- 300-kilo WWI bomb removed in Belgrade
- Zelensky in US to explain war plan to Biden, Harris, Trump
- 'Atrocious' Sudan war pushing refugees further afield: UNHCR chief
- 'Convergence' growing on global plastics treaty: UN environment chief
- MLB White Sox fall to Padres to match one-season loss mark
- All-Australian Ripper squad captures LIV Golf team crown
- Barnier promises compromise from France's embattled new govt
- Zelensky arrives in US to explain war plan to Biden
- Barca rout Villarreal but Ter Stegen hurt, Atletico draw at Rayo
- Darnold shines for Vikings, Steelers and Eagles win
- Atletico held to draw at Rayo Vallecano
- Marseille stun Lyon with 95th-minute winner after early red card
- Gabbia ends AC Milan's derby pain with late winner against Inter
- Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style
- 'Impossible': Alcaraz shoots down Federer comparisons after Laver Cup win
- Scholz's party beats far-right AfD in east German state vote
- Verstappen says 'silly' swearing row could hasten F1 exit
- Calls for Israel and Hezbollah to step back from the abyss
- Israel and Hezbollah urged to avoid 'catastrophe'
- Colombia battles fires as drought fuels Latin American flames
- Pressure piles on new French government from day one
- Arteta proud as Arsenal salvage point from 'impossible' task
- Barca rout Villarreal in thriller but Ter Stegen hurt
- Roma stroll past Udinese as fans protest De Rossi sacking
- Horschel outduels McIlroy to win PGA Championship play-off
- Audiences summon 'Beetlejuice' to top of N. America box office for third week
- Stones salvages point for Man City against 10-man Arsenal
- Egypt fears 'all out' regional war: foreign minister to AFP
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory, Stuttgart outclass Dortmund
- Scholz's party beats far-right AfD in east German state vote: projections
- Olympic champion Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Horschel's eagle beats McIlroy in PGA Championship play-off
- Mourners at commander's funeral express loyalty to Hezbollah
- Norris hails his 'mega' McLaren after dominant win at Singapore
- Monaco beat Le Havre to join PSG at the top of Ligue 1
- Scholz's party narrowly leads far-right AfD in east German state vote: exit polls
- New leftist president vows to 'rewrite Sri Lankan history'
- UN adopts pact to tackle volatile future for mankind
- Leclerc hails Ferrari fightback from torrid Singapore GP qualifying
- Belgian Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Sosa rescues point for Forest against Brighton
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory over Wolfsburg in seven-goal thriller
- Swiss voters reject environment, pensions reforms: official results
- No fairytale ending for Ricciardo after 13 years in Formula One
- Israel and Hezbollah urged to step back from the brink
- What is the UN's 'Pact for the Future'?
- Norris dominates Singapore Grand Prix to cut Verstappen's title lead
- From bullets to ballots: Sri Lanka's comrade president-elect
- McLaren's Lando Norris wins Singapore GP to narrow F1 title race
- UN adopts pact promising to build 'brighter future' for humanity
English town sends message to Putin, Ukrainian refugees
A peaceful market town in the east of England is uniting for Ukraine, sending aid trucks, prepping beds for refugees and even raising funds with an expletive-laden pub cocktail.
Like many communities around Europe, the people of Diss, population 8,000, want to do their bit to help Ukraine, identifying with the immediacy and proximity of the conflict in a different way to wars in Syria, Afghanistan or further afield.
"It's been very graphic, hasn't it? On the television, we've seen pictures of people like us, and you think 'blimey, what if that happened to me?'," said Debbie Gaze, who started a Facebook group to bring locals together to host those fleeing the Russian invasion.
"It could be my grandma. It could be my daughter.... I'd like someone to help take care of them if the roles were reversed," she told AFP.
Over 3.7 million Ukrainians have fled the country during Russia's month-long invasion, the United Nations says, including 1.5 million children.
Many prefer to stay in neighbouring eastern European countries, in the hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin's devastating invasion might soon end.
But others are fleeing further afield, including to Diss, around 80 miles (130 kilometres) northeast of London.
Diss is a typical pretty English market town, complete with tea rooms, a picturesque antique shop and a sign warning drivers to watch out for ducks crossing the road.
"It's beautiful here, and it's quite rural, but it can also be quite lonely," said Gaze.
Within 24 hours of starting her online group, she had over 200 people in the tiny community saying "count me in, what can I do?".
Residents have been contacting fleeing Ukrainians via social media and helping with their visa applications.
- Quite isolated -
Atop a hilly field just outside the town, near a World War II-era Royal Air Force base, Tanya Chenery is preparing a caravan in her garden to welcome Ukrainian refugees.
She has been in touch with a 31-year old mother who has fled Kyiv with her children, aged eight and 11.
The mother's sister has also fled Ukraine with her two daughters and Chenery is hoping they can all move in nearby.
"So thankfully, we're going to try and keep them together as a family," she added.
"I've got a close neighbour who lives up the road, whose offered her house to her sister and her two children as well.
"I have explained to her that we do live in the countryside, and it is very quiet, can be quite isolating," she said, her dogs rolling in the grass and daffodils dancing in the gentle breeze.
UK authorities said this week that they have issued 18,600 visas under the Ukraine family scheme, with 34,500 applications submitted.
In a warehouse across the fields, Jordan Coleman is loading up a truck from the family's removal business with boxes of medical supplies, food, baby products and camping equipment, to be driven to Korczowa, near the Poland-Ukraine border.
"It started with a pack of biscuits at nine in the morning, and by lunchtime we'd already had probably half a lorry load," she said of the first day's collection.
"I'm a mother-of-four so to see the pictures of the women and children having to leave their husbands behind really struck a chord with me."
Inside the packages being sent to the border are supportive drawings, poems and prayers from local schoolchildren.
- Do your bit -
Down the road at the Burston Crown pub, landlady Bev Kemberry pours a round of her fundraising cocktail in the colours of the Ukrainian flag.
It costs £5 (around $6.50 or six euros) and has a name containing two words, one an expletive, the other "Putin".
"It's mango and vodka, and Blue Curacao and Bacardi," she said adding that it has raised £340 for victims of the Ukraine conflict since it was launched a week ago.
"It's very, very popular," said Kemberry, who runs the pub with her husband Steve.
"My husband and I were watching the news, like everyone else getting really upset by seeing on the news what's happening to families that are just like us.
"It just brought it home that it's not that far away. And you just want to do your little bit."
L.Dubois--BTB