Dismissal of Lt Gen Yuriy Sodol comes amid series of personnel changes by Ukrainian president
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has replaced the commander of the Joint Forces Command of Ukraine’s military, after a well-known soldier accused the commander of causing mass casualties in the war with Russia.
In his nightly video address on Monday, Zelenskiy said Lt Gen Yuriy Sodol had been replaced by Brig Gen Andriy Hnatov, without giving a reason for the shake up.
Continue reading...French president’s comments made on podcast as RN releases manifesto pledging to ‘limit immigration’
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that the far right National Rally (RN) party and the leftwing New Popular Front coalition – both of which are frontrunners in the parliamentary election – risked bringing “civil war” to France.
Macron told the podcast Generation Do It Yourself that the manifesto of the RN party – which election pollsters put in first place – and their solutions to deal with fears over crime and immigration were based upon “stigmatisation or division”.
Continue reading...The 56-year-old tourist was visiting the volcano near Naples with his family as temperatures in Italy reached 40C
A British man has died of a suspected heart attack after ascending to the crater of Mount Vesuvius during a family holiday.
The tourist, named by Italian media as Mark John Irwin, died on Sunday after climbing the volcano near Naples, in southern Italy, during the visit with his wife and two children.
Continue reading...Companies who rented space in the building reportedly include electronics institute sanctioned by US
At least eight people have died in a fire in an office building near Moscow, including two who jumped from the building to escape the flames.
Video taken in the town of Fryazino on Monday showed smoke and flames billowing out of at least three of the building’s top floors and a group of four people huddled around a broken window trying to escape.
Continue reading...Hiker, whose body was discovered near a ravine in Crete, is sixth tourist to die in the country this month amid soaring temperatures
A German hiker has been found dead on the island of Crete, the fire department said – the latest tourist fatality during a period of unseasonably high temperatures in Greece.
The man had been declared missing on Sunday and was found near a ravine in the south of the island, the fire department said in a statement.
Continue reading...Fashion house takes inspiration from Olympic Games in grandest sense for show in garden of Musée Rodin
Like everyone else in Paris right now, the Dior designer Maria Grazia Chiuri is thinking about the Olympics. Her latest Dior haute couture show was staged in the garden of the Musée Rodin, a stone’s throw from the grand open space of Esplanade des Invalides, where banks of seating are already being erected in preparation for the archery competitions of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
But in haute couture, where no price tag is fewer than five figures, athleisure does not make the cut. So this season’s Dior was Olympian in the grandest sense: classically draped goddess gowns, with asymmetric necklines cut to expose a shoulder and skirts cascading in silken layers.
Continue reading...Attacks by gunmen in two cities appeared to catch local security officials by surprise
Sunday’s terrorist attack in Dagestan that left at least 19 people dead has highlighted Russia’s growing difficulties in managing a tide of Islamist terror at home as its security forces are engaged in the war in Ukraine.
The attack, which was carried out by four gunmen in the capital, Makhachkala, and two in the seaside city of Derbent, appeared to catch Dagestani officials by surprise. At least 15 police officers were among those killed, and the attackers also burned down a synagogue and set fire to a church in acts that Russian officials are clearly concerned could lead to a tide of inter-ethnic violence at home.
Continue reading...State security service said last month it had caught two guard service colonels accused of cooperating with Russia to plot Zelenskiy’s assassination
Ukraine’s state security service (SBU) said it had detained a “mole” spying for Russia who passed on information about Ukrainian troop positions on the border with Belarus.
The SBU wrote on Telegram:
At the instruction of the occupiers (Russian military), the ‘mole’ established the locations of fortified areas and the approximate number of Ukrainian troops defending the border with Belarus.
He also tried to transmit the coordinates of warehouses with weapons and ammunition of the armed forces of Ukraine in the region.
For the first time, the EU has adopted a measure targeting specific vessels contributing to Russia’s warfare against Ukraine, which are subject to a port access ban and ban on provision of services.
These vessels can be designated for various reasons such as the transport of military equipment for Russia, the transport of stolen Ukrainian grain, and support in the development of Russia’s energy sector, for instance through the transport of LNG components or transshipments of LNG.
Continue reading...Three days of mourning declared after 15 people reportedly killed during multiple assaults in restive province
Five people responsible for multiple gun attacks targeting churches and synagogues in Russia’s Dagestan region have been “eliminated”, said the authorities as the region began three days of mourning.
A criminal investigation has been launched under anti-terrorism laws after gunmen killed 19 people in co-ordinated attacks in two cities in the restive region in the North Caucasus.
Continue reading...European Commission finds iPhone maker broke new laws designed to protect smaller competitors against big tech platforms
Apple has been found to be in breach of sweeping new EU laws designed to allow smaller companies to compete and allow consumers to find cheaper and alternative apps in the tech business’s app store.
The European Commission, which also acts as the EU antitrust and technology regulator, said it had sent its preliminary findings to Apple after an investigation launched in March.
“For too long Apple has been squeezing out innovative companies — denying consumers new opportunities and choices,” said Thierry Breton, the European commissioner responsible for digital markets, on X.
In preliminary findings, against which Apple can appeal, the European Commission said it believed its rules of engagement did not comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) “as they prevent app developers from freely steering consumers to alternatives channels for offers and content”.
Continue reading...Transfer of seven detainees to custody 17,000 kilometres away on charges tied to deadly unrest criticised as ‘political deportation’
Buildings, including a police station and a town hall, were set on fire in New Caledonia overnight, authorities said, as the French Pacific territory was hit by a new surge of unrest.
It comes after seven independence activists linked to a group accused of orchestrating deadly riots last month in the French Pacific territory were sent to mainland France for pre-trial detention, a local prosecutor said.
Continue reading...Officers search around two structures at bottom of ravine in rugged Rural de Teno park
Outbuildings close to where the missing teenager Jay Slater’s phone last picked up signal are the current focus of a police search in Tenerife.
As the hunt for the 19-year-old continued for a seventh day on the Canary island, his mother thanked those who had together donated more than £30,000 to a GoFundMe page, exceeding its target.
Continue reading...German chancellor holds unusually short meeting in Berlin with the controversial populist leader
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has welcomed Argentina’s populist president, Javier Milei, for a controversial and unusually short meeting in Berlin after the divisive leader accepted an award from a German foundation with links to the far right.
Protesters, some holding placards reading “No trade with despots”, jeered from beyond the gates of Scholz’s chancellery as the self-described anarcho-capitalist emerged from his limousine on his first visit to Germany as president.
Continue reading...Woman ‘ended up in safari zone’ while staying at lodge within Thoiry zoo about 25 miles west of Paris
Three wolves in a zoo outside Paris attacked a 37-year-old woman leaving her fighting for her life, a source familiar with the case and local prosecutors said.
The woman was bitten “on the neck, the calf and the back” at the Thoiry zoo about 25 miles (40km) west of the French capital, the source told Agence France-Presse.
Continue reading...David Pressman describes personal experience in speech condemning Viktor Orbán’s legal and rhetorical attacks
The US ambassador in Budapest has accused the government of Hungary’s far-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, of using a “machinery of fear” to launch legal and rhetorical attacks on the LGBTQ community.
“Fear is something those who seek to undermine democracy trade on, and their currency is too often you and your families,” David Pressman said at a family Pride event at the ambassador’s residence.
Continue reading...Moscow’s renewed assault on Ukraine’s energy grid has seen worst rolling outages since full-scale invasion began
Ukrainians are having to cope with widespread emergency blackouts as Russia continues to pound critical infrastructure.
In recent months, Moscow has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid. On Friday night, energy facilities came under a “massive attack”, Ukraine’s energy ministry said. Several workers were injured as a result of shelling at one of the facilities.
Continue reading...Fireworks allegedly launched from superyacht led to blaze that destroyed large swath of island’s only pine forest
Thirteen people were brought before a Greek public prosecutor on Sunday after being arrested in connection with a forest fire ignited on the island of Hydra by fireworks allegedly launched from the pleasure boat they were sailing on.
Local media showed the 13 crew members and passengers arriving at the criminal court in Piraeus to answer charges of causing the blaze on Friday night.
Continue reading...Ferries from Naples and Sorrento had been forced to return to port as mayor described situation as ‘real emergency’
The Italian island of Capri has lifted a ban on tourists after problems with the water supply to the holiday hotspot were resolved.
The ban had been announced early on Saturday, forcing several morning ferries from Naples and Sorrento to return to port.
Continue reading...President Zelenskiy calls for ‘bold decisions from our partners’ following aerial assault on Ukraine’s second city
At least three people were killed in a Russian bombing attack on Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, on Saturday afternoon, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
Another 52 people were wounded in the attack, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said. Four aerial bombs were launched against the city, damaging residential buildings, shops and public transport stops, said Kharkiv’s regional governor Oleh Syniehubov. He said four of the wounded were in serious condition.
Continue reading...Hydra’s mayor outraged by incident as country faces wildfires fanned by high winds and hot weather
Greek authorities arrested 13 people on Saturday after fireworks launched from a yacht set off a forest fire on an island near Athens as the country confronts a new season of deadly summer fires.
The mayor of the island of Hydra expressed “outrage” after the fire was started late on Friday and vowed legal action against those responsible.
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