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Russia’s ‘General Armageddon’ pops up in Moscow

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:57 GMT

Russian General Sergei Surovikin, believed to have been an ally of now-dead mutineer Yevgeny Prigozhin, was spotted in public for the first time since the Wagner Group’s armed uprising in June.“General Sergei Surovikin is out. Alive, healthy, at home, with his family, in Moscow,” Russian media personality Ksenia Sobchak — rumored to be President Vladimir Putin’s goddaughter — said Monday on Telegram, under a picture allegedly showing the Russian general and his wife Anna Surovikina.Surovikin, also known as General Armageddon for his scorched-earth military tactics in Chechnya and Syria, has not been seen since Wagner mercenary forces aborted attempt to march on Moscow in June, after reports circulated that he knew of Wagner chief Prigozhin’s planned rebellion.Surovikin — who had already been removed from his commanding role in Russia’s war on Ukraine — was reportedly placed under house arrest last month and sacked as head of the country’s aerospac...

Live blog: Lawmakers grill incoming EU innovation chief Iliana Ivanova

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:57 GMT

A select group of European Parliament lawmakers will on Tuesday quiz Iliana Ivanova, Bulgaria’s designated commissioner for innovation, research, culture, education and youth, to assess whether she’s capable of taking over the portfolio from Mariya Gabriel, who resigned in May to become the country’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister. It’s the first of more such hearings, as more members of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s team jump ship as the end of the mandate looms. Ahead of her hearing, Ivanova made the pitch that the EU should team up with its non-member allies, such as the United Kingdom and Switzerland, on research and innovation in order to win the ongoing race to control new technologies. To do so, the EU could leverage the power of its flagship R&D program Horizon Europe, which lawmakers claim is underfunded — as it’s often raided to meet new requirements.

Nigerian workers walk off the job again to protest rising costs after gas subsidies are removed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:57 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Workers from all sectors in Nigeria walked off their jobs on Tuesday to protest the growing cost of living caused by the government’s removal of gas subsidies, threatening to “shut down” Africa’s largest economy if their demands for improved welfare are not met.The Nigeria Labor Congress workers association began a two-day “warning strike” on Tuesday, their second in over a month. They met last week and complained that the decision of Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu to remove gas subsidies has “unleashed massive suffering on Nigerian workers and masses.” Last-minute efforts to avert the strike failed on Monday evening after the labor unions’ leaders shunned a meeting called by the Labor Ministry. Drawn from all sectors including health and electricity, the workers’ strike is expected to disrupt activities in many offices, further hurting Africa’s largest economy whose growth has been slowed by declining government revenues and oil ...

Cluster munition deaths in Ukraine pass Syria, fueling rise in a weapon the world has tried to ban

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:57 GMT

AIN SHEEB, Syria (AP) — More than 300 people were killed and over 600 wounded by cluster munitions in Ukraine in 2022, according to an international watchdog, surpassing Syria as the country with the highest number of casualties from the controversial weapons for the first time in a decade.Russia’s widespread use of the bombs, which open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets or submunitions as they are called, in its invasion of Ukraine — and, to a lesser extent, their use by Ukrainian forces — helped make 2022 the deadliest year on record globally, according to the annual report released Tuesday by the Cluster Munition Coalition, a network of non-governmental organizations advocating for a ban of the weapons. The deadliest attack in Ukraine, according to the the country’s prosecutor general’s office, was a bombing on a railway station in the town of Kramatorsk that killed 53 people and wounded 135.Meanwhile, in Syria and other war-battered countries in the Middle ...

Activist detained in Hong Kong partially won appeal over recognition of overseas same-sex marriage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:57 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — An activist detained in Hong Kong partially won his final appeal Tuesday seeking recognition for same-sex marriage registered overseas, in a landmark court ruling that is likely to have a far-reaching impact on the city’s LGBTQ+ community.Jimmy Sham, a prominent pro-democracy activist during 2019 anti-government protests, married his husband in New York 10 years ago. Sham first asked for a judicial review in 2018 arguing that Hong Kong’s laws, which don’t recognize foreign same-sex marriage, violate the constitutional right to equality. The lower courts had dismissed his challenges.Sham has been in custody after being charged under a Beijing-imposed national security law following the massive protests. The law has been used to arrest and silence many other pro-democracy activists as part of a crackdown on dissent in the former British colony. Judges at the city’s top court, by a majority, declared in a written ruling that the government is in violation o...

On a tiny Greek island, 14 migrants and the body of a man found after their dinghy sank

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:57 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s coast guard found a group of 14 migrants and the body of a man on the shore of a tiny island in the eastern Aegean Sea on Tuesday morning, authorities said. The five men, six women and three children were found on the remote island of Farmakonisi, along with the body of one man. It was not immediately clear how he died.The group had apparently arrived on the island from the Turkish coast in a dinghy that sank, the coast guard said. There were no reports of anyone missing. The migrants and the deceased man were taken to the nearby island of Leros, the coast guard added. There has been a rise in sea crossings to European Union member Greece by people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and seeking a better life in the wealthy 27-country bloc.Despite the increase in migration to Greece, Italy is still the main entry point for the EU for migrants, with about 114,200 arrivals so far this year. Spain follows with more than ...

World War I memorials in France and Belgium are vying again to become UNESCO World Heritage sites

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:57 GMT

ZONNEBEKE, Belgium (AP) — With war ravaging Europe’s heartland again, the countless headstones, cemeteries and memorials from World War I are a timeless testimony to its cruelty. Belgium and France want them recognized as UNESCO World Heritage sites to make sure people stop and think.They bring pause and introspection to just about everyone visiting the sites dotted along the former battle lines of the 1914-1918 Great War that killed some 10 million soldiers. At 12, Robin Borremans is dreaming of becoming a helicopter pilot in Belgium’s elite Special Forces. At the Tyne Cot cemetery, where 12,000 Commonwealth soldiers are buried row upon row, his perspective on life and death, war and peace, is being honed. “It makes you so very quiet when you know what happened in this war,” he said as he took a break from walking between the rows of the fallen. “It’s really terribly impressive.” He and his party planned to visit a cemetery for Germans, the erstwhile enemy, later ...

An orangutan, chirping birds and a waterfall at ASEAN venue contrast to Jakarta’s pollution outside

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:57 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo will welcome fellow Asian and world leaders with a captivating jungle scene of a two-story waterfall, wild orchids and even an orangutan perched up a tree.The make-believe wilderness set up in elaborate detail in the huge lobby of the Jakarta Convention Center in the capital includes a widescreen video of a yellow beak hornbill gliding across an azure sky, swaying leaves and piped-in bird chirps.It’s a pleasant icebreaker for Widodo and his guests in Jakarta for a week of Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit talks starting Tuesday.“Indonesia wants to give the best hospitality,” Communications Minister Budi Arie Setiadi told The Associated Press about the unique reception for ASEAN leaders and VIPs such as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.The convention center’s lobby was off-limits to the public and a sign barred videos and pictures until the jung...

Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank kills a Palestinian man

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:57 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops killed a Palestinian man during an army raid in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials said, the latest incident in a yearlong wave of violence that has surged to levels unseen in the territory in some two decades.Israel has pressed on with near-nightly raids in the West Bank and amid a spike in attacks by Palestinians against Israelis in recent weeks, including a car-ramming at a major West Bank checkpoint and a shooting at a car wash.The military said troops destroyed an explosives stockpile in the Nour Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Tuesday. During the operation, soldiers came under attack from armed gunmen and returned fire, the army said.The Palestinian health ministry said that a 21-year-old man died from a bullet wound to the head. No Palestinian militant groups immediately claimed him as a member. A video of the incident released by the military appeared to show a massive fireball erupting from a build...

Hearing of Commissioner-designate Iliana Ivanova on 5 September 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:57 GMT

This advisory provides practical information on the hearing of Iliana Ivanova (Bulgaria) (pictured) taking place today (5 September) from 9.30 to 12.30.Ms Ivanova, Commissioner-designate for innovation, research, culture, education and youth, will be questioned by the Industry, Research and Energy Committee and the Culture and Education Committee to assess her competences and suitability to become Commissioner, replacing Mariya Gabriel, who resigned on 15 May to become Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Bulgaria.The hearing will take place in meeting room ANTALL 2Q2.You can watch the hearing live on Parliament’s webstreaming and on EbS+.A press point by the committee chairs – still to be confirmed- is set to take place after the hearing, next to the meeting room.For further general information on the hearing and official documents, please see here.Written questions and answersMs Ivanova’s answers to the written questions from the relevant committees can be found here.Stru...