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A Chinese steel giant demanded compensation from the United Kingdom  government on Sunday, claiming thetakeover of its subsidiary, British Steel, was "outright robbery." The UK government took operational control of British Steel last year, after owner Jingye Group warned that Britain's last factory capable of making steel from scratch was no longer financially viable. What did Jingye say? In a statement on social media on Saturday, Jingye threatened legal action against the UK government, accusing ministers of "trampling on international investment rules." Describing the nationalization as "outright robbery," the Chinese firm said it "reserves all legal rights, firmly defends its lawful rights and interests, and will pursue full compensation through legal means to the very end." "The...

Russia launched a major overnight missile attack on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, involving ballistic missiles, Ukrainian officials said. Moscow launched the largest number of ballistic missiles — around four dozen — ‌in ⁠a ⁠single attack since the ​start of its full-scale war, ​Kyiv's acting foreign ​minister ‌said on Sunday. "We urge ​appropriate ⁠and strong responses. We ⁠need devastating ​pressure on Moscow to end this terror," Andrii Sybiha ‌wrote on X. At least one person was killed and 16 others injured, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy wrote on X, reiterating the country's need for anti-ballistic interceptors. "Protection against ballistic missiles is our constant and top priority right now. Interceptors are needed every day, and I am grateful to everyone who takes our agreem...

Israel's Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman has given a new classification to crocodiles in a move that may allow the reptiles to be deployed for security tasks, such as maintaining security at prisons. The country's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, reportedly in December proposed using crocodiles around a prison for Palestinian detainees on the lines of the US migrant detention center in Florida dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."Ben-Gvir is one of the most radical members of the Israeli governmentImage: Debbie Hill/UPI Photo/IMAGO Nile crocodiles reclassified as security assets The new classification puts the crocodiles in the category of "cultivated wild animal" instead of wild animals. It could allow an approved security organization to keep Nile crocodiles...

Russia launched a major ballistic missile attack on Ukraine's capital city, Kyiv, in an overnight operation, Ukraine's air force said early Sunday. Witnesses on the ground reported hearing several explosions, including those from air defense systems. An AFP journalist reported that one of the explosions was so powerful that it set off car alarms across the city center. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022Image: Gleb Garanich/REUTERS Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said several fires had been reported across the city in residential and non-residential areas. Fires broke out at a dormitory, a residential block and at a supermarket, he said in a series of posts on Telegram, adding that emergency services had been deployed. At least seven people were injured in the att...

A fire that broke out in a townhouse in southern Norway before destroying a hundred homes has been mostly brought under control, fire officials said Saturday. Local media described the blaze as the largest in the Nordic nation for more than a century. What do we know? The fire on the outskirts of the city of Drammen, about 34 kilometers (21 miles) from Oslo, broke out around 3:30 p.m. local time (1330 UTC/GMT) on Friday, before ripping through a row of townhouses. It then quickly spread through the neighborhood and toward nearby forests due to strong winds and exceptionally dry conditions, officials said. Newspaper Aftenposten reported that more than 400 people were evacuated.Drammen is Norway's seventh largest cityImage: Thomas Fure/NTB/picture alliance Public broadcaster NRK said f...

Jens Spahn, the head of the ruling conservative bloc in the German parliament, stepped down on Saturday amid a controversy surrounding his decision to have a child via surrogacy. The resignation was requested by Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU). Surrogacy is not permitted in Germany and the CDU opposes its legalization. Spahn and his husband had their child through a surrogate mother in the United States. What has Spahn said? "In recent days, I have come to realize that my personal happiness in starting a family with my husband and becoming a father is incompatible with my political office," Spahn said in a statement seen by news agencies.  "Credibility is the highest good in politics," Spahn added.  After the announcement, Chancellor Merz said ...

India's first privately developed orbital rocket blasted off into space on Saturday, an achievement Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed as "opening new frontiers and accelerating innovation." The South Asian nation becomes the third after the US and China to achieve the milestone, following a surge of investment in the space sector since the pandemic and the creation of more than 400 startups.Skyroots' rocket is named after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programImage: Noah Seelam/AFP What happened? Skyroot Aerospace, the company behind the launch, said the Vikram-1 rocket ⁠lifted ⁠off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota island, in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh. The launch, dubbed "Mission Aagaman" after the Hindi word for "arrival," took place...

An Israeli strike in central Gaza has killed at least eight people and wounded another 22, local officials said on Friday. "Eight people were killed after Israeli warplanes struck a gathering of civilians in the Al-Balata market area of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza," reported Gaza's civil defense agency, which functions as a rescue service under Hamas. The Al-Awda hospital said it received the eight dead and 22 people wounded in the strike.Gazan authorities said that an Israeli strike hit agathering of people in the Nuseirat refugee campImage: Moiz Salhi/APA Images/IMAGO What we know about the strike in Gaza The AFP news agency reported that the strike took place during a funeral procession and cited civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal with the information. Israel's mi...