Boeing 747 cargo plane turns back after horse becomes untethered in flight and pilot says ‘We cannot get the horse back secured’
A cargo plane heading for Belgium was forced to return to New York City after a horse escaped from its crate on board.
The horse became loose on the Boeing 747 cargo plane within 30 minutes of the plane’s initial takeoff, according to the audio clips from air traffic control that were reconstructed on YouTube, ABC News reported.
Continue reading...Petr Aven, a UK-based billionaire who owns a Surrey mansion, is under UK and EU sanctions
He is a billionaire Russian oligarch who has been closely linked to Vladimir Putin for three decades.
And for years Petr Aven also enjoyed the trappings of London high society, as a trustee and donor of the Royal Academy of Arts, as well as owning three multimillion-pound UK properties, including one in the ultra-wealthy Surrey enclave of Virginia Water.
Continue reading...Floods force evacuation of homes, schools and town halls in Calais region and in the Alps
Widespread flooding in northern and eastern France has led to thousands of people having to evacuate their waterlogged homes, the collapse of roads and the closure of schools and public buildings.
Record rainfall has caused rivers to break their banks, forcing the government to declare an official state of emergency in hundreds of towns and villages.
Continue reading...Research in 21 countries suggests a growing ‘a la carte’ approach where states ‘mix and match’ partners on different issues
As the US and Chinese presidents meet on Wednesday in high-stakes diplomacy intended to reduce tensions between the world’s two superpowers, a survey of 21 countries shows that geopolitical alliances no longer fit a “west v the rest” frame.
Many in the west think it is in decline, many outside it want China to be more active in their economies and believe Russia will win its war against Ukraine, and many beyond Europe reckon the EU will not last another 20 years, according to the research, which concludes that global relations are becoming increasingly “a la carte”.
Continue reading...Oleksandr Dubinsky accused of spreading disinformation about Ukrainian interference in US politics while in pay of Russian intelligence
Ukrainian authorities have arrested a controversial MP who was at the heart of efforts by Rudy Giuliani to dig up compromising material about Joe Biden, and placed him in pre-trial detention.
Oleksandr Dubinsky, 42, is accused of collusion with Russia and of spreading “fake” information about Ukraine’s political and military leadership, in particular related to his claims about supposed Ukrainian interference in US political processes.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff says Ukraine’s forces established on Dnipro’s east bank in Kherson region. This live blog is closed
Here are some of images from the wires of leaders at a meeting of EU foreign and defence ministers at the European Council in Brussels today.
The head of Russia’s state nuclear energy company, Rosatom, said on Tuesday that it had agreed a timetable for the construction of two new reactors at the Paks-2 nuclear plant in Hungary, Reuters reports.
Continue reading...In-development film comes after controversy around the re-creation of late stars’ voices, such as Anthony Bourdain
Sixty years after her death, Édith Piaf’s voice will be re-created using AI to narrate her biopic.
As reported by Variety, Warner Music Group (WMG) has partnered with the Piaf estate to produce the feature-length film Edith. Artificial intelligence has been trained to replicate Piaf’s voice by feeding it hundreds of voice clips, with WMG promising the resultant re-creation will “further enhance the authenticity and emotional impact of her story”.
Continue reading...The longtime chief of Positif film magazine started working there in 1968, and was a passionate advocate of cinema until his death
Michel Ciment, the celebrated French film critic and longtime editor of Positif magazine, has died aged 85. The magazine reported the news on social media, describing him as Positif’s “master architect” after a 60-year career.
Born in Paris in 1938, Ciment fell in love with cinema as a student, and joined Positif in 1968, becoming editorial director in 1973; he said he admired Positif over Cahiers du Cinéma because the magazine was “left wing” and influenced by surrealism. Ciment published a string of books about prominent film directors, including Kazan by Kazan (1973), Conversations with Losey (1979) and Stanley Kubrick (1980).
Continue reading...Biggest ever leak of financial data from Cyprus raises concerns over EU state’s role in managing Russian fortunes
Cyprus has vowed to tighten controls on its financial sector as an investigation published by the Guardian and its reporting partners reveals oligarchs transferred hundreds of millions in assets while sanctions loomed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The role of the blue-chip accountants PwC Cyprus and other advisers in managing transactions as Vladimir Putin’s forces launched their assault has emerged from Cyprus Confidential, a cache of 3.6m files leaked by an anonymous source to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Germany’s Paper Trail Media, which shared access with the Guardian and other reporting partners.
Continue reading...PP says clemency offer for separatists demands similar action to that taken over rule-of-law concerns elsewhere in the bloc
Spain’s conservative People’s party (PP) has urged the EU to weigh in on the controversial Catalan amnesty law tabled by the ruling socialists, claiming it demands the kind of action the bloc has previously taken when concerns over the rule of law have arisen in Poland, Hungary and Romania.
The Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE), which was narrowly beaten by the PP in July’s inconclusive general election, agreed to the amnesty after the two main Catalan pro-independence parties made it a condition for supporting the formation of a new, socialist-led government with the support of a majority in parliament.
Continue reading...People investigated under discriminatory laws to get €500, while those convicted will get €3,000 or more, says justice minister
Austria has set aside millions of euros to compensate thousands of gay people who until two decades ago faced prosecution, its justice minister has said.
The country decriminalised homosexuality in 1971 but certain discriminatory provisions remained in force until the early 2000s.
Continue reading...Reykjanes peninsula continues to be hit by hundreds of earthquakes
Iceland’s prime minister has sought to reassure the nation as it braces for a volcanic eruption and the Reykjanes peninsula continues to be hit by hundreds of earthquakes.
Between midnight and early afternoon on Monday, the Icelandic meteorological office detected about 900 earthquakes as seismic activity between Sundhnúkur and Grindavík in south-west Iceland continued near the capital, Reykjavik. In recent days, a magma tunnel has formed under the peninsula, stretching out into the sea.
Continue reading...Drivers of two HGVs carrying high-end Moët & Chandon manage to flee but officers recover stolen bubbly
French police are looking for a gang of champagne thieves after a high-speed motorway chase in which two heavy goods vehicles carrying a total of €600,000 (£436,000) worth of stolen prestige bottles sped through northern France.
Two trailers containing high-end champagne by Moët & Chandon disappeared in the early hours of Saturday morning in Reims, the capital of the Champagne region, according to reports in Le Parisien and on local TV.
Continue reading...Six people injured during attack on southern Ukrainian city, says local governor. This live blog is now closed
A European Union plan to spend up to €20bn ($21.4bn/£17.5bn) on military aid for Ukraine is meeting resistance from EU countries and may not survive in its current form, diplomats say.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, proposed in July that the bloc create a fund with up to €5bn a year over four years as part of broader western security commitments to bolster Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion.
Continue reading...As former UK PM makes a return to cabinet, we look at his somewhat chequered record on global stage
David Cameron has made a shock return to the UK government as foreign secretary.
A profile on the government’s website credits him with developing “a foreign policy that responded to the new challenges of the Arab spring and also evolving challenges from various state and non-state actors”.
Continue reading...Campaigners say ‘sovereignty’ law is further step by Viktor Orbán to silence critics and solidify control
Hungarian rights advocates have raised fears over new legislation that they say could put more pressure on independent media and civil society groups.
The draft bill, which Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party is expected to submit on Tuesday, is set to propose creating a new office tasked with investigating activities that threaten Hungary’s “sovereignty”.
Continue reading...Pro-Ukraine fighters in Russia ‘kill colonel of security service’; Russian forces try to regain territory around Bakhmut; temporary lull in Avdiivka battle
Reports said Russians fighting on the side of Ukraine killed a colonel of Moscow’s FSB security service in an ambush in Russia’s Bryansk oblast. The Kyiv Post and Ukrainska Pravda cited Ukrainian intelligence sources, Russian Telegram channels and the pro-Ukraine Russian Volunteer Corps or RDK, which circulated a video that it said showed the surprise attack.
Russia has accused Kyiv of other attacks on border regions. On Sunday, Russia said there had been a series of attacks in Bryansk and Belgorod, damaging five train carriages and causing one injury. Russian investigators said a freight train derailment in Russia’s Ryazan oblast was caused by a homemade bomb on the line. Russian officials have previously blamed pro-Ukrainian saboteurs for several attacks on the country’s railway system.
Three Russian FSB intelligence officers were killed in an explosion carried out as an “act of revenge’” by the local resistance in Russian-occupied Melitopol, Ukraine’s defence intelligence said. The three men were meeting at a post office used as a military headquarters, Ukrainian intelligence said.
The head of Ukraine’s ground forces said Russian troops had begun a push to regain territory near Bakhmut. A military spokesperson said Russian attacks on the shattered eastern town of Avdiivka had eased in the past day, but were likely to intensify again.
Ukraine presidential aide Andriy Yermak said on Sunday that he had arrived in the US with a delegation headed by the economy minister for talks on cooperation and support. “I will have meetings in the White House, Congress, thinktanks and with representatives of civil society organisations,” Yermak said.
Germany’s defence minister on Sunday announced Berlin would double its 2024 military aid for war-torn Ukraine, which is struggling to oust occupying Russian troops, to 8 billion euros ($8.5bn). “This is a strong signal to Ukraine, showing we are not giving up on it” when international attention is focused on the Israel-Hamas war, Boris Pistorius told television channel ARD.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned Ukrainians to prepare for new waves of Russian attacks on infrastructure as winter approaches, saying that troops were anticipating an onslaught in the eastern theatre of the war.
The United States will treat Russia as a full participant in this week’s Asia-Pacific summit in San Francisco, despite US efforts to isolate Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, a senior official said Sunday. With a visit by President Vladimir Putin politically unthinkable, Deputy prime minister Alexei Overchuk will represent Russia at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. “He’s being treated as the head of delegation, and he’ll have the opportunity to participate fully in the week’s events,” Matt Murray, the state department official in charge of APEC, told AFP.
In Kyiv, veterans and family of Ukrainian servicemen held a rally calling for legislation regulating the length of active military duty in Ukraine.
Large elements of the Wagner mercenary group have likely been assimilated into the command structure of Russian national guard (Rosgvardiya), the UK defence ministry said in an intelligence briefing. The Wagner arm in the Rosgvardiya is likely being led by Pavel Prigozhin, son of the late Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash shortly after Wagner fighters captured the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and marched on Moscow – acts that Vladimir Putin declared “treason”.
Three people were killed in Russian attacks on the Donetsk oblast, acting regional governor Ihor Moroz said on Telegram. Two people were killed in Toretsk, where 30 houses, an infrastructure facility and an administrative building were damaged in Russian attacks. One person was killed in Minkivka.
A 64-year-old man was killed and his wife hospitalised after the Russian shelling of Dnipro district of the city of Kherson, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
Continue reading...Troops anticipating onslaught in eastern theatre of war as winter approaches
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned Ukrainians to prepare for new waves of Russian attacks on infrastructure as winter approaches, saying that troops were anticipating an onslaught in the eastern theatre of the war.
His comments came on Sunday as a military spokesperson said Russian attacks on the shattered eastern town of Avdiivka had eased in the past day, but were likely to intensify.
Continue reading...Recently elected leader Stefanos Kasselakis accused of ‘Trumpian practices’ and ‘rightwing populism’
A leftwing faction of Greece’s main opposition party has announced that it is breaking away, accusing Syriza’s recently elected leader of abandoning its core ideology for a sort of “rightwing populism.”
Umbrella, a faction led by Euclid Tsakalotos, a former finance minister during Syriza’s government of 2015-19, announced its departure with a blistering statement that accused Stefanos Kasselakis of “Trumpian practices (and) right-leaning populism”.
Continue reading...Wagner arm likely led by son of Yevgeny Prigozhin, killed in plane crash after fighters marched on Moscow, says UK defence ministry. This blog is now closed
Parts of city of Donetsk have lost power following two projectile strikes in the northwestern part of the city.
Alexey Kulemzin, the Russian-appointed mayor of Donetsk, said on Telegram that there are partial power outages in the Voroshylovskyi, Kyivskyi, Kirovskyi, Kuibyshivskyi, and Leninskyi districts.
Continue reading...