Europe

MOSCOW, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Thursday greeted the first group of Chinese tourists with grand ceremony here, after three years of suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, Russian performers donning traditional costumes sang songs and danced around the Chinese tourists, who were presented with bread and salt, a sign of a friendly welcome in the Russian tradition.

Russia launched a rescue ship on Friday for two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut whose original ride home sprang a dangerous leak while parked at the International Space Station.

The new, empty Soyuz capsule should arrive at the orbiting lab on Sunday.

The capsule leak in December was blamed on a micrometeorite that punctured an external radiator, draining it of coolant. The same thing appeared to happen again earlier this month, this time on a docked Russian cargo ship. Camera views showed a small hole in each spacecraft.

MARINKA, Ukraine (AP) — The hulking Russian tank swiveled into position between the ruins of two pulverized apartment blocks, paused and fired, a ball of fire and fumes spewing from the muzzle of its cannon.

Just 12 seconds later, it fired again, unleashing another shell on its targets about 50 meters (yards) away on the other side of what had once been a street — many years ago, before fighting destroyed it.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A “people’s court” without legal powers has confirmed an indictment against Russian President Vladimir Putin for the crime of aggression in Ukraine and called for his arrest.

The symbolic decision Friday came on the anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of its neighbor that triggered Europe’s biggest and deadliest conflict since World War II.

23 Feb 2023; MEMO: Following the Israeli killing of 11 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, said yesterday he was "appalled" by the loss of civilian lives.

In a statement Wennesland said: "I am deeply disturbed by the continuing cycle of violence and appalled by the loss of civilian lives."

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s leader pledged to push for victory in 2023 as he and other Ukrainians on Friday marked the somber anniversary of the Russian invasion that upended their lives and Europe’s security.

It was Ukraine’s “longest day,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, but the country’s dogged resistance a year on has proven that “every tomorrow is worth fighting for.”

23 Feb 2023; MEMO: The Berlin Regional Court sentenced, on Thursday, a Palestinian-Syrian man to life imprisonment with hard labour over war crimes he committed in March 2014 in the Yarmouk Camp, which led to killing seven people.

The man identified as Mouaffaq Dawa, was a member of the Free Palestine Movement, a group allied with the Syrian regime of President Bashar Al-Assad.

MOSCOW, February 23. /TASS/: Talks on Ukraine may take place if Western countries and the Kiev regime lay down their arms and stop shelling Russian cities, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with TASS.

"If the West and Kiev want to sit down at the negotiating table, they should, above all, stop bombarding Russian cities and lay down their arms. After that, it will be possible to hold a discussion based on new geopolitical realities," the senior diplomat noted.

MOSCOW, February 23. /TASS/: A Russian Su-25 ground attack plane crashed while returning to its airfield in the Belgorod Region, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

"A Su-25 plane of the Russian Aerospace Forces crashed while returning to its airfield in the Belgorod Region after accomplishing a combat mission. The pilot died," the ministry said in a statement.

The plane crashed in a desolate place and there is no destruction on the ground, it specified.

MOSCOW, February 23. /TASS/: The future, like the truth, belongs to Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a conversation with combat veterans on Defender of the Fatherland Day on Thursday.

"I see a group of young men standing behind us. When I delivered address to the Federal Assembly the day before yesterday, my final remarks were that the truth belongs to us. But looking at those guys I want to add - the future, without a doubt, also belongs to us," the president said.