Month: November 2023

English soldier Ken Hay was trapped behind German lines and captured while on night patrol in 1944, days after joining the Allied invasion of Normandy, a turning point in World War Two. The ambush near the bitterly contested “Hill 112” came during weeks of fighting after the largest seaborne assault in history, which began the liberation of France from Nazi German occupation. “Thirty of us went out, 16 including my brother got back, five of us got captured and nine got killed,” Hay said. As many nations around the world commemorate last century’s wars and other conflicts during a weekend …

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Pope Francis reiterated his plea Sunday for an end to hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians, and called for “much more” humanitarian aid for Gaza. “Enough, enough brothers, enough,” Francis said, adding the wounded in the Gaza Strip needed to be taken care of immediately and the protection of civilians assured. He also said hostages held by Hamas must be freed. Addressing the crowds in St. Peter’s Square after his weekly Angelus prayers, Francis said arms would never bring peace and that the conflict must not widen. “I am close to all those who suffer, Palestinians and Israelis,” he said, adding …

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A lion prowled the streets of an Italian seaside town for several hours Saturday after escaping from a local circus, before being sedated and captured. Alessandro Grando, mayor of Ladispoli, near Rome, had warned residents to stay at home while police and circus staff sought to catch the animal. Videos later published by Italian media, apparently taken by locals but not confirmed by AFP, showed the adult lion walking through dark and deserted streets. In a Facebook post around 10:30pm (2130 GMT), more than five hours after his original message raising the alarm, Grando said the lion had been “sedated …

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King Charles and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak led Britain in remembering the country’s war dead on Sunday, seeking to unify communities a day after a large pro-Palestinian march was marked by skirmishes between far-right counter-protesters and police. At a solemn ceremony at the Cenotaph war memorial on Whitehall in central London, Charles, Sunak, other politicians and senior members of the royal family held a two-minute silence and then laid wreaths to honor those killed in war. On Saturday, the annual Armistice Day commemoration marking the end of World War saw more than 300,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators march through central London, with …

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Huseyin Buyukdag says he loves Turkey and his job as a teacher. But with the rampant economic crisis and growing repression in his country, he said he and his wife have decided to try and find a better life in Germany. They are among a growing number of young and educated looking to leave Turkey, where rights and freedoms are being eroded and inflation is surging under increasingly authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After Erdogan secured a third term in office in May elections, things are unlikely to change, he says. “Even if I don’t want this, even if I …

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An American military aircraft crashed after suffering a “mishap” during training in the eastern Mediterranean, the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) said Saturday.  It did not specify the type of plane or where it was flying from, but the United States has deployed a carrier strike group to the area as part of efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a regional conflict.  “On the evening of November 10, a U.S. military aircraft conducting training operations in the eastern Mediterranean suffered a mishap and went down,” EUCOM said in a statement that did not provide information on the fate …

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Latvia’s president says Russia is planning for a long war in Ukraine and he has a message for countries wavering on continuing military support to Kyiv: Keep supplying arms or the Ukrainians will lose and Russia will have a green light for threatening others in the future. Edgars Rinkēvičs said in an interview with The Associated Press that “it is important to actually fight for international peace, and peace in Europe, because if we stop Russia in Ukraine, then Russia is not going to be able to challenge other countries.” He pointed to the disruptive role that Russia’s Wagner mercenary …

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More than 300,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London on Saturday, with police arresting more than 120 people as they sought to stop far-right counterprotesters from ambushing the main rally.  Skirmishes broke out between police and groups gathered to protest the demonstration taking place on Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of World War I, when Britain and other nations commemorate their war dead.  Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the violence seen at the Cenotaph war memorial and also attacked “Hamas sympathizers” who joined the bigger rally, “singing antisemitic chants and brandishing pro-Hamas signs and clothing on today’s protest.”  …

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European Union countries are having reservations about committing a long-term fund of $21.4 billion of military aid for Ukraine as its grinding fight continues against Russia’s invasion. EU defense ministers prepared to discuss the plan Tuesday in Brussels proposed by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell last July. However, diplomats say multiple countries — including Germany — have voiced reservations about committing up to $5 billion annually over four years as part of broader Western security commitments to bolster Ukraine’s defenses. The EU already has provided aid of arms and equipment worth $26 billion, according to the bloc’s diplomatic service. …

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Residents of a fishing town in southwestern Iceland left their homes Saturday after increasing concern about a potential volcanic eruption caused civil defense authorities to declare a state of emergency in the region. Police decided to evacuate Grindavik after recent seismic activity in the area moved south toward the town and monitoring indicated that a corridor of magma, or semi-molten rock, now extends under the community, Iceland’s Meteorological Office said. The town of 3,400 is on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the capital, Reykjavik. “At this stage, it is not possible to determine exactly whether …

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