Tories Lose Key UK Seat to Liberal Democrats in Blow to Sunak
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suffered a political upset as his ruling Conservative Party lost a key parliamentary election
2023-07-21 10:16
Japan Bond Investors See Turbulence That Defies Ueda’s View
Investors in Japan’s bond market are bracing for turbulence that has the potential to test the Bank of
2023-07-21 08:57
Asia Stocks Face Weak Open After Wall Street Drop: Markets Wrap
Asian stocks are set for a weak open after US equities and Treasuries fell following disappointing tech earnings
2023-07-21 07:58
Amsterdam bans cruise ships to limit visitors and curb pollution
It comes months after young British men were urged not to hold bachelor parties in the Dutch capital.
2023-07-21 07:29
FBI Document at Heart of Biden Bribery Claims Released by GOP Lawmakers
An FBI document released Thursday as evidence of bribes paid by Ukrainian businessmen to President Joe Biden and
2023-07-21 04:45
Russia seeks a 20-year prison term for Kremlin foe Navalny in closed trial, ally says
Russian prosecutors asked a court to sentence imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny to 20 years in prison on extremism charges, his ally Ivan Zhdanov said Thursday. According to Zhdanov, the trial against Navalny, which went on behind closed doors in the prison where the politician is serving another lengthy sentence, is scheduled to conclude with a verdict on Aug. 4. In his closing statement released Thursday by his team, Navalny bashed Russian authorities as being governed by “bargaining, power, bribery, deception, treachery ... and not law.” Navalny said: “Anyone in Russia knows that a person who seeks justice in a court of law is completely vulnerable. The case of that person is hopeless." Navalny, 47, is President Vladimir Putin's fiercest foe who exposed official corruption and organized major anti-Kremlin protests. He was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. The authorities sentenced him to 2 1/2 years in prison for parole violations and then to another nine years on charges of fraud and contempt of court. The politician is currently serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison east of Moscow. He has spent months in a tiny one-person cell, also called a “punishment cell,” for purported disciplinary violations such as an alleged failure to properly button his prison clothes, properly introduce himself to a guard or to wash his face at a specified time. Navalny's allies have accused prison authorities of failing to provide him with proper medical assistance and voiced concern about his health. The new charges relate to the activities of Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation and statements by his top associates. His allies said the charges retroactively criminalize all the foundation's activities since its creation in 2011. Navalny has rejected all the charges against him as politically motivated and has accused the Kremlin of seeking to keep him behind bars for life. One of his associates — Daniel Kholodny — was relocated from a different prison to face trial alongside him. The prosecution has asked to sentence Kholodny to 10 years in prison. The trial against the two began a month ago and went along swiftly by Russian standards, where people often spend months, if not years, awaiting for their verdict. It was unusually shielded from public attention and Navalny's lawyers haven't offered any comments on the proceedings. Navalny, in his sardonic social media posts, occasionally offered a glimpse of what was going on with his case. In one such post, the politician revealed that a song by a popular Russian rapper praising him was listed as evidence in the case files, and claimed that he made the judge and bailiffs laugh out loud as the song was played during a court hearing. In another, he said that the case files linked him to U.S. mogul Warren Buffet. In his closing statement, Navalny referred to the recent short-lived armed rebellion by the fighters of Russia's private military company Wagner, after which their chief and the leader of the mutiny, Yevgeny Prigozhin, walked free, even though a number of Russian soldiers were killed by his troops. “Those who were declared traitors to their Motherland and betrayers, in the morning killed several Russian army officers as the entire Russia watched in astonishment, and by lunch agreed on something with someone and went home,” Navalny said. “Thus, law and justice in Russia were once again put in their place. And that place is not prestigious. One sure can't find them in court," the politician said. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Jailed Alexei Navalny ‘forced to listen to Putin speech for 100 days in a row’ Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? Russia restricts movement of British diplomats over Ukraine support - live news
2023-07-20 23:27
Watch live as wildfires continue to rage in Greece during Europe’s record-breaking heatwave
Watch a live view of Mandra, Greece, where wildfires continue to rage amid a record-breaking summer heatwave in Europe. Smoke continues to rise across the sky on Thursday 20 July, while sizzling temperatures have swept across the continent in recent days and the hot weather has taken hold across many popular holiday hotspots in the Mediterranean. Much of southern Europe has been in the high 30s, while some parts of southern Italy and areas in Greece have been in the low-to-mid 40s, which is eight to 12 degrees above the seasonal average for the region. Notably, firefighters battled a blaze in Rhodes, threatening to stoke tinderbox conditions across the country. The Greek meteorological service had warned of a heightened risk of fires from Thursday. Elsewhere, thousands have also been evacuated in the Canary Islands and Switzerland in recent days, as southern Europe is gripped by ongoing wildfires and extreme heat caused by the fossil-fuel-driven climate crisis. Read More European heatwave - latest updates as record temperatures continue What is driving the record-breaking global heatwaves across three continents? Families unable to cancel summer holidays despite extreme heat warnings and wildfires
2023-07-20 22:47
Ukraine Warns Ships Heading to Russia Ports Risk Attack
Ukraine said any ships heading to Russian ports may be military targets, in a tit-for-tat response to a
2023-07-20 21:58
‘Kind’ 10-year-old boy killed alongside father on final day of holiday in Turkey
An Irish father and his 10-year-old son have died in a crash on holiday in Turkey just hours before they were due to fly home. Eoin Fitzpatrick, 36, and his son Dylan were on holiday at the tourist resort of Alanya when the moped they were riding was hit by a bus. The crash happened at 3.30pm on Monday, just hours before they were due to fly home to Portlaoise in Co Laois, Ireland. Mr Fitzpatrick's other son, 14-year-old Cian, was with his father’s partner and her children at the time and did not witness the crash. The 10-year-old’s mother Claire Dowling has now paid tribute to her son after arriving in Turkey to comfort Cian. She told the Irish Mirror said she is just “glad they’re together” as she described her son as a “kind” boy who loved life. “My smallest boy. I just hope that when it happened – I don’t know how it happened – that he was smiling,” she added. “He loves me and he loves his daddy too and I am so happy that they’re okay together somewhere. “He was such a character and anyone who met him would have said the same. He is 10 years of age and he still holds my hand and tells me he loves me, no matter where we are. He is so, so kind. “What breaks my heart is he was supposed to land today and I know he was dying to come home.” Another family member told the Irish Mirror that it could be anything from a week to 10 days before the remains of Mr Fitzpatrick and his son are returned to Ireland. Laois-based Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley described the deaths as an “awful tragedy”, adding: “My heartfelt sympathies go to the mother of the boy and also to the parents of the deceased man and the grandparents on both sides. “In the days and weeks ahead, the community in Portlaoise will rally around both families and hopefully be able to give them some support and comfort.” A 28-year-old Turkish national who was believed to be driving the bus was arrested following the crash, which happened close to a pedestrian crossing on Monday afternoon, according to local media reports. Mr Fitzpatrick and Dylan were pronounced dead after medics and police rushed to the scene. The Department of Foreign Affairs has said it is providing consular assistance in the case. Read More Turkey crash: Fifteen people killed and 22 injured as bus collides with emergency vehicles 12 killed in multi-vehicle crash in Turkey's Hatay province Bus collision at accident site leaves 15 dead in Turkey Ukraine and Pakistan call for restoring the Black Sea grain deal after talks in Islamabad Turkey hikes interest rates in another sign of economic normalcy. But markets expected more Flooded with sightseers, Europe's iconic churches struggle to accommodate both worship and tourism
2023-07-20 21:50
Wagner mercenaries training Belarus special forces just miles from border with Nato-member Poland
Wagner mercenaries are training Belarusian special forces just a few miles from the border with Nato-member Poland. Warsaw said that it was ready for “various scenarios as the situation develops” – having started moving around 1,000 of its own troops towards the border earlier this month. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa while they trained the Belarusian army. Mr Prigozhin, who agreed to move to Belarus as part of a deal to end a mutiny by his forces that rattled Russian President Vladimir Putin last month, said what is happening with Russian forces on the Ukraine frontline is a “disgrace” and that his group wants “no part of it”. Minsk posted pictures of masked Wagner instructors, their faces covered in accordance with the mercenary group's rules, training Belarusian soldiers with armoured vehicles and what appear to be drone controls. “The armed forces of Belarus continue joint training with the fighters of the Wagner PMC (Private Military Company),” the Belarusian Defence Ministry said. “During the week, special operations forces units together with representatives of the Company will work out combat training tasks at the Brest military range.” That range is just three miles (5km) east of the Polish border. According to claims in a post by a senior Wagner commander, known by his nom de guerre “Marx”, which was republished by Wagner's Telegram channel, up to 10,000 fighters “have gone, or will go” to Belarus. Although the accuracy of that statement is difficult to verify. Poland's Defence Ministry said the country's borders were secure. In response to Warsaw reinforcing its border, the Kremlin tried to paint it as an “aggressive” move – despite Moscow's invasion of Ukraine being the ultimate genesis of it. “Of course it is a cause for concern. The aggressiveness of Poland is a reality,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said. “Such a hostile attitude towards Belarus and the Russian Federation requires heightened attention [from our side].” As part of the deal that ended the 24-hour uprising by Wagner, which involved the groups forces marching towards Moscow – eventually stopping about 125 miles from the capital – mercenaries could move to Belarus in return for charges against them being dropped. Putin said the fighters could either leave for Belarus, come under the command of the defence ministry or go back to their families. The episode exposed cracks in the Russian leader's authority, almost 18 months into an invasion that the Kremlin originally assumed would only last weeks. While Mr Putin has tried to put on the air of everything is business as usual, rumblings of discontent in the Russian military over the situation in Ukraine have bubbled to the service in a way rarely seen in the tightly-controlled world of the Kremlin. The mutiny started after weeks of complaints from Prigozhin about the state of the war, although he has been careful to state that his ire is aimed at Russia's military top brass and the country's Defence Ministry, not Putin himself. He believed that his fighters were not being supported in the fierce fighting around the symbolic city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Wagner has lost 22,000 of its men in the Ukraine war while 40,000 have been wounded, according to the Wagner commander “Marx”. If accurate, those numbers give an insight into the extent of the losses both sides are suffering in the war. The commander said in his post that a total of 78,000 Wagner men had participated in what he cast as “the Ukrainian business trip”, 49,000 of them prisoners. Wagner helped Russia to illegally annex Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and have fought Isis in Syria and operated in the Central African Republic and Mali in recent years. “Up to 10,000 fighters have gone or will go to Belarus,” the commander said. “About 15,000 have gone on holiday.” The post contradicted remarks by a Russian who said that as many as 33,000 Wagner fighters had signed contracts with the Russian Defence Ministry. “If all the dead and those who went on holiday signed up then I suppose it is possible,” the commander Marx said. Reuters contributed to this report Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Organisation sewing reusable sanitary pads for refugees gets charity status Varadkar pledges unwavering solidarity with Ukraine on day-long visit to Kyiv Czech parliament approves treaty making it easier to deploy US troops on Czech territory
2023-07-20 21:17
European Stocks Rise as Anglo American Boosts Miners; ASML Drops
European stocks gained, erasing an earlier decline, as Anglo American Plc helped lift the gauge while investors digested
2023-07-20 20:45
Wildfires slowly abate in Greece but temperatures rise
By Angeliki Koutantou and Fedja Grulovic ATHENS (Reuters) -Wildfires across Greece slowly abated on Thursday after razing swathes of forest
2023-07-20 19:48