Europe

Spanish woman tipped as ‘world’s oldest person’ at 115

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – A Spanish great-grandmother who was born in the United States has likely become the world’s oldest living person at 115, a Guinness World Records consultant said Wednesday. Maria Branyas Morera is believed to have assumed the title following the death on Tuesday of French nun Lucile Randon aged 118, senior consultant for gerontology Robert D. Young said. Guinness World Records must still make the official decision after carrying out document checks and […]

NATO allies set to provide ‘heavier weapons’ to Ukraine

by Adam PLOWRIGHT and Sophie ESTIENNE Agence France-Presse DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP)  — NATO countries are set to announce new “heavier weapons” for Ukraine, the alliance’s chief said on Wednesday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his backers to speed up their decision-making. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will convene a meeting of around 50 countries on Friday at the US-run Ramstein military base in Germany, including all 30 members of the NATO alliance. […]

Moscow compares West’s Russia policy to Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Wednesday 1/18/2023   Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday likened Western policies on Russia to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s “Final Solution” plan of genocide against Jewish people. Moscow’s top diplomat — whose comments on Hitler and Jews led to President Vladimir Putin issuing a rare apology on his behalf last year — made the comparison at his annual press conference. “Just as Napoleon mobilised practically all of Europe against the […]

Netherlands set to boost push for Patriot missile defenses in Ukraine

Washington, United States (AFP) Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Tuesday he intends to join German-US efforts to arm Ukraine with sophisticated Patriot air-defense systems, citing the “horrible” Russian missile strike on a Dnipro apartment building. Rutte told President Joe Biden at a White House meeting that “we have the intention to join what you’re doing with Germany on the Patriots project, the air-defense system. I think that is important and we joined that.” While […]

Ukraine helicopter crash kills 18, including minister

Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) by Sergei SUPINSKY Eighteen people, including Ukraine´s interior minister and three children, were killed in a helicopter crash near a kindergarten outside Kyiv on Wednesday. The helicopter slammed down next to the kindergarten and a residential building in Brovary, a commuter town for the capital Kyiv that was the scene of fierce fighting early in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Amateur footage circulating on social media showed what appeared to be the charred […]

Scholz under growing pressure to OK Leopard tanks for Ukraine

Davos, Switzerland (AFP) by Adam PLOWRIGHT German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faced rising pressure Tuesday from his European partners to authorise the export of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. The issue will be one of the most pressing in the in-tray of newly-named German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, a surprise choice for the vacant position who was unveiled on Tuesday. Leaders and ministers from Finland, Lithuania, Poland and Britain have added their voices to a growing clamour […]

Kissinger says Russia war validates Ukraine’s NATO bid

Davos, Switzerland (AFP) – US elder statesman Henry Kissinger said Tuesday that Russia’s invasion shows there is no longer a point to keeping Ukraine out of NATO, the long-held aspiration of Kyiv that he had opposed. The 99-year-old former secretary of state and apostle of realpolitik has for months advocated a ceasefire in the Ukraine war that would in effect accept some military gains by Russia. But speaking virtually to the World Economic Forum in […]

Nurses in England launch fresh strikes over pay

London, United Kingdom (AFP) – Nurses in England began two days of strikes over pay Wednesday, as officials warned of disruption for thousands of patients in the UK’s state-run health service. It comes after nurses held an unprecedented strike last month, joining a wave of industrial action by public sector workers hit by the cost-of-living crisis. The main nursing union accuses the government of failing to negotiate seriously on improving their pay deal for the […]

‘A legend’: Ukraine bids farewell to boxing coach killed by Russian missile

Dnipro, Ukraine (AFP) Hundreds of people packed a local sports academy in Dnipro Tuesday to pay their respects to boxing coach Mykhaylo Korenovsky, who was killed when a Russian missile hit an apartment block last weekend. Korenovsky was one of at least 45 people killed by the Russian strike on a Soviet-designed housing block in the eastern Ukrainian city. Six children were killed in the attack, including an 11-month baby. The heavy toll makes Saturday’s […]

45 dead, 20 missing as Ukraine ends tower block search

Dnipro, Ukraine (AFP) by Vitalii Matokha with Susannah Walden in Bakhmut Rescuers called off the search Tuesday for victims of the Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, with 20 people still missing and funerals being held in the grief-stricken community. After the carnage, Ukrainians pressed ahead with talks to obtain more Western weapons, and Ukraine’s army chief Valery Zaluzhny met Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs […]

Eating one wild fish same as month of drinking tainted water: study

PARIS, France (AFP) – Eating one freshwater fish caught in a river or lake in the United States is the equivalent of drinking a month’s worth of water contaminated with toxic “forever chemicals”, new research said on Tuesday. The invisible chemicals called PFAS were first developed in the 1940s to resist water and heat, and are now used in items such as non-stick pans, textiles, fire suppression foams and food packaging. But the indestructibility of PFAS, […]

Ukraine missile toll rises to 40 as Russia denies attack

by Vitalii Matokha with Stanislav Doshchitsyn in Kyiv Agence France-Presse DNIPRO, Ukraine (AFP) — The toll from a devastating strike on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro rose to 40 on Monday, as more bodies were pulled from the debris of one of Russia’s deadliest attacks since its invasion. Kyiv has called for more weapons to defend itself and at the weekend received pledges of British tanks, but Russian President Vladimir Putin warned more armaments […]