Russian troops edge closer to Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region; two people killed in Kherson after drone attack. What we know on day 1,530
Russian troops are inching towards the city of Kostiantynivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, trying to establish a foothold close to a heavily defended area, Ukraine’s top army official said on Saturday. Kostiantynivka, along with other cities, forms a so-called fortress belt in the country’s east – an area well fortified by the Ukrainian military. Ukraine’s army chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on the Telegram app that ‘counter-sabotage measures’ were being undertaken in the city. A Ukrainian battlefield mapping project called DeepState shows that Russian troops control an area about one kilometre (0.6 mile) from the city’s southern outskirts. Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday its forces had taken control of Novodmytrivka, just north of Kostiantynivka.
On Saturday, Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had seized the village of Myropillia in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, where Moscow says it wants to establish a buffer zone. But the Kursk group of the Ukrainian military, writing on Facebook, dismissed the Russian report as a “complete lie” and said its units controlled the area. Also in Sumy, the regional governor said a Russian airstrike near the town of Krovelets had injured six people, including two in serious condition.
Two people were killed and seven wounded after a Russian drone attacked a minibus in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, local officials said Saturday, in the latest round of attacks on civilians across Ukraine. Hours later Russia attacked another minibus in Kherson, wounding the driver, said regional head Oleskandr Prokudin. On Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, a Russian strike damaged port infrastructure in the city of Odesa but no casualties were reported.
In a blow to Berlin, which had pushed for the move as a powerful deterrent against Russia, a planned drawdown of 5,000 US troops from Germany includes a Biden-era plan to deploy a US battalion with long-range Tomahawk missiles to Germany. The US plan should spur Europe to strengthen its own defences, German defence minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday, but two top US Republican lawmakers expressed concern, saying the troops should not leave Europe.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met delegates to the ruling party’s youth league congress in Pyongyang, state media KCNA said on Sunday, as the North Korean government has again cast young people as central to both domestic mobilisation and its military role in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Eleventh Congress of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League is a once-in-five-years political gathering aimed at mobilising citizens aged roughly 14 to 30. In a letter published on Friday, the ruling Workers’ Party explicitly linked youth loyalty to Pyongyang’s involvement in the Ukraine war, telling the congress that young soldiers sent on overseas operations had “become bombs and flames” in defending the country’s honour. North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 troops to fight alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and western officials.
Continue reading...Pentagon says it will withdraw 5,000 troops from Nato ally Germany; blame game begins after Spirit airlines ceases operations. Key US politics stories from Saturday 2 May at a glance
Two top US Republican lawmakers expressed concern on Saturday about the Pentagon’s decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from Nato ally Germany.
“We are very concerned by the decision to withdraw a US brigade from Germany,” senator Roger Wicker and representative Mike Rogers said in a joint statement.
Continue reading...Read more of this story at Slashdot.
iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:
iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:
banzainetsurfer has added a photo to the pool:
Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum connects a hotel and a spa operated by the town, which had been separated by a cliff and a road.
The museum functions not only as the skywalk between the two facilities, but also as accommodations, work and exhibition rooms that cater to artist-in-residence program, thus bridging cultures of the world as well.
Source: divisare.com/projects/310486-kengo-kuma-and-associates-ta...
banzainetsurfer has added a photo to the pool:
This library was designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma, who is also known for his design of the New National Stadium. The library makes extensive use of Yusuhara-grown timber, creating a relaxing space where visitors can enjoy the feel and smell of the wood.
Source: shikoku-tourism.com/en/see-and-do/14090
HOOGEVEEN (ANP) - In het centrum van Hoogeveen is in de nacht van zaterdag op zondag een grote brand uitgebroken aan de Jonkheer de Jongestraat. Volgens een woordvoerder van de veiligheidsregio Drenthe begon het met een autobrand die is overgeslagen naar een woning.
Er is volop activiteit van de hulpdiensten, aldus de woordvoerder.