Europe

June 16 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said it hoped the leaders of France, Germany and Italy would not only discuss weapons supplies in their visit to Kyiv on Thursday, but rather to "push President [Volodymyr] Zelenskiy to take a realistic look at the state of affairs".

"I would hope that the leaders ... will not focus only on supporting Ukraine by further pumping it with weapons," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a call with reporters.

"That's absolutely pointless, it will prolong people's suffering and cause new damage to the country."

KYIV/IRPIN, Ukraine, June 16 (Reuters) - The leaders of Germany, France and Italy, all criticised in the past by Kyiv for support viewed as too cautious, visited Ukraine on Thursday in a display of solidarity with a country pleading for weapons to fend off Russia's invasion.

"It's an important moment. It's a message of unity we're sending to the Ukrainians," French President Emmanuel Macron said after pulling into Kyiv on an overnight train along with Germany's Olaf Scholz and Italy's Mario Draghi. They were joined by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

BERLIN, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Leading German economic institutes expect inflation in the country to remain high in 2023, due to soaring energy prices, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and supply bottlenecks.

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) and the ifo Institute on Wednesday raised their 2023 inflation forecasts to 4.2 percent and 3.3 percent respectively.

Recent signals from the European Central Bank (ECB) to normalize their monetary policy came "too late and have so far been too timid," said Stefan Kooths, vice president and head of forecasting at IfW Kiel.

MOSCOW, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Russian gas giant Gazprom announced on Wednesday that it will shut down another turbine engine on the Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline, thus significantly reducing the amount of gas delivery to Europe.

As Germany's Siemens, the manufacturer of the gas turbine engines, failed to provide the overhaul service in time, Gazprom decided to stop the second engine at the Portovaya compressor station due to its technical condition, the company said on Telegram.

GENEVA (AP) — After five weeks of declining coronavirus deaths, the number of fatalities reported globally increased by 4% last week, according to the World Health Organization.

In its weekly assessment of the pandemic issued on Thursday, the U.N. health agency said there were 8,700 COVID-19 deaths last week, with a 21% jump in the Americas and a 17% increase in the Western Pacific.

LONDON (AP) — The ethics adviser to Britain’s scandal-hit Prime Minister Boris Johnson has quit and accused the Conservative government of planning to flout conduct rules, weeks after a separate investigation criticized the U.K. leader for overseeing a culture of government rule-breaking.

Christopher Geidt stepped down late Wednesday with a terse statement saying “with regret, I feel that it is right that I am resigning from my post as Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests.” Johnson’s office said it was surprised by the decision.

BERLIN (AP) — Rich countries including the European Union and the United States have pushed back against efforts to put financial help for poor nations suffering the devastating effects of global warming firmly on the agenda for this year’s U.N. climate summit.

Observers and campaigners attending a ten-day preparatory meeting in Bonn, Germany, that’s wrapping up Thursday expressed frustration at the resistance shown by developed nations to formally discussing how poor countries can get more aid when they’re hit by climate disasters.

IRPIN, Ukraine (AP) — Four European leaders made a high-profile visit to show their support for Ukraine on Thursday, denouncing the brutality of the Russian invasion as they surveyed the ruins of a Kyiv suburb that was the scene of intense fighting early in the war and where many civilians were killed.

16 June 2022; MEMO: President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday that Europe would immediately give Egypt $100 million. She added that it would also provide €3 billion to the region in the coming years to counter the damage to food supplies due to the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Anadolu Agency reported.

This came in a joint press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on the sidelines of her visit to Cairo.

16 June 2022; MEMO: Russia said yesterday that it was "deeply concerned" by an Israeli court's decision allowing Jewish settler groups to purchase Christian property in Jerusalem.

Early this month, Israel's High Court ruled in favour of settler group Ateret Cohanim, which takes over Palestinian lands from Muslims and Christians in occupied Jerusalem and gives it to Jews in an attempt to change the city's identity.