Europe

VALLETTA, April 18 (NNN-XINHUA) — Around 60 migrants were taken to Malta on Monday evening after being rescued from rough seas as they attempted to cross to Europe from Libya.

Two groups of people were saved by merchant vessels in Malta’s search and rescue zone. The rescue was carried out on the instructions of the Maltese authorities, after the migrants reported being in distress.

The two groups were brought to Marsaxlokk, south of the island, by the Armed Forces of Malta.

KYIV, April 18 (Reuters) - Russian forces are stepping up their use of heavy artillery and air strikes in the devastated eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces said on Tuesday.

Fighting in and around Bakhmut has for months been the epicentre of the war in Ukraine.

"Currently, the enemy is increasing the activity of heavy artillery and the number of air strikes, turning the city into ruins," General Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a statement.

BERLIN (AP) — Climate activists said Tuesday that they will stage further protests in Berlin in an effort to force the German government into doing more to curb global warming.

The announcement came as courts are taking a tougher stance against members of the group Last Generation who have repeatedly blocked roads across Germany in the past year.

The group said at a news conference in Berlin that it would begin to stage open-ended protests Wednesday in the government district. From Monday onward, members will try to “peacefully bring the city to a standstill,” it said.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Tuesday he was optimistic that one of Northern Ireland’s main political parties would soon end a boycott that has kept the regional government on ice for more than a year.

Clinton said he had met with Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson on Monday, and “I left that meeting more optimistic than I entered it.”

A Russian judge ruled Tuesday that American journalist Evan Gershkovich must remain behind bars on espionage charges in a case that is part of a Kremlin crackdown on dissent and press freedom amid the war in Ukraine.

Gershkovich and the U.S. government vehemently deny the allegations.

The Wall Street Journal reporter is the first U.S. correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia on spying allegations and his arrest rattled journalists in the country and elicited outrage in the West.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin visited command posts of the Kremlin’s forces fighting in Ukraine, officials said Tuesday, as the war approaches its 14th month and Kyiv readies a possible counteroffensive with Western-supplied weapons.

A video released by the Kremlin and broadcast by Russian state television showed Putin arriving by helicopter at the command post of Russian forces in southern Ukraine’s Kherson province and then flying to the headquarters of the Russian National Guard in Luhansk province, which is in the east.

London, Apr 17 (PTI) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing a watchdog inquiry under his parliamentary declaration of interest obligations related to a Budget policy that could benefit his wife, Akshata Murty, through her business interest in a childcare firm, it emerged on Monday.

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/: Ukraine is beneficial for Poland only as a tool of anti-Russian policy, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on Monday.

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/:  Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko and Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Korean Peninsula Affairs Liu Xiaoming discussed the situation around the Korean Peninsula on Monday and agreed that the United States and its allies are responsible for the escalation of the situation in the region.

STOCKHOLM, April 17. /TASS/: The Aurora-23 international military exercise - the largest over the past 25 years - began in Sweden on Monday. It will last until May 11, with the United States, Britain, Finland, Poland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Denmark, Austria, Germany and France taking part, the Swedish Defense Ministry said.

The purpose of the exercise is to "improve the combat readiness of the armed forces" in the event of a hypothetical armed attack on Sweden.