Half a million workers went on strike in Britain on Wednesday, calling for higher wages in the largest such walkout in over a decade, closing schools and severely disrupting transport. As Europe battles a cost-of-living crisis, Britain’s umbrella labour organisation the Trades Union Congress (TUC) called it the “biggest day of strike action since 2011”. The latest strikes come a day after more than 1.27 million took to the streets in France, increasing pressure on […]
Europe
Netanyahu says considering military aid to Ukraine, mediation
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview aired Tuesday he was considering military aid to Ukraine and was willing to serve as a mediator, following US calls for more active involvement. Netanyahu made no firm commitments to Ukraine and Israel has preserved a relationship with Russia, which controls the skies in neighboring Syria and has turned a blind eye to Israeli strikes on targets of arch-nemesis Iran. Netanyahu […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin backs military training centres with Belarus
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday backed a plan to set up joint military training centres with Belarus, with fears mounting that Minsk could enter the Ukraine conflict to fight with Moscow. In a decree published Tuesday, Putin tasked the defence and foreign ministers to conduct talks with Belarus and sign an agreement to establish the facilities. The document did not specify where they would be based. Minsk allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory as a […]
Russia claims capture of village north of Bakhmut
The Russian military on Tuesday claimed to have captured the village of Blagodatne north of the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut that has been the epicentre of heavy fighting. The defence ministry said that “as a result of successful offensive actions” its forces “liberated the settlement of Blagodatne of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” using Moscow’s term for the eastern Donetsk region. Blagodatne lies near Soledar, a salt-mining town that Russian forces have recently captured, […]
Japan and NATO pledge ‘firm’ response to China, Russia threats
Japan and NATO must “remain united and firm” in the face of security threats posed by China, North Korea and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday in Tokyo. Stoltenberg, secretary general of the European and North American military alliance, warned that Beijing was keeping a close eye on developments in Ukraine and “learning lessons that may influence its future decisions”. He spoke alongside Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after the pair held […]
German woman ‘killed lookalike to fake her own death’
A German-Iraqi woman murdered a lookalike she found on social media to fake her own death, police have said as new details emerge of the bizarre case that first came to light last year. The body of a 23-year-old woman was found in a car in August at the Bavarian town of Ingolstadt with multiple stab wounds. Police initially said they believed the victim owned the car, but the next day identified her as someone […]
China angered by new Czech president’s Taiwan call
China criticised Czech president-elect Petr Pavel on Tuesday for holding a telephone call with Taiwan’s president and foreign minister the day before. Beijing is trying to keep Taiwan isolated on the world stage and opposes countries having official exchanges with Taipei. It claims self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be seized one day, by force if necessary. “Pavel… trampled on China’s red line,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning. “This severely […]
Influencer Andrew Tate says Romania case against him empty
Bucharest, Romania | AFP | Romanian prosecutors on Wednesday further questioned divisive influencer Andrew Tate over alleged human trafficking and rape, with the British-American national denouncing the case brought against him as void. “There’s no evidence in my file, because I’ve done nothing wrong. Everybody knows I’m innocent,” Tate, surrounded by a slew of reporters, shouted after the hearing by Romania’s anti-organised crime and terrorism directorate (DIICOT) ended. “The matrix is trying to frame me, but […]
France braces for new strikes against Macron’s pension reform
PARIS, France (AFP) – France braced Monday for another day of mass protests and strikes over proposed pension overhauls being pushed by President Emmanuel Macron, with the government and its left-wing opponents trading blame for the expected disruptions. Around 1.1 million people took to the streets for the first strike day on January 19, according to official statistics, the biggest demonstrations since the last major round of pension reform under right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010. […]
Winter not over, but Europe braces for the next one
by Nathalie ALONSO / with Berlin and London bureaus Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Europe has weathered the energy crisis that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine so far, but businesses and households are already thinking about how to get through the next winter. Mild weather, government aid, gas storage facilities at full capacity and energy imports from other regions have helped Europe limit the economic damage caused by the war. Outside the western industrial […]
Stalingrad: 80 years ago, a victory that changed World War II
PARIS, France (AFP) – The Battle of Stalingrad, which turned the tide of World War II 80 years ago when German forces capitulated to the Red Army, remains a powerful symbol of patriotism in Russia as it presses its war in Ukraine. One of the largest battles in history, the fighting raged for more than six months in 1942 and 1943 before the Russians defeated Nazi soldiers trapped in the ruined city in the depths of […]
Biden rejects F-16s for Ukraine as Russia claims advances
by Sebastian Smith Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden said Monday the United States would not provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, as Kyiv expands the list of weaponry it needs to be better able to drive Russia forces from occupied territories. Fighting continued at key points along the long front as Russian forces sought to expand their hold on territory in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin-appointed Donetsk […]