Europe

Coronation gives tourism boost, but UK economy still reeling

LONDON (AP) — Kelly Curto is taking her first trip outside the U.S., and the die-hard fan of the British royal family is making it the one at the top of her bucket list — heading to London for King Charles III’s coronation.

After arriving on May 5, the 44-year-old school bus driver from Long Island and a friend will head to the Mall, the ceremonial avenue to Buckingham Palace where the monarch’s pomp-filled procession will pass by the following day.

Brazil’s Lula visits Spain with Mercosur deal on agenda

MADRID (AP) — Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was due to arrive in Spain on Tuesday on the second stop of a European tour aimed at resetting relations and making progress on a long-delayed trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Following five days spent in Portugal, Lula will arrive in Madrid to attend a business forum this afternoon ahead of meetings with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and King Felipe VI on Wednesday.

1 killed, 10 wounded as Russian forces hit Ukrainian museum

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian missile hit a museum building in a Ukrainian city on Tuesday, killing one of its workers and wounding 10 other people, part of a relentless barrage that comes as Ukraine is readying its forces for an expected spring counteroffensive.

Ukrainian officials said the Russian military used S-300 air defense missiles to attack Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, hitting the museum of local history in the city center.

Long days of gravediggers tell story of Ukraine’s war dead

KRYVYI RIH, Ukraine (AP) — The graves are dug in the morning. Four plots, each two meters deep in the section of a cemetery in a central Ukrainian city devoted to the nation’s fallen soldiers.

The day begins for Oleh Itsenko, 29, and Andrii Kuznetsov, 23, shortly after dawn, when the two diggers report for the grueling work. A day in their lives tells the story of Ukraine’s mounting war dead. They won’t be finished until sunset.

UK PM Sunak’s parliamentary probe over wife’s shares extended

London, Apr 24 (PTI) An inquiry by the UK’s parliamentary standards watchdog into the process followed by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when declaring wife Akshata Murty’s business interests was extended in its scope on Monday.

The UK’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards had opened the inquiry under Paragraph 6 of the ‘Code of Conduct’ last week, in relation to Sunak declaring Murty’s shares in a childcare firm which stood to benefit from a Spring Budget announcement last month.

Russia on track for 2023 oil output of 9.6 mbpd in line with cuts

24 Apr 2023; MEMO: Russia's oil output this year is on course to top 480 million tonnes, or about 9.6 million barrels per day (bpd), a Russian government source familiar with the data told Reuters.

The figure, which excludes gas condensate, is in line with Russia's pledge to cut production by 500,000 bpd to 9.5 million bpd from March until year-end, according to Reuters calculations and the source.

France starts Sudan evacuations amid ongoing conflict

23 Apr 2023; MEMO: The French government has initiated a swift evacuation of its citizens and diplomatic personnel from Sudan, along with citizens from other European and allied partner countries, Anadolu reports.

According to a statement from French foreign ministry, the country has launched a rapid evacuation operation for its diplomatic personnel and citizens in Sudan, where violent clashes have entered the second week.

UK armed forces evacuate British diplomats from Sudan

23 Apr 2023; MEMO: The UK armed forces have completed a complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan, amid a significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff, said the country's premier on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

The move followed similar evacuations of US government personnel and Iraqi diplomats from the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

Russia records 6,389 COVID cases, 32 deaths over past day — crisis center

MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 6,389 over the past day to 22,810,264, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

A day earlier, 7,030 daily cases were recorded.

As many as 487 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, down by 49.2% against the previous day. The overall figure of hospitalized people diagnosed with the COVID-19 increased in 13 regions of the country, while in 56 regions the figure decreased and also remained unchanged in 16 more regions.

Russian assault teams liberate two areas in Artyomovsk’s west — top brass

MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/: Russian assault teams liberated two areas in Artyomovsk over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Sunday.

"In the Donetsk direction, assault teams liberated two areas in the western parts of the city of Artyomovsk in the past 24 hours," the spokesman said. "The Russian Airborne Force units rendered support to the assault teams in the northern and southern districts of the city".

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