Europe

NATO begins sending F-16 jets in new support for Ukraine

By Shaun Tandon and Max Delany WASHINGTON, July 11, 2024 (AFP) – NATO allies on Wednesday announced they had started transferring F-16 jets to Ukraine while stepping up promises to Kyiv on eventual membership in the alliance, at a 75th anniversary summit clouded by political uncertainties in the United States. With the pomp of the three-day gathering in the US capital, President Joe Biden is aiming to rally the West and also reassure voters amid […]

Keir Starmer to become UK prime minister after Labour’s landslide victory

By Phil HAZLEWOOD, Peter HUTCHISON LONDON, July 5, 2024 (AFP) – Keir Starmer on Friday will become Britain’s new prime minister, as his centre-left opposition Labour party swept to a landslide general election victory, ending 14 years of right-wing Conservative rule. “The Labour Party has won this general election, and I have called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory,” a sombre-looking Rishi Sunak said after he was re-elected to his seat. “Today, […]

Keir Starmer pledges “national renewal” after Labour’s electoral victory

Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister-elect, pledged on Friday to kickstart a “national renewal” in the UK after his Labour party emerged victorious over the ruling Conservatives in the general election. Following his party’s securing of a parliamentary majority, Starmer delivered a triumphant victory speech in London.  “Today we start the next chapter — begin the work of change, the mission of national renewal and start to rebuild our country,” Starmer said in a triumphant victory […]

US military raises alert level for Europe bases: reports

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2024 (AFP) – The US military has raised the alert level of several bases in Europe to its second-highest level, multiple American media outlets reported Sunday. The American bases, located across Europe, were raised to the “Charlie” alert level, ABC News and CNN reported, both citing unnamed officials. That level is ordered when “an incident occurs or intelligence is received indicating some form of terrorist action or targeting against personnel or facilities […]

UK govt, British Airways sued over 1990 Kuwait hostage crisis

LONDON, June 30, 2024 (AFP) – Passengers and crew of a British Airways flight who were taken hostage in Kuwait in 1990 have launched legal action against the UK government and the airline, a law firm said Monday. People on BA flight 149 were taken off the Kuala Lumpur-bound plane when it landed in the Gulf state on August 2 that year, hours after Iraq’s then leader Saddam Hussein invaded the country. Some of the […]

Seven dead after storms lash France, Switzerland

GENEVA, June 30, 2024 (AFP) – Ferocious storms and torrential rains that lashed France, Switzerland and Italy this weekend have left seven people dead, local authorities said on Sunday. Three people in their 70s and 80s died in France’s northeastern Aube region on Saturday when a tree crushed the car they were travelling in during fierce winds, the local authority told AFP. A fourth passenger was in critical care, it added. In neighbouring Switzerland, four […]

US, allies condemn N.Korea for sanctions-busting arms sales to Russia

UNITED NATIONS, United States, June 29, 2024 (AFP) – Washington and its allies challenged North Korea at the United Nations on Friday over claims Pyongyang is breaching arms control measures by supplying weapons to Russia to use in its war in Ukraine. Washington’s deputy envoy to the UN Robert Wood hit out at what he said were “unlawful arms transfers from the DPRK (North Korea) to Russia” as the two sides forge ever closer ties. […]

Austrian ex-minister exiled in Russia denies she is ‘Kremlin agent’

By Blaise GAUQUELIN VIENNA, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – Austria’s highly controversial former foreign minister Karin Kneissl — who now lives in Russia — told AFP she feels slandered as Vienna reels from an unfolding Russian spying scandal. A pariah in her home country after dancing with Russian President Vladimir Putin at her wedding, Kneissl claims she had no choice but to flee Austria and shelter in Russia. Now she denies any involvement in the […]

Russia puts US journalist Evan Gershkovich on trial

YEKATERINBURG, Russia, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – US journalist Evan Gershkovich will face the start of a closed-door trial on espionage charges in Russia on Wednesday, more than a year after he became the first Western journalist since the Soviet era to be detained on such accusations. The Wall Street Journal correspondent, who along with his employer and the White House has denied the charges, was arrested in March 2023 while on a reporting trip […]

Westerners arrested in Russia

PARIS, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – US reporter Evan Gershkovich is due to face the start of a closed-door trial on espionage charges in Russia on Wednesday. He is one of several Westerners held by Russia at a time when Moscow’s tensions with the West have soared to Cold War-era levels, following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington has accused Moscow of arresting its citizens on baseless charges to use them as bargaining chips to […]

King Charles hails ties as Japan royals make UK state visit

LONDON, June 25, 2024 (AFP) – King Charles III hailed Britain and Japan’s “close friendship” at a lavish state banquet for Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday as the Japanese royals began a three-day state visit. It is the first state visit to the UK by a Japanese head of state since 1998 and, unusually for such a trip, comes during a general election campaign. Some typical political elements, such as […]

Wolf attack at French zoo leaves woman seriously injured

PARIS, June 23, 2024 (AFP) – Police and prosecutors were investigating how a 37-year-old woman came to be attacked and seriously injured by three wolves in a zoo outside Paris Sunday. The woman was bitten “on the neck, the calf and the back” at the Thoiry zoo around 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of the French capital, a source close to the case told AFP. Maryvonne Caillibotte, chief prosecutor in Versailles, had said the woman’s […]