Month: August 2024

Hungary’s foreign minister accuses EU of disrupting oil supplies from Russia

BUDAPEST, hungary — Hungary’s foreign minister said Saturday the European Commission’s decision not to mediate in a dispute over a blockage of oil supplies from Russia via Ukraine into his country suggested that Brussels was behind the stoppage.  Hungary and its neighbor Slovakia have been protesting since Ukraine put Russian oil producer Lukoil on a sanctions list in June, stopping that company’s oil from passing through Ukrainian territory to Slovak and Hungarian refineries.  The assertion from Hungary’s Peter Szijjarto, which he made without providing evidence, came a day after the European Commission declined a request from Hungary and Slovakia for it …

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Islamic State claims responsibility for knife attack in Germany

SOLINGEN, Germany — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Saturday for a knife attack in the German city of Solingen that killed three people and wounded eight others.   Police have detained a 15-year-old and were investigating whether this person was linked to the attacker. The perpetrator was still at large on Saturday.   Describing the man who carried out the attack as a “soldier of the Islamic State,” the militant group said in a statement on its Telegram account: “He carried out the attack in revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”   The statement did not immediately provide …

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German police scour city for knife attacker who killed 3 at festival

SOLINGEN, Germany — Special police units on Saturday joined the search for an unknown man who carried out a stabbing attack at a crowded festival in the western German city of Solingen, killing three people and wounding at least eight others, five of them seriously. “The police are currently conducting a large-scale search for the perpetrator,” police said in a statement. “Both victims and witnesses are currently being questioned.” Police did not indicate that they had yet established the identity of the attacker and warned people to stay vigilant even as well-wishers started to leave flowers at the scene. Police established …

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French authorities search for suspect after synagogue explosion

PARIS — French authorities opened a terrorism investigation Saturday after an arson attack on a synagogue in a southwestern Mediterranean town injured a police officer. Security forces were searching for a suspect. Two cars parked at the Beth Yaacov synagogue complex in the seaside resort town of La Grande Motte near Montpellier were set ablaze just after 8 a.m. Saturday, antiterrorism prosecutors said in a statement. Firefighters discovered additional fires at two entrances to the synagogue. A police officer who walked up to the site was injured after a propane gas tank in one of the vehicles exploded, the statement said. …

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Moscow, Kyiv exchange attacks as Ukraine marks Independence Day

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia and Ukraine exchanged drone, missile and artillery attacks on Saturday as Kyiv marked its third Independence Day since Moscow’s full-scale invasion. A woman was killed and a man wounded when Russian forces shelled the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, the capital of the partially occupied Kherson region, according to the regional prosecutor. Ukraine’s air force said it had intercepted and destroyed seven drones over the country’s south. Russian long-range bombers also attacked the area of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island with four cruise missiles, while the wider Kherson region was also struck by aerial bombs. In Russia, the Defense …

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Italy opens manslaughter probe in superyacht sinking

ROME — Prosecutors in Italy said Saturday they have opened an investigation into culpable shipwreck and multiple manslaughter after a superyacht capsized during a storm off the coast of Sicily, killing seven people onboard. They include British tech magnate Mike Lynch and his daughter. Termini Imerese prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio confirmed the investigation has been launched but said no suspect has been identified. “We are only in the initial phase of the investigation. We can’t exclude any sort of development at present,” he told reporters at a news conference. Cartosio said his team will carefully consider each possible element of responsibility, including …

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Analysts: China-Russia financial cooperation raises red flag

Washington — China and Russia agreed to expand their economic cooperation using a planned banking system, which analysts say is aimed at supporting their militaries and undermining U.S.-led global order. The two countries issued a joint communiqué agreeing “to strengthen and develop the payment and settlement infrastructure,” including “opening corresponding accounts and establishing branches and subsidiary banks in two countries” to facilitate “smooth” payment in trade. The communiqué was issued when Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian news agency Tass reported the following day. At the meeting, Mishustin said, “Western countries …

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Attack at German festival kills 3, wounds at least 5

SOLINGEN, Germany — An attacker with a knife killed three people and seriously wounded at least five late on Friday at a festival in the western German city of Solingen, authorities said. Witnesses alerted police shortly after 9:30 p.m. local time to an unknown perpetrator who had wounded several people indiscriminately with a knife on a central square. Police said have no one in custody and had little information on the man. They said they believe the stabbings were carried out by a lone attacker. One of the festival organizers, Philipp Müller, appeared on stage and asked festivalgoers to “go calmly; …

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