Europe

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Germany’s president arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday for his first visit to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion, as Western countries mulled a massive plan for Ukrainian rebuilding when the war eventually ends.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after arriving that “it was important to me in this phase of air attacks with drones, cruise missiles and rockets to send a signal of solidarity to Ukrainians.”

LONDON (AP) — Rishi Sunak is due to be installed as Britain’s third prime minister of the year by King Charles III on Tuesday, before appointing a Cabinet that will have to wrestle with the U.K.’s economic and political crises.

Sunak, the U.K.’s first leader of color, was selected as leader of the governing Conservative Party on Monday as it tries to stabilize the economy, and its own plunging popularity, after the brief, disastrous term of Liz Truss.

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/: US elites continue to believe that they can pursue aggression against Russia as long as they want, this short-sighted conviction is teeming with utterly dangerous consequences, Chairman of the Russian Historical Society and Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin said on Monday.

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/: The Russian Armed Forces have eliminated more than 1,400 Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries over the past week, according to TASS calculations based on daily briefings by Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

The enemy sustained the greatest losses in manpower and materiel in the Nikolaev-Krivoi Rog area.

TASS has summarized the key statistics concerning Russia’s special military operation for October 17 to October 23.

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/: Russia is boosting production of all types of weapons from tanks and guns to high-precision missiles and drones, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.

"The production of weapons and special equipment of all types is increasing manyfold: from tanks and guns to high-precision missiles and drones. Brace yourself!" he said on Telegram.

The politician addressed Russia's opponents and advised them not to hope that the country would run out of armaments.

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/: Russia’s absence from the IAEA’s conference on nuclear power in the 21st century downscales the status of this major event, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a commentary on Monday following the United States’ refusal to issue visas to Russian delegates.

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/: The risk of Kiev using a "dirty bomb" will be on the agenda of the UN Security Council today or tomorrow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the media on the sidelines of the 19th annual meeting of the Valdai international discussion club on Monday.

"This issue will be discussed in the UN Security Council today or tomorrow," Lavrov said.

He stressed that Russia had reliable evidence Ukraine may be planning provocations involving the use of a dirty bomb.

LJUBLJANA, Oct 24 (NNN-XINHUA) – Slovenia is to hold the second round of the presidential election on Nov 13, after no candidate got a majority in the first round, held yesterday.

The two best positioned candidates, Anze Logar, a member of parliament of the opposition centre-right Slovenian Democratic Party, and independent candidate, lawyer, Natasa Pirc Musar, will compete in the second round.

BUCHAREST, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Romanian Defence Minister Vasile Dincu resigned on Monday, saying he could not collaborate with the country's president, amid pressure weeks after he said Ukraine's only chance to end the war was to negotiate with Russia.

European Union and NATO state Romania shares a 650-kilometre (400 mile) border with Ukraine, is host to a U.S. ballistic missile defense system and, as of this year, has had a permanent alliance battlegroup stationed on its territory.

KYIV, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Western countries accused Russia on Monday of plotting to use a threat of a "dirty bomb" laced with nuclear material as a pretext for escalation in Ukraine, as Moscow evacuated civilians from a southern city in anticipation of a major battle.

With Ukrainian forces advancing into Russian-occupied Kherson province, top Russian officials phoned Western counterparts on Sunday and again on Monday to tell them Moscow suspected Kyiv of planning to use a so-called "dirty bomb".