Europe

Several top Ukraine officials quit amid corruption claims

Kyiv, Ukraine | AFP | Tuesday 1/24/2023   by Daria ANDRIIEVSKA Several senior Ukrainian officials announced their resignations Tuesday as the defence ministry was shaken by accusations of food procurement fraud, in the country’s largest corruption scandal since the start of Russia’s invasion. Ukraine has a history of endemic corruption, including among the political elite, but efforts to stamp out graft have been overshadowed by Moscow’s full-scale war that began in February. Kyiv’s Western allies, which […]

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Cable sabotage cuts all traffic from busy Paris station

Paris, France | AFP | Tuesday 1/24/2023 One of the busiest train stations in Paris suffered a total traffic shutdown on Tuesday after vandals triggered a major signal malfunction by setting cables on fire. All traffic from Gare de l’Est, which serves routes to Germany, eastern France and is a key local train commuter hub, was cut for the entire day, operator SNCF said. A fire broke out at a signals point at around 3:00 […]

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Josephine Baker and the Roaring Twenties celebrated by Dior

PARIS, France (AFP) – From cabaret feathers to sleek suits and velvet robes, Dior celebrated Josephine Baker and the wild freedom of the Roaring Twenties in a celeb-packed show on Monday to kickstart haute couture week in Paris. A parade of stars were in the front row, including Anya Taylor-Joy, Kirsten Dunst, Rosamund Pike and K-Pop’s Jisoo, to see Chiuru’s homage to the American icon who made Paris her home and recently became the first woman […]

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Poland ups pressure to send German-made tanks to Ukraine

by Stanislaw WASZAK Agence France-Presse WARSAW, Poland (AFP) — Poland said Monday it was willing to send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine without approval, but would first seek permission from Berlin, as Kyiv presses its allies for heavy weaponry. European nations agreed to spend another 500 million euros ($540 million) to arm Kyiv in the latest boost to the multi-billion-dollar drive to help Ukraine push back Russian forces. However, while scores of nations have pledged […]

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Russia pushing towards two towns in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region

    Moscow, Russia | AFP | Sunday 1/22/2023 Moscow’s forces are pushing towards two towns in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, where fighting intensified this week after several months of a stagnant front, Russian state media reported Sunday. Russian-installed official in the region Vladimir Rogov said offensive actions were concentrated around two towns: Orikhiv, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Ukrainian-controlled regional capital Zaporizhzhia, and Hulyaipole, further east. “The front is mobile, especially in two […]

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France gripped by strikes, protests against pension reform

by Alice HACKMAN Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — More than a million people marched in France on Thursday to protest pension reforms, with some demonstrators clashing with police in Paris, as strikes disrupted public transport, schools and much of the civil service. The interior ministry put the total number of protesters marching against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to extend the retirement age at 1.2 million, including 80,000 in Paris. The hard-left CGT union said […]

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US announces $2.5 bn in new weaponry, munitions for Ukraine

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States announced a massive new package of arms and munitions for Ukraine on Thursday as the country prepares for a new stage of war against Russia. The package does not feature battle tanks requested by Kyiv, but includes 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers, an additional 59 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Avenger air defense systems, and large and small munitions, according to a Pentagon statement. “The 59 Bradley IFVs […]

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Spanish woman tipped as ‘world’s oldest person’ at 115

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – A Spanish great-grandmother who was born in the United States has likely become the world’s oldest living person at 115, a Guinness World Records consultant said Wednesday. Maria Branyas Morera is believed to have assumed the title following the death on Tuesday of French nun Lucile Randon aged 118, senior consultant for gerontology Robert D. Young said. Guinness World Records must still make the official decision after carrying out document checks and […]

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NATO allies set to provide ‘heavier weapons’ to Ukraine

by Adam PLOWRIGHT and Sophie ESTIENNE Agence France-Presse DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP)  — NATO countries are set to announce new “heavier weapons” for Ukraine, the alliance’s chief said on Wednesday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his backers to speed up their decision-making. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will convene a meeting of around 50 countries on Friday at the US-run Ramstein military base in Germany, including all 30 members of the NATO alliance. […]

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Moscow compares West’s Russia policy to Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Wednesday 1/18/2023   Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday likened Western policies on Russia to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s “Final Solution” plan of genocide against Jewish people. Moscow’s top diplomat — whose comments on Hitler and Jews led to President Vladimir Putin issuing a rare apology on his behalf last year — made the comparison at his annual press conference. “Just as Napoleon mobilised practically all of Europe against the […]

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Netherlands set to boost push for Patriot missile defenses in Ukraine

Washington, United States (AFP) Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Tuesday he intends to join German-US efforts to arm Ukraine with sophisticated Patriot air-defense systems, citing the “horrible” Russian missile strike on a Dnipro apartment building. Rutte told President Joe Biden at a White House meeting that “we have the intention to join what you’re doing with Germany on the Patriots project, the air-defense system. I think that is important and we joined that.” While […]

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Ukraine helicopter crash kills 18, including minister

Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) by Sergei SUPINSKY Eighteen people, including Ukraine´s interior minister and three children, were killed in a helicopter crash near a kindergarten outside Kyiv on Wednesday. The helicopter slammed down next to the kindergarten and a residential building in Brovary, a commuter town for the capital Kyiv that was the scene of fierce fighting early in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Amateur footage circulating on social media showed what appeared to be the charred […]

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