Briefly

UNITED KINGDOM

Sanctioned Russian tanker intercepted

The United Kingdom is investigating a sanctioned tanker suspected of being part of Russia's "shadow fleet" that ships oil in violation of Western sanctions, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday. British armed forces boarded and detained the vessel, the Smyrtos, on Sunday in the English Channel, in what the Defense Ministry called "the first UK-led operation of its kind". The vessel will be held and monitored off the south coast of England for investigation, according to officials. The operation was carried out "in close coordination" with French authorities, who have previously intercepted a number of vessels linked to the so-called shadow fleet, the British Defense Ministry said.

UNITED STATES

Officials urge people indoors as fire burns on

Officials in a northern California city urged people sensitive to smoke to stay indoors as firefighters spent a third day on Saturday battling a fire in a huge medical equipment warehouse. Air quality on the south side of Tracy, a city of 100,000 people where the Medline warehouse fire has been burning since Thursday, was in the "unhealthy" range, according to air monitors. Firefighters expected the next few days to remain smoky amid a lengthy effort to put out the fire inside the building, South San Joaquin County Fire Authority Fire Chief Randall Bradley said.

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA