Europe

BERLIN (AP) — NATO’s secretary general says the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a “milestone” in the fight against the extremist group but is cautioning that the struggle is far from over.

NATO Jens Stoltenberg told Germany’s Bild newspaper on Sunday that IS once controlled a vast area in Syria and Iraq and the international anti-IS coalition, of which NATO is a part, needs to “ensure that it doesn’t return.”

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — As a tour guide in one of Europe’s top travel destinations, María José Martínez constantly takes busloads of tourists to an overlook in Barcelona to gaze upon one of Spain’s most enchanting skylines.

But instead of being wowed by the Mediterranean blue and the sandcastle-like spires of Antoni Gaudí’s La Sagrada Familia basilica, recent clients have been unnerved by the sight of smoke rising from smoldering street barricades set aflame by Catalan separatists.

MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/: The Zaliv Ameriki tanker has been tugged to the port of Nakhodka in Russia’s Far East after an onboard explosion, a spokesman for the Federal Agency of Maritime and River Transport told TASS on Saturday.

"The tanker that was damaged by an explosion has been towed to the shore and anchored in the port of Nakhodka," the spokesman said, adding that the tanker’s air tightness is intact and it has no exterior damages while its interior premises are severely damaged.

MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/: The launch of three Gonets satellites in 2021 will be conducted on the Soyuz-2.1 rocket, not the Angara carrier, a source in the press service of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos told TASS on Saturday.

"The launch of Gonets space vehicles planned for 2021 will be conducted on the Soyuz-2.1 carrier rocket. Previously the launch of those space vehicles were planned on the Angara carrier rocket," the source said. Soyuz-2.1 carrier rockets have been fully adjusted for Gonets satellites, the source added.

MOSCOW, November 1. /TASS/: Russian military cannot confirm yet that Islamic State (IS, terrorist organization banned in Russia) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed as was announced earlier by the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Rossiya-24 TV channel on Friday.

MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/: The Russian-Turkish memorandum on jointly settling the situation in northeastern Syria has helped to prevent massive bloodshed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Rossiya-24 TV channel on Friday.

"When it comes to the situation in general, the agreements that were reached in Sochi undoubtedly helped to prevent massive bloodshed, turned the problem of confrontation between Turks and Kurds into the framework of measures on trust-building," Lavrov said.

MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/: Air trials of Angara carrier rockets will continue, a source in the press service of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos told TASS on Saturday, adding that serial production is planned to start in 2023.

"According to production plans of the state corporation Roscosmos, serial production of Angara carrier rockets is being set up and will be started in 2023 at the Polyot Production Association (Omsk). Currently resumption of air trials of that promising rocket is being prepared," the source said.

ATHENS, Nov 2 (NNN-AMNA) – Greece’s parliament, approved Friday, a bill that would accelerate asylum procedures, as part of its efforts to address its refugee and migrant challenges.

The bill covers accelerating the assessment process of asylum applications, the repatriation of migrants and the social inclusion of refugees, said Citizen Protection Minister, Michalis Chrisochoidis.

LONDON, Nov 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) – 5,700 deaths from liver cancer have been recorded in the UK in 2017, increasing from 3,200 deaths in 2007, according to the latest figures, released by Cancer Research UK.

Of all cancer types, liver cancer has had the largest increase in death rates between 2007 and 2017, and the most rapid rise in deaths since UK records began.

Liver cancer is one of the hardest cancers to treat, and five-year survival can range from anywhere between six percent and 37 percent, depending on age and gender, according to Cancer Research UK.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has put his Brexit withdrawal deal at the centre of his election campaign, rejecting an electoral pact with the Brexit Party that would mean he would have to embrace leaving the European Union without a deal.

Johnson had previously pledged to take Britain out of the European Union with or without a deal on Oct. 31, before lawmakers voted to force him to seek an extension until Jan. 31.