Europe

BERLIN (AP) — A German court on Tuesday convicted five men over the theft of 18th-century jewels worth more than 100 million euros from a Dresden museum in 2019.

They were sentenced to prison sentences of between four years and four months and six years and three months, German news agency dpa reported. One defendant was acquitted.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Leaders from across the continent were heading toward Iceland early Tuesday for a rare summit of the 46-nation Council of Europe that will once more step up support for member state Ukraine and condemn expelled Russia for inflicting war on its neighbor.

LONDON (AP) — Writer Salman Rushdie has made a public speech, nine months after being stabbed and seriously injured onstage, warning that freedom of expression in the West is under its most severe threat in his lifetime.

Rushdie delivered a video message to the British Book Awards, where he was awarded the Freedom to Publish award on Monday evening. Organizers said the honor “acknowledges the determination of authors, publishers and booksellers who take a stand against intolerance, despite the ongoing threats they face.”

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian air defenses thwarted an intense Russian air attack on Kyiv early Tuesday, shooting down all 18 missiles aimed at the capital, officials said.

Loud explosions boomed over Kyiv as the nighttime attack combined Russian missiles launched from the air, sea and land in an apparent attempt to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses. No casualties were reported as Western-supplied weapons helped fend off the assault.

15 May 2023; MEMO: The Kremlin said, on Monday, that Russia expects cooperation with Turkiye to continue, deepen and expand amid the country's presidential and parliamentary elections that took place on Sunday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/: Andrey Rublev’s Holy Trinity icon has been returned to the Russian Orthodox Church.

"In response to numerous requests from Orthodox believers, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a decision to return the miraculous Holy Trinity icon painted by Reverend Andrey Rublev to the Russian Orthodox Church," the church said in a press statement posted on its website on Monday.

The icon will be displayed for worship in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow for a year and after that it will be taken to the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/: Russian air defense forces shot down 21 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Monday.

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/: Moscow has categorially refuted the opinion recently voiced by Paris that Russia is purportedly in a state of so-called vassal dependence on China, stating that such rhetoric exudes a complete misunderstanding of the nature of Russian-Chinese relations, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

SEVASTOPOL, May 15. /TASS/: Sberbank has opened its first regional branch in Sevastopol, which is the second decision of the bank on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula, a TASS correspondent reported from the opening ceremony on Monday.

A modular office has been installed near the Musson department store, with a parking lot nearby.

The beginning of operation of the country’s largest financial institution in the city will positively influence the quality of banking services provided to clients, Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said at the ceremony.

TIRANA, Albania, May 15 (NNN-XINHUA) – Local elections were held in Albania yesterday, to elect mayors and councils for the country’s 61 municipalities.

The competition is ongoing between the ruling Socialist Party of Albania, led by Prime Minister Edi Rama and the Together We Win coalition.

The opposition coalition comprises the centre-right Democratic Party, the Freedom Party and several other smaller partners.

Of all the 23,907 candidates, 144 ran for mayors, and the rest for municipal council members.