Hacking Group Says It Attacked Microsoft for Sudan. Experts Say Russia’s Behind It
A hacking group responsible for a series of outages at Microsoft Corp. earlier this month had spent the
2023-06-28 13:22
Some ECB Officials Weigh Faster Reduction of Bond Portfolio
Some hawkish European Central Bank officials are pondering options to speed up the reduction of the institution’s €5
2023-06-28 13:19
Protests erupt in Paris after police officer fatally shoots teenager for ‘violating traffic laws’
A Paris police officer allegedly shot at a teenager who refused to stop during a traffic check sparking protests in the suburb, it was reported. The 17-year-old was in the Paris suburb of Nanterre when he was shot at by an officer after he failed to stop for a traffic check, the prosecutors said. Local media reported that emergency services tried to resuscitate him at the scene but he died shortly afterwards. Le Monde reported that a video circulating on social media shows two police officers trying to stop a vehicle and one shooting point blank at the teenager when he failed to stop the car. The car crashed after moving a few metres, the video reportedly shows. More follows Read More Rescuers found body in rubble of Paris building that collapsed in explosion Paul McCartney's rediscovered photos show Beatlemania from the inside Book Review: Tom Rachman's new novel 'The Imposters,' a global journey of disparate stories
2023-06-28 12:56
Asian Shares Primed for Gains; Yields Push Higher: Markets Wrap
Asian equities looked set to open higher Wednesday after a rally on Wall Street that was fueled by
2023-06-28 07:46
Putin admits Moscow paid Wagner mercenaries £800m in wages in a year – and that his forces ‘stopped civil war’
Vladimir Putin has admitted that Russia's security services "stopped a civil war" during the mutiny led by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenaries – whose wages and bonuses Moscow funded to the tune of £800m in the past year. His remarks came as the Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko, confirmed that the Wagner chief had arrived in his country as part of the last-minute deal that ended the extraordinary attempted coup. Mr Lukashenko said that Mr Progozhin and some of his troops were welcome to stay "for some time" at their own expense. Mr Putin appeared outside the Kremlin the praise his troops, seeking to portray the image of strength that Saturday's events had left a severe crack in. Speaking in front of hundreds of troop, Mr Putin said said the country's armed forces had prove their "loyalty to the people of Russia" in protecting the "motherland and its future". The Russian leader claimed that Moscow had not been forced to withdraw troops from Ukraine and he held a minute’s silence in honour of the servicemen killed when Wagner forces shot down Russian military aircraft, including helicopters and a communications plane, as they marched on Moscow. The mercenaries stopped about 125 miles outside the capital. Mr Putin was joined by the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, whose dismissal had been one of Mr Prigozhin's main demands – having feuded with Russia's military leadership for months. While Russian authorities dropped a criminal case against his Wagner Group – apparently fulfilling another condition of the deal brokered by Mr Lukashenko – Mr Putin appeared to set the stage for financial charges against an organisation owned by Mr Prigozhin. After his speech outside the Kremlin, Mr Putin told a military gathering that Mr Prigozhin's Concord Group earned 80 billion rubles (£733m) from a contract to provide the military with food, and that Wagner received more than 86 billion rubles (£790bn) between May 2022 and May 2023 for wages and additional items. That had come out of the Defence Ministry and state budgets. For years, the Kremlin denied any links to the Wagner group. "I hope that while doing so they didn't steal anything or stole not so much," Mr Putin said, adding that authorities would look closely at Concord's contract. Police who searched his St Petersburg office on Saturday said they found 4 billion rubles (£37m) in trucks outside, according to media reports confirmed by the Wagner boss. He said the money was intended to pay soldiers' families. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov would not disclose details about the Kremlin's deal with the Wagner chief – saying only that Mr Putin had provided Mr Prigozhiin with "certain guarantees," with the aim of avoiding a "worst-case scenario." Asked why the armed Wagner forces were allowed to get as close as they did Moscow without facing any serious resistance, National Guard chief Viktor Zolotov told reporters, "We concentrated our forces in one fist closer to Moscow. If we spread them thin, they would have come like a knife through butter." Mr Zolotov also said the National Guard lacks battle tanks and other heavy weapons and now would get them. Some Russian war bloggers have vented outrage about Mr Prigozhin and his troops not getting punished for killing Russian forces. The treatment stands in stark contrast to the harsh jail terms handed out to opposition activists in Russia who have criticised Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In Belarus, Mr Lukashenko said that he had convinced Mr Prigozhin to end the mutiny in an emotional, expletive-laden phone call, adding that Mr Prigozhin had arrived in the southern Russian city of Rostov – which Wagner seized to start the rebellion – in a "semi-mad state". Mr Lukashenko said he tried for hours by phone to reason with the Wagner chief, who has said he was furious at corruption and incompetence in the military leadership and wanted to avenge an alleged Russian army attack on his men. The Belarusian president said their calls contained "10 times" as many obscenities as normal language. Mr Lukashenko also said that, earlier on Saturday, Russian Mr Putin had sought his help, complaining that Prigozhin was not taking any calls. Lukashenko said he had advised Putin against "rushing" to crush the mutineers. Mr Lukashenko said that his country would accommodate Wagner fighters who wanted to go there, though it was not building any camps for them. "We offered them one of the abandoned military bases. Please - we have a fence, we have everything - put up your tents," Lukashenko said, according to state media. Such a prospect alarms Belarus's neighbours. Latvia and Lithuania both called for Nato to strengthen its eastern borders in response, and Polish President Andrzej Duda called the move a "negative signal". Ukraine is hoping to take advantage of the chaos caused by the attempted coup to push on with its counteroffensive to retake its territory from Russia. Mr Putin offering Wagner's troops the chance to sign contracts with the Russian army is said that was "likely in an effort to retain them" in the fight in Ukraine because Moscow needs "trained and effective manpower" as it faces a Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank that monitors the war said. In the US, the Pentagon said it would provide a new military package worth $500 million (£390m) to support Ukraine's war effort. The package will include ground vehicles including Bradley fighting vehicles and Stryker armored personnel carriers, and munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (Himars) to support air defences. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Wagner chief walks free after armed revolt. Other Russians defying the Kremlin aren’t so lucky In China, muted reaction to revolt in Russai belies anxiety over war, global balance of power Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin?
2023-06-28 01:54
Russia Latest: Pope Francis Dispatches Peace Envoy to Moscow
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the rebellion in Russia “was painful to watch,” in his first comments since
2023-06-27 19:28
UK to work more closely with EU on financial services
The UK and EU pact is being seen as a step towards better relations over financial services.
2023-06-27 19:27
Zalando Takes the EU to Court Over its New Digital Rules
German online fashion retailer Zalando SE is fighting the European Union’s decision to add it to a list
2023-06-27 18:52
Russia’s Wagner Group Led Central Africa Massacres: Sentry
Russia’s Wagner Group has played a central role in a campaign of killings, torture and rape in the
2023-06-27 16:58
ECB’s Kazaks Can’t Rule Out Interest-Rate Hikes Beyond July
The European Central Bank may need to lift interest rates after the planned increase in July that many
2023-06-27 16:22
Inflation in Shops Declines as UK Battles Cost-of-Living Crisis
Inflation in UK shops dipped this month, offering a glimmer of hope to ministers and central bankers struggling
2023-06-27 16:16
Outrage in Italy after tourist filmed carving his and girlfriend’s names into Rome’s Colosseum
Italians reacted with fury after a man was filmed carving his and his girlfriend’s names on the wall of the Colosseum in capital Rome, triggering a police investigation. An English-speaking man was taped by a bystander carving his and his girlfriend's name with a key on the wall of the nearly 2000-year-old monument. The man can be seen scratching 'Ivan + Hayley 23' into one of the bricks last Friday, according to the video's time stamp. The suspect, who is yet to be identified, then turned around and grinned at the bystander who said: "Are you serious, man?" Italy’s culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano on Monday shared the video, calling it a "very serious, unworthy and a sign of great incivility that a tourist defaces one of the most famous places in the world, the Colosseum, to engrave the name of his fiancee". “I hope that whoever did this will be identified and sanctioned according to our laws," he added. If convicted, the man could reportedly face a fine of at least €15,000 (£12,866) along with up to a year of jail time. Alfonsina Russo, director of the Colosseum, said the Carabinieri police were tracking down the suspected and "we will see if we can get him". "When you get uneducated people at the Colosseum this kind of hooliganism happens and I hope there are no copycats," she told the Daily Mail. The Carabinieri paramilitary police in Rome said the department has been intimated of the incident and officers are looking to identify the culprit. "And when he is caught, he will be punished." Italians on Twitter criticised the tourist, calling it "absolutely despicable behaviour". "Americans always think they have ownership over everything they set foot on," wrote one user. However, this isn't the first time that tourists have been fined for defacing the Unesco World Heritage Site. In 2020, an Irish tourist was accused of vandalism of the Colosseum after security staff spotted him allegedly carving his initials into the ancient structure. Read More Pompeii chariot stars in Rome exhibit probing ancient roots Are you not entertained? Sausage dog remains discovered beneath Rome’s Colosseum Tourists’ beers in Rome end up costing £670 after they break into Colosseum Putin says mutiny tried to force soldiers ‘to shoot their own’ in desperate message Putin appeals to public after Wagner leader Prigozhin breaks silence over mutiny Turkish police detain 100 at banned Pride marches
2023-06-27 15:18