Month: August 2024

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London — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday vowed “swift criminal sanctions” following an emergency meeting on the far-right riots that broke out across England last week over the murder of three children. The prime minister met with ministers and police chiefs, including Scotland Yard boss Mark Rowley, to discuss how to quell the violence …

Read more “UK’s Starmer vows ‘swift criminal sanctions’ for rioters “

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s government will hold talks with Instagram officials on Monday after blocking access to the social media platform last week, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in a post on X.  The move came after a senior Turkish official accused Instagram of blocking condolence posts following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of …

Read more “Turkey to meet Instagram officials after access ban, minister says “

AMSTERDAM — Semiconductor industry group SEMI Europe called on the European Union on Monday to place as few restrictions as possible on outbound investment in foreign computer chip technology by companies based in the bloc.  Proposals to screen outbound investment — European capital being invested in foreign semiconductor, AI and biotechnology companies — are being considered, though no …

Read more “EU should limit curbs on outbound investment, semiconductor group says “

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Geneva — Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival opens on Wednesday with Shah Rukh Khan, Jane Campion, Alfonso Cuaron and Irene Jacob set to be honored with special awards. Founded in 1946, Locarno is one of the world’s longest-running annual film festivals and focuses on auteur cinema. Held on the shores of Lake Maggiore, in the Italian-speaking Ticino …

Read more “Shah Rukh Khan to be honored at Locarno Film Festival”

Paris — Rarely on the podium and barred from the opening ceremony, the 15 Russians competing at the Paris Olympics have an uneasy status as “Individual Neutral Athletes” following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Some in the Olympic Village opposed them taking part in the Summer Games, and Russian opinion is divided. In Russia, the Olympics …

Read more “Russian ‘neutrals’ at Paris Olympics are politically isolated and rarely in the spotlight “

Somewhere in Ukraine — Ukraine’s newly arrived F-16 fighter jets were put on display Sunday by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said the planes will boost the country’s war effort against Russia. “These jets are in our sky and today you see them,” said Zelenskyy, standing in front of two of the fighter jets as two others …

Read more “Ukraine’s Zelenskyy displays new F-16s to combat Russia in the air”

London — Police in the north of England town of Rotherham were struggling to hold back a mob of far-right rioters Sunday who were seeking to break into a hotel believed to be housing asylum seekers, as the latest bout of rioting following a stabbing rampage at a dance class last week that left three girls …

Read more “UK police face far-right rioters seeking to enter hotel thought to be housing asylum seekers “

Kyiv — Ukraine has sunk a Russian submarine and hit a Russian airfield in the past 24 hours, in line with a surge of long-range attacks against Russian targets, officials said. Russia said Ukrainian drones also hit an apartment building, killing one person.  The uptick in attacks since July comes as Ukraine mounts pressure on allies …

Read more “Ukraine intensifies its long-range strikes, sinking Russian submarine and striking airfield “

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and Germany on Sunday committed to signing a defense cooperation arrangement this year, vowing to stand for the international rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro committed to establishing long-term relations between their armed forces to expand training and bilateral exchanges, …

Read more “Philippines, Germany commit to reaching defense pact this year”

KYIV, Ukraine — The American-made F-16 is an iconic fighter jet that’s been the front-line combat plane of choice for the NATO alliance and numerous air forces around the world for 50 years. Western countries have pledged F-16s to Kyiv, and some have arrived in Ukraine, officials in Washington and Ukraine confirmed to The Associated Press. …

Read more “Ukraine now has F-16s; here’s what to know about the possible impact”

CAMMARATA, Italy — On a scorching July afternoon, a municipal water truck rolls up in a cloud of dust on Liborio Mangiapane’s farm in southern Sicily. Some of the precious liquid gets transferred to a smaller cistern on a tractor that Mangiapane’s son will use to fill troughs for 250 cattle and sheep, but by tomorrow, …

Read more “Extended drought parches Sicily”

QEPARO, Albania — Albanians in the southwestern town of Himara are to vote Sunday for a new mayor after their previous choice, a member of the country’s ethnic Greek minority, was stripped of his title, convicted and imprisoned on vote-buying charges in what he and neighboring Greece have claimed was a politically motivated case. Voting started …

Read more “Albanians vote for new mayor of ethnic Greek town”

Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered condolences to North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un over devastating floods that caused untold casualties and damaged thousands of homes, the Kremlin said on Saturday. The North, in turn, said Sunday that Putin had also offered “immediate humanitarian support” to aid its recovery efforts, to which Kim responded …

Read more “Putin vows support to North Korea after devastating floods”

DAKAR, Senegal — Two men claiming to be Russian nationals and saying they were taken captive in Niger by militants linked to al-Qaida appeared in a video published on a media platform affiliated to the extremist group. The video, which appeared on the az-Zallaqa platform Friday night, showed two men who said they were seized by …

Read more “Al-Qaida affiliate says it has 2 Russian hostages in Niger, shows video”

Ukrainian tennis player Alex Dolgopolov was once ranked 13th in the world. But shortly after Russia invaded his homeland in 2022, he volunteered to fight on the front lines. Anna Kosstutschenko met with the tennis star turned drone operator. Camera: Pavel Suhodolskiy. …

KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukraine’s military said on Saturday it had attacked Russia’s Morozovsk airfield and several oil depots and fuel storage facilities in three Russian regions overnight. The attack on the airfield hit an ammunition depot where Russian forces stored guided aerial bombs among other equipment, the military said. “Russian combat aviation must be destroyed wherever …

Read more “Ukrainian military says it attacked Russian airfield, oil depots”

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