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From GPS-guided bombs to electronic warfare, Russia improves its weaponry in Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:24:33 GMT

Ukrainian troops are probing Russian defenses as spring gives way to a second summer of fighting, and Kyiv’s forces are facing an enemy that has made mistakes and suffered setbacks in the 15-month-old war. But analysts say Moscow also has learned from those blunders and improved its weapons and skills.Russia has built heavily fortified defenses along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, honed its electronic weapons to reduce Ukraine’s edge in combat drones, and turned heavy bombs from its massive Cold-War-era arsenal into precision-guided gliding munitions capable of striking targets without putting its warplanes at risk.The changing Russian tactics along with increased troop numbers and improved weaponry could make it challenging for Ukraine to score any kind of quick decisive victory, threatening to turn it into a long battle of attrition.U.S. Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday that while Ukraine’...

Food prices are squeezing Europe. Now Italians are calling for a pasta protest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:24:33 GMT

MILAN (AP) — When it comes to skyrocketing pasta prices, Italians are crying: Basta!They have had enough after the cost of the staple of every Italian table soared by twice the rate of inflation. One consumer advocate group is calling for a weeklong national pasta strike starting June 22 after the Rome government held a crisis meeting last month and decided not to intervene on prices. “The macaroni strike is to see if keeping pasta on the shelves will bring down the prices, in the great Anglo-Saxon tradition of boycotting goods,” said Furio Truzzi, president of the group, Assoutenti. “The price of pasta is absolutely out of proportion with production costs.”Grocery prices have risen more sharply in Europe than in other advanced economies — from the U.S. to Japan — driven by higher energy and labor costs and the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine. That is even though costs for food commodities have fallen for months from record highs, including wheat for the flour used to make p...

Annecy knife attack suspect detained, prosecutor says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:24:33 GMT

The suspect in a knife attack in which four toddlers and two pensioners were wounded in the southeastern French town of Annecy on Thursday has been placed in detention, the local prosecutor said on Saturday.The suspect, a Syrian refugee born in 1991, is under formal investigation for attempted murder and resisting arrest with a weapon, the prosecutor said.The injured are no longer in critical condition, Annecy Prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis told a news conference, adding that the four children were still in hospital.The stabbing was the first violent attack targeting children since 2012, when gunman Mohamed Merah shot three Jewish children and one of their parents, and then three soldiers, in Toulouse in 2012.The suspect has chosen not to speak while in police custody and when presented before judges, the prosecutor said.He was examined by a psychiatrist who considered that he was fit to be held in custody.Drug and alcohol tests were negative."Presently it is premature to assess his ...

Emergency slide deployed inside Delta flight injures crew member

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:24:33 GMT

A Delta airlines crew member was taken to the hospital after an emergency-slide deployed inside the aircraft on Saturday.  The Los Angeles bound flight, which originated in New York, initially had to divert to Salt Lake City due to a mechanical issue. While the maintenance issue was quickly resolved and the plane was still on the ground, passengers were brought back aboard. That’s when the slide was accidentally deployed, according to a Delta spokesperson.  A Delta crew member was taken to the hospital after a plane's emergency slide was accidentally deployed inside the aircraft while the plane was on the ground June 10, 2023. The crew member was taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution and has since been released. "In an effort to get our customers to their final destination as quickly and safely as possible, they were re-accommodated on a new aircraft. We apologize for the delay to their travel plans. Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and ...

Ukraine says it’s liberated 4 villages as counteroffensive intensifies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:24:33 GMT

KYIV — Ukraine says it has liberated four villages in the Donbas region, as Kyiv’s counteroffensive ramps up. Marines from the Ukrainian army on Monday raised the blue-and-yellow flag over Storozhove in the Donetsk region — a village that has been occupied by the Russian army since March 2022, the brigade said in a video statement from the scene.“As a result of the clearing of the settlement, about fifty Russians were destroyed, and four were taken prisoners,” the marine brigade said.Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar referred to the liberation of Storozhove in a Telegram statement, adding: “To be continued.”During the weekend, the Ukrainian army also claimed to have liberated Blahodante, Makarivka, and Neskuchne villages in the Donetsk region, according to the different brigades involved and Maliar. The information could not be independently verified by POLITICO.Ukrainian forces have faced stiff resistance from the Russians, who...

MPs to wrap up Boris Johnson Partygate report after he quits with blast at ‘kangaroo court’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:24:33 GMT

LONDON — MPs will meet Monday to finalize a report on whether Boris Johnson misled the House of Commons, after the former prime minister quit parliament with a tirade at the investigation.The U.K. parliament’s privileges committee is examining whether Johnson knowingly misled parliament over coronavirus rule-breaking parties held on government property, in what become known as the Partygate affair.Johnson quit with “immediate effect” Friday after being sent an advance copy of the report, with two close allies — Nadine Dorries and Nigel Adams — also announcing their exit from the Commons, triggering three tricky by-elections for the governing Conservatives.In his statement, Johnson said the “kangaroo court” committee has “still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled” MPs. He also trained fire on the committee’s chair, the Labour MP Harriet Harman.Made up of both Tory and Labour MPs, the privileges committee sai...

Shooting at California teen’s birthday party leaves 18-year-old woman dead, 6 wounded

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:24:33 GMT

ANTIOCH, Calif. (AP) — A shooting at a birthday party killed an 18-year-old woman and injured six others in Northern California early Sunday, police said. The Antioch Police Department responded to multiple 911 calls about a shooting just before 1 a.m., the department said in a statement.Multiple shots were fired after some people arrived uninvited at a birthday party for a 19-year-old man at a home in the city about 45 miles (72 km) northeast of San Francisco. Victims and a large crowd were found by officers outside the home, police said.The 18-year-old woman was transported to an area hospital, where she died, police said.The victims who suffered non-life-threatening injuries included an 18-year-old man and a 19-year-old man, two 19-year-old women and two 20-year-old women. Some of the victims transported themselves to area hospitals after “a panic where attendees … fled in multiple directions and into the neighborhood,” police said.The Antioch police said a suspect or suspe...

UBS completes takeover of Credit Suisse in deal meant to stem global financial turmoil

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:24:33 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — UBS said Monday that it has completed its takeover of embattled rival Credit Suisse, nearly three months after the Swiss government hastily arranged a rescue deal to combine the country’s two largest banks in a bid to safeguard Switzerland’s reputation as a global financial center and choke off market turmoil.A statement from the bank said that “UBS has completed the acquisition of Credit Suisse today, crossing an important milestone.”UBS had said last week that it expected to complete the acquisition worth 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.3 billion) as early as Monday.It’s a pivotal moment for the two Zurich-based rivals, whose combination has raised concerns about thousands of expected job losses, drawn rebukes and lawsuits over the terms of the deal, and stirred fears about the impact of creating a Swiss megabank that would be too big to fail.“This is a very important moment — not just for UBS, (but) for Switzerland as a financial location and for Switze...

Israel’s opposition leader and former prime minister testifies at Netanyahu’s corruption trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:24:33 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s opposition leader testified for the prosecution on Monday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his corruption trial in Jerusalem.Yair Lapid, a former prime minister himself and a major Netanyahu rival, is testifying in one of three cases against Netanyahu. The indictment claims Netanyahu used his position of power to further Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan’s interests in exhange for gifts, representing a conflict between the premier’s public duties and personal friendship.Netanyahu did personal favors for Milchan, including asking U.S. officials to extend Milchan’s U.S. resident’s permit and extending Israeli regulations exempting Israeli returnees from declaring foreign income, according to the indictment.Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, denies claims of wrongdoing, saying he was not acting in Milchan’s personal interests and even occasionally acted against them. He says the exchanges of gifts were just friendly gestures....

Ukraine claims recapture of 4th village in eastern Donetsk as counteroffensive operations roll on

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:24:33 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian military officials said Monday their troops have retaken another southeastern village from Russian forces, among the first — small — successes in stepped-up counteroffensive operations against Moscow’s more than 15-month invasion of Ukraine. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram that Ukraine’s flag was again flying over the village of Storozhov, and she predicted the liberation of “all Ukrainian land” would the final outcome. A day earlier, Ukrainian officials said three other small villages clustered together south of the town of Velika Novosilke in the eastern Donetsk region had been liberated. The villages are located in the so-called “Vremivka ledge,” a section of the front line where the Russian-controlled area protrudes into territory held by Ukraine. The area has become one of several epicenters of intense fighting.The Russian Defense Ministry hasn’t confirmed the Russian retreat from the villages, but some military ...