Author: Daily Sabah With Reuters

Hundreds of thousands marched across 40 Spanish cities on Saturday to protest against soaring rents and a lack of affordable homes in a country that enjoys Europe’s fastest economic growth and yet suffers from a severe housing shortage exacerbated by a tourism boom. Spain’s centre-left government has struggled to find a balance between attracting tourists and migrants to fill job gaps and keeping rents affordable for average citizens, as short-term rentals have mushroomed in major cities and coastal destinations alike. “No matter who governs, we must defend housing rights,” activists shouted as they rattled keychains in Madrid, where more than…

Ukrainian air defences shot down 51 out of 92 drones launched by Russia in overnight attacks on Ukraine on Saturday, the Ukrainian air force said. It said in a statement that 31 other Russian drones were “lost”, a reference to the military using electronic warfare to intercept or block them. Damage was recorded in the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, it said.

An industrial facility in Russia’s Volga river region of Mordovia was hit by a drone strike early on Saturday, the region’s governor said in a statement on Telegram. Governor Artyom Zdunov said that emergency services were at the scene of the strike on the facility, which he did not name, and that there had been no casualties. Baza, a Telegram channel close to Russian law enforcement, said the target had been an optical fibre factory in the city of Saransk, 820km (510 miles) from the Ukrainian border. It published a video of a blast in the night sky that it…

Ukraine’s military said early on Saturday that Russia was “again spreading false information” by saying it had targeted a gathering of servicemen in a missile strike on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih. “The missile struck a residential area with a playground,” the military’s General Staff said in a statement on Telegram. “Through this latest violation of the norms of international human rights, the insidious enemy shows that it is in no way seeking peace but rather intends to continue its invasion and war to destroy Ukraine and all Ukrainians.” Local officials say the strike killed at least 18…

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday that Ukraine had attacked Russian energy infrastructure 14 times in the previous day, despite a U.S.-brokered moratorium on strikes on energy facilities, Russian state news agency TASS reported. TASS cited the ministry as saying that the strikes had caused damage in Russia’s Bryansk, Belgorod, Smolensk, Lipetsk and Voronezh regions, alongside the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Kherson, parts of which Russia controls.

As tensions have been running high between Türkiye and Israel on the Syrian front, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that Tel Aviv’s actions in the war-torn country risk future regional instability. In an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Fidan said Ankara does not aim for confrontation with Tel Aviv. If the new administration in Damascus wants to have “certain understandings” with Israel, which, like Türkiye, is a neighbor of Syria, then that is their own business, he added. NATO member Türkiye has fiercely criticized Israel over its attacks…

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris topped the timesheets for McLaren as four red flags – including two triggered by trackside grass fires – disrupted the second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday. Piastri, fresh off his victory in China, set the fastest lap of 1:28.114, clinching the top spot just before the final red flag on a sunny but cool day at Suzuka. Championship leader Norris, who was fastest in the first practice session, secured second place in the later session, finishing four-tenths of a second ahead of Racing Bulls’ French rookie Isack Hadjar. The level of…

The United Kingdom is engaged in discussions with the United States to strike an economic deal, British Foreign Minister David Lammy said as he arrived in Brussels to meet his NATO countries counterparts. “We have been absolutely clear that all options are on the table as we ensure the national interests of the British people”, Lammy also said.

Ukrainian air defences shot down 42 out of 78 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Friday, the Ukrainian air force said. It said in a statement that 22 other Russian drones were ‘lost’ in reference to the military using electronic warfare to redirect or spoof them. Damages were recorded in the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kyiv regions, it added.

World No. 2 Iga Swiatek has withdrawn from Poland’s upcoming Billie Jean King Cup qualifying tournament, citing the need to focus on herself. The five-time Grand Slam champion announced her decision on social media Wednesday, confirming she will not compete against Switzerland and Ukraine in Radom from April 10-12. “I know this isn’t what fans, especially Polish ones, wanted to hear, but it’s the right decision for me right now,” Swiatek said. “I need more balance, time for myself, and to focus on training. I’ll be supporting the girls and the team from afar.” Swiatek’s decision comes after a quarterfinal…