Europe

PRISTINA, July 16 (Reuters) - Kosovo has bought a batch of Turkish-made Bayraktar drones, its leader said on Sunday, at a time when it faces unrest in the north where ethnic Serbs refuse to recognise Pristina authorities.

In a Facebook post showing him in front of a drone with his defence minister, Prime Minister Albin Kurti said latest security spending was making the country safer.

KYIV, July 16 (Reuters) - Fighting in eastern Ukraine has "somewhat intensified" as Ukrainian and Russian forces clash in at least three areas on the eastern front, a senior Ukrainian defence official said on Sunday.

Separately, the Ukrainian military indicated it had taken control of part of a southeastern village in Donetsk region, near a string of small settlements Ukraine recaptured in June.

"The enemy made an unsuccessful attempt to regain lost positions in the northern part of Staromayorske," the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces said in a regular update.

LONDON (AP) — British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Sunday he plans to resign at the next Cabinet reshuffle after four years in the job.

Wallace has served as defense secretary under three prime ministers and played a key role in the U.K.'s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He told The Sunday Times his departure was due to the strain his job had put on his family. He also said he would stand down as a lawmaker at the next general election.

MADRID (AP) — More favorable weather conditions have helped firefighters slow down the advance of a wildfire on La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands that has forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 residents, authorities said Sunday.

The blaze, which started Saturday, has affected an area of about 4,600 hectares (11,300 acres) and burned some 20 houses and buildings.

Authorities urged people not to go near the area on the northwest side of the island.

(AP) --- The first phase of Ukraine’s counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory began weeks ago without fanfare. Apart from claiming that its troops are edging forward, Kyiv has not offered much detail on how it’s going.

Taking place mostly out of sight of impartial observers, the fighting in eastern and southern Ukraine pits troops equipped with new Western-supplied weapons against Kremlin forces that spent months digging formidable defenses and honing tactics.

Here’s a look at what’s happening after more than 16 months of war:

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published Sunday that Moscow has a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster munitions, and warned that Russia “reserves the right to take reciprocal action” if Ukraine uses the controversial weapons.

MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/: Moscow resolutely condemns Kiev’s plans to use terrorist methods against Russian nuclear power plants that may cause a large-scale nuclear disaster in Europe, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.

The Russian diplomat issued this statement in the wake of a Ukrainian drone attack on the town of Kurchatov where the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is located.

MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/: The African leaders on a Ukraine peace mission will have an opportunity to talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the upcoming Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg in late July, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS on Saturday.

MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a phone talk with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that obstacles still persisted for Russian exports under the gain deal, the Kremlin press office reported on Saturday.

The phone talk was held on July 15 at the initiative of the South African side, the Kremlin press office specified.

MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/: Moscow’s Basmanny District Court has ruled to arrest seven members of nationalist organizations suspected of an assassination attempt on journalists Margarita Simonyan and Ksenia Sobchak, the court’s press service told TASS on Saturday.

"The court has granted a request and selected custody as a restriction measure for the suspects who were earlier detained for the assassination attempt on Sobchak and Simonyan," the court said.