Month: May 2022

Russian forces suffered heavy losses in a Ukrainian attack that destroyed a pontoon bridge they were using to try to cross a river in the east, Ukrainian and British officials said in another sign of Moscow’s struggle to salvage a war gone awry.  Ukraine’s airborne command released photos and video of what it said was a damaged Russian pontoon bridge over the Siversky Donets River and several destroyed or damaged Russian military vehicles nearby. The command said its troops “drowned the Russian occupiers.”  Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia lost “significant armored maneuver elements” of at least one battalion tactical group …

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The EU’s foreign policy chief said on Friday that he believed there had been enough progress during consultations between his envoy and Iranian officials in Tehran this week to relaunch nuclear negotiations after two months of deadlock.  Talks to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers have been on hold since March, chiefly over Tehran’s insistence that Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the U.S. list of designated terrorist organizations.  Speaking as talks coordinator Enrique Mora arrived back in Europe, Josep Borrell said Iran’s response had been “positive enough” after Mora had delivered a message that things …

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The lawyer for WNBA star Brittney Griner said Friday her pre-trial detention in Russia has been extended by one month. Griner’s lawyer Alexander Boikov told The Associated Press he believed the relatively short extension of the detention indicated the case would come to trial soon. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was detained at the Moscow airport after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage, which could carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The Biden administration says Griner, 31, is being wrongfully detained. The WNBA and U.S. officials have worked toward …

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A worker hurt in an explosion at a chemical factory in Slovenia has died from his injuries, bringing the total number of people killed in the accident to six, local media reported on Friday. The blast occurred Thursday when a cistern exploded at a resin factory belonging to chemicals company Melamin in the municipality of Kocevje, some 60 kilometers south of Ljubljana. “Unfortunately our fears have been confirmed,” Melamin general manager Srecko Stefanic told reporters. The strength of the explosion “did not leave them any chance of survival,” he said. Initially, five people were reported to have been killed and …

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U.S. Senator Rand Paul Thursday blocked a vote on a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine, slowing U.S. efforts to quickly deliver more help to Ukraine as it battles a Russian invasion. “We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the U.S. economy,” Paul said. A unanimous Senate vote would have expedited the delivery of aid to Ukraine. Paul’s move, however, has delayed the vote for another week, when the Senate is expected to pass the bill. Ukraine says negotiations are underway for the release of 38 incapacitated soldiers from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol in exchange for Russian prisoners. In …

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For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT: 4:08 a.m.: The BBC reports that European Council President Charles Michel says that global security is “under threat.” “Russia, a nuclear armed state… is attacking the sovereign nation of Ukraine, while making shameful and unacceptable references to the use of nuclear weapons,” he said. Michel is currently in Japan, visiting Hiroshima, the city that was the target of the first atomic bombing. 3:04 a.m.: Al Jazeera, citing the U.S. think tank the Institute for the Study …

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A Frenchman murdered in the desert, a Dutch priest killed in a Nazi concentration camp and an Indian lay convert are among 10 new saints being created by Pope Francis on Sunday. Tens of thousands of people from around the world are expected in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican for the canonization mass, presided over by the 85-year-old pontiff. Under the rules of the Catholic Church, all 10 have already been beatified, or named “blessed,” but had to then be attributed a miracle to take the final step to sainthood. Most founded religious orders, but the new saints include Charles …

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Colored marker stones placed on either side of a small river – blue and white for Finland, red and green for Russia – are all that separate the two countries in the windswept fields of the South Karelia region. The border stretches 1,340 kilometers from the Baltic Sea to the Arctic, much of it sparsely populated, frozen wilderness. For decades, the two countries have enjoyed peaceful relations, founded on Finland’s post-World War II policy of neutrality and nonalignment. But this simple border could soon become be a frontier between East and West: a geopolitical fault line. Finland’s government said Thursday …

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