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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his economic policies have not changed but he suggested in comments published Wednesday that his finance minister will have leeway to move away from an unconventional approach that many have blamed for a worsening cost-of-living crisis. Erdogan, who was reelected to a third term last month, appointed Mehmet Simsek, an internationally respected banker who served in the Cabinet previously, as treasury and finance minister. He also picked Hafize Gaye Erkan, a former U.S.-based bank executive, to head the central bank, the first woman hold the role. While the appointments signaled a shift in the longtime Turkish leader's views on how to stimulate the economy, lingering uncertainty over Erdogan’s position and an apparent move to loosen government controls of foreign currency exchanges led Turkey’s currency to plunge to record lows against the U.S. dollar last week. Erdogan said he had accepted Simsek’s request for a fresh economic program but that his personal stance on keeping interest rates low amid rising inflation was unchanged. “Some of our friends should not fall into the error of (asking) ‘Is the president going to make a serious change (concerning) interest rate policy?’ I remain in the same position,” Erdogan said while returning from a state visit to Azerbaijan on Tuesday. “We accepted that (Simsek) should take the necessary steps rapidly and effortlessly with the central bank.” Read: Turkey appoints first female central bank governor Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency and other media reported his comments on Wednesday. Critics blame the cost-of-living crisis on Erdogan’s unorthodox interest rate policy, which runs contrary to conventional economic thinking that raising rates will combat inflation. Central banks elsewhere, including the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, have increased borrowing costs to bring down spikes in consumer prices. Asked if Erkan’s appointment as the new governor of the Central Bank of Turkey was his idea, Erdogan said Simsek had pitched the idea to him. “We thought we would have a woman administrator for the central bank for once and we took this step. Of course, we told her of our expectations,” he said. Read: US says ‘the time is now’ for Sweden to join NATO and for Turkey to get new F-16s “We hope that with these steps neither our treasury and finance minister nor our central bank will let us down,” he added. Erkan replaced Sahap Kavcioglu, who as the bank’s governor oversaw a series of rate cuts since 2021. She was a managing director at the Goldman Sachs investment banking company and worked at San Francisco-based First Republic Bank, holding the post of co-CEO for six months in 2021. JPMorgan Chase took over the failed bank after U.S. regulators seized it in May. Read: Voters in Turkey return to polls to decide on opposing presidential visions

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that NATO should not bet on his country approving Sweden's application to join the Western military alliance before a July summit because the Nordic nation has not fully addressed his security concerns. Sweden and Finland applied for membership together following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. Finland became NATO's 31st member in April after the Turkish parliament ratified its request, but Turkey has held off approving Sweden's bid. Also read: US says ‘the time is now’ for Sweden to join NATO and for Turkey to get new F-16s NATO wants to bring Sweden into the fold by the time the leaders of member nations meet for a summit in Lithuania's capital on July 11-12. Speaking to journalists on his way back from a state visit to Azerbaijan on Tuesday, Erdogan said Turkey's attitude to the accession was not "positive." Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency and other media reported Erdogan's comments as senior officials from NATO, Sweden, Finland and Turkey met in Ankara on Wednesday. The officials discussed what Finland and Sweden have done to address Turkey's concerns over alleged terrorist organizations. Erdogan said the Turkish delegation at the meeting "will give this message: 'This is our president's opinion, don't expect anything different at Vilnius,'" Lithuania's capital. Turkey's government accuses Sweden of being too lenient toward groups that Ankara says pose a security threat, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt. Also read: Erdogan says no support for Sweden's NATO bid A series of separate demonstrations in Stockholm, including a protest by an anti-Islam activist who burned the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy, also angered Turkish officials. Speaking in Sweden's parliament, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called the Ankara meeting "very important." Kristersson reiterated that his government had done what it promised in an agreement last year that was intended to secure Turkey's ratification of the country's NATO membership. However, Erdogan remained unsatisfied. He said he told NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg last week, "If you expect us to respond to Sweden's expectations, first of all, Sweden must destroy what this terrorist organization has done." He was referring to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a group that has waged a separatist insurgency in Turkey. Erdogan said that pro-Kurdish and anti-NATO rallies also took place in Stockholm during his meeting with with Stoltenberg in Istanbul. A statement issued by the Turkish presidency after Wednesday's said the parties "held consultations on the activities of terrorist groups in Sweden based on concrete examples." It said they agreed to continue working on further steps. Also read: Erdogan might approve Finland’s NATO bid, ‘shock’ Sweden Stoltenberg said his chief of staff, who attended the meeting, reported that it took place in a "constructive atmosphere." "Some progress has been made, and we will continue to work for the ratification of Sweden as soon as possible," he said. Asked whether NATO would be able to admit Sweden before the Vilnius summit, Stoltenberg replied, "It is still possible. I cannot guarantee it, of course." NATO requires the unanimous approval of all existing members to expand, and Turkey and Hungary are the only countries that have not yet ratified Sweden's request to join. Erdogan said he planned to attend the July summit in Lithuania unless "extraordinary" circumstances arise. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after meeting with Stoltenberg that it was "time to welcome Sweden" into the alliance, arguing that Stockholm had "an important and I think very appropriate process on its accession to address appropriate concerns of other allies." Sweden has amended its constitution and strengthened its anti-terror laws since it applied to join NATO just over a year ago. This week, the Swedish government also decided to extradite a Turkish citizen resident in Sweden who was convicted for drug offenses in Turkey in 2013. Sweden and Finland applied to become NATO members in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, abandoning decades of nonalignment.  

At least 32 people have died off the coast of southern Greece after a fishing boat carrying dozens of migrants capsized and sank, authorities said Wednesday. A large search and rescue operation was launched in the area. Authorities said 104 people have been rescued so far following the nighttime incident some 75 kilometers (46 miles) southwest of Greece's southern Peloponnese region. Also Read: At least 39 migrants dead in bus crash in Panama Four of the survivors were hospitalized with symptoms of hypothermia. It was unclear how many passengers might remain missing at sea after the 32 bodies were recovered, the Greek coast guard said. Six coast guard vessels, a navy frigate, a military transport plane, an air force helicopter, several private vessels and a drone from the European Union border protection agency, Frontex, were taking part in the ongoing search. Also Read: Migrant boat breaks up off Italian coast, killing nearly 60 The Italy-bound boat is believed to have sailed from the Tobruk area in eastern Libya. The Italian coast guard first alerted Greek authorities and Frontex about the approaching vessel on Tuesday. Smugglers are increasingly taking larger boats into international waters off the Greek mainland to try to avoid local coast guard patrols. Also Read: Death toll from Greece train crash rises to 57 On Sunday, 90 migrants on a U.S.-flagged yacht were rescued in the area after they made a distress call. Separately Wednesday, a yacht with 81 migrants on board was towed to a port on the south coast of Greece's island of Crete after authorities received a distress call. Also Read: Greece: 3 dead after boat with migrants hits rocks  

When it comes to skyrocketing pasta prices, Italians are crying: Basta! They have had enough after the cost of the staple of every Italian table soared by twice the rate of inflation. One consumer advocate group is calling for a weeklong national pasta strike starting June 22 after the Rome government held a crisis meeting last month and decided not to intervene on prices. “The macaroni strike is to see if keeping pasta on the shelves will bring down the prices, in the great Anglo-Saxon tradition of boycotting goods,” said Furio Truzzi, president of the group, Assoutenti. “The price of pasta is absolutely out of proportion with production costs.” Grocery prices have risen more sharply in Europe than in other advanced economies — from the U.S. to Japan — driven by higher energy and labor costs and the impact of Russia's war in Ukraine. That is even though costs for food commodities have fallen for months from record highs, including wheat for the flour used to make pasta. Stores and suppliers have been accused of profit-padding “greedflation," but economists say retail profits have been stable and the problem comes down to the higher cost to produce food. Feeling the pressure, some governments in Europe have capped prices on staples or pushed for agreements with grocery stores to bring down costs, something that's popular with the public but can actually make food prices worse. Shoppers like Noée Borey, a 26-year-old picking up groceries at a chain store in Paris, said she is all for setting ceilings for some food to help low-income workers and students. She buys less meat and opts for less expensive grocery stores. “Inevitably, all the products I buy have gone up by 20%, whether it’s butter or berries," Borey said. “I’m not buying cherries anymore because they cost 15 euros a kilo" (about $8 a pound). Read: Italy declares state of emergency as migrant numbers surge The French government reached a three-month agreement with supermarket chains for them to cut prices on hundreds of staples and other foods, which is expected to be extended through the summer. Britain — where food inflation has reached 45-year highs — is discussing a similar move. Countries like Hungary, with the highest food inflation in the European Union, and Croatia have mandated price controls for items like cooking oil, some pork cuts, wheat flour and milk. The Italian government says it will strengthen price monitoring by working more closely with the country's 20 regions but won't impose such limits. Spain has avoided price controls but abolished all value-added tax on essential products and halved tax on cooking oil and pasta to 5%. The measures come as food banks are seeing soaring demand in some countries. “Things are not getting better, they are getting worse for people,” said Helen Barnard of the Trussell Trust, a charity that operates more than half of the food banks in the United Kingdom. Spending much more to buy essentials like milk, pasta and fresh vegetables to “top up” donations received from supermarkets is a struggle for Anna Sjovorr-Packham, who runs several community food pantries serving discounted groceries to some 250 families in south London. "While the demand from families hasn’t gone up hugely, the cost has, and that’s been really difficult to support,” she said. Prices for food and non-alcoholic drinks have actually fallen in Europe, from 17.5% in the 20-country euro area in March to a still-painful 15% in April. It comes as energy prices — key to growing and transporting what we eat — have dropped from record highs last year. But economists say it will be many months before prices in stores settle back down. Read: Deadly shipwreck in Italy must trigger action to save lives: UN  In comparison, U.S. food prices rose 7.7% in April from a year earlier, 8.2% in Japan and 9.1% in Canada. They hit 19% in the U.K. The numbers play into expectations that the European Central Bank will raise interest rates again this week to counter inflation, while the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to skip a hike. In Europe, turning to price controls plays to voters, who get constant reminders of the inflation every time they hit the checkout counter, said Neil Shearing, group chief economist for Capital Economics. But he said such changes should be reserved for instances of supply shocks, like war. Such controls could actually make food inflation worse by increasing demand from shoppers but discouraging new supply, he said. “The current food price shock does not warrant such intervention," Shearing said. While pasta remains one of the most affordable items in many grocery baskets, the symbolism hits the Italian psyche hard and comes as families are absorbing higher prices across the board, from sugar to rice, olive oil and potatoes. Italian families of four are spending an average of 915 euros ($984) more a year on groceries, an increase of nearly 12%, for a total of 7,690 euros a year, according to Assoutenti. A full one-third of Italians have reduced grocery store spending, according to SWG pollsters, and nearly half are shopping at discount stores. But even discounts are not what they used to be, and it's toughest for pensioners. “Before, you could get two packs (of pasta) for 1 euro," said Carlo Compellini, a retiree who was shopping in central Rome. “Now with 2 euros, you get three packs.” Inflation is putting little indulgences out of reach for many, creating a new divide between the haves and have-nots. The recent opening of a Sacher Café in Trieste, an Italian city whose Austro-Hungarian roots are evident in its stately architecture, led the mayor to a much-ridiculed response recalling for many an out-of-touch remark attributed to Marie Antoinette. Asked about complaints that a slice of the famed Viennese chocolate cake was too pricey at nearly 10 euros, Mayor Roberto Dipiazza responded, “If you have money, go. If you don’t, watch.” Read more: FAO keen to work for modernisation of agriculture sector

A committee of British lawmakers said Sunday that the U.K. will break its international human rights commitments if it goes through with government plans to detain and deport people who cross the English Channel in small boats. Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights said the Illegal Migration Bill "breaches a number of the U.K.'s international human rights obligations and risks breaching others." Also Read: UK’s Sunak vows to halve inflation, tackle illegal migration Scottish National Party lawmaker Joanna Cherry, who chairs the committee, said the law would leave most refugees and victims of modern slavery with no way of seeking asylum in Britain. "By treating victims of modern slavery as 'illegal migrants' subject to detention and removal, this bill would breach our legal obligations to such victims and would risk increasing trafficking of vulnerable people," she said. The committee urged the government to make sweeping amendments to the bill, including exempting trafficking victims and curbing the government's power to detain people indefinitely. The government, which had pledged to "stop the boats," is unlikely to heed the recommendations. The legislation bars asylum claims by anyone who reaches the U.K. by unauthorized means, and compels officials to detain and then deport refugees and migrants "to their home country or a safe third country," such as Rwanda. Once deported, they would be banned from ever re-entering the U.K. Also Read: Asylum seeker accommodation in UK ‘racialised segregation and de facto detention’: Report Britain's Conservative government says the law will deter tens of thousands of people from making perilous journeys across the Channel and break the business model of the criminal gangs behind the trips. Critics, including the United Nations' refugee agency, have described the legislation as unethical and unworkable. The parliamentary committee questioned whether the law would act as a deterrent and said it "could lead to people taking other, potentially more dangerous, routes into the UK." The bill has been approved by the House of Commons, where the governing Conservatives have a majority, but is facing opposition in Parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords. The Lords can amend the legislation but not block it. Also Read: EU+ saw 1 million asylum applications, including record 34,000 from Bangladeshis, in 2022 More than 45,000 people, including many fleeing countries such as Afghanistan, Iran and Syria, arrived in Britain in small boats last year, up from 8,500 in 2020. The government has housed many of those awaiting asylum decisions in hotels, which officials say costs taxpayers millions of pounds (dollars) a day. Authorities have said they plan to place new arrivals in disused military camps and a barge docked on the southern English coast.

The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam was a fast-moving disaster that is swiftly evolving into a long-term environmental catastrophe affecting drinking water, food supplies and ecosystems reaching into the Black Sea. The short-term dangers can be seen from outer space — tens of thousands of parcels of land flooded, and more to come. Experts say the long-term consequences will be generational. Also read: UN aid chief says Ukraine faces `hugely worse' humanitarian situation after the dam rupture For every flooded home and farm, there are fields upon fields of newly planted grains, fruits and vegetables whose irrigation canals are drying up. Thousands of fish were left gasping on mud flats. Fledgling water birds lost their nests and their food sources. Countless trees and plants were drowned. If water is life, then the draining of the Kakhovka reservoir creates an uncertain future for the region of southern Ukraine that was an arid plain until the damming of the Dnieper River 70 years ago. The Kakhovka Dam was the last in a system of six Soviet-era dams on the river, which flows from Belarus to the Black Sea. Then the Dnieper became part of the front line after Russia's invasion last year. "All this territory formed its own particular ecosystem, with the reservoir included," said Kateryna Filiuta, an expert in protected habitats for the Ukraine Nature Conservation Group. The short term Ihor Medunov is very much part of that ecosystem. His work as a hunting and fishing guide effectively ended with the start of the war, but he stayed on his little island compound with his four dogs because it seemed safer than the alternative. Still, for months the knowledge that Russian forces controlled the dam downstream worried him. Also read: A dam collapses and thousands face the deluge — often with no help — in Russian-occupied Ukraine The six dams along the Dnieper were designed to operate in tandem, adjusting to each other as water levels rose and fell from one season to the next. When Russian forces seized the Kakhovka Dam, the whole system fell into neglect. Whether deliberately or simply carelessly, the Russian forces allowed water levels to fluctuate uncontrollably. They dropped dangerously low in winter and then rose to historic peaks when snowmelt and spring rains pooled in the reservoir. Until Monday, the waters were lapping into Medunov's living room. Now, with the destruction of the dam, he is watching his livelihood literally ebb away. The waves that stood at his doorstep a week ago are now a muddy walk away. "The water is leaving before our eyes," he told The Associated Press. "Everything that was in my house, what we worked for all our lives, it's all gone. First it drowned, then, when the water left, it rotted." Also read: Ukraine brands Russia ‘terrorist state’ to open hearings in case against Russia at top UN court Since the dam's collapse Tuesday, the rushing waters have uprooted landmines, torn through caches of weapons and ammunition, and carried 150 tons of machine oil to the Black Sea. Entire towns were submerged to the rooflines, and thousands of animals died in a large national park now under Russian occupation. Rainbow-colored slicks already coat the murky, placid waters around flooded Kherson, the capital of southern Ukraine's province of the same name. Abandoned homes reek from rot as cars, first-floor rooms and basements remain submerged. Enormous slicks seen in aerial footage stretch across the river from the city's port and industrial facilities, demonstrating the scale of the Dnieper's new pollution problem. Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry estimated 10,000 hectares (24,000 acres) of farmland were underwater in the territory of Kherson province controlled by Ukraine, and "many times more than that" in territory occupied by Russia. Farmers are already feeling the pain of the disappearing reservoir. Dmytro Neveselyi, mayor of the village of Maryinske, said everyone in the community of 18,000 people will be affected within days. Also read: Ukraine accuses Russia of destroying major dam near Kherson, warns of ecological disaster "Today and tomorrow, we'll be able to provide the population with drinking water," he said. After that, who knows. "The canal that supplied our water reservoir has also stopped flowing." The long term The waters slowly began to recede on Friday, only to reveal the environmental catastrophe looming. The reservoir, which had a capacity of 18 cubic kilometers (14.5 million acre-feet), was the last stop along hundreds of kilometers of river that passed through Ukraine's industrial and agricultural heartlands. For decades, its flow carried the runoff of chemicals and pesticides that settled in the mud at the bottom. Ukrainian authorities are testing the level of toxins in the muck, which risks turning into poisonous dust with the arrival of summer, said Eugene Simonov, an environmental scientist with the Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Working Group, a non-profit organization of activists and researchers. Also read: Drone footage of collapsed dam shows ruined structure, devastation and no sign of life The extent of the long-term damage depends on the movement of the front lines in an unpredictable war. Can the dam and reservoir be restored if fighting continues there? Should the region be allowed to become arid plain once again? Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrij Melnyk called the destruction of the dam "the worst environmental catastrophe in Europe since the Chernobyl disaster." The fish and waterfowl that had come to depend on the reservoir "will lose the majority of their spawning grounds and feeding grounds," Simonov said. Also read: Ukrainian dam breach: What is happening and what's at stake Downstream from the dam are about 50 protected areas, including three national parks, said Simonov, who co-authored a paper in October warning of the potentially disastrous consequences, both upstream and downstream, if the Kakhovka Dam came to harm. It will take a decade for the flora and fauna populations to return and adjust to their new reality, according to Filiuta. And possibly longer for the millions of Ukrainians who lived there. In Maryinske, the farming community, they are combing archives for records of old wells, which they'll unearth, clean and analyze to see if the water is still potable. "Because a territory without water will become a desert," the mayor said. Also read: Zelenskyy visits area flooded by destroyed dam as five reported dead in Russian-occupied town Further afield, all of Ukraine will have to grapple with whether to restore the reservoir or think differently about the region's future, its water supply, and a large swath of territory that is suddenly vulnerable to invasive species — just as it was vulnerable to the invasion that caused the disaster to begin with. "The worst consequences will probably not affect us directly, not me, not you, but rather our future generations, because this man-made disaster is not transparent," Filiuta said. "The consequences to come will be for our children or grandchildren, just as we are the ones now experiencing the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, not our ancestors."    

Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson left chaos in his wake Saturday after quitting Parliament with a blast at fellow lawmakers he accused of ousting him in a “witch hunt.” As opponents jeered, the Conservative government absorbed the shock of yet another Johnson earthquake, while a band of loyal supporters insisted Britain’s divisive ex-leader could still make a comeback. Less than a year after he was forced out as prime minister by his own Conservative Party, Johnson unexpectedly stepped down as a lawmaker late Friday — “at least for now,” he said in a self-justifying resignation statement. Read: Biden and Sunak to focus on Ukraine and economic security in British PM's first White House visit Johnson quit after being told he will be sanctioned for misleading Parliament over “partygate,” a series of rule-breaking gatherings in the prime minister’s office during the coronavirus pandemic. Johnson was among scores of people fined by police over late-night soirees, boozy parties and “wine time Fridays” that broke restrictions the government had imposed on the country. Johnson has acknowledged misleading Parliament when he assured lawmakers that no rules had been broken, but he said he didn’t do so deliberately, genuinely believing the gatherings were legitimate work events. A standards committee investigating him appears to see things differently. Johnson quit after receiving the report of the Privileges Committee, which has not yet been made public. Johnson faced suspension from the House of Commons if the committee found he had lied deliberately. Read: UK to host global AI Summit to assess 'most significant risks' Johnson, 58, called the committee “a kangaroo court” that was determined to “drive me out of Parliament.” “Their purpose from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts,” Johnson said. The committee, which has a majority Conservative membership, said Johnson had “impugned the integrity” of the House of Commons with his attack. It said it would meet Monday “to conclude the inquiry and to publish its report promptly.” Johnson is a charismatic and erratic figure whose career has seen a series of scandals and comebacks. The rumpled, Latin-spouting populist with a mop of blond hair has held major offices but also spent periods on the political sidelines before Britain’s exit from the European Union propelled him to the top. Read: BBC chief quits amid furor over role in Boris Johnson loan A champion of Brexit, Johnson led the Conservatives to a landslide victory in 2019 and took Britain out of the EU the following year. But he became mired in scandals over his ethics and judgment, and was forced out as prime minister by his own party in mid-2022. By quitting Parliament, he avoids a suspension that could have seen him ousted from his Commons seat by his constituents, leaving him free to run for Parliament again in future. His resignation statement suggested he was mulling that option. It was highly critical of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who served as Treasury chief in Johnson’s government before jumping ship with many other colleagues in July 2022 — resignations that forced Johnson out as prime minister. Conservative poll ratings went into decline during the turbulent final months of Johnson’s term and have not recovered. Opinion polls regularly put the opposition Labour Party 20 points or more ahead. A national election must be held by the end of 2024. Read: Boris Johnson says 'partygate' untruths were honest mistake “Just a few years after winning the biggest majority in almost half a century, that majority is now clearly at risk,” Johnson said in a statement that sounded like a leadership pitch. “Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do.” Johnson allies expressed hope that the former prime minister was not finished. Conservative lawmaker John Redwood said Johnson “has made it very clear that he doesn’t regard this as the end of his involvement in British politics.” But many others questioned whether a politician who has often seemed to defy political gravity could make yet another comeback. Will Walden, who worked for Johnson when he was mayor of London and U.K. foreign secretary, said the former prime minister quit because he had “seen the writing on the wall.” Read: Britain’s Boris Johnson battles to stay as PM amid revolt “I think the most important thing that people need to understand this morning is there is only one thing driving Boris and that is that he likes to win, or at least not to lose,” Walden told the BBC. “This report clearly threatened to change all that.” Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said Johnson often drew inspiration from his political hero, Winston Churchill, who led Britain to victory in World War II only to be ousted from power in 1945 — and then to return to office several years later. “I believe that he thinks that he can spend some time in … the wilderness before the Conservative Party and the country calls upon him once again in its hour of need,” Bale said. “Frankly, I think that is unlikely. I think partygate has ensured that he is toxic as far as many voters are concerned. And I think the way he has behaved over the last two or three days — and some people will say over the last two or three years — probably means that most of his colleagues would rather he disappeared in a puff of smoke.”         

Exclusive drone footage of the collapsed Ukrainian dam and surrounding villages under Russian occupation show the ruined structure falling into the flooded river and hundreds of submerged homes, greenhouses and even a church — and no sign of life. An Associated Press team flew a drone over the devastation on Wednesday, a day after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River. The buildings that remain visible above the rushing waters did not show damage typical of a bomb dropped from above, such as scorch marks or shrapnel scars. Read more: Russia says top UN court should dismiss Ukraine's case over Crimea and terrorism funding Russia accused Ukraine of bombarding the structure, which was under Moscow's control, while Ukraine alleged that Russia blew it up from within. The collapse of the dam in an area that Moscow has controlled for over a year and the emptying of its reservoir has irrevocably changed the landscape downstream, and shifted the dynamic of the 15-month-old war. In the images captured by the AP, most of the dam was submerged by the rushing water. Two nearby villages under occupation, Dnipryany and Korsunka, were also underwater up to the rooftops of homes and a bright blue church. The rounded shape of dozens of greenhouses was visible over the waterline. The images were devoid of people, but AP journalists could hear the screaming howls of dogs trapped by the flooding. The nearby town of Nova Kakhovka, also under occupation, was less touched by the flooding but equally devoid of people and animals. Its Ferris wheel was stopped and water lapped up a main street. Read more: Zelenskyy visits area flooded by destroyed dam as five reported dead in Russian-occupied town Ukraine has warned since last October that the hydroelectric dam was mined by Russian forces, and accused them of touching off an explosion that has turned the downstream areas into a waterlogged wasteland. Russia said Ukraine hit the dam with a missile. Experts have said the structure was in disrepair, which could also have led to its collapse. There were no signs typical of a missile attack in the few remaining buildings.  

Russia urged judges at the United Nations' highest court on Thursday to throw out a case brought by Ukraine against Moscow over the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the arming of rebels in eastern Ukraine before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. “We appear before you today in order to demonstrate that Ukraine’s application must be dismissed because it is without any legal foundation. Nor does it have any factual evidence to back it,” Russian Ambassador to the Netherlands Alexander Shulgin told judges at the International Court of Justice. Read: Ukraine brands Russia ‘terrorist state’ to open hearings in case against Russia at top UN court Lawyers for Ukraine said as hearings in the case opened Tuesday that Russia bankrolled a “campaign of intimidation and terror” by rebels in eastern Ukraine starting in 2014 and sought to replace Crimea’s multiethnic community with “discriminatory Russian nationalism.” Ukraine filed the case in 2017, asking the world court to order Moscow to pay reparations for attacks and crimes such as the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 by a Russian missile fired from territory controlled by Moscow-backed rebels on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew. The Ukrainian government alleges that Russia breached two treaties: the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Addressing the terrorism funding allegation, Michael Swainston, a British lawyer representing Russia, said Ukraine's legal team failed to establish that actions by pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine could be considered terrorism. “It is imperative to distinguish between terrorists who deliberately target civilians and soldiers who foresee that civilians will be killed as collateral damage while striking a military target," Swainston said. "The former is a war crime, while the latter represents lawful conduct. And of course, soldiers also make mistakes.” Read: UN chief, representatives of the West berate Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov over Ukraine war He also disputed that the downing of MH17 could be considered an act of terrorism and sought to undermine findings by a Dutch court that last year convicted two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian of multiple murders for their roles in downing the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight. The Hague District Court ruled after months of hearings and years of international investigations that the Boeing 777 was shot down by a Buk surface-to-air missile system brought into Ukraine from a Russian military base and later returned to the base. “There was no Russian Buk. No Buk came from Russia. No crew for a Buk came from Russia," Swainston said, calling evidence that the Dutch court relied on in its verdicts "unsourced digital nonsense.” After the hearings expected to wrap up next week, judges will take months to reach a decision in the case. The court's rulings are final and legally binding. Read more: UN approves resolution calling for Russia to leave Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the flood-hit region of Kherson on Thursday to evaluate response to damage caused by a dam breach. The Ukrainian leader wrote on his Telegram account that he was helping assess efforts to evacuate civilians, provide them with drinking water and other support, and try to stanch vast environmental damage. Also read: Ukraine accuses Russia of destroying major dam near Kherson, warns of ecological disaster Zelenskyy also raised the prospect of funding allocations to help compensate residents and businesses driven from their homes and offices by rising waters. Meanwhile, the Kremlin-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, a Russian-occupied town 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the collapsed Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric plant, reported on Russian state TV Thursday that five of seven local residents who had been declared missing following the dam breach have died. The two remaining people have been found and efforts were being made to evacuate them, Vladimir Leontyev added. Also read: Ukrainian dam breach: What is happening and what's at stake At least 4,000 people have been evacuated from both the Russian and Ukrainian-controlled sides of the Dnieper river, which has become part of the front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the more than 15-month-old war, officials said. The true scale of the disaster is yet to emerge in an area that was home to more than 60,000 people.