Europe

VLADIVOSTOK, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Water levels in the flood-affected regions of Kherson, following the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam, continue to recede, said acting governor of the Kherson region Vladimir Saldo on Sunday.

The water level has decreased to 7 meters in the Nova Kakhovka city district, 1.5 meters in the Alyoshkino municipal district, and 2.1 meters in the Goloprystanskiy municipal district, said Saldo.

MOSCOW (AP) — Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday that he wouldn’t hesitate to order the use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons that are set to be deployed to Belarus if his country faces an aggression.

Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the planned deployment of short-range nuclear weapons to Moscow’s neighbor and ally Belarus in a move widely seen as a warning to the West as it stepped up military support for Ukraine.

LONDON (AP) — Wages in the U.K. spiked sharply in April, official figures showed Tuesday, a development that is set to cement expectations that the Bank of England will raise interest rates once again next week, to the likely dismay of many homeowners suffering from surging mortgage costs as well as high inflation.

The Office for National Statistics found that people’s regular pay packets, which exclude bonuses, were up 7.2% in the three months to April from the same period the year before, as against the equivalent 6.6% increase recorded in January.

LONDON (AP) — A man was arrested on suspicion of murder in the English city of Nottingham on Tuesday after three people were found dead in the street and three others were hit and injured by a van in related early-morning incidents, police said.

“This is an horrific and tragic incident which has claimed the lives of three people,” said Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable Kate Meynell.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles hit civilian buildings in a central Ukrainian city overnight, killing at least 11 people and wounding more than two dozen in a warehouse and an apartment building, regional officials said Tuesday.

The devastation in Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown, come as Ukrainian forces are in the early stages of a counteroffensive, more than 15 months after Russia invaded.

LONDON (AP) — Artificial intelligence has been used to extract John Lennon’s voice from an old demo to create “the last Beatles record,” Paul McCartney said Tuesday.

McCartney, 80, told the BBC that the technology was used to separate the Beatles’ voices from background sounds during the making of director Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary series, “The Beatles: Get Back.” The new song is set to be released later this year, he said.

12 June 2023; MEMO: The United States has notified the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) of its intention to rejoin the international body nearly six years after withdrawing from the membership, Axios reported today. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay informed ambassadors of the member states that the US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Richard Verma, submitted a letter last week formalising the plan to rejoin.

BRATISLAVA, June 12. /TASS/: Arms warehouses across Europe have been emptied and it will take from 5 to 10 years to replenish them, former Slovak Prime Minister and leader of the Voice-Social Democracy Party Peter Pellegrini said.

"[Arms] depots have been drained across entire Europe, all armies will replenish <…> supplies. This is 5-10 years’ worth of work," the pravda.sk portal quoted him as saying. The politician thinks that Slovakia will not be able to provide substantial military aid to Ukraine anymore due to the lack of resources.

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin is certain that patriotism was bequeathed to Russians by their ancestors and is a sacrosanct heritage for today's generations.

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky signed a law to move the celebration of Victory Day to May 8, according to the website of the Verkhovna Rada.

The information on the bill on the website of the Ukrainian parliament stated that it was returned with the signature of the president on June 12.