Patriots for Europe gets Danish and Flemish nationalists as latest members, amid EU anger over Hungary PM’s latest unauthorised foreign policy foray
Viktor Orbán’s rightwing political movement attracted enough parties on Saturday to achieve recognition from the European Union parliament in a boost for the Hungarian prime minister’s self-styled effort to “change European politics”.
The nationalist and pro-Russia leader announced on 30 June his intention to form an EU parliamentary grouping called “Patriots for Europe”.
Two bodies recovered from rubble of southern house while collision of oil truck and minibus in western Rivne region leaves single survivor. What we know on day 865
Russian shelling killed three civilians in Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson on Saturday, officials said. Two bodies were recovered from the rubble of a house that came under fire in the morning in a village near Beryslav, north of Kherson town, prosecutors said. An artillery strike in the evening killed one person in a village south of the town, said the region’s governor, Oleksander Prokudin.
Russian night-time strikes left more than 100,000 households without power in northern Ukraine and cut off the water supply to a regional capital, Ukrainian authorities said on Saturday. The northern Sumy region, which borders Russia, was plunged into darkness after Russian strikes late on Friday damaged energy infrastructure, the Ukrainian energy ministry said. Hours later, the Ukrainian public broadcaster reported that Russian drones hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy, cutting off water by hitting power lines that feed its system of pumps. Russian state news agency RIA cited a local pro-Kremlin “underground” leader as saying Moscow’s forces hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in the city. The claim could not be independently verified.
Fire broke out at a gas pipeline in Crimea, Russian-installed officials said on Sunday, blaming an accident and stating there were no casualties. Videos online showed a large fire, said to have followed one or more explosions in the Alushta district.
Russian air defence units downed seven Ukrainian drones each in the southern Belgorod and Kursk regions on the Ukrainian border on Saturday, officials and the military said. Russia’s defence ministry said seven drones were intercepted over the Belgorod region, which is subjected to nearly daily Ukrainian attacks. Alexei Smirnov, the governor of Kursk region, farther north and west, also reported seven drones had been downed over his region. He said Ukrainian forces had shelled about 10 villages across the day.
Ukraine’s air force commander said his forces had duped Russian troops into deploying missiles against sophisticated models put in place to look like military targets. Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram that the models depicted fighter aircraft and a surface-to-air missile battery. They were put in place at an airfield near the central city of Kriviy Rih and a district of the Black Sea port of Odesa. A video attached to Saturday’s post, described as footage from a Russian reconnaissance drone, showed what Oleshchuk said were Russian Iskander missiles attacking the depictions. “Air force personnel conducted passive defence measures!” he wrote.
In Ukraine’s eastern frontline region of Donetsk, Russian shelling killed 11 civilians and wounded 43 on Friday and overnight to Saturday, said the regional governor, Vadym Filashkin. Five people died in the town of Selydove, south-east of Pokrovsk, the eastern city that has emerged as a frontline hotspot. The Ukrainian general staff said on Saturday morning that Ukrainian and Russian forces clashed 45 times near Pokrovsk over the previous day. Hours later, the Russian ministry of defence said its troops had captured a village about 30km (19 miles) east of the city.
An oil truck collided with a minibus in western Ukraine on Saturday, killing 14 people, including a six-year-old child, and leaving a single survivor, emergency services said. The report on Telegram was accompanied by pictures of an overturned vehicle in a cornfield in the Rivne region. It said the survivor was in serious condition and being treated for her injuries.
Japan has announced a joint project with Cambodia to share knowledge and technology on landmine removal with countries worldwide including Ukraine. Under the Japan Cambodia landmine initiative, “Japan will provide full-scale assistance to humanitarian mine action in Ukraine”, Japan’s foreign minister, Yoko Kamikawa, said in Phnom Penh. “Next week, we will provide Ukraine with a large de-mining machine, and next month, here in Cambodia, we will train Ukrainian personnel on how to operate the machine.”
Temperatures could crest 100F (38C) in many regions after breaking records and sparking dozens of wildfires
A long-running heatwave that has already broken records, sparked dozens of wildfires and left about 130 million people under a high-temperature threat is about to intensify enough that the National Weather Service has deemed it “potentially historic”.
The NWS on Saturday reported some type of extreme heat or advisory for nearly 133 million people across the nation – mostly in western states where the triple-digit heat, with temperatures 15F to 30F higher than average, is expected to last into next week.
French fire grows to more than 900 acres, as millions across US west face sweltering temperatures and dry conditions
A fast-moving wildfire burning near Yosemite national park is threatening rural communities as millions of people in California and across the US west swelter under a brutal heatwave that is predicted to persist through the weekend.
The French fire broke out on Thursday and grew to more than 900 acres (364 hectares) by Friday afternoon. The fire is 15% contained with “multiple evacuations and road closures in place”, according to local fire officials.
Encounters disrupted Fourth of July at South Padre Island, as two were taken to the hospital
A single shark is believed to be terrorizing swimmers near a Texas beach, responsible for biting two people and making contact with two others during Fourth of July celebrations, including injuring one who went to help.
The encounters disrupted locals and vacationers relaxing on Thursday at South Padre Island, as two people were taken to the hospital with bites, at least one of them severe, authorities said.
The fastest birds in the world, peregrine falcons are sought after for racing and can sell for up to £250,000 in the Middle East. Poaching is a constant threat, with eggs and chicks stolen to supply the hidden market. Now, there are nationwide efforts under way to ring and take DNA from wild chicks – but just reaching their nests can be perilous
Fire crews in California are battling a wildfire in Butte County that forced about 13,000 people to evacuate in and around Oroville. The Thompson fire broke out before noon on Tuesday and grew to more than 3 sq miles by evening
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