Europe

MOSCOW, August 26. /TASS/: The explosion that occurred at the northern entrance to Kabul’s airport was carried out by a suicide bomber, Sky News Arabia reported on Thursday. According to the news outlet, the blast took place outside the airport.

Al Jazeera said, citing a security source, that at least 15 people had suffered wounds. Afghanistan’s Pajhwok news agency reported that two people had been killed.

Reuters said, citing a US official, that the blast appeared to be caused by a suicide bomb.

BRUSSELS, August 26. /TASS/: Russia and the European Union are to start consultations within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Brussels’ claims against the Russian import substitution policy on September 13, a source in the European Commission told TASS on Thursday.

"The European Commission initiated a probe within the WTO in July regarding Russian government procurement rules infringing upon the rights of European producers. The start of the first phase of such proceedings - bilateral consultations - is set for September 13," the source said.

MOSCOW, August 26. /TASS/: The battle against wildfires in Yakutia is nearing its completion, First Russian Deputy Emergencies Minister Alexander Chupriyan said at a news conference at TASS on Thursday.

"Two days ago I came back from a regular working trip, as the president set a task of extinguishing the fires in Yakutia. This task has been almost completed," he said.

MOSCOW, August 26. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak in person at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum on September 3, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"Yes, I indeed confirm that President Putin will take part in the Eastern Economic Forum. He will participate in person in the plenary session. This will be a ‘mixed plenary session,’ the President will attend personally but there will also be an element related to the video conference," Peskov said. 

26 Aug 2021; MEMO: Lawyers and campaigners have claimed that British nationals of Afghan origin are not being evacuated from Kabul.

According to the Guardian, roughly 50 dual British-Afghan citizens waved their UK passports outside Kabul airport yesterday but were overlooked for evacuation.

Immigration lawyers have said that they are being treated as second-class citizens in the evacuation efforts.

BUDAPEST, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Hungary is ending evacuations in Afghanistan after airlifting 540 people including Hungarian citizens and Afghans and their families who worked for Hungarian forces previously, the Hungarian Defence Minister Tibor Benko said on Thursday.

The two military passenger planes and all the troops involved in the operation have returned safely to Hungary, Benko told a news conference.

PARIS, Aug 26 (Reuters) - France will no longer be able to evacuate people from Afghanistan from Friday evening onwards, French Prime Minister Jean Castex told RTL radio.

"We are going to continue until tomorrow evening," said Castex on Thursday.

The United States and allies urged people to move away from Kabul airport on Thursday due to the threat of a terror attack by Islamic State militants as Western troops hurry to evacuate as many people as possible before an Aug. 31 deadline. 

MOSCOW, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Russia has yet to determine its position towards the Taliban, and will see how they act toward the Afghan population and Russian diplomats, President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson said on Thursday.

Moscow is interested in peace and stability in Afghanistan and will likely continue contacts with Washington on issues arising there, Dmitry Peskov told a briefing.

PENISCOLA, Spain, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Firefighters in the Spanish coastal town of Peniscola found the body of a teenager early on Thursday in the wreckage of a collapsed building and said they were still searching for another missing person.

Peniscola's mayor Andres Martinez told Reuters the boy was around 15 years old and had been staying in the three-story building, which collapsed for unknown reasons on Wednesday evening in the region of Valencia on Spain's eastern coast.

ZAGREB, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Croatia's tourism results almost reached the 2019 level in July and August, and booking for September also looks promising, Croatian Minister of Tourism Nikolina Brnjac said on Wednesday.

"The number of tourists and overnight stays is around 90 percent of summer months in 2019," Brnjac told the national news agency Hina.