Europe

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: Polish authorities have undermined relations with Moscow for many years as well as the work of experts seeking to study challenging issues of the two countries’ history, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS on Sunday.

22 December 2019; AFP: The first Ariane space rocket lifted off over the forests of French Guiana 40 years ago, enabling Europe to at last take its place as an independent player in the international race for space.

Following a number of delays and technical setbacks, Ariane 1 finally left the launch pad in Kourou at 2:13 pm local time on December 24, 1979.

DUBLIN, Dec 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Ireland exported a total of 7.35 billion euros (about 8.13 billion U.S. dollars) worth of goods to China, in the first 10 months of this year, up by nearly 77 percent, compared with the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by the country’s Central Statistics Office (CSO).

MOSCOW, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- A fire broke out at a three-story brick mansion of a chemical plant in the Russian city of Ufa on Sunday, the Ministry of Emergencies said.

There have been no deaths or injuries reported so far.

The blaze has now been limited to an area of 2,000 square meters and there are no residential buildings nearby, the ministry said in a statement.

A total of 135 firefighters are on the scene.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the incident.

TIRANA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The third regional meeting of the Western Balkans' leaders kicked off here on Saturday with a session, during which steps needed to accelerate regional cooperation were discussed.

The meeting brought together Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, and Zoran Zaev, prime minister of North Macedonia.

The third regional meeting of the Western Balkans' leaders, or the so-called "Mini-Schengen" initiative, followed the previous meetings held in Serbia and North Macedonia.

PARIS (AP) — It took a blaze that nearly destroyed Paris’ most famous cathedral to reveal a gap in global safety regulations for lead, a toxic building material found across many historic cities.

After the Notre Dame fire in April spewed dozens of tons of toxic lead-dust into the atmosphere in just a few hours, Paris authorities discovered a problem with the city’s public safety regulations: There was no threshold for them to gauge how dangerous the potentially-deadly pollution was from the dust that settled on the ground.

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Voters in Croatia cast ballots Sunday in a tight presidential election, with the ruling conservatives seeking to keep their grip on power days before the country takes over the European Union’s rotating presidency for the first time.

Some 3.8 million voters in the EU’s newest member are picking among 11 candidates, but only three are considered to be the front-runners.

Conservative incumbent Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic is running for a second term, challenged by leftist former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic and right-wing singer Miroslav Skoro.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis warned Saturday that “rigidity” in living out the Christian faith is creating a “minefield” of hatred and misunderstanding in a world where Christianity is increasingly irrelevant.

Francis called for Vatican bureaucrats to instead embrace change during his annual Christmas greetings to the cardinals, bishops and priests who work in the Holy See.

21 Dec 2019; MEMO: Police of the Greek Cypriot administration arrested three Greek Cypriot employees of Israeli firms for alleged espionage, issuing arrest warrants for other three Israelis, according to local media, Anadolu Agency reports.

According to reports by the daily Phileleftheros, the suspects were arrested on Thursday and were brought before a court on Friday.

21 Dec 2019; MEMO: Montenegro will deploy troops to its borders in response to a rise in the number of migrants passing through the country on a new Balkan route to the European Union, Reuters reports.

Nearly 8,000 migrants from the Middle East and North Africa transited Montenegro in 2019 en route to wealthier EU countries, nearly double the previous year’s total, according to the International Organization for Migration.