Europe

June 16 (Reuters) - An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 struck France on Friday, the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) said.

The earthquake's epicenter was near a commune in the Charente-Maritime region of western France, at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles), GFZ said.

There was no immediate information on casualties or damage from the quake.

The GFZ revised an earlier measurement of a 5.5 magnitude earthquake.

BRUSSELS, June 16 (Reuters) - NATO defence ministers failed on Friday to reach agreement over new plans on how the alliance would respond to a Russian attack, and one diplomat blamed Turkey for blocking them.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the ministers reviewed the plans - the first since the end of the Cold War and given impetus by Russia's invasion of Ukraine - at a two-day meeting in Brussels and were moving closer to agreeing on them.

KYIV, June 16 (Reuters) - Advancing Ukrainian troops are facing "desperate resistance" from Russian forces around the eastern city of Bakhmut, and are inflicting big losses on Russian troops in the south, Ukrainian military chiefs said on Friday.

Reuters could not verify the battlefield situation. Russia has not officially acknowledged Ukrainian advances in the early stages of a counteroffensive, and said it had inflicted heavy losses on Kyiv's forces in the previous 24 hours.

KIEV, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will closely monitor the water level at the cooling pond of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in southern Ukraine, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said Thursday.

"With the water that is here the plant can be kept safe for some time," Grossi said in a video message on Twitter after visiting the ZNPP.

ROME (AP) — Officials of the political party founded three decades ago by the late former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi vowed Friday to breathe new life into his creation and pursue battles dear to him, including overhauling the justice system he insisted was biased against him.

“This is his creature, and this is and always will be the party of Silvio Berlusconi,″ said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who is now the Forza Italia party’s top official in his role as party coordinator.

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO launched a new center Friday for protecting undersea pipelines and cables following the still-unsolved apparent attack on the Nord Stream pipelines and amid concern Russia is mapping vital Western infrastructure for energy and the internet in waters around Europe.

“The threat is developing,” Lt. Gen. Hans-Werner Wiermann, who heads a special cell focused on the challenge, said after NATO defense ministers gave the greenlight for the new center, located in Northwood, northwest London.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Friday touted Russia’s prospects at the country’s main international economic forum despite heavy international sanctions imposed because of the war in Ukraine.

Western officials and investors steered clear of this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that for decades has been Russia’s premier event for attracting foreign capital and is sometimes likened to the Davos World Economic Forum.

(AP) --- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg seems increasingly likely to have his term at the helm of the world’s biggest security organization extended yet again, as members struggle to agree on another candidate to replace him.

Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, has been NATO’s top civilian official since 2014. His term was due to expire last year but was extended for a second time to keep a steady hand at the helm after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian prosecutors on Friday opened legal proceedings against three Kosovo police officers arrested earlier this week, defying U.S. and other demands for their immediate and unconditional release.

Serbian officials have said the three Kosovo Albanians were arrested by Serbian security on Wednesday deep inside Serbia and close to the border with Kosovo, and that they were heavily armed when seized. Kosovo officials insist they were “kidnapped” inside Kosovo and taken to Serbia by force.

(AP) --- The production company founded by Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, is splitting ways with Spotify less than a year after the debut of their podcast “ Archetypes.”

It is unclear why the podcast, hosted by Meghan, is leaving the platform but Spotify and Archewell Audio said in a joint statement that the decision was mutual.

Archewell landed a multiyear partnership with Spotify in 2020 to create podcasts and shows that would tell stories through diverse voices and perspectives.