Month: September 2024

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A new conscription law has been in force in Ukraine for more than three months, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the mobilization has been going according to plan. But studies suggest Ukrainians are ambivalent about the law. Lesia Bakalets in Kyiv looks at the reasons. Videographer: Vladyslav Smilianets …

Russia appears to be struggling to find buyers for its liquefied natural gas from a flagship Arctic development after the West imposed sanctions, forcing Moscow to store the gas in a huge container vessel in the Arctic Sea. Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …

london/paris — Europe’s air safety regulator said on Thursday it would call for inspections of at least part of the Airbus A350 long-haul fleet after an engine part failed during the flight of a Cathay Pacific A350-1000 jetliner on Monday. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said it was acting as a precaution to prevent …

Read more “Part of Airbus A350 fleet faces inspection, regulator says”

London — The United States announced new sanctions Thursday on ships that transport Russian gas from Moscow’s Arctic LNG 2 terminal in Russia’s Murmansk region. The measures target the owners of two LNG tankers, the New Energy and the Mulan. The U.S. State Department said the New Energy had used “deceptive shipping practices, including shutting off …

Read more “US imposes new sanctions on Russian Arctic gas as Kremlin struggles to find buyers”

Washington — The United States has charged five Russian intelligence officers and one Russian civilian in connection with a major cyberattack, described by U.S. prosecutors as the first shot in the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine. The Justice Department unsealed the superseding indictment Thursday, accusing the Russians of carrying out the January 2022 “WhisperGate” malware attack that …

Read more “US warns Russian hackers: ‘We are onto you’”

WASHINGTON — Top U.S. military leaders will be in Germany to discuss Ukraine’s wartime needs as Russia has conducted one of its deadliest airstrikes in the conflict and Ukraine presses its offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.  Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. CQ Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will host a meeting …

Read more “Pentagon leaders head to Germany for talks on Ukraine military aid”

Brussels — Elon Musk’s woes are hardly limited to Brazil as he now risks possible EU sanctions in the coming months for allegedly breaking new content rules. Access to X has been suspended in South America’s largest country since Saturday after a long-running legal battle over disinformation ended with a judge ordering a shutdown. But Brazil …

Read more “Like Brazil, the European Union also has an X problem”

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washington — During his recent trip to Mongolia, Russian President Vladimir Putin promoted a plan to build a pipeline from his country to China. The pipeline, which could weaken U.S. energy leverage over Beijing, would have to pass through Mongolia. In a joint press conference held after talks in Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday, Putin said cooperation in …

Read more “Putin makes renewed push for gas pipeline deal with China “

European Union governments have accused Russia of “weaponizing” migration by helping illegal migrants cross into the EU, stoking political tensions in countries such as Finland, Poland and Latvia. Latvian political observers say this tactic, in part, led to the gains of far-right parties in European elections this year. Henry Wilkins reports from Riga, Latvia …

Ukraine faces wildly different prospects under a potential Donald Trump or Kamala Harris U.S. presidency. But as their campaigns race to the finish line, neither candidate has laid out exactly how they plan to deal with Russia’s war on Ukraine. Experts say in that same space of time, the battlefield in Ukraine has itself radically …

Read more “Trump, Harris offer different futures for Ukraine as they vie for US presidency”

London — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended his government’s decision to suspend some arms shipments to Israel Wednesday, saying the move was necessary to comply with international law. “We absolutely recognize and support Israel’s right to self-defense and have taken action in support of that right of self-defense. … But in relation to licenses, this …

Read more “Britain defends Israeli weapons export ban as Europe mulls sanctions”

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended his government’s decision to suspend some arms shipments to Israel on Wednesday, saying the move was necessary to comply with international law. It could have wider consequences among European allies. Henry Ridgwell reports. Camera: Henry Ridgwell. …

BARCELONA, Spain — A British woman has been found dead while emergency services search for a man of the same nationality after both were apparently swept away in a flash flood while hiking on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, Spanish police said Wednesday.  Spain’s Civil Guard said that both people were taking a trail that leads …

Read more “British hiker found dead after flood on Spanish island of Mallorca”

  Washington  — In an interview with a Mongolian newspaper, Russian President Vladimir Putin this week accused the West of persecuting Russian journalists.  “In order to hide from inconvenient facts, from truthful information, the West, which considers itself the standard of freedom, has launched an open persecution against Russian correspondents,” Putin told the newspaper Onoodor.   Putin spoke …

Read more “Putin accuses West of persecuting journalists days after Russia bans more reporters”

copenhagen, denmark — Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billström, who steered the Scandinavian country along a sometimes bumpy road to NATO membership and stood tall on supporting Ukraine, stunned the political establishment Wednesday by saying he was leaving the Swedish government next week. “It has not been an easy decision but something that I have thought about …

Read more “Sweden’s foreign minister announces surprising departure from politics”

rome — Workers mounted a crane Wednesday to secure Rome’s Constantine Arch near the Colosseum after a lightning strike loosened fragments from the ancient structure. A violent thunder and lightning storm that felled trees and flooded streets in the Italian capital damaged the honorary arch late Tuesday afternoon. Fragments of white marble were gathered and secured …

Read more “Lightning strike damages Rome’s ancient Constantine Arch”

ANKARA, Turkey — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Wednesday kicked off his first official visit to Turkey since the two regional powers ended years of tensions. El-Sissi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were set to discuss bilateral relations, the war in Gaza and escalating Middle East tensions. They are also expected to oversee the …

Read more “Egyptian president makes first visit to Turkey as relations thaw”

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