Europe

HELSINKI, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Finland ranks first in the European Union's (EU) digital performance comparison, according to a press release issued by the Finnish government on Thursday.

The maximum score in the European Commission's annual Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) comparison is 100, and Finland's score is 69.6 this year. The EU average is 52.3. Finland finished ahead of Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden.

STOCKHOLM, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Already at its 30-year high, inflation keeps breaking new records in Sweden as prices of food, electricity and fuels skyrocket in recent months, due partly to the conflict in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.

Data newly published by Statistics Sweden showed the country's 12-month inflation rate hit 8.5 percent in June, the highest since December 1991. This figure, above market expectations, followed increments of statistics: 6.1 percent in March, 6.4 percent in April and 7.2 percent in May.

LONDON (AP) — A British judge jailed a man who killed his grandfather for life Thursday in the first crown court sentencing to be televised in Britain.

Judge Sarah Munro’s remarks were the first to be broadcast live on news channels after a change in law to allow cameras in British crown courts, which deal with serious criminal cases.

The legal change was made in 2020, but it was only implemented Thursday because of delays due to the coronavirus pandemic.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Germany’s top diplomat visited refugees at a camp in Greece on Thursday after stressing that European Union countries should do more to safeguard people seeking refuge from war and hardship.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited a Holocaust memorial in Athens before sitting down with refugees at a camp west of the city. She used the visit to promote what she called “a common European sea rescue policy” and to oppose summary deportations of asylum-seekers and migrants.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched a missile attack on the Kyiv area for the first time in weeks Thursday and pounded the northern Chernihiv region as well, in what Ukraine said was revenge for standing up to the Kremlin.

Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, announced a counteroffensive to take back the occupied Kherson region in the country’s south, territory seized by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces early in the war.

28 July 2022; MEMO: Belgian and Luxembourgian associations in solidarity with Palestine organised a protest in several Belgian cities against the participation of an Israeli team, Israel Premier Tech, in the Tour de Wallonie cycling race, which is sportswashing apartheid, according to the Palestinian News Agency WAFA.

27 July 2022; MEMO: Vladimir Putin approached Turkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a proposal that Turkish attack drone maker, Baykar, set up a production plant in Russia, local media, CNN Turk, reported on 27 July.

According to the report, Erdogan told colleagues at a top party meeting on 26 July that Putin approached him during their July 19 meeting in Tehran to suggest the Baykar deal.

MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/: Russia’s second-largest city of Saint Petersburg will host the 2023 Russia-Africa Summit, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on Wednesday.

"We are leaving the African continent under a heavy rain and this is a good sign," she stated. "Thank you, friends, and we are waiting for you in Saint Petersburg next year at the Russia-Africa summit."

MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/: Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov views the resolution of the cargo transit crisis to Russia’s westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad as a positive development.

"The crisis situation has been resolved, it is a positive development. Sometimes we see some seeds of common sense even amid an anti-Russia hysteria. Let’s hope that these seeds will continue to bear fruit," he told reporters on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/: Qatar holds Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine in high regard, Ambassador of Qatar to Russia Ahmed bin Nasser bin Jasim Al Thani said in an interview for TASS.

"The Sputnik V is a good vaccine. We have many guests from Russia who were vaccinated with the Sputnik V, and there have been no problems, they are welcome," the envoy said.

Meanwhile, the envoy noted that special entry requirements may be introduced due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.