Europe

Germany to send additional Patriot system to Ukraine

FRANKFURT, Germany, April 13, 2024 (AFP) – Germany will send an additional Patriot air defence system to Ukraine to bolster its hard-pressed military and help it fend off increased Russian aerial attacks, Berlin said Saturday. “Russian terror against Ukrainian cities and the country’s infrastructure is causing immeasurable suffering,” said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, announcing the move. “It is jeopardising people’s energy supply and destroying the operational readiness of the Ukrainian armed forces.” It will […]

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Ukraine starts building first US-design nuclear reactors

NETISHYN, Ukraine, April 13, 2024 (AFP) – Ukraine has started constructing two US-designed reactors at a nuclear power plant in the west of the country following devastating Russian attacks on its energy network. Workers at Khmelnytskyi nuclear power station on Thursday poured a symbolic cubic metre of concrete for the reactors, which will use US technology and fuel, as Ukrainian and US flags fluttered. The project is aimed at increasing Ukraine’s energy security and reducing […]

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US says China helping Moscow in biggest defense expansion since Soviet era

By Aurélia END WASHINGTON, April 12, 2024 (AFP) – China is helping Russia undertake its biggest military expansion since Soviet times, US officials said Friday, stepping up public pressure as concerns rise over Ukraine. US officials are hoping the release of the intelligence will encourage European allies to press China, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz heads to Beijing this weekend and Group of Seven foreign ministers meet next week in Italy. Unveiling US findings, officials said […]

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Lufthansa stops using Iran airspace and keeps halt on Tehran flights

FRANKFURT, Germany, April 12, 2024 (AFP) – German airline Lufthansa said Friday its planes would no longer use Iranian airspace as it extended a suspension on flights to and from Tehran amid soaring Middle East tensions. “Due to the current situation, Lufthansa is suspending its flights to and from Tehran up to and including Thursday, 18 April,” a company spokesperson said Friday. “The airline is also no longer using Iranian airspace.” Its subsidiary Austrian Airlines […]

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Four teenagers detained in Germany over ‘Islamist attack’ plot

By Hui Min NEO BERLIN, April 12, 2024 (AFP) – Police have detained two girls and two boys — all teenagers — in western Germany on suspicion they were planning an Islamist attack, prosecutors said on Friday, with churches or synagogues as possible targets. Three were arrested in North Rhine-Westphalia state, who are “strongly suspected of planning an Islamist-motivated terror attack and of having committed to carrying it out”, Duesseldorf prosecutors said in a statement. […]

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Outcry in Sweden after father gunned down by youth gang

STOCKHOLM, April 11, 2024 (AFP) – Swedes reacted with shock and anger on Thursday after a father was gunned down in broad daylight in front of his son in a Stockholm suburb, amid media reports he confronted a gang of youths. The Scandinavian country has seen a surge in violence in recent years as criminal gangs feud for control of drug markets, with bombings and shootings recorded weekly. The gangs often recruit young teens to […]

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Sweden sees earliest ‘summer’ on record

STOCKHOLM, April 11, 2024 (AFP) – Sweden has posted its earliest ever start to what it considers to be “summer”, with three southern towns posting average temperatures above 10 degrees C (50F) for five straight days, the country’s meteorological service said Thursday. “A Swedish weather record was broken on Saturday, April 6, 2024. Each day from April 6th to 10th, the average daily temperature was at least 10 degrees at SMHI’s stations in Malmo, Kristianstad […]

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Kremlin warns floods may worsen as Kazakhstan, Russia evacuate 100,000

Water levels on rivers in Russia and Kazakhstan continued to rise and flood whole villages and cities on Wednesday, with more than 100,000 people evacuated and the Kremlin warning a “very, very tense” situation was expected to worsen. Fast-melting snow and ice has caused rivers in Russia’s southern Urals, western Siberia as well as northern Kazakhstan to reach unprecedented heights, threatening major cities. Moscow and Astana have been battling the rising rivers for more than […]

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Kazakhstan and Russia battle huge floods

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 9, 2024 (AFP) – Water levels in overflowing rivers were still rising on Tuesday in swathes of Russia and Kazakhstan that have been hit by massive floods, as cities braced for a new peak in the southern Urals and western Siberia. Both Astana and Moscow have called the floods the worst in decades, introducing a state of emergency as water covered entire cities and villages. More than 90,000 people have been evacuated […]

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US sent seized Iran weapons, ammo to Ukraine

By W.G. DUNLOP WASHINGTON, April 9, 2024 (AFP) – Washington has given Ukraine small arms and ammunition that were seized while being sent from Iranian forces to Tehran-backed rebels in Yemen, the US military said Tuesday. The transfer last week came as Ukraine suffers from significant shortages of ammunition and US Republican lawmakers block new aid, but it does not address Kyiv’s need for key items such as artillery and air defense munitions. “The US […]

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Simon Harris becomes Ireland’s new prime minister

By Peter MURPHY DUBLIN, April 9, 2024 (AFP) – Simon Harris on Tuesday became Ireland’s new prime minister, replacing Leo Varadkar after he abruptly quit last month citing personal and political reasons. Ireland’s parliament voted 88 to 69 in favour of Harris, 37, becoming “taoiseach” — a Gaelic word for “chieftain” or “leader” pronounced “tee-shock”. He was officially installed later at a ceremony with President Michael D. Higgins, becoming the country’s youngest ever prime minister. […]

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Russia opens ‘financing terrorism’ probe implicating Western countries

  MOSCOW, April 9, 2024 (AFP) – Russia on Tuesday opened a probe into “financing terrorism” that implicates Western countries, saying funds received by US firms in Ukraine — including one that employed Joe Biden’s son — were used for “terrorism acts” in Russia. The announcement came with Moscow continuing to blame the West and Ukraine for the attack on a concert hall last month that left 144 dead. The attack on the Crocus City […]

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