Europe

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces over the weekend continued to shell Ukrainian cities amid a grinding push to seize more land in the east of the country, with Ukrainian officials saying that Moscow is having trouble launching its much-anticipated large-scale offensive there.

One person was killed and one more was wounded on Sunday morning by the shelling of Nikopol, a city in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, Gov. Serhii Lysak reported. The shelling damaged four residential buildings, a vocational school and a water treatment facility.

BERLIN, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Although Germany was criticized by its partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for its "late" export approval of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the country is right not to blindly rush into more and more weapon deliveries and plays a key role in calming its western allies.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned against a "public competition to outdo each other along the lines of battle tanks, submarines, aircraft..." NATO must not become a party in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he said ahead of a special meeting of the European Union (EU).

PORTO, Portugal, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- First of the 18-set metro trains made by Chinese company was delivered to the Porto Metro company of Portugal on Saturday.

The 4-car train is on display in the Trindade Metro Station at the center of Porto from Saturday till next Tuesday.

The train assessed meets expectations of the public passengers of top quality, more security to advance more people to use the public transports, Portuguese Minister of Environment and Climate Action Duarte Cordeiro told Xinhua.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — An exit poll from the presidential election in ethnically divided Cyprus shows a former foreign minister leading a career diplomat by a tight margin in a runoff vote.

According to Sunday’s exit poll by state broadcaster CyBC, Nikos Christodoulides, the ex-minister, garnered 50.5% to 53.5% against 46.5% to 49.5% for veteran diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek foreign minister Nikos Dendias visited the earthquake-stricken areas of Turkey Sunday, accompanied by his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The visit was part of a new round of so-called “earthquake diplomacy” between the two uneasy allies, whose relations have often been frosty, if not downright hostile. Something similar happened in 1999, three years after the two countries almost went to war over two uninhabited islets in the Aegean Sea.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday expressed sadness and worry at the news that Roman Catholic Bishop Roland Álvarez, an outspoken critic of the Nicaraguan government, had been sentenced to 26 years in prison in the latest move against the Catholic Church and government opponents.

Álvarez was sentenced Friday, after refusing to get on a flight to the United States with 222 other prisoners, all opponents of President Daniel Ortega. In addition to his prison term, Álvarez was stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship.

BERLIN (AP) — The city of Berlin on Sunday held a court-ordered rerun of a chaotic 2021 state election that was marred by severe glitches at many polling stations and hours-long lines as some polling places ran out of ballot papers or received ones for the wrong district.

Berliners have long been frustrated by the German capital’s notoriously dysfunctional administration, which has defied cliches of German efficiency for years and made the city the laughing stock of the rest of the country.

VIENNA (AP) — Austria has come under heavy criticism for granting visas that will allow sanctioned Russian lawmakers to attend a Vienna meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The issue highlights the delicate balancing act the European country has engaged in while trying to maintain its longstanding position of military neutrality during the war in Ukraine. The Austrian government has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago but also stressed the need to maintain diplomatic relations with Moscow.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces over the weekend continued to shell Ukrainian cities amid a grinding push to seize more land in the east of the country, with Ukrainian officials saying that Moscow is having trouble launching its much-anticipated large-scale offensive there.

One person was killed and one more was wounded on Sunday morning by the shelling of Nikopol, a city in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, Gov. Serhii Lysak reported. The shelling damaged four residential buildings, a vocational school and a water treatment facility.

MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/: The Russian Armed Forces on Friday delivered a massive strike on critical facilities generating power for Ukraine’s defense sector and transportation networks, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Saturday.

"On February 10, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation delivered a massive strike from high-precision weapons <…> and unmanned aerial vehicles on critical facilities generating power for Ukraine’s defense companies and transportation networks," he said.