'We Stand with Ukraine until Victory Is Won', Says Pelosi after Kyiv Visit
PHOTO: U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI HOLDING NEWS CONFERENCE IN POLAND AFTER MEETING UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY IN KYIV SOUNDBITES BY PELOSI AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN GREGORY MEEKS
INTERNATIONAL: U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said America stands with Ukraine until victory is won at a news conference in Rzeszow, Poland on Sunday (May 1).
"Do not be bullied by bullies if they're making threats, you cannot back down," said Pelosi, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24. She condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's "diabolic invasion."
If Putin uses unconventional weapons, including chemical weapons or strategical nukes, "all bets are off" said Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks at the same news conference.
Moscow says its actions aim to disarm Ukraine and rid it of anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West. Ukraine and the West say Russia launched an unprovoked war of aggression.
Pelosi's delegation is set to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and other senior officials on Monday (May 2).
Guinea's Coup Leader Proposes Three-year Transition Back to Civilian Rule
PHOTO: STATEMENT FROM GUINEA COUP LEADER, COLONEL MAMADY DOUMBOUYA ON TRANSITION PERIOD TOWARDS CIVILIAN RULE IN GUINEA FILE FOOTAGE OF COLONEL MAMADY DOUMBOUYA FILE FOOTAGE OF FORMER GUINEA PRESIDENT ALPHA CONDE
INTERNATIONAL: A military junta in Guinea said its transition back to civilian rule will probably take more than three years, a proposal likely to upset West Africa's political bloc that has called for a swift return to constitutional order after last year's coup.
Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, the head of the junta that took power in September, told state television late on Saturday (April 30) that after political consultations he was considering a transition of 39 months, the first time he has proposed a timeline.
“The CNRD (the National Rally and Development Committee) and the government in turn will submit to the CNT (the National Transitional Council), which serves as Parliament, this proposal which is the result of extensive and patient consultations,” Doumbouya said in a televised address from Boffa, some 120 km (75 miles) west of the capital, Conakry.
Guinea's former president Alpha Conde had been detained since last September when special forces troops overthrew him on allegations of fostering endemic state corruption. However, Conde was released in late April, the then interim government said on state television.
Military leaders have snatched power in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea over the last two years, raising concerns of a backslide in democracy in West Africa that over the past decade had begun to shed its reputation as a "coup belt."
The coups have put the countries at odds with the region's main political and economic bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is trying to put power back in civilians' hands.
Angelina Jolie Visits Lviv
PHOTO: UNHCR SPECIAL ENVOY AND HOLLYWOOD ACTROR ANGELINA JOLIE VISITING LVIV RAILWAY STATION SPEAKING TO PEOPLE TAKING GROUP PICTURE
INTERNATIONAL: UNHSCR special envoy and U.S. actor Angelina Jolie visited a railway station in the Ukrainian city of Lviv on Saturday (April 30, 2022).
Jolie met with and spoke to volunteers about the trauma of war, and the support they had been given, especially to children.
She said, "I know just having somebody show how much they matter, how much their voices matter, I know how healing that is for them."
One volunteer had described how in a 24-hour period, there could be "fifteen people that needed help".
She ended her visit short when air raid sirens blast. As she rushed out to safety, fans couldn’t help themselves from asking her for selfies.
At one point during her visit to the station, she tickled a small girl dressed in red, who laughed out in delight.
The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) is expecting some 8.3 million people to flee Ukraine this year, revising up its previous projection.
More than 12.7 million people have fled their homes in the past two months, including 7.7 million people displaced internally and more than 5 million who have fled over borders, UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told a U.N. news briefing.
