Simon Coveney evacuated after suspect device driven to venue in hijacked van
Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has been evacuated mid-speech from an event in Belfast after a suspect device was discovered in a hijacked van driven to the venue.
A controlled explosion was carried out in the car park of the Houben Centre venue, next to Holy Cross church.
Continue reading...Relatives of three victims have formally asked prosecutors in the Tuscan city to look afresh at potential leads
Families of victims of a serial killer who terrorised Florence in the 1970s and 80s are demanding a new investigation into one of Italy’s darkest unsolved mysteries, a lawyer has said.
Relatives of three victims have formally asked prosecutors in the Tuscan city to look afresh at potential leads into the so-called “Monster of Florence”, believed to have murdered 16 people.
Continue reading...This live blog has now closed, for the latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war, visit our new live blog
Russia is running out of precision guided munitions and it is more likely to rely on so-called dumb bombs and artillery, a senior Pentagon official said on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl speculated that he did not believe President Vladimir Putin wanted to have an all out conflict with Nato.
Continue reading...Ukraine strategic attacks are forcing Russian forces to defend their supply lines, says UK, amid reports Moscow has forcibly removed more than 400,000 civilians to Russia
Continue reading...Quartet accused in two major hacking campaigns between 2012 and 2018, indictment unsealed by justice department reads
The US has unveiled criminal charges against four Russian government officials, saying they engaged in two major hacking campaigns between 2012 and 2018 that targeted the global energy sector and affected thousands of computers across 135 countries.
In one now-unsealed indictment from August 2021, the justice department said three alleged hackers from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) carried out cyber-attacks on the computer networks of oil and gas firms, nuclear power plants, and utility and power transmission companies across the world between 2012 and 2017.
Continue reading...Poland and Baltic states seek embargo, while other countries including Germany and Belgium want gradual measures
European Union leaders have laid bare their differences over whether to stop buying oil and gas from Russia, following a show of transatlantic unity in a series of summits with Joe Biden and an impassioned appeal by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for more military aid to defend his country.
In the third summit on a hectic day of diplomacy that began with an emergency meeting of Nato leaders, followed by the G7, EU leaders met the US president to discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Continue reading...The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the new sanctions on members of the Russian Duma would punish lawmakers who have “supported the Kremlin’s violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
“President Putin’s war continues to inflict horror and widespread suffering on the people of Ukraine,” Blinken said in a statement.
Continue reading...Government and hauliers to meet over dispute causing food shortages in supermarkets and restaurants
The Spanish government is meeting transport associations in a fresh attempt to end an enduring lorry strike over high fuel prices that has disrupted restaurant menus and led to food shortages in supermarkets.
The action, which began last week, comes as surging energy costs are exacerbated by Russian’s invasion of Ukraine and consumer prices rise to their highest level in more than three decades.
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The port of Berdyansk, a city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast of south-east Ukraine, is reportedly on fire, according to local Ukrainian media outlets and a senior advisor to Ukraine’s interior ministry.
The city is located about 75km north-west of Mariupol.
Continue reading...Airlines increasing flights to Portuguese island after six days of minor temblors, say authorities
Authorities on a Portuguese island in the north Atlantic are preparing for the possible evacuation of local people, as six straight days of tremors stoked fears of a possible major earthquake or volcanic eruption.
The president of the Azores Islands’ regional government said on Thursday that airlines were increasing the number of flights into and out of São Jorge, where about 8,300 people live, for people who prefer to leave now.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says impact of conflict on food prices and hunger could be substantial
Rocketing global food prices as a result of the war in Ukraine could trigger riots from those going hungry in poor countries, the head of the World Trade Organization has said.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned food-producing countries against hoarding supplies and said it was vital to avoid a repeat of the Covid pandemic, when rich countries were able to secure for themselves the bulk of vaccines.
Continue reading...The US has announced new sanctions on more than 400 Russians deemed to be part of the country’s elite – including more than half the members of parliament – as part of campaign to increase the price Moscow pays for the invasion of Ukraine, while stepping up assistance to Ukrainians.
The administration also announced it would accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, almost as many as the current cap for the total number of refugees the US accepts from around the world.
Continue reading...Local reports say man’s parachute failed to open in time after jump from cliff during holiday with friends
A British Base jumper has died after his parachute failed to open in time during a cliff jump while on holiday with friends in the south of France.
The 34-year-old man succumbed to his injuries at Grenoble university hospital after Tuesday’s accident, according to the Dauphiné Libéré newspaper.
Continue reading...US congressman Richard Neal says peace deal must not be held ‘hostage over domestic politics’
A bilateral trade deal between the US and the UK is “desirable” but will not progress while the Northern Ireland peace deal is being used for domestic political purposes, one of the most powerful American congressmen has warned.
Richard Neal, the chairman of the ways and means committee, has told the Guardian: “We will not entertain a trade agreement if there is any jeopardy to the Good Friday agreement.
Continue reading...Analysis: Russia is facing logistical constraints while Ukraine is reliant on supply from the west
It has been a month since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, and such has been the intensity of the first phase of the fighting that both sides in the conflict have increasingly depleted their stocks of ammunition and other military supplies.
But while Ukraine is willing to claim that the Russian invaders have only three days of supplies left, while warning that its own troops are running out of anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, the reality is hard to measure.
Continue reading...Evan Neumann, accused of hitting police with metal barricade, tells Belarusian state TV he has ‘mixed feelings’ about the move
A former San Francisco Bay Area resident facing federal criminal charges from the January 6 attack at the US Capitol has been granted asylum in Belarus, the former Soviet nation’s state media reported on Tuesday.
Evan Neumann, 49, was charged a year ago with assaulting police, including using a metal barricade as a battering ram during the riot last year. In an interview with the Belarus 1 channel that aired last year, he acknowledged being at the building that day but rejected the charges and said he had not hit any officers.
Continue reading...US president will take part in an emergency Nato summit, G7 summit and European Council meeting
Joe Biden has arrived in Europe for a four-day trip with the aim of keeping up pressure on Russia in the face of sanctions fatigue and splits over energy sanctions among US allies.
It will also, to some extent, be a lap of honour for the US president’s success so far in keeping allies and partners together in confronting Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...Oksana Baulina was killed with another civilian while reporting for the independent Russian news website the Insider
A Russian reporter has died after coming under Russian shelling while she filmed destruction at a shopping centre in Kyiv, becoming at least the fourth journalist to die since the conflict began almost a month ago.
Oksana Baulina, who previously also worked for the Russian opposition leader Alexander Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, was killed alongside another civilian on Wednesday while reporting for the independent Russian news website the Insider.
Continue reading...In a sign of life slowly returning to normal, public tours of the US Capitol will resume on Monday in a limited capacity for the first time since March 2020, when the building closed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
We are pleased to announce that on Monday, March 28, 2022, public tours of the Capitol will resume with a limited number of member-led, staff-led tours, and school groups,” sergeant-at-arms William Walker and attending physician Brian Monahan wrote in a memo to lawmakers and Capitol staff.
“Since March 2020, the US Capitol, and the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) has been closed to tours. The decision to reinstate limited tours has been made in coordination with Congressional Leadership, the US Capitol Police Board, the Attending Physician, Capitol Visitor Services, and the US Capitol Police. We appreciate your continued patience and cooperation as we work together to resume public tours of the Capitol for the American people in a way that protects the health and safety of visitors and institutional staff alike.”
Continue reading...The Ukrainian president thanked Japan for ‘leading the way’ in virtual address to MPs
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called on Japan to increase pressure on Russia by imposing a trade embargo on Russian goods, in a virtual address to MPs in Tokyo.
Zelenskiy, who has delivered carefully tailored speeches to lawmakers in the US, UK and other countries, thanked Japan for “leading the way” among Asian countries in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and imposing sanctions.
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