Europe

MOSCOW, October 6./TASS/: Russia will retaliate to the expulsion of diplomats from the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to NATO, and the organization’s accusations are unfounded, the chairman of the 7th Duma’s international affairs committee, Leonid Slutsky, told TASS on Wednesday.

"Such moves are reciprocal in the diplomatic practice. I have no doubt that the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry will suggest adequate response measures, not necessarily symmetrical," the senior legislator said.

MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/: Russia has been playing a significant role in resolving conflicts, triggered by the West, who seek to exploit ethnic and religious tensions for its own goals, Russian lawmaker Alexey Chepa said during an online press conference on Wednesday.

"Russia is doing more than anyone else today [to resolve conflicts]. We see it in Syria, where attempts to exacerbate religious issues led to a civil war. Only through Russia’s efforts was it possible to extinguish this to a certain degree today," he said.

NOVO-OGAREVO, October 6. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that Gazprom must continue to fulfill its contractual obligations to supply gas through Ukraine to the EU.

"It is necessary to fully comply with the contractual obligations for the transit, delivering our gas through the territory of Ukraine, through the gas transportation system of Ukraine," the head of state said at a meeting on the development of the energy sector on Wednesday.

GENEVA, Oct 6 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Africa’s film industry is thriving and could create many millions of extra jobs if its potential was fully exploited, the United Nations said.

In a report, the UN cultural organisation UNESCO said that an estimated five million people currently work in Africa’s film industry, which contributes $5 billion to the continent’s GDP.

Nigeria’s film industry is the continent’s biggest, churning out 2,500 movies per year.

Despite the numbers, UNESCO said the industry has much potential that remains largely untapped.

PRAGUE, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Weary of mounting accusations of financial misconduct against Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Czech voters could oust the billionaire businessman from power in the two-day parliamentary election that starts on Friday.

Polls show Babis' centrist populist ANO party could come out narrowly ahead of others but far short of a majority. That may force ANO to seek a pact with far-right nationalists to retain power, as the two small parties backing his current minority government may not win enough seats to stay in parliament.

CHISINAU, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Moldova's pro-western president Maia Sandu appointed an acting prosecutor general on Wednesday a day after the previous holder was suspended and detained.

Sandu, who came to power last year promising to tackle entrenched corruption, said the removal of Alexandru Stoianoglo was needed to meet Moldovans' hopes for justice.

BRUSSELS, Oct 6 (Reuters) - NATO has expelled eight members of Russia's mission to the alliance who were "undeclared Russian intelligence officers", a NATO official said on Wednesday, the latest deterioration in East-West ties that are already at post-Cold War lows.

The expulsion of the Russians was reported earlier by Sky News, which said Moscow's mission to the alliance headquarters in Brussels would be halved "in response to suspected malign Russian activities, including killings and espionage".

PARIS, Oct 6 (Reuters) - A dispute between Paris and Washington over Australia's decision to ditch a submarine procurement contract remains serious and unresolved, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Wednesday, despite what he said were substantive talks in Paris with the top U.S. diplomat.

The transatlantic row was triggered by the United States' negotiation in secret of a military pact, known as AUKUS, with Australia and Britain to counter China.

LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum ordered the phones of his ex-wife and her lawyers to be hacked as part of a "sustained campaign of intimidation and threat" during the custody battle over their children, England's High Court has ruled.

Mohammed used the sophisticated "Pegasus" software, developed by Israeli firm NSO for states to counter national security risks, to hack the phones of Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, half-sister of Jordan's King Abdullah, and some of those closely connected to her, according to the rulings.

BRUSSELS, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission aims to make sure that French fishermen will be issued licenses needed for them to continue to operate in the territorial waters of the United Kingdom (UK) and Jersey, a Commission spokesperson said here on Wednesday as tensions mount between France and the UK over the matter.

"Finding a solution and continuity to the fishing activities of the European fishermen and women remains a top priority," Vivian Loonela, the Commission's coordinating spokesperson for fisheries matters, said.