Europe

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Thousands of Bosnians took to the streets on Monday to demand authorities act to curb violence against women after a man last week shot and killed his ex-wife while streaming the slaying live on Instagram.

Protests were held simultaneously in several Bosnian cities. In Sarajevo, the capital, a huge crowd of people walked through the city center to press for more protection for women, curbing of violent media content and control of police work in cases of violence.

MOSCOW (AP) — A massive explosion at a gas station in Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan killed 30 people and injured scores more, Russian officials said Tuesday.

Russia’s Emergency Ministry reported Tuesday that a total of 105 people were injured, and 30 of them died.

Three of those killed were children, Dagestan’s governor Sergei Melikov said.

MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/: Moscow is open to equal defense cooperation with all nations seeking to protect their interests, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a video address to participants in the Army-2023 forum.

MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/: Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev underscored the absurdity of Finland’s accession to NATO by posting a joke on his Telegram channel featuring a question-and-answer dialogue between two imaginary Finns.

"Pekka, why has our country joined NATO?" one Finn, Matti, asks the other. "Because we are facing the Russian threat," Pekka answers. "But why are we facing the Russian threat?" Matti ponders. "Matti, that’s because we are joining NATO," Pekka concludes.

Medvedev illustrated his jocular post with a picture.

MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/: The Russian Embassy in Poland has sent a diplomatic note to the Polish Foreign Ministry demanding information about the detention of two Russians who, according to local special services, purportedly distributed posters for the private military company Wagner in Warsaw and Krakow, Ambassador Sergey Andreyev told TASS.

He said the embassy has no information on the issue for the time being.

MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/: An MiG-29 fighter jet has prevented a Norwegian aircraft from violating the Russian border over the Barents Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"On August 14, Russian airspace control systems detected an aerial target flying towards the Russian border over the Barents Sea. An MiG-29 fighter jet of the Northern Fleet’s air defense units on duty was scrambled to identify the aerial target and prevent a violation of the border," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/: The Moldovan authorities' decision to reduce the number of Russian diplomats in the country will have consequences for relations between Moscow and Chisinau, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

It said that employees of Russian diplomatic missions in Moldova and their families returned to Moscow on August 14, forced to leave the republic due to unfriendly moves by the Moldovan authorities.

WARSAW, Aug 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW), acting together with the police, has detained two Russians for allegedly disseminating propaganda for the Wagner Group, the interior minister has announced.

A Russian mercenary group, Wagner has been heavily involved in the fighting in Ukraine, but its future is uncertain after it was involved in an apparent rebellion against the Kremlin in June.

MILAN, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday took "full responsibility" for last week's shock decision to impose a one-off bank tax that has been blamed for causing lasting damage to her government's credibility with financial markets.

In comments to Italian newspapers Corriere della Sera, la Repubblica and La Stampa, Meloni said the 40% levy had no punitive intent.

"I would do it again. Because I believe that the right things must be done...This is a decision that I took (on my own)", she was quoted as saying by la Repubblica.

KYIV, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Ukraine on Monday reported fierce fighting along its entire front line and "some success" in pushing back Moscow's troops in one part of the southeast where Ukrainian forces are trying to retake Russian-occupied territory.

Progress has been hampered by widespread Russian-laid minefields and strong fortifications, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said.

But the Ukrainian military had pushed forward around the village of Staromaiorske, around 60 miles southwest of Russian-held Donetsk, and was pressing on two fronts in the south, Maliar said.