Europe

ROME, June 14 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has taken a new series of swipes at Russia for its actions in Ukraine, saying its troops were brutal, cruel and ferocious and that the invasion violated a country's right to self-determination.

In the text of a conversation he had last month with editors of Jesuit media and published on Tuesday, he praised "brave" Ukrainians for fighting for survival but also said the situation was not black and white and that the war was "perhaps in some way provoked".

KYIV, June 14 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Tuesday its forces were still holding out inside Sievierodonetsk and trying to evacuate civilians, after Russia destroyed the last bridge to the devastated eastern city in a potential turning point in one of the war's bloodiest battles.

LONDON, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The United Kingdom (UK) on Monday introduced a bill to change parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, a post-Brexit trade deal, while the European Union (EU) said unilateral action is damaging to mutual trust and threatened legal action.

"PRACTICAL PROBLEMS"

STOCKHOLM, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Contrary to previous assertions that the accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would be a quick process, the military alliance's Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Monday that "there is no way to say exactly when" this will happen when visiting Sweden.

LONDON (AP) — British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says the first deportation flight to Rwanda will take off Tuesday evening, regardless of how many people are on board, as immigration attorneys launch case-by-case appeals on behalf of the migrants scheduled for removal.

BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — The lush green beauty of a pine forest with singing birds contrasted with the violent deaths of newly discovered victims of Russia’s war in Ukraine, as workers exhumed bodies from another mass grave near the town of Bucha on Kyiv’s outskirts.

The hands of several victims were tied behind their backs. The gruesome work of digging up the remains coincided with the Ukrainian police chief’s report that authorities have opened criminal investigations into the killings of more than 12,000 people since Russia’ invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/: Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe expressed discontent to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin over US interference in China's domestic political issues as they met in Singapore on Friday, China Central Television reported.

"The United States shouldn’t interfere in the internal affairs of our country," the Chinese minister was quoted as saying. "That's the only way you can save Chinese-American relations."

BELGRADE, June 10. /TASS/: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged Serbia to be "pragmatic in the process of recognizing Kosovo", because without that the country will be unable to join the EU.

GENEVA, June 10. /TASS/: Switzerland has supported the European Union’s decision to adopt the sixth package of sanctions, including an embargo on crude oil, against Russia and Belarus, the government said in a statement on its website.

"On June 10, the Federal Council took the decision to adopt new EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus," said the statement. The government instructed the Federal Department of Economic Affairs "to adapt the Ordinance on measures in connection with the situation in Ukraine," according to the statement.

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/: Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored the importance of having the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s biosecurity council up and running as soon as possible.