Biden visit to ensure 'Brits didn't screw around'
The US president visited Ireland last month to mark the Good Friday Agreement's 25th anniversary.
2023-05-11 19:54
Candidate withdraws from presidential race in boost to Erdogan's main challenger
A candidate in Turkey's presidential election has withdrawn from the race, a move that is likely to bolster President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main challenger
2023-05-11 19:48
UK sending Ukraine long-range cruise missiles
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace says the U.K. is sending Ukraine long-range cruise missiles to help push back Russian forces
2023-05-11 19:46
Pope urges countries to manage migrant waves, expand legal channels
By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY Pope Francis appealed to countries on Thursday to manage waves of migrants as
2023-05-11 19:25
Here's how the end of the Covid-19 public health emergency affects you
After more than three years, the Covid-19 public health emergency in the US is finally ending on Thursday, which means Americans could have to start paying for testing and treatment. Here's how things will change.
2023-05-11 19:24
Britain gives Ukraine new missiles in boost for Zelensky’s counteroffensive
Britain has supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow stealth cruise missiles giving Volodymyr Zelensky’s government the capability to carry out long-range strikes against Russian forces. The missiles with a range of 155 miles, will give a vital boost to Ukrainian forces when they launch their much publicised spring offensive. They have a shorter reach than the 185-mileof the American Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, which President Zelensky has asked for repeatedly, but they will enable Ukrainian forces to carry out strikes not just in occupied territories, but inside Russia. Leaked Pentagon papers revealed, based on electronic eavesdropping, that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, complained in late February to the head of the country’s military, Gen Valeriy Zaluzhny, that Ukraine “does not have long-range missiles capable of reaching Russian troop deployments in Russia”. The Ukrainian government has assured Britain, the US and Nato allies that the Storm Shadow will not be used outside “Ukrainian sovereign territory”. However, Crimea, which was annexed by the Kremlin in 2013 is considered to fall within the term of “sovereign territory” by the UK. Storm Shadows, if deployed against targets in Crimea and seas around, will place Russia’s Black Sea Fleet under threat and also significantly limit the capabilities of Moscow to supply its forces around the peninsula by sea. General Ben Hodges, a former commander of the US army in Europe, said recently he believed Russia’s “Black Sea fleet would already have departed Sevastopol if Ukraine had Storm Shadow”. He held that President Zelenskiy and “would not want to lose the trust of the west” by using long-range missiles beyond agreed limits The US has been extremely cautious about providing weapons to Ukraine that could help them strike within Russian territory. Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Colin Kahl had said August that it is the US assessment Ukraine does not “currently require ATACMS to service targets that are directly relevant to the current fight.” Even with the arrival of the missiles, the offensive may be delayed. President Zelensky said on Thursday that Western military supplies, including armoured vehicles, are coming through in batches and needed to be integrated into Ukrainian forces. Going to early would lead to needless loss of lives, said the President : “With what we already have we can go forward, and, I think, be successful. But we’d lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time.” Mr Zelensky dismissed fears about losing US support if President Joe Biden, who has vowed to support Ukraine as long as it takes, is not re-elected in 2024. Ukraine, he said, still enjoyed bipartisan support in the US Congress. “Who knows where we’ll be [when the election happens]?” he said. “I believe we’ll win by then.” Donald Trump, who may well get the Republican nomination, had said in the past that he would recognise Russian ownership of Crimea, refused at a CNN town hall on Wednesday to say whether he would continue supporting Ukraine until victory was achieved. “I don’t think of winning or losing, I think in terms of getting it settled. I want everybody to stop dying” said the former President. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary
2023-05-11 19:23
Slump in China bank loans raises more worries about recovery, adds pressure on central bank
By Qiaoyi Li and Kevin Yao BEIJING New Chinese bank loans tumbled far more sharply than expected in
2023-05-11 19:17
Bank of England raises UK interest rates to highest level since 2008
The Bank of England has raised interest rates to their highest level since late 2008 as it continues to combat stubbornly high inflation in the U.K. The decision on Thursday by the bank’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee to lift its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5% was widely anticipated in financial markets
2023-05-11 19:17
Serbians hand over thousands of weapons after mass shootings
Serbian police say citizens have handed over nearly 6,000 unregistered weapons in the first three days of a month-long amnesty period that is part of an anti-gun crackdown following two mass shootings last week
2023-05-11 18:59
Shooting at German Mercedes plant leaves two dead; man arrested
By Christina Amann and Ilona Wissenbach BERLIN (Reuters) -A shooting at a Mercedes-Benz plant in southwestern Germany left two men
2023-05-11 18:58
Title 42 expires tonight. Here's what happens next
There are just hours left before the expiration of a pandemic-era public health restriction will significantly alter several years of US immigration policy, threatening chaos as an estimated tens of thousands of migrants mass near the US-Mexico border in anticipation. Here's how border crossings could be impacted after the order expires.
2023-05-11 18:54
Number of internally displaced people hits record due to war, climate change
GENEVA The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) reached a record 71.1 million worldwide last year due to
2023-05-11 18:52