- China's Xi hails 'new chapter' in relations with Indonesia
- Injured Darry out of All Blacks tour with Cane in doubt
- Pakistani separatists kill 26 in railway station blast
- China's Xi meets Indonesian president in Beijing
- Key nominees for the 2025 Grammy Awards
- Top art collector displays rare treasures in Madrid
- Pakistani separatists kill 25 in railway station blast
- South Sudan floods affect 1.4 million, displace 379,000: UN
- Japan's Sasaki set to follow Ohtani with move to MLB
- Konstas hits unbeaten 73 in audition to open for Australia
- Pakistani separatists kill 22 in railway station blast
- No culprit found five years on from Notre Dame fire
- Reeking mud sparks health fears in Spain flood epicentre
- Bogusz goal edges LAFC past Whitecaps in MLS playoffs
- N. Korea jams GPS signals, affecting ships, aircraft in South
- Indonesia volcano catapults vast ash tower into sky
- Cavs ride huge first half to crushing win over Warriors
- Over 130 homes lost in California wildfire as winds drop
- New tools give researchers hope for fungus-ravaged US bats
- Germany marks 1989 Berlin Wall fall with 'Preserve Freedom' party
- Heat, air pollution, disease: How climate change affects health
- Boeing to face civil trial over 2019 MAX crash
- Over 130 homes lost in California wildfire as winds abate for now
- 'No excuses', says Farrell after All Blacks end Irish home win streak
- Furious de Zerbi talks of leaving after Marseille lose to Auxerre
- UK rules drivers on Bolt ride-hailing platform are employees
- US stocks hit fresh records as European bourses retreat
- McKenzie boots All Blacks to victory over sloppy Irish
- Star striker Mekhloufi symbol of Algerian struggle dies at 88
- Marseille lose further ground in title race with Auxerre loss
- Climate crusader to vaccine skeptic RFK Jr to 'Make America Healthy Again'
- US announces charges in alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Trump
- Daughter of missing Mexico environment defender pleads for global help
- After Trump victory, EU leaders vow 'urgent' economic reform
- Death toll from Mozambique election protests rises to at least 30
- Beyonce leads Grammy nods after trailblazing country album
- Elon Musk took part in Trump-Zelensky call: Ukrainian official
- Gatland 'relishes the pressure' with struggling Wales
- Villa's Emery aiming high despite mini-slump
- Zheng to play WTA Finals decider after beating Krejcikova in the semis
- Gauff sets up decider with Zheng at WTA Finals
- PSG to curb political slogans in wake of 'Free Palestine' banner
- Yankees keep Boone as manager for 2025 MLB season
- Samson and leg-spinners earn crushing T20 win for India against South Africa
- Israeli football fans home after 'frightening' Amsterdam violence
- Jewish students block Austria far-right parliament speaker at Holocaust memorial
- Spain's grim search for flood missing moves to coast
- European businesses brace for Trump return
- 11 bodies found in Mexico truck were of missing group: prosecutors
- Germany's embattled Scholz open to talks on early election
Near Black Sea, civilians flee southern Ukrainian city
In Ukraine's southern city of Mykolaiv under Russian fire, Vitaliy Sobolev's apartment block stands punctured on one side, a metal door blown off and windows gaping empty.
The man in his 70s says he was sleeping when the bombardment hit early Monday morning in his city near the Black Sea.
"The windowpanes started to shake. I plastered myself against a wall," said Sobolev, whose kitchen, near the impact point on the second floor was ravaged, though there were no casualties.
His fourth-floor neighbour, Liliana Sidorska, swore at the Russian forces who invaded Ukraine almost two weeks ago, and have since pounded her home city.
They are targeting not military targets but "people who have nothing and who no one is helping", she said.
"Why are the Russians coming here to bomb us? They're bastards, bastards."
Mykolaiv and the surrounding region have been the scene of intense clashes and bombardment in recent days.
The city of 500,000 stands between the Russians and the major port city of Odessa, just 130 kilometres (80 miles) to the west along the Black Sea coastline.
- 'We can't stay' -
Many tried to flee the city on Tuesday morning during a relative lull in the bombardment, despite sporadic shelling resounding across the streets.
A long line of cars several kilometres (miles) long snaked up to the bridge over the river running through the city, as desperate families drove west to safety.
Further along the road, cars waited bumper to bumper to be waved through a Ukrainian checkpoint, many with a sign in their window marked "children".
In front of the city's main hospital, Sabrina waited, surrounded by bags, for her mother to finish her kidney treatment inside.
"After that, we're leaving, as fast as possible, by bus," said the 19-year-old, holding a small dog on the end of leash and clutching a cat to her breast under her jacket.
"We can't stay any more, it's too dangerous," added the young woman, who had had no news from her husband on the frontline.
Inside, doctors have already started treating war casualties.
Oleksandr, a soldier in his 20s, had been rushed in with a broken leg and riddled with shrapnel, after Russians hit his barracks on Monday.
He said eight of his comrades had been killed, another eight had disappeared, and 18 more had been wounded. AFP could not independently verify these figures.
The hospital's leading surgeon, Dmytro Sikorsky, said he had lost count of how many people had been brought in for treatment since Russia invaded the country on February 24.
In the first days of the conflict, the hospital treated 160 soldiers, he said. These days however, patients were mostly civilians.
Asked if he had seen any wounded Russian soldiers, he said: "There were a few, but we cannot approach them. The military looks after them."
- 'Head really hurts' -
Among the civilians was Vira Pysmenna, a blue-eyed woman in her sixties, whose face was covered in dried blood. A large dressing clung to her forehead.
She had come from the village of Snigurivka, some 60 kilometres (40 miles) outside the city, where she said her nephew and two children were still hiding in a shelter.
"May our planes bomb the Russians for what they have done," she said, white hair framing her injured face.
In another room, Maksym Sokol waited for his head to be bandaged.
He said he was lobbing a Molotov cocktail at a Russian tank when he was hit by gunfire.
"It was two, three or four days ago, I can't remember. My head really hurts," said the young man. His torso and arms were covered in tattoos of a Kalashnikov, a dog, a dragon and a wolf.
He was not able to join the army due to health issues, his mother explained, so he had signed up to fight the Russians with the civilian volunteers instead.
In a weak voice, he teased his nurse, and asked her if she had been on a safari before.
"We'll go after the war," she promised, and he asked when.
"I don't know," she said.
N.Fournier--BTB