- Two killed in Mexico as Hurricane John weakens to tropical storm
- Multiple arrests after US woman uses machine-assisted suicide in Switzerland
- Dubois will next fight Joshua or Usyk, 'whoever pays me the most'
- Stock markets surge on China stimulus
- Lopetegui ready to learn from mistakes as Liverpool loom in League Cup
- US Fed dissenter warns inflation risks remain 'prominent'
- UN chief warns Lebanon on 'brink' as world leaders gather
- Surprise start for Libbok as Etzebeth set for Springboks record
- Ten Hag says expanded schedules make injuries 'almost unavoidable'
- Liverpool boss Slot praises Alexander-Arnold's defensive work
- Barca coach backs Pena but will debate new goalkeeper signing
- UN says tens of thousands flee Lebanon strikes
- Asian stock markets lead rally on China stimulus
- Arteta stands by defensive tactics in fiery Man City clash
- Tropical Storm John hits Mexico's Pacific coast
- Sri Lanka's new leader appoints cabinet ahead of expected snap polls
- Singapore ex-minister convicted in rare graft trial
- UK town catches Subbuteo fever
- France facing 'one of worst deficits' in its history: minister
- China's Olympic champ Zheng embraces big home expectations
- Biden bids farewell to UN, in shadow of Trump
- All Blacks seek to end Wellington jinx, with Cane poised for 100th cap
- Postbank (Постбанк) анулює рахунки українців у Німеччині
- Meryl Streep says a 'squirrel has more rights' than an Afghan girl
- Postbank terminates accounts of Ukrainians in Germany
- Hong Kong, Shanghai lead markets rally after China stimulus
- Dutch paint giant Akzonobel slashes 2,000 jobs worldwide
- Sri Lanka's new leader to call snap parliamentary polls
- In Ukraine's Pokrovsk, some quietly waiting for Russian troops
- Singapore ex-minister pleads guilty in rare graft trial
- Fishy business caught by fraying India-Bangladesh ties
- US Open champion Sabalenka chases year-end number one ranking
- New Zealand scientists discover ghostly 'spookfish'
- Trump slams early voting, even while urging Pennsylvanians to do so
- Singapore ex-minister pleads guilty to bribery in rare graft trial
- Major Hurricane John hits Mexico's Pacific coast
- IMF says ready for talks with Sri Lanka's new leftist government
- Phillies clinch division title, eye top seed
- Bills trample Jaguars, Commanders claw Bengals
- China unveils fresh stimulus to boost ailing economy
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally on China stimulus on mixed day for markets
- Back to death row? Retrial verdict due in Japan murder saga
- Rare corruption trial of Singapore ex-minister begins
- Ghana a long way off from gender equality despite new law
- China unveils fresh stimulus to boost economy
- Hamas weakened, not crushed a year into war with Israel
- Israeli economy struggles under weight of Gaza war
- Israelis united in trauma, divided by war after October 7
- New York Liberty riding WNBA boom into playoffs
- Union says new Boeing pay offer 'missed the mark'
RBGPF | 8.6% | 62.36 | $ | |
SCS | 0.88% | 13.125 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.04% | 25.08 | $ | |
AZN | 0.1% | 77.22 | $ | |
NGG | 0.11% | 70.56 | $ | |
BTI | 0.57% | 38.119 | $ | |
RIO | 4.31% | 67.49 | $ | |
RELX | -1.13% | 48.315 | $ | |
BCE | -0.19% | 35.035 | $ | |
VOD | -0.14% | 10.096 | $ | |
BP | 0.59% | 33.055 | $ | |
JRI | 0.52% | 13.37 | $ | |
BCC | 0.14% | 141.855 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.08% | 25.025 | $ | |
GSK | 0.26% | 40.965 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.86% | 7 | $ |
Shattered evacuees emerge from Ukraine's Mariupol
The 79 evacuees emerged exhausted and dirty from three yellow school buses into a supermarket carpark in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia.
The small convoy Thursday was all those who managed to get out of the shattered port city of Mariupol that has been devastated by Russia's onslaught.
The passengers, mostly women, recounted their escape and the hell they had left behind after almost two months trapped under siege by Moscow's forces.
"This evacuation was a show," said a 19-year-old who asked to use the pseudonym Anastasia.
She told AFP that Russian camera crews had massed to film their departure as part of Moscow's state-backed propaganda campaign.
"We were given some care, but it was just for the media," she said.
Rumours of a potential escape route out of Mariupol had spread Wednesday after Ukrainian authorities for days unsuccessfully negotiated a safe passage with the Russian forces.
"Many people living in the Russian-occupied territories want to leave, but they are prevented from doing so," said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, who was present to meet the arrival in Zaporizhzhia.
In the end, only three buses were allowed through out of dozens that Ukraine had hoped to get out of the city.
- 'Many snipers' -
"Nothing has worked. Only 79 people could come. There were no green corridors," Vereshchuk said.
After almost two months sheltering in cellars under near-constant bombardments the group that made it to Zaporizhzhia were the few who dared to come forward.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky estimates that some 120,000 people remain trapped in Mariupol.
Anastasia said civilians were told to gather at 2pm local time on Wednesday.
"People didn't know if the rumour was true or not," she explained.
As she headed to the meeting point, she heard a Russian tank blasting away and saw "many snipers" posted on rooftops along her route.
"We were asked in front of the Russian journalists who wanted to go to Russia," another of the evacuees, an old lady wearing a beige cap, said.
"No one raised their hand," she said, adding of the Russians "I wish they'd all die."
Anastasia said that despite this a fourth bus that had collected people left in the direction of Russia. She did not know how many were on board.
- 'Didn't know if we would make it' -
The 225-kilometre (140 mile) journey to Zaporizhzhia -- which used to take three hours in peacetime -- took more than 24 hours.
Fear swirled on board as the buses made the perilous ride.
"We knew the way, but we didn't recognise any place. We didn't know if we would make it," Anastasia said.
"At one point we thought they were taking us to Russia."
When they finally did reach their destination, some who burst into tears of relief.
Valentina Grinchuk, a small woman of 73 who was still wearing her slippers along with a ragged black coat, hugged and kissed everyone she saw.
"From day one we were in a basement. It was cold. We were praying to God. I was asking him to protect us," she told AFP.
Babushka Vale, as she called herself, said her flat and her son's house had been destroyed.
"Take care of your hands," she told a journalist as she gripped their hand and showed off her own, black with dirt.
"They weren't like this before," she said.
- 'Angel' -
Other arrivals gave accounts of horror and survival.
Natalia Koval, 46, said she was trapped sheltering with a family who had a young boy -- a "blond, curly angel" -- who learnt to say his first words, hello and goodbye.
She felt "so sorry" when he woke up at night terrified as the shells rained down.
"I don't want to hear any more bombing," said Tatiana Dorash, 34, who was with her six-year-old son Maxim.
Anastasia herself is pregnant after having lost a child last year.
She has not seen her husband, a soldier, since March 14 and has not been able to contact him.
She recounted almost nothing about her past few weeks of horror when the population were at the mercy of the Russian forces.
"I just hope he is alive," she said, staring emptily ahead.
G.Schulte--BTB