Europe

STOCKHOLM, October 17. /TASS/: Four people traveling in a car with Russian license plates, three men and a woman, were detained in Norway as they were spotted taking pictures of objects prohibited for documentation, the NRK TV reported on Monday, citing the police.

KYIV, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Russian kamikaze drones hit tanks with sunflower oil at one of the terminals in the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv late on Sunday, the city mayor said on Monday.

One of Ukraine's largest ports, Mykolaiv halted shipments at the start of the Russian invasion, but Ukraine is pushing to open the port to expand shipments of food under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey. 

"In Mykolaiv, three drones hit an object of industrial infrastructure, where tanks with sunflower oil were ignited," Mykolaiv mayor Oleksandr Senkevich.

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Several European Union foreign ministers on Monday called for sanctions against Iran over the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia, as the bloc agreed a separate set of asset freezes and travel bans over Tehran's crackdown on protests.

The sanctions and threat of more will pile pressure on Iran's rulers who have struggled to contain demonstrations sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained for "inappropriate attire".

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has set Russia on a path towards turmoil that could unseat the Kremlin chief, trigger civil war or even ultimately break the country apart, said a Russian diplomat who resigned over the war.

Boris Bondarev, a counsellor at Russia's permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva, resigned in May because he felt the war had shown how repressive and warped his homeland had become.

BERLIN, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Germany's intelligence service chiefs warned on Monday that China could use stakes in critical infrastructure as leverage to pursue political aims amid a debate in Berlin over whether to let Chinese shipping company Cosco invest in Hamburg port.

Germany's Greens-run economy ministry wants to veto Cosco's bid to buy a stake in one of the three terminals in Germany's most important port, while the Social Democrat (SPD)-run chancellery is more in favour, according to government sources.

YEYSK, Russia, Oct 17 (Reuters) - A Russian fighter plane crashed into a residential building in the southern Russian city of Yeysk on Monday, engulfing apartments in flames, the regional governor said.

Footage showed a large fireball erupting from a multi-storey building. Russian news agencies said the pilots had ejected.

Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said the plane was a Sukhoi Su-34, a supersonic medium-range fighter-bomber.

RIA news agency said it crashed during a training flight from a military airfield. TASS said the crash was caused by an engine fire.

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Liz Truss did not appear in parliament on Monday to answer a question about why the former finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked last week, drawing accusations from the opposition Labour Party that she was "scared of her own shadow".

Such was the taunting from opposition parties that at one point Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons standing in for Truss, insisted that: "The prime minister is not under a desk."

Mordaunt said the reason for the PM's absence was "very genuine" but she did not elaborate.

Oct 16 (Reuters) - British lawmakers will try to oust Prime Minister Liz Truss this week despite Downing Street's warning that it could trigger a general election, the Daily Mail reported.

More than 100 members of parliament (MPs) belonging to the governing Conservative Party are ready to submit letters of no confidence in Truss to Graham Brady, the head of the Conservative Party's committee which organises the leadership contest, the tabloid reported, quoting unnamed sources.

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Moderate Party, was on Monday voted by the parliament to be Sweden's new prime minister.

Kristersson got 176 yes votes in the 349-seat Parliament, while 173 voted no. There were no abstentions.

Kristersson is expected to announce his new cabinet on Tuesday.

The blue bloc, led by Kristersson, consisting of the Moderate Party, the Christian Democrats, the Liberal Party and the Sweden Democrats, had won 176 of the 349 seats in parliament in the recent election. 

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A few hours after scoring the winning goal in Paris Saint-Germain’s victory over Marseille in the French league, Neymar arrived in court in Spain on Monday to face a trial for alleged irregularities involving his transfer to Barcelona in 2013.

Neymar’s parents, former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and representatives for both the Spanish club and Brazilian team Santos also appeared in court after a complaint brought by Brazilian investment group DIS regarding the amount of the player’s transfer.