By Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday that Kremlin factions were destroying the state by trying to sow discord between him and Chechen fighters. That row had now been settled but infighting in the Kremlin had opened a Pandora’s Box of rifts, he said. Prigozhin, a 62-year-old former restauranteur…
By Charlotte Van Campenhout BRUSSELS/DUBAI (Reuters) – Three Europeans returned home on Saturday a day after being released by Iran in a prisoner swap, and Tehran said there was no reason for Europeans to be arrested if they were not “exploited” by foreign security services. The three men – two with dual Austrian-Iranian nationality and…
By YP Rajesh NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s vast rail network is undergoing a $30 billion transformation with gleaming new trains and modern stations but Friday’s deadly train accident shows more attention should be paid to safety, industry analysts said. At least 261 people were killed in the country’s worst rail accident in over two…
By Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden declared a “crisis averted” on Friday in his first address from the White House’s Oval Office, touting the passage of a bill to suspend the U.S. debt ceiling and avoid economic catastrophe. Biden used the moment to plead with Americans to bridge their…
By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis will make an Aug. 31-Sept. 4 trip to Mongolia, one of the most far-flung places he has ever visited and which has only about 1,300 Catholics but is strategically significant for the Roman Catholic Church because of its proximity to China. The Vatican announced the trip…
By Kanupriya Kapoor and Gerry Doyle SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Ukraine’s plans for a counteroffensive against Russian occupation remain on track, its deputy defence minister told Reuters on Saturday, despite an “unprecedented” wave of missile and drone attacks across the country in recent weeks. Volodymyr V. Havrylov said that alongside cruise missile strikes, Ukraine had faced…
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan took the oath of office for a new five-year presidential term on Saturday, extending his rule into a third decade. “I, as president, swear upon my honour and integrity before the great Turkish nation and history to safeguard the existence and independence of the state … to abide…
KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine is ready to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview published on Saturday. “We strongly believe that we will succeed,” Zelenskiy told the Wall Street Journal. “I don’t know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go a variety of…
By Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia warned the United States on Saturday it should stop brandishing ultimatums over the collapse of arms control agreements, saying Moscow would only return to a nuclear arms reduction treaty if Washington abandons its hostile stance. Russia and the United States, by far the biggest nuclear powers, have both expressed…
By Kanupriya Kapoor SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Indonesia’s defence minister on Saturday proposed a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, calling for a demilitarised zone and a United Nations referendum in what he called disputed territory. Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko dismissed the plan, reiterating Kyiv’s position that Russia should withdraw its troops from…
