News

Germany pledges quick decision on first heavy arms delivery to Ukraine

Germany will decide soon on whether to approve the delivery of 100 old Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, a government spokesperson said on Monday, in what would be the first…

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EPA’s Eye In the Sky: Goeree-Overflakkee, the Netherlands.

A picture taken with a drone shows solar panels of the Haringvliet energy park in Middelharnis on Goeree-Overflakkee, the Netherlands. The energy park consists of six windmills, 115 thousand solar…

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Russia warns United States against sending more arms to Ukraine

Russia told the United States to stop sending more arms to Ukraine, warning that large Western deliveries of weapons were inflaming the conflict and would lead to more losses, Moscow's ambassador to Washington said.…

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Beijing residents hit the stores amid lockdown fears

A mass COVID-19 testing order in Beijing's biggest district prompted residents in the Chinese capital to stock up on groceries, fearing they could be destined for a lockdown similar to that of…

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Unrepentant Schroeder exposes German coalition rift over Ukraine

The co-leader of Germany's Social Democrats called on former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to quit the party after he defended his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, exposing a rift at the heart…

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Putin accuses West of ‘terror’, tells prosecutors to be tough

President Vladimir Putin on Monday accused the West of trying to destroy Russia, demanding prosecutors take a tough line with what he cast as plots hatched by foreign spies to divide the…

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No respite for re-elected Macron as parliamentary elections loom

French President Emmanuel Macron enjoyed no respite on Monday as, hours after he won re-election by defeating the far right's Marine Le Pen, political opponents called on voters to deny him a…

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EU, India agree to broaden ties amid Ukraine war

The European Union (EU) and India agreed on Monday to set up a trade and technology council to step up cooperation, as the bloc's chief held talks with officials in New Delhi who…

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Man injured in gang attack in Paceville / Malta News Briefing – Monday 25 April 2022

1745- Latest News update Times of Malta says two threatening letters mailed to Repubblika president Robert Aquilina by an anonymous sender who signed off as 'ex-PN', were a “photocopy” of…

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City of London leader calls for tougher reform to shed ‘laundromat’ tag

Recent reforms need to be strengthened to help change a perception that London is a "laundromat" for dirty money, the leader of the British capital's financial district said. British Prime…

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Five railway stations come under fire in Ukraine, casualties reported – state rail company

Five railway stations came under fire in western and central Ukraine on Monday, causing an unspecified number of casualties, Ukrainian television quoted state-run Ukrainian Railways as saying. Oleksander Kamyshin, the company's chief, said…

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U.S. steps up military aid for Ukraine during first official visit since invasion

Making the first official U.S. visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded two months ago, Washington's top diplomat and its defense secretary pledged additional military aid, including advanced weapons, and a…

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France’s Macron defeats far-right, pledges change

PARIS, April 24 (Reuters) - Emmanuel Macron comfortably defeated far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Sunday, heading off a political earthquake for Europe but acknowledging dissatisfaction with his first term and saying…

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Ukraine calls for heavy arms as top U.S. officials visit; Easter prayers for peace

KYIV, April 25 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv late on Sunday and held talks President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, an aide to the…

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France’s Macron wins second term, beating far right’s Le Pen

PARIS, April 24 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron defeated his far-right rival Marine Le Pen by a comfortable margin in Sunday's election, early projections by four pollsters showed, securing a second…

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Big business joins forces to bridge Germany’s growing skills gap

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's industrial heavyweights are teaming up to retrain workers in areas such as software and logistics to fill a growing skills gap and avoid layoffs among workers of all…

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Environmentalist party leads in Slovenia’s election with 35.8% of vote -exit poll

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - The Environmentalist Freedom Movement party looked on course to win Slovenia's parliamentary election on Sunday as an exit poll by the Mediana agency showed the party leading…

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Biden plans to visit Israel in the coming months – Israeli PM’s office

JERUSALEM, April 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden has accepted an invitation from Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to visit Israel and intends to make the trip in the coming months,…

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Ukraine proposes talks with Russia over fate of civilians, troops in Mariupol

April 24 (Reuters) - Ukraine proposed on Sunday a "special" round of negotiations with Russia to be held in the shadow of Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant to discuss the fate of the…

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Lebanon maternal deaths triple, children’s health at risk amid crisis, UNICEF says

The number of women in Lebanon dying from pregnancy-related complications has nearly tripled amid a crushing three-year economic crisis that has seen doctors and midwives leave the country, the U.N.…

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Apr

SpaceX’s Starlink inks first in-flight WiFi deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - SpaceX signed its first deal with an air carrier to provide in-flight wireless internet using the Starlink satellite network, the space company said as it jockeys with other burgeoning…

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Convulsed by war, tearful Ukrainians mark Orthodox Easter

YIV/KRAMATORSK (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that light would defeat darkness and Kyiv would triumph over Russia as Ukrainians marked a bitterly emotional Orthodox Easter overshadowed by the…

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Ukrainian children delight in painting Easter eggs

Children in Kyiv, including evacuees from other parts of the country, decorated traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs - but this year they have taken on a more patriotic tone. "Many people…

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Two visions of France on offer in Macron-Le Pen battle

PARIS (Reuters) -The French voted on Sunday in an election that will decide whether pro-European Union, centrist President Emmanuel Macron keeps his job or is unseated by far-right eurosceptic Marine…

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Pope calls for Orthodox Easter truce in Ukraine war

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis called for halt to attacks in Ukraine on Sunday so aid can reach the exhausted population and urged leaders to "listen to the voice of…

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The 15-year hunt for missing British girl Madeleine McCann

Portuguese prosecutors said late on Thursday a man had been formally identified as a suspect in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann 15 years ago. Prosecutors in Faro, Algarve's…

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U.S. life expectancy fell by 2 yrs in 2020, sharpest drop among high-income peers

Life expectancy in the United States fell by nearly two years in 2020 to about 77 years amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the sharpest drop compared to 21 other high-income countries,…

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Photo Story: Refugee Russian dancer rehearses with Dutch National Ballet

Russian Olga Smirnova, prima ballerina with the Moscow-based Bolshoi Ballet, rehearses with the Dutch National Ballet for the title role in Raymonda by Marius Petipa in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Smirnova spoke…

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Italy’s culture sector has lost 55,000 jobs in 2 years

Italy's cultural-and-creative sector was badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and showed no signs of recovery in 2021, with the number of people employed in the sector down…

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Ukrainians return home from Poland for special Easter

Maria Verbyana, 19, moved to Warsaw to escape Lviv, Ukraine, a month ago amid the threat of Russian bombings. But, as Orthodox Easter approaches on Sunday, she could not imagine…

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FACTBOX-Far-right Le Pen cloaks nationalist policies with social veneer

PARIS (Reuters) - French far-right candidate Marine Le Pen has made it to the second round of the presidential election and though she lags behind President Emmanuel Macron, polls show a much…

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FACTBOX-Macron wants the French to work longer, shake up welfare state

PARIS (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron, a former investment banker who was elected in 2017 on a promise to be neither of the left nor the right, is projected in voter surveys…

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CIA operative who helped inspire lead character in ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ talks with Reuters in first-ever interview

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the 2012 Hollywood hit “Zero Dark Thirty,” a red-haired Central Intelligence Agency analyst played by Jessica Chastain travels to a secret CIA prison and watches a colleague waterboard…

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Explainer: What you need to know about France’s presidential election

PARIS, April 23 (Reuters) - Sunday's vote will determine whether the pro-European centrist President Emmanuel Macron or the far-right, anti-immigration Marine Le Pen governs France for the next five years. * WHO…

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Macron or Le Pen: France faces stark choice for president

PARIS, April 24 (Reuters) - The French vote on Sunday in an election that will decide whether pro-European Union, centrist President Emmanuel Macron keeps his job or is unseated by far-right eurosceptic…

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At least one miner dead, six trapped after tremor in Polish coal mine

WARSAW, April 24 (Reuters) - One miner was confirmed dead after a tremor at the Borynia-Zofiowka coal mine in Poland, and rescuers are still trying to reach six more underground, mine owner…

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Slovenia’s populist PM faces close election race against environmentalist party

LJUBLJANA, April 24 (Reuters) - Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa hopes to shake off criticism of his record on democracy and media freedoms to win a fourth term in a parliamentary election…

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Easter chants echo in ancient cistern near birthplace of Christianity

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A few steps from Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a small opening leads to an underground cistern where clerics have found the perfect place to practise…

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters third month

Russia heads into the third month of its invasion of Ukraine on Sunday with no end in sight to fighting that has killed thousands, uprooted millions and reduced cities to…

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Putin attends midnight Orthodox Easter mass in Moscow

(Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Sunday attended an Easter mass conducted by the Russian Orthodox Church, which has strongly backed the Kremlin leader's "special military operation" in Ukraine. Putin,…

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At least 12 dead, another 10 missing as four migrant boats sink off Tunisia

TUNIS (Reuters) -At least 12 African migrants died and another 10 were missing after four boats carrying 120 migrants sank off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to…

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India wants to be friends with West but needs Russian help to defend borders, says Finance Minister

MUMBAI, April 23 (Reuters) - India wants to be strong friends with the "liberal world" but it needs Russia's assistance to defend its borders, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Bloomberg in an…

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U.S. study shows COVID-19 third leading cause of death again in 2021

COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States for the second year in a row in 2021, with death rates rising for most age groups, a…

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Italy working with Spain on a treaty of enhanced cooperation

ROME (Reuters) - Italy and Spain are working on a treaty of enhanced cooperation for stronger bilateral relations, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said. Writing on Twitter after meeting…

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French priest seriously injured in knife attack during Mass

A priest in the southern French city of Nice was seriously injured on Sunday in a knife attack committed by a man described as mentally disturbed, officials said. Interior Minister…

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Update: Malta News Briefing – Sunday 24 April 2022

NewsUpdate More Supermarkets boss pleads not guilty Former More Supermarkets boss Ryan Schembri was on Sunday charged with money laundering and fraud. He pleaded not guilty. Times of Malta PN…

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EPA’s Eye In The Sky: Venice, Italy

A handout photo shows French-Swiss artist Saype from the Beyond Walls project on 15 April 2022 on a floating barge in Venice, Italy. Extending over an area of 8 by…

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Odesa missile strike ‘kills 6 including 3-month old baby’, Ukraine says

Russia resumed its assault on the last Ukrainian defenders holed up in a giant steel works in Mariupol, a Ukrainian official said on Saturday, days after Moscow declared victory in…

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Explosion at illegal oil refining depot in Nigeria kills over 100

YENAGAO, Nigeria, April 23 (Reuters) - An explosion at an illegal oil refining depot in Nigeria's Rivers state killed over 100 people overnight, a local government official and the NGO Youths and…

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EXPLAINER-Macron or Le Pen: why it matters for France, the EU and the West

PARIS, April 23 (Reuters) - The French will decide on Sunday whether to re-elect pro-business centrist President Emmanuel Macron or blow up decades of mainstream consensus in favour of far-right Marine Le…

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Photo Story: Preparations for Orthodox Easter in Moldova

A father makes pictures of his daughter near Easter decorations ahead of Orthodox Easter celebrations in downtown Chisinau, Moldova. Orthodox Christian believers mark the Holy Week of Easter in celebration…

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Niger approves re-deployment of more European special forces from Mali

Niger lawmakers approved a bill allowing the deployment of more European special forces to help stem a jihadist insurgency across the Sahel, a move rejected by some parties that oppose…

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Shell in talks with Chinese firms to sell stake in Russian gas project

- Energy giant Shell is in talks with some Chinese companies to sell its stake in a major Russian gas project amid sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine,…

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Gun deaths were the leading killer of US children in 2020

Guns overtook car crashes to become the leading cause of death for US children and teenagers in 2020, new research shows. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

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Spain to probe COVID-19 contracts allegedly linked to ministers

Spain's anti-corruption prosecutor said on Friday it would open a preliminary inquiry into alleged corruption by companies purportedly linked to government ministers that won lucrative contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic.…

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Russian Patriarch prays for quick end to Ukraine conflict but avoids criticising it

April 23 (Reuters) - The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose backing for Moscow's "special military operation" in Ukraine has dismayed many fellow Christians, said on Saturday he hoped…

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Photo Story: Parade of the samba schools in Rio de Janeiro

A member of Unidos Do Viradouro samba school takes part in a parade at the Samba Catwalk during the carnival of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early 23 April 2022. Via…

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