Europe

LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech on Wednesday was a worrying escalation and the threats he made must be taken seriously, British foreign office minister Gillian Keegan told Sky News.

Putin ordered Russia's first military mobilisation since World War Two, warning the West that if it continued what he called its "nuclear blackmail" that Moscow would respond with the might of all its vast arsenal.

TBILISI, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Russia's opposition on Wednesday called for protests against President Vladimir Putin after he ordered the mobilisation of 300,000 reservists for what Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny said was a failing criminal war.

Putin on Wednesday ordered Russia's first mobilisation since World War Two and backed a plan to annex swathes of Ukraine, warning the West he was not bluffing when he said he would be ready to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia. 

GENEVA (AP) — FIFA came under pressure Wednesday from several European soccer federations who want their captains to wear an armband with a rainbow heart design during World Cup games in Qatar to campaign against discrimination.

France and Germany, the last two World Cup champions, were among eight of the 13 European soccer teams going to Qatar who joined the “OneLove” campaign, which started in the Netherlands. The Dutch team plays Qatar in Group A on Nov. 29.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Large numbers of Russians rushed to book one-way tickets out of the country while they still could Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of military reservists for the war in Ukraine.

Flights filled up quickly and the prices of tickets for remaining connections sky-rocketed, apparently driven by fears that Russia’s borders could soon close or of a broader call-up that might send many Russian men of fighting age to the war’s front lines.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization of reservists Wednesday, taking a risky and deeply unpopular step that follows humiliating setbacks for his troops nearly seven months after invading Ukraine.

The first such call-up in Russia since World War II heightened tensions with the Western backers of Ukraine, who derided it as an act of weakness and desperation. The move also sent some Russians scrambling to buy plane tickets out of the country, and hundreds of people were arrested at antiwar demonstrations across the country.

Moscow, Sep 21 (PTI) President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced a "partial mobilisation" of some 300,000 reservists with immediate effect in the wake of setbacks suffered by Russia in its raging conflict with Ukraine, saying it was necessary as Moscow is fighting the "entire military machine of the collective West." Putin made the announcement in a televised address to the nation in which he also said that Russia will use all the means at its disposal to protect its territory, warning the West that "this is not a bluff".

20 Sep 2022; MEMO: French President, Emmanuel Macron, held face-to-face talks with his Iranian counterpart, President Ebrahim Raisi, on Tuesday, with the French leader saying he hoped to be able to "discuss all subjects".

The meeting is Raisi's first head-to-head with a major Western leader since he was elected last year.

20 Sep 2022; MEMO: German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on Tuesday said he was "very irritated" about Turkiye's attempts to join a Central Asian security body dominated by Russia and China, Reuters reports.

Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan, said on Saturday he was targeting membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation for Turkiye, which is also a member of the NATO defence alliance.

21 Sep 2022; MEMO: German utilities RWE (RWEG.DE) and Uniper (UN01.DE) are close to striking long-term deals to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar's North Field Expansion project to help replace Russian gas, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/: Donbass is interested in the most transparent and legitimate holding of referendums, as well as their approval by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS countries, Lugansk People's Republic ambassador to the Russian Federation Rodion Miroshnik said during a Rossiya-24 TV broadcast on Tuesday.