Europe

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has pledged military assistance to Ukraine for “as long as it takes” but officials cautioned that the country needs to keep much of its Russian-made weaponry for its own defensive needs.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov visited Athens Thursday as part of regular meetings with officials from NATO countries. He was promised more artillery and small arms ammunition shipments, access to Greek hospitals for wounded military personnel and additional Soviet-era BMP infantry fighting vehicles.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart on Thursday discussed expanding the economic cooperation and bolstering the defense ties between their nations, which include a plan to deploy Russia’s nuclear weapons to Belarus amid the fighting in neighboring Ukraine.

The Kremlin talks involved senior officials from both countries and followed Putin’s one-on-one meeting with President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Peter Olphert was 14 when Irish Republican Army gunmen killed his father. Forty years later, he says it’s time to set aside the past.

Mark Thompson lost his brother to British Army bullets, another victim of “the Troubles” that wracked Northern Ireland for three decades. He thinks society can’t move forward until it confronts unfinished business and holds some of those responsible to account.

PARIS (AP) — Protesters disrupted vehicle traffic at Paris’ main airport and police fired clouds of tear gas in other French cities in the latest round of strikes and demonstrations Thursday against President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reforms.

Macron’s drive to raise the national retirement age from 62 to 64 has ignited a months-long firestorm of public anger.

Talks between trade union leaders and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne broke up Wednesday without a breakthrough, setting the stage for protesters’ return to the streets.

London, Apr 5 (PTI) A suspect charged with the triple murder of an Indian nurse and her two children pleaded guilty to the murders at a court hearing in eastern England on Wednesday and was remanded in judicial custody until his sentencing in July.

Saju Chelavalel, 52, appeared at Northampton Crown Court, where he admitted to killing wife Anju Asok, 35, and children Jeeva Saju, 6, and Janvi Saju, 4.

05 Apr 2023; MEMO: A Syrian refugee has been elected as mayor of Ostelsheim, a town in the south-west of Germany with a population of roughly 2,500 people.

Ryyan Alshebl, 29, fled his hometown of Suwaida in Syria in 2015 and began a degree in finance and banking management but gave it up after the war started.

Participants in the quadripartite meeting held at the level of deputy foreign ministers of Turkiye, Russia, Iran and Syria have agreed to continue consultations regarding Syria, Anadolu news agency reported.

The agency quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Moscow hosted the meeting on Monday and Tuesday.

MINSK, April 5. /TASS/: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has arrived on a working visit to Moscow, the BelTA news agency reported on Wednesday.

"Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has arrived on a working visit to the Russian Federation," the statement said.

It was earlier reported that the Belarusian leader was to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Belarusian head of state will take part in the meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State of Belarus and Russia.

MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/:  Russia is open to constructive cooperation with all countries and has no desire to isolate itself, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"I would like to stress Russia is open to constructive partnership with all countries; we do not intend to isolate ourselves from anyone, we have no preconceived or what's more hostile intentions towards anyone," Putin said.

"We hope that our partners will adhere to the principles of equality and mutual benefit in their relations with us," the president stated.

MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/:  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated on Wednesday that Moscow does not interfere in Washington’s affairs.

When asked for a comment on the legal proceedings against former US President Donald Trump, Lavrov said: "Haven’t you just said it yourself? We don't interfere. The way I see it, they're fine without us." He was talking to Pavel Zarubin, the host of the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on the TV channel Rossiya-1.

Zarubin uploaded an extract from Lavrov’s comment to his Telegram channel.