Europe

ZURICH, April 21 (Reuters) - More than 600,000 additional people were internally displaced in Ukraine in the first 17 days of April, the International Organization for Migration said on Thursday, pushing the total number since the start of the war above 7.7 million, or 17% of the population.

The new assessment conducted between April 11 and 17 showed that women represent at least 60% of those on the run. More than half of internally displaced persons -- mainly in the east of Ukraine -- reported a lack of some food products, it added in a report.

KIEV, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday met with European Council President Charles Michel, appreciating the European Union (EU) for the support of Ukraine amid its conflict with Russia, Zelensky's press service reported.

"European partners have made a significant contribution to our military capabilities," Zelensky said.

In particular, he thanked the EU for allocating 1.5 billion euros (some 1.63 billion U.S. dollars) within the European Peace Fund to finance the military needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

LJUBLJANA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- About 1.7 million eligible voters in Slovenia will be invited to cast their ballots on April 24 to elect the country's new Parliament.

Most polls predicted a close race between Prime Minister Janez Jansa's Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and the center-left Freedom Movement (FM), a new party headed by Robert Golob.

Polls indicate that each of these two parties could win around 25 percent of the vote and several other parties could pass the 4-percent threshold for parliamentary representation.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday as the war in Ukraine cast a shadow over two leaders who have long sought closer ties with Russia.

LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers looked likely Thursday to order an investigation into Prime Minister Boris Johnson for allegedly lying about whether he broke coronavirus restrictions by attending illegal gatherings during the pandemic.

The opposition Labour Party has called a House of Commons vote that, if passed, would trigger a watchdog committee probe of Johnson for allegedly misleading Parliament. Ministers found to have knowingly misled Parliament are generally expected to resign.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to claim victory in the strategic port of Mariupol on Thursday, even as he ordered his troops not to storm the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the war’s iconic battleground.

BERLIN, April 20. /TASS/: Germany currently does not have any armaments that it can supply to Ukraine on a short notice, German Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock said at a joint press conference with her Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkevics in Riga on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, April 20 /TASS/: Attorneys from the Chernyshov, Lukoyanov and Partners (CLP) law firm will sue Apple for shutting down the payment service Apple Pay on devices, the law firm’s senior partner Konstantin Lukoyanov told TASS.

LONDON, April 20. /TASS/: London's Westminster Magistrates' Court has issued an order for the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring announced at a brief hearing on Wednesday.

British Home Secretary Priti Patel will now handle the extradition case against Assange, who faces 175 years in prison in the US on charges of leaking classified information. Even if the home secretary grants Assange’s extradition, his defense team will still have an opportunity to file an appeal with the High Court.

MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/: Moscow handed over draft settlement agreement to Ukraine on April 15, but still has not received any reaction, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing Wednesday.