Europe

MOSCOW, April 13 (Reuters) - Alexei Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition politician, is grappling with severe stomach pain in jail that could be some sort of slow acting poison, his spokeswoman said on Thursday.

An ambulance was called for Navalny overnight on Friday to Saturday to the maximum security IK-6 penal colony at Melekhovo, about 250 km (115 miles) east of Moscow, where he is being held. Kira Yarmysh, his spokeswoman, told Reuters.

KIEV, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Wednesday he discussed military support for his country with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

"We discussed in detail the urgent needs of Ukraine for the successful conduct of another counteroffensive operation to liberate Ukrainian lands," Shmyhal, who is on a visit to the United States, wrote in a Telegram post.

In particular, Ukraine needs air defense, heavy artillery and equipment, mortars and ammunition for them, Shmyhal said.

LONDON, April 12 (Xinhua) -- During his visit to Belfast on Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden called for the restoration of the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland. However, analysts do not expect his plea to lead to significant change.

An effective devolved government reflects the people of Northern Ireland and is accountable to them, a government that works to find ways through hard problems together is going to draw even greater opportunity to this region, Biden said in a speech delivered at Ulster University.

Russia’s top security agency on Thursday accused a Ukrainian man of involvement in a bombing that killed a well-known Russian military blogger at a St. Petersburg cafe.

Vladlen Tatarsky, 40, an ardent supporter of the war in Ukraine who filed regular reports on the fighting from the front lines, was killed on April 2 as he led a discussion at a riverside cafe in the historic heart of St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. Over 50 people were injured.

MADRID (AP) — Drought now affects 60% of the Spanish countryside, with crops like wheat and barley likely to fail entirely in four regions, the main Spanish farmers association said on Thursday.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine launched an investigation Wednesday into a gruesome video that purportedly shows the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier, in the latest accusation of atrocities said to have been committed by Russia since it invaded in February 2022.

The video spread quickly online and drew outrage from officials in Kyiv, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as international organizations. The Kremlin called the footage “horrible” but said it needed to be verified.

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/: The Russian military enlistment system needs to be streamlined and the bill on electronic military summonses is meant to help with the effort, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

"This is about the need for us to streamline the system of keeping a record of, and calling up those who should serve in the military. Under the Constitution, our military calls up conscripts to serve. It’s a civil duty that’s enshrined in the constitution," the spokesman said.

BELGRADE, April 12. /TASS/: Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic dismissed as groundless allegations that Serbia is making deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, the Balkan country’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/: The fact that Washington is denying that it was involved in the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipelines only confirms the version by journalist Seymour Hersh that the US had a hand in the terrorist acts, official spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said.

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/: The assault teams of the Wagner private military company captured three urban quarters in Artyomovsk in the Donetsk area over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Wednesday.

"In the Donetsk direction, Wagner assault teams captured three urban quarters in the area of Artyomovsk. Airborne Force units immobilized enemy forces on the flanks of the assault teams," the spokesman said.