новини

Spain’s Prime Minister Sánchez says he’ll continue in office after days of reflection 

Madrid — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday ended days of speculation about his future by saying he will continue in office “with even more strength.”   Sánchez shocked his country last Wednesday by taking five days off to think about his future, following the decision by a court to open preliminary proceedings against his wife on corruption allegations.  “I have decided to continue on with even more strength at the helm of the government of Spain,” he said in a televised speech after informing King Felipe VI of the decision earlier Monday.  His resignation would have deprived Europe of its …

READ MORE

Australia boosts military aid to Ukraine 

SYDNEY — Australia, one of Ukraine’s largest non-NATO donors, has announced a military aid package worth around $65 million to support Kyiv’s war effort following Russia’s invasion. The package includes funding for drones, short-range air defense systems, inflatable boats and generators, as well as equipment like helmets, masks and boots. The additional funding was announced by Australia’s deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, during a brief visit over the weekend to Ukraine. Marles told local media that the Canberra government is committed to “supporting Ukraine to resolve the conflict on its terms,” adding that “their spirit remains strong.” Australia is also part …

READ MORE

German police arrest Russian man in fatal stabbings of 2 Ukrainian men

BERLIN — Two Ukrainian men were stabbed to death in southern Germany, police said Sunday, and a Russian man was arrested by authorities as a possible suspect in the killings. The two Ukrainians, who were 23 and 36 years old and lived in the southern German county of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, were killed on the premises of a shopping center in the village of Murnau in Upper Bavaria. Shortly after the slayings on Saturday evening, the police arrested a 57-year-old Russian on suspicion of murder, German news agency dpa reported. The Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement that the two men were …

READ MORE

Thousands protest in Georgia against ‘foreign agents’ bill

Tbilisi, Georgia — Thousands of Georgians marched through the capital, Tbilisi, on Sunday, as protests built against a bill on “foreign agents” that the country’s opposition and Western countries have said is authoritarian and Russian-inspired. Georgia’s parliament said it would hold the bill’s second reading on Tuesday, with opposition parties and civil society groups calling for mass protests against its expected passage. If passed, the draft law would require organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents” or face fines. Protester Nika Shurgaia said he feared many non-government organizations would be shuttered because of …

READ MORE

Російські слідчі стали вербувати на війну фігурантів кримінальних справ – ЗМІ

Представники слідства стали надавати фігурантам кримінальних справ папір під назвою «Розʼяснення», в якому йдеться, що вони можуть звільнитися від кримінальної відповідальності, уклавши контракт із міністерством оборони РФ …

READ MORE

Italy PM Meloni announces candidacy at EU election 

Rome — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced Sunday she will be a candidate at June’s European elections in a bid to boost support for her Brothers of Italy party, though she will not take up a seat if elected.  The June 6-9 European Parliament vote is a key test of strength for her 18-month-old rightist coalition.  “We want to do in Europe what we did in Italy… create a majority that brings together the center-right forces and send the left into opposition,” Meloni told cheering party faithful at a party conference in the coastal city of Pescara to set out …

READ MORE

Сили РФ намагаються пробитися до Покровська, ЗСУ відійшли на нові рубежі – Сирський

Головнокомандувач ЗСУ відзначив, що українські війська завдають ворогу «максимальних втрат» в особовому складі та військовій техніці, а для заміни підрозділів, що зазнали втрат, здійснюється переміщення бригад, які відновили боєздатність …

READ MORE

French diplomat in Lebanon to broker halt to Hezbollah-Israel clashes  

BEIRUT — French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné arrived in Lebanon Sunday as part of diplomatic attempts to broker a de-escalation in the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border.  Séjourné was set to meet with United Nations peacekeeping forces in south Lebanon and with Lebanon’s parliament speaker, army chief, foreign minister and caretaker prime minister.  The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has exchanged strikes near-daily with Israeli forces in the border region — and sometimes beyond — for almost seven months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hezbollah ally Hamas in Gaza.  Israeli strikes have killed more than 350 people in Lebanon, most …

READ MORE

Russian drones set a hotel ablaze in a Ukrainian Black Sea city 

KYIV — Russian drones early Sunday struck the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv, setting a hotel ablaze and damaging energy infrastructure, the local Ukrainian governor reported, while ammunition shortages continued to hobble Kyiv’s troops in the more than 2-year-old war.  Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv province, said that Russian drones “seriously damaged” a hotel in its namesake capital, sparking a fire that was later extinguished. Kim also reported that the strike damaged heat-generating infrastructure in the city, but gave no details. He added that there were no casualties.  Russian state agency RIA carried claims that the strike on …

READ MORE