Europe

KYIV, June 9 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that millions of people could starve because of a Russian blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports which he said had left the world "on the brink of a terrible food crisis."

Russia has seized large parts of Ukraine's coast, blocking farm exports and driving up the cost of grain. read more

BENAHAVIS, Spain, June 9 (Reuters) - A wildfire in mountains in southern Spain has forced evacuation of 2,000 people from the centre of the town of Benahavis and injured three firefighters, authorities said.

The blaze started on Wednesday afternoon on the slopes of Pujerra mountain in the Sierra Bermeja, above the Costa del Sol, a magnet for British tourists on the Andalusia coast, Andalusia's Wildfire Department (INFOCA) said on Twitter.

Hot summer weather and adverse winds are stoking the blaze, it said in a post late on Wednesday.

June 8 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday said defenders in the city of Sievierodonetsk were inflicting major losses on Russian troops during what he called a very fierce and very difficult battle.

"In many respects, the fate of the Donbas is being decided there," he said in an online address.

MYKOLAIV, Ukraine, June 8 (Reuters) - Western-supplied artillery systems are already making a difference on the ground for Ukraine and it is "just a question of time" before its forces win back significant ground in the south, the governor of the Mykolaiv region said on Wednesday.

Governor Vitaliy Kim, whose region is partially occupied by Russia but remains just one of two that retains significant access to the Black Sea, told Reuters that Ukrainian forces had "some success" in recent weeks in a counterattack in the neighbouring Kherson region.

ATHENS, June 8 (Reuters) - A Greek court on Wednesday overturned an earlier court ruling that allowed the confiscation by the United States of part of a cargo of Iranian oil on an Iranian-flagged tanker off the Greek coast, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The incident had led to an angry response by Iran, with Iranian forces last month seizing two Greek tankers in the Gulf after Tehran warned it would take "punitive action" against Athens. 

Iran had also appealed the original court decision, one legal source said, declining to be named.

KYIV/SLOVIANSK, Ukraine, June 9 (Reuters) - Ukrainian troops claimed on Thursday to have pushed forward in intense street fighting in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, but said their only hope to turn the tide was more artillery to offset Russia's massive firepower.

In the south, Ukraine's defence ministry said it had captured new ground in a counter-attack in Kherson province, aiming at the biggest swathe of territory Russia has seized since its invasion in February.

HELSINKI, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Wednesday she has tested positive for COVID-19.

Marin, 36, tweeted that her temperature rose Tuesday night and a home test turned out positive, but her symptoms were mild.

The prime minister said that on account of her recent intense travel schedule, she had taken home tests regularly and the results had been negative earlier during the week.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s top court ruled Thursday that British citizens living long-term in the 27 EU member countries have no right to vote or stand for office in the bloc unless they have obtained a European nationality.

The ruling came in what was seen as a test case for the rights of U.K citizens who continue to live in the EU despite Britain’s exit from the bloc two years ago. More than 1 million Britons were living in Europe. Many opposed Brexit in January 2020 and had their lives upended.

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called off a series of in-person meetings in Germany and Romania because he has contracted shingles after having a coronavirus infection last month, his office said Thursday.

“The Secretary General will conduct his planned visit to Germany (and Romania) remotely rather than in person. He has been diagnosed with shingles, which can occur after COVID-19, and is working from home,” a NATO official said.

BAKHMUT, Ukraine (AP) — The human cost of the war in Ukraine mounted as workers pulled up to 100 bodies from each smashed building in the devastated city of Mariupol — a gruesome effort that one official described as an “endless caravan of death.”

Meanwhile, fears of a global food crisis escalated over Ukraine’s inability to export millions of tons of grain through its blockaded ports.