Europe

MOSCOW, September 24. /TASS/: Russian air defenses shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"Air defense systems near the Kleshcheyevka settlement in the Donetsk People's Republic shot down a Ukrainian Air Force Mi-8 helicopter," the ministry said.

MOSCOW, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Sunday the likelihood was rising that ethnic Armenians would flee the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh and blamed Russia for failing to ensure Armenian security.

If 120,000 people go down the Lachin corridor to Armenia, the small South Caucasian country could face both a humanitarian and political crisis.

ROME, Sept 24 (Reuters) - A German plan to finance charities helping migrants in the Mediterranean causes difficulties for Italy, defence minister Guido Crosetto said on Sunday, as Rome tries to enforce tougher measures to stem the flow of sea arrivals.

Following reports in Italian media, a spokesperson for the German foreign ministry said on Friday that Berlin was implementing a parliamentary financial support programme for both civilian sea rescue and projects on land.

NEAR KORNIDZOR, Armenia, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will leave for Armenia as they do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan and fear ethnic cleansing, the leadership of the breakaway region told Reuters on Sunday.

Armenia's Prime Minister also said the Karabakh Armenians were likely to leave the region, and that Armenia was ready to take them in, following a defeat last week at the hands of Azerbaijan in a conflict dating to the fall of the Soviet Union.

MADRID, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Spaniards protested in Madrid on Sunday against possible plans by acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to grant an amnesty to Catalan separatists to keep himself in office after an election he failed to win.

Waving Spanish flags, supporters of the opposition conservative People's Party (PP) travelled from across Spain to attend the rally in Madrid. Authorities estimated the size of the crowd at 40,000.

LONDON, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- A recent poll found out British voters are "largely pessimistic" about Britain's hopes of achieving net zero emissions, The Times reported on Saturday.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a series of relaxations of key climate policies this week, including delaying the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035.

Many of Sunak's decisions are popular, but British people are skeptical about the reasons behind them, said the British newspaper.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian airstrikes on Sunday killed two people and wounded three others in southern Ukraine’s Kherson province, the region’s governor reported Sunday as the war in Ukraine entered a 20th month.

According to Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin, Russian forces struck the city of Beryslav, destroying an unspecified number of private houses. A woman was killed and three people were wounded, including a police officer, he said.

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The first refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh have arrived in Armenia, local officials reported Sunday, and more were expected to come after a 10-month blockade and a lightning military offensive this month that resulted in Azerbaijan reclaiming full control of the breakaway region.

Thousands of people were evacuated from cities and villages affected by the latest fighting and taken to a Russian peacekeepers’ camp in Nagorno-Karabakh.

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s prime minister on Sunday said one police officer was killed and another wounded in an attack he blamed on support from neighboring Serbia, increasing tensions between the two former war foes at a delicate moment in their European Union-facilitated dialogue to normalize ties.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti said “masked professionals armed with heavy weapons” opened fire on a police patrol in the village of Banjska, in Leposavic municipality, 55 kilometers (35 miles) north of the capital Pristina at 3 a.m. (01:00 GMT).

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP) — Among the hundreds of trains criss-crossing Ukraine’s elaborate railway network every day, the Kyiv-Kramatorsk train stands apart, shrouded in solemn silence as passengers anticipate their destination.

Every day, around seven in the morning, passengers of this route leave the relative safety of the capital and head east to frontline areas where battles between Ukrainian forces and Russian troops rage and Russian strikes are frequent with imprecise missiles that slam into residential areas.