Europe

July 22 (Reuters) - Late last month, a Russian-flagged cargo ship carrying corn pulled into the Turkish port of Izmir on the Aegean Sea. The SV Nikolay had loaded the grain at Port Kavkaz, in Russia, six days earlier on June 18, according to documentation provided by an employee of the Russian company that owns the ship.

BRUSSELS, July 22 (Reuters) - The European Commission gave Hungary a final month to address its concerns about the rule of law before asking European Union governments to suspend some of the funds Hungary is to get under the bloc's 2021-2027 budget.

The new deadline is part of an EU process, called the "conditionality mechanism", meant to protect the EU's financial interests against breaches of rule of law by an EU government. It is separate from other procedures over the rule of law that the EU has launched against Hungary.

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said on Friday its forces had destroyed four U.S.-supplied high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) in Ukraine earlier this month.

Between July 5-20, "four launchers and one reloading vehicle for the U.S.-made multiple launch rocket systems (HIMARS) were destroyed," it said in a daily briefing.

Kyiv rejected Moscow's claims, calling them "fakes" designed to undermine the West's support for Ukraine.

Reuters could not verify battlefield reports.

LONDON (AP) — Britons heading off on holiday by ferry faced hours-long waits at the port of Dover on Friday, with authorities blaming French officials for the chaos.

Dover authorities said a lack of French border officials was leading to waits of up to six hours for border checks at the English Channel port, with queues of tourist and freight traffic snarling roads for miles (kilometers) around.

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry can take the British government to court over his security arrangements in the U.K., a judge in London ruled Friday.

Harry and his wife Meghan lost publicly funded U.K. police protection when they stepped down as senior working royals and moved to North America in 2020. The prince wants to pay personally for police security when he comes to Britain, and is challenging the government’s refusal to permit it.

LONDON (AP) — The European Medicines Agency said Friday that the smallpox vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic should also be authorized against monkeypox, as the outbreak of the once-rare disease continues to sicken people across the continent.

The European Union drug regulator said its recommendation was based on animal studies that suggest the vaccine protects non-human primates from monkeypox. It is up to the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, to formally approve the vaccine based on the EMA’s recommendation.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian emergency workers recovered three bodies from a school hit by a Russian strike in the east of the country, officials said Friday, as attacks continued in several parts of the nation.

The reported casualties follow a barrage Thursday on a densely populated area of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, that killed at least three people and wounded 23 others.

21 July 2022; MEMO: Belgium today ratified a controversial treaty with Iran that would allow Iranians convicted of terrorism to be extradited to the Islamic Republic.

Following a late night debate, voting took place in the early hours of today, and saw 79 members of parliament vote in favour and 41 against, 11 abstained.

KIEV, July 21. /TASS/: Ukraine’s leadership seeks to turn the tide of the military campaign against Russia by the winter, chief of the Ukrainian presidential office Andrey Yermak announced on Thursday.

"It’s crucial not to let the Russians protract the war (Kiev’s term for Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine - TASS) with us until this winter. President [of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky] is in a serious mood and is ready to do his utmost so that we liberate our territories as soon as possible," Yermak wrote on his Telegram channel.

MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/: The 5+2 format on the Transnistrian settlement de facto is not working but there are no better alternatives to it on this issue, Alexey Polishchuk, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's second CIS department, said on Thursday.