Europe

FRANKFURT/MUMBAI, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The Afghan central bank ran down most of its U.S. dollar cash reserves in the weeks before the Taliban took control of the country, according to an assessment prepared for Afghanistan's international donors, exacerbating the current economic crisis.

The confidential, two-page brief, written early this month by senior international economic officials for institutions including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, said the country's severe cash shortage began before the Taliban took control of Kabul.

LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Britain ordered soldiers on Wednesday tostart driving fuel tankers to replenish empty pumps, as motorists remained mired in queues after nearly a week of shortages, despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the situation was improving.

Britain has been gripped by a rush of panic buying that has left pumps dry across major cities, after oil companies warned they did not have enough tanker drivers to move petrol and diesel from refineries to filling stations.

BRUSSELS, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Kosovo and Serbia to normalize their relations during her visit to Pristina on Wednesday, after expressing concerns on current tensions at their border.

"I am very concerned about the current crisis. It is important to de-escalate and return to the negotiating table to find a sustainable solution," she said at a joint press conference with Albin Kurti, prime minister of Kosovo.

MILAN (AP) — AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni is confident the team’s new stadium will be ready in three years and that the club will be ready to break ground on the project by the end of next year.

The beginning of the end for Milan’s iconic San Siro stadium was announced in 2019 when the Rossoneri and Inter Milan unveiled the two shortlisted projects for their proposed new stadium.

The two rival clubs both play their home games at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza — commonly referred to as San Siro.

LONDON (AP) — A prosecutor argued Wednesday that a serving London police officer handcuffed a woman on the pretext of breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules before he kidnapped and killed her.

Wayne Couzens, 48, appeared at London’s Central Criminal Court charged with the kidnap, rape and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard, who disappeared while walking home from visiting a friend in south London on March 3.

Couzens has pleaded guilty to the charges. He sat in court with his head bowed as members of Everard’s family listened to prosecutor Tom Little open his case.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive branch proposed Wednesday to tighten visa restrictions on members of President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime as allegations mount that Belarus is using migrants to destabilize the 27-country bloc.

EU members Poland and Lithuania are struggling to cope with an unusually high number of migrants, most from Iraq and Afghanistan, arriving at their borders with Belarus in recent months. Poland deployed troops and declared a state of emergency. Dozens tried to cross into Lithuania overnight.

LOS LLANOS DE ARIDANE, Canary Islands (AP) — Lava from a volcano on Spain’s Canary Islands has reached the sea after 10 days of wiping out hundreds of homes and causing the evacuation of thousands of residents.

Columns of steam that experts had warned could contain toxic gases shot upward when the bright red molten rock tumbled into the Atlantic Ocean at 11 p.m. on Tuesday.

The area had been evacuated for several days as authorities waited for the lava to reach the water. Its erratic flows and changes in the terrain had slowed its progress.

29 Sep 2021; MEMO: Iran must return to talks with world powers over its 2015 nuclear deal to avoid a diplomatic escalation that could jeopardize the negotiations, a French presidency official said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

The official also said Iran could not set new conditions before returning to the talks in Vienna as the terms on the table were clear.

KIEV, September 28. /TASS/: The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is inviting Hungary's ambassador to brief him on Kiev's stance regarding Budapest's deal with Russia's Gazprom, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Tuesday.

"The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is inviting Hungary's ambassador in Kiev to brief him on our fundamental position," he said in a commentary to RBC-Ukraine, adding that it was a proportionate response to Budapest's steps.

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/: Russia and Vietnam have expressed the mutual intention to enhance strategic partnership, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference following talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son on Tuesday.