Europe

KIEV, April 22. /TASS/. Ukraine’s front-running presidential contender Vladimir Zelensky increased his lead in the runoff election, with 90.25% of ballots counted.

According to the Ukrainian Central Election Commission, Zelensky secured 73.18% of the vote in the presidential race. Incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko is losing ground, garnering just 24.49% of the vote.

More than 12.2 mln voters backed Zelensky and over 4 mln Ukrainians supported Poroshenko.

LONDON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Special mobile detection kits are being used to detect and seize illegal cellphones used by prisoners, British Justice Secretary David Gauke said Sunday.

The kits allow guards to pinpoint a cellphone signal down to a precise prison cell as part of a wider effort to reduce violence and drug use and restore stability in British prisons, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said.

The technology is the latest weapon in the fight against phone smuggling which leads to drug-dealing and violence, said the ministry.

LONDON (AP) — Two teenagers who were arrested in the shooting death of a 29-year-old journalist in Northern Ireland have been released from police custody without being charged.

Police let the 18- and 19-year-old men go Sunday night and appealed to anyone with information about whoever killed Lyra McKee to come forward.

McKee was fatally wounded during rioting Thursday night in the city of Londonderry.

Police say she was probably hit by a bullet someone fired at police. Video from the scene showed a gunman wearing a black face mask aiming at officers.

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A comedian whose only political experience consists of playing a president on TV cruised toward a landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election Sunday in what was seen as a reaction against the country’s entrenched corruption and low standard of living.

Results from 52% of polling stations’ tallies showed sitcom star Volodymyr Zelenskiy receiving 73% of the vote and President Petro Poroshenko about 25% — a crushing rebuke to Poroshenko’s five years in office.

20 Apr 2019; AFP: Two young men have been arrested over the killing of a journalist shot dead in Northern Ireland, police said Saturday, after the murder triggered international condemnation.

The 18- and 19-year-old men were arrested in Derry, also known as Londonderry, under anti-terror laws and taken to Belfast for questioning, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said.

22 Apr 2019; DW: Germany on Wednesday called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the escalating conflict in Libya after the 15-member body failed to agree on a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire.

Earlier this month, the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), under the leadership of General Khalifa Haftar, made a push to take Triopli. The offensive came days before UN-backed peace talks, resulting in them being postponed.

KIEV, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainians began to cast their ballots on Sunday in a second round of the country's presidential election between actor Volodymyr Zelensky and incumbent President Petro Poroshenko.

The polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and will close at 8:00 p.m. (1700 GMT).

More than 30.3 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots. 199 electoral districts were set up in the country with over 29,900 polling stations. There are also polling stations created abroad.

LONDON (AP) — London police say more than 710 people have been arrested and some 28 have been charged since climate change protests began earlier this week in the British capital.

The Extinction Rebellion protests started Monday and have at times paralyzed parts of London, with peaceful demonstrations at Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus and other key landmarks.

Protesters were out again Saturday, urging the British government to make fighting climate change its top priority.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A British cybersecurity researcher credited with stopping a worldwide computer virus has pleaded guilty to developing malware to steal banking information.

Federal prosecutors in Wisconsin and Marcus Hutchins’ attorneys said in a joint court filing Friday that the 24-year-old agreed to plead guilty to developing malware called Kronos and conspiring to distribute it from 2012 to 2015. In exchange for his plea to those charges, prosecutors dismissed eight more.

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her 93rd birthday, which this year coincides with Easter Sunday.

The queen is marking Easter by attending a service with other senior royals at St. George’s Chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle, west of London.

She was joined by Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, whose wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is expecting their first child in the coming weeks and did not attend.