Europe

LONDON, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Over 40 percent of Americans say a U.S. civil war is likely to happen within a decade as political polarization and street violence grow, British media outlet The Guardian said recently citing a poll result.

According to the survey conducted by the Britain-based data company YouGov and the Economist, around 43 percent of Americans believe a civil war is at least somewhat likely in the next 10 years.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s top politician said Thursday that the government will seek equivalent of some $1.3 trillion in reparations from Germany for the Nazis’ World War II invasion and occupation of his country.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the Law and Justice party, announced the huge claim at the release of a long-awaited report on the cost to the country of years of Nazi German occupation as it marks 83 years since the start of World War II.

MADRID (AP) — A small amount of heavy fuel oil has leaked from a bulk carrier ship stranded since colliding Monday with another ship near the Bay of Gibraltar, authorities said Thursday. The Captain of the Gibraltar Port said the leak is “fully under control.”

Authorities announced one person had been arrested Thursday in connection with the incident but gave no further information.

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — A U.N. inspection team arrived at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant Thursday on a mission to safeguard it against catastrophe, reaching the site amid fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces that prompted the shutdown of one reactor and underscored the urgency of the task.

MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/: Gazprom managed to increase gas deliveries via the Power of Siberia to China by 60% in January-August, the company said in a statement following the results of a conference call dedicated to the day of workers in the oil and gas industry.

MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/: Sober calls for coming to terms with Russia can be heard among European politicians, but Russia first of all needs to protect itself from relapses, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the educational marathon Znaniye (Knowledge) on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/: More than half of Russians, or 55%, believe Russia has the most friendly ties with China, according to a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) that was released on Wednesday.

"More than half of our fellow citizens - 55% - still believe that Russia has the strongest relations with China. That’s the highest level on record (up 10 percentage points from 2019)," the pollster said in a statement.

MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/: Russia is living through a long historical period when it has nobody but itself to rely on, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the educational marathon Znaniye (Knowledge) on Wednesday.

PARIS, August 31. /TASS/: The International Atomic Energy Agency's mission, on its way to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, has arrived in the city of Zaporozhye, AFP reported on Wednesday.

On Monday, the IAEA’s mission left Vienna and arrived in Kiev on Tuesday where the delegation met Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. UN officials told TASS on Monday that the mission would arrive at the nuclear facility via Kiev and the Ukrainian-controlled territory.

STOCKHOLM, Aug 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A porpoise found stranded on a Swedish beach in June died of bird flu, the first time the virus has been detected in a porpoise, Sweden’s National Veterinary Institute said Wednesday.

“As far as we know this is the first confirmed case in the world of bird flu in a porpoise,” veterinarian Elina Thorsson said in a statement.

“It is likely that the porpoise somehow came into contact with infected birds,” she said.