Europe

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russia’s nuclear power company says a Soviet-built nuclear reactor has been taken out of operation after 45 years of service.

The state-controlled Rosatom corporation said Saturday that Reactor No. 1 at the Leningrad nuclear power plant has been shut down as planned. It said it will take until 2023 to fully unload its uranium fuel.

LONDON (AP) — London’s Gatwick Airport is seeking to run a full schedule Saturday after police arrested a man and a woman in connection with the “criminal use of drones.”

In a statement, Britain’s second-biggest airport said it is operational but urged passengers, tens of thousands of whom have been stranded since the drone incursions began on Wednesday evening, to check the status of their flights.  

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Using a smartphone puts one’s privacy and security at risk and this poses a great danger particularly to any high-profile leader, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel, adding that this was the reason why Russian President Vladimir Putin does not use a cell phone.

When asked whether the head of state owned a smartphone, Peskov said: "not as far as I know, he does not have a phone."

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Moscow is not interested in an arms race and only seeks to maintain the balance of power, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at his annual news conference on Thursday.

"Generally, this is simply an element of containing and evening parities in the strategic balance. This is what it is. This means keeping parity and nothing more than that," the Russian leader said, speaking about the newest breakthrough missile defense systems developed by Russia.

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. The RT TV channel is disappointed with conclusions drawn by British media watchdog Ofcom, which found RT guilty of breaking impartiality rules, RT said in a statement published on its website.

"RT is extremely disappointed by Ofcom's conclusions in what were almost all self-initiated investigations into RT by the regulator. We operate under rules outlined by the regulator, and always strive to abide by them," the statement reads.

ANKARA, December 20. /TASS/. The next summit between Russia, Turkey and Iran on Syrian regulation will be held in Russia, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated on Thursday in Ankara on the outcomes of the talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We agreed to continue our close cooperation with Turkey and Russia within the framework of the Astana process. The next summit will take place in Russia, we have an agreement. Syria is a very important issue for us," the NTV channel cites Rouhani.

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he concurred with his US counterpart Donald Trump that the terrorist group, the Islamic State (outlawed in Russia) had been defeated in Syria on the whole.

"As for the victory over the Islamic State, I agree with the US president by and large," Putin told Thursday’s annual news conference. "We’ve achieved considerable changes in the struggle against terrorism in that area and dealt severe blows to the Islamic State in Syria."

20 Dec 2018; DW: Denmark has approved funding to transform a remote island from a contagious diseases laboratory to a detention center, which would house migrant criminals who cannot be deported. The move was criticized by the UN.

The Danish government will begin holding foreign criminals on a remote island, located approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Copenhagen. The controversial plan was included in the 2019 budget proposal, which the legislature approved on Thursday.

19 Dec 2018; DW: Poland is seeking to reduce its dependence on Russia and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline for its LNG supplies. The deal should provide for 15 percent of Poland's daily gas needs over the next 20 years.

The deal announced on Wednesday between Poland's state gas company PGNiG and Port Arthur LNG, part of Sempra Energy, is just one of several the EU state has signed with US gas suppliers in recent weeks.

19 Dec 2018; AFP: The European Union on Wednesday adopted backup plans to protect air transport and financial markets in the event Britain leaves without a Brexit deal in 100 days.

And the bloc promised that British citizens living in Europe would continue to enjoy residents' rights "provided that this approach is reciprocated by the UK".

EU officials insist the measures would not mean Britain can quit the union painlessly, but that it is important for "time-limited" measures to "mitigate" the harm.