WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby on Sunday said he cannot confirm reports that Russia plans to invade Ukraine on Wednesday. “I’m not in a position to confirm those reports,” Kirby said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday”, ad…
Favouring continuity, Germany re-elects Steinmeier as president
By Tom Sims FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Frank-Walter Steinmeier was elected to a second term as Germany’s president on Sunday as a special assembly voted the veteran politician, seen as a symbol of consensus and continuity, back in to the prominent yet largel…
British defence minister cancels holiday as Ukraine crisis deepens
LONDON (Reuters) – British defence minister Ben Wallace is returning from a holiday overseas to deal with what he called the “worsening” crisis in Ukraine as he warned that Russia could invade within days. Wallace had planned to spend a long weekend ab…
Israeli inquiry checking NSO database over police wiretap allegations
By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A high-level Israeli inquiry into alleged warrantless wiretaps by police is examining a database provided by NSO Group, the manufacturer of the powerful hacking tool Pegasus, the Justice Ministry said on Sunday. NS…
Olympics-Valieva’s entourage under investigation by World Anti-Doping Agency
By Steve Keating, Karolos Grohmann and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber BEIJING (Reuters) – The world’s top anti-doping authority will investigate the entourage of 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva who tested positive for a banned drug, plungin…
Swiss reject ban on animal testing in referendum
By John Revill ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss voters rejected a proposal by animal rights activists to make Switzerland the first country to ban medical and scientific experiments on animals, but approved tougher restrictions on cigarette advertising in refer…
Takeaway.com CEO: U.S. delisting does not indicate plan to sell Grubhub
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Just Eat Takeaway.com CEO Jitse Groen said on Sunday the company’s decision to de-list its shares from the Nasdaq stock exchange should not be taken as an indication of plans to sell its Grubhub subsidiary. The company announced i…
Ukraine pledges funds to keep airspace open amid Russia standoff
By Pavel Polityuk KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine pledged funds on Sunday to try to keep its airspace open to commercial flights, as some carriers reviewed their services to the country after the United States warned that Russia could invade at any time. Dutch…
U.S. says Russia may create pretext to attack Ukraine
By David Lawder and Pavel Polityuk WASHINGTON/KYIV (Reuters) – Russia could invade Ukraine at any time and might create a surprise pretext for an attack, the United States said on Sunday, as it reaffirmed a pledge to defend “every inch” of NATO territo…
Cook Islands braces for first community COVID cases
(Reuters) – Cook Islands, a small South Pacific nation that has not experienced COVID-19 in its community, is readying for its first coronavirus infections after an infected traveller visited, Prime minister Mark Brown said on Sunday. The traveller fro…