KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia unleashed one of its most devastating attacks against Ukraine’s electric sector on Friday, an aerial assault it said was retaliation for recent strikes inside Russia and which could signal an escalation of the war just days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on power in a preordained election. Many Ukrainians were plunged into darkness …
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UK Conservatives say their biggest donor made racist comments, but they’re not giving back his money
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative government said Wednesday that the party does not plan to give back 10 million pounds ($12.8 million) it received in the past year from a donor who made comments about a Black lawmaker that have been condemned as racist. The government is under pressure from some of its own lawmakers to return the donation from …
Read More »The funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny will be on Friday, spokesperson says
The funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died earlier this month in a remote Arctic penal colony, will take place Friday in Moscow after several locations declined to host the service, his spokesperson said. His funeral will be held at a church in Moscow’s southeast Maryino district on Friday afternoon, Kira Yarmysh said Wednesday. The burial is to …
Read More »Northern Ireland judge rules that amnesty law for ‘the Troubles’ breaches human rights
LONDON (AP) — A new law that gives immunity from prosecution for most offenses committed during Northern Ireland’s decades of sectarian violence is not compliant with human rights, a judge in Belfast ruled Wednesday. The British government’s Legacy and Reconciliation Bill, passed in September, stops most prosecutions for alleged killings by militant groups and British soldiers during “the Troubles” — …
Read More »A World War II bomb prompted an evacuation in England before being taken to sea to be blown up
LONDON (AP) — An unexploded World War II bomb was safely transported Friday through the eerily empty streets of the southwestern English port city of Plymouth before being placed on a boat for its next and final journey to sea where it will be blown up by naval divers. In what prompted one of the largest evacuations in the United …
Read More »Gloom settles over Germany’s economy, with businesses downbeat about the coming months
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany’s businesses remain mired in pessimism, a key survey showed Friday, as Europe’s largest economy struggles with shortages of skilled labor, slower global trade, high interest rates and political squabbling. The closely watched Ifo institute survey of business sentiment rose only slightly to 85.5 points in February from 85.2 points in January due to “slightly less …
Read More »Yulia Navalnaya once avoided the limelight. Now she’s Russia’s newest opposition leader
LONDON (AP) — Yulia Navalnaya used to avoid the cameras, staying in the background while her husband rose to become Russia’s most prominent opposition figure and President Vladimir Putin’s greatest foe. But following the death in prison last week of Alexei Navalny, she stepped onto a stage normally reserved for senior politicians in Munich and vowed that Putin and his …
Read More »What’s behind Germany’s transport strikes that have stranded air, rail and bus travelers?
BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of travelers across Germany found themselves stranded on Tuesday when ground staff walked off the job at seven of the country’s biggest airports. The one-day strike by the Ver.di labor union, which runs until 7:10 a.m. Wednesday, affects several hundred flights at airports in Frankfurt and Munich, Lufthansa’s main hubs, as well as Berlin, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, …
Read More »Estonia detains 10 people suspected of committing sabotage on orders from Russia
HELSINKI (AP) — Estonia’s domestic security agency said on Tuesday that it had apprehended 10 people suspected of sabotage and of spreading fear and creating tension within the Baltic country in a coordinated “hybrid operation” by Russia’s special services. Among the suspects — detained between December and February — are individuals believed to have broken the car windows of Interior …
Read More »EU launches mission to protect ships in Red Sea from Houthis. It won’t partake in military strikes
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has launched Monday a naval mission to help protect cargo ships in the Red Sea as attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to threaten maritime traffic, hamper trade and drive up prices. Dubbed Aspides, Greek for “shield,” the mission will be run out of Larissa in central Greece — home to the Hellenic …
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