Month: August 2023

The attacks range from the exotic — poisoned by drinking polonium-laced tea or touching a deadly nerve agent — to the more mundane of getting shot at close range. Some take a fatal plunge from an open window. Over the years, Kremlin political critics, turncoat spies and investigative journalists have been killed or assaulted in a variety of ways. None, however, has been known to perish in an air accident. But on Wednesday, a private plane carrying a mercenary chief who staged a brief rebellion in Russia plummeted into a field from tens of thousands of feet after breaking apart. …

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Russia said early Friday that it has downed dozens of drones launched from Ukraine. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 42 drones were destroyed over Crimea – nine shot down by air defense forces, 33 by electronic warfare. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014. There were no immediate reports of fatalities. The U.S. Defense Department said Thursday that it will train Ukrainians to fly and maintain F-16 fighter jets. The Defense Department said in a statement that the training will be held at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Arizona, and will be facilitated by the Air National Guard’s …

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The president of the Spanish football federation faces an emergency meeting of its general assembly on Friday amid media reports that he will hand in his resignation following an uproar for kissing a Women’s World Cup champion. Luis Rubiales is expected to stand before representatives of Spain’s regional federations, clubs, players, coaches and referees in Madrid at noon local time, and local media say he is stepping down. The federation has refused to comment on repeated requests from The Associated Press for confirmation of Rubiales’ decision to go that was reported late Thursday. Rubiales, 46, is under immense pressure to …

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The Pentagon says the military will start training Ukrainian pilots to fly U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets inside the United States beginning in October. Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, told reporters on Thursday that the training would involve “several” Ukrainian pilots and dozens of Ukrainian ground staff who will provide maintenance of the aircraft given to Kyiv. The training is part of a U.S. and European effort to provide advanced fighter jets to Ukraine for long-term defense. Ryder stressed that the F-16s are not intended for the current counteroffensive underway against Russian forces. The flight training will be …

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On Thursday, the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency confirmed the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Russian mercenary organization known as the Wagner Group. Prigozhin was on the passenger manifest of the plane that crashed northwest of Moscow on Wednesday. Anna Rice has the story. Contributor: Lilily Anisimova. …

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The death toll from an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Rzeszow, southeast Poland, has risen to five, local authorities said Thursday as they tried to detect the contamination source.  The fifth victim was a woman, 79, admitted to the hospital a few days ago.  “She was a patient with multiple long-term conditions, including cancer, and had been in the anesthesiology and intensive care ward,” the director of the Rzeszow municipal hospital, Grzegorz Materna, told state news agency PAP.  In all, at least 71 people have been hospitalized in the outbreak. Legionnaires’ disease, caused by Legionella bacteria, is not contagious and …

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Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, faces one of its worst droughts and now record-high temperatures, blamed on climate change. With many of the city’s reservoirs nearly empty, experts warn Istanbul could face water shortages in just weeks if more rain doesn’t come. Dorian Jones reports. …

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