Europe

Belgrade, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Orthodox Christians in Serbia celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7 according to the Julian calendar.

People burn dried oak branches as a traditional ceremony on the Orthodox Christmas Eve in front of the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox church in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 6, 2019.

LONDON, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May ended speculation Sunday that a vote on her under-fire Brexit deal may be deferred again, insisting that the vote would go-ahead in the House of Commons as planned next week.

In an interview on the BBC's main weekly political program, May said "I want to see this deal go through. If the deal is not voted on, then actually we are going to be in uncharted territory."

The vote should have taken place last month, but it was deferred with May saying it was clear it would be defeated.

06 Jan 2019; AFP: Hundreds of women on Sunday marched in Paris to reclaim France's "yellow vest" movement from violent activists, a day after protesters smashed their way into a government ministry.

The women, wearing yellow vests, turned out after 50,000 people returned to the streets of France on Saturday amid violent clashes with police.

Some of the women waved yellow balloons and pushed prams. Protests were also held in other French cities.

05 Jan 2019; DW: Germany's largest trade union has called for industrial action following a failed round of wage negotiations. The affected airports have warned of "severe disruption" for passengers on Monday.

Security personnel at Berlin's Tegel and Schönefeld airports are to go on a nearly four-hour strike on Monday, following a fourth round of failed wage negotiations between Germany's largest trade union, Ver.di, and the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS).

05 Jan 2019; DW: Protesters have braved a blizzard to demonstrate for a fifth week against President Aleksandar Vucic. Media freedom, an end to attacks against journalists and the opposition and electoral reform are among their demands.

05 Jan 2019; DW: Yellow vest protesters have gathered once again across France to call for tax cuts and pay increases. Some demonstrators clashed with police, with President Emmanuel Macron condemning the violence.

05 Jan 2019; DW: Shipping firm MSC is under criminal investigation after more than 270 cargo containers fell off one of its ships and washed ashore. Most of the containers, some holding hazardous material, have not been located.

Swiss shipping line MSC said on Saturday it will bear the "full costs" of cleaning up debris from a container spill that washed up on Dutch and German shores.

MOSCOW, January 5./TASS/. All six sailors abducted in the Gulf of Guinea are Russian nationals, the Russian Embassy to Benin has said on its Facebook page.

It said pirates attacked the MSC MANDY ship in the area of Benin’s territorial waters on January 2. "There were 24 people on board, most of them Russian nationals," the embassy said.

"The attackers took six people hostage, including the captain, and vanished," the embassy said, adding that all abducted sailors were Russian nationals.

BRUSSELS, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Illegal border crossings at Europe's external borders in 2018 fell by a quarter to the lowest level in five years, according to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

The number in 2018 was estimated at 150,000, 92 percent below the peak of the migratory crisis in 2015, said the agency, also known as Frontex, in the latest news release.

The decline was due to the dramatic fall - 80 percent less than 2017 - in the number of migrants taking the Central Mediterranean route to Italy, said Frontex.

MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/. Paul Whelan detained in Russia on suspicion of spying may hold passports of other countries apart from the US and British citizenship, a source in Russia’s Foreign Ministry told TASS on Friday.

"I believe the British citizenship and American citizenship are not the last," he said.