Europe

LONDON (AP) — Leo Varadkar returned for a second term as Ireland’s prime minister on Saturday as part of a job-sharing deal made by the country’s centrist coalition government.

Lawmakers voted to approve Varadkar’s nomination to replace Micheál Martin during a special session of the Dail, the lower house of Ireland’s parliament. His appointment was confirmed when he received the seal of office from President Michael D. Higgins, Ireland’s head of state.

BRUSSELS (AP) — No one answers the door or the phone at the offices of the two campaign groups linked to a cash-for-favors corruption scandal at the European Union’s parliament, allegedly involving Qatar. No light is visible inside.

No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), a pro-human rights and democracy organization, and Fight Impunity, which seeks to bring rights abusers to book, share the same address, on prime real estate in the governmental quarter of the Belgian capital.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Emergency crews pulled the body of a toddler from the rubble in a pre-dawn search Saturday for survivors of a Russian missile strike that tore through an apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.

The missile was one of what Ukrainian authorities said were 16 that eluded air defenses among the 76 missiles fired Friday in the latest Russian attack targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, part of Moscow’s strategy to leave Ukrainian civilians and soldiers in the dark and cold this winter.

BRUSSELS, December 16. /TASS/: The European Union has put into the sanction list 168 Russian companies from defense industry, energy and mining sectors, Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis tweeted on Friday.

"Main restrictions are against 168 entities linked to [Russian] military-industrial complex," Dombrovskis said. Investment prohibitions are also expanded against Russian energy and mining sectors and the sector of services for the Russian business, the official added.

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/: The world’s governing football body, FIFA, has declined a request from Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to air his statement before the final match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, according to a report by CNN, the US-based multinational cable news network, on Friday.

"A request by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to share a message of world peace prior to kickoff at the World Cup final on Sunday has been rebuffed by FIFA," CNN revealed, citing its unnamed source.

LONDON, December 16. /TASS/: Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state and national security adviser, has said the world could be at a turning point in the conflict in Ukraine and called for talks to achieve peace.

He laid out his thoughts in a guest essay published by the Spectator, a UK weekly, on its website on Friday.

ISS, December 16. /TASS/: The Russian crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) continue to carry out their routine tasks, TASS special correspondent, Roscosmos cosmonaut Dmitry Petelin, told the media on Friday, adding that the situation on board remained calm and businesslike.

BRUSSELS, December 16. /TASS/: The European Union has formally approved the ninth package of individual and economic sanctions against Russia, the EU Council said on Friday.

"The Council adopted today a ninth package of new measures intended to step up pressure on Russia and its government," it said.

The Council’s decision is to be posted in the Official Journal of the EU in the near time and new sanctions will then come into force.

VATICAN CITY, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has decided to return to Greece three 2,500-year-old pieces of the Parthenon that have been in the papal collections of the Vatican Museums for more than a century.

The Vatican said in a brief statement on Friday that the pope was giving them to Ieronymos II, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, as a gesture of ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church.

THE HAGUE, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Russia's attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities, have been described as possible war crimes by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Amnesty International.

On Friday, Russia launched dozens of missiles across Ukraine knocking out electricity in its second biggest city, hitting critical infrastructure in the south and causing explosions in the capital Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said.