- Wall Street, Europe rise as Chinese shares tumble
- Hunkering down for Hurricane Milton at Disney -- but first, a few rides
- Reddy, Rinku power India to 221-9 in second Bangladesh T20
- Overshooting 1.5C risks 'irreversible' climate impact: study
- Time running out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Demis Hassabis, from chess prodigy to Nobel-winning AI pioneer
- The long walk for water in the parched Colombian Amazon
- Biden-Netanyahu to talk as Hezbollah, Israeli forces clash
- France vows to step up drugs fight after police vehicles torched
- Air France says jet flew over Iraq during Iran attack on Israel
- Activists target Picasso work to protest Israel arms sales
- Let 'Emily in Paris' remain in Paris, Macron says
- Global stocks diverge as Chinese shares tumble
- Time runs out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Chad issues warning ahead of more devastating floods
- Record-breaking Root helps England dominate Pakistan in first Test
- German govt sees economy shrinking again in 2024
- Ex-UK soldier denies passing secrets to Iran intelligence
- Creator's death no bar to new 'Dragon Ball' products
- Three Kosovo Serbs on trial over 'secession plot' attack
- Van Gogh museum to launch Impressionism show
- French minister ups ante in Eiffel Tower Olympic rings row
- Japan PM calls snap election to 'create a new Japan'
- German police shut pro-Palestinian camp over Thunberg invite
- Chinese stocks tumble on lack of fresh stimulus
- Trio wins chemistry Nobel for protein design, prediction
- SE Asian summit urges end to Myanmar violence but struggles for solutions
- Wimbledon replaces line judges with electronic system
- Record-breaking Root hits hundred as England power to 351-3
- Record-breaking Root hits hundred as England's power to 351-3
- Sabalenka relishes 'much-needed' tennis rivalry with Swiatek
- Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson set for six weeks out
- Taylor Swift got police escort to London gigs after Austria terror plot
- Cook tips Root to break Tendulkar's all-time runs record
- British skull auction sparks Indian demand for return
- Joe Root: England's elegant Test record-breaker
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Hezbollah strikes Israel, says it foiled Israeli incursions
- Jurgen Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Record-breaking Root guides England to 232-2 in reply to Pakistan's 556
- Japan PM dissolves parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- Goodbye Tito? Tomb at risk as Serbs argue over Yugoslav legacy
- Restoration experts piece together silent Sherlock Holmes mystery
- Sinner avoids Shanghai deja vu with assured Shelton win
- Pyongyang to 'permanently' shut border with South Korea
RIO | -0.54% | 66.305 | $ | |
BTI | 0.95% | 35.559 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.28% | 24.71 | $ | |
SCS | 2.7% | 13.135 | $ | |
BCC | 0.88% | 143.28 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.01% | 24.85 | $ | |
JRI | 0.36% | 13.208 | $ | |
BP | -0.2% | 31.965 | $ | |
RBGPF | -2.48% | 59.33 | $ | |
NGG | -0.12% | 65.82 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.01% | 6.9 | $ | |
BCE | -0.13% | 33.465 | $ | |
GSK | 0.91% | 38.37 | $ | |
AZN | 0.31% | 77.11 | $ | |
RELX | 0.05% | 46.665 | $ | |
VOD | 0.77% | 9.735 | $ |
Refugees flee fresh fighting around Kyiv: AFP
Dozens of people fled a surge in fighting on Thursday in a flashpoint area where Ukraine said it had pushed back Russian forces around Kyiv, AFP journalists reported.
Heavy exchanges of shelling could be heard from the commuter town of Irpin on the northwestern outskirts Kyiv, and plumes of black smoke rose into the air, an AFP team at the scene said.
Residents said homes had been set on fire during intensified violence on Thursday, forcing out people who had managed to remain in war-torn Irpin until now.
Shells trailing smoke also set fire to a warehouse near residential buildings just west of the capital as civilians took cover behind a supermarket, AFP journalists said.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Wednesday that "almost all of Irpin is already under the control of Ukrainian soldiers" after battles with Russian troops.
"The houses are destroyed, there are only basements left," entrepreneur Leonid Markevych, 55, told AFP after fleeing from his house just outside Irpin.
"Every morning, every day, every evening, the Russians go on offensive and every day our boys push them back. So we have heavy shelling every day and night."
Emergency vehicles brought people out of Irpin to a reception centre, where police checked their bags and papers before loading them onto yellow evacuation buses.
Children were among those who left the town, while people brought whatever they could carry with them, including family pets.
Irpin has witnessed some of the heaviest fighting of the war, and many of its inhabitants had already fled across a bridge that Ukrainian forces blew up to stop the Russian advance.
Russian troops quickly pushed to the outskirts of Kyiv after the invasion but their attempt to encircle and enter the city have failed.
Ukraine says it is mounting a counter-offensive in areas around Kyiv.
According to Klitschko, in addition to most of Irpin, Ukrainian forces have also taken control of the small city of Makariv some 50 kilometres (30 miles) to the west.
The former boxer said Wednesday, "We would rather die than kneel in front of the Russians or surrender to the invaders."
A.Jones--AMWN