Europe

LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Monday that it had prepared its forces to work in conditions of radioactive contamination, after Moscow accused Ukraine of planning to detonate a "dirty bomb" - something Kyiv has strongly denied.

After weeks of rising international tension following threats by President Vladimir Putin to defend Russia's "territorial integrity" with nuclear weapons, it was the first concrete statement from Moscow of a change in its forces' state of preparedness.

MOSCOW, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russian exports jumped by 25.4 percent year on year to 431 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of 2022, a senior official said Monday.

Imports plummeted by 15.7 percent in this period to 180 billion dollars, First Deputy Head of Russia's Federal Customs Service Ruslan Davydov told a press conference.

This led to "a record" trade surplus of 251 billion dollars, almost doubling from the number in the first nine months of 2021, he said.

MOSCOW (AP) — The crash of a Russian warplane into a residential building in the Siberian city of Irkutsk that killed both pilots may have resulted from a faulty oxygen supply that caused the crew to lose consciousness mid-flight, Russian news reports said Monday.

There were no casualties on the ground when the Su-30 fighter jet crashed Sunday into a wooden two-story building. Both families living there were away at the time of the crash.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday met at the Vatican with French President Emmanuel Macron, with the war in Ukraine looming large in both leaders’ concerns.

The nearly hour-long private audience was Francis’ third with Macron since becoming pontiff.

In a sign of their good relationship, the two used the informal French form of “you” in their conversation, according to the president’s office.

The Vatican in a brief statement said that after Macron spoke with Francis, the French leader met with the Holy See’s secretary of state and its foreign minister.

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish man who was documenting his ambitious journey by foot from Madrid to Doha for the 2022 FIFA World Cup has not been heard from since crossing into Iran three weeks ago, his family said Monday, stirring fears about his fate in a country convulsed by mass unrest.

LONDON (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean region told staff in an internal email that he is “very disturbed” by allegations reported by the Associated Press last week that the U.N. health agency’s Syria director misspent millions, abused staff and violated the organization’s own COVID-19 protocols as the pandemic swept across the war-torn country.

In a message sent to all staff in the Middle East on Friday, Dr. Ahmed Salim Al-Mandhari said “the allegations negatively impact the people of Syria, whom we strive to serve.”

LONDON (AP) — This year’s United Nations climate summit is brought to you by Coke.

Soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co.’s sponsorship of the flagship U.N. climate conference, known as COP27, sparked an online backlash and highlighted broader concerns about corporate lobbying and influence.

IZIUM, Ukraine (AP) — The doctors are preparing for cold days in the basement. They already spent four months performing surgeries there this year, from the war’s early days until well into the Russian occupation of Izium.

At least they can expect the generator to have a steady supply of fuel, even if it’s no match for the winter air that will blow in through the glassless windows and collapsed walls of a hilltop hospital in northeast Ukraine.

LONDON (AP) — Former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak on Monday was the strong favorite to become Britain’s next prime minister within days — or even hours — after former leader Boris Johnson dropped out of the Conservative Party leadership contest.

After the resignation of Liz Truss last week, the governing party is choosing Britain’s third prime minister this year at a time of political turmoil and severe economic challenges.

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/: The decisions of the EU summit have confirmed the confrontational nature of the European Union’s policy, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.

"The decisions adopted at the EU Council meeting have again confirmed the confrontational nature of the European Union’s policy," Zakharova said in response to a media question from the media, published on the Russian Foreign Ministry website.