Europe

Russia launched the biggest drone strike on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv a day after Ukraine struck oil pipeline installations and other targets deep inside Russia with a series of drone attacks. Serhiy Popko, the head of the Ukrainian military said in a statement on Sunday that the assault was …

Opposition parties and rights watchdogs have long accused Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic of autocracy, stifling media freedoms, violence against political opponents, corruption and ties with organised crime. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has stepped down as leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) at a party congress, saying a new …

Germany will remove more than 100 employees working at its missions in Russia after Moscow imposed limits on the numbers allowed to work in the country, a source with the German foreign ministry said on Saturday. “This limit, set by Russia for the beginning of June, requires a major cut …

Hundreds of protesters in the capitals of Italy and Spain have waged rallies to demand higher wages as well as a halt to the shipment of weapons to Ukraine. While calling for peace in the Ukraine conflict, the Italian protesters on Friday further demanded from the ruling right-wing government in …

The German economy shrank unexpectedly in the first three months of this year, marking the second quarter of contraction which is one definition of recession. Data released Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office shows Germany’s gross domestic product, or GDP, declined by 0.3% in the period from January to March. …

Russia’s Wagner group has started withdrawing its forces from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and transferring its positions there to regular Russian troops, its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video published on Thursday. “We are withdrawing the units from Bakhmut. From today at five in the morning, May 25 …

German police have launched a nationwide raid against members of the Last Generation climate group, as the activists continue to protest in an effort to pressure the government to take more drastic action against climate change. Bavaria’s police and the Munich State Prosecutor’s Office announced in a joint statement on …

Poland is in advanced talks to buy Swedish early warning planes and hopes negotiations will be finalized shortly, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Monday. Poland has ramped up military spending since Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February last year, with the government pledging to double the size …

The United Kingdom has confirmed that it is supplying Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, becoming the first country to supply Kyiv with such weapons, even before the United States. The so-called “Storm Shadow” cruise missiles are reportedly able to carry a 450kg conventional warhead to a range of up to …

Russia said on Monday it was battling a cross-border incursion by saboteurs who burst through the frontier from Ukraine, in what appeared to be one of the biggest attacks of its kind since the war began. Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Russia’s Belgorod region adjacent to northeastern Ukraine, said the Russian …

The Group of Seven (G7) leaders have said that they would not back down from supporting Ukraine in its war as Russian forces continue to make advancements in the pro-Moscow regions. “Together with the entire G7 we have Ukraine’s back and I promise we’re not going anywhere,” octogenarian US President …

Flights serving the eastern Sicilian city of Catania were halted on Sunday after an eruption from nearby Mount Etna spewed volcanic ash onto its runways, airport authorities said. The 3,330 meters (10,925 ft) high volcano can burst into spectacular action several times a year, firing lava and ash high over …

Seven young activists protesting against climate change climbed into the Trevi Fountain in Rome on Sunday and poured diluted charcoal into the water to turn it black. The protesters from the “Ultima Generazione” (“Last Generation”) group held up banners saying “We won’t pay for fossil (fuels),” and shouted, “Our country …

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday congratulated the Wagner group force and the Russian army for what he called the “liberation” of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Russia calls by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovsk. In a statement published on the Kremlin website, Putin said that the battle …

US President Joe Biden has announced a new $375 million package of military aid to Ukraine on Sunday despite warnings from Russia, saying that the United States was making every effort to “bolster Ukraine’s defense” in its war against Russia. “Together with the entire G7, we have Ukraine’s back and I …

The US may suffer serious logistical challenges by supplying Ukraine with advanced fighter jets including F-16s, as there is a possibility that the fighter or its technologies could fall into Russian hands or it could face significant losses in combat, according to an American magazine. Following months of Ukrainian government …

A tourist plane crashed in a mountainous area of western Switzerland on Saturday, reportedly leaving several people dead. Regional police confirmed that a plane had crashed near Ponts-De-Martel in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel but did not immediately provide more details. According to media reports, several people died in the …

The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Saturday claimed full control of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the focus of the longest and bloodiest battle of the war. Reuters could not independently confirm the claim. Prigozhin made it in a video in which he appeared in combat …

Sixteen percent of French people say they did not have enough food to eat at the end of last year, according to a new study. A survey by the Research Center for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions (Crédoc) found the ratio has increased significantly in recent months, from …

Western countries ‘are still adhering to the escalation scenario’ that risks widening the Ukraine war in Europe, says deputy foreign minister. Western countries will be running “colossal risks” if they supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, a Russian official says. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko was responding to a …