Marseille, France — Dozens of residents of the southwestern French town of Frontignan were evacuated on Sunday as wildfires burned through a nearby pine forest, local authorities said. A total of 600 firefighters, 11 water bombers and two helicopters have been deployed to contain the blaze, local civil security authorities said on X. The fire, …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
Read more “Turkish firefighters bring wildfires in west and north under control”
Berlin — At least 23 people were injured when two gondolas of a Ferris wheel caught fire at a music festival near Leipzig in eastern Germany, news agency dpa reported Sunday. The fire started in one gondola and then spread to a second one on Saturday night, police said. Four people suffered burn injuries and one …
Read more “At least 23 injured when fire breaks out on a Ferris wheel in eastern Germany “
Islamabad — Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former prime minister, has formally applied to run for chancellor of Oxford University from his prison cell, a close aide announced Sunday. Khan served as Pakistan’s leader from 2018 until April 2022, when he was ousted through an opposition parliamentary no-confidence vote he alleges was planned by the powerful Pakistani military. …
Read more “Pakistan’s jailed ex-PM Khan seeks Oxford University chancellor role “
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 …
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ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia — With its reindeer sleigh rides, camel racing and stunning landscapes with room to roam, Mongolia is hoping to woo visitors who are truly looking to get away from it all. Like most countries, its tourism industry was devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has launched a “Welcome to MonGOlia” campaign to win …
Read more “Mongolia courts tourists by making it easier to visit”
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 …
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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 …
Read more “Poland urges Nord Stream patrons ‘keep quiet’ as pipeline mystery returns to spotlight”
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 …
Read more “Wind, dry weather stoke wildfires in western Turkey; thousands evacuate”
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 …
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LONDON — Priceless paintings by Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh and others were unharmed Saturday after firefighters worked to douse a blaze that broke out in the roof of Somerset House, a large central London arts venue, officials said. Heavy smoke and flames seen coming from the top of the historic building around noon had been knocked …
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Helsinki, Finland — Western officials and analysts are suspicious of Beijing’s admission this week that a Chinese container ship damaged the Balticconnector — a vital Baltic Sea gas pipeline linking Estonia and Finland — in October. The South China Morning Post reported August 12 that the Chinese government notified Finland and Estonia 10 months after the …
Read more “China’s ‘accidental’ damage to Baltic pipeline viewed with suspicion”
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 …
Read more “Europe warned to prepare for mpox as Pakistan reports first case”
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 …
Read more “Fire at London’s Somerset House threatens works by Van Gogh, Cezanne”
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 …
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LONDON/KYIV, UKRAINE — In the hours before Ukrainian soldiers stormed across Russia’s western border, there was no sign from Moscow that anything was amiss. At midnight at the start of August 6, the Russian Defense Ministry posted good news: More than 2,500 members of the regiment responsible for the capture of a town in eastern Ukraine …
Read more “Analysis: How Russia looked the wrong way as Ukraine invaded”
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 …
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