Europe

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three scientists were jointly awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for developing a way of “snapping molecules together” that can be used to design better medicines, including ones that target diseases such as cancer more precisely.

Americans Carolyn R. Bertozzi and K. Barry Sharpless, and Danish scientist Morten Meldal were cited for their work on click chemistry and bioorthogonal reactions, which are used to make cancer drugs, map DNA and create materials that are tailored to a specific purpose.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed laws that claimed four regions of Ukraine as Russia’s territory while his country’s military struggled Wednesday to control the illegally annexed areas.

The documents finalizing the annexation, carried out in violation of international laws, were published on a Russian government website. In a defiant move, the Kremlin held the door open for further land grabs in Ukraine.

4 October 2022; MEMO: France's far-right politician, Marine Le Pen, has demanded more mosques be closed in the country, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Her demand comes despite the closure of 24 mosques in France in the past two years upon the order of Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin.

In an interview with French TV channel, BFMTV, Marine Le Pen said: "He (Darmanin) closes a mosque there, a mosque here. He dismisses a preacher once in a while, but he must close all extremist mosques in our lands."

MOSCOW, October 4. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 21,687 over the past day to 21,094,872, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Tuesday.

This is the lowest since August 9, when 16,325 cases were registered. A day earlier, 24,158 daily cases were recorded nationwide.

As many as 3,038 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, up by 179.2% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients decreased in nine regions, while in 76 regions the figure increased. A day earlier, 1,088 people were rushed to hospitals.

MOSCOW, October 4. /TASS/: Gazprom has the right to completely terminate gas supplies to Moldova in case of breaching payment commitments by October 20 and rescind the contract due to a gross violation of timeframe to enter into an agreement to settle the legacy debt of Moldovagaz, the Russian gas holding said on Tuesday.

LUGANSK, October 4. /TASS/: Head of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Leonid Pasechnik signed a law ratifying the treaty on acceding to Russia approved by the republic’s People’s Council (parliament) on Tuesday, according to information published on his official website.

On Monday, Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin signed a law on ratifying the treaty on acceding to Russia approved by the republic’s People’s Council (parliament), according to information on the DPR parliament’s website.

LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko accused neighbouring Ukraine on Tuesday of sending 15,000 troops to the border area to build defences and conduct reconnaissance, actions that he called "provocations".

Lukashenko allowed his close ally Russia in February to use Belarus as a staging post for its invasion of Ukraine. However, he has said Belarus is not a party to the conflict and that its own forces are not involved.

MOSCOW, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The Kremlin praised Tesla boss Elon Musk on Tuesday for suggesting a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, after Kyiv rebuked Musk for proposing terms it views as rewarding Russia.

"It is very positive that somebody like Elon Musk is looking for a peaceful way out of this situation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call.

"Compared to many professional diplomats, Musk is still searching for ways to achieve peace. And achieving peace without fulfilling Russia's conditions is absolutely impossible," he added.

BRUSSELS, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O) will have to change the charger for its iPhones in the European Union from autumn 2024 to comply with new rules introducing a single charging port for most electronic devices.

The reform passed by an overwhelming majority in the European Parliament on Tuesday, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, potentially strengthens the EU's role as a global standard-setter on telephone technology. The vote confirmed an earlier agreement among EU institutions. 

BIRMINGHAM, England, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Britain's foreign minister James Cleverly on Tuesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin's sequence of strategic errors must stop and that any use of nuclear weapons would lead to consequences.

Putin has escalated its seven-month war in Ukraine with a military mobilisation and warnings of nuclear weapons use.

Asked how Britain would respond to the use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia, Cleverly told a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference that he couldn't go into detail but there would be a response.