Europe

Blood-stained shirt of assassinated Czar Alexander II returned to Russia

PARIS, November 10. /TASS/. Relics from the Russian Imperial Romanov family, illegally seized by a religious organization in Nice, were returned to Russia on Friday. Among them is the blood-stained shirt of Czar Alexander II of Russia (Alexander the Liberator) which he wore in the last hours of his life before his assassination on 13 March 1881. The ceremony of returning the relics to Russia was held at the session of the "French-Russian Alliance" public association in Paris, a TASS correspondent reported from the scene.

Muslims in Xinjiang face repression: German parliament

BERLIN; 89 Nov 2018; AA: Government and opposition lawmakers urged China on Thursday to end repressive policies against Uighur Muslims in northwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region of the country.

The opposition Green Party accused Chinese authorities of severe human rights violations, forced political indoctrination and massive surveillance in the region.

EU to take joint stance at end of Khashoggi probe

BRUSSELS; 9 Nov 2018; AA: The European Commission said Friday they are discussing a joint stance for Saudi Arabia following the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“In any case, the member states are in contact with one another,” commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said, in a daily press briefing in Brussels.

She added that the joint stance would be taken once the results of the investigation into Khashoggi's murder are revealed.

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

Banned far-right rally gets go-ahead from Berlin court

9 Nov 2018; DW: A Berlin court overturned a ban on a far-right rally. The state Interior Ministry had said the candle-lit march would negate the meaning of memorials on the anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom.

Berlin's Administrative Court has lifted a ban on a far-right rally, which is planned to take place in the German capital on Friday evening – the 80th anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom against Jews.

The march, organized by extreme right-wing movement We are for Germany (WfD), had been called off on Wednesday by Berlin's interior minister, Andreas Geisel.

German minister says childless people should pay more tax

9 Nov 2018; DW: Germany's health minister has called for people without children to pay significantly more into the pension scheme. But others in the government have dismissed the idea as an attempt to punish childless residents.

Childless people should be paying much more towards care and pension insurance than those who have started a family, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said Friday.

In a guest commentary for the daily Südwest Presse newspaper, Spahn appealed for a fundamental rethink of the system, describing it as a question of fairness.

Russia ready to supply as much gas to EU as needed

POTSDAM, November 7. /TASS/. Russia is ready to deliver to European nations as much gas as customers will require, Deputy CEO of the Russian gas holding Gazprom Alexander Medvedev said on Wednesday.

The gas demand will grow over years, the top manager said. "We in Russia are to supply as much gas to Europe as Europe needs," Medvedev said. At the same time, Russia "does not intend to take 100%" of extra exports, he added.

Russian diplomat blasts US State Department for spreading ‘fake news’

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. The US Department of State is churning out fake news against Russia on an industrial scale while US President Donald Trump is fighting bogus news stories in the American media, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"While the US president is fighting fake news on CNN, he apparently does not notice in the heat of the struggle that his subordinates in his administration just continue to generate them, these bogus stories are already on an industrial level now," the Russian diplomat said.

Frigate, oil tanker collide off western Norway, injuring 7

OSLO, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- A Norwegian navy frigate collided with an oil tanker off Norway's western coast early Thursday morning, injuring seven people, local media reported.

There were 137 people aboard the KNM Helge Ingstad frigate and 23 others on the Sola TS tanker when the collision occurred outside the Sture Terminal, an oil terminal 50 km northwest of Bergen, Norway, according to VG newspaper.

The frigate was taking a lot of water and seven of its crew were injured, police told the newspaper, adding that everyone aboard the vessels has already been evacuated.

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