- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
Mykolaiv residents dare to hope after Russian threat eases
For three weeks, 13-year-old Sofia has been stuck in bed in the basement of a hospital in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv undergoing three operations that have still not removed all the shrapnel from her skull.
Yet, she's still smiling, dreaming of playing the guitar and one day becoming a painter.
After some terrible weeks in which the Russian army has tried -- in vain -- to blow up this strategic city, the threat in the last few days seems to have eased a bit.
The frontline has even moved back slightly after Ukrainian forces launched a counter-offensive in Kherson, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) to the southeast, the country's only major city seized by Russian troops.
Mykolaiv is a key city on the road to Odessa, Ukraine's biggest port.
While dozens of residents, including many children, are leaving the city on yellow coaches every morning headed west, others are beginning to hope for a return to an almost normal life.
"The weather is beautiful," said the regional governor, Vitaly Kim, in one of the videos on social media that has made him popular since the Russian invasion. "And without strikes, it would be even more so."
At the weekend, the air raid sirens no longer disturb onlookers, who are more and more on the streets. Most barely hurry when they hear them.
It was one of these strikes on March 5 on a village near Mykolaiv that led Sofia to the basement of the paediatric hospital from which she dreams of leaving soon.
"She received shrapnel to the head, some of which have not yet been able to be removed," says her mother, Ludmila, at the teenager's bedside where Sofia lies under a colourful blanket with a big white teddy bear for a companion.
"Now I can move my arms and legs a little, I still can't get up without my mother's help, but hopefully I can leave soon," says a stoic Sofia, with bandages on her hands and on her head in the neurosurgery department, demarcated by sheets hung on a wire with clothes pegs.
- 'Situation has stabilised' -
"She has already undergone several operations, but the pieces are still there. Her life is no longer in danger, but it could harm her health, so that's why we are preparing to operate again," says Irina Tkachenko, a medical officer at the hospital.
"I know that I must not let myself go, otherwise I will crack," says Ludmila, who pushes back tears before recovering, a little reassured by the courage shown by her daughter.
"I want to make a guitar to learn to play," Sofia says, "since my little brother broke mine". "But we'll buy you one," her mother gently promises her.
"I dream of being an artist, I studied painting for a semester," Sofia continues, adding: "I want to be a famous painter and live from my art."
On the other side of the sheet is Micha, five, who lost his mother in a bombing. With his head wrapped in a thick bandage, he gets up from his cluttered bed to let his grandparents help him get dressed.
"We turned our basement into a shelter, divided into sections for neurosurgery, surgery, traumatology and neonatology," Tkachenko says.
"At the height of war, when we were attacked by fascists -- there is no other word -- we had 12 children admitted with injuries of varying severity," says the hospital's chief doctor, Alexander Plitkin, "as well as two we could not save".
"Now the situation has stabilised a bit," he adds.
In another sign of respite, the governor eased restrictions on the sale of alcohol by allowing it on weekends but warned the limits would be reinstated in the event of excess.
R.J.Fidalgo--PC