Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - Uncertainty about the fate of the trade negotiations between the United States and China kept markets on their toes on Friday, with European stocks benchmarks mimicking their Asian peers and retreating from the previous session’s highs.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow and S&P 500 reached record closing highs on hopes of a truce to end the damaging tariff war but a Reuters report that the White House opposed aspects of a tentative deal limited the day’s gains.

GENEVA, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The safety and protection of hundreds of thousands of civilians affected by the recent escalation of hostilities in northeast Syria remain a grave concern, a senior UN official said here Thursday.

Najat Rochdi, Senior Humanitarian Adviser to the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, said in a statement issued here Thursday evening that while the intensity and scope of violence have declined in recent weeks, localized heavy fighting in that area continues.

BUDAPEST, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized here on Thursday the European Union (EU) for its attitude towards Turkey, which he termed as "far from constructive," during a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"Recently, the EU's attitude toward our country has been far from constructive," Erdogan said, adding that in his opinion the EU also has failed to keep its word and failed to give Turkey as much money to hold back the flow of refugees as it had promised.

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/: The Northern Fleet’s multipurpose nuclear-powered submarines Nizhny Novgorod and Pskov held an underwater duel with torpedo practice fire in drills, the Fleet’s press office reported on Thursday.

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has dismissed the statements of the German media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) claiming that a representative of its Moscow office has never met with the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s press center. The diplomat provided the details of the meeting in a post on Facebook on Thursday.

VILYUCHINSK /Kamchatka Region/, November 7. /TASS/: Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to place an order for the upgrade of three more Project 1234 missile corvettes for the Pacific Fleet to extend their service life by up to 16 years, Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko said during his visit to the North-Eastern Repair Center on Thursday.

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/: Members of the Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament) commission investigating foreign interference in the country’s domestic affairs have held a meeting with Deutsche Welle Director General Peter Limbourg, the commission’s deputy head Nikolai Ryzhak told TASS.

"Yes, a meeting has taken place," he said without going into detail.

7 Nov 2019; MEMO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday that US pressure has undermined European efforts to resolve the crisis with Iran.

Speaking to reporters in Moscow, the Russian foreign minister urged Iran to fulfil its commitments under the agreement, but said that Tehran’s decision to scale back its obligation is “logical”.

Frankfurt, Nov 7 (AFP) Tens of thousands of Lufthansa passengers faced disruptions Thursday as cabin crew in Germany kicked off a "massive" 48-hour walkout in the biggest escalation yet of a bitter row over pay and conditions.

The strike called by Germany's UFO flight attendants' union was scheduled to start at 2300 GMT on Wednesday and last until 2300 GMT on Friday.

Lufthansa said it was forced to scrap 700 flights on Thursday and some 600 the following day, warning that "around 180,000 passengers will be affected".

MOSCOW, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Russia and India are working on a program of military technical cooperation by 2030, the Russian government said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Work is underway to agree on a program of Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation till 2030," the statement said after a meeting between Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in Moscow on Wednesday.