Europe

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia, April 11 (Reuters) - One of Russia's most active volcanoes erupted on the far eastern Kamchatka peninsula on Tuesday, shooting a vast cloud of ash far into the sky that smothered villages in drifts of grey volcanic dust and triggered an aviation warning.

The Shiveluch volcano erupted just after midnight reaching a crescendo about six hours later, spewing out an ash cloud over an area of 108,000 square kilometres (41,699 square miles), according to the Kamchatka Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Geophysical Survey.

KIEV, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 100 Ukrainian captives, including 20 women, were released in the latest prisoner swap with Russia, Ukrainian authorities said on Monday.

Among those freed were Ukrainian army soldiers, national guard and navy servicemen, and border guards, said the head of the Ukrainian President's Office Andriy Yermak.

Some of those released are either wounded or seriously ill, Yermak wrote on Telegram.

He gave no details on the number of Russian troops released by Ukraine under the swap deal.

10 Apr 2023; MEMO: Greece on Monday reiterated its optimism on relations with Turkiye, which has seen a major thaw in the last two months.

It would be wrong for Greece not to reach out to the hand extended by Turkiye, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said in an interview he gave to major broadcaster SKAI TV.

"It would be a critical act for our national interests," he said.

LONDON (AP) — Tens of thousands of doctors walked off the job across England on Tuesday, kicking off a four-day strike billed as the most disruptive in the history of the U.K.’s public health service.

The walkout by junior doctors, who form the backbone of hospital and clinic care in the National Health Service, is due to last until 7 a.m. on Saturday.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki flew Tuesday to the United States for meetings aimed at strengthening the economic and defense cooperation of the two nations.

Morawiecki is due to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday at the White House. He is also scheduled to have meetings with the representatives of American defense companies during his three-day visit.

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/: Anton Gorelkin, deputy head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, suggested looking into the possibility of unblocking Twitter in Russia after the social network reinstated the accounts of a number of Russian state agencies.

On Friday, Twitter once again restored the accounts of the Kremlin, the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry and other ministries, as well as Russian embassies abroad.

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/: Russian air defense forces intercepted two rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and destroyed 11 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Monday.

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/:  The Russian State Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation recommended on Monday that the lower house of parliament pass a bill containing legislative amendments, in the second reading, aimed at toughening liability for terrorism and instituting life imprisonment for the crime of treason.

BERLIN, April 10. /TASS/: There is growing frustration in German military circles about Defense Minister Boris Pistorius’ (Social Democratic Party of Germany) efforts to reform the ministry he is in charge of, Germany’s Bild daily said on Monday.

DUBLIN, Apr 10 (NNN-XINHUA) – A ceremony to mark the 107th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, an armed insurrection against British rule in Ireland, was held here yesterday.

Irish President, Michael D. Higgins, Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Micheal Martin, attended the event.

The event was held in front of the building of the GPO (General Post Office), a place in downtown Dublin where the fiercest battle of the 1916 Easter Rising took place.