Europe

MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi if necessary, but such a meeting is currently not on the Russian president’s work schedule, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"There are no planned meetings on [Putin’s] schedule if we are speaking about Grossi," Peskov told journalists, adding that the Russian president and the IAEA chief agreed during their meeting in St. Petersburg last October "to carry on with the dialogue if necessary."

LONDON, Jan 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The British and Japanese prime ministers signed what Downing Street called a “hugely significant” new defence deal allowing UK troops to deploy in Japan as the pair met in London on Wednesday.

Rishi Sunak and Fumio Kishida signed the agreement at the Tower of London, with the UK leader telling his guest “the relationship between our two countries is stronger than ever, not just across trade and security but also our values”.

ABOYNE, Scotland, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Britain's King Charles and Prince William made their first public appearances on Thursday since the release of the monarch's son Prince Harry's tell-all memoir and TV interviews in which he made accusations against them and other royals.

In his book "Spare", Harry divulges that he had begged his father not to marry his second wife Camilla, now the queen consort. The book also delivered numerous other revelations, including that elder brother and heir to the throne William had knocked him over during a heated argument.

LONDON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The publisher of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper is applying to dismiss lawsuits brought by Prince Harry, singer Elton John and other individuals alleging phone-tapping and other breaches of privacy.

Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, has applied to London's High Court for the lawsuits – which were launched in October – to be thrown out without a trial, according to court documents.

Jan 12 (Reuters) - A Russian-installed official in Ukraine's Donetsk region said on Thursday that "pockets of resistance" remained in the Ukrainian town of Soledar, undermining claims that the town had been taken by Russian forces.

Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the powerful head of the Wagner private military group whose soldiers are fighting to capture the town, had said on Wednesday that Soledar was under the "complete control" of Russian forces.

KHERSON, Ukraine, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Oksana Minenko, a 44-year-old accountant who lives in the Ukrainian city of Kherson, said she was repeatedly detained and tortured by occupying Russian forces.

Her husband, a Ukrainian soldier, died defending Kherson’s Antonivskyi bridge on the first day of full-scale war, she said. During several interrogations in the spring, Russian forces submerged her hands in boiling water, pulled out her fingernails and beat her in the face with rifle butts so badly she needed plastic surgery, according to Minenko.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Senior European Union lawmakers agreed Thursday to press ahead with a major overhaul of the rules governing access to the European Parliament and the way it deals with lobbyists in response to a massive corruption scandal, the assembly’s president said.

Parliament President Roberta Metsola’s plans would prevent former lawmakers from lobbying on behalf of businesses or governments soon after they leave office and would make publicly available the names of current members who break assembly rules.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis will deliver a final send-off for Cardinal George Pell during a funeral Mass on Saturday, the Vatican said, as revelations emerge of the Australian prelate’s growing concern about what he considered the “disaster” and “catastrophe” of the papacy under Francis.

The Vatican on Thursday said the dean of the college of cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, would celebrate Pell’s funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. As is custom for cardinal funerals, Francis will deliver a final commendation and salute.

A POWER PLANT, Ukraine (AP) — Around some of their precious transformers — the ones that still work, buzzing with electricity — the power plant workers have built protective shields using giant concrete blocks, so they have a better chance of surviving the next Russian missile bombardment.

Blasted out windows in the power plant’s control room are patched up with chipboard and piled-up sandbags, so the operators who man the desks 24/7, keeping watch over gauges, screens, lights and knobs, are less at risk of being killed or injured by murderous shrapnel.

12 Jan 2023; MEMO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ibrahim Raisi have discussed bilateral cooperation and the Syrian issue, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. Issues of mutual benefit on the agenda included energy projects, transportation and logistics.