Europe

MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/: The G20 has nothing to do with the United States’ defense budget and no one can exclude Moscow from the group, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Thursday.

HANOI, December 8. /TASS/: Russia presented a broad exposition of military, civilian and dual-use products at the Vietnam Defense 2022 international arms show that opened in Hanoi in Vietnam on Thursday.

The single Russian exposition presented by the state arms seller Rosoboronexport comprises over 400 products developed and manufactured by leading Russian enterprises, including those affiliated with the state tech corporation Rostec.

MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/: Russian national Viktor Bout, who was serving a prison term in the US on arms trafficking charges, has returned to Russia as a result of an agreement with the US to exchange him for American basketball player Brittney Griner, found guilty in Russia of drug smuggling, the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS on Thursday.

"As a result of the efforts made, we managed to agree with the American side to arrange an exchange of Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner. The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland," the Foreign Ministry said.

ROME, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Pope Francis broke down and cried on Thursday as he mentioned the suffering of Ukrainians during a traditional prayer in central Rome.

The pope's voice began to tremble as he mentioned the Ukrainians and he had to stop, unable to speak, for about 30 seconds. When he resumed the prayer, his voice was cracking.

The crowd, including Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri who was right next to the pope, applauded when they realised he was unable to talk and saw him crying.

LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday that it was still set on securing at least the bulk of the parts of east and south Ukraine that it has claimed as its own, but appeared to give up on seizing other areas in the west and northeast that Ukraine has recaptured.

The Kremlin has never fully defined the goals of its invasion, which it said was partly intended to protect Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine. But it no longer speaks of trying to force a change of government in Kyiv as Ukraine has steadily reversed early Russian territorial gains.

Dec 8 (Reuters) - Talks on freeing former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan from prison in Russia are continuing, the Russian Interfax news agency cited his lawyer as saying on Thursday, after U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was released by Moscow in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

"Whelan is currently in the penal colony," Vladimir Zherebenkov was quoted as saying. "Discussions about his exchange are continuing at the level of the intelligence services, so everything is quite closed - but they are going on."

NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Russian forces attacked settlements in eastern Ukraine from the ground and air, officials said on Thursday, in support of the Kremlin's apparently scaled-back ambition of only securing the bulk of Ukrainian lands it has claimed in the war.

Fighting was underway along the entire line of demarcation in the Donetsk region, with the frontline town of Avdiivka shelled by Russian tanks on Thursday morning, said Tatiana Ignatchenko, a spokeswoman for the regional administration.

BERLIN, Dec 8 (Reuters) - German police plan further arrests as they investigate a far-right group that prosecutors say was preparing to overthrow the state and install a former member of a German royal family as national leader.

Investigators have said the group, many of whom were members of the Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) movement, planned to install aristocrat Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss as leader of a new state and found evidence that some members planned to storm the Bundestag and arrest lawmakers.

LONDON (AP) — This was the year war returned to Europe, and few facets of life were left untouched.

Russia’s invasion of its neighbor Ukraine unleashed misery on millions of Ukrainians, shattered Europe’s sense of security, ripped up the geopolitical map and rocked the global economy. The shockwaves made life more expensive in homes across Europe, worsened a global migrant crisis and complicated the world’s response to climate change.

___

LONDON (AP) — Google has to delete search results about people in Europe if they can prove that the information is clearly wrong, the European Union’s top court said Thursday.

The European Court of Justice ruled that search engines must “dereference information” if the person making the request can demonstrate that the material is “manifestly inaccurate.”

People in Europe have the right to ask Google and other search engines to delete links to outdated or embarrassing information about themselves, even if it is true, under a principle known as “right to be forgotten.”