Europe

G7 urges countries, companies to release food stockpiles

  ELMAU CASTLE, Germany (AFP) — G7 industrialised nations on Tuesday urged countries and companies with large food stockpiles to help ease a hunger crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We call on those partners with large food stockpiles, as well as on the private sector, to make food available without distorting the market,” the Group of Seven leaders said in a statement after a summit in Germany. They called “on all countries to […]

Former Nazi camp guard, 101, gets five-year jail sentence

  by David COURBET Agence France Presse A German court on Tuesday handed a five-year jail sentence to a 101-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard, the oldest person so far to go on trial for complicity in war crimes during the Holocaust. Josef Schuetz was found guilty of being an accessory to murder while working as a prison guard at the Sachsenhausen camp in Oranienburg, north of Berlin, between 1942 and 1945, presiding judge Udo […]

Russia fails to pay debt but denies default

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia said Monday that two of its debt payments were blocked from reaching creditors, pushing the country closer to its first foreign default in a century due to sanctions over the Ukraine offensive. The announcement came on the 124th day of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, with Western sanctions so far failing to force the Kremlin to change its course. The Western economic penalties have largely severed the country from the […]

One dead as rare tornado tears through Dutch city

by Julie Capelle Agence France-Presse ZIERIKZEE, Netherlands (AFP) — A tornado ripped through a southwestern Dutch city on Monday, killing a woman and injuring nine others in the first fatal twister to hit the country for three decades. The whirlwind left a trail of destruction through the seaside city of Zierikzee, ripping the roofs off homes and toppling trees onto cars, an AFP journalist at the scene said. Images on social media showed debris rotating […]

G7 denounces ‘war crime’ as Russian strike kills shoppers

by Blaise Gauquelin with Michelle Fitzpatrick and Valerie Leroux in Elmau Castle, Germany Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — A Russian missile strike on a crowded mall in central Ukraine killed at least 16 people Monday in what Group of Seven leaders branded “a war crime” at a meeting in Germany where they looked to step up sanctions on Moscow. The leaders vowed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and those responsible would be held to […]

16 killed, 59 wounded in missile strike on Ukraine mall: emergency services

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — The toll from a Russian missile strike on a shopping mall in the central city of Kremenchuk has risen to 16 dead and 59 wounded, the head of Ukraine’s emergency services said early Tuesday. “As of now, we know of 16 dead and 59 wounded, 25 of them hospitalized. The information is being updated,” Sergiy Kruk said on Telegram. He said the main tasks were “rescue works, debris removal, and elimination […]

Turkish firm gifts drones to Ukraine

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish drone-manufacturer Baykar, which has President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law as one of its directors, offered three of its drones to the Ukrainian army on Monday. In a statement posted on Twitter, the company noted that a crowdfunding campaign had raised enough money to buy several of its TB2 UAVs “for Ukrainians to use in defense of their Homeland”. “Baykar will not accept payment for the TB2s, and will send 3 […]

INC London holds ‘Aloha my Brethren’ community event

From social distancing to social connection, INC volunteers in Heathrow held an open community event, inspired by Hawaiian culture and food. Invited guests were able to enjoy free live musical performances, interactive family friendly games and booths, Hawaiian cuisine and beverages; an event inspiring social bonds within the community.    Erianne Celestino – UK bureau    

Zelensky to press G7 for more help as war rages

  by Michelle Fitzpatrick with Blaise Gauquelin in Kyiv Agence France-Presse ELMAU CASTLE, Germany (AFP) — President Volodymyr Zelensky will urge world powers to step up their support for Ukraine when he addresses the G7 summit on Monday, as Kyiv reels from the first Russian strikes on the capital in weeks. US President Joe Biden and his counterparts from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies, meeting in the Bavarian Alps, have stressed their unity in […]

Biden says G7, NATO must ‘stay together’ against Russia’s war

  ELMAU CASTLE, Germany (AFP) — US President Joe Biden on Sunday praised Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his leadership in the wake of Russia’s war against Ukraine and urged the West to stay united. “We have to stay together,” Biden told Scholz at a meeting ahead of the G7 summit in the German Alps. Russian President Vladimir Putin had been hoping “that somehow NATO and the G7 would splinter,” Biden said. “But we haven’t […]

Ukraine forces to retreat from battleground city: governor

KYIV, Ukraine, June 24, 2022 (AFP) by Benoit Finck with Anna Malpas in Donbas and Christian Spillman in Brussels Ukrainian forces will retreat from Severodonetsk in the face of a brutal Russian offensive that is reducing the battleground eastern city to rubble, a senior Ukrainian official said Friday. The news came shortly after the European Union made a strong show of support for Ukraine, granting the former Soviet republic candidate status, although there is still […]

World leaders seek united front for Ukraine as war rages on

by Hui Min Neo  Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — World leaders including US President Joe Biden will seek to close ranks at back-to-back summits from Sunday on offering emphatic support to help Ukraine repel Russian invaders as the relentless war puts international unity to the test. In the face-to-face talks, the allies will take stock of the effectiveness of sanctions imposed so far against Vladimir Putin’s Russia, consider possible new military and financial aid […]