The European Council on Friday announced sanctions on four “extremist” settlers and two groups over serious human rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. “The listed individuals and entities are responsible for serious human rights abuses against Palestinians, including torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and for the violation of right to property and to private and family life of Palestinians in the West Bank,” said the European Council in a statement. The listed entities are Lehava, a far-right Jewish supremacist grou ..read more

KYIV — Ukraine succeeded for the first time in shooting down a Tu–22M3 strategic bomber, used by Russia to bomb Ukraine from a distance, the Ukrainian air force said in a statement Friday. “The enemy aircraft was shot down at a distance of about 300 kilometers from Ukraine. The damaged bomber was able to fly to the Stavropol region of Russia, where it fell and crashed,” Ukraine’s military intelligence said in a Telegram post. Previously, Kyiv had only managed to damage bombers at the Russian airfield and not been able to reach the Tu–22M3. The strategic bomber, which carries Kh-22 cruise missi ..read more

Israel launched a strike on Iran early Friday in what appeared to be a limited response to Tehran’s drone and missile assault last weekend, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the discussions. The retaliatory strike was designed to be “limited” in scope in order to avoid a wider regional war, said the person familiar. The people were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations. Both Iran and Israel seemed to want to prevent escalation in the hours after the strike. Israel has not claimed responsibility or commented, while Iranian officials have played down ..read more

Western leaders have called for de-escalation following an attack reportedly carried out by Israel on Iranian territory early Friday, amid growing fears of a widening conflict in the Middle East. “We have to do everything possible [so] that all sides restrain from the escalation in that region,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters during a visit to Finland on Friday. “It is absolutely necessary that the region stays stable and that all sides refrain from further action,” she said. “We are working on de-escalation,” United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken s ..read more

Polish authorities have detained two people suspected of violently attacking Leonid Volkov, an exiled ally of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. “Navalny aide Leonid Volkov was brutally attacked in Vilnius. Today, I am glad to announce that suspects have been detained in Poland,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda announced Friday. “Thank you to Andrzej Duda, Polish and Lithuanian law enforcement. Together we warn the organizers of the crime: do not try to repeat it,” Nausėda added. Volkov was beaten outside his home in Vilnius in March, with his colleagues saying he had tear gas ..read more

LONDON — Liz Truss wasn’t known for playing by the rules during her short-lived premiership. The Conservative former prime minister has spent the week plugging her new book about her time in government. Now the U.K. government has waded in, declaring Truss broke its rules by failing to get approval to include private conversations with the late Queen Elizabeth II in her memoir. While Truss submitted her book to civil servants in the Cabinet Office for review, a final sign-off was not sought before publication. Truss wrote that Queen Elizabeth II told her to “pace yourself” in a meeting with th ..read more

La source d’informations quotidiennes sur l’énergie et le climat en France. Par NICOLAS CAMUT Avec AUDE LE GENTIL et ARTHUR NAZARET Infos et tuyaux à partager ? Ecrivez à Nicolas Camut, Aude Le Gentil et Arthur Nazaret | Voir dans le navigateur AU MENU — Roland Lescure veut réconcilier EDF avec les gourmands en électricité. — Un réacteur nucléaire dans une sucrière : cocktail explosif dans la Marne. — Pas de délai pour les ombrières photovoltaïques sur les parkings. Bonjour à toutes et à tous, nous sommes vendredi 19 avril. Votre infolettre se penche aujourd’hui sur les mini réact ..read more

Europe needs to do more itself to support Ukraine, Donald Trump warned on Thursday night as the U.S. Congress edges closer to approving new military aid for Kyiv. The U.S. Republican Party standard bearer, a prominent NATO skeptic who could return to the White House after November’s election, complained: “Why isn’t Europe giving more money to help Ukraine? Why is it that the United States is over $100 Billion … into the Ukraine War more than Europe, and we have an Ocean between us as separation!” Trump for years has accused European NATO allies of freeloading on America to provide protection a ..read more

Iran said its air defenses had opened fire at what seemed to be a limited attack over the central city of Isfahan on Friday, as fears grow of an all-out war with Israel. An Iranian commander told the official IRNA state news agency that the batteries had made an interception at about 4 a.m., explaining blasts heard to the northeast of the city. “We have not suffered any damage or incidents,” said Brigadier General Siavash Mihandoost. Iran’s state media played down the attack saying three “birds” had been shot down and insisting flights were resuming to normal. Hossein Dalirian, spokesperson fo ..read more

BERLIN — On the ground in Ukraine, Robert Habeck is thinking of the future after the war. Along with a delegation of defense and energy industry bosses, Germany’s Vice Chancellor arrived in Kyiv on Thursday looking to plug his country’s industrial heavyweights into Ukraine’s economy, on everything from armament production to power grid resilience. But while major German arms contractors are delivering weapons systems for Ukraine’s war against the Russian invasion, they’re also gearing up to make the most of what may be a major business opportunity for the future. There will be money to be made ..read more