Russian strike on Ukraine village kills 3
KYIV, Ukraine -- A Russian attack struck a grocery store and a pharmacy in a Ukrainian village close to the border with Russia on Wednesday, killing three people including a 14-year-old girl, authorities said, as the Kremlin's forces kept up a relentless bombardment.
The strike on Lyptsi, about 6 miles from the border, also injured a 16-year-old boy and a woman, officials in the northeastern Kharkiv region said. They did not specify what kind of weapons were used.
Another strike with guided aerial bombs destroyed a hospital in Vovchansk, a town close to the border in the Kharkiv region, and injured a man, authorities said.
With the 620-mile front line barely budging in recent months, Moscow's army has kept parts of eastern and southern Ukraine under bombardment as the war stretches into its third year. The power grid has been a common target.
That has prompted Ukraine's leaders to plea for more air defense systems and ammunition from Western partners. But most of Ukraine's air interceptors, as well as artillery shells, are provided by the United States, where further funding for Kyiv has been held up in Congress.
The lack of artillery shells and air defenses is leaving Ukraine at the mercy of Russian attacks, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.
"Ukraine simply cannot wait," Stoltenberg said in Brussels. "It needs air defenses, ammunition and aid now" from members of the military alliance.
French chemical factory blast injures 1
PARIS -- An explosion followed by a fire Wednesday at a French factory treating dangerous substances left at least one person critically injured, according to local authorities.
The cause of the explosion, which sent a huge cloudburst of gray smoke over the area, is being investigated.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control soon after the explosion at the Saipol oil products factory in the port of Sete, on the Mediterranean coast, the prefecture for the surrounding Herault region said in a statement.
One factory employee was hospitalized in critical condition, and some 200 others were evacuated after the explosion, the prefecture said. Authorities are conducting tests for eventual toxicity in the surrounding air and soil.
The explosion occurred in a warehouse used for making fuel from grains while it was closed for maintenance, the statement said.
The plant is part of a European system called Seveso that requires facilities that handle dangerous substances to have additional safety measures.
Greek rescuers find children's bodies
ATHENS, Greece -- Rescuers on the eastern Greek island of Chios on Wednesday recovered the bodies of three girls who died after a boat carrying migrants from nearby Turkey hit rocks, officials said.
Fourteen people, including eight other children, were rescued by the coast guard off rugged coasts on the northeast of the island, some 12.5 miles from Turkey. Two men were also found ashore.
Coast guard officials said three patrol vessels were looking for other possible survivors, while the boat is believed to have sunk.
Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea are a common entry point into the European Union for migrants using Turkey-based smuggling networks in waters patrolled by the EU border protection agency Frontex.
Hong Kong denies entry to journalist
HONG KONG -- Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday that one of its representatives was denied entry into Hong Kong, calling it a "new decline" in the city's press freedoms.
According to the group, its Taipei-based staffer Aleksandra Bielakowska was stopped at the Hong Kong airport by immigration officers earlier in the day. She was detained, questioned and had her belongings searched three times before she was denied entry to Hong Kong, said the group, also known by its French acronym RSF.
"This action by the Hong Kong authorities, unprecedented for RSF, marks a new decline in the already poor press freedom climate in the territory," RSF said in a statement.
Bielakowska was to meet journalists and attend a hearing at the trial of Jimmy Lai, the media tycoon and founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper who is currently facing national security charges.
The Immigration Department did not immediately comment when contacted after business hours.
Rebecca Vincent, RSF's director of campaigns, said the group had "never experienced such blatant efforts by authorities to evade scrutiny of court proceedings in any country."
A major crackdown on dissent is underway in Hong Kong since the massive anti-government protests in 2019. After Beijing imposed a new national security law on the city, dozens of pro-democracy activists have been arrested and charged. Also, electoral laws have been overhauled to ensure that only "patriots" loyal to Beijing can run for office.
Police have also frozen assets and raided the newsrooms of pro-democracy media outlets, eventually forcing them to cease operations.
A woman poses for a photograph at the end of Eid al-Fitr prayers in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 10, 2024. Members of the Ukrainian Muslim community joined prayers at the Ar-Rahma Mosque in the Ukrainian capital. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Members of the Siberian Battalion, which was formed mostly of volunteer Russian citizens, of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' International Legion, practice during military exercises, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an undisclosed location in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Members of the Siberian Battalion, which was formed mostly of volunteer Russian citizens, of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' International Legion, practice during military exercises, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an undisclosed location in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Apr. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)