Europe

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Firefighters in Spain on Sunday struggled to contain wildfires in several parts of the country, which is suffering a heat wave unusual for this time of the year.

The worst damage has been in the northwest province of Zamora where over 25,000 hectares (61,000 acres) have been consumed, regional authorities said.

TERRADILLOS DE LOS TEMPLARIOS, Spain (AP) — Amid the vast grain fields of Spain, a medieval church stands guard over the handful of adobe homes where some 50 people live — and twice as many travelers along the Camino de Santiago spend the night this summer.

Terradillos de los Templarios, and dozens of villages like it, were built to host medieval pilgrims walking the 500-mile (800-kilometer) route across Spain to the Apostle James’ tomb in Santiago de Compostela. Today’s Camino travelers are saving them from disappearing.

PARIS (AP) — French voters are going to the polls in the final round of key parliamentary elections that will demonstrate how much legroom President Emmanuel Macron’s party will be given to implement his ambitious domestic agenda.

In last week’s first vote, the left, under firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, made a surprisingly strong showing, sending jitters through Macron’s allies.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Four months of brutal fighting in Ukraine appear to be straining the morale of troops on both sides, prompting desertions and rebellion against officers’ orders, British defense officials said Sunday. NATO’s chief warned the war could drag on for “years.”

“Combat units from both sides are committed to intense combat in the Donbas and are likely experiencing variable morale,” Britain’s defense ministry said in its daily assessment of the war.

MOSCOW, June 18. /TASS/: The Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said it was no longer possible for Ukraine to return to its previous borders.

"The Ukraine that you and I had known, within the borders that used to be, no longer exists, and will never exist again. This is evident," the diplomat said in an interview to Sky News - Arabia, published in her Telegram channel on Friday.

KHERSON, June 18. /TASS/: A bomb went off in the car of Yevgeny Sobolev, head of the Kherson Region penal service, who was taken to a hospital, a law enforcement source told TASS.

His official’s life isn’t in danger, the source said.

"The car of the head of the penal service was blown up. His life isn’t in danger at the moment. He’s been hospitalized," the source said.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 18. /TASS/: More than 690 agreements totally worth over 5.6 trillion rubles ($99.8 bln) have been concluded at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Adviser to Russian President, Executive Secretary of the SPIEF Organizing Committee Anton Kobyakov told reporters on Saturday.

"By now 691 agreements worth 5.639 trillion rubles have been signed. Of course, we only announce figures that are not commercial classified information," he said.

ZARAGOZA, Spain, June 18 (Reuters) - Firefighters battled to bring raging wildfires under control in Spain on Saturday and people sought relief with fans, shade and plenty of water as an unseasonable heatwave pushed temperatures close to record highs.

Spain was heading towards its hottest early summer temperatures in decades, with forecasts of between 40-42 degrees Celsius (104-108 Fahrenheit) in Zaragoza in the northeast and areas of Navarre and La Rioja in northern Spain, according to national weather agency AEMET.

KYIV, June 18 (Reuters) - Russia is sending a large number of reserve troops to Sievierodonetsk from other battle zones to try to gain full control of the frontline eastern city, the governor of Ukraine's Luhansk region said on Saturday.

"Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, they will throw in all the reserves they have ... because there are so many of them there already, they're at critical mass," Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said on national television.

He said Russian forces already controlled most but not all of Sievierodonetsk.

VILNIUS, June 18 (Reuters) - Lithuanian authorities said a ban on the transit through their territory to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad of goods that are subject to EU sanctions will take effect from Saturday.

News of the ban came on Friday, through a video posted by the region's governor Anton Alikhanov.

The EU sanctions list notably includes coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology, and Alikhanov said the ban would cover around 50% of the items that Kaliningrad imports.