HELSINKI (AFP) -- Finland has registered a record number of asylum seekers following Russia’s “military operation” in Ukraine, beating a previous high set during the 2015 migrant crisis, Finnish authorities said Monday. “By August 4, those fleeing Ukraine due to the Russian military attack had submitted 35,074 applications for temporary protection,” the Finnish Immigration Service said in a statement. More than 37,000 people are currently registered in the reception system, “which is more than ever before”. The previous record in the Nordic country was 32,000, during the 2015 migrant crisis in Europe. It has so far processed 33,480 applications for protection, meaning around 95 percent of applicants have already received a decision. Finland borders Russia, and has sought NATO membership after political and popular support for the alliance soared following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

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ROME (AFP) -- Attempts by Italy’s centre-left parties to form an alliance for September elections were in disarray Monday, boosting the chances of the hard right taking power in the eurozone’s third-largest economy. Just days after agreeing a pact with the centre-left Democratic Party, the smaller Azione party withdrew, saying it could not work with left-wingers brought in to boost the alliance. The Democratic Party, led by former premier Enrico Letta, is running neck-and-neck in opinion polls with Giorgia Meloni’s post-fascist Brothers of Italy ahead of general elections on September 25. But Italy’s political system favors coalitions, and while Meloni has a strong alliance with Matteo Salvini’s anti-immigration League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, Letta is struggling to bring together the disparate progressive parties.

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HONIARA (AFP) -- A Solomon Islands man described as “mentally affected” attacked a Japanese sailor with scissors during a World War II memorial ceremony in the Solomon Islands Monday before bystanders, including military personnel, overpowered him. Video of the incident showed half a dozen servicemen, including U.S. forces, trying to control a bearded man in a yellow T-shirt struggling on the ground. One of the servicemen loses his cap, falls over and rolls a short way down a hill as the assailant scrambles away before being trapped in a headlock and carried away by local officials. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman was among those attending the ceremony at Bloody Ridge near Honiara to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal.

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DOHA (AFP) -- Chad’s military government Monday signed a deal with more than 40 opposition groups to launch national peace talks later this month, although the main rebel outfit refused to take part. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the African Union urged the junta and opposition to seize the latest opportunity to stabilize a country considered key to international efforts to stamp out takfiri extremists in the Sahel region. But after five months of mediation efforts by Qatar, the main rebel Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) announced hours before the ceremony at a Doha hotel that it would not sign the deal. Under the agreement, Mahamat Idriss Deby’s Transitional Military Council and hundreds of opposition representatives will launch a national peace dialogue in the capital N’Djamena on August 20. Deby, who was in Doha for the signing, took power after the death of his father, long-time president Idriss Deby Itno, in a battle with rebels in April last year.

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AGUJITA (AFP) -- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for intensified efforts to save 10 workers trapped in a flooded coal mine, during a visit to see firsthand the rescue operation. Relatives of the missing were becoming increasingly desperate four days after the mine flooded in the northern state of Coahuila, fearing time is running out to bring them out alive. Nearly 400 soldiers and other personnel, including six military scuba divers, have joined the rescue effort, but so far it has been too dangerous to enter the mine, authorities said. The focus has been on pumping out water from the mine to make it safe enough to descend into the shafts, which are 60 meters (200 feet) deep. Five workers managed to escape from the crudely constructed mine in the initial aftermath of the disaster, but since then, no survivors have been found.

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WASHINGTON/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -- A Brazilian military request to buy Javelin anti-tank missiles worth as much as $100 million has been stalled in Washington for months due to U.S. lawmakers’ concerns about far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, including his attacks on Brazil’s electoral system, multiple U.S. sources told Reuters. Brazil’s bid to acquire some 220 Javelins was originally made when former President Donald Trump, a Bolsonaro ally, was in the White House. The State Department gave its blessing to the proposal late last year, despite objections from some lower-ranking U.S. officials, according to two people familiar with the matter. But the confidential deal, which has not been previously reported, has since become mired in procedural limbo amid mounting concerns among Democratic lawmakers over Bolsonaro’s Trump-like questioning of voting integrity ahead of Brazil’s Oct. 2 election, the sources said. Brazil’s request for the cutting-edge U.S.-made missiles, which have won fame for their effective use by Ukrainian forces against Russian armor, has been delayed by a Democratic-led effort to send a message to Bolsonaro and his military.