List of All Articles with Tag 'europe'

By Bansari Mayur Kamdar European shares were flat on Tuesday as losses in technology stocks offset gains by

Kim Jong-un appears to have chosen his favoured means of transportation for his first journey outside North Korea in nearly four years – a lavishly adorned, heavily fortified and slow-moving train. Mr Kim reached Russia on Tuesday after boarding the train on Sunday. He was accompanied by top arms industry and military officials besides North Korea’s foreign minister. The green-coloured and armoured train carrying Mr Kim reached Khasan station, the main rail gateway to Russia’s far east that is about 127km south of Vladivostok, on Monday, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported, citing an unnamed Russian official source. Vladimir Putin and Mr Kim are expected to discuss arms shipments that could aid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, in a regional summit taking place in Vladivostok. The trip has happened as Russia leans closer to the east Asian country even though Washington has warned against an arms deal. Few have travelled in the North Korean leader’s private train besides the isolated country’s political elite, but pictures posted in state media depict a train full of luxuries. The train cars are painted military green on the outside and have a yellow streak across the body. The interiors are glossy white, with long tables for meetings. Other pictures also show red leather armchairs. The train has conference rooms, audience chambers and bedrooms, with satellite phones and flat-screen televisions installed for briefings. “It was possible to order any dish of Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and French cuisine,” Russian official Konstantin Pulikovsky had recounted, while on a trip across Russia’s far east with Kim Jong Il in a book called Orient Express, the Washington Post had reported. The Russian official had said there were cases of Bordeaux and Burgundy wines and live lobsters. The travellers were reportedly entertained by live singers who were introduced as “lady conductors”. The train has a total of 90 rail cars, with some designed to carry vehicles as well. Reports say each carriage is bulletproof, making the train thousands of pounds heavier. The train is, hence, slow. The reduced speed of the train is frequently attributed to its substantial weight – a consequence of the additional armour incorporated into the train’s structure. Georgy Toloraya, another Russian diplomat who travelled with Kim Jong Il in 2001, said, during an examination of the train by Russian technicians, they discovered armoured sheets positioned beneath two primary railcars employed by the North Korean leader for both residential and official functions. The technicians reportedly also discovered that the railcars originated from the Soviet Union, but had undergone extensive modifications at some later date. According to a report by South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, approximately 100 security agents are dispatched in advance to railway stations to conduct security sweeps for potential threats. Power is deliberately shut off at these stations to prevent other trains from departing. The report from 2009 also noted the presence of a substantial logistical support contingent, which includes Soviet-made Il-76 air force transport planes and Mi-17 helicopters. Read More North Korea’s Kim Jong-un arrives in Russia ahead of meeting with Putin – report Ukraine-Russia war – live: Kim Jong-un arrives in Russia in ‘absolute secrecy’ ahead of weapons talk with Putin Kim Jong-un heading for Russia by train ahead of weapons talks with Putin The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

UK wage growth held at a record high in the three months through July, a sign of persistent

An armoured train carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Russia, the country’s state news agency reported today. The train crossed the Khasan station in “an atmosphere of absolute secrecy” this morning, Russian news agency Interfax reported, citing footage from Rossiya-1 TV state channel. Khasan is a small settlement in Russia’s Far East and the tripoint where the borders for Russia, China and North Korea converge. Western intelligence agencies expect the two to discuss North Korea supplying weapons and ammunition to support Russia’s war machine in Ukraine. South Korean media, citing government sources, said that the train left the North Korean capital on Sunday evening and that the summit would likely be held today or tomorrow in Vladivostok – which is just 80 miles from the Russia-North Korea border. Meanwhile, Ukraine has made gains on the frontline in the east and south, Kyiv has claimed as it seeks to put Russia’s forces on the run. Ukrainian troops near the frontline town of Avdiivka took advantage of Russian forces focusing on to advance and capture part of the village of Opytne to the south, the head of the local military administration said. Read More Why Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are desperate for each other’s help North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrives in Russia before an expected meeting with Putin Ukraine ‘many steps closer to regaining Crimea’ after Black Sea gains

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin Buckland Chinese property stocks and Japanese government

Ukrainian special forces regained control of a number of oil and gas drilling platforms that Russia has used to help control the Black Sea in a "unique operation," the country's military intelligence (GUR) has said. During the operation, the GUR said, there was a clash between Ukrainian special forces on boats and a Russian fighter jet, which was damaged and forced to retreat. It said the platforms, close to Crimea and known as the Boika Towers, had been occupied since 2015 by Moscow, which seized and annexed the peninsula in 2014. The UK's Ministry of Defence has previously said the platforms could be used to launch helicopters, position long-range missile systems and as a base for forward deployment. "For Ukraine, regaining control of the Boiko Towers was of strategic importance and, as a result, Russia lost the ability to use them for military purposes," GUR said on Telegram. "Russia has been deprived of the ability to fully control the waters of the Black Sea, and this makes Ukraine many steps closer to regaining Crimea," it said. The GUR said troops also captured other "valuable trophies" such as helicopter munitions and a radar system that can track the movement of ships in the Black Sea, it said. It comes as Kyiv said that its troops had also regained more territory on the southern and eastern frontlines as it pushes on with its counteroffensive to reclaim land occupied by Russian forces. The deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said in televised comments that Ukraine had retaken nearly two square kilometres of land around the devastated – and Moscow-occupied – eastern city of Bakhmut, the scene for some of the fiercest fighting of the war. Ukrainian troops have regained control of about 49 square km near Bakhmut since the start of the counteroffensive in early June, Ms Maliar said. Ukrainian troops near the eastern frontline town of Avdiivka took advantage of Russian forces focusing on one part of the battlefield to advance and capture part of the village of Opytne south of the city, the head of the local military administration said. “In my opinion, this is very significant,” Vitaliy Barabash told national television. “To be frank, the enemy overlooked this southern direction a bit.” He called the advance a “thunderous assault operation”. Ukraine's military also said that Russia could launch a big mobilisation campaign soon to try to recruit hundreds of thousands of soldiers from inside Russia and occupied Ukraine. The Ukrainian General Staff provided no evidence in a statement to support its assertion. Russian officials have said there are no current plans for a new wave of mobilisation and that Moscow is focused on recruiting professional soldiers. "A mass forced mobilisation of the population is expected soon in the Russian Federation and temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine due to the occupiers' catastrophic losses," the General Staff said in a battlefield roundup. The mobilisation campaign could target between 400,000 and 700,000 recruits, it said, citing different estimates. In Kyiv, the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said during that Ukraine's place was in the European Union, but urged it do more to fight corruption. At meetings with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian officials, she also heard calls for Western partners to provide Kyiv with more weapons including long-range missiles to fight Russian forces. Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said he had called for Taurus cruise missiles to be delivered to Ukraine as soon as possible. "You will do it anyway, its just a matter of time, and I don't understand why we are wasting time," Mr Kuleba said. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report Read More World War I memorials in France and Belgium are vying again to become UNESCO World Heritage sites Kim Jong-un leaves for Russia by train ahead of weapons talks with Putin Court convicts Portuguese hacker in Football Leaks trial and gives him a 4-year suspended sentence

Mounting climate risks, illustrated by the extreme heat, wildfires and floods that ravaged parts of Europe this summer, could hurt the region's economy as soon as this year, the European Commission warned Monday.

Chris Heaton-Harris says Leo Varadkar's recent comments on reunification were unhelpful to Stormont talks.

Greece’s shipping minister resigned Monday over the death of a man who was pushed off a ferry ramp by a crew member after arriving late. A Greek prosecutor brought criminal charges against the captain of the island ferry and three crew members over the encounter in the port of Piraeus, near Athens, that resulted in the Sept. 5 drowning of Andonis Kargiotis, 36. One crew member faces a charge of homicide with possible intent. Amateur video posted online showed the passenger running onto the Blue Horizon ferry’s loading ramp as the ship had cast off its moorings and was about to leave for the island of Crete. He tried to push past two crew members and then was pushed off the ramp when he tried again. The footage showed the man disappearing in water churned up by the ferry leaving the dock as crew members stepped away. The ship was eventually ordered to return but the man was found unresponsive. He was later determined to have drowned by a medical examiner. “No one can imagine that Greek sailors, violating the age-old rules for the protection of human life at sea, pushed and abandoned an unfortunate young man,” Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Miltiadis Varvitsiotis wrote in an online post after submitting his resignation. Political opponents had accused Varvitsiotis, 54, of initially downplaying the ferry incident. He became maritime minister after Greece’s conservative government won a landslide reelection victory in June. Varvitsiotis apologized last week over remarks made in a private television interview in which he expressed sympathy for the indicted crew members. “There are those who grieve for the man so unfairly lost and also those who grieve for the people who went to earn their wage, a day’s pay, who now find themselves accused of murder,” he said in the interview. Christos Stylianides, a former Greek Cabinet member in charge of disaster response, was named as his replacement Monday. Despite its convincing election victory three months ago, the Greek government has found itself on the defensive over its handling of major wildfires and ongoing massive floods this summer. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide

Provides an overview of Denmark, including key dates and facts about this European country.

BMW AG will invest in the 110-year-old plant where the Mini brand was born to make electric models,

Kingspan Group Plc made an informal approach to combine with Carlisle Cos., which rebuffed the move to create