Europe

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria held its fifth general election in two years Sunday, which political leaders hoped would end government instability and provide a path to overcoming economic woes fueled by the war in Ukraine.

Turnout was expected to be low due to voter apathy and disillusionment with politicians, who have been repeatedly unable to cobble together a viable governing coalition.

HELSINKI (AP) — A general election in Finland was expected to result in a close finish by three political parties Sunday, with Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Social Democrats fighting to secure a second term running the government.

Over 2,400 candidates from 22 parties were vying for the 200 seats in the Nordic country’s parliament, the Eduskunta. Some 40% of eligible voters cast their ballots in advance.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A top Ukrainian official on Sunday outlined a series of steps the government in Kyiv would take after the country reclaims control of Crimea, including dismantling the strategic bridge that links the seized Black Sea peninsula to Russia.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, published the plan as Ukraine’s military prepares for a spring counteroffensive in hopes of making new, decisive gains after more than 13 months of war to end Russia’s full-scale invasion.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An international arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin raises the prospect of the man whose country invaded Ukraine facing justice, but it complicates efforts to end that war in peace talks.

Both justice and peace appear to be only remote possibilities today, and the conflicting relationship between the two is a quandary at the heart of a March 17 decision by the International Criminal Court to seek the Russian leader’s arrest.

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Voters in Montenegro cast ballots Sunday in a runoff presidential election that is a contest between a long-serving pro-Western incumbent and a newcomer promising changes in the small NATO member nation located on Europe’s Balkan peninsula.

Observers think President Milo Djukanovic, who is credited with leading Montenegro to independence and into NATO, could be defeated by Jakov Milatovic, a former economy minister. Milatovic has the backing of the country’s governing parties, which advocate closer ties with Serbia.

KYIV, April 1 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said it was absurd Russia had assumed the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council, adding this showed the institution's "total bankruptcy".

On Saturday Russia took over the presidency of the U.N.'s top security body, which rotates every month. The last time Moscow held the post was in February 2022, when its troops launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

LISBON, April 1 (Reuters) - Thousands of people took to the streets of Lisbon and other cities across Portugal on Saturday in protest against soaring rents and house prices at a time when high inflation is making it even tougher for people to make ends meet.

"There is a huge housing crisis today," Rita Silva, from the Habita housing group, said at the Lisbon protest. "This is a social emergency."

BELFAST, Britain, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Officials and academics from Northern Ireland have expressed their willingness to enhance exchanges and cooperation with China during their meetings earlier this week with Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom (UK) Zheng Zeguang.

The head of Northern Ireland Civil Service Jayne Brady said that Northern Ireland has long-standing friendly exchanges with China and attaches great importance to developing relations with China.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In a bitter dispute over a famed Orthodox monastery, Ukraine’s top security agency notified a leading Orthodox priest there on Saturday that he was suspected of justifying Russia’s aggression, a criminal offense,

Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Ukraine’s most revered Orthodox site, has resisted the authorities’ order to vacate the complex. Earlier in the week, he cursed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, threatening him with damnation.

GENEVA (AP) — The UBS takeover of embattled rival Credit Suisse has shaken Switzerland’s self-image and dented its reputation as a global financial center, analysts say, warning that the country’s prosperity could grow too dependent on a single banking behemoth.

The uncertain future of a union of Switzerland’s two global banks comes at a thorny time for Swiss identity, built nearly as much on a self-image of finesse in finance as on know-how with chocolate, watchmaking and cheese.