Europe

BRUSSELS, January 13. /TASS/: The European Union is not planning to introduce unilateral restrictive measures against Iran for accidentally shooting down a Ukrainian Boeing that Tehran admitted to recently, a source in Brussels told TASS on Monday.

The source underlined that this tragedy and the future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program will be reviewed on January 20 at a planned foreign minister meeting of the Council of the European Union.

SUKHUM, January 13. /TASS/: Abkhazia’s parliament has authorized Prime Minister Valery Bganba to act as president following Raul Khajimba’s resignation from the post, a TASS correspondent reported on Monday.

The decision was taken unanimously by all the 34 lawmakers present at the session.

Vatican City, Jan 13 (AP) Retired Pope Benedict XVI has broken his silence to reaffirm the value of priestly celibacy, co-authoring a bombshell book at the precise moment that Pope Francis is weighing whether to allow married men to be ordained to address the Catholic priest shortage.

Benedict wrote the book, "From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy and the Crisis of the Catholic Church," along with his fellow conservative, Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, who heads the Vatican's liturgy office and has been a quiet critic of Francis.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany plans to hold a summit aimed at plotting a path to peace in Libya on Jan. 19, two participants in the preparatory negotiations said on Monday,

The summit will coincide with a one-day visit to Berlin by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, about which Erdogan’s office, which announced the trip, gave no further details.

Erdogan’s presence is seen as essential to the success of any conference on Libya, since Ankara’s decision to deploy military advisers and possibly troops there has made it a major player in the country’s long-running civil war.

MOSCOW, Jan 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Both sides in Libya’s conflict are expected Monday in Moscow to sign an agreement on the terms of a ceasefire which went into effect over the weekend, ending nine months of fighting after weeks of international diplomacy.

The oil-rich North African country has been wracked by bloody turmoil since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising killed long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with multiple foreign powers now involved.

LONDON, Jan 13 (NNN-ANADOLU) — The leaders of France, Germany and the UK on Sunday jointly called on Iran to return to full compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and to refrain from further violence, reported Anadolu Agency.

In a statement issued by the office of French President Emmanuel Macron, they also said they “remain committed” to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). 

“We urge Iran to reverse all measures inconsistent with the agreement and to return to full compliance,” they said.

LONDON, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Britain and Germany on Sunday reaffirmed their commitment to upholding the Iran nuclear deal despite pressure from the United States.

A Downing Street spokesperson said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed via phone "shared interests in ensuring Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon, and reaffirmed their continued commitment to preserving the JCPoA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action)," the spokesperson said in a press release.

MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/: Two people were killed and three others were injured when terrorists shelled residential areas in northwestern Syria’s Aleppo on Sunday, SANA news agency reported citing a police spokesman.

Two teenagers are among those wounded, according to the officer.

Several mortar shells fired by terrorists exploded in a residential area of Al-Khalidiyah and in the city’s central street. At least seven shells exploded in the city's residential areas, according to the report.

KRASNOYARSK, January 11. /TASS/: Long-term orders of Russian arms by other countries amount to $55 bln, whereas annual exports of local arms and military equipment stand at $14-15 bln, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said on Saturday.

"We have guaranteed long-term orders worth $55 bln, while annual sales amount to roughly $14-15 bln," he said.

The share of civil production in the structure of the Russian defense industry’s output went up from 20.9% in 2018 to 24.1% in 2019.

MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has no doubt that Russian will be capable of finishing the construction of Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline on its own and the pipeline will be put into operation, the Russian leader said after his talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Moscow on Saturday.

"Yes, we will definitely be able to finish the construction [of the pipeline] by ourselves," Putin assured. "The question is about the timeframe. It is the only question raised in this context."