Europe

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Swedish government said Monday it wants to increase its defense budget by 28%, putting it on track to reach the military spending target 2% of gross domestic product set by the NATO alliance, which the Scandinavian country is preparing to join.

“We are in the most serious security policy situation since the end of World War II, which requires Sweden to have a defense that is ready to protect Swedish territory,” defense minister Pål Jonson said.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Public health officials issued an urgent appeal Monday to residents in flood-stricken central Greece to avoid using floodwater for domestic chores due to mounting fears of contamination.

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — NATO Deputy-General Secretary Mircea Geoana said on Monday there is “no risk” that Alliance member Romania will be dragged into a war following the recent discovery of drone fragments on its territory near the border with war-torn Ukraine.

“The most important thing is to re-confirm the fact that there is no indication of a deliberate action (by Russia) to strike Romanian territory and therefore NATO territory,” Geoana told journalists during a visit to a school near Romania’s capital, Bucharest.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Swedish court on Monday sentenced a 57-year-old Norwegian man for fraud and falsifying records for putting his dead partner in a freezer and cashing in her pension. He was given a 3.5-year prison term.

The Warmland District Court said the man, who was not named, was convicted of gross breach of civil liberties, gross fraud and falsification of documents, among other things.

DONETSK, September 11. /TASS/: Western countries are disguising weapons supplies to Ukraine by humanitarian missions, acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said on Sunday.

VLADIVOSTOK, September 11. /TASS/: The Bank of Russia may continue raising the key rate, CEO of VTB Bank Andrey Kostin said in an interview with RBC news outlet on the verge of the Eastern Economic Forum.

"The [key] rate increase should not be ruled out. Representatives of the Central Bank have already stated that," Kostin said.

The next meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia will be held on September 15. The Central Bank made the decision at the extraordinary Board meeting on August 15 to raise the key rate from 8.5% to 12%.

VLADIVOSTOK, September 11. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin starts a two-day trip to Vladivostok, where he will take part in the 8th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).

The program of the Russian leader will be very packed, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier. The President will see today the interactive presentation of the Far East development results, with residents of advance development territories connected via a videoconference link. Eighteen such territories have been established in total with the special legal regime for the business.

Sept 11 (Reuters) - Russia on Sunday wrapped up widely denounced regional and municipal elections, including in regions annexed from Ukraine, delivering strong support for President Vladimir Putin amidst criticism of vote rigging and Kyiv's push to reclaim its land.

The Council of Europe, Europe's leading rights group, called the week-long vote a flagrant violation of international law, and Kyiv and its allies say it was an illegal attempt to tighten Moscow's grip over regions in Ukraine's south and east.

Sept 10 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Ukrainian troops pressing a counter offensive against Russian occupying forces had advanced on the southern front in the past week while there had also been movement near Bakhmut in the east.

Zelenskiy's latest comments on the state of the three-month-old counter offensive appeared to confirm assessments by other officials of gains, however modest, in the east and south.

(AP) --- After a year and a half of fighting in Ukraine, Russia needs to replenish its supplies of ammunition for what could be a long war of attrition. Along with ramping up its domestic arms production, Moscow is turning to an old ally with a vast arsenal — North Korea.

Estimates say the reclusive and isolated Asian country has tens of millions of artillery shells and rockets that could give a huge boost to the Russian army.