By Anna Koper WARSAW, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Russia has significantly stepped up its online disinformation campaign in Poland, using a dispute between Warsaw and Kyiv over World War Two massacres to inflame tensions between Ukraine and its key ally, Polish officials and researchers say. The messaging, m
By Feras Dalatey and Ludwig Burger DAMASCUS/FRANKFURT, Aug 14 (Reuters) – A former Syrian security officer sentenced to prison in Austria for abusing detainees during Bashar al-Assad’s rule left the country while appealing against his sentence and returned to Syria earlier this month, according to f
ROME, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Italian police have recovered three paintings by French masters Paul Cezanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Matisse that were stolen from a museum near the northern city of Parma in March, officials said on Friday. Carabinieri officers from Italy’s cultural heritage protec
MOSCOW, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Russia believes the United States is deeply involved in Ukrainian attacks against it and has raised the issue with Washington, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in comments broadcast on Friday. He said that the alleged U.S. support included the supply of intelligence. “W
The United Arab Emirates is blaming Iran for firing drones at two tankers operated by a state-owned oil company as they sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, saying Friday that the attacks were acts of piracy. The attacks caused no casualties but underlined the dangers faced by vessels seeking to mov
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — President Prabowo Subianto on Friday touted Indonesia’s strongest first-half economic growth in more than a decade, saying the country could achieve 6% growth by the end of this year despite global uncertainty, while stressing that economic expansion must translate into job
By Stephanie Lecocq LUGLON, France, Aug 14 (Reuters) – French authorities have evacuated 525 people from the village of Luglon after a wildfire broke out in the southwestern Landes region, not far from an area already devastated by major blazes this summer. The fire, which has razed 1,100 hectares (
LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) – A Russian man has been convicted by a Moscow court of spying for Poland and sentenced to 23 years in a penal colony, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Friday. Espionage cases have become increasingly common in Russia since the start of the full-scale war in Ukrain
Aug 14 (Reuters) – A wildfire in Croatia driven by strong winds descended on the tourist town of Omis overnight, engulfing houses, forcing about 1,000 people to evacuate and injuring dozens, fire brigade and health officials said on Friday. Flames enveloped settlements and trees over 1,000 hectares,
BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) – China’s defence ministry on Friday dismissed Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang military drills as a “wasteful charade” that “stoked war panic”, in the Chinese government’s first official comment on the 10 days of war games since they began last week. Taiwan, a democratically gove
CATANIA, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Flights at Catania airport in Sicily will remain suspended until early Saturday because of ash from Mount Etna’s ongoing volcanic activity, which has forced hundreds of flights to be cancelled or rerouted over the past week. All arrivals at the island hub, Italy’s fifth-b
MOUNT TABOR, Israel (AP) — Sister Mayela wears her black veil and habit as she walks to work near where another Catholic nun was violently attacked in Jerusalem’s Old City — but she’s now accompanied by a Jewish volunteer for protection. Many Christians in Israel, who make up less than 2% of the cou
LONDON (AP) — Nigel Farage beat trash-can wearing comic candidate Count Binface to regain the seat in Parliament he quit a month ago to trigger the widely mocked special election. Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party who some see as a possible next prime minister, abruptly quit his
WELLINGTON, Aug 14 (Reuters) – China on Friday rejected allegations that it is conducting widespread espionage on New Zealand, saying the claim in the country’s latest security assessment stemmed from a Cold War mentality. The Chinese embassy in Wellington said the New Zealand Security Intelligence
TOKYO (AP) — Record-breaking rainfall that pounded cities east of Tokyo overnight flooded roads and dozens of homes, stranded thousands of people, caused power outages and left at least four people dead and one missing. The Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded its most severe warning for heavy rai
Aug 13 (Reuters) – Kevin Rideout, an American missionary pilot who was kidnapped in Niger’s capital Niamey in October last year, has been released and is in U.S. hands, the New York Times reported late on Thursday, citing two U.S. officials. Rideout is on his way to the United States, the Times said
CLACTON-ON-SEA, England, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s populist Reform UK party, said on Friday he had regained his parliamentary seat, but would not be present at the vote count because of a police warning about a campaign to disrupt the result. After weeks of facing accusati
Aug 14 (Reuters) – Firefighters were battling flames on Friday at Russia’s Baltic Sea port Ust-Luga, a major energy exports hub, after a fire sparked by a drone attack, regional governor Aleksander Drozdenko said on messaging app Telegram. More than fifty drones were downed in the Leningrad region,
SEOUL, Aug 14 (Reuters) – South Korean President Lee Jae Myung favours a constitutional reform that would allow presidents to serve a four-year term and seek re-election while strengthening parliamentary powers, the Yonhap news agency reported on Friday, citing a presidential Blue House official. Th
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown is expected to lead the South Pacific nation’s government for a second term after his party won more seats than any other group in this week’s election. Voting continued for one of 24 Parliamentary seats in the country of 17,000 p
Aug 14 (Reuters) – Fighter jets on a NATO air defence mission have shot down a drone that entered the airspace of Latvia, a NATO and European Union member, early on Friday, Latvia’s armed forces said on X. The armed forces also lifted an air threat alert for regions close to Russia. Finland, another
LONDON (AP) — A passenger train derailed Thursday in southern England, seriously injuring two people and causing minor injuries for nine others after three carriages overturned, the British Transport Police said. The Southern Rail train from Victoria station in London to Eastbourne was carrying abou
Aug. 7 – 13, 2026 A conservative former criminal defense lawyer with no previous political experience was sworn in as president in Colombia’s third-largest city, Cali, less than 72 hours before a 7.4 earthquake toppled buildings there and across the country’s far-flung provinces. The former presiden
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Friday threatened unspecified stern steps against the United States and South Korea ahead of their upcoming military drills, which Pyongyang called a war rehearsal that claimed would be more provocative than last year. The warning is typical of the harsh rhet
By Hina Suzuki TOKYO, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Record rainfall left thousands of travellers stranded at Tokyo’s Narita airport on Friday as flooding in the surrounding area disrupted transport, knocked out power to homes and claimed at least four lives. More than 360 millimetres of rain fell in 24 hours i
By Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh Aug 13 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, may visit Israel next week for talks on Gaza, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The plans were reported earlier by Axios, which also said that Kushner was plann
BRASILIA, Aug 13 (Reuters) – The Brazilian government has opened a process that could result in the adoption of reciprocal measures against the United States in response to tariffs recently imposed by Washington on the country’s goods, it said in a Thursday statement. The U.S. government announced t
By Renju Jose and John Geddie SYDNEY/TOKYO, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday the AUKUS defence pact remained “full steam ahead” after an overnight call with U.S. President Donald Trump, adding that he had urged Trump to fully exempt Australia from all tari
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Fireworks burst over Pakistan’s capital at midnight as jubilant crowds poured into streets across the country to mark the 79th anniversary of independence, waving national flags and chanting “Long Live Pakistan.” Women and children joined the late-night celebrations as roads and pub
By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Preliminary results on Friday showed that Prime Minister Mark Brown’s Cook Islands Party would likely retain control of parliament, winning 12 of the Pacific nation’s 24 seats, although bad weather delayed voting on the remote island of Nassau. The prel
