MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Monday announced the closure of the German consulate in St. Petersburg, a tit-for-tat move that reflected the simmering tensions between the two countries. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the German consulate must stop operations and its workers must leave Russia by Sept. 18. It reaffirmed the previously announced decision to shut German cultural centers in the country and said their employees must leave no later than Sunday. The ministry said the moves were retaliation for Germany’s “unfriendly” decision Wednesday to close both the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House cultural center in the German capital, Berlin.

 

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MIAMI (AFP) - At least five people were killed when an Amazon cargo plane overshot a runway after it landed Sunday at Miami International Airport, crashed into vehicles and caught fire, officials said. Miami-Dade County fire chief Ray Jadallah told reporters that in addition to five fatalities, three people were transported to trauma centers “in critical condition” and two more were treated at a local hospital. “The airplane did strike a couple of vehicles,” which left “a couple of victims that were actually trapped in the vehicles,” Jadallah said.

 

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BERLIN (AFP) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will huddle Monday with his CDU party to discuss and digest their thumping defeat at the hands of the far-right AfD party in a state election in the ex-communist east. The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany scored its biggest win yet Sunday with 44 percent of the vote in the Saxony-Anhalt, against about 18 percent for the center-right CDU, according to broadcasters’ projections.

 

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BEIJING (Reuters) - Relations between China and Mexico are not directed against any third party and should not be influenced by any third party, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a meeting with his Mexican counterpart in Beijing on Monday. China is willing to work with Mexico to “safeguard the legitimate interests of both countries” and promote unity and self-reliance among Global South countries, Wang said, according to an official summary of the meeting released by the Chinese foreign ministry.

 

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GENEVA (AFP) - Wildfires and heatwaves, which generate microscopic airborne pollutants, risk undermining international efforts to improve air quality, protect human health and safeguard nature, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday. The United Nations’ weather and climate agency underlined the links between air pollution and climate change, which scientists say is leading to more frequent and more intense heatwaves and wildfires.