Europe

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — At one end of a long avenue leading through the western districts of Belgrade, there is a large and freshly painted mural that reads: Boulevard of Ratko Mladic.

It’s been there for months or even years, regularly renovated and kept in clean blue and white colors, never vandalized or painted over although thousands of people pass it by every day.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in remarks broadcast Thursday that Kyiv is delaying its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia’s occupying forces because Ukraine lacks enough Western weapons to succeed without suffering too many casualties.

His remarks, in an interview with European broadcasters, were aired shortly before Britain said it has sent Ukraine air-launched cruise missiles that would allow pilots to extend their reach farther than possibly any other weapon in their arsenal, to locations deep behind the front line.

HELSINKI (AP) — Two dozen people, many of them schoolchildren, were injured when a temporary pedestrian bridge collapsed in the southern Finnish city of Espoo on Thursday, police and media said.

Police said the bridge crossing a construction site in Espoo’s Tapiola region collapsed mid-morning. No one was killed, but 24 people were injured, 10 of them seriously. Espoo is a neighboring city of the capital, Helsinki.

“Several people fell a few meters when the bridge collapsed. The situation is being investigated,” police said in a statement.

MILAN (AP) — A van that was transporting oxygen tanks to a nearby medical facility exploded in the center of the Italian city of Milan on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of a school and residential apartment buildings. The driver suffered minor injuries.

Images on Sky TG24 show a plume of dark smoke rising from a narrow street near Porta Romana, where flames scorched nearby cars and motorcycles and exploded windows in adjacent buildings, including the school. Firefighters quickly brought the flames under control.

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. is sending Ukraine long-range cruise missiles to help push back Russian forces, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Thursday. It’s the first known shipment of the weaponry that Kyiv has long sought from its allies.

Wallace told lawmakers in the House of Commons that Britain is donating Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of more than 250 kilometers (155 miles). He didn’t say how many are being sent.

Wallace said the missiles “are now going into or are in the country itself.”

LONDON (AP) — Authorities around the world are racing to draw up rules for artificial intelligence, including in the European Union, where draft legislation faces a pivotal moment on Thursday.

A European Parliament committee is set to vote on the proposed rules, part of a yearslong effort to draw up guardrails for artificial intelligence. Those efforts have taken on more urgency as the rapid advance of ChatGPT highlights benefits the emerging technology can bring — and the new perils it poses.

Here’s a look at the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act:

10 May 2023; MEMO: British Secretary of State, Michael Gove, is due to push forward the UK Government's long-anticipated plan to ban the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to prevent further boycotts against Israel, reported The Financial Times.

11 May 2023; MEMO: Finland has clarified that it does not share Turkiye's view that the Syrian-Kurdish militant group, the People's Protection Units (YPG), are part of a terrorist organisation, two months after Ankara approved Helsinki's entrance into the NATO alliance.

11 May 2023; MEMO: Germany expressed its "shock" on Wednesday by the killing of Palestinian civilians, including children, during Israel's attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip, Anadolu has reported.

11 May 2023; MEMO: The foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia, Iran and Syria have agreed to facilitate and guarantee the "voluntary, safe, and dignified" return of Syrian refugees to their country. The announcement came after a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday, Anadolu has reported.