Europe

BERLIN (AP) — The German-born father of Chilean presidential frontrunner José Antonio Kast was a member of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party, according to a recently unearthed document obtained by The Associated Press, revelations that appear at odds with the far-right candidate’s own statements about his father’s military service during World War II.

PARIS (AP) — French authorities announced Wednesday that a man arrested at Paris-Charles De Gaulle Airport for allegedly being linked to the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was misidentified.

The Paris General Prosecutor’s office issued a short statement Wednesday after over 24 hours of checks, saying that the man arrested Tuesday was not the Khalid Aedh al-Otaibi, who is wanted under a 2019 Turkish arrest warrant.

“The (arrest) warrant does not apply to him,” the statement said, without elaborating.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday ordered an inquiry and said he was “furious” after a leaked video showed senior members of his staff joking about holding a lockdown-breaching Christmas party.

The video has poured fuel on allegations that government officials flouted coronavirus rules they imposed on everyone else.

Johnson said that “I understand and share the anger up and down the country” at staff seeming to make light of lockdown rules.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — As 83-year-old Hanna Zientara endured subfreezing temperatures to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot in Warsaw, her 30-year-old grandson was starting a Canary Islands vacation while unvaccinated and stubbornly refusing his grandmother’s repeated pleas to protect himself.

“I am worried about him, but I have no influence over him. None,” Zientara said. “He has many doctor friends who aren’t getting vaccinated, and he says if they aren’t getting vaccinated, then he doesn’t have to.”

MOSCOW (AP) — When the leaders of the Soviet Union’s three Slavic republics met at a secluded hunting lodge on Dec. 8, 1991, the fate of the vast country hung in the balance. With a stroke of their pens, they delivered a death blow to the USSR, triggering shockwaves that are still reverberating three decades later in the tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to appoint envoys to continue talks on security in Europe in light of escalating tensions over Russia’s massing tens of thousands of troops near its border with Ukraine, but the Kremlin said Wednesday it was unclear when the talks would happen.

Biden and Putin spoke for over two hours during a video call on Tuesday. The conversation seemed to have yielded little progress on Ukraine and the Russian troop buildup apart from the two leaders agreeing to name envoys to keep the discussion going.

BERLIN (AP) — Center-left leader Olaf Scholz became Germany’s ninth post-World War II chancellor Wednesday, opening a new era for the European Union’s most populous nation and largest economy after Angela Merkel’s 16-year tenure.

Scholz’s government takes office with high hopes of modernizing Germany and combating climate change but faces the immediate challenge of handling the country’s toughest phase yet of the coronavirus pandemic.

08 Dec 2021; MEMO: The human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories is "disastrous", UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said yesterday.

MINSK, December 7. /TASS/: Belarus is introducing food embargo for goods from countries pursuing the unfriendly policy against the country, the press service of the Council of Ministers said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, December 7. /TASS/: More than 72 million Russians have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine and nearly 65 million of them have received both shots, Russian Health Minister Mikail Murashko said on Tuesday.

"More than 72 million of our citizens have been inoculated so far, with nearly 65 million people having completed the vaccination process. According to the latest data, over 62% of adults have been immunized," he said.