Europe

LJUBLJANA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- An exhibition on a Slovenian scientist who spent most of his working years in China opened in Ljubljana on Wednesday.

The exhibition on Ferdinand Augustin Hallerstein was opened by Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar, who said that Hallerstein "was an important scientist who connected European and Chinese knowledge."

BERLIN (AP) — Some 3.4 million Turkish citizens living abroad began voting Thursday in national elections that will decide whether President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can continue governing Turkey after two decades in power.

The overseas balloting began amid concerns over Erdogan’s health after he was forced to cancel election rallies on Wednesday and Thursday. However, the 69-year-old leader was scheduled to attend a Thursday ceremony via video link to mark the inauguration of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.

BERLIN (AP) — A man arrested over last week’s stabbing attack at a gym in western Germany in which four people were wounded is now also a suspect in a fatal stabbing earlier this month, prosecutors said Thursday.

The 26-year-old Syrian, whom authorities are identifying only as M.D. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested at his apartment in Duisburg on Sunday in connection with the April 18 gym stabbing in the city. He is in custody on suspicion of attempted murder and other offenses.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday denied a U.S request for a consular visit to Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal who is jailed on espionage charges.

The ministry said it rejected the request for the May 11 visit in retaliation for the U.S. refusing to grant visas to Russian journalists who planned to accompany Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on a trip to the United Nations.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — NATO allies and partner countries have delivered more than 98% of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine during Russia’s invasion and war, the military alliance’s chief said Thursday, giving Kyiv a bigger punch as contemplates launching a counteroffensive.

Along with more than 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment, Ukraine’s allies have sent “vast amounts of ammunition” and also trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian brigades, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

ROME (AP) — Ukraine’s prime minister said he asked Pope Francis during a private Vatican audience Thursday to help facilitate the return of Ukrainian children who were forcibly taken to Russia.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, briefing reporters on his half-hour audience with the pontiff, said he also invited Francis to come to Ukraine.

“I asked the Vatican and the Holy Father for help in getting back children taken by force by Russia,” the prime minister said.

27 Apr 2023; MEMO: Russian President, Vladimir Putin, will attend the inauguration ceremony of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Turkiye via video link, Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Wednesday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

MELITOPOL, April 26. /TASS/: Incessant attacks by Ukrainian troops on the territory immediately adjacent to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) constitutes global terrorism, Yevgeny Balitsky, acting governor of the Zaporozhye Region, said on the 37th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

ROME, April 26. /TASS/: Ukraine hopes to be "fully prepared" for EU membership in two years, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said in an address published in Italian economic newspaper Il Sole - 24 Ore on Wednesday.

"We have an ambitious plan to be fully prepared for EU membership in two years," the message reads.

Shmygal arrived in Rome on Wednesday for a conference on Ukraine's reconstruction, organized by the Italian government. The authorities and business representatives from the two countries will attend the event. More than 600 companies are expected to participate.

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Kremlin press service reported on Wednesday.

"The development of the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh was discussed with an emphasis on solving practical tasks of ensuring stability and security in the region. In the context of the current escalation in the Lachin Corridor, the importance of strict adherence to the entire set of fundamental agreements between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan was stressed," its statement said.