Europe

MOSCOW, September 27. /TASS/: The terrorist attack on the Nord Stream pipelines was organized one way or another by the US and the UK, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that these countries were involved in what happened.

MOSCOW, September 27. /TASS/: The accusations against Russia presented in the report of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine are groundless and do not withstand any criticism, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

MOSCOW, September 27. /TASS/: Russian interests in the South Caucasus can’t be ignored, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"Historically, geographically, geopolitically it is impossible to lose Russia in the sense of completely ignoring its interests in the South Caucasus," the minister said, when asked whether Armenia could drift away from Russia. "But such hopes are being nurtured by some leaders in Yerevan, and they say it directly."

BERLIN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Germany will introduce new border controls with Poland and the Czech Republic this week, the German interior minister announced on Wednesday, saying that more should be done to protect the European Union's fragile system of open borders.

Germany saw its first-time asylum requests rise by 78% in the first seven months of 2023, according to official data. In August, registered illegal border crossings to Germany reached 14,701, up 66% on the same month last year, police data shows.

ZURICH, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Germany has welcomed a decision by neutral Switzerland to open the way to sell back some of its German-made Leopard II tanks to help rebuild stocks depleted by aid to Ukraine.

Germany had asked Switzerland in February to sell back some of the 96 Leopard II tanks it has in storage to manufacturer Rheinmetall AG (RHMG.DE).

To comply with Swiss neutrality laws, Berlin has assured Bern the weapons would not go to Kyiv, but remain in Germany or with a NATO or European Union ally.

ROME, Sept 27 (Reuters) - A leading volcanologist has warned that mass evacuations might be needed in a town close to Naples, which sits on a so-called Super Volcano that has been hit by hundreds of small earthquakes in recent weeks.

A 4.2 magnitude earthquake struck the area early on Wednesday, the strongest jolt in 40 years to rattle the volcanic field, known as the Campi Flegrei or Phlegraean Fields from the Greek word for burning.

LONDON (AP) — Britain on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for a major oil and gas project in the North Sea, ignoring warnings from scientists and the United Nations that countries must stop developing new fossil fuel resources if the world is to avoid catastrophic climate change.

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Azerbaijan said it arrested the former head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government as he tried to cross into Armenia on Wednesday along with tens of thousands of others who have fled following Azerbaijan’s 24-hour blitz last week to reclaim control of the enclave.

The arrest of Ruben Vardanyan was announced by Azerbaijan’s border guard service. It appears to reflect Azerbaijan’s intention to quickly and forcefully enforce its grip on the region after the military offensive that has prompted a rapid exodus of ethnic Armenians.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine’s Western allies of helping plan and conduct last week’s missile strike on the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters on the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

“There is no doubt that the attack had been planned in advance using Western intelligence means, NATO satellite assets and reconnaissance planes and was implemented upon the advice of American and British security agencies and in close coordination with them,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/: More than 325,000 contractors have joined the Russian army this year, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting on manning the armed forces.

"We continue to work on supplementing the armed forces with contract servicemen and control combat and morale-bolstering activities," he said.

"From January 1 September 26 this year, more than 325,000 men have been enlisted," Medvedev pointed out.