The bells are back at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

WARSAW: A Polish court on Friday jailed two Russian men for more than five years each under espionage laws for distributing alleged propaganda for the now-disbanded Wagner mercenary group.
The pair, identified by Polish counter-intelligence as Alexei T. and Andrei G., were detained in August 2023 for distributing stickers in Warsaw and Krakow for Russia’s once-powerful mercenary group.
Also on Friday, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on X that a Russian suspected of sabotage against Poland and its allies had been arrested.
The Russian, “suspected of coordinating sabotage acts against Poland, the United States and other allies, and who was hiding in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been deported to Poland and placed under arrest,” Tusk said.
Poland’s Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak wrote on X that the arrest was “a major blow for the Russian sabotage network in Europe.”
The stickers posted by the two sentenced Russians bore the Wagner logo, a slogan in English saying “We are here. Join us,” and a QR code directing people to a Russian website about the mercenary group.
Poland’s counter-intelligence agency said at the time: “The Russians had on them more than 3,000 propaganda leaflets promoting the Wagner group.”
“These activities were an element of the hybrid warfare aimed at our country,” judge Ewa Karp-Sieklucka said Friday, media in Krakow, where the trial was held, reported.
They were sentenced to five years and six months in jail.
While they did not deny distributing the stickers, they pleaded not guilty, arguing they had not been aware they were taking part in a recruitment campaign.
Poland’s historically strained relations with neighboring Russia have dipped to new lows over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Almost three years into the war, Poland remains a staunch ally of Kyiv. It has become a major logistics hub for military equipment the West has been transferring to the war-torn country.
Warsaw officials have frequently blamed Russia for orchestrating sabotage attempts on its soil, which they say are aimed at destabilising the EU member.
In one of its largest espionage trials, Poland in 2023 convicted 14 citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine of preparing sabotage on behalf of Moscow as part of a spy ring.
They were sentenced for preparing to derail trains carrying aid to Ukraine, and monitoring military facilities and critical infrastructure.
In October, Poland ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Poznan, western Poland, over “the hybrid war” it accused Moscow of waging.

ADDIS ABABA: Rwandan-backed M23 rebels fighting in eastern Congo seized two towns on their march toward a provincial capital, residents and the rebels said on Friday, as the president seeks international support to end the crisis.
The rebels have been trying to push south toward Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, since they seized Goma, the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, at the end of last month.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi will not attend the African Union summit focusing on efforts to halt the conflict, his spokesperson Tina Salama said.
Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka will instead represent Congo at the event, Salama said on Friday.

The conflict will be high on the agenda at the annual two-day meeting in the Ethiopian capital.
The UN refugee agency voiced concern on Friday at the “rapidly deteriorating” situation, saying the war had left around 350,000 displaced people with no roof over their heads.
On the ground, rebels seized the town of Katana on Friday morning, according to an M23 source, a resident and a civil society leader.
The commercial center lies 11 km from the strategic town of Kavumu, where Bukavu’s airport is located.
A video taken by the resident showed armed men in fatigues walking through Katana.
“M23 soldiers are blocking the road and are heading toward Kavumu — they already have control of Katana,” the resident said.
The town of Kabamba, north of Katana, was taken on Thursday, according to the same M23 source, civil society leader, and a resident who said that cellular networks were down there.
A UN source said M23 had advanced beyond Katana to just 5 km from the airport in Kavumu.
Two people who work at the airport said it had been emptied and effectively closed, with Congolese forces removing equipment, including an aircraft.
The M23 source said Congo’s army had abandoned Kavumu.
Rebel leader Corneille Nangaa said the rebels had been attacked and were defending themselves.
A reporter said that as the fighting rages in the east, a heavier military presence has also been visible throughout the country’s capital, Kinshasa, some 1,600 km west of Goma, over the past week.
After the fall of Goma, protesters in Kinshasa attacked a UN compound and embassies, including those of Rwanda, France, and the US, expressing anger at what they said was foreign interference.
Looters ransacked the embassy of Kenya.