Kyiv officials say attack in Tatarstan was on a facility producing long-range drones
Two weeks before the deadly terrorist attack at a Moscow theatre killed more than 130 people in March, the United States intelligence community notified its Russian counterparts of an imminent assault.
But on Tuesday Russian spy service chief Sergei Naryshkin has said that while the US did send Moscow intelligence, it was far too general.
Continue reading...Two other children seriously injured in incident in Helsinki suburb described by minister as ‘horrifying’
A 12-year-old child has died and two others have been seriously wounded in a school shooting in Finland.
The suspect, a fellow pupil, ran off after the shooting but was later arrested, police said. He was holding a licensed handgun owned by a close relative and admitted carrying out the shooting in an initial interview, they added.
Continue reading...Attacks more than 800 miles from border are first in Tatarstan region since beginning of war
Ukraine has launched a series of drone strikes against targets in Russia more than 800 miles from the border, in some of its deepest attacks into Russia’s industrial heartland since the beginning of the war.
The Ukrainian drones targeted one of Russia’s largest oil refineries and a factory that produces Iranian-designed Shahed drones that have been used on the frontlines.
Continue reading...Police say they have yet to identify a man and woman also killed in avalanche on Monday
Three people, including a teenager from the US, have been killed in an avalanche near the Swiss resort of Zermatt, police said on Tuesday. One person was flown to hospital with serious injuries.
The avalanche occurred at about 2pm on Monday in an off-piste area of the Riffelberg, above the resort and below the Matterhorn. Rescuers recovered three bodies and the injured skier, a 20-year-old Swiss man.
Continue reading...Deaths, including those of two children, occured in three separate incidents, two in Zakopane and one in Rabka-Zdrój
Five people have been killed by falling trees as strong winds battered southern Poland on Monday, reaching a speed of 96mph (155km/h) in the highest parts of the Tatra mountains.
In the town of Rabka-Zdrój, two women and a six-year-old died after a tree crushed them, firefighters said.
Continue reading...A new cohort of leaders inflicted an unprecedented wave of defeats on President Erdoğan who seemed to have little to offer the electorate
A fresh-faced challenger hailed a new dawn for Turkish democracy, as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan comforted a defeated crowd outside his party’s headquarters, telling them: “Unfortunately we couldn’t get the result we wanted … everything happens for a reason.”
Supporters of Istanbul’s mayor celebrated long into the night after Ekrem İmamoğlu secured a second term in office, as Turkey’s main opposition party swept to victory in local elections.
Continue reading...CAP scheme, which pays more to farms that occupy more land, drives ‘perverse outcomes for a food transition’, says study
The EU has made polluting diets “artificially cheap” by pumping four times more money into farming animals than growing plants, research has found.
More than 80% of the public money given to farmers through the EU’s common agriculture policy (CAP) went to animal products in 2013 despite the damage they do to society, according to a study in Nature Food. Factoring in animal feed doubled the subsidies that were embodied in a kilogram of beef, the meat with the biggest environmental footprint, from €0.71 to €1.42 (61p to £1.22).
Continue reading...Ukrainian president says officials discussed project to build integrated electronic warfare control system to protect against Russian attacks
Russia has attacked the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast, injuring a 27-year-old woman, according to The Kyiv Independent.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted on X that he met with military and government officials to discuss drone production plans and a project to build an integrated electronic warfare control system, to protect Ukraine and its soldiers from Russian attacks.
Continue reading...Leftwing parties call for government action after footage of incident in Lavapiés spread on social media
Leftwing parties in Spain are demanding explanations after a video appeared to show a pair of police officers using violent force on two unarmed black men in a central Madrid neighbourhood.
The video, shot on Friday in Lavapiés, appears to show one of the men on the ground and immobilised by a police officer who seemingly has him in a chokehold. A second police officer appears to then strike the immobilised man twice with a baton before grabbing and punching another man standing nearby.
Continue reading...Bones were discovered near the hamlet of Le Vernet, close to where the boy went missing in 2023
French police are searching for clues to how a boy who disappeared eight months ago died after the discovery this weekend of his partial remains.
In a case that shocked France, Émile Soleil, aged two and a half, vanished in July while staying with his grandparents in a hamlet in the French Alps. A massive air and land search at the time found no trace of the child.
Continue reading...Ekrem Imamoğlu secures unexpected second term as Istanbul’s mayor, propelling the CHP to the centre of national politics
Turkey’s main opposition party dealt an unexpected blow to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rule on Sunday with a sweeping victory in Turkey’s local elections, maintaining control of major cities including the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul, where Ekrem Imamoğlu secured a second term as mayor.
“My dear Istanbulites, you opened the door to a new future today,” Imamoğlu told overjoyed supporters of his opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) while declaring victory. “Starting from tomorrow, Turkey will be a different Turkey. You opened the door to the rise of democracy, equality and freedom … You ignited hope at the ballot box.”
Continue reading...Questions surround ownership of demo tapes reportedly left by soul artist as a thank-you to his Ostend hosts
A collection of cassette tapes containing a host of unreleased Marvin Gaye songs has been found in the Belgian city of Ostend.
It has potentially lain hidden in Belgium for over 40 years, according to the BBC.
Continue reading...SBU dismisses demand as pointless and hypocritical, ‘coming from the terrorist state itself’
Russia has demanded that Ukraine extradite a number of people, including the head of the country’s SBU security service, over claims they are connected with “terrorist” acts.
The SBU immediately dismissed the Russian demand as “pointless” and said the Russian foreign ministry had “forgotten” that Vladimir Putin was the subject of an international arrest warrant.
Continue reading...Lviv governor says more people may be under rubble after cruise missile attack as Moscow ratchets up targeting of infrastructure
Russia has carried out another round of missile and drone strikes against Ukraine’s much-depleted energy network, killing at least two people.
One man died in a cruise missile attack on infrastructure in the western Lviv region, and another was killed after a projectile hit a petrol station in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, officials said on Sunday.
Continue reading...Other endangered animals rescued in 2023 included a burrowing parrot, an African spurred tortoise and a blood-eared parakeet
Specialist wildlife police in eastern Spain have rescued an exotic list of endangered animals over the past year, including a pair of Nile crocodiles, an African spurred tortoise weighing 25kg and a 2-metre Burmese python.
The Seprona division of the Guardia Civil said in a statement on Sunday that its officers recovered “numerous examples” of species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora during 2023.
Continue reading...Copenhagen fashion week is hailed for raising the bar on animal rights. But will the organisers of other fashion weeks follow?
Copenhagen fashion week has just announced that it will ban exotic skins and feathers from its catwalks next year, becoming the biggest industry event yet to do so.
“Skål to Copenhagen fashion week for raising the bar for other events,” says the vice-president of corporate projects at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), Yvonne Taylor. “Now all eyes are on other fashion week organisers, who must follow suit.”
Continue reading...Appearance comes a day after last-minute decision to miss previous service to ‘conserve his health’
Pope Francis presided over the Vatican’s somber Easter Vigil service on Saturday night, a day after making the last-minute decision to skip his participation in the Good Friday procession at the Colosseum as a health precaution.
Francis entered the darkened, silent St Peter’s Basilica in his wheelchair, took his place in a chair and offered an opening prayer, sounding somewhat congested and out of breath.
Continue reading...Tens of thousands of young Slovaks who see little future in an increasingly intolerant society are leaving for Prague
Although Marek Mikič spent a few years studying and working abroad, he never expected to leave his native Slovakia permanently. He had a group of close friends and a music festival to run in the eastern town of Košice.
But he changed his mind last September after the re-election of Robert Fico, a populist who promised he would stop military aid to Ukraine, promote conservative family values, and muzzle the courts that have been investigating high-level corruption cases tied to his allies.
Continue reading...Tourist and creative industries react angrily to ‘curb on freedom of expression’
Greek music in hotel lobbies, Greek tunes in lifts, Greek melodies in casinos, shopping malls, airport lounges and ports.
If the Athens culture ministry has its way, tourists from around the world should prepare for a holiday soundtrack that is decidedly Hellenic in tone.
Continue reading...Theme park generates $343.4m in profit for Hollywood giant as it shores up wider business amid weaker box office returns
Disney’s Parisian theme park complex has delivered a welcome boost to the embattled Hollywood giant, generating $343.4m (€317m) in profits and royalties despite a wave of strikes last summer.
Sales at Disneyland Paris – Europe’s most-visited tourist destination – were driven to record levels by higher room rates and the opening of a site built around Marvel’s hit Avengers movies.
Continue reading...