- Meta unveils star-studded AI assistants
- DRC leader calls for sanctions on Rwanda over rebel support
- Mud, loss and despair after Polish floods
- England skipper Stokes on track for Pakistan tour
- UN chief warns of 'rising tide of misery' from swelling seas
- Israeli troops on alert to go into Lebanon
- Russian strikes on eastern Ukraine city kill two, wound 19
- Workers 'disappointed' as Volkswagen remains vague on turnaround plan
- Biden warns 'all-out war' possible in Middle East
- Ex-Real Madrid defender and World Cup winner Varane retires
- Nuking a huge asteroid could save Earth, lab experiment suggests
- Six hurt in Ecuador as firefighters battle blazes choking capital
- Florida girds for arrival of Helene as powerful hurricane
- German prosecutors charge three in Schumacher blackmail case
- Restoring nature, 'adaptation' helped limit Storm Boris impact
- Son says Spurs team-mate Bentancur 'almost cried' over alleged racial slur
- French minister vows to 'protect the French' after student rape and murder
- Harris and Trump target economy in close US election battle
- Zelensky alleges Russia plot on nuclear plants in defiant UN address
- 'Worst crisis': German Greens leaders quit after election losses
- Israel puts troops on alert for entry into Lebanon
- 'The UN has betrayed us': Israeli ambassador
- US new home sales slow slightly in August
- UN chief says sea level rise threatens 'rising tide of misery'
- Global stocks mixed after fresh China stimulus
- US-China progress sparks hope for COP29, says Azerbaijan
- Zelensky says Russia planning attacks on Ukraine nuclear plants
- Film legend Bardot, nearing 90, enjoys her 'silent solitude'
- Walking on the Moon in Cologne: Europe's lunar life simulator
- Google files EU complaint over Microsoft cloud services
- Finnish zoo to return pandas to China early
- At last! China's Zhang Shuai ends 24-match losing streak
- Global stocks trade mixed tracking China stimulus
- EU backs plan to downgrade wolf protection status
- Jacks says new-look England need time to master ODIs
- Madrid's Mbappe suffers thigh injury before Atletico derby
- Russian MPs back adoption ban on countries allowing gender reassignment
- France minister vows new immigration 'rules' after student murder
- EU states back plan to downgrade wolf protection status
- Unions vow 'bitter resistance' as Volkswagen talks begin
- Naomi Osaka wants 'no regrets' after hiring Serena's former coach
- Lady Gaga plants lipstick smile on 'Mona Lisa' in Louvre clip
- Man City confirm Rodri knee ligament injury
- Hezbollah's Fadi rockets: More power, little precision
- Naomi Osaka wants 'no regrets' after teaming up with Mouratoglou
- New Zealand flanker 'Braveheart' Sititi relishes his 'crazy' rise
- OECD calls for higher property taxes to fight debt
- Environmentalists smear Finland's parliament in red paint
- World Cup winner Varane retires
- Britain's Rightmove rejects higher £6.1-bn Murdoch bid
RBGPF | -1.04% | 59.48 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0% | 7.07 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.16% | 25.14 | $ | |
SCS | -1.86% | 12.88 | $ | |
VOD | 0.09% | 10.099 | $ | |
NGG | 0.03% | 70.128 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.44% | 25.01 | $ | |
RELX | -0.2% | 48.435 | $ | |
GSK | -0.5% | 40.775 | $ | |
AZN | 0.75% | 77.45 | $ | |
BTI | -0.25% | 38.005 | $ | |
BCC | -2.68% | 138.08 | $ | |
BP | -3.21% | 31.81 | $ | |
JRI | -0.3% | 13.38 | $ | |
RIO | 0.44% | 67.72 | $ | |
BCE | -0.59% | 34.925 | $ |
EU hikes military aid for Ukraine as NATO expansion faces roadblocks
Europe pledged another half billion dollars in military support for Kyiv on Friday as Sweden and Finland's moves toward joining NATO hit multiple hurdles.
Moscow said it would cut off electricity to Helsinki, and the president of Turkey -- a member of the Atlantic alliance whose approval is required to expand it -- expressed opposition to the Scandinavian countries becoming part of NATO.
Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops continued along the long front in the Donbas with minor gains on both sides, and Ukrainian fighters under siege in a Mariupol steelworks pleaded for help.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu meanwhile spoke directly for the first time since before the war began.
But few details emerged from their one-hour call beyond Austin urging Shoigu to implement an immediate ceasefire, according to the Pentagon.
"The call itself didn't specifically solve any acute issues or lead to a direct change in what the Russians are doing or what they are saying," a senior US defense official said.
- Power cut -
One day after leaders in Helsinki declared their nation must apply to join NATO "without delay," Russian state energy group Inter RAO said it would suspend electricity supplies to Finland beginning Saturday.
Inter RAO's subsidiary in the Nordic region blamed the suspension on not having received payment for electricity sold in May.
Noting that only 10 percent of the country's electricity comes from neighbouring Russia, the Finnish electricity network operator said it would be able to make do without Russian electricity.
"We're prepared for this and it won't be difficult. We can make do with a bit more imports from Sweden and Norway," said Timo Kaukonen, manager for operational planning at Finnish power firm Fingrid.
- Turkey opposed -
But the cutoff underscored the challenges as both Finland and Sweden prepare for the major geopolitical shift that their joining NATO would represent, after years of proudly staying out of the alliance.
A second hurdle appeared when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed opposition to Finland and Sweden entering NATO.
"We do not have a positive opinion. Scandinavian countries are like a guesthouse for terror organisations," Erdogan told journalists, referring to a longstanding complain by Ankara that Scandinavian countries shelter members of Turkish breakaway and dissident groups.
US President Joe Biden spoke with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto Friday on the NATO plan, and the White House said it was "working to clarify" Erdogan's stance on the issue.
The Swedish and Finnish foreign ministers planned to meet their Turkish counterpart in Berlin on Saturday to discuss their potential NATO bids.
-More money for Ukraine-
At a meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers in the German sea resort of Wangels as the war entered its 12th week, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell promised Ukraine an extra 500 million euros ($520 million), bringing the bloc's total military aid to two billion euros.
In a speech Friday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude for Ukraine's partners "strengthening sanctions against Russia and increasing military and financial assistance to us."
"This is the only recipe for defending freedom during Russia’s invasion. It is not just expenses for Western countries. It is not about accounting. It's about the future," he said.
- War crimes -
A captured Russian soldier appeared in a court in Kyiv on Friday facing war crimes and murder charges.
Vadim Shishimarin, 21, allegedly gunned down an unarmed 62-year-old civilian who had witnessed a carjacking by fleeing Russian troops.
The trial marks a significant moment in Ukraine, where accounts of murder, torture and rape by Russian forces are multiplying.
In eastern Ukraine, witnesses in the village of Stepanki, near the regional capital of Kharkiv, accused the Russians of shelling a home, killing several people.
They said six people who lived in the house were drinking tea in the courtyard when a tank approached.
"They started going into the house to hide," said Olga Karpenko, 52. The tank took aim and fired at them as they entered the house.
"Four people died, two were injured. My daughter died from a shrapnel wound in the back of her head," Karpenko said.
- Call for help from Mariupol -
Russian forces continued to shell the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, where around 1,000 Ukrainian fighters remained under siege.
From inside the plant, Sviatoslav Palamar, one of the leaders of the Ukrainian Azov regiment, told the online Kyiv Security Forum that there were 600 wounded there and pleaded for help to evacuate them.
"We continue to defend ourselves, and we shall not surrender," he said.
He urged the United States and other allies to find a way to help evacuate the wounded.
"It there is any opportunity, please use it," he said.
burs/pmh/wd
F.Müller--BTB