Europe

MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/: Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said that the Akhmat commando force is ready to move into Artemovsk (Ukrainian name Bakhmut).

MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/: Kiev and its Western patrons, in the first place, the US are primarily responsible for the terrorist attack against writer Zakhar Prilepin, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

VIENNA, May 7. /TASS/: The situation around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is becoming less predictable and potentially dangerous, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said.

The situation in the area of the Zaporozhye NPP "is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous," the Director General said. "I’m extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant," he noted.

IAEA experts present at the site continue hearing shelling, including on Friday night, Grossi said.

KYIV, May 6 (Reuters) - Ukraine on Saturday hailed the return of 45 Azov battalion fighters captured during the battle for Mariupol while Russia said three of its pilots had been released by Kyiv, but neither side gave a full account of the apparent prisoner swap.

The freed Ukrainian prisoners included 42 men and three women from the Azov battalion, said Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office.

May 6 (Reuters) - A prominent Russian nationalist writer, Zakhar Prilepin, was wounded in a car bombing that killed his driver on Saturday and investigators said a detained suspect admitted acting on behalf of Ukraine.

Russian officials immediately blamed the attack on Ukraine and the West.

The state Investigative Committee said the writer's Audi Q7 was blown up in a village in Nizny Novgorod region, about 400 km (250 miles) east of Moscow, which it was treating as an act of terrorism. It said Prilepin had been taken to hospital.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The car of a prominent pro-Kremlin novelist exploded in Russia on Saturday, injuring him and killing his driver, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency and law enforcement officials.

The incident involving the car of Zakhar Prilepin, a well-known nationalist writer and an ardent supporter of what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, took place in the region of Nizhny Novgorod, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Moscow.

London, May 6 (PTI) Rishi Sunak on Saturday made history as the first Indian-origin British Prime Minister to perform a reading at the Coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey in London.

The 42-year-old British Hindu leader read from the Epistle to the Colossians from the New Testament reflecting the theme of service to others, in keeping with the recent tradition of UK Prime Ministers giving readings at State occasions.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s air force claimed Saturday to have downed a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired American Patriot defense systems, the first known time the country has been able to intercept one of Moscow’s most modern missiles.

Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a Telegram post that the Kinzhal-type ballistic missile had been intercepted in an overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital earlier in the week. It was also the first time Ukraine is known to have used the Patriot defense systems.

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III was crowned Saturday at Westminster Abbey, in a ceremony built on ancient traditions at a time when the British monarchy faces an uncertain future.

05 May 2023; MEMO: The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday announced the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a global health emergency, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"Yesterday, the Emergency Committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that I declare an end to the public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice," WHO head, Tedros Ghebreyesus, told a press briefing.