Europe

BERLIN, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Germany's upper house of parliament, Bundesrat, on Friday halted several key parts of German climate package, such as tax reduction on train tickets and financial incentives for the restoration of older buildings.

The Bundesrat decided that the planned tax reduction on tickets for long-distance train journeys now had to be discussed in a mediation committee in order to reach a compromise on the issue of cost distribution between Germany's national government and federal states.

LISBON, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Friday that it was decisive for the country to have double access to the centralized funds of the "Horizon Europe" program for science and research, according to Portuguese Lusa News Agency.

He made the remarks at the signing ceremony of the "legislature contract" between the government and the higher education institutions -- a commitment that provides for an increase in funding of 55 million euros by 2020 and an annual growth in budget allocation of 2 percent per year by 2023.

KIEV, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine has received 43 million U.S. dollars in military assistance from the United States since September in the form of services or ammunition, not funds, the Ukrainian Armed Forces told local media on Friday.

"Communications equipment, cybersecurity means, night vision, medical equipment, various spare parts for received technical equipment worth 43 million U.S. dollars were received from the United States in accordance with previous arrangements from September to November 2019," said a statement from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

MADRID (AP) — Placido Domingo is disputing allegations of sexual harassment against him, saying he has always behaved like a gentleman but that “gallant gestures are viewed differently nowadays.”

The 78-year-old Spanish opera legend told the Spanish online newspaper El Confidencial in an interview published Friday that he feels strong despite the accusations, which he called a “nightmare.” He said he intends to continue performing at least until the end of his planned engagements running through 2021.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An assailant stabbed three people Friday night in a busy shopping district in the Netherlands, and police were searching for the suspect, authorities said.

The attack came just hours after a man wearing a fake explosive vest stabbed several people in London, killing two, before he was tackled by members of the public and then fatally shot by officers. Police treated it as a terrorist attack.

A Dutch police spokeswoman said it was too early to establish a motive for the attack in The Hague.

LONDON (AP) — A man imprisoned six years for terrorism offenses before his release last year stabbed several people in London on Friday, two fatally, before being tackled by members of the public and then fatally shot by officers on London Bridge.

BERLIN, November 29. /TASS/: Conditions have been created for easing tensions in eastern Ukraine, Chairman of the Bundestag Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy Klaus Ernst, who represents the Left Party, told TASS.

According to him, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is more willing to take serious steps to resolve the conflict than his predecessor. Ernst pointed out that the exchange of prisoners and the disengagement of forces in Donbass made it possible to further ease tensions in the region.

MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/: The political situation in Bolivia is reminiscent of the 2014 events in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook.

According to her, the Organization of American States (OAS) has not yet presented the results of a review of the October 20 vote count. "It means that no one knows the reasons why a presidential candidate was suspended," Zakharova noted.

MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/: The Court of Luxembourg will conduct hearings into Gazprom’s complaint against the seizure of its assets in the country in January 2020, Russia’s top gas producer said in its financial report on Friday.

SEVASTOPOL, November 29. /TASS/: The Leninsky District Court in the Crimean city of Sevastopol has arrested a woman suspected of spying for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, a court spokesperson told TASS on Friday.

"She has been taken into custody for two months," the spokesperson said.