Europe

ROME, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Italy is planning to tighten restrictions to try to curb a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections, including making mask wearing mandatory outdoors again, the prime minister's office said on Thursday.

Among other measures that look set to be approved when the cabinet meets later in the day will be an order making it compulsory to wear the more protective Ffp2 face masks in public spaces such as theatres, cinemas and at sports events.

The statement said the government was also considering closing discos and clubs up until New Year's Eve.

MOSCOW, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Russia's deployment of tens of thousands of troops to the north, east and south of Ukraine is fuelling fears in Kyiv and Western capitals that Moscow is planning a new attack. Russia denies any such plans.

Western military analysts have suggested that Russia cannot keep such troops deployed where they are indefinitely due to financial and logistical issues and would need to pull them back by the summer of next year.

ROME, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Italy has achieved the targets required to receive the funds provided by the European Union (EU) post-COVID recovery program, and the government is still ready to support the national economy in case of a new slowdown, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a traditional year-end press conference, he specified that "all of the 51 targets" needed for the country to qualify for the next installment of European funds have been met.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the West on Thursday to “immediately” meet Russia’s demand for security guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine, saying the U.S. is “on the threshold of our home.”

Speaking during a marathon annual news conference, the Russian leader welcomed talks with the U.S. that are set to start in Geneva next month as a “positive” move, but warned that Moscow expects the discussion to produce quick results.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the West on Thursday to move quickly to meet Russia’s demand for security guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine and the deployment of the military alliance’s weapons there.

Speaking during a marathon annual news conference, the Russian leader welcomed talks with the U.S. that are set to start in Geneva next month, but warned the discussion focused on Moscow’s demand needs to produce quick results.

GENEVA, Dec 22 (APP): UN human rights experts Wednesday called on Indian authorities to stop targeting Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez and to release him immediately.

“We are concerned that one month after Mr. Parvez’s arrest, he is still deprived of liberty in what appears to be a new incident of retaliation for his legitimate activities as a human rights defender and because he has spoken out about violations,” the independent experts said.

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: Russia may face a shortage of uranium raw materials by 2030-2035, due to depletion of developed deposits, the Natural Resources Ministry said in a report on the state and use of mineral resources in Russia in 2020.

"It possible that a shortage of uranium raw materials suitable for development in the current economic conditions may emerge in Russia by 2030-2035, which is due to the depletion of reserves of developed uranium deposits," the document says.

MOSCOW, December 22. / TASS /: Russia, Iran, and Turkey have reaffirmed their intention to hold a summit in the Astana format as soon as conditions permit, according to a joint statement following the results of the 17th International Meeting on Syria in this format.

"[The sides] recalled the Joint Statement of 1 July 2020 to hold the next Tripartite Summit in the Islamic Republic of Iran as soon as conditions permit," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: The Kremlin disagrees with US allegations that Russia’s policy of import substitution violates World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We do not agree with this point of view. Russia does not violate anything in this area," he said.

KIEV, Dec 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said yesterday that, Kiev is ready to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to end the conflict in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

“We even wrote 10 steps on how to get it done very quickly. It is a complex document. It is 10 steps involving the Normandy format and the USA,” Zelensky said, during a meeting with Ukrainian diplomats, in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region.