Europe

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — More than 2,000 people were evacuated as a wildfire rages “out of control” on La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands on Saturday, destroying around a dozen homes, authorities said.

The blaze has affected an area of about 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres) and officials warned residents that the situation could worsen because a heat wave has made the terrain tinder-dry.

“The fire has spread very fast,” Canary Islands regional president Fernando Clavijo said. “The fire is out of control.”

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Saturday, offering support for the invaded country in its war with Russia while demonstrating his own nation’s cooperation with NATO.

Yoon’s office said he traveled to Ukraine with his wife, Kim Keon Hee, following trips to Lithuania for a NATO summit and to Poland. It’s his first visit since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

14 July 2023; MEMO: The European Parliament has called on the Palestinian Authority to hold "free, credible, inclusive, transparent and fair" parliamentary and presidential elections without any further delay in order to strengthen its legitimacy.

14 July 2023; MEMO: A Spanish judge investigating the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware used against top politicians, including Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has halted the case due to a "complete" lack of cooperation from Israel, a court statement announced on Monday.

14 July 2023; MEMO: Unite the Union, which represents 1.2 million workers in the UK, has today passed three crucial motions reaffirming its ongoing solidarity with the Palestinian people's struggle for liberation, affirming support for the Palestinian call for a campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions until Israel ends its violation of Palestinian rights, and condemning the government's anti-boycott bill which is currently at committee stage in the House of Commons.

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/: Russia and Poland maintain parity in terms of the number of diplomatic missions, Polish Ambassador to Russia Krzysztof Krajewski said on Friday.

"We have parity in terms of the number of missions. Poland has its embassy in Moscow, Russia has its embassy in Warsaw. Each of us has three consulates general," he said in an interview with the Polish Press Agency. "So, parity is maintained."

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/: The Kremlin sees measures restricting the ability of foreigners to exit their Russian businesses as part of protecting the domestic economy, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/: Additional measures to ensure the protection of critically important facilities were the focus of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council on Friday.

"Our agenda today has several issues. The first one is extra measures of protection of critically important facilities," Putin said at the beginning of the meeting.

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/: Paris has knowingly taken another step towards escalation of the conflict in Ukraine with its decision to supply long-range missiles to Kiev, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a commentary circulated on Friday.

"Paris has knowingly taken another step towards escalation of the Ukrainian conflict, confirmed its gamble on the systematic and uninterrupted pumping of Kiev terrorists with increasingly deadly weapons systems aimed at the new Russian territories, civilians and civilian infrastructure," the diplomat said.

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/: Kiev’s district court has granted the motion of the Ukrainian Security Service and changed detention conditions for Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery, from round-the-clock house arrest to detention in custody with the possibility of bail worth over 33 million hryvnas (over $900,000), the Ukrainian online newspaper Strana reported on Friday.

The RBC Ukraine agency said that he court put the archbishop under arrest until August 14.