Month: June 2024

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched a new barrage of missiles and drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Saturday, damaging energy facilities in the southeast and west of the country and injuring at least two energy workers, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine’s air defense shot down 12 of 16 missiles and all 13 drones launched by …

Read more “Russian air strike damages Ukrainian power facilities, injures 2”

PARIS — The alleged rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a suspected antisemitic attack has sent shockwaves throughout France and thrust concerns about antisemitism to the forefront of campaigning for the country’s legislative elections. The anti-immigration National Rally party, which has tried to shed historical links to antisemitism, is leading in preelection polling and has …

Read more “Antisemitism comes to fore in French election campaign”

washington — A new defense pact signed between Russia and North Korea this week publicly laid out Moscow’s willingness to engage in full-fledged military cooperation with Pyongyang, in contrast to their denials prior to the summit, analysts said. Before Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on …

Read more “Russia-North Korea defense pact moves military cooperation out of shadows”

ANKARA, Turkey — A fire that apparently started in crop stubble spread through settlements in southeast Turkey overnight, killing 11 people and leaving dozens of others requiring medical treatment, officials and news reports said Friday. In neighboring Greece, authorities evacuated several villages in the southern Peloponnese region because of wildfires. The blaze in Turkey broke out …

Read more “Fire kills 11 in southeastern Turkey”

geneva — A Swiss court handed jail sentences Friday to four members of Britain’s richest family, the Hindujas, branding them “selfish” for exploiting Indian staff at their Geneva mansion. Lawyers for the members of the Swiss-Indian family — who were not present in court — said they would appeal the verdict. The defendants were acquitted of …

Read more “UK’s richest family convicted of exploiting staff at Swiss villa “

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Georgians are preparing for elections this year amid fears in the West that the government is straying from the country’s ambition to join the European Union. The nation appears to be caught in a struggle to reconcile its turbulent past with its West-aligned future. Henry Ridgwell reports. …

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, U.S. humanitarian group Project HOPE has provided aid to Ukrainian health clinics and residents of the country’s frontline towns and villages. Yaroslava Movchan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Videographer: Dmytro Hlushko. …

The Netherlands is investing more than 420 million dollars to build Swedish-designed combat vehicles for Ukraine. The Dutch expect to deliver the tanks by 2026, according to Defense News, to add to those already proving effective on the front lines. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story. Cameras and edit: Pavel Suhodolskiy …

Going into a third year of war, life without clean water has become routine for nearly half a million residents of Ukraine’s frontline city of Mykolaiv. At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Russian forces destroyed the water distribution system. As Lesia Bakalets reports, the city has been looking for ways to restore it since …

Read more “Half a million Ukrainians in frontline city of Mykolaiv suffer through 3rd year without clean water”

June 20th marked the start of the summer solstice, a moment that draws thousands of people from around the world to the ancient Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, Mexico, to see a phenomenon that appears each year – a sun shadow of a serpent descending from top of the site’s main period. What many visitors …

Read more “As thousands visit Mayan ruins, memory of groundbreaking Ukrainian academic largely forgotten”

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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the country’s new defense pact with North Korea on Friday, as border tensions continued to rise with vague threats and brief, seemingly accidental incursions by North Korean troops. Earlier Friday, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a vague threat …

Read more “South Korea summons Russian ambassador as tensions rise with North Korea”

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Washington — U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday banned Russia-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky from providing its popular antivirus products in the United States over national security concerns, the U.S. Commerce Department said. “Kaspersky will generally no longer be able to, among other activities, sell its software within the United States or provide updates to software …

Read more “US bans Russia’s Kaspersky antivirus software”

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WASHINGTON — The United States called on Vietnam Thursday to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity following Vladimir Putin’s one-day visit to Hanoi, part of the Russian president’s brief Asian tour seeking to shore up alliances in the face of mounting Western sanctions. “We expect that any country, when it engages in conversations with the government …

Read more “US asks Vietnam to support Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity”