Europe

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/: Russian air defense forces shot down two Ukrainian MiG-29 fighters and a Su-25 attack aircraft over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Monday.

"Air defense capabilities shot down two Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 fighters and a Su-25 attack plane in areas near Arkhangelskoye in the Kherson Region, Dmitrovka and Zvonetskoye in the Dnepropetrovsk Region," the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi discussed during their phone talks the evacuation of citizens from Russia and other CIS countries from the Gaza Strip, the Kremlin’s press office reported on Monday.

"The sides touched upon the issues of Egypt’s assistance in evacuating citizens of Russia and CIS states from the Gaza Strip," the press office said after the phone talks.

ATHENS, Oct 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Greece’s coastguard late on Sunday said it had found three bodies during a search for survivors after a migrant boat sank off the eastern Greek island of Symi.

According to a statement, eight people were found alive during the rescue operation that is underway with ships and a helicopter.

The weather conditions off the Dodecanese island are good.

Sources said that at least two more people are thought missing.

MOSCOW, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin entered the fevered diplomatic fray of the Middle East on Monday, speaking to five of the major players including Iran and leading Arab powers in an attempt to secure a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Russia, which has relationships with Iran, Hamas, major Arab powers as well as with the Palestinians and with Israel, has repeatedly said the United States and the West have ignored the need for an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders.

WARSAW, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Poland's liberal, pro-EU opposition on Monday looked on track to form the next government after official partial results and exit polls showed the ruling nationalists losing their parliamentary majority in the nation's most pivotal election in decades.

The incumbent Law and Justice (PiS) party has repeatedly clashed with the European Union over the rule of law, media freedom, migration and LGBT rights since it swept to power in 2015. Opposition parties have vowed to mend ties with Brussels and scrap reforms they say have eroded Polish democracy.

MOSCOW, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Russia has adopted temporary restrictive measures against fish and seafood imports from Japan, Russia's agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor announced Monday.

Rosselkhoznadzor noted that as of Oct. 16, Russia will temporarily ban the import of fish and seafood from Japan.

It said that this decision was taken as a "precautionary measure," adding that the restrictions would stay until Moscow is provided with comprehensive information that confirms the safety of Japanese fish and seafood products.

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — A populist former prime minister of Slovakia who plans to end the country’s military support for Ukraine signed on Monday a coalition agreement with the leaders of two other parties to form a new government.

Robert Fico and his leftist Smer, or Direction, won the Sept 30 parliamentary election with 22.9% of the vote, taking 42 seats in the 150-seat legislature. He needed to find coalition partners to govern with a majority.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A dayslong attempt by Russian forces to storm a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine appears to be running out of steam, Kyiv officials said Monday, as the Kremlin’s war entered its 600th day.

Ukrainian forces repelled 15 Russian attacks from four directions on Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours, the Ukrainian General Staff said.

LONDON (AP) — A lawyer for Donald Trump told a London judge Monday that the ex-president plans to prove that a discredited report by a former British spy that contained “shocking and scandalous claims” that he was compromised by Russians in his first bid for the presidency was wrong and harmed his reputation.

Trump has sued the company founded by Christopher Steele, who created a dossier in 2016 that contained rumors and uncorroborated allegations about Trump that erupted in a political storm just before he was inaugurated.

LONDON (AP) — Najla Shawa and her family are safe for now after fleeing their home in Gaza City, but she’s worried she may never be able to return.

Shawa, a Gaza native who works for the international aid group Oxfam, is sheltering with her husband, two daughters and about 50 others at a compound in Zawaida, a community just south of the area Israeli forces ordered residents to evacuate before an anticipated ground offensive.