Police say there could be more fatalities after 4am collapse of three-storey building on Channel Island
At least three people have died and about 12 people are believed to be missing after an explosion in a block of flats in St Helier, Jersey police have said.
The blast at Haut du Mont, Pier Road, in the capital, occurred at about 4am on Saturday, less than eight hours after firefighters had been called to the site after concerns from residents, it was confirmed.
Continue reading...Ukraine’s president says Russian shelling has ‘actually destroyed’ the city
Russian forces have “destroyed” the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, while Ukraine’s military reported missile, rocket and airstrikes in multiple parts of the country.
The latest battles of Russia’s nine-and-a-half-month war in Ukraine have centred on four provinces that Russian president Vladimir Putin illegally claimed to have annexed in late September, the Associated Press reported.
Continue reading...Trucks and agricultural machines used as roadblocks, heightening recent tensions in the region
Hundreds of ethnic Serbs erected barricades on a road in northern Kosovo on Saturday, blocking the traffic over the two main border crossings towards Serbia, police said.
Trucks, ambulance cars and agricultural machines were used as roadblocks, heightening recent tensions which included explosions, shootings and an armed attack on a police patrol which saw one ethnic Albanian police officer wounded.
Continue reading...Two apparently uninjured people safe after incident in which shots were reportedly fired
German police said on Saturday that a man suspected of killing his mother and later taking two people hostage in the eastern city of Dresden has died.
Authorities had urged people to avoid an area in the city centre and ordered Dresden’s Christmas market to remain closed while the police operation to free the hostages was under way.
Continue reading...Russian drones hit energy facilities in Ukraine port city, leaving all non-critical infrastructure without power
All non-critical infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa was without power after Russia used drones to hit energy facilities, local officials said on Saturday, with much of the surrounding region also affected.
“Due to the scale of the damage all users in Odesa except critical infrastructure have been disconnected from electricity,” Odesa’s mayor, Gennadiy Trukhanov, wrote on Facebook.
Continue reading...Ukrainians have the technical advantage but Russians persist in sacrificing troops to take an area with no strategic value
In a smothering fog cloaking the woods of the Donbas, the sound of artillery takes on a spooky, disconnected quality.
Guns crack nearby, invisible among the skeletal branches. Shells whicker in the gloom towards the Russian lines around the key city of Bakhmut, distant thuds marking when they hit their targets. When the Russian guns fire back, it’s with a different sound, the crump of incoming fire.
Continue reading...Putin mentions potential settlement with Ukraine; blasts reported at airbase in Zaporizhzhia region; Brittney Griner ‘in good spirits’ after prisoner swap
Continue reading...Vote comes as government tries to mitigate impact of a phone-tapping scandal involving Pasok party leader
Greece’s parliament has passed a bill overhauling the country’s intelligence service (EYP) and banning the sale of spyware, as the government tries to mitigate the impact of a phone-tapping scandal still under investigation.
The case has turned up the heat on the conservative government, which faces elections in 2023. It emerged in August when Nikos Androulakis, the leader of the socialist Pasok party, Greece’s third-largest, claimed the EYP listened to his conversations in 2021.
Continue reading...Ex-police officer once tasked with protecting Jewish communities also linked to foiled Reichsbürger plan
A celebrity gourmet chef whose daughter is the girlfriend of the Real Madrid footballer David Alaba and an ex-police officer once tasked with protecting Jewish communities from terror attacks are among the latest figures to have been linked to the foiled Reichsbürger coup plan in Germany, with further arrests expected as investigations continue.
Details emerging after the biggest ever national police operation against rightwing extremism indicate that suspects may have been informed in advance of the raids, in which 3,000 police officers targeted more than 150 addresses across Germany, and in Austria and Italy, making 25 arrests.
Continue reading...Two sarcophaguses unearthed in reconstruction work after 2019 fire identified as elite canon of cathedral and young cavalier
Two lead sarcophaguses discovered buried under the nave at Notre Dame Cathedral in what was described as an “extraordinary and emotional” find have begun giving up their secrets, French scientists announced on Friday.
The first contains the remains of a high priest who died in 1710 after what experts say appeared to be a sedentary life. The occupant of the second has not yet been identified – and may never be – but is believed to be a young, wealthy and privileged noble who could have lived as far back as the 14th century.
Continue reading...Basketball star lands at Texas airbase after being swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout
The American basketball star Brittney Griner returned to the US early on Friday after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange from nearly 10 months in detention in Russia.
The deal, in which she was swapped for the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, secured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad and achieved a top goal for Joe Biden. But Washington failed to win freedom for another US citizen, Paul Whelan, who has been jailed for nearly four years.
Continue reading...Politician sentenced to eight and a half years over series of posts about atrocities in Bucha
A Russian court has sentenced the opposition politician Ilya Yashin to eight and a half years in prison, in the most high-profile case to date of a Russian dissident being jailed for opposing the invasion of Ukraine.
Yashin was tried on charges of spreading false information meant to discredit the Russian army, under a law introduced after Russia launched its invasion, due to a series of posts in May about the murder and torture of Ukrainian civilians by Russian troops in the town of Bucha.
Continue reading...Fishing boat believed to be resting on seabed after collision with Condor Ferries freight vessel
The search for three fishers whose boat sank in the Channel after a collision with a freight vessel has resumed off the coast of Jersey.
Lifeboats and a search aircraft were launched at first light to continue to scour the area to the west and north-west of the island.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak says defence deal for Tempest means ‘outpacing those who seek to do us harm’
Britain will work to develop next-generation fighter jets with Italy and Japan, Rishi Sunak has announced.
The prime minister said the defence partnership will ensure the UK and allies are “outpacing and outmanoeuvring those who seek to do us harm”.
Continue reading...President hails ‘revolution for contraception’ as government seeks to curb STIs and unwanted pregnancies
The French president has said condoms will be made available for free in pharmacies for 18- to 25-year-olds in an attempt to reduce unwanted pregnancies among young people.
“It’s a small revolution for contraception,” Emmanuel Macron announced during a health debate with young people in Fontaine-le-Comte, a suburb of Poitiers in western France.
Continue reading...Russian president still claims ‘special military operation’ going to plan during Kyrgyzstan press conference
Vladimir Putin mentioned a potential settlement to end his war in Ukraine on Friday while still claiming that his “special military operation” was going to plan.
“The settlement process as a whole, yes, it will probably be difficult and will take some time. But one way or another, all participants in this process will have to agree with the realities that are taking shape on the ground,” the Russia president said during remarks at a press-conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Continue reading...Number of suspects revised upwards to 52, 23 of whom are currently in custody, and more police raids are planned
Germany is trying to get the measure of how imminent a threat to the state was posed by the rightwing terror ring exposed on Wednesday, as police made further arrests in connection with the coup plot.
In their biggest ever raid targeting rightwing extremists, German authorities arrested 25 people suspected of plotting to overthrow the government, install a shadow regime led by a 71-year-old aristocrat, and seek talks with Russia to renegotiate its post-second world war settlement.
Continue reading...Two refused countries will try again after Austria raised concerns about unauthorised immigration
Croatia has been given the green light to join Europe’s open travel zone, but Bulgaria and Romania were kept out because of opposition led by Austria over concerns about unauthorised immigration.
Croatia was cleared to become the Schengen zone’s 27th member after talks between the bloc’s interior ministers in Brussels. From 2023, people will not have to stop for border checks as they pass between Croatia and the rest of the zone.
Continue reading...Critics accuse authorities of ‘bogus environmentalism’ over installation in historic Piazza Venezia
A row has broken out over two “ugly” solar panels intended to power the lights on Rome’s traditional Christmas tree.
There is always much anticipation in the Italian capital when the fir arrives at the Piazza Venezia in the historic centre – a Unesco world heritage site – with many giving their view on the choice of decoration.
Continue reading...Experts create guide to help save seabirds from bleak future caused by global heating
The majority of puffin nesting sites in western Europe are likely to be lost by the end of the century due to climate breakdown, a report has warned.
Other seabirds will also be affected unless urgent action to limit global heating is taken, with razorbills and arctic terns forecast to lose 80% and 87% of their breeding grounds respectively owing to reduced food accessibility and prolonged periods of stormy weather.
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