General NewsOvernight updates: Prisoner swap, environmental penalties, and more
Overnight updates: Prisoner swap, environmental penalties, and more
It happened while you were sleeping. Here's what global agencies reported overnight from Friday to Saturday.
- Russia and Ukraine exchanged 95 prisoners of war each on Friday, following an agreement brokered by the United Arab Emirates, according to Reuters, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense. Ukrainian authorities confirmed the prisoner exchange.
- The British government has ruled out apologizing for its involvement in the slave trade or addressing reparations at next week's Commonwealth summit. A government spokesperson stated that the UK will focus on current issues, such as "shared challenges and opportunities faced by the Commonwealth, including driving growth across our economies."
- Uganda could be a destination for the deportation of African migrants denied asylum in Europe. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte presented this proposal to European Union leaders during the European Council summit. Rutte explained that the idea is based on sending asylum seekers who failed to obtain residency to a center from where they could return to their country of origin.
- Pope Francis, in a message to participants of the 80th Annual Assembly of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) in the Argentine city of Cordoba, called on journalists to "fight the sin of misinformation" and strongly respond to all "hate speech."
- The Texas Supreme Court temporarily postponed the execution of death row inmate Robert Roberson. This decision came just minutes after the state's highest criminal court had authorized the execution to proceed at the state prison in Huntsville.
- Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, submitted a proposal to Congress on Friday to significantly increase penalties for environmental crimes. The president suggested that two to three years imprisonment penalties should be doubled.
