Europe

PARIS, Oct 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of French police officers marched in the streets of Paris on Wednesday, protesting against poor working conditions they say have led to dozens of suicides among their ranks since the beginning of the year.

They also denounced what they described as a rising anti-police sentiment in the wake of the “Yellow Vest” violent protest movements, during which some officers have been accused of using excessive force.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed on Thursday on the need to protect the rights of Christian minorities in the Middle East during a meeting at the Vatican, the U.S. State Department said.

Pompeo, whose trip this week to Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Greece has been overshadowed by an impeachment inquiry at home targeting President Donald Trump, met the pope for about a half an hour.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn predicted on Thursday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s latest effort to secure a Brexit deal would be rejected by the European Union and by parliament.

“The proposals are unrealistic and damaging, and will, as I think the prime minister full well knows, be rejected in Brussels, rejected in this House and rejected across this country,” Corbyn told parliament.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s last-ditch Brexit proposal “can’t fly” because it is an unworkable move backwards that leaves Britain and the European Union far apart, a senior European Union official said on Thursday.

Just 28 days before the United Kingdom is due to leave the EU, both sides are positioning themselves for a delay or else a disorderly no-deal Brexit. Johnson says he wants a deal but insists there can be no delay to Brexit beyond Oct. 31.

DUBLIN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday that the latest Brexit proposals from the British government do not fully meet the agreed objectives of the backstop.

Varadkar made the comment in a statement issued after a phone talk with his British counterpart Boris Johnson, which took place on Wednesday evening.

In the statement, Varadkar indicated that he would study the proposals in further detail and would consult with the European Union (EU) institutions, including the EU Brexit task force and Ireland's EU partners.

SKOPJE, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said here on Wednesday that this month the European Union (EU) should decide to open accession negotiations with North Macedonia.

At a joint press conference after his meeting with President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski, Djukanovic said it is realistic to expect full support from the international community both for North Macedonia's opening accession negotiations with the EU and for its NATO membership.

SOCHI, October 2. /TASS/: Moscow welcomes the Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement’s readiness to declare a ceasefire in Yemen and enter talks on resolving the conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, addressing the 16th Annual Meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/: Oil prices have returned to their earlier level after the spike caused by the drone attack again oil facilities of Saudi Arabia because there are no fundamental preconditions at the moment for the oil price increase, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at the meeting with OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo.

MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/: The chairman of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, Leonid Slutsky, has described as the "voice of reason" the proposal of the Dutch parliamentarians to initiate a probe into the role of Ukraine in the MH17 flight disaster over Ukraine’s Donetsk Region in July 2014.

"In the MH17 disaster case the voice of reason has been heard at last: Dutch legislators demanded a probe into the role of Ukraine in the crash of the Malaysian Boeing. An impartial probe will turn all suspicion about Russia’s complicity to dust," Slutsky tweeted on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s statements demonstrate that he seeks to disavow the signing of the Steinmeier formula but neither Russia nor Donbass will recognize a new law on a special status of certain areas in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions without the Contact Group’s approval, Russian Senator Alexei Pushkov said.