Europe

PARIS, June 9 (Xinhua) -- A preliminary investigation was opened here on Thursday following complaints alleging salmonella poisoning in children who had consumed Kinder chocolates produced by Ferrero, the Italian confectionery giant, the Paris Prosecutor's Office said on Thursday.

The investigation was opened on the counts of "involuntary attacks on physical integrity" and "endangering the lives of others," the French daily Le Figaro reported, citing the Prosecutor's Office.

KIEV, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday signed two separate decrees imposing sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and more than 200 Russian officials, the presidential press service reported.

The restrictions targeting Putin banned him from carrying out trade operations such as exports and imports, transiting through Ukrainian territory and participating in the privatization of Ukraine's state property.

The sanctions also include asset freezing and prohibition of using Ukrainian radio-frequency resources.

LONDON (AP) — Explorers and historians are telling the world about the discovery of the wreck of a royal warship that sank in 1682 while carrying a future king of England, Ireland and Scotland.

The HMS Gloucester, traveling from southern England to Scotland, ran aground while navigating sandbanks off the town of Great Yarmouth on the eastern English coast. It sank within an hour, killing an estimated 130 to 250 crew and passengers.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis canceled a planned July trip to Africa on doctors’ orders because of ongoing knee problems, the Vatican said Friday, raising further questions about the health and mobility problems of the 85-year-old pontiff.

The Vatican said the July 2-7 trip to Congo and South Sudan would be rescheduled “to a later date to be determined.”

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds into its fourth month, officials in Kyiv have expressed fears that the specter of “war fatigue” could erode the West’s resolve to help the country push back Moscow’s aggression.

The U.S. and its allies have given billions of dollars in weaponry to Ukraine. Europe has taken in millions of people displaced by the war. And there has been unprecedent unity in post-World War II Europe in imposing sanctions on President Vladimir Putin and his country.

VLADIVOSTOK, June 9. /TASS/: Water area around Kuril Islands, abandoned by Japanese fishermen will soon be occupied by Russian fishing companies, Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary in the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev said at a plenary meeting of the Far East media summit.

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/: Moscow will respond immediately if Russia is attacked with long-range weapon systems, Head of the Russian Delegation to the Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control in Vienna Konstantin Gavrilov told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Thursday.

YEREVAN, June 9. /TASS/: Moscow is interested in a full normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and is ready to facilitate it in every possible way, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday.

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/: The isolation of Russia, even as far as technology goes, is impossible, despite such schemes by unfriendly countries, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"No one is talking about isolation. It is impossible to isolate Russia, despite the fact that countries unfriendly, or rather hostile to us, are trying to isolate us economically, politically, and in the sphere of trade. They cannot and will not succeed, because in today's world it is impossible to isolate a country, especially such a huge country like Russia."

LONDON, June 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Campaigners on Wednesday launched a court bid to block UK government’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as it attempts to stop migrant boat crossings from France.

The government in London said last month that it intends to fly a first planeload of asylum-seekers to Rwanda on June 14.

But the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), Care4Calais and Detention Action have now issued judicial review proceedings in the High Court against what they call an “unlawful policy”.