World News

Europe voted to have Israel in the grand final of Eurovision, the world’s largest televised song contest, in a setback for anti-Israel protesters. Israel’s 20-year-old Eden Golan impressed millions of viewers with her song “Hurricane.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of risking a global armed conflict and warned that no one would be allowed to threaten the world’s most significant nuclear power. He made the comments as Russia marked the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, while outside Moscow fighting continued between Russia and Ukraine.

AstraZeneca is withdrawing its controversial coronavirus vaccine, which it claims saved millions of lives but has come under criticism over cases of severe blood clotting.

Clashes broke out in the heart of Amsterdam Wednesday as riot police used force against pro-Palestine protesters who tried to join those already occupying a site of the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

While currently still an official enemy of Israel, Saudi Arabia has been arresting Saudis who took to social media to express solidarity with Hamas and incitement against the Jewish state, i24 News reports.

China’s President Xi Jinping was to receive red-carpet treatment in Hungary and neighboring Serbia, contrasting tensions in France, where he began his six-day European tour.

Vladimir Putin has been sworn into his fifth term as Russia’s president despite a war that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people and concerns about nuclear drills.

A mob, including some armed with sharp weapons such as sticks, stormed a prayer service of Catholic students near Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, the latest in a series of anti-Christian incidents in the world’s largest Muslim nation, Christians told Worthy News early Tuesday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Monday that it will be conducting practice drills for using nuclear weapons – because of “threats” made by Western officials, Reuters reports. The drills are a “response to provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against the Russian Federation,” the defense ministry said.

Ukraine’s security services said Tuesday they have uncovered a Russian plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top military and political officials, adding to concerns that Moscow’s military is making advances deep inside the country.

Dutch police ended a pro-Palestine protest on the campus of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and detained some 125 people in scenes resembling a warzone, officials said Tuesday.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has reiterated that he would consider sending French troops to help Ukraine fight back against Russia’s invasion if the Ukrainians requested it, the Kyiv Post reports. Macron first announced his highly controversial standpoint earlier this year.

China’s President Xi Jinping arrived in Paris on Sunday for his first European trip in five years aimed at countries that seek to loosen Europe’s bonds with the United States and end the U.S. dominance in the world.

Thousands of Hungarians, many waving Israeli flags, have marched through Budapest to remember the 600,000 Hungarian Jews murdered in World War Two amid fears about rising antisemitism.

While alerted Christians prayed for them as far away as Indonesia and other nations, the Dutch held a live televised commemoration for those killed in World War Two and other armed conflicts, without antisemitic incidents.

Ukrainian Greek Catholics and others are celebrated Easter Sunday amid reports of heavy fighting as Russian troops were further advancing in Eastern Ukraine. Sunday marked the third Easter in Ukraine since Russia invaded the nation in February 2022.

Jewish leaders fear an outbreak of antisemitism on Saturday, May 4, when the Netherlands will observe two minutes of silence for those who died in World War Two, including over 100,000 Dutch Jewish people and more recent armed conflicts.

A Ukrainian town is battered by fighting as Russian forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine are advancing ahead of the expected arrival of more weapons and possible ground troops. The developments on the bloody battlefields come as Moscow has condemned increased Western involvement in its war against Ukraine.

Indonesia’s government decided Friday that nearly 10,000 residents will be relocated permanently after massive eruptions of the Ruang volcano added to suffering among civilians, including Christians, who have held special prayer services.

France signaled Thursday that it may send ground troops to wartorn Ukraine if Russia’s military breaks through frontlines as fears mount that the armed conflict could engulf Europe.