Europe

MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/: The container ship freed by Russian marines in the Gulf of Guinea on October 25 had a crew of 22, Commander of the Russian Northern Fleet’s Naval Taskforce Captain 1st Rank Stanislav Varik reported on Tuesday.

As the Russian Defense Ministry reported earlier, the Panama-flagged container ship Lucia bound from Togo to Cameroon was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea. After receiving a distress signal, a Russian warship sent a helicopter with a marine corps squad to liberate the vessel.

AMSTERDAM, October 26. /TASS/: Crimean museums have the option of filing an appeal to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands against the decision on the Scythian gold, the lawyer for the Crimean museums Rob Meijer reported on Tuesday. 

"Luckily, the court has not gone as far as to order the enforcement of its own judgment, which will depend on whether or not Crimean museums will go to Dutch Supreme Court. That possibility is still there," he said.

MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/: Berlin and Paris must provide their assessment of how Kiev’s threats of a missile strike at Russia influence the Normandy Four negotiations process, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday, adding that their lack of reaction raises questions.

"The behavior of our partners on the Normandy Four format - Berlin and Paris - raises questions," the diplomat pointed out.

BERLIN, October 26. /TASS/: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier presented Chancellor Angela Merkel and members of her cabinet with official resignation papers; the outgoing Chancellor and her cabinet will continue to act as interim government until the new cabinet is established. The presentation ceremony was aired by NTV.

"A lot happened during the last four years. To say that the previous legislative period was difficult, considering the tasks that had to be solved, does not nearly reflect the real state of affairs," the German President noted.

LISBON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Faced with a likely rejection of the 2022 budget by parliament and the prospect of a snap election in Portugal, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Tuesday he would not step down if his hopes of reaching a last-minute deal fall through.

His minority Socialist government's hard-left former allies have said they would vote against the bill in its first reading on Wednesday, leaving it few chances of being approved, short of just three abstentionsin the 230-seat parliament.

LUXEMBOURG, Oct 26 (Reuters) - European Union green policy chief Frans Timmermans will meet China's top climate envoy Xie Zhenhua face-to-face for the first time on Wednesday ahead of the COP26 summit, as pressure grows for tougher action to curb global warming.

A pledge from China to reduce emissions faster this decade is seen as crucial for the world to have a realistic shot at meeting the Paris Agreement's target to cap warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius and avert the worst impacts of climate change.

WARSAW, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Poland will use a mode of financing employed to fight the economic consequences of COVID-19 to help fund a large increase in military spending, the defence minister said on Tuesday, as the government seeks to modernise and expand the armed forces.

Poland's government has used bonds issued by institutions such as the national development bank BGK or state fund PFR - but secured by the state - to finance much of its spending on helping the economy through the pandemic.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s parliamentary standards watchdog said Tuesday that a Conservative lawmaker should be suspended from the House of Commons for breaking lobbying rules.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone said Owen Paterson lobbied the government in 2016 and 2017 on behalf of two companies that were paying him — the clinical diagnostics company Randox and the meat-processing firm Lynn’s Country Foods.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union ministers met Tuesday for emergency talks focusing on energy amid deep divergences between the 27 member countries on how to tackle a crunch that has seen consumers’ bills skyrocket this year.

The wave of price hikes is not set to abate before next spring, and ministers discussed a set of short-term measures that have been put forward by the European Commission to help consumers and businesses weather the shock.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s newly elected parliament is set to hold its first meeting on Tuesday. The 736-member lower house, or Bundestag, is expected to elect as its new speaker Baerbel Bas of the center-left Social Democrats, which emerged from last month’s election as the strongest party.