Europe

MOSCOW, November 26. /TASS/: The Russia-India-China (RIC) format has contributed to building a multipolar world order and rule of international law, and is a key global and regional policy factor, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reported on Friday at the online meeting of the RIC foreign ministers.

KIEV, November 26. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Friday blamed his predecessor Pyotr Poroshenko for the loss of Donbass, and Ukraine’s acting prime minister in 2014, Alexander Turchinov, for the loss of Crimea.

"Mr. Turchinov is one of those people who lost Crimea. And Mr. Poroshenko is one of those who lost Donbass. This says it all. It is my own opinion and, I am certain, the opinion of a majority of Ukrainians," Zelensky told a news conference.

SOCHI, November 26. / TASS /: Russian President Vladimir Putin has emphasized the importance of the commitment of the Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

"I think that what is really important, as you have just mentioned <…>, is the fact that both sides are interested in the normalization of the situation and its further development in a positive manner," the Russian president said, addressing the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan, on Friday.

BUCHAREST, Nov 26 (NNN-Xinhua) — Romania’s new government led by ex-general Nicolae Ciuca took the oath of office on Thursday soon after winning a vote of confidence in Parliament with overwhelming support.

The official installment of the three-party coalition government put an end to a long political instability in the country after the minority cabinet led by Florin Citu collapsed in a parliamentary no-confidence vote on Oct 5.

VIENNA, Nov 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States threatened to confront Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency next month if it does not cooperate more with the watchdog – an escalation that could undermine talks on reviving a 2015 big-power deal with Iran.

Tehran is locked in several standoffs with the IAEA, whose 35-nation Board of Governors is holding a quarterly meeting this week.

KYIV, Nov 26 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday said Ukraine had uncovered a plot to overthrow his government next week, involving individuals from Russia caught on tape talking about roping Ukraine's richest businessman into backing a coup.

The Kremlin denied any role in any coup plot, and the businessman called the president's account an "absolute lie". Zelenskiy himself gave few details and stopped short of saying whether he believed the Kremlin was behind the plot.

LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Central London shops and businesses hoping to receive a much-needed boost from Black Friday sales were hit by disruption to the tube network as drivers held their biggest strike since 2018.

The 24-hour strike, which started at 0430 GMT, led to the suspension of the Piccadilly, and Waterloo and City lines, and delays on the Jubilee, Central, Victoria and Northern lines.

Transport for London (TfL) said it was running 58% of its usual services.

BRUZGI, Belarus/MOSCOW, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko told migrants stranded at the border with Poland on Friday that his country would help them to return home if they wanted but would not force them.

Thousands of migrants are stuck on the European Union's eastern frontier, in what the EU says is a crisis Minsk engineered by distributing Belarusian visas in the Middle East, flying them in and pushing them across the border.

LONDON/GENEVA, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Global authorities reacted with alarm on Friday to a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, with the EU and Britain among those tightening border controls as researchers sought to find out if the mutation was vaccine-resistant.

Hours after Britain banned flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries and asked travellers returning from there to quarantine, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned against hasty travel bans.

The head of the UN World Tourism Organisation called for a quick decision.

MINSK, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Roughly 1,000 Iraqi refugees in Belarus have expressed their readiness to return home, and a group of refugees returned to Iraq by plane from Minsk airport on Wednesday, reported Belarusian media.

The Iraqi side received requests from about 1,000 people wishing to return to Iraq, Majid al-Kinani, the Iraqi consul in Russia and Belarus, was quoted as saying.