Europe

MOSCOW (AP) — A U.S. citizen has been arrested on drug charges in Russia, officials said Tuesday, a move that comes amid soaring Russia-U.S. tensions over Ukraine.

The arrest of Robert Woodland Romanov was reported by the press service of the Moscow courts. It said the Ostankino District Court ruled on Saturday to keep him in custody for two months on charges of preparing to get involved in illegal drug trafficking pending an official investigation. It didn’t offer any details of the accusations.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

BERLIN, Jan 8 (Reuters) - German farmers kicked off a week of nationwide protests against subsidy cuts on Monday, blocking roads with tractors and piling misery on Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition as it struggles to fix a budget mess and contain rising far-right forces.

Convoys of tractors and trucks gathered on roads in sub-zero temperatures in nearly all 16 federal states, while protesters clashed with police and leading politicians warned that the unrest could be co-opted by extremists.

PARIS (AP) — French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne resigned Monday following recent political tensions over immigration, and President President Emmanuel Macron’s office said he would appoint a new government in coming days.

Borne’s resignation follows the passage of contentious immigration legislation backed by Macron aimed at strengthening the government’s ability to deport some foreigners, among other measures.

Borne had been appointed in May 2022 after Macron’s reelection for a second term. She was France’s second female prime minister.

STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in a bomb and gun rampage in 2011, will try for the second time Monday to sue the Norwegian state for allegedly breaching his human rights.

Norway’s worst peacetime killer claims his solitary confinement since being imprisoned in 2012 amounts to inhumane treatment under the European Convention of Human Rights.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The southern Ukrainian city of Kherson was subjected Sunday to numerous shelling attacks from Russian-occupied parts of the Kherson region, across the Dnieper River, local officials said.

The head of the Kherson city administration, Roman Mrochko, said two people died in the shelling attacks and several others were wounded.

Meanwhile, Russian military personnel marked Orthodox Christmas on Sunday.

CHANIA, Greece (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Turkey is committed to playing “a positive, productive” role for postwar Gaza and prepared to use its influence in the region to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from broadening even more.

The latest Mideast mission by America’s top diplomat opened with talks in Turkey and Greece before shifting to the region for “not necessarily easy conversations” with allies and partners about what they are willing to do “to build durable peace and security.”

MOSCOW, January 5. /TASS/: Thirty-six Ukrainian drones were intercepted and shot down by Russian air defense systems over Crimea and one drone - over the Krasnodar Territory, the Russian defense ministry said.

"On January 5, the Kiev regime’s attempted terrorist attack on facilities in Russia’s territory with the use of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles was thwarted. Thirty-six Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down and intercepted by air defense systems over Crimea and one unmanned aerial vehicle - over the Krasnodar Territory," it said.

MOSCOW, January 5. /TASS/: Air defense systems have eliminated a Neptune anti-ship missile over the northwestern part of the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"On January 5, around 12:30 p.m. Moscow time (9:30 a.m. GMT - TASS), an attempt by the Kiev regime was thwarted to carry out a terror attack on targets in the Russian Federation with the use of a Neptune anti-ship missile. Air defense systems on duty detected the Ukrainian missile and eliminated it over the northwestern waters of the Black Sea," the military agency said.

MOSCOW, January 5. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin may pay a bunch of foreign visits in 2024 and the head of the Russian state has invitations from dozens of countries.

The Kremlin has not yet announced future visits of the Russian President. "I do not exclude but I am trying not to plan anything so far," Putin said earlier, referring to possible visits to friendly nations.

Over past months, the Russian leader received invitations to visit Brazil, Burundi, Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, Mongolia, Thailand, Turkey, and other countries.

LONDON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Major rivers across Britain were flooded on Friday after heavy rain, with the government issuing more than 300 flood warnings, travel operators announcing serious disruption and around 1,000 homes suffering damage so far.

A succession of storms in recent weeks meant prolonged rainfall that started on Thursday fell on saturated ground and quickly caused already-swollen rivers and waterways to burst their banks across England and Wales.

The storms have also caused flooding in other parts of Europe in recent days.