From Italy and the World

Farmers harvest grain in Stavropol, Russia, on July 16. Denis Abramov/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow withdrew from a vital Black Sea grain deal intended to stabilize global food prices and bring relief to developing countries because it “failed” to ensure the delivery of grain. The deal…

CNN  —  Drone strikes hit two non-residential buildings in the Russian capital Moscow at around 4 a.m. local on Monday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram. Sobyanin added that there was no serious damage or casualties. Russia’s Ministry of Defence on Monday claimed the two Ukrainian drones were “suppressed”…

CNN  —  Spain appears destined for painful political negotiations after Sunday’s elections, when no single party won enough parliamentary seats to form a government. Prospects for coalition-building now remain uncertain. With over 99% of the vote counted, the center-right Partido Popular (PP) is set to come in first, winning 136…

While Russian forces mount an essentially defensive operation in the south of Ukraine, they’ve adopted a more offensive posture elsewhere along the front line, according to updates from Kyiv’s military, regional leaders and Russian bloggers. In Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, in particular, Moscow’s troops appear to have Ukraine firmly on…

Madrid CNN  —  Spanish voters are heading to the ballot boxes in Sunday’s snap general election that could see a far-right party enter government for the first time in decades. Most polls predict the center-right opposition Popular Party will win but fall short of an absolute majority in Parliament, meaning…

CNN  —  Four people died and dozens were injured after a hot water pipe burst in a shopping center in Moscow, Russian state news agency TASS reported. The water pipe burst with “boiling water” in the Vremena Goda shopping center in Russia’s capital. “The death toll from a burst pipe…

CNN  —  A heat wave baking Greece is likely to become the longest the country has ever recorded, experts say, as the country battles wildfires and restricts access to its popular tourist sites. Visiting hours for the Acropolis and other archaeological sites have been revised with temperatures soaring. Staff at…

CNN  —  Ukrainian forces hit an ammunition dump in Crimea, forcing an evacuation of the area and canceling train services, authorities in the annexed province say. It marks the latest in a series of recent strikes on Russian supplies and critical infrastructure in the occupied peninsula, which Ukraine ultimately wants…

While Russian forces mount an essentially defensive operation in the south of Ukraine, they’ve adopted a more offensive posture elsewhere along the front line, according to updates from Kyiv’s military, regional leaders and Russian bloggers. In Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, in particular, Moscow’s troops appear to have Ukraine firmly on…

CNN  —  While the Anglosphere was wracked by a burst of populism in 2016, most European countries proved remarkably resilient. Long-held grievances in the United Kingdom and United States fueled Brexit and took Donald Trump to the White House, but Europe – seeming at times to look aghast across the…

CNN  —  Here’s some background information about the London Underground, also known as “The Tube,” the oldest subway or metro transit system in the world. There are currently 272 stations open and 249 miles (402 km) of active lines. There are a number of old stations and tunnels that are…

CNN  —  The northern Italian city of Padua has started removing the names of non-biological gay mothers from their children’s birth certificates under new legislation passed by the “traditional family-first” government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. These birth certificates belong to 33 children of Italian women who underwent artificial insemination…

CNN  —  Local authorities in Germany said Friday that they are ending a search operation for what was previously believed to be a lioness on the loose in the suburbs of Berlin. “After examining several hints, there was not a single indication concerning a lioness or a wild animal in…

CNN  —  Igor Girkin, a prominent Russian military blogger and former official in the separatist so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in Ukraine, has been arrested in Moscow, according to a message attributed to his wife and posted on his Telegram account and in Russian news reports. Girkin, also known by…

London CNN  —  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his ambassador to the United Kingdom on Friday. The ambassador, Vadym Prystaiko, had criticized Zelensky over his reaction to recent remarks by British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who had suggested Ukraine had not expressed sufficient “gratitude” for Western financial support. Prystaiko said…

CNN  —  Spain’s far-right Vox party looks set to continue its meteoric rise in Sunday’s general election, and it aims to use its growing influence to roll back decades of progress in women’s rights by blocking abortion access, repealing legislation on gender-based violence and shutting down the ministry of equality.…

Ukraine has been struggling to repel a wave of Russian strikes against the southern city of Odesa, its air defenses unable to cope with the types of missiles that Moscow has used to pummel the region this week. Ukraine’s Air Force said it destroyed just five of 19 Russian cruise missiles fired…