World News Roundup: Russia destroys power and water infrastructure across Ukraine; Frustrated Nigerians 'flee' abroad in punishing pre-election brain drain and more

Swedish and Danish authorities are investigating four holes in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea and have become a flashpoint in the Ukraine crisis. France probes murder of 12-year-old girl in Paris French police are investigating the murder of a 12-year-old girl whose body was found last week near her home in eastern Paris and a young suspect has been detained, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Russia destroys power and water infrastructure across Ukraine

Ukraine said Russia had destroyed almost a third of its power stations over the past week as Moscow stepped up a pre-winter campaign to strike infrastructure, a move the West says is a calculated attempt to disrupt and demoralize. Missiles struck power-generating facilities in a clutch of Ukrainian cities home to millions of people and several people were killed. Moscow acknowledged targeting energy plants, while Ukraine said water infrastructure had also been hit.

Frustrated Nigerians 'flee' abroad in punishing pre-election brain drain

Nnamdi Nwaogu, a 44-year-old IT worker, has packed his bags. In Lagos, Nigeria's frenetic commercial capital, galloping inflation and a plunging naira have pummeled his salary. Nwaogu, like hundreds of other Nigerians, left amid a brain drain that is punishing even for a nation used to losing its young and educated.

Iranian climber returns from Asian tournament amid veil controversy

An Iranian rock climber who competed in an international contest without a headscarf said she had done so unintentionally, after she was widely assumed to have expressed support for protests in Iran. Footage of Elnaz Rekabi, 33, had shown her scaling a wall without her head covered during the Asian competition in South Korea while representing Iran, which has been swept by protests ignited by Mahsa Amini's death in morality police custody.

'Powerful explosions' behind Nord Stream leaks, Danish police say

A preliminary investigation of damages to the two Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Danish part of the Baltic Sea shows that the leaks were caused by "powerful explosions", Copenhagen Police said on Tuesday. Swedish and Danish authorities are investigating four holes in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea and have become a flashpoint in the Ukraine crisis.

France probes murder of 12-year-old girl in Paris

French police are investigating the murder of a 12-year-old girl whose body was found last week near her home in eastern Paris and a young suspect has been detained, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Tuesday. The suspect was a woman under 25 who had been staying in France illegally, he said.

Nord Stream ruptures revealed as Europe grapples with gas plan

Damage to the Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Europe was caused by powerful explosions, Danish police said on Tuesday, echoing earlier findings into leaks that erupted in the network under the Baltic Sea and that have been blamed on sabotage. In what a Swedish newspaper described as the first publicly released footage of damage to the system, film from a private drone appeared to show a gaping rupture in one pipe. Expressen reported a 50-meter section missing from one area of pipeline.

German government relieves cyber security chief of duty - Spiegel

Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has relieved the country's cybersecurity chief of duty after several media reported possible contacts with people involved with Russian security services, Spiegel said on Tuesday. Arne Schoenbohm, president of the BSI federal information security agency, could have had such contacts through the Cyber Security Council of Germany, various media outlets reported last week.

British PM Truss says sorry, faces deep spending cuts to balance books

Prime Minister Liz Truss apologized for threatening Britain's economic stability after she was forced to scrap her vast tax-cutting plans and embark on a programme of "eye-watering" public spending cuts instead. After weeks of blaming the markets and "global headwinds" for investors dumping the pound and government bonds, Truss said she was sorry for going "too far and too fast" with her radical economic plan to snap Britain out of years of stagnant growth.

Trains, schools affected as French unions call strike amid soaring inflation

Regional train traffic in France was cut by about half on Tuesday as several unions called a nationwide strike, seeking to capitalize on anger with decades-high inflation to expand a weeks-long industrial action at oil refineries to other sectors.

There were also some disruption to schools, as the strike primarily affected the public sector.

Ukraine moves to cut diplomatic ties with Iran over Russia weapons supplies

Ukraine's foreign minister said on Tuesday he was submitting a proposal to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for Kyiv to cut diplomatic ties with Tehran for supplying weapons to Russia. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told a news conference that Tehran bore full responsibility for destruction in Ukraine, and said Kyiv would send an official note to Israel seeking immediate air defence supplies and cooperation in the sector.