From Italy and the World

CNN  —  Fighters who had previously fought in Ukraine for the Russian mercenary group Wagner have returned to the battlefield in the east, according to the Ukrainian military. Wagner mercenaries had withdrawn from the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in May as they handed control of the area to Russia’s…

CNN  —  The Russian admiral whom Ukraine forces said died in a strike on occupied Crimea last week has appeared in a video posted by a Russian military channel Wednesday – the second video released in as many days which has cast further doubt on Kyiv’s claim. Viktor Sokolov, commander…

CNN  —  Germany announced Wednesday that it is ramping up its border controls with neighboring Poland and the Czech Republic to “limit human trafficking,” as the country faces fierce debate on its migration policy while asylum applications surge. Police will carry out “additional flexible checks and mobile controls along the…

CNN  —  The biggest-ever drug seizure in the history of Ireland was intercepted off the coast of Cork in the southeast of the country on Tuesday, Irish police said. Cocaine weighing 2,253 kg, worth an estimated 157 million euros ($165 million), was seized from the vessel “MV Matthew” traveling from…

Rome CNN  —  Sicilian mob boss Matteo Messina Denaro, widely thought to be the last godfather of his kind, was buried Wednesday in a private funeral in Castelvetrano, Sicily. But he won’t be the last leader of Italy’s most famous Mafia organization. The mobster will likely be remembered for his…

CNN  —  Nearly half of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population has fled to Armenia, with many thousands more still scrambling to evacuate, a week after the breakaway region surrendered following a lightning Azerbaijani offensive. More than 50,000 people – including 17,000 children – had fled by Wednesday morning, after Azerbaijan lifted a 10-month…

CNN  —  Russia is formally seeking to rejoin the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, nearly 18 months after it was suspended from the body following its invasion of Ukraine. The country is listed on the UN website as a candidate for the election of members of the council for the…

CNN  —  The European Court of Human Rights will hear an “unprecedented” lawsuit on Wednesday, brought by six young people against 32 European countries accusing them of failing to tackle the human-caused climate crisis. The claimants, between ages 11 and 24 and all from Portugal, will argue that they are…

Eastern Ukraine CNN  —  Two Ukrainian soldiers huddle around a drone controller in darkness, their faces illuminated only by its screen. “Oh, something is burning,” one says. They’ve just dropped a bomb on a Russian target. The night-time assault is part of a coordinated Ukrainian offensive push near the beleaguered…

Russia is seeking to rejoin the United Nations Human Rights Council, which this week accused Moscow’s forces of committing war crimes in Ukraine. The council expelled Russia last year following the full-scale invasion of its neighbor, but it is now listed on the UN website as a candidate for election for…

CNN  —  Here’s a look at the life of Lech Walesa, former president of Poland. Birth date: September 29, 1943 Birth place: Popowo, Poland Father: Boleslaw Walesa, carpenter Mother: Felicja (Kaminski) Walesa Marriage: Miroslawa “Danuta” (Golos) Walesa (1969-present) Children: Bogdan, Slawek, Przemek, Jarek, Magdalena, Ania, Maria Wiktoria and Brygidka Military…

Paris CNN  —  The United Nations’ human rights office has criticized the French government for banning French athletes from wearing the hijab at the Paris Olympics next year. “No one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear, or not wear,” said Maria Hurtado, spokeswoman for the UN…

CNN  —  Here’s a look at the life of Theresa May, former prime minister of the United Kingdom. Birth date: October 1, 1956 Birth place: Eastbourne, England Birth name: Theresa Mary Brasier Father: Hubert Brasier, Anglican vicar Mother: Zaidee (Barnes) Brasier Marriage: Philip May (1980-present) Education: St. Hugh’s College, University…

CNN  —  Fears were growing of a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh Tuesday as a senior US official warned of malnutrition among the thousands attempting to flee the breakaway region for Armenia. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) chief Samantha Power and US State Department acting assistant secretary Yuri Kim…

CNN  —  A Russian court has rejected an appeal by jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny against a 19-year prison sentence on extremism charges, according to Russian state media RIA, in the latest crackdown on the outspoken Kremlin critic. Navalny was sentenced in August, after he was found guilty of creating…

CNN  —  Ukraine’s military has said it is “clarifying” information received about the alleged assassination of Russian commander Viktor Sokolov, after Moscow released a video that appears to show him alive and well. Kyiv claimed on Monday it killed Sokolov, the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, in an attack…

Paris CNN  —  It’s 6.30 a.m. on a late summer morning in Paris. Amid the rumbling coming from the Stalingrad Métro station, in the northeast of the French capital, hundreds of migrants, mostly men, sleep crammed under an overpass. Some rest on pieces of cardboard and old mattresses behind a…

CNN  —  Russian warships were still launching attacks on Ukraine following the claim from Kyiv that the commander of Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet was killed Friday, as President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the arrival of US Abrams tanks to the country. A spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy said on national television…

Russian ships were still launching strikes on Ukraine following the alleged death of the commander of Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet, but those attacks are being launched “by inertia,” Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, said Monday on national television.  Pletenchuk was asked about comments made by Ukrainian authorities earlier Monday, claiming…