Europe

May 22 (Reuters) - The governor of Russia's Belgorod region said on Monday that a Ukrainian 'sabotage group' had entered Russian territory in the Graivoron district, which borders Ukraine, and was being repelled by Russian forces.

However, the Ukrainian outlet Hromadske cited Ukrainian military intelligence as saying two armed Russian opposition groups, the Liberty of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), both consisting of Russian citizens, had carried out the attack.

MOSCOW, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima showed that the alliance has irreversibly deteriorated and turned into an "incubator of destructive initiatives" in the world, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The outcome of the G7 meeting in Hiroshima was a set of statements filled with "odious passages" directed against China and Russia as the G7 members tried to prevent non-Western states from developing ties with Moscow and Beijing, the ministry said.

PARIS (AP) — French Open organizers are giving all players access to an online tool meant to protect them from cyberbullying and harassment on social media.

The French tennis federation said Monday the technology developed by a French company will be made available to all players taking part in this year’s clay-court Grand Slam tournament. The software uses artificial intelligence to filter comments posted to social media accounts and block those that are deemed toxic or abusive.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Austria’s government on Monday asked Hungary for explanations as it stepped up security along the countries’ shared border following Budapest’s decision to grant early release to convicted people smugglers.

The decision to release several hundred convicts has “a direct impact on our security,” the Austrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement to The Associated Press.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis will travel to Portugal for World Youth Day in the first week of August and include a stop at the popular Marian shrine in Fatima, the Vatican said Monday.

The Aug. 2-6 visit is longer than originally expected and covers almost the entire week of the big Catholic rally that St. John Paul II inaugurated to try to invigorate young people in their faith.

BERLIN (AP) — The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency warned Monday of a rise in anti-government extremism - fueled by authoritarian states such as Russia - that seeks to divide society and topple the government.

LONDON (AP) — The European Union slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine Monday and ordered it to stop transferring user data across the Atlantic by October, the latest salvo in a decadelong case sparked by U.S. cybersnooping fears.

The penalty of 1.2 billion euros is the biggest since the EU’s strict data privacy regime took effect five years ago, surpassing Amazon’s 746 million euro fine in 2021 for data protection violations.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Although Russia claims it has won control of Ukraine’s eastern city of Bakhmut after a grinding nine-month conflict in which tens of thousands of fighters have died, top Ukrainian military leaders say the battle is not over.

Ukrainian officials acknowledge they now control only a small part of Bakhmut. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Monday that Ukrainian troops hold some areas in its southwestern outskirts, while fighting continues for the strategic heights in the northern and southern parts of the suburbs.

21 May 2023; AA: Flights to and from Catania in Italy’s Sicily region were halted after the nearby Mt. Etna erupted on Sunday.

Flight operations were suspended as volcanic ash covered the airport’s runways, public broadcaster RAI reported.

The city of Adrano was also affected, with many cars and roads covered with ash, it added.

22 May 2023; AA: Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein achieved a significant victory in Northern Ireland's local elections, becoming the largest party for the first time, according to local media reports.

Following the completion of vote counting late Saturday, Sinn Fein, which advocates for the unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, secured 144 out of 462 local government seats.

This marked an increase of 39 seats compared to the previous local government elections in 2019.