Europe

LONDON (AP) — British health officials say the monkeypox outbreak across the country “shows signs of slowing” but that it’s still too soon to know if the decline will be maintained.

In a statement on Monday, the Health Security Agency said authorities are reporting about 29 new monkeypox infections every day, compared to about 52 cases a day during the last week in June. In July, officials estimated the outbreak was doubling in size about every two weeks. To date, the U.K. has recorded more than 3,000 cases of monkeypox, with more than 70% of cases in London.

NICE, France (AP) — The last French army unit left Mali on Monday, according to a statement from the French military, nine years after Paris sent troops to the West African country to help drive Islamic extremists from power.

France’s armed forces completed their withdrawal from Mali six months after French President Emmanuel Macron announced his plan to pull out of the country following tensions with the ruling junta.

MOSCOW (AP) — Lawyers for American basketball star Brittney Griner have filed an appeal of her nine-year Russian prison sentence for drug possession, Russian news agencies reported Monday, amid talks between the U.S. and Russia that could lead to a high-profile prisoner swap.

Griner, an eight-time all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medalist, was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/: The final agreement on restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program may be reached as early as next week in the event of favorable development of events, Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov told TASS in an interview.

MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/: The Russian armed forces have liberated the settlement of Udy in the Kharkov Region as a result of offensive operations, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Sunday.

"As a result of offensive operations by the Russian armed forces, the settlement of Udy in the Kharkov Region has been completely liberated," the spokesman said.

MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/: The Russian side is ready for a professional conversation and concrete steps to exchange prisoners with the United States, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/: The United States’ plans to isolate Russia in the world have failed, which explains Washington’s attempts to label Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism with the hands of others, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

"They are using others to materialize their idea [to add Russia to this list]. As a matter of fact, the Baltic states have already spoken out on this topic," she said in an interview with the Voskresny Vecher (Sunday Evening) with Vladimir Solovyov program on the Rossiya-1 television channel.

YUZHNE, Ukraine, Aug 14 (Reuters) - The United Nations-chartered ship Brave Commander will depart Ukraine for Africa in coming days after it finishes loading more than 23,000 metric tonnes of wheat in the Ukrainian port of Pivdennyi, a U.N. official said.

The ship, which arrived in the port near Odesa, will sail to Ethiopia via a grain corridor through the Black Sea brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in late July.

LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Rishi Sunak, one of two candidates seeking to become Britain's next prime minister, said Friday's attack on author Salman Rushdie should serve as a wake-up call to the West over Iran, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Indian-born author Rushdie, who spent years in hiding after Iran urged Muslims to kill him over his novel "The Satanic Verses", was stabbed in the neck and torso on stage at a lecture in New York state. After hours of surgery, Rushdie was on a ventilator and unable to speak as of Friday evening.

LISBON, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Portuguese government on Saturday announced several financial aid packages to the agricultural sector to mitigate the losses resulting from adverse weather conditions and the consequences of the Ukraine crisis.