Europe

MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Ministry published a draft agreement on guarantees of security between Russia and the United States Friday. The document includes eight articles and covers the main aspects of mutual guarantees of security between Moscow and Washington.

The document reflects the calls, repeatedly voiced by Moscow in the past, and offers a solution to the accumulated problems and threats, including those that emerged after Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

ROME, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A third of people in the 420-million-strong Arab world do not have enough to eat, the United Nations said, highlighting that 69 million suffered from malnutrition last year.

  In a report, the world body’s Food and Agriculture Organization said that between 2019 and 2020, the number of malnourished in the Arab world rose by 4.8 million people to 69 million, nearly 16 percent of the population.

BERLIN, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The German government is looking into whether Britain should be classified as a virus variant area, said a Health Ministry spokesperson on Friday.

The government is expected to make a decision later on Friday, said the spokesperson.

Under German COVID rules, travellers returning from virus variant areas must quarantine for two weeks, even if they are vaccinated. Britain is currently experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases in part due to the more contagious Omicron coronavirus variant.

PARIS, Dec 17 (Reuters) - In the French ski resort of Val d'Isere, staff had been hired, shelves fully stocked and everyone was looking forward to a good season until, that is, France banned British tourists due to fears over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The ban was announced on Thursday, just two days before the start of the holiday season. 

COPENHAGEN, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Denmark's government on Friday proposed new restrictions to curb the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant, saying it now accounted for a fifth of new daily coronavirus cases registered, but shied away from instituting a full lockdown.

The new restrictions, which will need approval from parliament, include closing theatres, cinemas, entertainment parks and conference centres, as well as measures to limit large crowds in stores and shops just seven days before Christmas.

LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The poster child of China's property crisis China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) was officially declared in default by credit rating agency S&P Global on Friday after the sprawling firm missed a bond payment earlier this month.

"We assess that China Evergrande Group and its offshore financing arm Tianji Holding Ltd. have failed to make coupon payments for their outstanding U.S.-dollar senior notes," S&P said in a statement.

BERLIN, Dec 17 (Reuters) - German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, a former epidemiology professor famed for his bearish COVID-19 forecasts, said he expected the omicron variant of the coronavirus to unleash a "massive fifth wave" of the pandemic.

He added during a visit to the region of Lower Saxony that Germany had to prepare for a challenge "that we have never seen in this form before".

LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc was marketing a collection of President Xi Jinping's speeches and writings on its Chinese website about two years ago, when Beijing delivered an edict, according to two people familiar with the incident. The American e-commerce giant must stop allowing any customer ratings and reviews in China.

A negative review of Xi's book prompted the demand, one of the people said. "I think the issue was anything under five stars," the highest rating in Amazon's five-point system, said the other person.

LONDON, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a major upset in his premiership on Friday when his ruling Conservative Party lost a "safe" seat in a by-election.

The minority Liberal Democrats won the North Shropshire parliamentary seat with a margin of 5,925 votes, overturning a 23,000 majority the Conservatives gained in the 2019 general election.

PRAGUE, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Czech President Milos Zeman on Friday appointed a new government headed by Prime Minister-designate Petr Fiala of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS).

Zeman appointed the cabinet during a ceremony at the presidential manor in Lany, west of capital Prague, according to the president's office.