UKRAINE – In a recurring nightmare, horrors usually repeat themselves. For the Ukrainian border town of Vovchansk, they’re getting worse.
Every street seems aflame. The shelling is constant. Torn up tanks and Humvees litter its streets. Small arms fire can be heard as Russian forces inch forwards.
Locals in the town lived through occupation and liberation for seven grueling months in 2022. But now they bear the brunt of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s race to grab as much land as he can before Ukraine eventually feels the benefit of US weapons arriving.
Moscow launched yesterday its most surprising operation since the initial invasion, crossing Ukraine’s northern border, in a repeat attempt to push south towards the country’s second most-populous city.
The devastating weight of the offensive has torn Vovchansk up.
The Russian military claims the action has left close to a dozen villages under its control. Most consequentially, Kyiv is now scrambling to send forces from other over-stretched frontlines where Russia is also seeing progress, to stop Moscow’s guns getting in range of Kharkiv city proper.
In Vovchansk, the onslaught means that one local man Mykola, his wife, and his 85-year-old mother are for the first time leaving behind the house they built and lived in for 40 years. They were one of 35 groups of residents who called the Ukrainian authorities and asked to be rescued before Russian troops – now just a few hundred meters to the north – reach their door front.
The sounds of artillery shells echoes off the cinderblock walls as a young police officer pulls up outside their house.
Mykola walks out, trips on rubble in his yard, and curses.
“Hop in!” says the police officer, Maksim, as he hustles the family and their few possessions toward the car.
He’s been driving into the town continuously since Russia’s advance, shuttling people out. He moves fast. The smell of burning homes hangs in the air, and smoke clogs out the sunlight – the remnants of the artillery shells that rain down on houses day and night.
Mykola and his wife grab plastic bags of eggs, and shuffle across their vegetable patch. The airstrikes last night were just too much, they admit. Less than five minutes later, they’re away, dodging the potholes and rubble that litter the street.
At a roundabout on the edge of town, an aging Soviet-era fighter jet, once a proud display of military prowess past, has been knocked off its pedestal. They swerve between the charred body and turret of a Ukrainian tank that’s been blown apart – recently enough that its ammunition spills out onto the street, untouched.
Fifteen minutes down the road, they pull into a gas station. With a wide smile, 85-year-old Maria walks haltingly to an awaiting police van.
“It’s not scary,” she says of the shelling. “I just don’t want it.” Her family admits she is hard of hearing, and so the intensity of the bombardment may not have impacted her as much. Yet she still had reached her limit.
She sits next to her former neighbor, Inna.
“At night, they dropped so many aerial bombs,” she says. “Horrible.”
Friends of theirs, who now volunteer to extract residents, tried to reach them the previous day but had to turn back.
“They were shooting close to us. Firing at everything,” said Inna. (CNN)…[+]

FRANCE – French police have killed a man after a synagogue was set on fire in the north-western city of Rouen.
The man was armed with a knife and a metallic tool and was shot after he threatened officers, the Rouen prosecutor said.
Rouen Mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol said the attack on the synagogue did not just affect the Jewish community, but the entire city was “battered and in shock”.
French reports say the suspect was Algerian and was appealing against an order to leave France.
Police were called at around 06:45 (04:45 GMT) yesterday after smoke was seen rising from the synagogue. The attacker climbed on a large waste bin and threw a petrol bomb through a small window, setting the synagogue alight.
Two police officers reached the scene fast, after the man was spotted on security cameras. The suspect was on the roof of the synagogue when they arrived, according to prosecutors. After threatening the pair he then threw a chisel at them before jumping down to the ground, brandishing a knife.
“The officer opened fire five times, hitting the individual four times,” said Rouen public prosecutor Frédéric Teillet, explaining that he had seen the footage on the security cameras.
Firefighters at the scene eventually brought the fire under control inside the synagogue in the historic centre of the city. There appeared to be no victims other than the armed man, the mayor said.
Damage inside the synagogue has been described as significant. “I’m really upset, it’s catastrophic,” said the head of Rouen’s Jewish community, Natacha Benhaïm.
The walls and furniture had been left blackened by the fire, although “th e books of the Torah, the holy books, did not come to any harm”.
Mr Teillet said two investigations were under way – into an arson attack on a place of worship and into the use of a police weapon outside the building.
Although the officer was currently in custody, the prosecutor said that video footage indicated he had used his gun “according to conditions allowed by the internal security code”.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin praised police “for their responsiveness and courage “.
Little is known about the suspected attacker, who was not carrying any form of identity at the time. French media report that he was a 29-year-old Algerian who was in the process of appealing against an expulsion order from French authorities.
France, in common with the rest of Western Europe, has seen a surge in antisemitism since Hamas attacked southern Israel last October leading to the current war in Gaza.
Earlier this week a memorial in Paris that honours 3,900 men and women who helped rescue Jews during the Nazi occupation of France in World War Two was daubed with red-painted hands.
President Emmanuel Macron said defacing the wall undermined the memory of France’s heroes and its victims of the Holocaust.
France has the third largest Jewish community in the world, after Israel and the US.
The head of France’s Council of Jewish Institutions (Crif), Yonathan Arfi, said that “setting a synagogue on fire – that’s intending to intimidate every Jew”.
Another leading figure in the Jewish community, Elie Korchia, thanked police for their quick response to “a new antisemitic drama in our country”.
Rouen’s places of worship have come under attack in the past. Eight years ago a priest was fatally stabbed while leading a church service.
The latest violence comes days after gunmen shot dead two prison officers in an ambush at a motorway toll south of the city. Convicted prisoner Mohamed Amra escaped during the attack and his still on the run. (BBC)…[+]

PANAMA CITY – Panama’s president-elect Jose Raul Mulino presented most of his cabinet picks, saying they offered a “combination of experience, youth and competence that the country needs to meet the great challenges that lie ahead.”
Mulino said at a press conference that he selected Frank Abrego, former director of the national border service called Senafront, to head the Public Security Ministry, and Julio Molto, who was director of the National Police, to serve as Minister of Commerce and Industries.
Mulino also announced the heads of several other ministries but added he has yet to designate the ministers of the Interior, Justice and Education.
“I chose each of these people for their capability and commitment to Panama. There is no other rule above that and that is how I intend to lead the government, in the broadest and most transparent way possible,” said Mulino.
Mulino will take office on July 1 after winning the May 5 elections as the candidate of an alliance made up of the Realizing Goals party and Alianza movement. (Xinhua)…[+]

BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the opening ceremony of the China-Russia Years of Culture and a special concert celebrating the 75th anniversary of China-Russia diplomatic ties in Beijing.
Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral ties, Xi said that the history of China-Russia relations over the past three quarters of a century shows that consolidating and developing bilateral lasting good-neighborliness and friendship, comprehensive strategic coordination, and mutually beneficial cooperation serve the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples, and conform to the expectations of the international community and the trend of the times, which has irreplaceable significance.
Xi said that holding theme years in each other’s countries has become a fine tradition of people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Russia, as well as a feature and highlight in the history of bilateral relations, which has been widely welcomed by the two peoples.
“Last year, President Putin and I agreed to make 2024 and 2025 the China-Russia Years of Culture. The two sides officially launched this cultural event today,” Xi said, adding that the two countries will hold a series of cultural exchange programs to further release the potential of bilateral cultural cooperation and jointly open up a new future of China-Russia cultural exchanges.
It is believed that it will inject new impetus into the course of carrying forward China-Russia friendship from generation to generation and enhancing mutual understanding and building a closer bond between the two peoples, Xi said. (Xinhua)…[+]

With democracy reigning, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) has grown exponentially over the past years, managing to reap continuous success on the global scale in various areas.
This position was emphasised by President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali on Wednesday evening during the book launch of ‘Caribbean Perspective’ which was written by long-standing Journalist, Sandra Ann Baptiste.
Delivering the feature address at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre in Kingston, Georgetown, President Ali noted that the book which outlines three decades of inter-regional development of Caricom, shows how much work has been, and will continue to be put into the union.
“We are leading on climate in the global conversation. We are leading on forest in the global conversation and [on] finance. On peace, we are leading the conversation, and on reparative justice. Recently, we have found ourselves in the excellent position of ensuring, what many leaders in the past spoke of, that this region remains a region of democratic credentials,” the President stated.
The CARICOM chairman further encouraged his members to conduct and impose upon themselves the decision-making framework that will allow the body to continuously and permanently operate in an efficient manner.
Additionally, the head of state added that Caricom each day gets closer to its goal of closely linking its member states either by way of transportation with the ongoing ferry service between Guyana, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago, or the removal of trade barriers, and the common food security goals.
President Ali assured that the body will not be left behind as he will ensure that CARICOM works collectively to foster success. “I want to say very clearly that there is no other option to succeed and win. Caricom will not lose and Caricom will not be left behind. As a collective, we are going to confront the challenges of the past and the present. We are going to overcome those challenges and we are going to position Caricom as the strongest block,” President Ali asserted.
The president posited that with contributions from former leaders, Caricom has been able to expand its presence on the global scale, becoming an important stakeholder in growing the world’s economy. The country’s leader urged other Caribbean countries to not lose focus but to remain vigilant. He noted that they should keep crafting programmes and policies that will upkeep the steady growth of the community.
“The maturity of Caricom has grown enormously. The collective attribute of Caricom has grown enormously…It is this collective strength that we must deploy in the future to get greater respect,” the head-of-state stressed. Meanwhile, Baptiste, delivering remarks, said the work chronicled over the past three decades of the community’s rich experiences with regional integration. She explained that it also describes the concomitant challenges faced with unity within the union, and deals with very important topics within the bloc. The Journalist also said it is a breathtaking take on her life and journey following the development of Caricom. She read excerpts of the book which was gifted to the attendees at the ceremony. At the ceremony were the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd and members of Diplomatic Corps. CARICOM Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett, members of Caricom and other invitees were also present. (DPI)…[+]

In light of the recent denial of entry of milk products from Demerara Distiller’s Limited (DDL) into Trinidad and Tobago, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, has emphasised the government’s longstanding position that phytosanitary restrictions must not be used to stifle the transport of goods.
During his weekly press conference at Freedom House, the GS reminded that the government has been a constant advocate for the reduction of trade barriers in the Caribbean.
“We believe it is essential to the promotion of wealth, and the growth of trade across Caricom,” he told reporters.
For context, during March, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) exported to T&T four shipping containers of milk and bottled flavored water products, with the indication that there was a demand for these products in the Trinidadian market.
However, the two containers of packaged milk products were denied entry and returned to Guyana, while the bottled water products have been restricted from sale, pending examination.
On May 13, DDL engaged with a team from Trinidad’s Ministry of Trade to discuss the rejection of the milk products, and were informed of a particularly stringent process for the importation of Animal and Animal based products.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, DDL said that these requirements are contrary to the spirit of intra-regional trade, especially since Guyana has no such reciprocal requirements for the importation of similar products from Trinidad and Tobago.
Regarding this, Dr Jagdeo said that the government will insist on full reciprocity in matters of trade with the fellow member states.
“The way our goods and our exports are treated across the region, but in this particular case in Trinidad and Tobago, the same way their goods entering the Guyanese market will be treated. Full reciprocity on all of the issues,” he said.
The GS further explained: “Because if they can insist on phytosanitary tests that we don’t implement for their goods but they want to conduct on our goods before they enter into their market then we will have to deal with their items in the same manner.”
He was adamant that Guyana has a healthy and cordial trade relationship with Trinidad and Tobago.
“We have a great relationship with Trinidad and Tobago…and we don’t want to sound as though we are spoiling for a fight,” he assured. However, the government wants to ensure that Guyana’s exports are treated fairly in their market, as goods procured from T&T are treated in the Guyana market. (DPI)…[+]