LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Western officials on Friday named seven Russian generals they said had so far been killed, and another who had been sacked, during the war in Ukraine. The latest to die, Lieutenant General Yakov Rezanstev, was a commander of Russia’s 49th Combined Arms Army in its southern military district, an official disclosed. Meanwhile, Russian Army Commander General Vlaislav Yershov, of the 6th Combined Arms Army, was identified as the general […]
International
Australia to give fourth Covid-19 jab to over 65s
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia is offering a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines to over 65s from next month, federal health authorities announced Friday, as a new Omicron strain races through the population. The top advisory group on vaccines approved the fourth shot for vulnerable groups: those aged over 65, indigenous people over 50, people who are immunocompromised and care home residents. In the past six weeks, other countries, including France, Germany and Sweden […]
Fleeing Putin, Russians resettle in pro-Kremlin Serbia
by Miodrag SOVILJ Agence France-Presse BELGRADE, Serbia (AFP) – As free speech was curtailed, her friends imprisoned and the Russian economy tanked in the days after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, Marina packed her bags and fled Moscow. But more than a thousand miles away in her new home in Serbia, the 41-year-old former travel agent has found herself unable to escape the long arm of Russian propaganda in Belgrade where the Kremlin’s […]
US announces new sanctions after North Korea ICBM test
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – The United States announced new sanctions Thursday on entities and people in Russia and North Korea after Pyongyang’s new ICBM missile test. The targeted persons and organizations are accused of “transferring sensitive items to North Korea’s missile program,” the State Department said in a statement. “These measures are part of our ongoing efforts to impede the DPRK’s ability to advance its missile program and they highlight the negative role […]
Canada will boost oil exports to replace Russian energy
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) – Canada announced Thursday it will boost oil exports by about five percent to help address supply shortages faced by allies shunning Russian energy after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “Our European friends and allies need Canada and others to step up. They’re telling us they need our help in getting off Russian oil and gas in the short term,” Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a statement. Canada is “uniquely positioned to […]
Chechen leader says his forces ‘liberated’ Mariupol city hall
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) – Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said Thursday that forces from his Russian region had taken control of the city hall in Ukraine’s besieged southeastern port of Mariupol and hoisted the Russian flag. Kadyrov posted on Telegram a video of a phone recording in Chechen, which he said was Russian parliamentary lawmaker Adam Delimkhanov speaking to “our valiant men”. “The guys are radioing to say that they liberated the building of the Mariupol […]
UN atomic watchdog alarm over shelling of Chernobyl staff town
VIENNA, Austria (AFP) – The International Atomic Energy Agency expressed “concern” on Thursday after Ukraine warned of bombardment by Russia of the town where staff working at the Chernobyl nuclear site live. “Ukraine informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today that Russian forces were shelling Ukrainian checkpoints in the city of Slavutych where many people working at the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant live, putting them at risk,” the Vienna-based UN agency said in […]
Four Russians indicted in US for energy sector hacks
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Four Russian agents have been indicted in the United States for hacking attacks targeting the energy sector around the world, including a US nuclear power operator, the Justice Department said Thursday. The Russian hackers targeted thousands of computers at hundreds of companies in 135 countries between 2012 and 2018, the department said. The Justice Department said the targets included a nuclear power facility in the US state of Kansas. […]
US ‘strongly condemns’ North Korea missile launch
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The United States condemned North Korea’s test firing of a new intercontinental missile on Thursday and urged the world to hold Pyongyang responsible for violating UN Security Council resolutions. Pyongyang has launched nearly a dozen weapon tests this year in an unprecedented spree in defiance of UN sanctions and the latest is the most powerful one since 2017. Washington “strongly condemns the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for its test […]
URGENT: South Korea fires barrage of missiles in response to North Korea ICBM: military
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s military said it had fired a barrage of missiles in response to North Korea’s Thursday test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile. “In response to North Korea’s ICBM launch, our military jointly fired missiles from ground, sea, air,” from 16:25 (7:25 GMT) in the Sea of Japan, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. © Agence France-Presse
North Korea fires new ICBM in largest test since 2017
by Cat BARTON / Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse North Korea fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday, Tokyo and Seoul said as they voiced outrage at Pyongyang’s most powerful launch since 2017. South Korea’s military said it had fired missiles from ground, sea and air in response. Pyongyang has launched nearly a dozen weapon tests this year in an unprecedented spree in defiance of UN sanctions. But long-range and nuclear tests such as […]
Drones, thermal scanners scour China Eastern crash site
WUZHOU, China (AFP) – Recovery teams deployed drones and thermal imaging equipment Thursday across a mountainous area where a China Eastern plane inexplicably crashed with 132 people on board. Four days after flight MU5735 ploughed into rugged terrain near Wuzhou in southern China, officials are still yet to declare all of the 123 passengers and nine crew dead. The velocity of the crash cut deep wounds into the muddy ground and scattered plane parts and […]





