Three men who allegedly organized and carried out an attack last month in Lithuania on Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov have been arrested, officials said Friday. Volkov -- a close ally of late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny -- was briefly admitted to hospital after he was repeatedly struck with a hammer outside his home in Lithuania's capital Vilnius in mid-March. On Friday, officials in Poland and Lithuania said that a Belarusian man who organized the attack and the two Polish assailants had been arrested in Poland. "A Belarusian working for the Russians, who ordered two P ..read more

With less than 100 days to go before Paris hosts the 2024 Olympics, which organizers plan to open with an elaborate waterborne ceremony on the Seine river, concerns are mounting about the efficiency of the anti-drone shield meant to protect the French capital from a potential terror attack. According to several security sources, recent tests have exposed some worrying flaws in the system. The anti-drone system Parade has been especially developed to protect the Parisian skies throughout the July 26-September 8 Olympics and Paralympics. But various French media report that the system performe ..read more

Five environmental activists from the group Just Stop Oil were on Friday convicted of trespassing for disrupting a performance of "Les Miserables" in London last year. The three women and two men aged 18 to 28 climbed onto the stage of the Sondheim Theatre in the West End in October as actors sang the protest song "Do You Hear The People Sing?" Two of the protesters jumped onto the orchestra pit netting while others chained themselves to the stage with padlocks. The show did not resume and audience members booed. The five were found guilty of aggravated trespass following a trial at Westmins ..read more

Prince Harry's lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid publisher over allegations of unlawful information gathering can proceed to a potential trial next year, a UK judge ruled Friday. In one of several claims he has brought against UK newspaper publishers, Harry, 39, alleges he was repeatedly targeted by journalists and private investigators working for The Sun tabloid. He has been joined in the lawsuit by dozens of other claimants. News Group Newspapers (NGN), its publisher, has denied accusations of illegal activity and had asked the High Court in London to delay a potential tria ..read more

Explosions rocked Iran's central Isfahan province on Friday, according to state media, while US officials told American news outlets that Israel carried out a retaliatory strike on the Islamic republic. The attack comes less than a week after Tehran launched a barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles in its first-ever direct assault on Israel's soil. That unprecedented onslaught was itself a reprisal for an earlier strike in Syria widely blamed on Israel. The escalating tit-for-tat between the arch-rivals has prompted global powers to urge caution and appeal on both sides to not allow fr ..read more

The United States on Thursday spoiled a long-shot Palestinian bid for full United Nations membership, vetoing a Security Council measure despite growing international distress over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The move by Israel's key ally had been expected ahead of the vote, taking place more than six months into Israel's military offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory, in retaliation for the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel. Twelve countries voted in favor of the draft resolution recommending full Palestinian membership. Britain and Switzerland abs ..read more

Apple has removed Meta's WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China on orders from the country's internet regulator, US media reported Friday. Mainland China has some of the world's most extensive internet censorship, with web users unable to access everything from Google to many foreign apps without workarounds such as a virtual private network (VPN). "We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree," Apple said in a statement, according to Bloomberg. "The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) ordered the removal of these apps from the C ..read more

After a colossal 16-year restoration effort, Abel Gance's seven-hour silent classic "Napoleon" will finally return to the big screen at the Cannes Film Festival in May, organizers said Thursday. The project to restore the epic 1927 film began in 2008 when two film researchers discovered different versions of the film in Gance's archives at the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris. Restoring the French director's original vision turned into a mammoth, multi-million-euro operation combining detective work, digital wizardry and extraordinary dedication. The head of the restoration project, Georges M ..read more

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) did not contain her anger at Republicans Thursday over delays in funding aid to Ukraine. At a House Rules Committee hearing on three foreign aid packages for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, DeLauro was asked to comment on Republicans complaining about border security even though they killed a bill that would have helped stem undocumented immigration. "In many respects, we continue to sit here and to deal with revisionist history here," the lawmaker replied. "Lest we forget, it was the Trump administration that violated the Impoundment Control Act, illegally withholding ..read more

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) thinks he's found the perfect job for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Axios reporter Andrew Solender has flagged an amendment that Moskowitz filed that would make Greene the official representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the United States. "Whereas... Greene has repeatedly attempted to block aid to Ukraine, empowering Vladimir Putin's unlawful violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity," the amendment reads. "Whereas... Greene has reposed information from the Strategic Culture Foundation, a Russian based disinformation and pro ..read more