Polish police injured in farmer protest
WARSAW, Poland -- Poland saw its most violent protest by farmers and supporters yet Wednesday as some participants threw stones at police and tried to push through barriers around parliament, injuring several officers, police said.
Police used tear gas and said they detained over a dozen people and prevented the protesters from getting through to the Sejm, the Polish parliament.
Farmers are angry over European Union climate policies and food imports from Ukraine that they say threaten their livelihoods. Such protests have occurred across the 27-member EU in recent weeks, but this one was decidedly angrier than earlier demonstrations in the central European nation.
Police noted on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that its officers "are not a party to the ongoing dispute" and warned that behavior threatening their safety "cannot be taken lightly and requires a firm and decisive response."
The deputy agriculture minister, Michał Kołodziejczak, said he didn't believe that "real, normal farmers caused a riot in front of the Sejm today," and that it was necessary to isolate "provocateurs and troublemakers."
He did not say who he thought was behind the violence.
Czech senators approve gun restrictions
PRAGUE -- The Czech Parliament's upper house, the Senate followed the lower house on Wednesday to approve gun law changes that tighten requirements for owning a weapon after the worst mass killing in the nation's history.
The legislation now must be signed by President Petr Pavel before becoming law, which is expected.
On Dec. 22, a lone shooter killed 14 people and wounded dozens before killing himself at a Charles University building in downtown Prague. The assailant was a 24-year-old student who had a proclivity for firearms and a license to own eight guns, including two long guns.
Authorities said he had no criminal record and therefore did not attract the attention of the authorities.
The lower house gave the green light to the new law on Jan 26.
Under the new law, gun owners would have to undergo a medical check every five years, not every 10 years, as they do now.
Businesses would be required to report suspicious purchases of guns and ammunition to the police, while doctors would gain access to databases to find out whether their patients are gun owners.
Parliamentary debate on the legislation had already begun before that shooting. Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said it was hard to speculate whether the new rules would have prevented it if they had been in effect before it took place.
In the 81-seat Senate, lawmakers approved the legislation in a 66-1 vote.
Once approved by the president, the law would make it possible for the authorities to seize a weapon from a private owner on a preventive basis.
4 migrants die, 64 saved on Atlantic trek
BARCELONA, Spain -- Four migrants were found dead and 64 were rescued when a boat from Mauritania reached Spain's Canary Islands after a dangerous Atlantic journey from West Africa, Spain's Maritime Rescue Service said.
The migrants arrived on the island of El Hierro late Tuesday, with the survivors including two women and nine minors, the service said.
In poor health, two people were transferred by helicopter to a hospital on the island of Tenerife while 14 others were taken to a local hospital on El Hierro to be treated mainly for hypothermia and dehydration, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter, by a local emergency service.
Nearly 12,000 migrants fleeing poverty, conflict and instability in West Africa have landed on the Spanish archipelago in the first two months of the year, according to Spain's interior ministry.
That's more than six times the number that made it to the islands last year. El Hierro, the westernmost of the Canary Islands, is bearing the brunt of arrivals.
Blast ends Greek premier's Ukraine visit
KYIV, Ukraine -- The sound of a large explosion reverberated around the Ukrainian port of Odesa as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greece's prime minister ended a tour of the war-ravaged southern city Wednesday.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the delegations were getting into their vehicles when they heard the blast, which he called a "vivid reminder" that Odesa is gripped by the war with Russia. It is one thing to hear about the war and "quite another to experience war firsthand," Mitsotakis said.
Zelenskyy said the explosion caused an unknown number of dead and wounded. "You see who we're dealing with, they don't care where to hit," he told reporters.
Russian officials made no immediate comment.
Zelenskyy has regularly visited cities and military units on the front line during the war, always in secrecy until after he has left.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned on X, formerly Twitter, what she called the "vile attack" during the Greek visit. She called it a "new attempt at terror" by Russia.
Police officers detain a man during farmers protest in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday March 6, 2024. The protest ratchets up pressure on the government as they demand the Poland-Ukraine border closed to food imports and demand changes to European Union climate and agricultural policies. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)
Protesters clash with police in front of the Polish Parliament during farmers protest in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday March 6, 2024. The protest ratchets up pressure on the government as they demand the Poland-Ukraine border closed to food imports and demand changes to European Union climate and agricultural policies. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)
Police officers detain a man during farmers protest in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday March 6, 2024. The protest ratchets up pressure on the government as they demand the Poland-Ukraine border closed to food imports and demand changes to European Union climate and agricultural policies. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)
Police officers detain a man during farmers protest in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday March 6, 2024. The protest ratchets up pressure on the government as they demand the Poland-Ukraine border closed to food imports and demand changes to European Union climate and agricultural policies. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)
A woman holds a polish flag during farmers protest in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday March 6, 2024. The protest ratchets up pressure on the government as they demand the Poland-Ukraine border closed to food imports and demand changes to European Union climate and agricultural policies. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)
A man with a polish flag stands in front of the police officers during farmers protest in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday March 6, 2024. The protest ratchets up pressure on the government as they demand the Poland-Ukraine border closed to food imports and demand changes to European Union climate and agricultural policies. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)
Polish farmers, hunters, and their supporters, hold a protest in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. The protest ratchets up pressure on the government as they demand the Poland-Ukraine border closed to food imports and demand changes to European Union climate and agricultural policies. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)
Polish farmers, hunters, and their supporters, hold a protest in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. The protest ratchets up pressure on the government as they demand the Poland-Ukraine border closed to food imports and demand changes to European Union climate and agricultural policies. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)
Polish farmers, hunters, and their supporters, hold a protest in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. The protest ratchets up pressure on the government as they demand the Poland-Ukraine border closed to food imports and demand changes to European Union climate and agricultural policies. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)
A damaged apartment building is seen after a Russian attack on a residential area on March 2, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tour Odesa, Ukraine, on Wednesday. (AP/Ukrainian Presidential Press Office)