From Italy and the World

Rome CNN  —  Pope Francis will have surgery on his abdomen and remain in a Rome hospital for several days, the Vatican said on Wednesday in the latest health concern for the 86-year-old pontiff. The pope was forced to cancel several work commitments in late May after he was debilitated…

Lawyer David Sherborne, a member of Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex’s legal team, walks outside the Rolls Building at the High Court in London, England, on June 5. Peter Nicholls/Reuters His directory of clients reads like a royal wedding guest list. In matters of defamation and privacy, it doesn’t get much…

CNN  —  The collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine has sparked fears of an ecological catastrophe, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky describing the situation as “an environmental bomb of mass destruction.” Water levels on Wednesday continued to rise after the Russian-occupied dam and hydro-electric power plant was…

A house in a flooded area is seen in Kherson on June 6. Stringer/AFP/Getty Images Nadejda Chernishova breathes a sigh of relief as she steps off a rubber dinghy, moments after being rescued from her flooded home in Kherson. “I’m not afraid now, but it was scary in my home,” the…

Kherson, Ukraine CNN  —  Nadejda Chernishova breathes a sigh of relief as she steps off a rubber dinghy, moments after being rescued from her flooded home in Kherson. “I’m not afraid now, but it was scary in my home,” the 65-year-old retiree said. “You don’t know where the water is…

CNN  —  An Air India flight from India to San Francisco was diverted due to a technical issue with one of the plane’s engines and has landed safely in Russia’s Magadan airport, in the country’s far east, according to a statement from the carrier. Flight AI173 was carrying 216 passengers…

Prince Harry is pictured arriving at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on June 6. Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images) The duke was asked by Andrew Green about whether an article published by the Daily Mirror about how the young prince had responded to his parents’ divorce contained information which may…

CNN  —  A major dam and hydro-electric power plant in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine was destroyed early Tuesday, prompting mass evacuations and fears for large-scale devastation as Ukraine accused Moscow’s forces of committing an act of “ecocide.” Residents downstream from the Nova Kakhova dam on the Dnipro River in Kherson were…

Natalia Humeniuk speaks during a briefing in Odesa, southern Ukraine on May 4. Nina Liashonok/Ukrinform/Future Publishing/Getty Images The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam will “certainly” affect the operation of the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine but the situation is “under control,” a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military…

CNN  —  The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its troops resisted a “large-scale” attack from Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donetsk region, heightening speculation that Kyiv will soon launch a spring counteroffensive that could swing the course of the conflict. Both Ukraine and Russia have engaged in intense information campaigns to…

Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Warsaw on Sunday, the 34th anniversary of Poland’s first postwar democratic election, for a march the liberal opposition has billed as a test of its ability to end nearly eight years of nationalist rule later this year. Crowds stretching for at least a…

Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference in Kyiv, on June 2. Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used his daily address Saturday to thank troops on the front lines or battling to control the skies above them — the fighters that would be particularly key in the counteroffensive…

CNN  —  Hundreds of far-left protesters clashed with police in the eastern German city of Leipzig on Saturday night, during demonstrations over jail terms handed down to several people convicted of vigilante attacks against neo-Nazis. Earlier this week, a court in Dresden convicted four left-wing activists, including a well-known student…

Zelensky is seen during a press conference at the European Political Community Summit in Moldova on Thursday. Carl Court/PA Images/Getty Images/FILE Ukraine is ready to launch its much-anticipated counteroffensive in the war against Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an exclusive video interview with The Wall Street Journal published…

Elina Svitolina of Ukraine is seen refusing to shake the hand of Anna Blinkova during the 2023 French Open in Paris. Tim Clayton/Corbis/Getty Images Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina refused to shake hands with her Russian opponent after winning a match Friday, saying she did so out of respect for…

CNN  —  Under the scorching summer sun at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, an almost invisible drone approaches in the distance. Difficult to spot, the remote-controlled aircraft is also nearly impossible to hear. “It’s very stealthy,” drone maker Valeriy Borovyk says. “We call this one Vidsyich (Ukrainian word for ‘repel’).”…