Europe

MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/: The Russian side has information that terrorists in Syria are plotting an attack on the Hmeymim airbase with the use of kamikaze drones, Oleg Yegorov, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria (division of the Russian defense ministry), said on Friday.

MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/: Russia recorded 5,617 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Saturday. The total number of cases has reached 21,459,284.

As many as 582 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, down from 1,235 the day before. Hospitalizations declined in 70 regions of the country and rose in six regions.

Moscow’s COVID-19 cases surged by 623 to 3,234,541 in the past day and St. Petersburg’s cases increased by 388 to 1,787,934.

MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/: Russian forces thwarted Ukrainian attacks towards Krasny Liman, killing over 60 troops, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

"In the Krasny Liman direction, the attacks of three Ukrainian company tactical teams towards Stelmakhovka, Ploshchanka and Kremennaya in the Lugansk People’s Republic were thwarted," he noted.

According to Konashenkov, over 60 Ukrainian troops were killed, while a tank, two combat armored vehicles, three pickup trucks and a motor vehicle were destroyed.

FRANKFURT, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Germany and eight other EU member states are planning to expand sanctions on Iran to include individuals and organisations linked to violence against protesters in the Islamic Republic, magazine Der Spiegel reported, without disclosing its sources.

A package containing 31 proposals was introduced in Brussels on Wednesday targeting individuals and institutions in the security sector as well as companies responsible for suppression in Iran, the magazine reported.

STOCKHOLM, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Sweden's new government will distance itself from the Kurdish YPG militia as it tries to win Turkey's approval to join NATO, Sweden's foreign minister told Swedish Radio on Saturday.

The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and its political branch PYD are considered by Turkey extensions of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which launched an insurgency against Turkey in 1980 and is regarded as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

AMSTERDAM, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Hundreds of environmental activists wearing white overalls stormed an area holding private jets at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and stopped aircraft from leaving for hours by sitting in front of their wheels on Saturday.

Military police moved in and were seen taking dozens of the protesters away in buses. More than 100 activists were arrested, national broadcaster NOS reported.

LONDON, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang has encouraged the business communities of China and Britain to contribute their insight and strength to stronger practical cooperation between the two countries.

"Your contribution will go a long way to create more highlights of bilateral cooperation," said Zheng when addressing the Fifth China-UK Economic and Trade Forum on Wednesday in London.

BERLIN, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and German business ties can continue to build strong bridges between the two countries, Oliver Zipse, chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Zipse accompanied German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his visit to China Friday, the Chancellor's first China trip after taking office last December.

"This visit sends a strong signal towards reinforcing economic cooperation between China and Germany," Zipse said.

MOSCOW (AP) — A fire in a large cafe in the Russian city of Kostroma killed 13 people and injured five others on Saturday, local authorities said.

The governor of the Kostroma region, Sergei Sitnikov, said 13 people died in the fire and five more were slightly injured. Kostroma, a riverside city of 270,000, is 340 kilometers (210 miles) north of Moscow.

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Representatives of the ethnic Serb minority in Kosovo on Saturday resigned from their posts in protest over the dismissal of a police officer who did not follow the government’s decision on vehicle license plates.