Six In The Morning Sunday 12 December 2021

 

Kentucky tornadoes: Desperate search for survivors as death toll rises

A desperate search for survivors is under way in parts of six US states devastated by powerful tornadoes that have left at least 94 people dead.

Dozens more people are missing and entire towns were destroyed by about 30 tornadoes on Friday.

President Biden has declared a disaster in Kentucky, the worst-affected state.

At least 80 people have died in the state, including dozens in a candle factory, and the death toll is expected to rise above 100.

Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman told the BBC the death toll was continuing to rise "with every hour".

The trip could have killed them. But people fleeing economic wreckage in the Middle East say they'd do it 100 times over

By Tamara Qiblawi, CNN

Updated 0808 GMT (1608 HKT) December 12, 2021

Four-year-old Azhi hobbles across a makeshift migrant center on the Polish-Belarusian border. Grabbing his mother's hand for support, he carefully tucks his legs under piles of donated blankets.

Metal rods tower above the people to prop up a giant zinc roof. Azhi, who has splints on his legs, is smiling and wide-eyed. It's hard to tell that just days before, the boy's family faced the specter of death.

"We want to go to Germany so Azhi can get an operation," says his mother, 28-year old Shoxan Hussein. "The doctors said he needs to get it done before he turns five."

G7 leaders warn Russia all sanctions on table over Ukraine border buildup

Kremlin would ‘face massive consequences’ in event of invasion, says UK foreign secretary at Liverpool talks

Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor

Sun 12 Dec 2021 12.47 GMT

All forms of economic sanctions against Russia are on the table if it makes an incursion into Ukraine, the British foreign secretary has said, as she hinted she may be prepared to look again at the UK’s anti-money-laundering laws that are seen by some as a way for Russian elites to stash their cash.

Speaking on the final day of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Liverpool, Liz Truss said that if Russia were to invade, it “would face massive consequences for which there would be severe cost”, amid fears over a Russian troop buildup.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Russia was being demonised for moving its troops within its own borders.

Deadly Intrigue

The Story of the Destruction of an Aid Organization

James Le Mesurier founded the organization that raised money for the White Helmets in the Syrian war. An intrigue drove the emergency foundation to ruin – and Le Mesurier to his death.

By Christoph Reuter

The logistics experts from "Mayday Rescue were unable to stop the advance of the troops that overran two southern Syrian provinces in summer 2018. But by way of an astounding operation, they were at least able to save a couple hundred of those people who stood even higher on the attackers’ priority list than the opposing fighters: the emergency first responders and rescue workers from the White Helmets – the aid organization that had become legendary around the world for saving people in rebel-held areas of Syria from bombed out homes and providing medical care to the wounded.

It was that period of the war after Moscow had begun sending warplanes and troops to Syria to prop up the dictatorial regime of Bashar al-Assad, bringing years of stubbornly immovable front lines to a rapid end. Every day, Assad’s armored "Tiger Forces" advanced further and further, with the help of Russian air support. "Mayday Rescue" contacted the Russians’ liaison officer to request safe passage for the White Helmets to Jordan, but the answer was clear, said James Le Mesurier at the time, the former British military officer and founder of Mayday: "They said the White Helmets were vermin who should be eradicated."

Tigray rebels retake Ethiopian Heritage town Lalibela: Residents

TPLF forces are patrolling the town, witnesses say, less than two weeks after government forces claimed to have recaptured it.

Tigray rebels have recaptured the north Ethiopian town of Lalibela, Reuters and AFP news agency have reported, citing local residents, less than two weeks after government forces and their allies took control of the UNESCO World Heritage town.

Tigrayan fighters “are in the town centre, there’s no fighting,” said a resident reached by telephone on Sunday afternoon.

“They came back. They’re already here,” said another.

Lalibela is home to 11 medieval rock-cut churches and a site of pilgrimage for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

This Amazon program has funneled thousands to anti-vax activists during the pandemic

Jay Greene and Jeremy B. Merrill

Groups trying to discourage Americans from getting the coronavirus vaccine have raised tens of thousands of dollars for the efforts from Amazon.

AmazonSmile, a charitable-giving arm that donates a half percent of every purchase from its online store to the nonprofit of a shopper's choice, gave more than $42,000 to a dozen anti-vaccine nonprofits last year, according a Washington Post analysis of its tax returns.