Reuters World News Summary

The BBC was forced to axe much of its sports coverage on Saturday as presenters refused to work in a show of solidarity with Lineker, after the BBC sought to defend its impartiality by taking him off the air due to his comments on social media. Russian shelling kills Kherson residents, Zelenskiy denounces 'terrorist attacks' Russian shelling killed three civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, denouncing what he called "brutal terrorist attacks" by pro-Moscow units.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Mutiny at the BBC: Lineker row causes growing crisis at UK broadcaster

Britain's BBC faced a mounting crisis as a row over football presenter Gary Lineker's criticism of government migration policy led to a presenter mutiny, drew a comment from the prime minister and left the broadcaster's boss defending his position. The BBC was forced to axe much of its sports coverage on Saturday as presenters refused to work in a show of solidarity with Lineker, after the BBC sought to defend its impartiality by taking him off the air due to his comments on social media.

Russian shelling kills Kherson residents, Zelenskiy denounces 'terrorist attacks'

Russian shelling killed three civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, denouncing what he called "brutal terrorist attacks" by pro-Moscow units. Ukraine recaptured Kherson in November after nearly eight months of occupation by Russian forces who seized it soon after the start of the large-scale invasion. The area is now under almost constant bombardment from Russian forces on the opposite side of the Dnipro River.

Ukraine: Russia suffered more than 500 killed and wounded in one day at Bakhmut

More than 500 Russian troops were killed or wounded in a recent 24-hour period during the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Saturday. Pro-Moscow forces have been fighting for months to take Bakhmut, in the eastern Donbas region. Both sides admit to significant losses and the exact numbers are difficult to verify.

Li Qiang becomes China's premier, tasked with reviving economy

Li Qiang, the former Communist Party chief of Shanghai, took office on Saturday as China's premier, the country's No.2 post, putting the close ally of President Xi Jinping in charge of reviving an economy battered by three years of COVID-19 curbs. Widely perceived to be pragmatic and business-friendly, the 63-year-old Li faces the daunting task of shoring up China's uneven recovery amid global headwinds and weak confidence among consumers and the private sector.

Indonesia's Merapi volcano erupts, spews hot cloud

Indonesia's Merapi volcano erupted on Saturday, spewing hot cloud up to seven kilometres, the country's disaster management agency said in a statement. The volcano located in Indonesia's Yogyakarta special region erupted around 12 p.m local time (0500 GMT) and a lava flow of 1.5 km was observed, the local authority said.

More than 1,300 migrants brought ashore in Italy after multiple rescues

More than 1,300 migrants have been rescued in three separate operations off the southern tip of Italy, the coastguard said on Saturday, two weeks after at least 74 people died when their boat hit rocks near the coast. Growing numbers of migrant arrivals have piled pressure on Italy's conservative government, which took office last October promising to reduce the flow only to see a sharp increase insuch landings this year from both North Africa and Turkey.

Russian Orthodox head appeals against eviction of church from Kyiv

Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, on Saturday asked Pope Francis and other religious leaders to persuade Ukraine to stop a crackdown against a historically Russian-aligned wing of the church. Kyiv on Friday ordered the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to leave a monastery complex where it is based, the latest move against a denomination the government says is pro-Russian and collaborating with Moscow.

French Senate votes for Macron's pension plan, despite new protests

The French Senate on Saturday night adopted President Emmanuel Macron's unpopular pension reform plan in the wake of a seventh day of demonstrations that were not as large as authorities had expected. One hundred and ninety-five members of the upper house of the French Parliament voted for the text, whose key measure is raising the retirement age by two years to 64, while 112 voted against.

Canada immigration: Why record asylum seekers are crossing U.S. border

Bookseller Zulema Diaz fled her native Peru after being kidnapped, beaten and robbed, hoping to find safety in the United States. Instead, she said she experienced homelessness and sexual harassment as she worked off-the-books on a hospital cleaning crew. So when Diaz, 46, heard New York City was distributing free bus tickets, she said she hopped on a bus for Plattsburgh, a town close to the Canadian border, then took a taxi to the irregular crossing at Roxham Road to enter Canada and file an asylum claim.

In Peru's Andes, scars of protest deaths cut deep as families seek justice

In a small bedroom of a tin-roofed home in Peru's southern city of Juliaca, Asunta Jumpiri holds the torn red and black sweatshirt of her 15-year-old son, whose dark eyes stare back at her from half a dozen framed photos around the room. Her son Brayan was wearing it when he was shot in the back of the head on Jan. 9, the deadliest day of violence Peru has seen in over twenty years that has cut a deep scar in the country's Andean south.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)