Europe

HAVANA, October 31. /TASS/. The contract on supplying Russia’s S-400 missile systems to India has been signed in rubles, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said on Wednesday.

"The contract has been signed in rubles," Borisov said.

Earlier reports said Russia would switch to settlements in national currencies instead of the dollar with its partners in military and technical cooperation.

LONDON (AP) — Shares in HSBC are rallying after Europe’s biggest bank posted a 32 percent increase in third-quarter earnings.

The London-based bank, which gets most of its profit from Asia, said net income advanced to $3.90 billion from $2.96 billion in the same quarter last year. HSBC shares rose 4 percent to 629.20 pence in early London trading.

BERLIN, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday she will not run for chairman of her party, the Christian Democratic Party (CDU).

The move was considered unexpected since Merkel had always insisted the post of party leader and chancellor should be filled by the same person.

Merkel's statement came in a party meeting a day after the state election in Hesse, where the CDU suffered a severe setback by garnering only 27 percent of the vote, a sharp decline from the record of 38.3 percent five years ago.

By Cuneyt Karadag

BERLIN; 28 Oct 2018; DW: Supporters of PKK terror organization on Saturday attacked a Turkish family in the German capital.

During an unauthorized demonstration at Alexander Square around 100 terror supporters unfurled banners, chanted slogans and attacked a Turkish family which came to Berlin for a visit from North Rhine-Westphalia province.

MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. Moscow will find the ways to reduce the damage from the US sanctions and then to become independent from them, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" on Rossiya 1 TV channel.

"As for sanctions, this is a separate issue," Lavrov said. "In any case, we will find the opportunities to do so to minimize the damage from them, and some time later to stop being dependent on what they try to blackmail us."

MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to deploy 16 Samarkand electronic warfare systems in 13 military units, a document published on the ministry’s state procurement website said on Sunday.

Three types of Samarkand electronic warfare systems will be sent to the Kaliningrad, Murmansk and other areas of northwestern Russia, and also to the Far East’s Primorye Region.

The contract to the tune of 61 mln rubles ($929,000) is due to be implemented by November 10, 2019.

LONDON (AP) — Michael Higgins handily won a second term as Ireland’s president Saturday, capturing every constituency in an election that was marked by low turnout.

The 77-year-old Higgins received 55.8 percent of the vote in Friday’s vote, which was contested by six candidates. The vote share was just below the record 56.3 percent received by longtime independence leader Eamon de Valera in a two-way contest in 1959.

The Irish Independent newspaper estimated that turnout was less than 45 percent, the lowest ever for a presidential election.

26 Oct 2018; DW: A Turkish court on Friday sentenced a German man to six years and three months in prison for membership of a terrorist organization. In addition, he received a suspended sentence of one year and eight months in jail for entering a military exclusion zone.

Since last year, a number of German citizens have been detained in Turkey, putting serious strain on relations between Berlin and Ankara.

Washington, Oct 27; PTI: The European Union joined the US and the UK on Saturday to urge the political parties in Sri Lanka to abide by the Constitution and refrain from violence, as the island nation plunged into a political crisis after the sacking of prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

President Maithripala Sirisena sacked his former ally Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister and replaced him with controversial strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday, a move seen as an effort to allow Rajapaksa to buy more time to seek majority in the parliament.

LONDON (AP) — French urban climber Alain Robert has been banned from climbing any building in Britain after scaling one of London’s tallest skyscrapers without ropes — and without permission.

Robert climbed the 662-foot (202-meter) Heron Tower on Thursday as police cordoned off the building, closed roads and ushered spectators away.