrainian soul,” he stated.

However Klyment believes that regulation would merely push his church underground.

“What else do you name persecution if not this?” he requested.

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Live news: SingPost shares slump after CEO fired over handling of whistleblower report

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Live news: SingPost shares slump after CEO fired over handling of whistleblower report

While the holiday spirit will dominate the news agenda, there are notable developments to watch across the world, as the three defining themes of 2024 — elections, war and inflation — continue to hum in the background.

On Tuesday, Moldova’s pro-EU president-elect Maia Sandu will attend her inauguration. Her narrow election victory in October, despite alleged Russian meddling in the process, will set the former Soviet country on a path to EU membership.

Maia Sandu © Dumitru Doru/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Georgia, on the other hand, will on Sunday swear in Mikheil Kavelashvili to the presidency, a pro-Russian firebrand and Croatia will hold a first-round presidential vote on Sunday.

On Monday, Mozambique’s top court is set to give a verdict on the country’s disputed election in October, while Albanian opposition parties block roads demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation

Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda will deliver a speech on Christmas Day. Economists will pore over his words for clues on how president-elect Donald Trump’s tariffs will affect the pace and trajectory of monetary policy.

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UK third-quarter GDP figures will be out on Monday, after months of disappointing economic releases for chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Read more in The Week Ahead

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Who is Sebastian Zapeta? Guatemala migrant set a woman on fire on New York City subway

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Who is Sebastian Zapeta? Guatemala migrant set a woman on fire on New York City subway

A Guatemala migrant has been arrested for allegedly setting a woman on fire and burned to death on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York, early Sunday morning. The incident occurred at the Stillwell Avenue Subway station in Coney Island around 7:30 a.m.

NYPD apprehends suspect after deadly subway attack; community rallies for justice.(Mario Nawfal)

The suspect, identified as 33-year-old Sebastin Zapeta, is believed to have entered the US from Guatemala approximately a year ago. It remains unclear whether he entered the country legally or illegally.

During a press conference Sunday evening, New York Police Department (NYPD) officials, including Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, explained, “As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim. The female victim was in a seated position.”

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“The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds.”

Officers on patrol at the station were alerted to the situation by the smell and sight of smoke. While responding at the scene, they discovered a person inside the train car fully engulfed in flames. The fire was extinguished with assistance from an MTA employee using a fire extinguisher. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Elon Musk and Mayor Eric Adams condemns subway attack

Zapeta remained at the scene after the incident. He was found seated on a bench outside the train car. Body-worn cameras worn by responding officers captured clear footage of the suspect. Tisch noted, “Body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a clear and detailed look at the killer.”

Following the release of the suspect’s description and photographs to the public, three high school students recognized the man and called 911. Transit officers confirmed the description and located the suspect on a moving train. The train was stopped at the next station, where officers boarded, identified the man, and arrested him without further incident.

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams expressed his condolences to the victim’s family, calling the attack a “senseless killing.”

“Grateful to the young New Yorkers and transit officers who stepped up to help our NYPD make a quick arrest following this morning’s heinous and deadly subway attack. This type of depraved behaviour has no place in our subways, and we are committed to working hard to ensure there is swift justice for all victims of violent crime.”

Tesla boss Elon Musk also took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his frustration. “Enough is enough,” he posted, along with the Guatemala migrant’s subway CCTV shot.

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Trump names Treasury adviser from first term to chair economic panel

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Trump names Treasury adviser from first term to chair economic panel

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Donald Trump has tapped Stephen Miran, an economist who served during his first term, to chair his Council of Economic Advisers.

With the nomination, the president-elect is seeking to elevate to a White House economic post not only a critic of Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell but one who has accused the Biden administration of manipulating the economy and “usurping” the central bank’s role.

“Steve will work with the rest of my Economic Team to deliver a Great Economic Boom that lifts up all Americans,” Trump said in a statement on Sunday.

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Miran was a senior adviser for economic policy at the Treasury department in the first Trump administration.

Currently a senior strategist at hedge fund Hudson Bay Capital Management, he said he was honoured. “I look forward to working to help implement the President’s policy agenda to create a booming, noninflationary economy that brings prosperity to all Americans!” he posted on X.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers is a three-person group that advises the president on economic policy.

Trump has threatened US trading partners, vowing to impose sweeping tariffs, including 25 per cent levies on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10 per cent on China’s imports, on his first day in office.

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to impose blanket levies of 20 per cent on all US imports, as well as tariffs of 60 per cent on those from China, suggesting his second-term policies could be more protectionist and disruptive to the global economy and markets than his first.

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The president-elect has also pledged to renew tax cuts he enacted during his first spell in the White House.

Earlier this year, Miran co-wrote a paper accusing Biden’s Treasury department of manipulating the economy during the election, arguing the government’s dependence on short-term debt amounted to “stealth quantitative easing and impedes the Fed’s ability to fight inflation.

“By adjusting the maturity profile of its debt issuance, Treasury is dynamically managing financial conditions and, through them, the economy, usurping core functions of the Federal Reserve”, he wrote with economist Nouriel Roubini.

“We dub this novel tool ‘activist Treasury issuance,’ or ATI. By manipulating the amount of interest-rate risk owned by investors, ATI works through the same channels as the Fed’s quantitative easing programs.”

In FT Alphaville last year, Miran co-authored a piece warning against the perils of a two-tier bond market, which “would impair Treasuries’ ability to serve as risk-free collateral underpinning the global financial system” and bring to the US the chaos of a defaulting emerging economy.

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Miran has also hit out at Powell for urging more aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus in October 2020, about a month before that year’s election, to aid the economic recovery amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Powell was wrong politically and economically when he urged Congress to ‘go big’ on fiscal stimulus in October of 2020, on the eve of a Presidential election, suggesting that voters favour Democrats’ $3 trillion proposals over Republicans’ $500 billion”, Miran wrote on X in September. “We know what happened next.”

Miran must be confirmed by the US Senate.

Last month, Trump named Kevin Hassett as chair of the National Economic Council.

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