Russia kicks off huge war games just over Ukraine's border in Belarus
CBSN
Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine — Russia kicked off huge joint military exercises on Thursday in Belarus, an ally and neighbor that also shares a border with Ukraine. The war games — which Moscow has said will last for 10 days, after which the Russian forces will leave Belarus and return to Russia — have prompted the U.S. and NATO to bolster their forces in the region and carry out their own military drills.
The tens of thousands of troops and weapons that Russia has sent into Belarus for the exercises are just one element of Russia's months-long military buildup around Ukraine's borders. The U.S. government says President Vladimir Putin now has more than 100,000 troops positioned around Ukraine's southern, eastern and northern borders, and that he could decide to order a new invasion of the neighboring country any time.
Russia insists it has no plans to attack Ukraine, but an intensive diplomacy effort by the U.S. and its NATO partners with Moscow this week has failed to yield any signs of deescalation.
The Vatican said Monday evening that Pope Francis had suffered "two episodes of acute respiratory failure" over the course of the day, which it said were caused by "significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm."
Dutch police say they have cracked the case of the mysterious disappearance of a Brueghel painting from a Polish museum over 50 years ago. Authorities say the case was finally solved with the help of arts magazine journalists and a well-known art detective.
A vehicle drove into a crowd of people in the western German city of Mannheim on Monday, according to local media reports, citing witnesses. The Reuters news agency said there was a police operation underway in the middle of the city, and that the incident came as crowds gathered in cities across Germany for parades to mark the Carnival season.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with King Charles III, the country's head of state, on Monday where he will discuss U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to make Canada the 51st state.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told leaders gathered Sunday for a summit on the war in Ukraine that they need to step up and continue to support Kyiv and meet a "once in a generation moment" for the security of Europe.
Israel warned of "further consequences" after it stopped the entry of all goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip on Sunday, in a move aimed at pressuring Hamas to accept a new proposal to extend the fragile ceasefire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in London Saturday ahead of a summit organized by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Kurdish militants who have waged a 40-year insurgency in Turkey declared a ceasefire on Saturday in what could mark a significant boost to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, two days after their imprisoned leader called for the group to disarm.
At least four workers have died after an avalanche swept away a large construction crew working on a highway near India's mountainous border with Tibet, Indian army said Saturday.
When Navyn Salem received a letter Wednesday terminating the federal government's contract with her Rhode Island company, Edesia, she halted its production line, which makes a life-saving paste for severely malnourished babies.