Europe

London, Jun 18 (PTI) A 20-year-old Indian-origin student has been sentenced to more than six years imprisonment for raping an "intoxicated" woman while she was on a night out with friends last year in Wales.

CCTV Footage showed Preet Vikal carrying the "intoxicated" woman in his arms and across his shoulders through Cardiff city centre.

Vikal admitted rape and was sentenced to six years and nine months in a young offenders' institution, a release by South Wales police said on Friday.

London, Jun 18 (PTI) A 50-year-old Indian-origin man, who was accused of using the lure of jobs at his massage parlour to rape young women across London, has been sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment following a Scotland Yard investigation.

Raghu Singamaneni was unanimously found guilty by the jury of the rape and sexual assault involving four women and sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday.

17 June 2023; MEMO: Spanish charity Open Arms said it rescued 117 migrants on Saturday crowded onto a precarious wooden boat from Libya in the latest such perilous crossing over the Mediterranean sea, Reuters reports.

MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has paid an inspection visit to the Omsk Region to see how the state defense order is being fulfilled at a regional plant on production of tanks and heavy flamethrower systems.

"Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu has inspected the implementation of the state defense order at a plant in the Omsk Region that specializes in the production of tanks and heavy flamethrower systems," the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/: The scale of the ‘sanitary zone’ or ‘sanitary cordon’ in Ukraine will depend on the range of the Ukrainian arms, from which the Russian territory should be protected, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS when asked whether possible borders of such a zone have been outlined.

"No, this depends on what types of arms Ukraine has. The higher the combat characteristics of arms in Ukraine are the longer this distance should be," he said. "The main goal is clear: to make sure they do not reach the Russian citizens with those arms," Peskov added.

MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/: Russian forces destroyed up to 40 Ukrainian troops and two Gvozdika motorized artillery systems in the Kherson area over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Saturday.

"In the Kherson direction, the Ukrainian army lost up to 40 personnel, two vehicles, a Giatsint-B howitzer, as well as two Gvozdika motorized artillery systems in the past 24 hours as a result of damage inflicted by firepower," the spokesman said.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/: African countries stand for the indivisibility of global security, and Russia backs this principled position, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with an African peace mission.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/: The objective of Ukraine’s demilitarization has actually been mostly achieved, as Kiev is using fewer and fewer of its own weapons, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with RT Arabic.

LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Teachers in England will strike on July 5 and July 7, the National Education Union (NEU) said on Saturday, staging further industrial action over a pay and funding dispute with the government.

The new dates announced by Britain's largest education union come on top of at least six days of walk-outs by teachers in England from February to May.

Teachers rejected a government pay offer for an average rise of 4.5% plus a 1,000 pound one-off payment in April. The union is now holding another ballot on more strikes for this Autumn.

ROME, June 17 (Reuters) - Italy's government has ruled that China's Sinochem (600500.SS) cannot designate the chief executive of tyremaker Pirelli (PIRC.MI) despite being its main shareholder with a 37% stake, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.

The decision is part of the measures announced this week by Rome's right-wing administration to shield the autonomy of Pirelli and its management.

Sinochem and Pirelli declined to comment.