July 4, 2022

Daily News Brief

*) Russia claims Luhansk, Ukraine vows return Russia has gained full control over Ukraine's Luhansk region after capturing the last major city, Lysychansk, following weeks of fierce fighting with Kiev’s forces. The Ukrainian army said its soldiers had retreated from the strategic eastern city in order to preserve the lives of Ukrainian defenders. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to restore control over the area. Ukrainian authorities said Russia would shift the main focus of its offensive to trying to seize all of the Donetsk region. *) Ukraine recovery meet to open in Switzerland Leaders from dozens of countries, international organisations and the private sector have gathered in Switzerland to hash out a plan to rebuild conflict-hit Ukraine. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy warned that the work ahead in the areas that have been liberated alone was "colossal". He added that over 2,000 villages and towns in the east and south of Ukraine still had to be freed. The two-day conference had been planned well before Russia launched its full-scale offensive on February 24, originally slated to discuss reforms in Ukraine. *) Copenhagen mall shooting A gunman has opened fire in a Copenhagen shopping mall, killing three people and wounding several others. The suspected gunman, a 22-year-old Danish man, is in custody. Danish police believe the shooting was not terror-related. They said the gunman acted alone and appears to have selected his victims at random. *) Evacuations in Australia’s Sydney Australia has ordered thousands of people in Sydney to evacuate as overflowing rivers have swamped swathes of land. Australian authorities said about 32,000 people were under evacuation orders or warnings in New South Wales. On the third day of torrential rains on the east coast, rescuers said they had saved about 20 people in the past 12 hours, many trapped in cars on flood-swept roads. And finally… *) Biggest hajj pilgrimage since pandemic Muslims from across the world have packed the streets of Mecca as Islam's holiest city prepares to host the biggest Hajj pilgrimage since the coronavirus pandemic. One million people, including 850,000 from abroad, are allowed at this year's Hajj after two years of drastically curtailed numbers due to the pandemic. Authorities say at least 650,000 overseas pilgrims have arrived so far to converge on the holy city to retrace the Prophet Muhammad's last pilgrimage.