Month: August 2024

Ukrainian shelling kills 5 in border area; Russian missile hits hotel with reporters

Kyiv — Five people died in Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, officials said Sunday, while Russian forces struck a hotel in eastern Ukraine, leaving one journalist missing and two others injured. Twelve other people were wounded in the Russian village of Rakitone, 38 kilometers (23 miles) from the Ukrainian border, including a 16-year-old girl reported to be in critical condition, said regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov. Another man also died in a separate drone attack on the border village of Solovevka, he wrote later on social media.  Russian forces struck a hotel overnight in the city of Kramatorsk in …

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German stabbing suspect is 26-year-old Syrian man who admitted to the crime

FRANKFURT, Germany — The suspect in custody for a stabbing rampage in the western German city of Solingen that killed three people and injured eight is a 26-year-old Syrian man, authorities said early Sunday. The suspect turned himself in and admitted to the crime, Duesseldorf police and prosecutors said in a joint statement. “The involvement of this person is currently under intensive investigation,” they said. The attack, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility, occurred Friday evening in the Fronhof, a market square where live bands were playing at a festival to celebrate Solingen’s 650-year history. Mourners have made a …

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Russian attacks on Ukraine injure at least 29, local authorities say

KYIV — Russia launched several missiles and drones overnight targeting northern and eastern Ukraine, injuring at least 29 people, Ukrainian military and local authorities said on Sunday. The attack targeted Ukraine’s frontline regions of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk, Ukraine’s air force said on the Telegram messaging app. Russia has been pummeling Ukrainian border regions with strikes, and Kyiv said its surprise incursion earlier this month into Russia’s Kursk region aimed to hinder Moscow’s ability to stage such attacks. “Most of the missiles did not reach their targets,” the air force said, adding that Russia launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile, an …

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Sunflower oil dethrones olive oil in Spain’s kitchens as prices soar

madrid — Sunflower oil has dethroned olive oil as king of the kitchen in Spain, the world´s largest olive oil producer, as rising prices force consumers to switch to cheaper options.  Spaniards bought 107 million liters (28.3 million gallons) of all types of olive oil in the first half of 2024 compared with 179 million liters of sunflower oil, according to Spain’s biggest olive oil bottling association, Anierac.   Until this year, olive oil has been the most popular cooking oil in Spanish households, accounting for 62% of sales by volume in 2023 while sunflower oil represented almost 34%, according to …

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Spanish athlete with albinism fled Mali, now chases gold at Paralympics

LUGO, Spain — When Adiaratou Iglesias crossed the finish line at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, she did not know she had bagged a gold in the women’s 100-metre T13 race until she was told. The visually impaired Spanish athlete, who goes by Adi and also won a 400m silver in Tokyo, said she now dreamed of hearing her adoptive family shout “gold” when she completes her races at the Paris Games this week. Iglesias was born in Mali with albinism, a genetic condition that inhibits the production of melanin which pigments the skin, hair and eyes. Albinism impairs her visual …

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CEO of Telegram messaging app arrested in France, say French media

paris — Pavel Durov, billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at the Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unnamed sources.  Telegram, particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union, is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and WeChat. It aims to hit 1 billion users in the next year.   Based in Dubai, Telegram was founded by Russian-born Durov. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down …

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