Europe

MOSCOW, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Three people died when a blast ripped through a gas pipeline in central Russia that brings gas from Russia's Arctic through Ukraine to Europe, local officials and TASS news agency said on Tuesday.

Local officials said on the Telegram messaging app that the flow of gas through the section of the Urengoi-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline had been cut as of 1:50 p.m. (1050 GMT).

TASS cited local emergency services as saying three people had died and one had been injured.

KYIV, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said the situation in Russian-held parts of Ukraine was "extremely difficult" on Tuesday while his Ukrainian counterpart drove home the message by visiting a frontline town that Russia has long tried and failed to capture.

Addressing Russia's security services, Putin told operatives they needed to significantly improve their work in a speech that was one of his clearest public admissions yet that the invasion he launched almost ten months ago is not going to plan.

BRUSSELS, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) member states have agreed to cap natural gas prices in the bloc at 180 euros (191 U.S. dollars) per megawatt-hour (MWh) in an effort to ensure the security of energy supply, EU officials said here on Monday.

19 Dec 2022; MEMO: Former England footballer David Beckham has praised the quality of the visitor experience at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar for uniting fans from across the globe. Beckham played in three World Cup tournaments for the England team.

"Seeing the fans come together and the level of football, it's been amazing," he told Qatar2022.qa. "It's been a privilege to see the excitement and the fun the fans are having."

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — On the streets of Kyiv, Fyodor Dostoevsky is on the way out. Andy Warhol is on the way in.

Ukraine is accelerating efforts to erase the vestiges of Soviet and Russian influence from its public spaces by pulling down monuments and renaming hundreds of streets to honor its own artists, poets, soldiers, independence leaders and others — including heroes of this year’s war.

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s defense minister made a stirring argument for his country’s new gender-neutral parental leave system when he announced he would be stepping aside in few weeks to take care of his 6-month-old son, reassuring the nation that it would be in good hands amid a regional security crisis.

While most Finns have shrugged off Antti Kaikkonen’s decision to take leave and the policy is in line with those in neighboring countries, it’s still not common for male politicians in Nordic states to make use of their parental leave.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos said Monday that a coolant leak from a Russian space capsule attached to the International Space Station doesn’t require evacuation of its crew, but the agency kept open the possibility of launching a replacement capsule, if needed.

Roscosmos said a panel of experts would determine later this month whether the Soyuz MS-22 capsule could be safely used by the crew for its planned return to Earth or if it should be discarded and replaced.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is delivering a speech Monday in response to a report on the country’s historical role in the global slave trade, prompting reports he may offer a formal government apology.

Rutte has said only that his speech at the National Archive in The Hague will be a “meaningful moment.”

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian warships set off Monday to take part in a joint naval drills with China, an exercise that showcases increasingly close defense ties between the two countries as they face tensions with the United States.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the Varyag missile cruiser, the Marshal Shaposhnikov destroyer and two corvettes of Russia’s Pacific Fleet would take part in maneuvers in the East China Sea starting Wednesday.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s plan to send asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda is legal, two High Court judges ruled Monday in a victory for the government’s controversial policy.

But the judges also said the government failed to consider the individual circumstances of the people it has tried to deport, signaling further legal battles ahead before anyone is put on a plane to East Africa.

A court hearing in the case is set for next month, and appeals are likely.