Europe

VLADIVOSTOK, November 10. /TASS/: The final group of beluga whales remaining in captivity in Srednyaya Bay, in Russia’s Far East, has been released into the wild, the press service of the Pacific Research Institute for Fisheries and Oceanography (TINRO) told TASS on Sunday.

"The specialists have completed the release of the last batch of beluga whales," a spokesman said, noting that they have been freed into Uspenia Bay.

DONETSK, November 10. /TASS/: Ukraine’s forces opened fire from small arms on Sunday morning at an area of disengaging forces and hardware in Petrovskoye, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic’s mission to the Joint Ceasefire Control and Coordination Center said.

"Today at 9.46 a.m. Ukraine’s forces shelled from small arms the village of Petrovskoye," the mission said.

The fire was opened from the Bogdanovka village controlled by Kiev.

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned on Sunday against undermining NATO, in Berlin’s strongest response to date to French President Emmanuel Macron’s critical remarks about the security alliance.

Macron told The Economist this week that NATO was experiencing “brain death”, citing a lack of coordination and U.S. unpredictability under President Donald Trump. He also expressed doubt about the U.S.-led alliance’s security maxim that an attack on one ally would be treated as an attack on all.

LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Sajid Javid said on Sunday the opposition Labour Party’s “reckless” spending plans would trigger an economic crisis within months if it won the Dec. 12 election, citing a contested dossier published by his Conservative Party.

Labour strongly dismissed the report, which said it would increase spending by 1.2 trillion pounds ($1.5 trillion) over the next five years, calling it fake news.

Madrid, Nov 10 - Spain voted Sunday in its fourth general election in as many years amid heightened tensions over Catalonia's separatist push, an issue that has fuelled a surge in support for upstart far-right party Vox.

The repeat polls were called after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez failed to secure support from other parties following an inconclusive election in April which saw his Socialist party win the most votes, but no working majority in parliament.

New Delhi/Zurich, Nov 10 (PTI) No claimants have come forward for about a dozen dormant Swiss bank accounts linked to Indians, leaving the funds lying in these accounts at the risk of getting transferred to the Switzerland government.

The Swiss government began making details of dormant accounts public in 2015 to allow their claimants submit necessary proof to get access to those funds, which included at least 10 accounts linked to Indians.

MADRID (AP) — Spaniards were voting Sunday in the country’s fourth election in as many years with Catalonia’s secession drive and the predicted rise of a far-right party dominating the campaign.

The election was called by incumbent Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who won the most votes in the last ballot in April but failed to whip up enough parliamentary support to form a government.

Sánchez is tipped to win again but Spain may face another stalemate situation and months more without a stable government.

LONDON, Nov 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Moody’s on Friday downgraded the outlook for Britain’s debt, citing mounting policy challenges amid the Brexit debate.

The agency cut the outlook to negative from stable but kept the debt at the investment grade Aa2.

The ratings agency Fitch had similarly put Britain on “negative watch” in February.

Pointing to “paralysis that has characterized the Brexit-era policymaking process,” Moody’s said London has “struggled to cope with the magnitude of policy challenges that they currently face.”

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/: Issues of nuclear disarmament and prevention of arms race in outer space were in focus of talks between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affair Izumi Nakamitsu, who is taking part in the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday.

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/: OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo held a meeting with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak on Friday, according to a statement published on OPEC’s official Facebook account.

During the meeting, the two officials discussed the situation on the oil market and the future of the OPEC+ agreement.

"OPEC Secretary General, Mohammad Barkindo, received His Excellency Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation at the OPEC Secretariat today," the statement said.