Europe

MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/: The activities of the Group of Seven is a key factor of the escalation of global problems as it cannot reflect interests of other centers of development, the Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday.

"It is obvious that the Group of Seven is a major factor of the aggravation of global problems. It cannot represent interests of other centers of development, especially countries of the Asia Pacific region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America," it said.

MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/: Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Sunday it has charged in absentia the prosecutor and judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) who issued a warrant for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin and children’s rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova.

BERLIN, May 21. /TASS/: At least two Ukrainians could be behind the explosions at the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, Germanys’ Suddeutsche Zeitung daily said on Sunday.

According to a probe conducted by the daily and other German and European media, several months ago Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office found the Feeria Lwowa travel agency in Poland, which chartered the Andromeda yacht used by the suspects of the Nord Stream blasts to reach the site.

BERLIN, May 21 (Reuters) - German police said they are investigating the possible poisoning of two Russian exiles who attended a conference in Berlin at the end of April, organised by Russian Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Berlin police told Reuters "a file had been opened" after German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, citing Russian investigative media group Agentstvo, said two women reported symptoms that suggested possible poisoning.

Police gave no further details, citing ongoing investigations.

ROME, May 21 (Reuters) - Flights serving the eastern Sicilian city of Catania were halted on Sunday after an eruption from nearby Mount Etna spewed volcanic ash onto its runways, airport authorities said.

The 3,330 metre (10,925 ft) high volcano can burst into spectacular action several times a year, firing lava and ash high over the Mediterranean island. The last major eruption was in 1992.

Flights to and from Catania, a popular tourist destination, would be suspended until normal safety conditions could be guaranteed, the airport said on Twitter.

MOSCOW, May 21 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday congratulated the Wagner mercenary force and the Russian army for what he called the "liberation" of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Russia calls by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovsk.

In a statement published on the Kremlin website, Putin said that the battle - the longest and bloodiest of the 15-month war - had ended in a Russian victory, and that all those who had excelled in it on Moscow's side would be given state awards.

20 May 2023; MEMO: Secretary General of the Arab Group in the British Labour Party Omar Mufid revealed that he managed to persuade the UK's Oxford University to retract its link of the cause of the occupation of Palestine with the suffering of Jews in Europe.

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: Western countries continue down the path of escalation and Moscow will take their plans to send F-16 aircraft to Ukraine into account, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told TASS on Saturday.

GENICHESK, May 20. /TASS/:The Russian aircraft supporting the Dnepr grouping has destroyed up to 20 Ukrainian troops that taken civilian buildings on Cherkessky Island on the Dnieper River near Kherson, a spokesperson for the regional emergency services told TASS on Saturday.

"Militants of the Ukrainian armed forces had occupied civilian constructions on Cherkessky Island on the Dnieper near Kherson, but were destroyed by the aircraft supporting the Dnepr grouping," he said adding that up to 20 militants were eliminated.

ISTRA /outside Moscow/, May 20. /TASS/: The congress of the A Just Russia - For Truth political party have reelected Sergey Mironov as chairman, and Zakhar Prilepin and Gennady Semigin as his co-chairs, TASS reported on Saturday.

Voting was conducted by secret ballot. Under the party’s charter, the chair and co-chairs are elected for 2.5 years.