Europe

MINSK, December 13. /TASS/: Brest paratroopers and Grodno engineer brigade personnel are participating in the snap combat readiness inspection that kicked off in Belarus on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/: The Council of Europe has chosen the path of ‘megaphone diplomacy’ in its communication with Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.

MADRID, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Spain's left-wing government on Tuesday presented a bill that would allow workers up to nine days of paid caregiver leave a year and extend all family rights to people living under the same roof even if they have no formal family bonds.

Although each country in the European Union has its own legislation regulating care leave, the proposal, which calls for employers to foot the bill, would put Spain ahead of most countries in terms of paid leave.

MOSCOW, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday that he knew of no new scheduled contacts with the United States regarding further prisoner swaps in the wake of a high-profile exchange last week, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

He was responding to comments by U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who told reporters on Monday that Washington expected an "engagement" with Moscow this week on the case of Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.

LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Governor Andrew Bailey spoke to reporters after the Bank of England said investment funds and other non-bank financial institutions would face their first 'stress test' after the near-meltdown in the pension fund sector earlier this year.

Below are comments from Bailey and colleagues from the BoE at a news conference.

ROME, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday that the European Union must remain united in helping Ukraine resist Russian aggression, while stepping up efforts to promote a ceasefire.

Addressing the Italian parliament ahead of an EU

summit this week, Meloni said the diplomatic room for manoeuvre to achieve a ceasefire in the 10-month-old war appeared "extremely limited" but Italy would do its best to promote any such initiative.

STOCKHOLM, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) could face "significant pressure" on healthcare systems in the coming months, warned the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Monday.

In its latest risk assessment published on Monday, ECDC said the pressure would come from the "concurrent circulation" of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses.

BERLIN (AP) — A convicted far-right murderer temporarily took two prison guards hostage in eastern Germany during an attempted jailbreak before he was overwhelmed by other guards.

The hostage taker, who was convicted to life in prison for fatally shooting two people after he tried to storm a synagogue in the eastern German city of Halle in 2019, took two guards hostage at the Berg high-security prison near the city of Magdeburg in eastern Germany on Monday night.

BRUSSELS (AP) — With frost biting outside European Union headquarters, energy ministers again sought to overcome deep differences Tuesday on a natural gas price cap that many hope would make utility bills cheaper so people can stay a little warmer during harsh winter days — if not this year, then later.

EU energy ministers have been forced into five emergency meetings because they cannot come to agreement on a maximum ceiling to pay for gas because of fear that global suppliers will simply bypass Europe when others offer more money.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s parliament was reeling Tuesday, it’s credibility under threat, as a corruption and bribery scandal damaged lawmakers’ careers and fingers pointed at Qatari officials accused of seeking to play down labor rights concerns ahead of the soccer World Cup.