Fresh Russian bombardment of Ukraine’s capital kills at least 3 people, wounds others
June 1, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces began June with a fresh aerial bombardment of Kyiv on Thursday, killing at least three people and wounding others, authorities said.
Following a reported 17 drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in May, Russian forces hit the capital in the early morning with ground-launched missiles.
Efforts to defuse Kosovo crisis intensify amid more protests
May 31, 2023 GMTZVECAN, Kosovo (AP) — International efforts to defuse a crisis in Kosovo intensified Wednesday as ethnic Serbs held more protests in a northern town where recent clashes with NATO-led peacekeepers sparked fears of renewed conflict in the troubled region.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — U.N. appeals judges on Wednesday significantly expanded the convictions of two allies of late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, holding them responsible for involvement in crimes across Bosnia and in one town in Croatia as members of a joint criminal plan to drive out non-Serbs from the areas during the Balkan wars.
Vatican questions how priest moved $17 million meant for missionary work into investment fund
May 31, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — The former monastery on a quiet residential street in Rome once sheltered Jews fearing deportation during World War II. Purchased by the Vatican in 2021 as a dormitory for foreign nuns studying at Rome’s pontifical universities, the building now stands empty, a collateral victim of the latest financial scandal to hit the Holy See.
BERLIN (AP) — The German government said Wednesday that it has told Russia to close four out of its five consulates general in Germany in a tit-for-tat move after Moscow set a limit for the number of staff at the German Embassy and related bodies in Russia.
Triple-whammy of cyclones, a 1-in-200-year event, drove Italy’s deadly flooding, scientists say
May 31, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — A rare, triple-whammy of cyclones drove the deadly flooding that devastated much of northern Italy this month, but scientists said Wednesday that climate change doesn't seem to be to blame for the intense rainfall.
LONDON (AP) — The United States and Europe are drawing up a voluntary code of conduct for artificial intelligence, a top European Union official said Wednesday, as the developing technology triggers warnings about the risks it poses to humanity and growing calls for regulation.
MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court on Wednesday set a new date for a hearing paving the way for another trial of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny that could keep him in prison for decades.
Sweden close to becoming first ‘smoke free’ country in Europe as daily use of cigarettes dwindles
June 1, 2023 GMTSTOCKHOLM (AP) — Summer is in the air, cigarette smoke is not, in Sweden's outdoor bars and restaurants.
As the World Health Organization marks “World No Tobacco Day” on Wednesday, Sweden, which has the lowest rate of smoking in the Europe Union, is close to declaring itself “smoke free” — defined as having fewer than 5% daily smokers in the population.
Italy displays antiquities looted from Italian territory and recovered from London dealer
June 1, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Italy on Wednesday displayed hundreds of antiquities that had been looted from Italian territory and were recovered from a London antiquities dealer.
The 750 objects, which date from the 8th century B.C.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Theodoros Pangalos, a former Greek foreign minister known for his undiplomatic outbursts and on whose watch Greece suffered one of its most embarrassing foreign policy debacles in 1999, has died.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A 15-year-old soccer player has died after suffering severe brain injuries during a post-match brawl with an opposing team at an international youth tournament in Germany over the weekend, officials said Wednesday.
Latvian Parliament elects foreign minister as new president
May 31, 2023 GMTHELSINKI (AP) — Latvian lawmakers on Wednesday picked the country’s long-serving and popular foreign minister, a strong backer of Ukraine, as its new head of state in a tight vote.
The 100-seat Saeima legislature elected Edgars Rinkevics, the country's top diplomat since 2011, as president to serve for a four-year term.
EU aspirant Moldova prepares to host major international summit
May 31, 2023 GMTCHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — European leaders started gathering in Moldova Wednesday on the eve of a sprawling summit aiming to show a united front in the face of Russia's war in Ukraine and underscore support for the Eastern European country’s ambitions to draw closer to the West and keep Moscow at bay.
BERLIN (AP) — A court in eastern Germany has sentenced a 28-year-old woman to five years and three months in prison for taking part in a series of attacks on neo-Nazis and other right-wing extremists over a period of two years.
Britain’s leading business lobby group sets out proposals for change after misconduct allegations
May 31, 2023 GMTLONDON (AP) — Britain's leading business lobby group set out a series of proposals Wednesday that it hopes can secure its future following a string of allegations of inappropriate behaviour that led to the cancellation of membership subscriptions from some of the country's biggest companies.
BERLIN (AP) — German inflation eased to 6.1% in May following several months of declines, even as Europe's biggest economy registered another painful increase in food prices of nearly 15%.
Preliminary figures show that the annual inflation rate was lower than the 7.2% registered in April, the Federal Statistical Office said Wednesday.
Auschwitz museum criticizes use of death camp in politics after ruling party uses it in political ad
May 31, 2023 GMTWARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial museum has denounced a political spot by Poland's ruling party that uses the theme of the Nazi German extermination camp to discourage participation in an upcoming anti-government march.
Why do Kosovo-Serbia tensions persist?
May 31, 2023 GMTBELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo flared anew this week after Kosovo’s police raided Serb-dominated areas in the region’s north and seized local municipality buildings.
China factory activity slows, adding to economic strains
May 31, 2023 GMTBEIJING (AP) — China's manufacturing slowdown deepened in May as consumer and export demand weakened, a survey showed Wednesday, adding to signs an economic rebound following the end of anti-virus controls is slowing.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a draft bill that would impose a ban on gender-affirming surgery, the latest move in the Kremlin-orchestrated crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights.
The draft submitted by 400 members of the 450-seat lower house, the State Duma, would ban any gender-affirming surgery except that intended to treat "congenital physiological anomalies." Those exclusive cases will be regulated by dedicated medical panels that will be closely overseen by the government.
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — NATO will send 700 more troops to northern Kosovo to help quell violent protests after clashes with ethnic Serbs there left 30 international soldiers wounded, the alliance announced Tuesday.
Russia says drones lightly damage Moscow buildings before dawn, while Ukraine’s capital bombarded
May 30, 2023 GMTBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Authorities on the European island nation of Malta have contested accusations made by a group of nongovernmental organizations a day earlier regarding a migrant boat in distress.
UK government fights demand to hand over Boris Johnson’s messages to COVID-19 inquiry
May 30, 2023 GMTLONDON (AP) — As Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson established an independent public inquiry into his government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
OSLO, Norway (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday the “time is now” for Turkey to drop its objections to Sweden joining NATO but said the Biden administration also believed that Turkey should be provided with upgraded F-16 fighters “as soon as possible.”
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Ukraine's economy is showing “remarkable resilience” following Russian attacks on its electricity infrastructure, officials from the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday as they signed off on an initial loan of $900 million and raised their estimate for the country’s economic growth.
Notre Dame’s fire-ravaged roof rebuilt using medieval techniques
May 30, 2023 GMTSAINT-LAURENT-DE-LA-PLAINE, France (AP) — If time travel was possible, medieval carpenters would surely be amazed to see how woodworking techniques they pioneered in building Notre Dame Cathedral more than 800 years ago are being used again today to rebuild the world-famous monument's fire-ravaged roof.
US and EU criticize Polish plans for law that could keep opposition from holding office
May 30, 2023 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — The United States and the European Union's top justice official on Tuesday criticized Polish plans for a law that they say could keep political opponents from holding public office without them having the full powers to challenge the decision in court.
Italy announces arrest of minor belonging to international network of young ISIS supporters
May 30, 2023 GMTMILAN (AP) — Italian authorities have arrested a minor suspected of being a supporter of the ISIS terror network who was allegedly planning an explosive attack in the area where he lived, police said Tuesday.
2 Italian agents, 1 ex-Israeli agent among 4 dead in boat that capsized in storm on Italian lake
May 30, 2023 GMTMILAN (AP) — Two Italian intelligence agents and one retired Israeli agent were among the four dead when a sudden storm sank a houseboat hired for a pleasure cruise this weekend on a northern Italian lake, authorities said Tuesday.
BERLIN (AP) — A central figure in a German tax evasion scandal was convicted on Tuesday and sentenced to more than eight years in prison, the second verdict against him in the space of a few months.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norwegian authorities said Tuesday that a beluga whale, which was first spotted in Arctic Norway four years ago with an apparent Russian-made harness and alleged to have come from a Russian military facility, has been seen off Sweden's coast nearly 2,000 kilometers (around 1,250 miles) to the south.
Post-soccer match brawl in Germany leaves teen with life-threatening injuries; 16-year-old detained
May 30, 2023 GMTFRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A 15-year-old soccer player has been hospitalized with life-threatening brain injuries after being struck by an opposing player in a post-match fight during an international youth tournament in Germany.
BERLIN (AP) — A panel of historians set up to review the 1972 attack on the Munich Olympics is starting its three-year mission to examine what happened before, during and after the events of five decades ago on Tuesday, the German government said.
COPENHAGEN,Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s centrist government said Tuesday that it wants to invest some 143 billion kroner ($20.6 billion) in the country's defense over the next decade, citing a “serious threat picture.”
BEIJING (AP) — China on Tuesday expressed its support for Serbia’s efforts to “safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity” following renewed violence between ethnic Serbs and NATO peacekeeping troops in Kosovo.
LONDON (AP) — The big cheese of extreme U.K. sports events is back.
Hundreds of spectators gathered Monday to watch dozens of reckless racers chase a 7-pound (3 kilogram) wheel of Double Gloucester cheese down the near-vertical Cooper’s Hill, near Gloucester in southwest England.
Spain PM’s shock election call brings unruly coalition to heel
May 30, 2023 GMTMADRID (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's snap general election call breaks apart the coalition he built with the far-left United We Can party, marking a line in the sand with a movement born from grassroots activism whose electoral fortunes have nosedived.
KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — There is activity at the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, but it’s not what scientists at its cutting-edge nuclear laboratory trained for.
Staff at the U.S.-funded atomic research lab in northeastern Ukraine spend their days patching up the facility, which has been badly damaged by repeated Russian strikes.
25 NATO-led peacekeepers injured in Kosovo in clashes with Serbs outside municipal building
May 30, 2023 GMTZVECAN, Kosovo (AP) — The NATO-led peacekeeping force said on Monday that 25 of its troops were injured in clashes with ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo after they tried to take over the offices of one of the municipalities where ethnic Albanian mayors took up their posts last week.
Russia strikes Kyiv in daylight after hitting Ukraine’s capital with series of nighttime barrages
May 30, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Explosions rattled Kyiv during daylight Monday as Russian ballistic missiles took aim at the Ukrainian capital, hours after a more common nighttime barrage of the city by drones and cruise missiles.
MILAN (AP) — The French general manager of Milan’s famed Teatro alla Scala is facing the threat of a tenure cut short, even as he unveiled a star-studded 2023-24 season and announced record sponsor revenues on Monday.
With new mandate secured, Turkey’s Erdogan likely to continue engaging with both West and Russia
May 29, 2023 GMTANKARA, Turkey (AP) — After securing a strong new mandate in a runoff presidential election, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan could temper some positions that have irritated his NATO allies.
5 Greek border police officers arrested on suspicion of working with migrant smugglers
May 29, 2023 GMTTHESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities said Monday they had arrested five police officers from a special border guard force on suspicion of working with smugglers to help migrants cross into the country from neighboring Turkey.
Belarus has no immediate plans to adopt Russian currency, its strongman leader Lukashenko says
May 29, 2023 GMTTALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus and Russia have no plans to adopt a joint currency in the near future, Belarus’ strongman leader announced on Monday.
Speaking at a meeting with the head of Russia’s central bank, Alexander Lukashenko said that introducing the Russian ruble in Belarus would not be “an easy process,” and that the authorities in Minsk had no intentions so far of doing so.
Rescue groups say Malta coordinated the return of 500 migrants to Libya instead of saving them
May 29, 2023 GMTBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A group of non-governmental organizations dedicated to rescuing migrants in the central Mediterranean is accusing the European island nation of Malta of coordinating the return of around 500 people to Libya where they were subsequently imprisoned, in violation of international maritime law.
What 5 more years of Erdogan’s rule means for Turkey
May 29, 2023 GMTISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won reelection in a runoff Sunday, following a nail-biter first round two weeks earlier.
Poland imposes sanctions on 365 Belarusians over ‘draconian’ verdict against journalist
May 29, 2023 GMTWARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland imposed sanctions Monday on 365 Belarusian citizens and froze the financial assets of 20 entities and 16 other people associated with Russian capital in reaction to what it condemned as a “draconian” verdict against a journalist.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish President Andrzej Duda said Monday he would sign a bill that creates a powerful commission, ostensibly meant to investigate Russian influence in Poland but which critics view as a tool to remove from political life the opponents of the ruling party — mostly notably opposition leader Donald Tusk.
4 dead after tourist boat capsizes in storm on Italian lake
May 29, 2023 GMTMILAN (AP) — A body was retrieved early Monday in a northern Italian lake by police divers, raising to four the final death toll in the capsizing of a tourist boat a day earlier during a sudden, violent storm that included a whirlwind.
Spanish prime minister calls early general election after battering in regional vote
May 29, 2023 GMTMADRID (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday called an early general election for July 23 in a surprise move after his Socialist party took a serious battering in local and regional elections.
High school student in Italy wounds teacher with hunting knife, waves toy gun in class
May 29, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — A student wounded his teacher with a hunting knife and brandished what turned out to be a toy gun at classmates in a high school in a Milan suburb on Monday, police said.
Classmates later recounted that the 16-year-old suddenly stood up shortly after classes began in the town of Abbiategrasso and attacked the teacher from behind on an arm and on her head, the Italian news agency ANSA said.
PARIS (AP) — A United Nations committee met in Paris Monday to work on what is intended to be a landmark treaty to bring an end to global plastic pollution, but there is little agreement yet on what the outcome should be.