Foreign News

European leaders outraged after Russian strikes kill 23 and damage EU’s HQ

Published

5 months ago

2025/08/29

Priyan

The head of the European Union’s executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has spoken of her outrage at Russia’s deadliest onslaught on Kyiv since July – which also damaged the EU’s delegation office in the Ukrainian capital.

At least 23 people, including four children, were killed and dozens more wounded in the bombardment, Ukrainian officials said.

A five-storey residential building was destroyed, and the EU mission and nearby British Council were damaged.

In a strongly worded statement, von der Leyen said that Russian missiles struck in close proximity to the diplomatic mission: “Two missiles hit in a distance of 50m (165ft) of the delegation within 20 seconds.”

Ukrainian forces said Russia had fired almost 600 drones and more than 30 ballistic and cruise missiles – the biggest attack on the capital this month.

Many of those killed were in the five-storey residential building in the south-eastern Darnytskyi district on Kyiv’s left bank.

A missile tore through the block of flats at about 03:00, causing it to collapse.

Diggers removed rubble, and rescue workers clambered on top of smouldering parts of the building looking for survivors.

Officials said three of the children killed were aged two, 14 and 17. Several other youngsters were wounded.

The overnight attacks followed a US-led diplomatic offensive aimed at bringing an end to the war and infuriated the UK as well as the EU.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accused Russia’s Vladimir Putin of “sabotaging hopes of peace”, while EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said they showed “a deliberate choice to escalate and mock peace efforts”.

Moscow had chosen “ballistics instead of the negotiating table”, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who reiterated the need for “new, tough sanctions” on Russia.

Although the Kremlin said Russia was “still interested” in negotiations, von der Leyen said the strikes were “another grim reminder” that Russia would “stop at nothing to terrorise Ukraine”, killing men, women and children and even targeting the EU.

The US special envoy on Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said Russia’s “egregious attacks” on residential areas threatened the peace that President Donald Trump was pursuing.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia had “shown its true face again”, and the fact that the EU delegation had come under fire was an indication of the Kremlin’s increasing brazenness.

An EU spokeswoman said no diplomatic mission should ever be targeted and the Russian charge d’affaires in Brussels was being summoned in response to the attack.

Russia’s ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, was summoned to the foreign office.

Zelensky said the attack on Ukraine’s cities and communities was a clear response from the Kremlin to everyone who had called for weeks and months “for a ceasefire and for real diplomacy”.

The wave of missiles came after more than 100,000 Ukrainian homes were left without power by Russian drone attacks on energy infrastructure on Wednesday. Another 60,000 consumers were left without power in the central Vinnytsia region in the latest attacks, officials said.

Russian forces also struck a Ukrainian naval vessel, killing one member of the crew and wounding several others. The Russian defence ministry claimed it had used an unmanned speedboat to target the reconnaissance ship Simferopol in the mouth of the River Danube, although Ukraine’s military gave no details of where the attack took place.

European Union A damaged office with windows blown out and parts of the ceiling falling down — *EU officials shared images of damage to their delegation office in Kyiv [BBC]*

Military officials have advised people to stay in shelters during the attacks [BBC]

European Council President Antonio Costa said he was horrified by the latest Russian attacks on Kyiv.

The British Council, which fosters cultural relations with other countries and is housed in the same block as the EU’s mission, said its office was severely damaged and would be closed to visitors until further notice.

Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was preparing a 19th package of sanctions on Russia and announced she would visit seven EU member states who shared a border with Russia and its ally Belarus over the next few days.

The Commission said she would travel to Latvia and Finland on Friday before going on to Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania.

President Trump had hoped to organise a summit involving Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin to bring an end to the war, but those efforts have since stalled. He first met Putin in Alaska before holding talks with Zelensky and European leaders in Washington.

Ukraine’s president has backed the move, but the Kremlin has played down any chance of a Putin-Zelensky summit.

Despite the latest setback, US officials will hold talks with a Ukrainian delegation in New York on Friday. Zelensky said they would discuss “military, political and economic components of security guarantees” for Ukraine.

Ukraine is working with its European allies on guarantees aimed at preventing any future Russian attack in the event of a peace deal. Zelensky had talks in Kyiv this week with the head of Britain’s armed forces, Adm Sir Tony Radakin.

Russia says it will not accept European troops on the ground and says discussing them without Moscow’s involvement is a “road to nowhere”.

[BBC]

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Foreign News

Naqvi casts uncertainty on Pakistan’s participation in T20 World Cup after Bangladesh ouster

Published

2 days ago

2026/01/25

Priyan

Mohsin Naqvi said the decision to play in the T20 World Cup or not now rests with the Pakistan government [Cricinfo]

Pakistan’s participation at the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 has been thrown into uncertainty after the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said a final decision would be made after talking to Pakistan’s government. Speaking shortly after the ICC officially removed Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup owing to their refusal to play in India, Naqvi accused the ICC of “double standards” favouring India, and termed what happened to Bangladesh “an injustice”.

“Our stance on World Cup participation will be what the government of Pakistan instructs me,” he said. “The Prime Minister is not in Pakistan right now. When he returns, I’ll be able to give you our final decision. It’s the government’s decision. We obey them, not the ICC.”

Over the past week or so, Pakistan has firmly thrown its support behind Bangladesh in their dispute with the ICC demanding a venue outside of India to play their T20 World Cup matches. At an ICC meeting last week, the PCB was understood to be the only board to back the BCB in their stance. The tournament is jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, but Bangladesh’s games were all scheduled in India. Bangladesh, however, have said it is no longer safe for them to play in India after the BCCI, on January 3, instructed Kilkata Knight Riders to release Mustafizur Rahman rom their IPL 2026 squad.

Though no reason was stated for that directive, it came amid deteriorating relations between India and Bangladesh. On January 4, the BCB wrote to the ICC after consultation with the government that the Bangladesh team would not travel to India for its T20 World Cup matches due to security concerns, a stance it stuck to through several subsequent discussions with the ICC.

The ICC has repeatedly refused Bangladesh’s request, and earlier this week gave them an ultimatum demanding them to accept the schedule as it was, or face being removed from the tournament. On Saturday, with Bangladesh sticking to their position, the ICC formally announced Bangladesh would not be part of the T20 World Cup, and would be replaced instead by Scotland.

Naqvi was critical of the decision, calling it an injustice to Bangladesh. “I think Bangladesh has been hard done by,” he said. “You can’t have double standards. You can’t say for one country [India] they can do whatever they want and for the others to have to do the complete opposite. That’s why we’ve taken this stand, and made clear Bangladesh have had an injustice done to them. They should play in the World Cup, they are a major stakeholder in cricket.”

While there have been local, unverified reports that the PCB would refuse to participate in the World Cup in solidarity with Bangladesh should they be removed, the PCB has declined to confirm to ESPNcricinfo when approached. Naqvi’s comments to the media on Saturday was the first time anyone at the PCB has directly addressed the issue, where he repeatedly said the decision was no longer in the hands of the PCB.

“If the government of Pakistan says we mustn’t play, then maybe the ICC will bring in a 22nd team (after Scotland). It’s up to the government.”

No specific reason was given by Naqvi other than to support Bangladesh, as to why government permission would now be required for an event that starts in two weeks. Last year, both BCCI and PCB, with the approval of ICC, signed up to a hybrid model agreement by which both countries would play each other on neutral territory for all global events in the 2024-27 rights cycle.

Pakistan play all their games in Sri Lanka for this event (which already was a co-hosted event) and are scheduled to play the opening game of the tournament, against Netherlands on February 7. They are scheduled to play India on February 15 in Colombo in their group stage clash.

[Cricinfo]

Foreign News

Indonesia landslide kills 7, dozens more missing

Published

3 days ago

2026/01/24

Priyan

At least seven people have died and more than 80 others are missing after a landslide hit Indonesia’s West Java province, officials said.

The landslide occurred in the West Bandung region, south-east of the capital Jakarta, following days of intense rainfall.

More than thirty homes were destroyed after “landslide material buried residential areas, causing fatalities and affecting local residents”, Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said in a statement.

Flooding, landslide and extreme weather alerts have also been issued for the broader region.

The landslide hit the village of Pasirlangu around 02:30AM on Saturday [24] (19:30 GMT).

Two dozen people were evacuated safely from the affected region, according to Abdul Muhari, communication chief of the National Search Agency.

Images shared by local news outlets showed homes buried under mud and debris.

[BBC]

Foreign News

Alleged drug kingpin and ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding arrested after years on the run

Published

3 days ago

2026/01/24

Priyan

Wedding, seen in an undated photo released by the FBI

Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding has been arrested in Mexico and will be extradited to the US after years on the run, FBI Director Kash Patel has said.

Wedding, who had been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, is accused of running a transnational drug trafficking operation that moved tonnes of cocaine across international borders.

Wedding, 44, was also wanted on murder charges. US officials had said they believed Wedding was living in Mexico under the Sinaloa drug cartel’s protection.

The head of Canada’s federal police force, which assisted in the investigation, spoke alongside Patel on Friday to praise the law enforcement operation.

Wedding is accused of running a vast drug trafficking operation responsible for importing some 60 metric tonnes of cocaine a year.

The organisation operated across North America, as well as several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and was also the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada, bringing in an estimated $1bn a year.

Before he was arrested, Wedding was accused of killing a federal witness in a case against him. Officials say he has also ordered the murders of several others.

Wedding is now facing a slew of felony charges, including witness tampering and intimidation, murder, money laundering and drug trafficking.

The FBI had previously placed a $15m (£11m) reward for information leading to his arrest. Patel declined to comment on whether anyone would be claiming the reward money.

US officials have released limited details regarding how Wedding was captured, except to say that his arrest took place on Thursday night in Mexico City.

Mexico’s top security official, Omar García Harfuch, said in a post on X that Patel had visited Mexico City on Thursday, and departed with two fugitives on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.

He did not name the men arrested, but said one was a “Canadian citizen who voluntarily surrendered” at the US embassy in Mexico.

The Associated Press, citing an unnamed Mexican Security Cabinet member, reported that Wedding is the Canadian who turned himself in at the US embassy.

In his remarks at a news conference, Patel described Wedding as a “modern-day Pablo Escobar”, referring to the Colombian cartel leader. US officials have also compared him to Mexican drug dealer Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

“When you go after a guy like Ryan Wedding, it takes a united front,” Patel said, thanking Canadian and Mexican authorities for their help in the investigation.

Patel also thanked the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, who participated in taking Wedding into custody.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Patel praised the team, which had also been involved in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro weeks earlier.

“This was a complex, high-stakes operation with zero margin for error,” Patel told the magazine.

“I was on the ground with our team in Mexico and witnessed extraordinary teamwork, precision, and trust between our agents and partners in Mexico.”

Wedding’s aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “James Conrad King,” and “Jesse King”, the FBI said. He has reportedly had plastic surgery to change his appearance while on the run.

Officials allege that he launched his criminal enterprise following his release from a US federal prison in 2011, where he was serving a sentence for cocaine distribution.

Authorities allege he has ordered dozens of murders across the globe, including in the US, Canada and Latin America.

Getty Images Sign showing $15m reward for Ryan James Wedding — *The FBI had offered a $15m reward for Ryan Wedding (BBC)*

It is unclear to whom the medals belong. Wedding competed for Canada in the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, but did not win any medals. He came in 24th place in the men’s giant parallel slalom ski event.

In November, the FBI seized his rare 2002 Mercedes CLK-GTR, which had been valued at $13m.

Patel also spoke about the recent arrest of another man in Mexico who had been on the FBI’s most wanted list.

American man Alejandro Castillo was wanted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. According to the FBI, he has been in hiding in Mexico for nearly 10 years, and will now be extradited back to North Carolina for trial.

(BBC)