Europe

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday announced a national debate on end-of-life options that will include exploring the possibility of legalizing assisted suicide.

A 2016 French law provides that doctors can keep terminally ill patients sedated before death but stops short of allowing assisted suicide.

Macron said in a written statement that a panel of citizens would work on the issue in coordination with health care workers over the coming months, while local debates are organized in French regions.

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Azerbaijani forces shelled Armenia’s territory Tuesday and killed at least 49 Armenian soldiers, Armenia’s prime minister said, a large-scale attack that fueled fears of broader hostilities breaking out between the longtime adversaries.

The hostilities erupted minutes after midnight, with Azerbaijani forces unleashing an artillery barrage and drone attacks in many sections of Armenian territory, according to the Armenian Defense Ministry.

LONDON (AP) — A plane carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II landed in London, where crowds have gathered along a route to Buckingham Palace.

The military C-17 Globemaster touched down Tuesday evening at RAF Northolt, an air force base in the west of the city, about an hour after it left Edinburgh in Scotland. U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and a military honor guard were among those awaiting the arrival of the coffin at the base.

KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian troops piled pressure on retreating Russian forces on Tuesday, pressing a counteroffensive that has produced major gains and a stunning blow to Moscow’s military prestige.

12 Sep 2022; MEMO: Iran has agreed to release the crews of two Greek tankers it seized in May in response to the confiscation of oil by the United States from an Iranian-flagged tanker in Greece, a Greek seafarers union said. Reuters reports.

The months'-long diplomatic impasse has strained relations between Athens and Tehran, as tensions grow between Iran and the United States.

MOSCOW, September 12. /TASS/: Russia’s regional elections were organized on a world-class scale with no significant glitches, incidents or objections, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday.

VIENNA, September 12. /TASS/: Shelling of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant continue, which threatens reactors and depleted fuel storage area, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said during a press conference Monday.

MOSCOW, September 12. /TASS/: Russia is facing financial and technological aggression, but the economic blitzkrieg against the country was not successful, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

"I would like to emphasize once again that Russia is confidently coping with external pressure, one might say - with financial and technological aggression from some countries. The tactics of economic blitzkrieg did not work, this is already obvious to everyone and to them," Putin said.

GENEVA, Sept 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Fifty million people around the world are trapped in forced labour or forced marriage, the UN said, warning that their ranks had swelled dramatically in recent years.

The United Nations had set a goal to eradicate all forms of modern slavery by 2030, but instead the number of people caught up in forced labour or forced marriage ballooned by 10 million between 2016 and 2021, according to a new report.

BERLIN, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Germany is in talks to buy the Arrow 3 missile defence system from Israel as part of Berlin's efforts to strengthen its armed forces after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on a visit to the German capital on Monday.

Germany has ramped up its military spending after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February, while shipping aid and heavy weapons to Kyiv as part of an international response.