Russian exiles plan a march Sunday in Berlin demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, the prosecution of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, and the release of all political prisoners. Ricardo Marquina reports. Narrator: Elizabeth Cherneff. …
Madrid — New storms in Spain caused school closures and train cancellations on Wednesday, two weeks after flash floods in Valencia and other parts of the country killed more than 220 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Coastal areas of Valencia were placed under the highest alert on Wednesday evening. Forecasters said up to 180 millimeters (7 inches) of rain could fall there within five hours. Cleanup efforts in parts of Valencia hardest hit by the Oct. 29 storm were still continuing, and there were concerns over what more rain could bring to streets still covered with mud and debris. In …
Ukrainian overnight drone attacks have set several non-residential buildings on fire in Russia’s Kaluga and Bryansk regions, regional governors said on Sunday. “Emergency services and firefighters are on the site,” Alexander Bogomaz, governor of the Russian border region of Bryansk, wrote on the Telegram messaging app, without providing further detail. The defense ministry said its air defense units had destroyed 23 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 17 over Bryansk. Vladislav Shapsha, governor of the Kaluga region, which borders the Moscow region to its northeast, said a non-residential building in the region was on fire as result of Ukraine’s drone attack. Reuters …
The United States opened a new air defense base in northern Poland on Wednesday, an event the European nation’s president said showed the country was secure as a member of NATO even as Russia wages war in neighboring Ukraine. Situated in the town of Redzikowo near the Baltic coast, the base has been in the works since the 2000s. At a time when Donald Trump’s election victory has caused jitters among some NATO members, Warsaw says the continued work on the base by successive U.S. presidents shows Poland’s military alliance with Washington remains solid whoever is in the White House. …
Brussels — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured Ukraine and its NATO allies on Wednesday that Washington remains committed to putting Ukraine “in the strongest possible position” in the final months of President Joe Biden’s administration, before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. At the same time, the United States expressed alarm about Russia possibly bolstering North Korea’s capabilities, including its “nuclear capacity.” “President Biden has committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and January 20th,” Blinken told reporters at NATO headquarters on Wednesday. “We’re making …
BAKU, Azerbaijan — COP29 negotiators welcomed as an early boost to the two-week summit a pledge by major development banks to lift funding to poor and middle-income countries struggling with global warming. A group of lenders, including the World Bank, announced a joint goal on Tuesday of increasing this finance to $120 billion by 2030, a roughly 60% increase on the amount in 2023. “I think it’s a very good sign,” Irish Climate Minister Eamon Ryan told Reuters on Wednesday. “It’s very helpful. But that on its own won’t be enough,” Ryan said, adding countries and companies must also contribute. The …
London — Germany’s plan to hold a snap election in February has raised uncertainties over the country’s military aid program for Ukraine, as the government has not yet approved its 2025 budget. Berlin is the second biggest donor of weapons and equipment to Kyiv, after the United States. The political turmoil in Europe’s biggest economy comes as allies prepare for a second term for President-elect Donald Trump in the United States. Trump has repeatedly questioned U.S. support for Ukraine. February vote Germany’s main political parties agreed to hold the election on February 23, following the collapse of the ruling three-party coalition …
BAKU, Azerbaijan — When more than two dozen world leaders deliver remarks at the United Nations’ annual climate conference on Wednesday, many have detailed their nations’ firsthand experience with the catastrophic weather that has come with climate change. “Over the past year, catastrophic floods in Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as well as in southern Croatia have shown the devastating impact of rising temperatures,” said Croatia’s prime minister, Andrej Plenkovic. “The Mediterranean, one of the most vulnerable regions, calls for urgent action.” The Greek prime minister said Europe and the world needs to be “more honest” about the trade-offs needed …
Blasts were heard in Kyiv Wednesday after Ukraine’s air force put the nation under an air raid alert. “Putin is launching a missile attack on Kyiv right now,” the president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on the social media platform Telegram, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The air force earlier warned that a missile had entered the country’s airspace. “Attention! Missile in Chernihiv region heading for Kyiv region,” it said on Telegram. Russia launched cruise missiles from aircraft and ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian military said. “Explosions in the city. Air defense forces are working. Stay in shelters!” Kyiv …
LONDON — British writer Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with “Orbital,” a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International Space Station that ponders the beauty and fragility of the Earth. Harvey was awarded the 50,000-pound ($64,000) prize for what she has called a “space pastoral” about six orbiting astronauts, which she began writing during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The confined characters loop through 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets over the course of a day, trapped in one another’s company and transfixed by the globe’s ever-changing vistas. “To look at the Earth from space is like a child …
London — Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, resigned Tuesday after an investigation found that he failed to tell police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it. Pressure on Welby had been building since Thursday, when release of the inquiry’s findings kindled anger about a lack of accountability at the highest reaches of the church. Helen-Ann Hartley, the bishop of Newcastle, said Monday that his position was “untenable” after some members of the church’s …
CATARROJA, Spain — Thousands of students in Spain’s eastern Valencia region returned to classes on Monday, two weeks after floods killed over 200 people and devastated towns in the area. Controversy over the regional government’s handling of the floods still rages, and a teachers’ union accused it of exaggerating the number returning and leaving the clean-up to teachers and pupils. Twenty-three people remain missing in the Valencia region after heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, sending tides of muddy water through densely populated city suburbs, drowning people in cars and underground car parks, and collapsing homes. A total of 47 schools …
A Russian airstrike on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown killed a mother and her three children and left 14 people wounded, officials said Tuesday. Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said rescue and recovery operations were complete after the residential building in Kryvyi Rig was hit a day earlier. The office of the prosecutor general said a 32-year-old woman and children who were 10, 2 and 2 months old were killed. In Russia’s Belgorod region, a Ukrainian drone attack started a fire at an oil depot, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov posted on the Telegram messaging app. He said a tank caught fire …
LONDON — The head of the Church of England, spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, is under pressure to resign after an investigation found that he failed to inform police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it. Some members of the General Synod, the church’s national assembly, have started a petition calling on Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to step down, saying he had “lost the confidence of his clergy.” The petition had garnered more than 1,800 signatures on Change.org by late morning London time on …
MOSCOW — The key task for Russia and China is to counter any attempt by the United States to contain their countries, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin told China’s foreign minister on Tuesday. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose steep tariffs on China and other countries, raising fears of a trade war and the United States casts China as its biggest competitor and Russia as its biggest nation-state threat. China’s Xi Jinping and Putin in May pledged a “new era” of partnership between the two most powerful rivals of the United States, which they cast as an …
AMSTERDAM — The International Criminal Court’s governing body will launch an external probe into its chief prosecutor Karim Khan over alleged sexual misconduct, it said in a statement on Monday, confirming a previous report by Reuters. “An external investigation is … being pursued in order to ensure a fully independent, impartial and fair process,” the statement said, also calling upon all parties to cooperate fully. Khan said in a statement that he would stay on in his key function of overseeing investigations into alleged war crimes, including in the Israel-Gaza conflict, while any issues relevant to the investigation would be handled …
the hague, netherlands — Dozens of people armed with sticks and firecrackers set a tram on fire in Amsterdam on Monday, police said, while the city is facing tensions following violence last week targeting fans of an Israeli soccer club. Police said the fire was quickly extinguished and riot officers cleared the square. Images online showed people damaging property and setting off firecrackers. Police said it was not clear who started the unrest or whether it was related to what happened last week. But they noted the tense atmosphere since five people were treated in the hospital and dozens detained Thursday …
London — A British soldier accused of passing sensitive information to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps pleaded guilty Monday to escaping from prison while awaiting trial. Daniel Abed Khalife is on trial at London’s Woolwich Crown Court, accused of collecting sensitive information between May 2019 and January 2022. Khalife, who is no longer a member of the British armed forces, also denies leaving a fake bomb on a desk and absconding from his barracks in 2023. Prosecutors had also alleged Khalife escaped from London’s Wandsworth prison in September 2023 by tying himself to the bottom of a delivery van, sparking a …
While Ukraine was on high alert for air attacks on Monday, the country’s top military commander said tens of thousands of Russian troops were ready to advance on the Kursk region. “Following the order of their military leadership, they are trying to dislodge our troops and advance deep into the territory we control,” Ukraine’s General Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Ukraine launched an incursion into Kursk in August, taking control of a number of towns and villages in the border region. Meanwhile, at least six people were killed in air attacks in southern Ukraine – five in …