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Pope Francis: Ukraine humanitarian crisis ‘growing dramatically’ amid ‘river of blood and tears’

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Pope Francis: Ukraine humanitarian crisis ‘growing dramatically’ amid ‘river of blood and tears’

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Pope Francis condemned the Russia-Ukraine battle in his strongest language but throughout his weekly handle in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican on Sunday.

“Rivers of blood and tears are flowing in Ukraine,” the pope mentioned. “It isn’t merely a army operation, however a conflict which sows demise, destruction and distress. The variety of victims is rising, as are the individuals fleeing, particularly moms and kids.”

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: LIVE UPDATES

“The necessity for humanitarian help in that troubled nation is rising dramatically by the hour,” Francis continued.  “Struggle is insanity! Cease, please! Have a look at this cruelty!”

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Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities final month, Pope Francis made the extraordinary papal gesture of going to the Russian embassy in Rome to specific his concern in regards to the conflict.

POPE FRANCIS CALLS FOR DIALOGUE TO END RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT

The pope’s homily on Sunday continued his behavior of refraining from publicly calling out Russia, presumably for concern of antagonizing the Russian Orthodox Church, with which he’s making an attempt to construct stronger ties.

Pope Francis holds his homily throughout a Mass on the Solemnity of the Epiphany at St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 6, 2022, in Vatican Metropolis.
(AleVatican Pool/Getty Pictures)

The pope’s exhortation echoed that of greater than 280 Russian Orthodox clergy, who signed an open letter urging for an finish to the “fratricidal conflict” in Ukraine, as of Sunday.

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HUNDREDS OF RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CLERGY URGE TO ‘STOP THE WAR’ IN UKRAINE

“We mourn the ordeal to which our brothers and sisters in Ukraine have been undeservedly subjected,” the letter learn, in keeping with a translation in The Christian Submit.

Morning fog surrounds the thousand-year-old Monastery of the Caves, also known as Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the holiest sites of Eastern Orthodox Christians, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018.

Morning fog surrounds the thousand-year-old Monastery of the Caves, often known as Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of many holiest websites of Japanese Orthodox Christians, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018.
(AP Photograph/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

The clergy additionally lamented the divisions the continued battle has torn open, writing, “It saddens us to think about the gulf that our kids and grandchildren in Russia and Ukraine should bridge with the intention to start to be buddies once more, to respect and love one another.”

“Cease the conflict,” they urged.

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A 2018 survey discovered that about 67.3% of Ukraine’s inhabitants identifies as some sort of Orthodox Christianity, with 28.7% a part of the Kyiv-based Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), 23.4% merely “Orthodox,” and 12.8% UOC-MP.

The Related Press and Fox Information Digital’s Tyler O’Neil contributed to this report.

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Russia jails American Stephen Hubbard over fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine

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Russia jails American Stephen Hubbard over fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine

A Russian court sentenced a 72-year-old American to nearly seven years in prison Monday after he was convicted on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. 

Investigators alleged during a closed-door trial that Stephen Hubbard of Michigan was paid $1,000 a month to enlist in a Ukrainian defense unit in Izyum, a city in the eastern part of the country, where he had been residing since 2014, according to Reuters. 

The news agency cited Russian investigators and state media as saying that Hubbard was trained and given weapons and ammunition after he allegedly signed up for the mercenary unit in February 2022. Two months later, he reportedly was detained by Russian soldiers and then pleaded guilty to charges of fighting as a mercenary. 

Hubbard was sentenced to six years and 10 months in prison. He is the first American known to have been convicted on charges of fighting as a mercenary in the Ukrainian conflict, according to the Associated Press.  

RUSSIAN ARMS DEALER VIKTOR BOUT, WHO WAS TRADED FOR BRITTANY GRINER, TO SELL WEAPONS TO IRAN-BACKED HOUTHIS 

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Stephen Hubbard, a U.S. citizen accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine against Russia, is seen inside an enclosure for defendants as he attends a court hearing in Moscow, on Monday, Oct. 7. (Reuters/Moscow City Court Press Service)

The charges carry a potential sentence of 15 years, but prosecutors asked that his age be taken into account along with his admission of guilt, Russian news reports said. 

Last month, Hubbard’s sister Patricia Hubbard Fox and another relative told Reuters that he held pro-Russian views and was unlikely to have fought in battle at his age. 

Russian state media is saying Hubbard plans to appeal the verdict. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

UKRAINIAN STRONGHOLD VUHLEDAR FALLS TO RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE AFTER TWO YEARS OF BOMBARDMENT 

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Stephen Hubbard sentenced in Russia

Hubbard was sentenced Monday to nearly seven years in prison. He reportedly plans to appeal. (Moscow City Court Press Service via AP)

A court in the Russian city of Voronezh also sentenced American Robert Gilman on Monday to seven years and one month for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers while serving a sentence for another assault. 

Robert Gilman attends court hearing in Russia

Marine veteran Robert Gilman attends a court hearing in Voronezh, Russia, on Oct. 7. (Reuters/Vladimir Lavrov)

 

Gilman, a U.S. Marine veteran, was arrested in 2022 for causing a disturbance while intoxicated on a passenger train, and then allegedly assaulted a police officer while in custody, Russian news reports say. He is already serving a 3 1/2-year sentence on that charge. 

State news agency RIA-Novosti said that last year, he assaulted a prison inspector during a cell check, then hit an official of the Investigative Committee, resulting in the new sentence.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Asylum applications in the EU drop by 17% as countries tighten borders

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Asylum applications in the EU drop by 17% as countries tighten borders

Syrians remain the largest group among asylum seekers, while Germany, Spain, Italy and France face the most cases.

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First-time applications from people seeking asylum in the EU have declined by 17% this summer, according to Eurostat.

Syrians are still the largest group of people seeking asylum with more than 10,000 first-time applicants. Venezuelans followed them with 6,340 and Afghans with 5,930 applications.

Germany, Spain, Italy and France still host the highest number of first-time asylum applicants. These four countries are processing 76% of all first-time applications in the EU. 

According to the report, in June the EU total of first-time asylum applicants was 15.7 per 100,000 people.

Among the 70,375 seeking asylum in the EU, a bit over 2,000 are unaccompanied minors.

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The majority of underaged asylum seekers are originally from Syria (675), Afghanistan (405) and Egypt (255).

Most of these children apply for asylum in Germany, Bulgaria, Greece, the Netherlands and Spain.

How are the EU countries reacting?

Despite the drop, migration remains a buzzword across EU member states, forcing the issue to the top of the agenda.

The 17% drop in asylum applications came as some of the bloc’s countries announced new tighter border controls.

Germany decided to tighten its land borders for six months in September and has allowed its law enforcement to reject more migrants right at its borders.

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Temporary border controls are set up at the land borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark, adding to the existing checks, now totalling at all land crossings with nine European countries.

“Until we achieve strong protection of the EU’s external borders with the new Common European Asylum System, we need to strengthen controls at our national borders,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

The Dutch government has also confirmed its intention to ask “as soon as possible” for an opt-out clause from the EU’s migration and asylum rules.

For more information about this, watch the Euronews video in the player above.

 

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Video editor • Mert Can Yilmaz

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Celine Dion Surprises Fans in Strange and Epic Sunday Night Football Promo Set to ‘It’s All Coming Back to Me Now’

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Celine Dion Surprises Fans in Strange and Epic Sunday Night Football Promo Set to ‘It’s All Coming Back to Me Now’

Channeling their best, “we come to this place for magic” hopes, NBC and Peacock unleashed a new promo for “Sunday Night Football” with Canadian siren Celine Dion. Because when fans think of football, they think of Deion (Sanders).

The singer appeared suddenly after the opening bars of her iconic song, “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” rang out during the broadcast. Dressed in a vintage 1996 Super Bowl sweatshirt, Dion recalled the legendary game when The Cowboys bested The Steelers, hyping tonight’s rematch.

“I think my favorite thing about this game is its power to connect who we are, to who we were.” Dion said. “To prove that our most powerful memories, our most enduring loves, can stay with us forever. You know what I’m talking about, right? Sometimes, some nights, it all just comes back.”

While footage from the former matchup played, Dion continued to narrate, “Their love affair, well maybe not love the way I usually sing about it. But still, work with me here. I mean, ‘When you touch me like this, When you hold me like that’ … it kind of fits, no?”

“But really, what beautiful passion it produced. What painful heartbreak it revealed. So, so long ago,” the singer continued. “Like so many old flames, it always feels right when they’re back together, don’t you think? Like tonight, evoking the kind of magic they once produced. The Cowboys and the Steelers, a timeless classic on Sunday night.”

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The Oscar winner was then doused with Gatorade. Fingers crossed, this promo gets us one step closer to Dion returning to her Vegas residency.

Dion’s epic last live performance at the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony stunned the world as she performed an astounding rendition of f Edith Piaf’s “Hymne A L’Amour” at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

The singer captured the night belting out through the wind and rain on the world’s stage. This was her first performance since her diagnosis with Stiff Person Syndrome in December 2022, which forced her to step out of the spotlight.

In an interview with Hoda Kotb in June, Dion shared how Stiff Person Syndrome affects her singing voice, saying that it feels “like somebody’s strangling you… it’s like somebody’s pushing your larynx, pharynx, this way.”

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