Europe

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of the European Central Bank said Monday that interest rates will stay high enough to restrict business activity for “as long as necessary” to beat back inflation because upward pressure on prices “remains strong” in the 20 countries that use the euro currency.

Christine Lagarde said “strong spending on holidays and travel” and increasing wages were slowing the decline in price levels even as the economy stays sluggish. Annual inflation in the eurozone eased only slightly from 5.2% in July to 5.3% in August.

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Ethnic Armenians were streaming out of Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday after the Azerbaijani military reclaimed full control of the breakaway region, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Azerbaijan in a show of support to its ally.

The Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz last week, forcing the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and start talks on Nagorno-Karabakh’s “reintegration” into Azerbaijan after three decades of separatist rule.

PARIS (AP) — President Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday that France will end its military presence in Niger and pull its ambassador out of the country as a result of the coup that removed the democratically elected president.

Niger’s junta said in response that the announcement signals a “new step towards the sovereignty” of the country.

“Imperialist and neo-colonialist forces are no longer welcome on our national territory. The new era of cooperation, based on mutual respect and sovereignty is already underway,” it said in a statement.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s Lego said on Monday that it remains committed to its quest to find sustainable materials to reduce carbon emissions, even after an experiment by the world’s largest toymaker to use recycled bottles did not work.

Lego said it has “decided not to progress” with making its trademark colorful bricks from recycled plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate, known as PET, and after more than two years of testing “found the material didn’t reduce carbon emissions.”

LUHANSK REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Flying above enemy lines, a Ukrainian reconnaissance drone sends a clear image back to soldiers hiding in a basement a few kilometers away: A Russian armored vehicle is idling along a key logistics route, looking like easy prey in the artillery-scarred green landscape.

Then, in a flash, the image disappears, and the drone operator’s screen is replaced by a jumble of black and white pixels.

24 September 2023; MEMO: The leader of PEGIDA, an Islamophobic group, once again tore down a copy of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, in front of the Turkish Embassy in the Netherlands on Saturday, reports Anadolu Agency.

Tearing down more copies of the Quran outside the embassies of Pakistan, Indonesia, and Denmark in the Hague, Edwin Wagensveld also insulted Islam and Muslims.

24 September 2023; MEMO: Russia was lied to about the Black Sea grain deal, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday, reports Anadolu Agency.

When asked by Anadolu if he has a response to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ remarks when he said some are questioning if Russia has “any real interest in re-joining the Black Sea Initiative,” Lavrov said he cannot respond to “his mood at that.”

“We were lied to, and the Secretary-General was forced to, was misled,” he said.

25 September 2023; MEMO: Thousands of demonstrators take to the streets Saturday across France to denounce police violence, systemic racism and support for public freedoms, reports Anadolu Agency.

The protests came three months after the death of Nahel M., 17, who was killed in a police shooting in Nanterre in late June.

25 September 2023; MEMO: The United States is doing everything it can to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

MOSCOW, September 24. /TASS/: Ka-52 and Mi-28 helicopters of Russia’s Southern Military District have taken out some Ukrainian troops in the Zaporozhye area, the Russian Defense Ministry told TASS.