Europe

MOSCOW, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it did not want to take part in "nuclear rhetoric" from the West after a media report that Russia was preparing to demonstrate its willingness to use nuclear weapons in its conflict with Ukraine.

The Times newspaper reported on Monday that the NATO military alliance had warned members that President Vladimir Putin was set to demonstrate his willingness to use nuclear weapons by carrying out a nuclear test on Ukraine's border.

KYIV, Oct 4 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a decree on Tuesday formally declaring the prospect of any Ukrainian talks with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin "impossible", but leaving the door open to talks with Russia.

The decree formalised comments made by Zelenskiy on Friday after the Russian president proclaimed four occupied regions of Ukraine to be a part of Russia, in what Kyiv and the West said was an illegitimate farce.

LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Russian defence ministry maps presented on Tuesday appeared to show rapid withdrawals of Russian invasion forces from areas in eastern and southern Ukraine where they have been under severe pressure from a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The ministry's daily video briefing made no mention of any pullbacks, but on maps used to show the location of purported Russian strikes, the shaded area designating Russian military control was much smaller than the day before.

LONDON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A new round of industrial actions started from the end of September at key container ports in the United Kingdom (UK) as pay disputes went on. At a time when the supply chain was already overstretched, the walkouts inflicted more pressure.

RENEWED STRIKES OVER PAY

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday it’s giving its highest award to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her efforts to welcome more than 1 million refugees — mostly from Syria — into Germany, despite some criticism both at home and abroad.

Matthew Saltmarsh, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said Merkel had been selected as the latest recipient for the Nansen award, which is handed out annually by the Geneva-based U.N. agency.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Swedish prosecutor in charge of the investigation into leaks from pipelines in the Baltic Sea said Tuesday that he has ordered the area to be closed as he carries out a preliminary investigation into “suspected gross sabotage.”

“I understand the great public interest, but we are at the beginning of a preliminary investigation and I therefore cannot go into details about which investigative measures we are taking,” Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said late Monday.

PARIS (AP) — Paris will not broadcast World Cup matches on giant screens in public fan zones amid concerns over rights violations of migrant workers and the environmental impact of the tournament in Qatar.

It follows similar moves by other French cities, despite France going in as the defending champion.

“There is the problem of the environmental impact,” Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sports, told France Bleu Paris radio on Tuesday, citing “air-conditioned stadiums.”

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three scientists jointly won this year’s Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for their work on quantum information science that has significant applications, for example in the field of encryption.

Frenchman Alain Aspect, American John F. Clauser and Austrian Anton Zeilinger were cited by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for discovering the way that particles known as photons can be linked, or “entangled,” with each other even when they are separated by large distances.

LYMAN, Ukraine (AP) — The bodies of Russian soldiers were lying in the streets of a key eastern Ukrainian city on Tuesday following their comrades’ retreat that marked the latest defeat for Moscow even as Russia’s upper house of parliament rubber-stamped the annexation of Ukrainian regions on Tuesday.

Russian troops pulled back from Lyman over the weekend to avoid being encircled by Ukrainian forces. The city’s liberation gave Ukraine a key vantage point for pressing its offensive deeper into Russian-held territories.

3 October 2022; MEMO: A royal source has confirmed that the UK's King Charles will not attend COP27 which is set to be held in Egypt in November as he distances himself from campaigning roles.

It was reported that Prime Minister Liz Truss said that it was not right for Charles to attend as it would make Egypt his first trip abroad as king.