World
Kyiv fends off latest Russian air attack, Zelenskyy lauds defence
![Kyiv fends off latest Russian air attack, Zelenskyy lauds defence Kyiv fends off latest Russian air attack, Zelenskyy lauds defence](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2023-05-29T060151Z_1274339730_RC2181AGRW60_RTRMADP_3_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KYIV-1685409540.jpg?resize=1920,1440)
Latest attack comes just hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praises Ukraine’s air defence units for saving lives.
Russia has launched a wave of air attacks on Kyiv just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the country’s air defence units for saving hundreds of lives by shooting down a barrage of Russian drones and missiles aimed at the capital and other locations.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, air defence systems in Kyiv were engaged in shooting down incoming targets, city officials said, as air raid sirens blared in several regions.
“A massive attack!” Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app. “Do not leave shelters.”
Klitschko said that a 27-year-old woman was taken to hospital after sustaining injuries in southwestern Holosiivskyi district. He later reported that one person had been killed in the latest Russian air attack.
Kyiv’s military administration officials said that air defence systems were engaging and destroying the incoming projectiles and falling debris had hit several districts of the capital, including the historic Podil and Pecherskyi neighbourhoods.
Residents of a high-rise apartment building were being evacuated early on Tuesday after falling debris sparked a fire, Klitschko said.
Calling it a “massive” attack launched in several waves, Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app that Russia conducted the assault using Iranian-made Shahed drones and that more than 20 had been shot down.
Tuesday’s attack – the third in 24 hours – marks Russia’s 17th aerial assault on the capital this month, following two attacks on Monday, which included a rare daytime strike that had forced people to seek shelter underground and sent schoolchildren fleeing Kyiv’s streets for safety.
Kyiv. Morning after sleepless night under fire. Anxiety once again…
Children running and screaming for shelter to the sounds of explosions. But it should not be like this – anywhere and never. Fear cannot be turned off – but we do not stop, we act. Ukraine continues to fight 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/wTKS3sv6qi— Олена Зеленська (@ZelenskaUA) May 29, 2023
In his nightly address on Monday, Zelenskyy said that while some of the Russian aerial attacks, which he branded “evil”, had managed to get through Ukraine’s defences, most of the drones and missiles had been shot down.
“The world must see that terror is losing,” the Ukrainian leader said, calling for more help to further improve the country’s defences.
“There is no greater humiliation for a terrorist state than the success of our warriors,” he added on a day that saw 11 ballistic and cruise missiles fired by Russia at Kyiv shot down by Ukraine’s air defences, according to Ukraine’s commander-in-chief of armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, DC, said overnight on Sunday and Monday, and during the daytime attack on Monday, Russia had launched 11 Iskander ballistic missiles, 38 Shahed drones, and 40 cruise missiles.
The air attack campaign signals that Russia is attempting to weaken Ukraine’s ability to launch an anticipated offensive to reclaim territory lost to Russia, but the “prioritisation of targeting Kyiv is likely further limiting the campaign’s ability to meaningfully constrain potential Ukrainian counteroffensive actions,” the institute said.
Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s air force, suggested that US-provided Patriot anti-missile systems were behind the successful interception of incoming Iskander ballistic missiles and other weapons.
“I think you can guess,” Ihnat told Ukrainian television. “If Iskander-M missiles are intercepted, you can draw conclusions about the means that specifically targeted the objectives – ballistic targets.”
Zelenskyy also singled out the Patriot system in his Monday night message, saying that with such defences, “terror will be defeated”.
The world needs to see that terror is losing. When Patriots in the hands of Ukrainians ensure one hundred percent downing of any Russian missiles, terror is losing. When the world increases pressure on Russia, including sanctions, when the terrorist’s isolation grows, when its… pic.twitter.com/KyPmzoxsPF
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 29, 2023
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World
A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13
![A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13 A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13](https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/dcac1a4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/700x394+0+28/resize/1440x810!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F90%2F29%2F4e3c1cc7446089a9101a7bdff4c8%2Fdefaultshareimage-copy.png)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police in the Afghan capital say a suicide bomber carried out an attack Monday, killing at least six people and injuring 13 others.
The blast took place in the southwestern Qala Bakhtiar neighborhood in Kabul, said Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul police chief.
The dead included one woman, he said, while 13 people were wounded, all of them civilians who were taken to a hospital for treatment.
A police investigation is underway. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.
The Islamic State group’s affiliate, a major rival of the ruling Taliban, has carried out previous attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas throughout the country.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 during the chaotic departure of U.S. and NATO troops after 20 years. Despite initial promises of a more moderate stance, the Taliban gradually reimposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, as they did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
World
Germany's right wing poised for major wins as centrist parties stumble
![Germany's right wing poised for major wins as centrist parties stumble Germany's right wing poised for major wins as centrist parties stumble](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-2169317905.jpg)
Germany’s right wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expected to win its first election since the party was formed in 2013, as anti-mass immigration sentiment sends voters to the polls.
Exit polls on Sunday showed AfD securing a winning 33.5% share of the vote in Thuringia and 31.5% in Saxony. Meanwhile, the center-left Social Democratic Party – to which Chancellor Olaf Scholz belongs – brought in less than 8% of the vote in both states, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The election follows a wider trend of success for conservative groups across Europe in recent months. French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron’s government narrowly quashed a conservative takeover of the French parliament earlier this year.
Analysts say the ultimate impact that AfD and other party politicians can have will be determined by how willing centrists are to work with them.
GERMAN RIGHT WING CANDIDATE STABBED IN LATEST ATTACK AHEAD OF ELECTIONS
DRESDEN, GERMANY – AUGUST 29: A skinhead supporter of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party waves a German flag while taunting leftist, anti-fascist protesters following the final AfD Saxony election rally prior to state elections on August 29, 2024, in Dresden, Germany. The AfD is currently leading in polls in both Saxony and Thuringia ahead of state elections scheduled for Sunday in both states. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
“The center-right will decide to what extent an AfD win would be a turning point: So far, they have been relatively consistent in excluding cooperation — more so than in other Western European countries,” Manès Weisskircher, a political scientist at the Dresden University of Technology, told the Journal.
The German elections this weekend come just days after a Syrian immigrant killed three people in a stabbing spree in Solingen, Germany. ISIS claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack shortly after.
![Emergency services and police at a stabbing scene in Germany Friday](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/Stabbing-scene-Germany.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Emergency services and police are deployed near the scene where three people were killed and injured in an attack at a festival in Solingen, western Germany, the German dpa news agency reported, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (Gianni Gattus/dpa via AP)
Federal prosecutors in Germany identified the suspect as Issa Al H., omitting his family name because of German privacy laws.
GERMAN TERROR ATTACK SUSPECT IDENTIFIED AS A SYRIAN REFUGEE, CHANCELLOR VOWS TO IMPLEMENT STRICT IMMIGRATION
ISIS said the attacker targeted Christians “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
Der Spiegel magazine, citing unidentified security sources, said that the suspect had moved to Germany late in 2022, and sought asylum.
![Scholz gives speech in Berlin](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/06/1200/675/GettyImages-2156486483-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing a surge in right-wing sentiment across Germany. (John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images)
Similar attacks by Muslim migrants across Europe have spurred anti-immigration sentiment. Even the left-leaning Scholz called for strengthening immigration laws and ramping up deportations in the wake of the attack.
“We will have to do everything we can to ensure that those who cannot and are not allowed to stay in Germany are repatriated and deported,” Scholz said while visiting the sight where the stabbing happened.
“This was terrorism, terrorism against us all,” he said.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report
World
Seven EU members hadn’t received any post-Covid funding by end-2023
![Seven EU members hadn’t received any post-Covid funding by end-2023 Seven EU members hadn’t received any post-Covid funding by end-2023](https://static.euronews.com/articles/stories/08/69/58/16/1200x675_cmsv2_e50ff906-3ebe-5eb2-bccc-66f739cec99e-8695816.jpg)
Continued delays are jeopardising the EU’s €724bn post-Covid recovery fund, warns a new report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
Three years after creating a huge fund to stimulate post-pandemic recovery, EU member states have used under a third of the €724bn in grants and loans, EU auditors said in a report published today (2 September).
By the end of 2023, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden had not received any post-Covid money at all, the EU Court of Auditors said.
Almost all member states have experienced delays in submitting payment requests, whether due to political turmoil, uncertainty over the rules, or national administrative capacity, the report said.
The Netherlands and Hungary did not sign operational agreements, the first step required to access EU funds, while Sweden did not submit a payment application, it added – while others such as the Netherlands were held back by protracted coalition negotiations.
“For the Recovery and Resilience Plan you really need political consensus and support and that the government stands behind the plan, and the Netherlands was waiting for that stability,” Ivana Maletić, senior auditor at the Luxembourg-based EU agency, told Euronews in an interview.
In the more complex case of Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s government has to meet 27 milestones intended to fight corruption and safeguard judicial independence, which he hasn’t yet done.
The other four countries — Belgium, Finland, Ireland and Poland — submitted payment requests later than others, so they were still being assessed by the European Commission, which directly manages and implements the fund, at the end of 2023.
One quarter not completed on time
Unlike cohesion funds, the normal vehicle for EU regional spending, post-pandemic financial support is tied to progress on meeting commitments, and member states are behind schedule in meeting these targets and absorbing funds.
“Timely absorption of the RRF is essential: it helps to avoid bottlenecks in carrying out the measures towards the end of the Facility’s lifespan, and reduces the risk of inefficient and erroneous spending,” said Maletić, who led the audit.
Halfway through the six-year implementation plan for the post-pandemic funds, 24% of the planned reforms and investments have not been completed on time — meaning that a significant number of the trickiest promises have yet to be fulfilled, the ECA found.
With the RRF due to expire in August 2026 and no extension expected, EU auditors are recommending the Commission provide further support to strengthen how similar funds are designed in future.
“It can happen that for some actions, member states receive substantial amounts of funds without finalising them at all because it will not be possible to finalise them within the given time,” a senior auditor told a press conference on Monday (2 September) — though Brussels then doesn’t have the power to claw back money.
The EU executive however rejected auditors’ recommendations to stop funding incomplete actions and recover transfers.
“The Commission does not consider that payments based on progress is a risk and has no legal basis to recover funds already disbursed in relation to milestones and targets already and still fulfilled,” said its response.
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