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Oleksiy Vadatursky, 74, and his wife Raisa died when a missile hit their home overnight, local officials said. Mr Vadatursky owned Nibulon, a company involved in grain exports. He had also received the "Hero of Ukraine" award. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky described Mr Vadatursky's death as a great loss. Mykolaiv mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said it was probably the heaviest Russian bombardment of the city so far. There was damage to a hotel, a sports complex, two schools and a service station, as well as homes. Mykolaiv is on the main route to Odesa, Ukraine's biggest port on the Black Sea, and has been hit repeatedly since Russia launched its invasion on 24 February. IMAGE SOURCE,MYKOLAIV REGIONAL PROSECUTOR'S ...

In the village of Vybuty, a large crowd has gathered outside a church. People are queuing up to kiss the icon of a saint. An Orthodox priest in a gold embroidered vestment chants a prayer for Russia: "For our blessed country, its rulers and its army." In the congregation are Russian servicemen. They cross themselves with three fingers according to the Orthodox tradition. Ukraine isn't mentioned in the mass. But it's on people's minds. "In our family, we have a lot of young men who are serving there," one of the worshippers, Ludmila, tells me. "God won't abandon them. They will definitely return home." Many Russian soldiers haven't. Image caption, Russia gives no details of the numbers killed in Ukraine referring onl...

The rules were due to come into force at midnight on Monday. But on Sunday ethnic Serbs in the north barricaded roads and armed men fired shots in protest. The rules' implementation has been delayed for a month following consultations with the US and EU. Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, after years of strained relations between its Serb and mainly Albanian inhabitants. It has been recognised by the United States and major European Union countries, but Serbia, backed by its ally Russia, refuses to do so, as do most ethnic Serbs inside Kosovo. Some 50,000 people living in majority Serb areas of the north use licence plates issued by Serbian authorities and refuse to recognise Kosovo institutio...

ROME -- Italy’s president, marking the 100th anniversary of one of the attacks that helped bring dictator Benito Mussolini to power, on Thursday encouraged Italians to reinvigorate their country’s democracy as a bulwark against fascism. President Sergio Mattarella was commemorating the trashing and torching by fascist thugs of a farm cooperative building in the northeastern city of Ravenna 100 years ago. The violent attack was one in a series launched by fascist supporters of the dictator, whose iron-rule would last into World War II. Italy's fascist legacy faces increasingly closer scrutiny these days as the country holds an early parliamentary election on Sept 25. Opinion polls indicate the far-right Brothers of Italy, which has neo-fascist roots, would be the top vote-getter, with the...

PARIS -- French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to his presidential palace Thursday for controversial dinner that marks another step in the Saudi leader’s diplomatic rehabilitation -- a move that has drawn harsh criticism in France after the gruesome Saudi killing of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The visit from the prince of the oil-rich state comes after France and other European nations are seeking to secure sources of energy to lessen their dependence on oil and gas supplies from Russia amid its war on Ukraine. France is also a major weapons and defense supplier to Gulf nations. This was the second stop — after Greece — of the crown prince’s first official visit to the European Union since Khashoggi’s death. French Prim...

MADRID -- Spain’s government has a message for women who are uncomfortable about their bodies when they wear bathing suits: Don’t be. The government’s Equality Ministry launched a summer campaign Thursday encouraging women to reject “stereotypes” and “aesthetical violence” — a reference to the social pressure some women feel to conform to beauty ideals. A poster advertising the campaign features women of different ages, sizes and skin colors in bathing suits on a beach. The slogan is: “Summer belongs to us, too.” In a tweet, Equality Minister Irene Montero said: “Enjoy (the summer) however, wherever and with whoever you like.” The head of the Women’s Institute, a government body, said gender stereotypes are at the root of discrimination based on physical appearance. “Expectations are ...