Europe

CHISINAU, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Russian missile strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure caused blackouts across half of neighbouring Moldova, the deputy prime minister of Moldova said on Wednesday.

"Massive blackout in Moldova after today's Russian attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure," Andrei Spuni, who also serves as infrastructure minister, said on Twitter.

By around 3:35 p.m., (1335 GMT), power was restored in the capital Chisinau, according to a Reuters journalist.

BRUSSELS, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The European Parliament on Wednesday designated Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, arguing that its military strikes on Ukrainian civilian targets such as energy infrastructure, hospitals, schools and shelters violated international law.

European lawmakers voted in favour of a resolution calling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A dilapidated fishing boat crammed with hundreds of migrants that lost its steering and had been drifting in the wind-lashed Mediterranean Sea south of the Greek island of Crete was successfully towed to port Tuesday, Greek authorities said.

Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said there were approximately 400 people on the vessel, down from his earlier estimate of 500. He said it was not immediately clear where it had sailed from.

BERLIN (AP) — A senior official in southern Germany said Wednesday that organized crime groups were likely behind the theft of a huge horde of ancient gold coins stolen from a museum this week.

The 483 coins were discovered in 1999 during excavations of an ancient settlement near the present-day town of Manchning and were on display at the local Celtic and Roman Museum.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Senior European Union officials on Wednesday appealed to member countries to set aside their deep differences over migration and press ahead with a long-delayed overhaul of the 27-nation bloc’s asylum system as tensions simmer between France and Italy.

In recent weeks, several hundred people hoping to enter Europe have been stranded at sea aboard aid ships while countries bicker over whether and where they should be allowed to disembark. EU interior ministers are holding emergency talks on Friday in an effort to find a permanent solution.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday linked the suffering of Ukrainians now to the 1930s “genocide artificially caused by Stalin,” when the Soviet leader was blamed for creating a man-made famine in the country believed to have killed more than 3 million people.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainians could face rolling blackouts from now through March amid frigid, snowy weather because Russian airstrikes have caused “colossal” damage to Ukraine’s power grid, officials said. To cope, authorities are urging people to stock up on supplies and evacuate hard-hit areas.

Sergey Kovalenko, the CEO of private energy provider DTEK Yasno, said the company is under instructions from Ukraine’s state grid operator to resume emergency blackouts in the areas it covers, including the capital Kyiv and the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region.

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Scotland does not have the power to hold a new referendum on independence without the consent of the British government. The judgment is a setback for the Scottish government’s campaign to break away from the United Kingdom.

The top court ruled that the Scottish Parliament “does not have the power to legislate for a referendum on Scottish independence.”

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An overnight rocket attack destroyed a hospital maternity ward in southern Ukraine, killing a 2-day-old baby, Ukrainian authorities said Wednesday. Ukraine’s first lady said the attack caused “horrible pain,” vowing that “we will never forget and never forgive.”

The baby’s mother and a doctor were pulled alive from the rubble in Vilniansk, close to the city of Zaporizhzhia.

MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/: Moscow and Havana will continue to strengthen their alliance and defend freedom, equality and justice, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

During the unveiling ceremony of a monument to Fidel Castro in Moscow, which was attended by visiting Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the Russian president said that the friendship between their countries is the shared heritage of the two nations.

"Jointly, we will continue to strengthen our union and defend the great values of freedom, equality and justice," Putin said.