Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain with NATO troops at a military base in Estonia in December.Credit…Henry Nicholls/Reuters In pledging to send a squadron of tanks to Ukraine, Britain is leading a push for Western allies to accelerate the delivery of modern weapons for Kyiv’s war effort as fears rise that Russia will soon begin […]
Month: January 2023
Matteo Messina Denaro, Italian, Mafia Boss, Is Arrested
The Italian police on Monday arrested perhaps the country’s most wanted fugitive, Matteo Messina Denaro, a mafia boss who had eluded the authorities for three decades and was convicted in absentia of murder and other crimes. Mr. Messina Denaro, 60, was arrested in a hospital in Palermo, in his native Sicily, where he was undergoing […]
‘I’m Sorry, We’re From Moscow.’ In Bali, Warring Sides Learn to Cohabitate
BALI, Indonesia — At a cafe more than 10,000 kilometers from the front lines, the Kyiv-style cake sits near the kartoshkas, a Russian dessert made of cookies, condensed milk and butter. The chef is Russian, but the borscht on the menu, first described as a “Russian soup,” is now identified as being of Ukrainian origin. […]
At Least 68 Dead After Plane Crashes in Nepal
A plane carrying 68 passengers and four crew members crashed in the city of Pokhara, Nepal, on Sunday while trying to land. At least 68 were killed, according to the airline operating the plane and the country’s Civil Aviation Authority. The ATR-72 plane, a twin-engine propeller model manufactured more than 15 years ago, was being […]
When Being European Parliament President Includes Aiding Police Raids
Roberta Metsola achieved a number of firsts when she was elected president of the European Parliament a year ago. She was the first person from Malta, the smallest European Union country, to hold the job; the first woman in 20 years; and, at 43, the youngest president in the Parliament’s history. On Dec. 11 she […]
For Families and Detainees in Russian-Occupied Areas, a Grim Wait
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — Last month a message was smuggled out to friends from 10 Ukrainian detainees in Russian-occupied territory. The men, among hundreds of other civilian prisoners missing for weeks since the Russian withdrawal from the city of Kherson, said they were alive but in dire need of help. “They asked us to contact their […]
Rescuers rush to save people buried in rubble of a building destroyed by a Russian missile.
A Russian strike tore into a nine-story apartment building in the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine, local officials said, killing at least 14 people, including a 15-year-old girl. Scores were injured. A massive fire burning in the aftermath of the strike, which left a gaping hole in the residential building. Much of the apartment […]
Thousands in Israel Protest Netanyahu’s Plans to Limit Courts
JERUSALEM — Tens of thousands of Israelis on Saturday night protested in Tel Aviv against the new right-wing government’s plans to fundamentally overhaul the judicial system, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to weaken the country’s democratic institutions just weeks after returning to power. The protest was organized by grass-roots activists and backed by […]
Iran Executes Alireza Akbari, Ex-Official Accused of Spying
Iran has executed Alireza Akbari, a former deputy defense minister and a dual British citizen, on charges of espionage for the British spy agency, the judiciary said early Saturday, in what appeared to be the first execution in decades of a high-profile Iranian official or dual citizen, and a move likely to raise tensions with […]
Hunting for Truffles Is a Perilous Pursuit, Especially for the Dogs Who Dig
The Carabinieri and the men traversed a bumpy country road dividing the high plains used as sets for the spaghetti westerns. “This is the truffle hunter’s battlefield,” Mr. Tomassetti said as he climbed out of the car near the scene of the chocolate lab’s demise. A specially trained Belgian Shepherd, Asia, leaped out of the […]