Europe

Germany has issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national in the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines that carry natural gas from Russia to Western Europe. At question is whether the Ukrainian government was involved in the 2022 attack, which many say contributed to a global spike in inflation. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in Berlin. …

…

Serhiy Danilets is one of the more than 100 thousand Ukrainian soldiers estimated to have been wounded in Russia’s war against Ukraine. But serious combat injuries haven’t stopped him and other fighters from enjoying life and, in some cases, making plans to head back to the front lines. Anna Kosstutschenko met with some of them in Kyiv …

Lisbon — Hundreds of Portuguese firefighters scrambled Sunday to put out a wildfire sweeping parts of the Atlantic island of Madeira’s south coast, a popular tourist destination, with strong winds complicating efforts to tackle the blaze.  The wildfire, which started Wednesday in a remote rural area of Ribeira Brava has spread to the neighboring municipality of Camara de Lobos, and now has three fronts, island authorities …

Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Sunday for a two-day state visit, Russian news agencies reported. Russian television broadcast images of the president’s plane as it arrived in Baku in the evening.   His visit to the Caucasus country, a close partner of both Moscow and Turkey but also a major energy supplier to Western countries, comes against the backdrop …

Kyiv — Russia on Sunday carried out its third ballistic missile attack on Kyiv this month but preliminary data indicated that most of the projectiles were shot down on approach, the military administration of the Ukrainian capital said. “This is already the third ballistic strike on the capital in August, with exact intervals of six days between each attack,” Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv …

Ankara — Firefighters in Turkey have brought under control two large forest fires that had been burning for three days, with several other wildfires across the country expected to be put out soon, the Forestry Minister said on Sunday. The blazes in Turkey’s western coastal province of Izmir and northern province of Bolu started late on Thursday and firefighters have been working to contain them since …

paris — French actor Alain Delon, who melted the hearts of millions of film fans whether playing a murderer, hoodlum or hitman in his postwar heyday, has died, French media reported on Sunday. He was 88. Delon had been in poor health since suffering a stroke in 2019, rarely leaving his estate in Douchy, in France’s Val de Loire region. With his striking blue eyes, Delon …

WARSAW, Poland — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Saturday reacted to reports that revived questions about who blew up the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022, saying the initiators of the gas pipeline project should “apologize and keep quiet.” That comment came after one of his deputies denied a claim that Warsaw was partly responsible for its damage. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Ukrainian …

moscow — A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Russia’s far-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula early Sunday morning local time, according to the regional earthquake monitoring service. The local emergencies ministry said tremors were felt along the coast including in the region’s capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. “Operational teams of rescuers and firefighters are inspecting buildings,” the regional branch of Russia’s emergencies ministry in the Kamchatka region said on …

rome — Two Italian journalists who angered Moscow with a TV report from Ukrainian-held parts of Russia’s Kursk region will return to Italy, state broadcaster RAI said Saturday.  Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Italy’s ambassador Friday over what it called illegal border crossing by a RAI crew.  “The company decided to make journalist Stefania Battistini and cameraman Simone Traini return temporarily to Italy, solely to ensure personal …

…

Istanbul — Wildfires raged across western Turkey for a third straight day Saturday, exacerbated by high winds and warm temperatures, authorities said.  More than 130 fires have erupted across the country in the past week, according to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate. Most have been brought under control, but eight major fires continued in the provinces of Izmir, Aydin, Manisa, Karabuk and Bolu.  Thousands of …

LONDON — A fire broke out Saturday at Somerset House, a large arts venue on the River Thames in central London. Smoke billowed from the building and flames could be seen coming from the roof as firefighters on tall ladders showered it with water. The cause of the fire was not yet known, the London Fire Brigade said. Fifteen engines and about 100 firefighters were deployed. …

MOSCOW — Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Ukraine used Western rockets, likely U.S.-made HIMARS, to destroy a bridge over the Seym River in the Kursk region, killing volunteers trying to evacuate civilians. “For the first time, the Kursk region was hit by Western-made rocket launchers, probably American HIMARS,” Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said late Friday on the Telegram messaging app. “As a result …

Stockholm — Health authorities warned Friday that Europe must be ready for more cases of a deadly strain of mpox that has killed hundreds of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The World Health Organization urged pharmaceutical firms to ramp up vaccine production and China said it would screen travelers for the disease after the first cases of the more deadly strain to be recorded …

kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine’s air defenses shot down all 14 Russian drones fired in an overnight attack, the Ukrainian air force said Saturday. The air force said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that the Shahed drones were downed over six Ukrainian regions in the south and center of the country. Meanwhile, Russia’s foreign ministry said Ukraine had used Western rockets, likely U.S.-made HIMARS, …

…

ISTANBUL — Firefighters were tackling blazes across Turkey on Friday as dry, hot and windy weather conditions led to a series of fires, including one that threatened World War I memorials and graves at the Gallipoli battle site. At the peninsula where an Allied landing was beaten back by Ottoman troops in a yearlong campaign in 1915, the flames reached Canterbury Cemetery, where soldiers from New …

BEIJING — BMW was recalling more than 1.3 million vehicles in China that might have Takata airbag inflators following a similar recall in the United States last month, officials said Friday. The recall covers nearly 600,000 vehicles made in China between 2005 and 2017 and more than 750,000 imported vehicles made between 2003 and 2018, the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation said. It includes a …

Help for Ukraine comes not only from international organizations, foreign governments and large foundations, but also from ordinary citizens across the globe. Among them – a group of individuals in Norfolk, England, who have been helping Ukrainians since the start of Russia’s invasion. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Video: Yuriy Dankevych …

More than two and a half years into Russia’s war in Ukraine, Germany is considering slashing military assistance to Kyiv by 50%. Berlin is the European Union’s largest donor of military aid to Ukraine and second only to the United States, but domestic politics are casting doubt on that role. Marcus Harton narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in Berlin. Camera: Ricardo Marquina  …

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine shot down all five Russia-launched drones during an overnight attack, the country’s air force said Friday. Russian forces also used three ballistic Iskander-M missiles during the attack, according to the air force’s statement on the Telegram messaging app. Russia used three Shahed-type drones and two drones of an unidentified type for the attack, it said. Reuters previously reported that Russia turned to …

…