Europe

MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/: Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov has flown as a passenger aboard Russia’s brand-new plane MC-21, the cabinet of ministers said on its website on Wednesday after his visit to the Zhukovsky Central Aerohydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI) near Moscow and the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) enterprise in Ulyanovsk.

"Denis Manturov flew to Ulyanovsk on the latest MC-21 aircraft, accompanied by UAC CEO Yury Slyusar and Rossiya Airlines CEO Yan Burg," the statement said.

MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/: Russia cannot view Italy as a guarantor of the potential peace process around Ukraine due to Rome’s biased stance against Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

The diplomat was asked to comment on the reports that Rome was poised to act as a guarantor of peace settlement in Ukraine. In particular, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that at a press conference on December 29, 2022.

MOSCOW, Jan 4 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin sent a frigate to the Atlantic Ocean armed with new generation hypersonic cruise missiles on Wednesday, a signal to the West that Russia will not back down over the war in Ukraine.

Russia, China and the United States are in a race to develop hypersonic weapons which are seen as a way to gain an edge over any adversary because of their speeds - above five times the speed of sound - and manoeuvrability.

KYIV, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia was planning to call up more troops for a major new offensive, even as Moscow was facing some of its biggest internal criticism of the war over a strike that killed scores of fresh conscripts.

Kyiv has been saying for weeks that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to order another mass conscription drive and shut his borders to prevent men from escaping the draft.

ROME, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Gasoline and diesel prices in Italy have surged dramatically after a discount on fuel-related excise duties expired.

According to data from the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, national average prices were 1.64 euros (1.74 U.S. dollars) per liter for gasoline and 1.71 euros for diesel at self-service pumps during the week ending Dec. 31.

PARIS (AP) — Palestinian lawyer and activist Salah Hammouri vowed to keep up his fight for the rights of the Palestinian people despite his deportation to France following Israel’s claim that he has ties to a banned militant group.

Hammouri, who holds French citizenship, landed in Paris on Dec. 18 following months of legal wrangling, despite France’s public opposition to the expulsion.

His deportation underscored the fragile status of Palestinians in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, where most hold revocable residency rights but are not Israeli citizens.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis praised Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s “acute and gentle thought” as he presided over a packed Wednesday general audience in the Vatican, while thousands of people paid tribute to the former pope on the final day of public viewing in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Francis was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd in the Paul VI auditorium and shouts of “Viva il papa!” or “Long live the pope” as he arrived for his weekly catechism appointment with the faithful.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Unauthorized use of cell phones by Russian soldiers led to a deadly Ukrainian rocket attack on the facility where they were stationed, according to the Russian military, as it raised the death toll from the weekend attack to 89.

Gen. Lt. Sergei Sevryukov said in a statement late Tuesday that phone signals allowed Kyiv’s forces to “determine the coordinates of the location of military personnel” and launch a strike.

WARSAW, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Germany has rebuffed the latest push by Poland's nationalist government for vast reparations over World War Two, saying in response to a diplomatic note that the issue was closed, the foreign ministry in Warsaw said on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the German foreign ministry said it had responded to a letter sent by Poland on the subject in October and did not comment on the contents of diplomatic correspondence.

MOSCOW, Jan 3 (Reuters) - A little known patriotic group which supports the widows of Russian soldiers has called on President Vladimir Putin to order a large-scale mobilisation of millions of men and to close the borders to ensure victory in Ukraine.

Putin, Russia's 70-year-old paramount leader, is under intense pressure to deliver victory in Ukraine more than 10 months since he sent troops as part of an operation he says was intended to defend Russians in eastern Ukraine.