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☆ France Plans to Restrict Unemployment Benefits in New Reform Push, PM Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( March | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS (Reuters) - France is planning to toughen unemployment rules by restricting the period when jobless citizens receive welfare payments, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Wednesday. Outlining the government's plans to further reform the job market, Attal told TF1 television: "One of the options is to reduce the duration of payments. An unemployed worker aged 53 or less currently receives up to 18 months of benefits plus six months if jobs are scarce. The duration extends to 22-1/2 months plus 7-1/2 months for workers aged 53-54, and 27 months plus nine months for those over the age of 55. Other than shortening the duration of welfare payments, Attal also said the government was considering toughening the requirements to be eligible for unemployment benefits.

Persons: Gabriel Attal, Attal, Emmanuel Macron's, Tassilo Hummel, Timothy Heritage Organizations: PARIS, TF1 Locations: France

☆ Prominent Ukrainian Army Unit Launches Own Recruitment Drive to Strengthen Ranks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

By Dan PeleschukKYIV (Reuters) - A year after the founding commander of Ukraine's Da Vinci Wolves Battalion was killed fighting Russian forces, his portrait adorns an airy new recruitment office in Kyiv casting a watchful eye over would-be members. With its military ranks wearing thin, Ukraine is struggling to overhaul mobilisation and broaden recruitment as the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion approaches. For the Da Vinci Wolves, led by war hero Dmytro "Da Vinci" Kotsiubailo until his death near the eastern town of Bakhmut last March, it means relying on a well-honed public image to attract new recruits. 'THE BEST'The Da Vinci Wolves have received more than 1,000 applications and are seeking around 500 new members, Filimonov said. Candidates include Anatoliy Kvasha, 48, who said he wanted a greater say over where he ended up after facing bureaucratic headaches at his local draft office.

Persons: Dan Peleschuk, Ukraine's Da, Dmytro, Da, Kotsiubailo, Serhii Filimonov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Filimonov, Anatoliy Kvasha, Kvasha, Kyrychenko, Anna Voitenko, Timothy Heritage, Toby Chopra Organizations: Dan Peleschuk KYIV, Ukraine's Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, Da Vinci Wolves, Vinci Wolves, 59th Motorized Brigade, Reuters, Separate Assault Brigade, Service Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Bakhmut, Russian, Lviv

☆ Inconclusive Gaza Truce Talks Dent Hopes of Palestinians in Rafah
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

By Nidal al-MughrabiCAIRO (Reuters) - Palestinians jammed into their last refuge in Gaza voiced growing fear on Wednesday that Israel will soon launch a planned assault on the southern city of Rafah after truce talks in Cairo ended inconclusively. Said Jaber, a Gaza businessman who is sheltering in Rafah with his family, told Reuters via a chat app. We've had enough of this war, and we will need decades to rebuild Gaza and regain our lives. Rafah residents said on Tuesday that dozens of displaced people had begun to leave Rafah after Israeli shelling and air strikes in recent days. At least 28,576 Palestinians have been killed and 68,291 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct.7, the health ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday.

Persons: Nidal, Israel, Said Jaber, We've, Annalena Baerbock, Benjamin Netanyahu, Khan Younis, Nasser, Dr Haitham Ahmed, William Burns, Nidal al, Dan Williams, Emily Rose, Timothy Heritage, Ros Russell Organizations: Reuters, Israeli, Nasser Hospital Locations: CAIRO, Gaza, Rafah, Cairo, inconclusively, United States, Israel, Egypt, Qatar, hideouts, Berlin, Rafa, Hamas, Khan, Jeruslame

☆ Some Palestinians Leave Rafah Refuge, Fearing Israeli Assault
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Mohammad SalemRAFAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Nahla Jarwan fled her home in the central Gaza Strip to seek refuge in Rafah - like more than 1 million other Palestinians escaping Israel's military offensive. Now, as Israeli shells crash into Rafah, Jarwan said she is going back to an area she fled, even though nowhere is safe. She is one of dozens of people who residents said were leaving Rafah on Tuesday after Israeli shelling and air strikes in recent days. For Palestinians, Rafah at the southern end of the Gaza Strip has provided sanctuary from an Israeli offensive which has killed more than 28,000 people, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has said it has ordered the army to develop a plan to evacuate Rafah.

Persons: Mohammad Salem, Nahla Jarwan, Jarwan, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu's, We're, I'm, Joe Biden, Netanyahu, Momen Shbair, Khan Younis, Nidal al, Tom Perry, Timothy Heritage Organizations: Al, UNRWA, Aid Locations: Mohammad Salem RAFAH, Gaza, Rafah, Israel, Al, Egypt

☆ IAEA Chief Says Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Has Enough Cooling Water - Russian Agencies
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi visited the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine on Wednesday and said there were enough wells on site to supply cooling pools, Russian news agencies reported. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also rotated its team of observers who are permanently stationed at Zaporizhzhia, the agencies reported. Russia seized control of Europe's largest nuclear power plant after launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and its six nuclear reactors are now idled. Nuclear plants need enough water to cool their reactors and to help prevent a nuclear meltdown. Grossi was accompanied on his visit by Russian soldiers who have occupied the territory in southeastern Ukraine where the nuclear plant is located since soon after the 2022 invasion.

Persons: Rafael Grossi, Grossi, John Davison, Timothy Heritage Organizations: International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, TASS, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia, Russia, Russian

☆ Explainer-Why Does Russia Want to Capture Ukraine's Avdiivka?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

By Dan Peleschuk and Andrew OsbornKYIV/LONDON (Reuters) - Russian forces are intensifying efforts to seize the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka as Moscow's war in Ukraine grinds on. Russian war bloggers, whom the Kremlin has brought under tight control, have acknowledged heavy Russian losses but alleged significant Ukrainian losses too. They say Kyiv's forces can be encircled if Russian forces can cut their last main supply line to the west. Avdiivka is seen as a gateway to Donetsk city, whose residential areas Russian officials say have been shelled by Ukrainian forces, sometimes from Avdiivka. Seizing it could boost Russian morale and demoralise Ukrainian forces, which have made only incremental gains in a broad counteroffensive since June.

Persons: Dan Peleschuk, Andrew Osborn, Avdiivka, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Sergei Markov, Mykola Bielieskov, Bielieskov, Mike Collett, White, Timothy Heritage Organizations: LONDON, Mechanized Brigade, Radio Liberty, Kremlin, National Institute for Strategic Studies, Kyiv Locations: Ukrainian, Avdiivka, Ukraine, Bakhmut, Russia, Moscow, Russian, Donetsk, Luhansk, Avdeyevka, Kyiv, Kremlin

☆ Serbian Journalists Protest Acquittal of Suspects in 1999 Killing of Colleague
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Dozens of Serbian journalists and rights activists protested peacefully in Belgrade on Monday against the acquittal of four men who had previously been sentenced over the 1999 killing of opposition journalist and newspaper publisher Slavko Curuvija. The Belgrade-based Appellate Court announced the acquittal last week of four State Security operatives, including Radomir Markovic, the former head of the agency. The protesters carried a banner reading "You killed justice, but truth lives on," which they left in front of the building housing the Appellate Court in downtown Belgrade. Dusko Milenkovic, the head of the Appellate Court, said the court had concluded that the prosecution "did not provide enough evidence to prove the indictment." The Supreme Court has the power to overturn the Appellate Court's decision and order a retrial.

Persons: Slavko Curuvija, Radomir Markovic, Curuvija, Slobodan Milosevic's, Markovic, Dusko Milenkovic, Ivan Stambolic, Vuk Draskovic, Aleksandar Vasovic, Timothy Heritage Organizations: BELGRADE, Reuters, State Security, Journalists ' Association of Serbia, Milosevic, NATO, Serbia Locations: Belgrade, Curuvija, Kosovo

☆ U.N. Expert Tells Philippines to Act on Media Killings, Abolish Anti-Communist Task Force
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

Irene Khan, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion, spent almost two weeks in the Philippines to assess the state of free speech and media rights. "The Philippines remains a dangerous country for journalists," Khan said, adding "much more needs to be done to attack impunity". A U.N. special rapporteur who visited Manila last year had a similar recommendation. The task force has been accused of "red-tagging", the practice of accusing government critics of being rebel sympathisers as a pre-text to silence, arrest or even kill them. The task force will "transition to a different body", given the weakening communist insurgency, Malaya said.

Persons: Irene Khan, Khan, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Jonathan Malaya, Mikhail Flores, Timothy Heritage Organizations: United, United Nations Educational, Cultural Organization, UNESCO, World Press Locations: MANILA, United Nations, Philippines, Manila, Malaya

☆ Israel Hands Over Bodies of Palestinians Killed in Gaza - Palestinian Health Officials
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

DOHA/GAZA (Reuters) - Israel on Tuesday handed over to Palestinian authorities the bodies of dozens of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in recent weeks, health officials in the Palestinian enclave said. The bodies, which had been held in Israel, were handed over through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing and will be buried in mass graves in the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, the officials said. The health ministry in Gaza did not immediately say how many bodies had been handed over. Israel, which began a military offensive in Gaza after Palestinian militants from the coastal enclave went on the rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7 last year, did not immediately comment on the handover. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Persons: Nidal al, Timothy Heritage Locations: DOHA, GAZA, Israel, Gaza, Rafah

☆ Hungarian Opposition Seeks Extraordinary Session of Parliament on Sweden NATO Bid
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Boldizsar GyoriBUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian opposition parties submitted a motion on Monday calling for an extraordinary session of parliament on Feb. 5 to ratify Sweden's application to join NATO. Hungary is the only country in the 31-member Atlantic alliance yet to ratify Sweden's application. Turkey completed its approval last week, some 20 months after Stockholm applied to join NATO following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But parliamentary speaker Laszlo Kover said there was no urgency for any extraordinary move to ratify Sweden's NATO accession and suggested that opposition attempts at an extra session would be likely to fail. Hungary's parliament is not currently in session, but NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said last Friday he expected the assembly to ratify Sweden's accession at the end of February after it reconvenes.

Persons: Zita Gurmai, Gurmai, Viktor Orban, Vladimir Putin, Laszlo Kover, Jens Stoltenberg, Orban, Boldizsar Gyori, Jason Hovet, Timothy Heritage Organizations: Gyori, NATO, Atlantic, Reuters, Fidesz, Christian Democrat, Sweden's, Union Locations: Gyori BUDAPEST, Hungary, Turkey, Stockholm, Ukraine, Hungarian, Brussels

☆ Hamas Studies Ceasefire Proposal After Deadly Israeli Hospital Raid in West Bank
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

By Raneen SawaftaWEST BANK/GAZA/DOHA (Reuters) -Hamas said on Tuesday it would study a new ceasefire proposal in the war with Israel in Gaza, hours after Israeli commandos killed three Palestinian militants in a raid on a hospital in the occupied West Bank. The raid underscored the risk of the Gaza war spreading to other fronts, while Israeli forces fought new battles with Hamas fighters in the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli undercover squad broke into the hospital, headed to the third floor and killed them using silenced pistols, hospital sources said. Since then, 26,751 Palestinians have been killed and 65,636 wounded by Israeli actions in Gaza, the Gaza health ministry said. TANKS IN ACTIONIsrael mounted a new push in northern Gaza after earlier reporting successes against Palestinian militants there.

Persons: Ismail Haniyeh, Haniyeh, William Burns, Qatar's, Islamic Jihad, Ibn Sina, Mohammad, Najy Nazzal, Mai Alkaila, Mohammed Jalamneh, Israel, Christian Lindmeier, Alkaila, Al Shifa, Khan Younis, Crescent, Ari Rabinovitch, Daniel Williams, Nidal Al Mughrabi, Ali Sawafta, Emma Farge, Angus MacSwan, Timothy Heritage, Gareth Jones Organizations: BANK, Reuters, West Bank, CIA, Islamic, Hamas, Basel Al, Palestinian Health, United Nations, World Health Organization, WHO, Nasser, Health, Palestinian, Residents, Deir Al, Al, Amal Locations: GAZA, DOHA, Israel, Gaza, Paris, Cairo, Ibn Sina, Jenin, Basel, Geneva, Beach, Al, Israeli, Kuwaiti, Gaza City, Deir, Jerusalem, Doha, Ramallah, Clauda, Dubai

☆ Revellers Who Fled Hamas Reunite With Holocaust Survivor Who Sheltered Them
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Rami AmichayTEL AVIV (Reuters) - As a child, Sarah Jackson survived the Nazi Holocaust. She was four years old when the war started. Jackson gave her testimony as part of an Israeli grassroots initiative of informal gatherings in people's private homes to commemorate the Holocaust. The event, titled 'Zikaron Basalon' (Remembrance in the Living Room), brings together Holocaust survivors or descendants of survivors who share their accounts with younger people. For some survivors, Hamas' attack recalled past atrocities.

Persons: Rami Amichay TEL, Sarah Jackson, Jackson, Ilya Pisatzkov, Pisatzkov, Benel Fransis, It's, Avivit Delgoshen, Maayan Lubell, Timothy Heritage Organizations: Reuters, Nova Locations: Rami Amichay TEL AVIV, Nazi, revellers, Israel, Gaza, Sa'ad, Poland, Siberia

☆ Explainer-What Turkey Gained in Delaying Sweden's NATO Bid
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

Turkey ratified Finland's bid in April 2023 but, along with NATO member Hungary, has kept Sweden waiting. While Erdogan sent Sweden's NATO bid to Turkey's parliament for consideration last October, he openly linked the F-16s with its ultimate ratification. WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATE OF SWEDEN'S BID? Though Turkey was seen as the main hurdle, Hungary has also not ratified Sweden's bid. Hungary pledged not to be the last to ratify the bid, but its parliament is in recess until around mid-February.

Persons: Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer ANKARA, Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Gunnar Strommer, Jens Stoltenberg, Thomas Goffus, Viktor Orban, Timothy Heritage Organizations: NATO, Ankara, Kurdistan Workers ' Party, European Union, Canada, U.S . Congress, Eurofighter Locations: Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Turkey, Hungary, Stockholm, Helsinki, Washington, SWEDEN, FINLAND, Madrid, Kurdistan, Ankara, United States, Netherlands, SWEDEN'S

☆ Drones Are Hit and Miss for Ukrainian Soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have become vital for Ukraine's military since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. "And most of them are because of low-quality parts that are used very often to make the drones even cheaper." AN INTEGRAL PART OF UKRAINE'S WAR EFFORTUkraine's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the soldiers' remarks. Drones range from small UAVs controlled remotely to larger devices that can fly hundreds of kilometres deep into Russian territory. Despite their impact, Sam said drones could not win the war on their own.

Persons: Inna, Sam, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Elaine Monaghan, Timothy Heritage Organizations: Reuters, Russia, Artillery, Russian Locations: DONETSK, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Russia, Russian

☆ Von Der Leyen Confident All EU States Will Agree on Aid Package to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

By Gabriela BaczynskaBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's chief executive voiced confidence on Wednesday that all 27 member states will agree to jointly extend more financial aid to Ukraine. Hungary has resisted agreement on an aid package, raising the possibility of the other 26 countries giving funds to Ukraine under separate bilateral deals with Kyiv. But Ursula von der Leyen, who heads the executive European Commission, told EU lawmakers: "I am confident that we will find a solution by 27." EU leaders last month agreed to start accession talks with Ukraine but Hungary vetoed granting 50 billion euros($54 bln) in aid for Kyiv through 2027. The prospect of 26 countries giving aid to Ukraine under separate bilateral deals with Kyiv is one alternative that is under discussion.

Persons: Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS, Ursula von der Leyen, Viktor Orban, Tassilo Hummel, Bart Meijer, Gabriela Baczynska, Timothy Heritage Organizations: European Commission, EU, Russian, European, Commission, Kyiv Locations: Ukraine, Hungary, Brussels, Hungarian, Budapest

☆ Ukraine's Ally Poland Looking Into How to Make More Ammunition - Foreign Minister
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Antoni SlodkowskiDAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Poland's new government is looking into how it can make more ammunition and military equipment as it works on a new aid package for Ukraine, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in Davos on Wednesday. "We're examining what options we have of making more ammunition and equipment and also what we still have in our stores." Sikorski's remarks indicated Warsaw is looking into ways to produce more ammunition and military hardware to be able to send more military aid to Kyiv. Sikorski acknowledged that Ukraine and Poland, which is a member of both the EU and NATO, must keep working on resolving challenges. Sikorski said Poland was "back from a faraway trip into populism" after eight years of PiS in power.

Persons: Antoni Slodkowski, Radoslaw Sikorski, Sikorski, Sikorski's, Mr Putin, he'd, Polish hauliers, PiS, Alan Charlish, Timothy Heritage Organizations: Wednesday, European Union, Ukrainian hauliers, Kyiv, Reuters, Economic, Law and Justice, TRUCKERS Sikorski, EU, NATO Locations: Antoni Slodkowski DAVOS, Switzerland, Ukraine, Davos, Warsaw, European, Swiss, Polish, Poland, U.S

☆ Explainer-What's the Israel-Palestinian Conflict About and How Did It Start?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +8 min

The conflict pits Israeli demands for security in what it has long regarded as a hostile Middle East against Palestinians' unmet aspirations for a state of their own. In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel. Two-state solution: An agreement that would create a state for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel. Israel has said a Palestinian state must be demilitarised so as not to threaten its security. Jerusalem: Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which includes the walled Old City's sites sacred to Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, to be the capital of their state.

Persons: David Ben, Gurion, Israel, Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, Arafat, Bill Clinton, Ehud Barak, Donald Trump's, Joe Biden's, Trump, Edmund Blair, Timothy Heritage Organizations: United Nations General Assembly, Arab League, West Bank, Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, Palestinian, European Union, U.S, Israel Locations: Israel, East, Palestine, British, Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Egypt, Israeli, Suez, Golan, Lebanon's Iran, United States, Oslo, Arab, Palestinian, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, U.S

☆ Gaza families flee again to shrinking, overcrowded pocket of land
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Bassam Masoud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"We are getting ready to leave Khan Younis, heading to Rafah. But in Rafah, displaced people said their living conditions were horrible. Palestinians fleeing north Gaza walk towards the south, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the central Gaza Strip, November 9, 2023. Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 240 hostages, according to Israel's tally. More than 15,800 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's military response in Gaza, according to figures from Gaza health officials deemed reliable by the United Nations.

Persons: Khan, KHAN YOUNIS, Khan Younis, Nasser, Abu Omar, Enas Mosleh, Mohammed Salem, Hassan al, Fadi Shana, Saleh, Maggie Fick, Estelle Shirbon, Timothy Organizations: Hamas, REUTERS, United Nations, Nasser, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Khan Younis, Rafah, Gaza, Israel, Egypt, Palestinian, Beit Hanoun, Saleh Salem, Beirut

But the growing movement of Russian women underscores the complexity and innate inequality of keeping so many men at war for so long while many more of fighting age remain at home. It is too soon to assess the size or impact of the movement of Russian women in a society which the authorities say is united behind the war effort. Women in Ukraine have also demanded their men be allowed back from the front. When Putin ordered a partial mobilisation of 300,000 reservists in September 2022, hundreds of thousands of young men rushed to leave Russia. Petitions to bring their men back produced almost no response, and Russia's defence ministry has barely engaged with the women, Andreeva said.

Persons: Maria Andreeva, Yulia Morozova, Vladimir Putin, Andreeva, Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Vitaly Milonov, Milonov, Guy Faulconbridge, Timothy Organizations: State Duma, REUTERS, Kremlin, Reuters, Russia's Security, New, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, MOSCOW, Soviet Union, Chechnya, Andreeva, Western

☆ UK military faces $22 billion equipment shortfall, watchdog says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Britain's armed forces face an equipment funding shortfall of 17 billion pounds ($21.6 billion) over the next 10 years, a public spending watchdog said on Monday, a concern for defence chiefs at a time of heightened geopolitical risks. The National Audit Office (NAO) put the estimate for the budget for new weapons and equipment at 305.5 billion pounds for 2023-2033, 16.9 billion pounds over budget, the largest deficit since its first report in 2012. Russia's war in Ukraine has highlighted the need for extra military spending across Europe, with Britain an important ally and provider of military equipment to Kyiv. The government raised spending on defence by an extra 5 billion pounds earlier this year, increasing it to about 2.25% of gross domestic product this year and next. "The Ministry of Defence acknowledges that its Equipment Plan for 2023–2033 is unaffordable," NAO head Gareth Davies said in a statement.

Persons: NAO, Grant Shapps, Shapps, Gareth Davies, Sarah Young, Bernadette Baum, Timothy Organizations: Audit, Soaring, Ministry of Defence's, Defence, Ministry, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Britain, Ukraine, Europe, Kyiv

The fighting is reminiscent of a battle for another eastern city, Bakhmut, which fell to Russian forces last May after months of brutal urban combat. Since Moscow launched its renewed offensive around Avdiivka in October, Ukraine's top general and Western military experts have made downbeat assessments of Ukraine's ability to break Russian lines. Located just north of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in the industrial Donbas region, Avdiivka hosts deeply entrenched Ukrainian defences. Pushing Ukrainian forces out of Avdiivka would be seen as enlarging the amount of territory Russia controls and making Donetsk city safer. Seizing Avdiivka could boost Russian morale and deal a psychological blow to Ukrainian forces, which have made only incremental gains in a counteroffensive launched in June.

Persons: Nuzhnenko, Ukraine's, Russia's, Andrei Gurulyov, Semyon Pegov, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Mykola Bielieskov, Bielieskov, Dan Peleschuk, Andrew Osborn, Mike Collett, White Organizations: Ukraine's National Guard Omega, Radio Free, Radio Liberty, REUTERS Acquire, Mechanized Brigade, Avdiivka, National Institute for Strategic Studies, Kyiv, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Avdiivka, Ukraine, Donetsk region, Radio Free Europe, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Russian, Moscow, Kyiv, Soviet, Donetsk, Luhansk, Russia

☆ For eastern Ukrainians, the ordeal of war is entering its second decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

It is now close to the front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces, and many of its buildings are damaged or destroyed. Like most people from Chasiv Yar, Tkachov has moved further from the fighting though some remain. All of them have lived through nearly a decade of war, a reminder that for millions in eastern Ukraine the conflict has rumbled on since 2014, long before Russia's full-scale invasion in February last year grabbed the world's attention. BUILD-UPUkraine and its Western allies say Russia infiltrated eastern Ukraine with fighters and intelligence operatives to stage a coup in Donbas in 2014 which Moscow subsequently supported with regular troops. FULL-SCALE WARThe U.N. human rights office estimated that more than 14,000 military personnel and civilians were killed in eastern Ukraine from early April 2014 to the end of 2021.

Persons: Tkachov, Alina Smutko, CHASIV, Chasiv Yar, Vladimir Putin, Viktor Yanukovych, Yanukovych, Max Hunder, Mike Collett, White Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Russian, Russia, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, Donetsk region, Donbas, CHASIV YAR, Chasiv, Russian, Russia, Moscow, Donetsk, Luhansk, Soviet Union, Ukrainian, CRIMEA, Kyiv, Crimea, Sloviansk, Soviet

☆ Ukraine conducts new attack on Russian railway deep in Siberia - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsKYIV, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Ukraine's domestic spy agency has detonated explosives on a Russian railway line deep in Siberia, the second attack this week on military supply routes in the area, a Ukrainian source told Reuters on Friday. The train had been using a backup railway line after an attack on a nearby tunnel a day earlier caused trains to be diverted, the source said. The Ukrainian source, who said both operations were conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), gave a similar assessment of the damage, citing Russian Telegram channels. Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway is widely seen as more important for Russian freight transport than the Baikal-Amur Mainline. A Russian industry source who declined to be identified said the backup route was functioning and being used by trains carrying freight on Friday afternoon.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Tom Balmforth, Gleb Stolyarov, Timothy Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Security Service of Ukraine, Russian, Reuters, Russian Railways, Russia's, Railway, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Siberia, Ukrainian, Russia, Siberia's Buryatia, Mongolia, Russian, Buryatia, Moscow, Chertov, Russia's Baikal, Russia's, Baikal, Amur, Kyiv

☆ 'Let us be a lesson', say Kazakhs wary of return to nuclear testing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Mariya Gordeyeva | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Many nuclear proliferation experts believe resuming testing by either nuclear superpower more than 30 years after the last test is unlikely soon. "I remember I was about five years old," said Baglan Gabullin, a resident of Kaynar, another village that lived under the shadow of nuclear testing. [1/5]A view shows a model of a nuclear test at the museum of the Semipalatinsk Test Site, one of the main locations for nuclear testing in the Soviet Union, in the town of Kurchatov in the Abai Region, Kazakhstan November 7, 2023. Gabullin, speaking near a small monument to victims of nuclear tests erected in Kaynar, also said losses were common. While villages such as Kaynar and Saryzhal were exposed to direct radiation, steppe winds carried nuclear fallout across an area the size of Italy.

Persons: Putin, Vladimir Putin, Serikbay Ybyrai, Baglan Gabullin, Pavel Mikheyev, Gulsum Mukanova, Mukanova, Alicia Sanders, Olzhas, Gloria Dickie, Olzhas Auyezov, Mike Collett, White Organizations: Soviet, REUTERS, International, Nuclear, Reuters, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Kazakhstan, SARYZHAL, Russia, United States, Soviet, Semey, Kazakh, Russian, Ukraine, Moscow, Saryzhal, Kaynar, Soviet Union, Kurchatov, Abai Region, Italy, Novaya Zemlya, Russia's, Almaty, London

☆ 'Let Us Be a Lesson', Say Kazakhs Wary of Return to Nuclear Testing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

Many nuclear proliferation experts believe resuming testing by either nuclear superpower more than 30 years after the last test is unlikely soon. "I remember I was about five years old," said Baglan Gabullin, a resident of Kaynar, another village that lived under the shadow of nuclear testing. Gabullin, speaking near a small monument to victims of nuclear tests erected in Kaynar, also said losses were common. While villages such as Kaynar and Saryzhal were exposed to direct radiation, steppe winds carried nuclear fallout across an area the size of Italy. "Underground testing can also have severe consequences," said Alicia Sanders-Zakre of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

Persons: Mariya Gordeyeva SARYZHAL, Vladimir Putin, Serikbay Ybyrai, Baglan Gabullin, Gulsum Mukanova, Mukanova, Alicia Sanders, Olzhas, Gloria Dickie, Olzhas Auyezov, Mike Collett, White, Timothy Heritage Organizations: Reuters, International, Nuclear Locations: Kazakhstan, Russia, United States, Soviet, Semey, Kazakh, Russian, Ukraine, Moscow, Saryzhal, Kaynar, Italy, Soviet Union, Novaya Zemlya, Russia's, Almaty, London

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