Europe

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An explosion damaged a bridge that is one of the few links between Crimea and Ukraine’s mainland, Russia-backed officials said Thursday, while Ukraine’s prime minister appealed for patience as Kyiv’s armed forces move ahead with their closely watched counteroffensive.

Russian forces in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, use the Chongar bridge to reach southern Ukraine’s Kherson province. Russia and Ukraine control different sides of the province, which is a focus of fighting and attacks as Ukrainian troops try to reclaim Russian-occupied territory.

BERLIN (AP) — A German rail workers’ union said Thursday that it will ask its members to vote on all-out strike action after long-running salary talks with the main national railway operator broke down.

The EVG union has already staged hours-long or one-day “warning strikes,” a common tactic in German wage negotiations. But it’s now threatening to move to longer walkouts as its negotiations with state-owned Deutsche Bahn have reached an impasse.

22 June 2023; MEMO: The British Consulate in Jerusalem yesterday condemned Israeli Jewish settler attacks on the occupied West Bank town of Turmus Ayya.

21 June 2023; MEMO: The Kremlin, on Wednesday, said that the UN is unable to exert necessary influence on the West in order to fulfil their obligations under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Anadolu Agency reports.

21 June 2023; MEMO: As many as 39 people are feared dead after a ship sank in the waters between Morocco and Spain's Canary Islands on Wednesday, according to the Spanish migrant organisation, Walking Borders, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Spanish Coast Guard has confirmed one death, so far, according to Spanish news agency, EFE.

The ship was carrying some 60 people.

21 June 2023; MEMO: Israel is reportedly set to support Saudi Arabia's bid to host the Expo 2030, amid efforts to convince the Kingdom to agree to normalise relations with Tel Aviv.

LONDON, June 21. /TASS/: Ukraine will be ready to begin talks on joining the EU in the near future, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said in London on Wednesday, speaking at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023.

"Ukraine should become a ember of the European Union as soon as possible," he said, stressing that in spite of the conflict with Russia, Ukraine had made progress on all criteria.

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/: Moscow and Doha are working on joint projects totaling more than 160 bln rubles ($1.9 bln), Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during talks with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani

He noted that Moscow and Doha are expanding "interaction in the investment sphere."

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/: Ukraine’s troops understand that they don’t stand a chance against heroic and courageous fighters of the Russian Armed Forces, President Vladimir Putin emphasized on Wednesday.

"Thanks to the courage and heroism of our fighters, thanks to the commanders’ readiness to repel any aggressive actions against Russia, I believe, the enemy doesn’t stand a chance. They understand that and this is why they have stalled now," Putin said at the meeting with military college graduates, answering a question from reporter Pavel Zarubin.

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/: Aggressive policies by the United States and NATO, leading towards an ever-deeper involvement in military confrontation, can result in a direct clash between nuclear powers, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Wednesday.