Driver in custody after striking pedestrians in France, interior minister says
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(LONDON) — A driver was taken into custody after allegedly striking and injuring several pedestrians and cyclists in southwestern France, the interior minister said.
“An investigation has been opened,” Laurent Nunez, the minister, said in French on social media. “At the request of the prime minister, I am heading to the scene.”
The strikes appeared to have been along a “route” through Saint Pierre and Dolus, two villages about 4 miles apart on the island of Oleron, Nunez said.
Two of those who were struck were in serious condition and three others were injured, he added.
Details about the driver and the vehicle were not immediately released.
(LONDON) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed the China-North Korea border by train on Tuesday, the country’s state news agency reported, heading to Beijing where he will attend a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.
Kim will join Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Chinese capital on Wednesday, the other two leaders having come from a Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Tianjin, where Xi hosted world leaders including Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kim is accompanied by a delegation including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Kim, Xi and Putin will gather for the military parade amid Ukrainian and Western concerns over the collaboration of the three nations in bolstering Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ongoing since February 2022.
Ukrainian and Western governments have accused North Korea of supplying significant amounts of ammunition and troops to support Russia’s war, while Kyiv and its NATO backers have identified China as Moscow’s prime source of materiel and a vital economic lifeline.
Speaking at the SCO meeting on Monday, Putin said the war in Ukraine began with a Western-sponsored “coup” and “attempts by the West” to “”pull Ukraine into NATO.” The address echoed long-established false Russian narratives about the pro-Western 2014 Maidan Revolution and the subsequent Russian invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Moscow built on that round of aggression by launching its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Putin said he spoke with Xi on Sunday about the ongoing U.S.-sponsored peace process in Ukraine, which has so far failed to produce a ceasefire or a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Putin and Xi met again on Tuesday morning, according to a readout from the state-run Xinhua news agency. The two leaders signed “more than 20 bilateral cooperation documents,” Xinhua reported.
Bilateral relations, Putin said, “have reflected a high degree of strategy and reached the highest level in history,” Xinhua reported. Xi, meanwhile, said ties between Beijing and Moscow “have withstood the test of international changes,” according to Xinhua.
The Russian president also met with Modi on Monday. India — along with China — is a top customer for Russian energy exports, an income stream that Ukraine and its allies say has helped Moscow soften the impact of international sanctions and fund its war.
In a post to X, Modi said he had an “excellent meeting” with Putin.
“Discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in all sectors, including trade, fertilizers, space, security and culture,” he added. “We exchanged views on regional and global developments, including the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.”
The meeting comes shortly after U.S President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on all Indian goods — bringing the total tariff rate to 50% — related to India’s continued purchases of Russian energy exports and military equipment.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 16, 2025. Photo courtesy: Koby Gideon (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday morning in Israel, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the war in Gaza.
“My focus will be on securing the return of hostages, finding ways to make sure humanitarian aid reaches civilians, and addressing the threat posed by Hamas,” Rubio said on social media ahead of his flight to Israel.
He added, “Hamas cannot continue to exist if peace in the region is the goal.”
The secretary and his wife, Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio, were greeted upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and his wife, Janet Huckabee.
Rubio later met one-on-one with Netanyahu before the two visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, also called the the “Wailing Wall,” one of the world’s most significant religious sites for the Jewish people. While there, Netanyahu said he and Rubio “buried a note among the stones.”
Rubio and Netanyahu toured the archaeological site along with Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, Rubio’s wife, and Huckabee and his wife.
“I think his visit here is a testament to the resilience and strength of the American-Israeli alliance, which is as durable and strong as the stones of the Western Wall that we just touched,” Netanyahu said of Rubio’s visit.
Netanyahu and Rubio, according to the prime minster’s statement, offered a joint prayer for the safety of the hostages, as well as a special prayer honoring President Donald Trump, whom Netanyahu described as “a true friend of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”
“Under President Trump, Secretary Rubio and their entire team, this alliance has never been stronger, and we appreciate it very much,” Netanyahu’s statement said. “Not only on behalf of the people of Israel today, but also on behalf of the generations of Jews who came before us, in the hope that we will rebuild our country with friends like you. Thank you, Marco.”
During his meetings with Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, Rubio is expected to “convey America’s priorities in the Israel-Hamas conflict and broader issues concerning Middle Eastern security, reaffirming U.S. commitment to Israeli security,” according to the U.S. State Department.
Netanyahu and Rubio are also expected to discuss the planned Israeli operation to seize control of Gaza City, the largest city in the Gaza Strip, the State Department said.
Israel last week issued an order calling for residents of the city to evacuate, saying the Israeli military would operate “with great force” within the city.
Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Russia overnight fired more than 300 drones and about three dozen missiles at targets throughout Ukraine, including civilian energy infrastructure and emergency services, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday.
The strike included an attack on the State Emergency Service department in the Kharkiv region, he said.
“There are wounded,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “Recovery efforts are underway everywhere. Emergency services are working.”
Zelenskyy, who is scheduled on Friday to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, said on Thursday that the ongoing strikes only showed that the West needed to continue applying “pressure” on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
That pressure included continuing to update sanctions, but, he said, it could also include longer-range capabilities for the Ukrainian military to strike targets farther into Russia.
“Strong decisions are possible, decisions that can help. And this depends on the United States, on Europe, on all partners whose strength directly determines whether the war will be ended,” Zelenskyy said.
He added, “Now there is an important momentum toward peace in the Middle East. In Europe, this is also possible. That is exactly what I will be discussing today and tomorrow in Washington.”
The Kremlin on Wednesday also addressed the potential for the West to supply weapons for or to greenlight longer-range Ukrainian strikes within Russia.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted in Tass, a Russian state-affiliated media outlet, saying that deliveries of U.S.-made Tomahawks would amount to a “dangerous escalation of tensions” between Russia and the United States.
The Russian strike on Ukraine overnight targeted several Ukrainian regions — with a focus on the Poltava and Kharkiv regions — with a total of about 320 drones, about 200 of which were Shahed attack drones, the Ukrainian air force said. About 37 missiles were also fired, the military said.
Most of those aerial attacks were thwarted by Ukraine or otherwise failed, the air force said. At least 37 drones and 14 missiles made it through Ukraine’s air defenses, the military said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also reported downing at least 51 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory. Local authorities said the electricity supplies to several settlements in the Volgograd, Voronezh and Belgorod regions were disrupted by the Ukrainian attacks.
Trump on Wednesday said during an Oval Office press conference that he thought Russia and Ukraine were close to a ceasefire deal about two months ago, blaming the impasse on animosity between Zelenskyy and Putin.
“You know, it’s an obstacle. It’s an obstacle,” Trump said. “There’s no question about it.”
