Europe

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is planning to blow up the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in the run-up to NATO’s July summit and then pin the terrorist attack on Russia, thereby dragging the alliance into the conflict, Leonid Slutsky, leader of the LDPR party and chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/: Ukraine’s counteroffensive is doomed to fail as the Russian military has the edge over its adversary in all respects, Jean-Bernard Pinatel, a retired French general and the owner of the company called LexisNexis Business Information Solutions, said in a video interview provided to TASS.

BERLIN, July 4 (Reuters) - German industry on Tuesday warned that Europe must become more self-reliant in the hunt for raw materials needed for cleaner, more digital economies, after China caused alarm by announcing restrictions on some metals used for semiconductors.

China's commerce ministry said on Monday it would require export permits for eight gallium products and six germanium products from Aug. 1 to protect national security.

The metals are used in high-speed computer chips and for the defence and renewable energy sectors.

AMSTERDAM, July 5 (Reuters) - A rare summer storm with winds of up to 145 kilometres (90 miles) per hour hit the Netherlands on Wednesday, causing at least one death as people across much of the country were told to stay indoors and travel was severely disrupted.

A 51-year old woman died in Haarlem after a tree fell on the car she was in, local police said.

In Amsterdam, several people were injured as dozens of trees were toppled by the storm, damaging cars and houseboats along the city's canals.

July 4 (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday accused each other of plotting to stage an attack on the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, long the subject of mutual recriminations and suspicions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, about Russian "dangerous provocations" at the plant in southeastern Ukraine.

Russian troops seized the station, Europe's largest nuclear facility with six reactors, in the days following the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

KYIV, July 5 (Reuters) - In a basement in downtown Kyiv late last month, away from prying eyes, hundreds of engineers and innovators met senior military officials to brainstorm ways to better neutralise the cheap Russian suicide drones that still devastate Ukrainian cities.

It was a rare, close-up glimpse into Ukraine's technology arms race with Russia that draws on private sector innovation seeded with state venture capital, and which is pumping out thousands of combat drones in a booming wartime industry.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive on Wednesday chided Poland and Hungary for democratic deficiencies that have been accerbated by measures taken or left unaddressed by the current governments.

04 July 2023; MEMO: Russia, on Tuesday, restated a demand for its state agricultural bank to be reconnected to the global SWIFT payments system and said it would not accept a reported compromise proposal, Reuters reports.

With 13 days remaining until expiry of the deal that has allowed Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports despite Russia's invasion, Moscow said there had been no progress on any of its key demands, including the banking issue.

05 July 2023; MEMO: The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold an emergency session later this week to discuss the burning of the Quran in Sweden, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Last Wednesday, a man – identified as Salwan Momika – burned a copy of the Quran under police protection in front of Stockholm Mosque, causing outrage.

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/: Russian air defense forces shot down two Ukrainian Su-25 ground attack planes, intercepted five rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and destroyed 14 enemy drones over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Tuesday.