
Forest fire in Spain's La Palma island forces evacuations
BARCELONA (Reuters) -A forest fire in the Spanish island of La Palma has forced the evacuation of at least 500
2023-07-15 21:16

Ukraine Russia war – live: Wagner mercenaries ‘arrive in Belarus’ as Putin sacks top commander
Wagner mercenaries are arriving in Belarus weeks after a failed rebellion against the Kremlin regime, it has been reported. A large convoy of around 60 vehicles, including large trucks and buses, were seen moving northwest to a camp in the village of Tsel, according to military monitoring group ‘Belarusian Gayun’. “A combination of factors indicates that this is a convoy of the Wagner PMCs [private military company], which entered Belarus from the Russian Federation at night in the Krichev area,” it said. Elsewhere, a top Russian commander appears to have been sacked for voicing concerns about the Kremlin’s war strategy in a sign of growing divisions between officers on the front line and the country’s military leadership. The 58th Combined Arms Army’s general-major Ivan Popov was dismissed after a leaked video showed him delivering a blistering attack on the Russian military leadership, whom he accused of “hitting us from the rear, viciously beheading the Army at the most difficult and intense moment”. Britain’s Ministry of Defence said the “comments draw attention to serious disaffection many officers likely harbour towards the senior military leadership.” Read More Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘dead or in prison’ after Putin meeting, former US commander claims Russian general says he has been fired for telling truth about dire situation on Ukraine frontlines What to know about the harrowing Ukraine war doc '20 Days in Mariupol'
2023-07-15 20:51

Europe heatwave 2023 – live: Red alerts for 16 cities as blistering 40C heat grips continent
Red alerts for extreme heat have been issued in 16 cities across Italy as the Mediterranean country and swathes of Europe are gripped by blistering hot temperatures. Tourist hotspots Rome, Florence and Bologna are among some of the cities affected, with people there told to take extra care as the mercury climbs towards 40C amid the Cerberus heatwave. Temperatures are set to peak at around 36C (96.8F) in most Italian cities, though Puglia, Sicily, and Sardinia may reach up to 41C. Next week temperatures are predicted to climb as high as 48C in Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily as a second heatwave - named Cheron - hits the country. On Friday Greece introduced emergency measures for workers and zoo animals in Madrid were fed fruit ice-lollies in a bid to cool them do. The Cerberus heatwave is set to get worse over the weekend with the mercury expected to reach as high as 45C in parts of Greece and Spain with temperatures forecast to break all-time records. Read More Land temperatures in Spain surpass 60C as deadly heatwave sweeps Europe UK weather: Met Office issues two yellow warnings as Britons brace for ‘unusual’ winds Europe heatwave: Is it safe to travel to Italy, Spain, Greece and Croatia?
2023-07-15 18:57

London mayor urges government to re-join EU research project
Scientists say being outside the £85b scheme is highly damaging to UK science and innovation
2023-07-15 16:24

Ukraine Recap: S. Korean President Makes Surprise Visit to Kyiv
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived in Kyiv on Saturday and will meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy,
2023-07-15 15:54

Germans Aren’t Buying Scholz’s Plan to Keep Them Safe and Rich
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is struggling to persuade Germans he can handle the litany of troubles looming over the
2023-07-15 13:59

Sunak Officials Play Down Talk of Cooling Prices Before Key Week
After watching British prices surge faster than expected for four straight months, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s team isn’t
2023-07-15 13:15

Turkey Parliament Recess No Barrier to Debate Sweden’s NATO Bid
Turkey’s Parliament has enabled its foreign affairs committee to work during its more than two-month summer recess that
2023-07-15 12:25

Putin says Wagner Group has no legal basis and therefore simply doesn’t exist
Russian president Vladimir Putin said that the Wagner private military company “simply doesn't exist” as a legal entity, in comments adding to the series of often bizarre twists that have followed the group’s abortive revolt last month – the most serious threat to Putin’s 23-year rule amid the war in Ukraine. “There is no law on private military organizations. It simply doesn’t exist,” Mr Putin told a Russian newspaper late Thursday, referring to the Wagner group. Mr Putin recounted to Kommersant his own version of a Kremlin event attended by 35 Wagner commanders, including the group's chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on June 29. That meeting came just five days after Prigozhin and his troops staged a stunning but short-lived rebellion against Moscow authorities. The meeting was revealed earlier this week by a Kremlin official. Mr Putin said that at the talks, Wagner rejected an offer to keep its troops in Ukraine, where they have played key battlefield roles, under the leadership of their direct commander. “All of them could have gathered in one place and continued to serve,” Mr Putin told the newspaper, “And nothing would have changed for them. They would have been led by the same person who had been their real commander all along.” Mr Putin has previously said that Wagner troops had to choose whether to sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry, move to neighboring Belarus or retire from service. According to him, although “many nodded” when he made his proposal, Mr Prigozhin rejected the idea, responding that “the boys won’t agree with such a decision”. This, Mr Putin said, was one of “several employment options” put forward at the meeting. During the revolt that lasted less than 24 hours, Mr Prigozhin’s mercenaries quickly swept through the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and captured the military headquarters there without firing a shot, before driving to within about 200km (125 miles) of Moscow. Mr Prigozhin described the move as a “march of justice” to oust the military leaders, who demanded that Wagner sign contracts with the Defense Ministry by July 1. The fate of Mr Prigozhin and the terms of a deal that ended the armed rebellion by offering amnesty for him and his mercenaries, along with permission, to move to Belarus remain cloudy. Wagner mercenaries are completing the handover of their weapons to the Russian military, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. Their disarming of Wagner reflects efforts by Russian authorities to defuse the threat they posed and also appears to herald an end to the mercenary group’s operations on the battlefield in Ukraine, where Kyiv’s forces are engaged in a counteroffensive. Read More Russia-Ukraine war – live: Wagner forces training soldiers in Belarus after Prigozhin exile Tucker Carlson and Mike Pence clash in heated exchange over Ukraine at GOP 2024 forum Putin wants to attend an August summit. Host country South Africa doesn't want to have to arrest him Russian antiwar activist allowed into Serbia after spending more than a day at the Belgrade airport Why are Russian and Belarusian players allowed back at Wimbledon? Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide
2023-07-15 12:16

Missing Russian general with links to Wagner boss is ‘resting’ says official
A top Russian official has addressed the whereabouts of a senior general who has not been seen in public since the Wagner mutiny. Andrei Kartapolov, head of the state Duma defence committee, said that general Sergei Surovikin is “resting” and “not available right now”. It follows reports that Wagner boss Yevgeny Priogozhin has likely been murdered or incarcerated after leading a failed rebellion against the Kremlin regime. General Surovikin is known to have a close relationship with Mr Priogozhin who last month ordered his soldiers to march on Moscow in what the Kremlin referred to as an aborted mutiny. The incident formed part of an ongoing feud with Russia’s top military brass about its strategy in the Ukraine war. Media reports claim Mr Surovikin was being interrogated by security forces at an unknown location over his connection to warlord Mr Priogozhin. However, the British Ministry of Defence suggested Mr Surovikin had been “sidelined following the mutiny”, the Guardian reported. The ministry cited the “increased public profile” of his deputy Viktor Afzalov as evidence of why he has disappeared from public view. In a televised appearance, Afzalov was shown briefing chief of general staff Valery Gerasimov on July 10, according to the ministry. “Afzalov’s increased public profile, while Surovikin’s whereabouts remains unclear, adds further weight to the hypothesis that Surovikin has been sidelined following the mutiny,” it said. Meanwhile, Russian major general Ivan Popov, who was the commander of Russia’s 58th Combined Arms Army fighting near Zaporizhzhia, has said that he was fired as a commander after telling his superiors “the truth” about the dire situation on the frontlines in Ukraine. Maj Gen Popov told his troops in an audio statement that he was dismissed after a meeting with the top military brass in what he described as a “treacherous” stab in the back to the Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. He added that the military leadership was angered by his frank talk about the challenges faced by his forces. “The top officers apparently saw me as a source of threat and rapidly issued an order to get rid of me, which was signed by the defence minister in just one day,” he said. Read More Russia-Ukraine war – live: Wagner forces training soldiers in Belarus after Prigozhin exile Wagner mercenaries are in Belarus and training the country’s soldiers Putin wants to attend an August summit. Host country South Africa doesn't want to have to arrest him The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary
2023-07-15 11:27

Turkey's deepening economic crisis prompts Erdogan to look West
Turkey's leader hopes to mend relations and reassure foreign investors who ditched his struggling economy.
2023-07-15 08:56

FTC Loses Appeal Bid to Block Microsoft-Activision Deal
A US appeals court denied a Federal Trade Commission bid to pause Microsoft Corp.’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard
2023-07-15 08:25