Europe

PARIS, Nov 12 (Reuters) - World powers will push for sanctions against anyone who disrupts Libya's electoral process and political transition, they agreed at a conference on Friday in Paris.

The meeting, which included the leaders of France, Libya, Germany, Italy and Egypt, as well as the U.S. vice president, was to cement backing for the planned vote on Dec. 24 and efforts to remove foreign forces.

VIENNA, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Austria's government is likely to decide on Sunday to impose a lockdown on people who are not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus as daily infections have surged to record levels, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said on Friday.

Schallenberg did not say when the lockdown would take effect, but the two provinces hardest-hit by this wave of infections, Upper Austria and Salzburg, will introduce the measure for themselves on Monday.

12 Nov 2021; MEMO: Turkey's flights to the Belarusian capital Minsk will be reduced to zero for a limited time after a deal with Turkish Airlines to stop the flow of Middle Eastern migrants to Belarus and to stop them trying to reach Poland, the European Commission said today. Turkey also banned Syrian, Yemeni and Iraqi citizens from flights to Minsk, Reuters reports.

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin on Friday rebuffed allegations that a buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine reflects Moscow’s aggressive intentions, saying that Russia needs to ensure its security in response to alleged NATO threats.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed Western media reports alleging Moscow’s intentions to invade Ukraine as “hollow and unfounded attempt to incite tensions.”

“Russia doesn’t threaten anyone,” Peskov said during a conference call with reporters. “The movement of troops on our territory shouldn’t be a cause for anyone’s concern.”

BERLIN (AP) — Lufthansa said Friday that it has repaid all the aid it received from the German government last year to help the airline through the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany’s biggest airline, which also owns carriers including Austrian Airlines and Swiss, received a 9 billion euro ($10.3 billion) government rescue package in mid-2020. The German government took a 20% stake in the company, which has long made clear that it wanted to pay back the aid quickly.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Turkey’s Civil Aviation Authority said Friday that the country is halting airline ticket sales to Iraqi, Syrian and Yemeni citizens wanting to travel to Belarus, which in recent months became a route for migrants and refugees trying to enter the European Union.

EU leaders have put increasing pressure on airlines to stop bringing people from the Middle East to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, from where asylum-seekers seeking better lives have traveled by car to the EU’s doorstep.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s disease control center is calling for people to cancel or avoid large events and to reduce their contacts as the country’s coronavirus infection rate hits the latest in a string of new highs.

The center, the Robert Koch Institute, said Friday that Germany’s infection rate climbed to 263.7 new cases per 100,000 residents over seven days, up from 249.1 the previous day. Another 48,640 new cases were reported after the daily total topped 50,000 for the first time on Thursday. A further 191 deaths brought Germany’s total so far to 97,389.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Santa won’t be getting his traditional welcome in the Dutch city of Utrecht this year. The ceremonial head of Carnival celebrations in Germany’s Cologne had to bow out because he tested positive for COVID-19. And Austria is considering imposing a lockdown on unvaccinated people.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Negotiators at this year’s U.N. climate talks in Glasgow appeared to be backing away from a call to end all use of coal and phase out fossil fuel subsidies completely.

The latest draft proposal from the meeting’s chair released Friday calls on countries to accelerate “the phaseout of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels.”

A previous version Wednesday had called on countries to “accelerate the phasing out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuel.”

MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS/: The United States and NATO have switched to practicing Black Sea deployments by whole squadrons and task forces instead of standalone combat ships, military expert, Director for Development at the Fund for Assistance to 21st Century Technologies Ivan Konovalov told TASS on Thursday.