- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
- Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition
- Public allowed to see video evidence in France mass rape trial
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- Under-fire Ten Hag 'together' with Man Utd hierarchy
- Guardiola talks of Man City love affair as financial hearing rumbles on
- De Bruyne out of Belgium Nations League squad
- Japanese trainer Yahagi hopes Shin Emperor achieves 50-year-old Arc dream
- UK's Starmer hails 'landmark' carbon capture funding
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Bosnia floods kill 14 people
- Tennis world number one Swiatek splits with coach Wiktorowski
Zelensky goes to UN to urge response to Russian 'war crimes'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will on Tuesday address the UN Security Council, seeking tougher measures against Moscow over alleged killings of civilians, as his country braces for further Russian bombardments in the east and south.
The speech, Zelensky's first to the body since Russia's invasion, comes after he made an emotional trip to Bucha, where dozens of bodies were discovered after the withdrawal of Russian troops.
US President Joe Biden has called for a "war crimes trial" over the alleged atrocities and Western officials have vowed new economic sanctions this week in response to the harrowing discoveries in Bucha and other towns near Kyiv.
Zelensky has denounced "war crimes" and attempted "genocide" while appealing for new sanctions, and more Western defence aid, saying they could have helped save innocent lives.
It was not clear if his speech to the UN Security Council, to be delivered on the 41st day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, would be pre-recorded or live.
Europe's worst conflict in decades has killed as many as 20,000 people, according to Ukrainian estimates. It has seen more than 4.2 million flee the country and displaced another 6.5 million internally.
"The sanctions response to Russia's massacre of civilians must finally be powerful," Zelensky said in a Telegram video late Monday after touring the devastated streets of Bucha.
"Did hundreds of our people have to die in agony for some European leaders to finally understand that the Russian state deserves the most severe pressure?" he asked.
- 'In front of my eyes' -
Moscow has denied responsibility and suggested that the images are fake or that the deaths occurred after Russian forces pulled out of the area.
One resident in Bucha, Olena, told AFP she saw Russian soldiers shoot a man in cold blood as units of "brutal" older troops sowed fear in the town.
"Right in front of my eyes, they fired on a man who was going to get food at the supermarket," said the 43-year-old, who did not wish to give her family name.
Denmark, Italy and Spain on Tuesday became the the latest European nations to expel dozens of Russian "intelligence officers" registered as diplomats, with more than 150 sent home in 48 hours.
The Kremlin called the mass expulsions a "short-sighted move" that would complicate negotiations aimed at finding a solution to the conflict.
EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Kyiv this week alongside EU foreign policy chief Joseph Bo
French prosecutors in Paris said they had opened three more probes into suspected war crimes committed against French citizens in Ukraine.
- NATO warns of Donbas push -
Many in Ukraine are bracing for further Russian bombardments especially in the east and south, and air raid sirens rang out overnight across much of the country.
"In the coming weeks, we expect a further Russian push in the eastern and southern Ukraine to try to take the entire Donbas and to create a land bridge to occupied Crimea," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said.
Biden told reporters Monday that there should be "a war crimes trial" for Russian President Vladimir Putin, vowing that Washington would join the EU in announcing new sanctions this week.
The US Treasury announced Tuesday that Russia will no longer be able to pay its foreign debt with dollars held in American banks, further squeezing its financial system.
European sanctions will "include oil and coal," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said after talks with his German counterpart in Berlin.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has warned that the "next phase" of Russia's invasion, focusing on expanding territories it holds in the east and south, "could be measured in months or longer."
The full nature of the killings in Bucha and other areas from which Russian troops have withdrawn is still being pieced together.
Ukrainian officials say over 400 civilian bodies have been recovered from the wider Kyiv region, many of whom have been buried in mass graves.
- 'I buried six people' -
But Zelensky has warned that the deaths in Bucha could be only the tip of the iceberg, saying he had information that even more people had been killed in places like nearby Borodianka.
AFP reporters who briefly visited the area saw no bodies in the streets, but locals reported many deaths. The scale of devastation in the town saw buildings flayed open.
"I know five civilians were killed," said 58-year-old Rafik Azimov. "But we don't know how many more are left in the basements of the ruined buildings after the bombardments."
"I buried six people," another resident, Volodymyr Nahornyi, said. "More people are under the ruins."
Ukraine has warned that Moscow is preparing a "full-scale" attack in the country's east and regional officials urged civilians to evacuate Lugansk fearing a major Russian attack.
Even where troops have withdrawn, fears remain, with Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko telling residents to not yet return, citing the danger of continued shelling and the danger of unexploded munitions.
On Monday, officials in Mykolaiv, on the Black Sea not far from Odessa, said cluster bombs were used against the city in strikes that killed 10 civilians and wounded 46.
Elsewhere in the south, concerns remain for civilians trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol, which has been besieged by Russian forces for over a month, and where authorities say at least 5,000 people have been killed.
The Red Cross said Tuesday that Russian forces had released a team sent to help evacuate Mariupol residents that was detained en route Monday.
burs/js/jm
C.Cassis--PC