Europe

GENEVA, July 31. TASS/: Civilians should not be deliberately targeted, UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell told TASS in connection with Ukrainian shelling of civilian infrastructure in Taganrog.

GENEVA, July 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Only four countries — Brazil, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Turkey — have adopted all the anti-tobacco measures recommended in the fight against the “deadly scourge” of smoking, the World Health Organization said Monday. 

In a fresh report, the UN health agency urged countries to scale up their use of recognised measures to reduce tobacco use, including enforcing advertising bans, plastering health warnings on cigarette packages, raising tobacco taxes and providing assistance to those who want to quit.

MOSCOW, July 31 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday it needed to find out the purpose of upcoming talks reportedly planned in Saudi Arabia about the war in Ukraine.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Saudi Arabia would invite Western states, Ukraine and major developing countries to the talks. The paper said Kyiv and Western countries hoped that the talks, which would exclude Russia, can lead to international backing for peace terms favoring Ukraine.

KYIV, July 31 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces have recaptured nearly 15 square km (5.8 square miles) of land from Russian troops in the east and south over the past week during their counteroffensive, a senior defence official said on Monday.

Kyiv's forces have now retaken 204.7 sq km in the south since they launched a major push against Russian forces early last month, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app.

July 31 (Reuters) - Ukraine and Croatia have agreed on the possibility of using Croatian ports on the Danube and the Adriatic Sea for the export of Ukrainian grain, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said after talks with his Croatian counterpart on Monday.

Russia quit the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal this month, depriving Ukraine, a global producer, of a vital conduit to safely export its agricultural products during the war.

BEIRUT, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon announced on Monday to suspend cultural cooperation with Sweden and Denmark in protest against the desecration of the Quran in the two Nordic countries, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

"The Ministry of Culture suspends all cultural cooperation with Sweden and Denmark and their embassies in Beirut until the two countries' authorities take appropriate measures to correct the incident," the NNA quoted Culture Minister Mohammad Wissam Mortada as saying.

MOSCOW, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Moscow views Ukrainian attacks on civilian facilities in Russia as "acts of desperation," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

Peskov said that Ukraine is attempting to carry out "terrorist attacks" on Russian territory because Kiev is facing military failures.

"The Kiev regime is resorting to terrorist tactics," Peskov noted.

Peskov noted that Kiev has yet to succeed in the country's counteroffensive and is currently in a difficult situation.

LONDON (AP) — Britain said on Monday it will grant hundreds of new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea in a bid for energy independence, ignoring calls from environmental campaigners and the United Nations to stop the development of new fossil fuel projects.

The plans announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak include a pledge to invest 20 billion pounds ($26 billion) in carbon capture and storage projects as Sunak maintained the government’s commitment to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2050.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — When Pope Francis made the first foreign trip of his papacy, to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day in 2013, he urged young people to make a “mess” in their local churches, to shake things up even if it ruffled the feathers of their bishops.

As he embarks this week on another edition of World Youth Day, in Lisbon, Portugal, Francis in many ways has taken his own advice to heart. After 10 years as pope, Francis is accelerating his reform agenda and making revolutionary changes in personnel and policy that are definitely shaking things up.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s economy has grown modestly after months of stagnation, but higher interest rates designed to fight inflation are casting a shadow as they make it more expensive for households and businesses to borrow, invest and spend.

The 20 countries that use the euro currency and their 346 million people saw 0.3% growth in the April-to-June period, compared with the first three months of the year, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Monday.