Europe

YEKATERINBURG, December 10. /TASS/: Counter-terror squads of Russia’s 201st military base stationed in Tajikistan thwarted a subversive attack by notional terrorists on Russian military facilities during special drills, the press office of the Central Military District reported on Friday.

MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/: Moscow is calling on NATO countries to take the topic of mutual security guarantees as seriously as possible, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said at an online briefing on Friday.

"We are embarking along this path, and this path must be traversed quickly. An assessment of the chances of obtaining security assurances, which we would perceive as security assurances, rather than mere empty promises and meaningless vague language, is premature and ill-timed," he said.

BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A group of 15 European Union member states have agreed to take in 40,000 Afghans for resettlement, Commissioner Ylva Johansson said after meeting interior ministers of those countries.

Germany will accept the bulk of the new arrivals, with 25,000, with the Netherlands accepting 3,159, Spain and France 2,500 each, and other countries in lower numbers.

“And I think this is an impressive act of solidarity,” Johansson said, arguing that allowing more Afghans to migrate in a controlled way would help prevent “irregular arrivals”.

TEGUCIGALPA, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Honduras's incoming government will maintain ties with U.S.-ally Taiwan, two members of the transition team told Reuters on Friday, a day after Nicaragua switched allegiances to re-establish ties with China.

However, one of the team members, Rodolfo Pastor, kept open the possibility that Honduras would recognize China in the future, calling it a new super power and saying the Central American country was studying the matter.

PARIS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's new Chancellor Olaf Scholz played down differences on Friday over reform of EU budget rules and the place of nuclear in green investment financing, pledging to keep the Franco-German axis strong.

The trip to meet Macron in Paris was Scholz's first foreign visit since he became German leader on Wednesday, ending 16 years of rule by Angela Merkel. Diplomats say the change presents Macron with an opportunity to seize a more senior role in the Franco-German relationship.

GENEVA, Dec 10 (Reuters) - China's ambassador to the World Trade Organization said on Friday that Beijing would remain a "developing" country at the global trade body but would forego many of the benefits, signalling an important shift to trading partners.

China, which has the world's second largest economy, is this week celebrating 20 years since joining the Geneva-based trade watchdog, during which it has seen outstanding economic growth thanks largely to its participation in global trade.

VIENNA, Dec 10 (Reuters) - World powers and Iran were locked in talks on reviving their nuclear deal on Friday, with a European source saying they were working from texts discussed five months ago and Iranian officials saying they were sticking to a tough stance from last week.

The talks resumed on Thursday with the United States and Israel - which is not a party to the 2015 deal - piling rhetorical pressure on Tehran about the possible economic or military consequences if diplomacy fails.

MOSCOW, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Russia demanded on Friday that NATO rescind a 2008 commitment to Ukraine and Georgia that they would one day become members and said the alliance should promise not to deploy weapons in countries bordering Russia that could threaten its security.

The demands were spelt out by the Russian foreign ministry in its fullest statement yet on the security guarantees that President Vladimir Putin says he wants to obtain from the United States and its allies.

KIEV, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 442 people have died from COVID-19 in Ukraine in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's death toll to 90,343, the health ministry said on Friday.

In the past day, Ukraine has registered 11,327 new COVID-19 cases, the ministry said in a statement.

So far, some 45.2 percent of Ukrainian adults have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines, while 39.4 percent have been fully vaccinated, it said.

PARIS, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron presented on Thursday France's presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), under the motto "Recovery, Power, Belonging".

The first axis of France's presidency is Europe's sovereignty, Macron said at a press conference.

France plans to move towards" a Europe that is powerful in the world, fully sovereign, free in its choices and in charge of its own destiny," Macron said.