Europe

Sept 19 (Reuters) - Russia has highly likely lost at least four combat jets in Ukraine within the last 10 days, taking its attrition to about 55 since the beginning of its invasion, the British military said on Monday.

There is a realistic possibility that the uptick in losses was partially a result of the Russian Air Force accepting greater risk in a move to provide close air support to Russian ground forces under pressure from Ukrainian advances, the Defence Ministry said in its daily intelligence on Twitter. (https://bit.ly/3DBpgqO)

NARVA, Estonia, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Four of the five European Union countries bordering Russia began turning away Russian tourists at midnight on Monday, saying they should not travel while their country is at war with Ukraine.

Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania imposed new restrictions as Finland decided to remain open, though it has cut back the number of consular appointments available to Russian travellers seeking visas.

BERLIN/LISBON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Germany was pressing on Monday to secure liquefied natural gas contracts with Gulf producers and other European states outlined measures to conserve energy, with Russian flows running at severely reduced levels as winter approaches.

Berlin said it aimed to sign LNG contracts in the United Arab Emirates to supply terminals it is building, now that the vital Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from Russia is shut, while Spain, France others outlined contingency planning to try to avoid power cuts. 

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss officials on Monday formally signed a procurement contract to acquire three dozen F-35 fighter jets from the United States as part of a planned refurbishment of Switzerland’s air force that has run afoul of critics of the big defense purchase, the government said.

The head of Switzerland’s armaments service and F-35A program director inked the procurement deal that is to cost just over 6 billion Swiss francs (dollars) for the planes that will be delivered between 2027 and 2030.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The leader of Sweden’s third largest party -- the center-right Moderates -- on Monday was formally asked to attempt to form a government that could include the populist Sweden Democrats, either inside a governing coalition or outside to secure a majority.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Iran told the United Nations’ highest court on Monday that Washington’s confiscation of some $2 billion in assets from Iranian state bank accounts to compensate bombing victims was an attempt to destabilize the Iranian government and a violation of international law.

In 2016, Tehran filed a suit at the International Court of Justice after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled money held in Iran’s central bank could be used to compensate the 241 victims of a 1983 bombing of a U.S. military base in Lebanon believed linked to Iran.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian missile struck close to a nuclear power plant Monday in southern Ukraine without damaging the three reactors but hit other industrial equipment in what Ukrainian authorities denounced as an act of “nuclear terrorism.”

The missile made impact within 300 meters (328 yards) of the reactors at the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, blasting a crater 2 meters (6 1/2 feet) deep and 4 meters (13 feet) across, according to Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom.

LONDON (AP) — Britain and the world said a final goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II at a state funeral Monday that drew presidents and kings, princes and prime ministers — and crowds who thronged the streets of London to honor a monarch whose 70-year reign defined an age.

19 Sep 2022; MEMO: The Kremlin on Monday that "loud announcements" from US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on the causes of the border conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia were unlikely to help stabilise the situation, reports Reuters.

MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/: The White House will announce the name of its new ambassador to Russia next Tuesday, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said in an interview with the Dozhd TV channel (deemed a foreign agent in Russia), aired on Saturday.

For the first time ever a woman will be appointed to the post, she added.

At present, the post of US ambassador to Russia is vacant, following the departure of John Sullivan, 62, from Moscow on September 4. He was appointed by former US President Donald Trump, a Republican, in December 2019.