Town Hall News

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany plans to phase out its Tiger combat helicopters by 2038 and replace the fleet over time with H145M light military helicopters, built – like the Tiger – by Airbus, the defence ministry said on Saturday. The decision had been expected as Germany effectively withdrew from a multinational programme to modernise the helicopters years ago while France and Spain in 2022 agreed to participate. Berlin has repeatedly […]

By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Rome on Saturday for talks with government officials and Pope Francis, who in late April said that the Vatican is involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia. Zelenskiy, on his first trip to Italy since Russia invaded in February last year, is due to meet separately with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni […]

Chris Bassitt pitched his second career shutout as the Toronto Blue Jays blanked the visiting Atlanta Braves 3-0 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series. George Springer delivered the tiebreaking single in the fifth inning, and Daulton Varsho homered in the eighth for Toronto, which improved to 10-3 at home. The complete-game shutout was the first for Toronto since Mark Buehrle blanked the Washington Nationals on June […]

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany on Saturday announced 2.7 billion euro ($3.0 billion) of military aid to Ukraine, its biggest such package yet since Russia’s invasion, and pledged further support for Kyiv for as long as necessary. The package will include 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, over 200 reconnaissance drones and four Iris-T anti-aircraft systems, according to a defence ministry statement. “We all wish for a speedy end to […]

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Palestinian militants fired rockets from Gaza towards Israel early on Saturday after Israeli aircraft bombed Islamic Jihad targets in the enclave overnight, as violence spilled over into the occupied West Bank on a fifth day of fighting. Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid on the outskirts of Nablus in the northern West Bank, where clashes had erupted, the Palestinian Health […]

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany on Saturday announced 2.7 billion euro ($3.0 billion) of military aid to Ukraine, its biggest such package yet since Russia’s invasion, and pledged further support for Kyiv for as long as necessary. The package will include 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, over 200 reconnaissance drones and four Iris-T anti-aircraft systems, according to a defence ministry statement. “We all wish for a speedy end to […]

WARSAW (Reuters) -An unidentified object that entered Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus was probably an observation balloon, the defence ministry said on Saturday on Twitter. NATO-member Poland is on alert for infractions of its airspace as war rages in neighbouring Ukraine after incidents in November and December in which missiles landed on its territory. “The Air Operations Center noted the appearance in Polish airspace of an object that […]

By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Rome on Saturday for talks with government officials and Pope Francis, who in late April said that the Vatican is involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia. Zelenskiy, on his first trip to Italy since Russia invaded in February last year, is due to meet separately with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni […]

By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Rome on Saturday for talks with government officials and Pope Francis, who in late April said that the Vatican is involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia. Zelenskiy, on his first trip to Italy since Russia invaded in February last year, is due to meet separately with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni […]