by Moscow bureau with Sebastian Smith in Warsaw Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — US President Joe Biden vowed Tuesday that Russia would never see victory in Ukraine, delivering a major speech in Warsaw hours after Russia’s Vladimir Putin said his country would continue its nearly year-long invasion. Putin, in his annual state of the nation address, accused the West of escalating the conflict and announced the Kremlin would suspend participation in the New START […]
Europe
Pres. Putin says West wants ‘to be done’ with Russia
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Tuesday 2/21/2023 President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused the West of using the Ukraine conflict to “be done” with Russia, said traitors must be punished, and proclaimed that Moscow had successfully withstood Western sanctions. “Western elites are not hiding their goal — to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. It means to be done with us once and for all,” Putin said three days before the first anniversary of the […]
Pres. Putin suspends US nuclear treaty, vows to keep fighting in Ukraine
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Tuesday 2/21/2023 President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday suspended Moscow’s participation in a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Washington during a speech in which he accused the West of escalating the Ukraine conflict. In his scathing state of the nation address to Russian lawmakers, Putin also vowed that Russia would keep fighting in Ukraine ahead of the first anniversary of the military campaign. Accusing Western powers of wanting “to be done […]
NATO chief says concerned China will arm Russia
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Tuesday 2/21/2023 NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg echoed US concerns on Tuesday that China could supply Russia with weapons to help it pursue its war against Ukraine. “It is President (Vladimir) Putin who started this imperial war of conquest. It is Putin who keeps escalating the war,” Stoltenberg said. “We are also increasingly concerned that China may be planning to provide lethal support for Russia’s war.” Stoltenberg was speaking after a […]
New quake hits Turkey and Syria, killing six
Antakya, Turkey | AFP | Tuesday 2/21/2023 by Joris FIORITI A 6.4-magnitude earthquake has rocked Turkey’s southern province of Hatay and northern Syria, killing six people and sparking fresh panic after a massive February 6 tremor left nearly 45,000 dead in both countries. The AFAD disaster response agency reported the deaths, as well as nearly 300 hospitalisations, while in Syria the White Helmets aid group said at least 150 people were injured in the Aleppo […]
Ukrainian soldiers take German tank course in double time
by Florian CAZERES Agence France Presse Munster, Germany (AFP) — For 12 hours a day and six days a week, a few hundred Ukrainian soldiers are cramming an intensive course on operating tanks in Germany, knowing full well they have no time to waste. “Our comrades are waiting for us,” said one of the soldiers, Vitali, who gave only his first name and covered his face with a scarf to ensure his anonymity. “They are […]
Biden makes surprise trip to Kyiv before invasion anniversary
by Emmanuel PEUCHOT Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — US President Joe Biden on Monday made a trip to Kyiv organized in strict secrecy, promising $500 million in fresh arms deliveries and “unwavering” American support ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion. Air raid sirens rang out across Kyiv at one point as Biden walked alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during what was the US president’s first visit to the country since Russian troops […]
Covid infection gives similar immunity to vaccination: study
Paris, France | AFP | Thursday 2/17/2023 The protection against Covid-19 from being previously infected lasts at least as long as that offered by vaccination, one of the largest studies conducted on the subject said on Friday. Ten months after getting Covid, people still had an 88 percent lower risk of reinfection, hospitalisation and death, according to the study published in the Lancet journal. That makes this natural immunity “at least as durable, if not […]
France drops Covid testing for travellers from China
Beijing, China | AFP | Friday 2/17/2023 France has dropped Covid testing restrictions imposed on travellers from China, the French embassy in Beijing said. Since January, visitors aged 11 and over travelling from China to France have had to present a negative test taken 48 hours before the flight to board the plane. The restrictions were introduced as China experienced a wave of coronavirus infections after lifting its stifling zero-Covid policy in December. “Travellers from […]
German airport websites hit by cyberattacks
Berlin, Germany | AFP | Thursday 2/16/2023 Several German airports said on Thursday their websites were down due to suspected cyberattacks, the latest instance of online sabotage in the country. Airports in Duesseldorf, Nuremberg and Dortmund said they were affected, while at least two others were reported to have been hit. German news outlet Der Spiegel said a group of Russian hackers had claimed responsibility for the attack, although there was no comment from authorities […]
Questions mount for Scotland’s SNP as Sturgeon quits
Edinburgh, United Kingdom | AFP | Calls mounted within the Scottish National Party (SNP) on Thursday to postpone a special conference aimed at reviving its push for independence, after the surprise resignation of leader Nicola Sturgeon. After more than eight eventful years as Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader, Sturgeon said on Wednesday she lacked the “energy” to carry on and would step down. The party’s executive was to meet late on Thursday to set the […]
Russia fires dozens of missiles at Ukraine overnight: Kyiv
Kiev, Ukraine | AFP | Thursday 2/16/2023 Ukraine on Thursday reported a new wave of overnight Russian missile and drone strikes, which killed at least one and damaged many buildings. The Ukrainian army said it shot down 16 of the 36 missiles Russia launched overnight from planes and ships in the Black Sea. “Unfortunately, there were hits in the north and west of Ukraine, as well as in the (central regions of) Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd,” […]
