traffic accident in central china. just one person was killed but many were injured. air raid sirens have sounded across all of ukraine, with civilians being asked to stay in shelters amid reports of russian jets taking off from an airbase in belarus. russia has also stepped up mortar and artillery attacks on kherson, a port city in southern ukraine. kherson is often called the gateway to crimea and, because of its strategic importance, it was one of the first places taken by russian forces at the start of the war. it was liberated last month in a significant gain for ukrainian troops. but civilians are now living with a daily onslaught of russian shelling. our correspondent, hugo bachega, sent this report from kyiv. tears in kherson. a final goodbye for another life lost to the war. this city was liberated by ukraine just last month. but liberation hasn t brought relief. russia s bombing has been relentless. it doesn t stop even for the dead. natalia was in her flat
Serbia will seek an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss the escalation of tensions with its former province of Kosovo after its government decided to ban the use of the Serbian dinar and introduce the euro in areas where minority Serbs live, Serbia's president said Friday. Kosovo’s government has banned banks and other financial institutions in the Serb-populated areas from using the dinar in local transactions. Kosovo’s Central Bank issued the new rules last summer.
The European Union on Thursday called on Kosovo to postpone an effort to force ethnic Serbian-dominated areas to adopt the same currency as the rest of the country, as rules that would block use of the Serbian dinar went into effect. Most of Kosovo uses the Euro, even though the country is not part of the EU, but parts of its north populated mostly by ethnic Serbs continue to use the dinar. Many rely on the government of Serbia for financial support, often delivered in dinars in cash.
Hundreds of Kosovars gathered in a southern village Monday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a mass killing of 45 ethnic Albanians by Serb forces, an event that helped spark international intervention to end a 1998-99 war in Kosovo. Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Parliament Speaker Glauk Konjufca joined citizens at a cemetery in Recak, 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of the capital, Pristina, for the commemoration ceremony.