World News

The Queen’s Jubilee: 70 Years On The Throne

The Queen's Jubilee: 70 years on the throne

Rayos Syndication User

2022 marks a platinum year for our neighbors across the pond. As the United Kingdom celebrates 70 years since Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne. Her majesty is the first ever British monarch to reign for 70 years. The celebrations come at a complicated time for the royal family since the passing of Prince Philip and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepping back from royal duties, not to mention Prince Andrew's scandals.

Kalush Orchestra

Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra wins Eurovision amid war

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Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra has won the Eurovision Song Contest in a clear show of popular support for the war-ravaged nation that went beyond the music. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the victory, Ukraine’s third since its 2003 Eurovision debut, and said “we will do our best” to host next year’s contest in the hotly contested port city of Mariupol.  He underlined “Ukrainian Mariupol,” adding: “free, peaceful, rebuilt!”  Kalush Orchestra’s frontman, Oleh Psiuk, took advantage of the enormous global audience, last year numbering more than 180 million, to make an impassioned plea to free fighters still trapped beneath a sprawling steel plant in Mariupol.

Kalush Orchestra

Ukraine favorite to win Eurovision Song Contest amid war

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Against the backdrop of a war in Europe, the hugely popular Eurovision Song Contest reaches its flamboyant climax Saturday night as 25 bands perform in front of a live audience in the northern Italian city of Turin, while millions more watch on television around the world.   The Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra is heavily tipped to win by bookmakers, which are giving the group that mixes traditional Ukrainian rhythms, costumes and dance moves with contemporary hip hop a 60% chance of winning. Britain’s Sam Ryder and Sweden’s Cornelia Jakobs are each given a 10% shot, while the Italian duo of Mahmood & Blanco have a 6% chance of winning.  

N Korea

North Korea confirms 21 new deaths as it battles COVID-19

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North Korea has reported 21 new deaths and 174,440 more people with fever symptoms as the country scrambles to slow the spread of COVID-19 across its unvaccinated population. The deaths and cases, which were from Friday, increased total numbers to 27 deaths and 524,440 illnesses amid a rapid spread of fever since late April. State media didn’t specify how many of the fever cases and deaths were confirmed as COVID-19 infections. The country imposed nationwide lockdowns Thursday after confirming its first COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. Despite the outbreak, commercial satellite images from recent weeks indicate that North Korea has resumed construction at a long-dormant nuclear reactor.

New South Korean President Takes Office, Briefed On N. Korea

N Korea fires 3 ballistic missiles amid 1st virus outbreak

Rayos Syndication User

South Korea says North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea in the latest of a series of weapons demonstrations this year. They came just hours after North Korea confirmed its first case of the coronavirus since the pandemic began. The launches could underscore North Korea’s determination to press ahead with its efforts to expand its arsenal despite the virus outbreak to rally support behind the leader Kim Jong Un and keep up pressure on its rivals amid dormant nuclear diplomacy. The missiles are also the North’s first weapons fired since since the inauguration of new conservative South Korean president this week. The North's nuclear threat will likely top the agenda when he meets visiting President Joe Biden in Seoul next week.

‘this Tears My Soul Apart’: A Ukrainian Boy And A Killing

'This tears my soul apart': A Ukrainian boy and a killing

Rayos Syndication User

A 14-year-old boy's extraordinary account alleging an attempted killing by Russian soldiers stands out as international justice experts descend on Bucha, a center of the horrors and possible war crimes in Ukraine.