Europe

NOVO-OGAREVO, October 20. /TASS/: Russia is not interested in the endless growth of energy prices, including gas, but this takes place beyond Moscow’s control, President Vladimir Putin said at the meeting with Cabinet members on Wednesday.

KIEV, Oct 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky and visiting U.S. Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin, met here yesterday, to discuss ways to deepen practical cooperation between Kiev and Washington, in the field of security and defence, the Ukrainian presidential press service said.

The two sides exchanged views on the security situation in eastern Ukraine, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, as well as, on the topical issues of Ukraine’s cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

MALLORCA, Spain, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group (9988.HK) founder Jack Ma was on the Spanish island of Mallorca where his luxury yacht is anchored, two Spanish newspapers said on Wednesday, on his first trip abroad since he fell out with China's regulators in 2020.

The Chinese billionaire has largely been out of public view since he publicly criticised China's regulatory system in a speech last year. His empire promptly came under heavy scrutiny by regulators, that even led to the suspension of Ant Group's $37 billion blockbuster IPO.

BRUSSELS, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was awarded the European Parliament's annual human rights prize on Wednesday for his efforts to challenge President Vladimir Putin's grip on power.

Navalny, 45, who was poisoned in August 2020 by what Western nations said was a nerve agent, is serving a 2-1/2-year sentence for parole violations he calls trumped up. The EU has imposed sanctions on Russian officials over Navalny's poisoning and imprisonment.

BRUSSELS, Oct 20 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that the alliance would still need to talk to Russia after Moscow suspended its diplomatic mission to the alliance over an espionage dispute.

That means relying on a hotline between Russia's chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov, and Tod Wolters, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, as well as Stoltenberg's meetings with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, officials and diplomats said.

MOSCOW, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Russia increased pressure on the Taliban on Wednesday to create an inclusive government representing a broad spectrum of Afghan society, as it hosted their new administration at a major conference for the first time since they took power.

Pakistan, China, Iran, India and former Soviet Central Asian states joined Taliban officials at the Moscow meeting. The United States stayed away, citing technical reasons.

MOSCOW, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russian fighter jets on Wednesday escorted two U.S. strategic bombers over the neutral waters of the Black Sea, said the Russian Defense Ministry.

Russian radars detected aerial targets approaching the Russian border over the Black Sea, and two Su-30 fighters took off in response, the ministry said.

The Russian pilots identified the air targets as two U.S. Air Force B-1B strategic bombers and two KC-135 tanker planes, before escorting them away.

VENICE, Italy (AP) — After Venice suffered the second-worst flood in its history in November 2019, it was inundated with four more exceptional tides within six weeks, shocking Venetians and triggering fears about the worsening impact of climate change.

The repeated invasion of brackish lagoon water into St. Mark’s Basilica this summer is a quiet reminder that the threat hasn’t receded.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday backed the Cabinet’s proposal to declare a non-working week and keep Russian workers away from their offices as coronavirus deaths surged to another daily record.

The government task force on Wednesday reported 1,028 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, the highest number since the start of the pandemic. That brought Russia’s total death toll to 226,353 which is by far the highest in Europe.

LONDON (AP) — The world needs to cut by more than half its production of coal, oil and gas in the coming decade to maintain a chance of keeping global warming from reaching dangerous levels, according to a U.N.-backed study released Wednesday.