Europe

Russia shuts schools in city of Kursk after border incursions

MOSCOW, March 12, 2024 (AFP) – Russia on Tuesday shut schools temporarily in the city of Kursk near the Ukraine border, after attacks on the region by pro-Kyiv militias and an increase in Ukrainian drone strikes. The news that schools would close until the end of the week followed an announcement by Moscow that it had deployed warplanes, rockets and artillery to fend off an attack on its territory from Ukraine. “In connection with recent […]

Pro-Ukraine militias attack Russian border regions

By Stanislav DOSHCHITSYN KYIV, Ukraine, March 12, 2024 (AFP) – Pro-Ukrainian militias staged a brazen cross-border raid on Tuesday, claiming to take control of a Russian village, as Kyiv launched one of its largest drone attacks since the start of the war. Groups of pro-Kyiv volunteer fighters, made up of Russians who oppose the Kremlin, said that they had broken into the Kursk and Belgorod regions, while Moscow said it had fired rockets and artillery […]

Russia says Ukrainian drone hit Belgorod city hall

MOSCOW, March 12, 2024 (AFP) – A Ukrainian drone hit city hall in the Russian border city of Belgorod, injuring two people and blowing out the building’s windows, the regional governor said on Tuesday. The strike came amid a wave of attacks on Russia’s border regions and an announcement by Moscow that it had foiled multiple attempted cross-border raids by pro-Ukrainian paramilitaries. “In Belgorod, an enemy drone crashed into the city administration building,” governor Vyacheslav […]

Covid lowered life expectancy by 1.6 years worldwide: study

By Daniel Lawler PARIS, March 11, 2024 (AFP) – Covid-19 caused the average life expectancy of people worldwide to fall by 1.6 years during the first two years of the pandemic, a more dramatic decline than previously thought, a major study said Tuesday. This marked a sharp reversal during a decades-long rise in global life expectancy, according to hundreds of researchers sifting through data for the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). “For […]

European arms imports nearly double over Ukraine: study

By Johannes LEDEL STOCKHOLM, March 11, 2024 (AFP) – Weapons imports to Europe nearly doubled over the past five years, partly due to the war in Ukraine, while exports from Russia halved, researchers said on Monday. Ukraine has become the world’s fourth largest arms importer, while France has replaced Russia as the world’s second largest exporter behind the United States. Arms imports to Europe rose by 94 percent in 2019-2023, compared to the preceding five-year […]

NATO prepares for Russian threat in harsh Arctic

By Max DELANY BADDEREN , Norway, March 11, 2024 (AFP) – Finnish conscript Atte Ohman readied himself aboard a US landing ship to storm a snow-swept Norwegian beach as part of a rapid response unit pushing out an invading enemy. “There is a saying that ‘if you want to keep the peace, you need to prepare for war’,” the 19-year-old corporal told AFP, clutching his automatic rifle. “That’s what we’re doing.” The simulated assault on […]

Former senior UK Tory, suspended by PM Sunak, defects to fringe right-wing party

LONDON, March 11, 2024 (AFP) – Embattled UK leader Rishi Sunak suffered a fresh blow Monday when a former ally defected to a right-wing populist party that is worrying the ruling Conservatives ahead of this year’s general election. Lee Anderson announced that he was joining Reform UK, weeks after he was suspended from Sunak’s Conservative party over comments widely condemned as racist and Islamophobic. The 57-year-old former deputy chair of the Tories becomes the first […]

Princess of Wales apologises over edited photograph

By Joe JACKSON LONDON, March 11, 2024 (AFP) – Catherine, Princess of Wales on Monday apologised and admitted to editing an official portrait of her released by the palace, after AFP and other agencies withdrew the image. Kate, 42, has not been seen in public since attending a December 25 church service, and underwent abdominal surgery in January, fuelling speculation about her health, particularly online. Her Kensington Palace office on Sunday sought to dispel rumours […]

Sweden joining NATO shows Putin ‘failed’: Stoltenberg

By Marc BURLEIGH and Olivier BAUBE BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 11, 2024 (AFP) – NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that Sweden’s accession to the US-led alliance showed Russian President Vladimir Putin had “failed” in his Ukrainian war strategy of weakening it. The Kremlin’s invasion not only prompted formerly non-aligned nations Sweden and Finland to come under NATO’s defence umbrella, but now “Ukraine is closer to NATO membership than ever before,” Stoltenberg said. His comments, made […]

Putin set for election coronation in vote with no opposition

MOSCOW, March 11, 2024 (AFP) – Vladimir Putin is set to secure another six-year term as Russian leader this weekend in a vote the Kremlin says will show society is fully behind his assault on Ukraine. In power as president or prime minister since the final day of 1999, Putin has quashed all forms of opposition and dissent, exerting a level of domestic control that ensures the result is in no doubt. Victory in the […]

Five cross-country skiers found dead in Switzerland: police

  GENEVA, March 11, 2024 (AFP) – Five of six cross-country skiers who went missing in the Swiss Alps over the weekend have been found dead, police in the canton of Valais said Monday, with the search still on for the last person. The group of skiers, who ranged in age from 21 to 58, had left Zermatt Saturday morning with the goal of reaching the town of Arolla later that day. They went missing, […]

Man arrested for crashing car into Buckingham Palace gates

LONDON, March 10, 2024 (AFP) – Officers arrested a man who crashed a car into the gates of London’s Buckingham Palace over the weekend, police said on Sunday. The Metropolitan Police said the car “collided with the gates” of the royal residence at 02:30 GMT on Saturday. Armed officers arrested the man at the scene on suspicion of criminal damage and he was taken to hospital, a spokesperson for the force said. They added that […]