World
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 448
![Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 448 Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 448](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/AP23135734347368-1684284830.jpg?resize=1200,675)
As the war enters its 448th day, we take a look at the main developments.
Here is the situation as it stands on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.
Fighting
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised his country’s military for reportedly shooting down six Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missiles in a single night. The Kinzhal, which means “dagger” in Russian, is one of six “next-generation” weapons Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted could not be shot down by any of the world’s air defence systems when he unveiled them in 2018.
- Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu dismissed Ukraine’s claim that it shot down the missiles, saying Moscow had not launched that many, Russia’s state RIA news agency reported.
- The Russian defence ministry said its missiles destroyed a US-built Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system in a strike in Ukraine, the Zvezda military news outlet reported. Two unnamed United States officials speaking to the Reuters news agency said a Patriot missile defence system being used by Ukrainian forces likely suffered some damage from a Russian attack but was not destroyed.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross warned that unexploded bombs, shells and mines not only threaten human life in Ukraine but also risk rendering swathes of fertile farmland unusable for years to come.
- Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces have taken back about 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq miles) around Bakhmut, pushing Russian forces from the flanks of the city but she conceded that Moscow’s forces were pushing deeper inside the embattled town.
- Russia launched 80 artillery attacks on Ukraine’s Kherson region, including 14 on the city of Kherson. Six people, including a child, were wounded when a residential area was hit, said Regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
- Russian forces were said to be concentrating their main efforts in the direction of the front-line eastern cities of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka.
Military aid
- The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte pledged to build an “international coalition” to equip Ukraine with fighter jets and provide support “with everything from training to procuring F16 jets”, a spokesman for Sunak’s Downing Street office said in a statement. French President Emmanuel Macron earlier offered to train Ukrainian fighter pilots but ruled out sending warplanes to Kyiv.
- Hungary declined to approve the disbursement of the next tranche of military support for Ukraine provided under the EU’s European Peace Facility (EPF), saying that Budapest “does not agree with the fact that the European Union, along with other existing tools, uses the European Peace Facility solely with regard to Ukraine as this does not allow sufficient funds to be channelled to promote the EU’s interests in other areas”. The EU has provided a total of about 3.6 billion euros ($3.9bn) in military support for Ukraine so far under the EPF.
Diplomacy and politics
- The US Central Intelligence Agency is encouraging Russian nationals to make contact with its agents via a secure internet channel, saying the agency wants to hear from military officers, intelligence specialists, diplomats, scientists and people with information about Russia’s economy and its leadership.
- EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the bloc will act against the importation of petroleum products from India that use Russian oil. In rare criticism of India’s role in helping Russia evade Western sanctions, Borell said the EU did not mind increased oil trade between Russia and India but urged a crackdown on India reselling Russian oil into Europe as refined fuel, including diesel.
- Leaders from the 46-nation Council of Europe agreed to create a “register of damages” to record Russia’s destruction of Ukraine for future compensation. The register, to be lodged in The Hague, aims to record the tangible costs Russia has exacted on Ukraine, officials at a Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, Iceland said.
- Leaders of the Group of Seven nations plan to tighten sanctions on Russia at their summit in Japan this week, officials with direct knowledge of the discussions said.
- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Putin and Zelenskyy had agreed to receive a mission from African leaders on a potential peace plan for the conflict.
- Ukraine and Russia will face off before the United Nations top court on June 6, when judges will hear Ukraine’s claim that Moscow violated a UN treaty by supporting pro-Russian separatists identified by a Dutch court as being responsible for the 2014 downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, which killed hundreds.
- The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has called for the Black Sea grain deal to be renewed as it risks further food market instability. The grain from Ukraine and Russia represents as much as 90 percent of imports for countries in East Africa, which are experiencing a severe food security crisis, the IRC said.
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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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