Europe

MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/: European consumers’ applications for supplies of Russian gas are being fulfilled in full, Russia’s energy giant Gazprom said in a statement amid reports that pumping via the Yamal-Europe pipeline had been stopped.

"Fluctuations in demand for Russian gas depends on the buyers’ existing needs," Gazprom said.

LA PALMA, Spain, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Olga Reinoso took advantage of the All Saints Day public holiday to see the erupting volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma but like other tourists she wanted to help islanders whose homes have been destroyed and crops ruined.

Tourists were keen to help La Palma by spending money to boost the island's economy.

BUCHAREST, Oct 30 (Reuters) - A minority government lineup put forward by Romania's centrist Prime Minister-designate Nicolae Ciuca will face a parliamentary vote of confidence next week, which he is widely expected to lose, further prolonging a month-long political stalemate.

Romania has been in political paralysis since a Liberal-led government was toppled by parliament on Oct. 5, threatening economic recovery and efforts to cut big budget and external shortfalls at a time of rising COVID-19 infections.

MOSCOW, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Black Sea Fleet is tracking the movement of U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Porter that entered the Black Sea on Saturday, said the Russian Defense Ministry.

The U.S. Sixth Fleet tweeted on Friday that USS Porter began its northbound transit to the Black Sea to operate with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and partners in the region.

PARIS, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 in Europe is worsening as another winter approaches. It is the only region with increases in infections across all age groups, while five over regions have reported a decline last week, according to the World Health Organization on Friday.

"We know very well now that we will have to live with the virus at least until the summer," French Minister Delegate in charge of Autonomy Brigitte Bourguignon said Thursday, noting that the winter would be "conducive to worsening of the situation."

ROME, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- There is only one China in the world, and that is a fact based on history and jurisprudence and allows no provocation, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Leaders' Summit here.

Wang made the remarks on Friday in response to a query about individual countries, including the United States, recently declaring support for Taiwan's "robust, meaningful participation in the United Nations system and the international community."

PARIS (AP) — Britain and France faced calls Saturday to sort out their post-Brexit spat over fishing rights in the English Channel, which threatens to escalate within days into a damaging French blockade of British boats and trucks.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the dispute is testing the U.K.’s international credibility, while both countries accused each other of being in breach of the post-Brexit trade agreement that Britain’s government signed with the European Union to facilitate the U.K.’s smooth departure from the bloc.

ROME (AP) — Italy’s Premier Mario Draghi made a sharp call to pick up the pace in getting vaccines to poor countries as he opened a conference of the world’s powerhouse economies, calling the gaping global COVID-19 vaccine gap “morally unacceptable.”

Draghi, the host for the two-day Group of 20 summit in Rome, said Saturday that only 3% of people in the world’s poorest countries are vaccinated, while 70% in rich countries have had at least one shot.

ROME (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday that Queen Elizabeth II was “on very good form” during their weekly conversation earlier this week.

His comment comes a day after Buckingham Palace said the 95-year-old monarch has been told to rest by doctors for another two weeks.

“I spoke to Her Majesty as I do every week as part of my job and she was on very good form,” Johnson told ITV News on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

ROME (AP) — As Iran’s nuclear program makes troubling advances, President Joe Biden is set to huddle Saturday with European allies to talk through strategy as they press for a diplomatic resolution — and to plan for the possibility Iran declines to return to the negotiating table.