Europe

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The pipeline is built and being filled with natural gas. But Russia’s Nord Stream 2 faces a rocky road before any gas flows to Germany, with its new leaders adopting a more skeptical tone toward the project and tensions ratcheting up over Russia’s troop buildup at the Ukrainian border.

21 Dec 2021; MEMO: Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has been ordered by the High Court in London to provide a British record of more than £554 million ($733 million) to settle a custody battle with his ex-wife over their two children, reports Reuters.

22 Dec 2021; MEMO: An NGO has filed manslaughter charges against senior British and French officials for refusing to rescue dozens of migrants who drowned in the English Channel last month.

MOSCOW, December 21. / TASS /: The US is building up a forward military presence near Russia’s borders, deploying about 8,000 troops in Eastern Europe, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at the expanded meeting of the Defense Ministry Board on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: Series production of the regional turboprop passenger airplane is planned to be kicked off in 2025, Russian Minister of Industry Denis Manturov said on Tuesday.

"We plan to launch series production of the nine-seat Baikal since 2023 and the 44-seat turboprop regional passenger airplane in 2025," he noted.

19-seat L-410 airplanes localized for production in Yekaterinburg are already supplied to operators in order to expand the network of regional routes, Manturov said.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: All attempts by Western countries to isolate Russia in the international arena are futile, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at the expanded board meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday.

"The [Russian] Ministry of Defense cooperates with the Armed Forces of 109 countries. It demonstrates the futility of attempts by Western countries to isolate Russia in the international arena," he said.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: The first patients who were diagnosed with the Omicron strain in Russia have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals, Head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Anna Popova said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: The price of gas in Europe in the course of exchange trading continues to beat historical records and has already exceeded $ 2,100 per 1,000 cubic meters according to the data of the London stock exchange ICE on Tuesday afternoon.

The price of January futures on the TTF hub in the Netherlands increased to $ 2,120 per 1,000 cubic meters, or 181.47 euros per MWh (based on the current exchange rate of the euro to the dollar, prices for ICE are presented in euros per MWh).

MOSCOW, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday it urgently needed a response from the United States on its sweeping security demands and again warned of a possible Russian military response unless it saw political action to assuage its concerns.

Moscow, which has unnerved the West with a troop buildup near Ukraine, last week unveiled a wish list of security proposals it wants to negotiate, including a promise NATO would give up any military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine.

LONDON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to make an announcement in the next 48 hours on whether to impose "circuit-breaker" restrictions in England to stem the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, The Sun newspaper reported on Tuesday.

It said Johnson is considering a return to "Step 2" curbs that would limit pubs and restaurants to outdoor service only and ban indoor mixing between households.