Europe

PARIS, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- A French court on Thursday rejected former President Nicolas Sarkozy's appeal over charges of illegal campaign financing in 2012, maintaining an earlier decision to put him on trial, according to local report.

After losing the appeal, Sarkozy, 63, would face trial over allegation of false accounting during his election campaign that allowed him to exceed spending limits.

If convicted, the former head of state risks a one-year jail sentence.

OSLO, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- With around 50,000 participants from 31 countries, NATO on Thursday launched its biggest military exercise since the end of the Cold War in Norway, as Russia has complained the alliance's levels of military activities near its borders.

All 29 NATO member nations and its partners Sweden and Finland, with around 250 aircraft, 65 vessels and up to 10,000 vehicles, will take part in the exercise, dubbed Trident Juncture 2018, from Oct. 25 to Nov. 7.

BRUSSELS, October 24. /TASS/. NATO allies are not planning to station more nuclear weapons in Europe as a response to new Russian missiles, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference in Brussels on Wednesday.

"We don’t want a new Cold War, we don’t want a new arms race. We strongly believe that it is important to address the concerns we have expressed for a long time regarding the new Russian missile and that Russia has to come into compliance with the INF treaty in a transparent and verifiable way," Stoltenberg said.

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/. ZALA AERO, part of the Kalashnikov Group, has demonstrated a new device of satellite navigation signal suppression for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at the Interpolytex-2018 security exhibition, the Kalashnikov press office reported on Wednesday.

"The compact module is placed under an unmanned aerial vehicle’s wing and suppresses the signal of satellite navigation systems within a radius of up to 5km, and also blocks the operation of all devices that use satellite navigational systems for navigation," the Kalashnikov press office said.

MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/. Russia’s foreign ministry sees it as one of its priorities to reach visa-free travel agreements with as many countries as possible, Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov, who is in charge of consular issues, said on Monday.

STRASBOURG, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- European Council President Donald Tusk said here on Wednesday that all details of the killing of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, shoud be revealed regardless of "who is behind it".

"This was such a horrible crime, that even the slightest trace of hypocrisy would bring shame on us," Tusk said in a speech to the European Parliament.

"It is not my role to state who wants to protect whose interests here. But I know one thing: the only European interest is to reveal all the details of this case, regardless of who is behind it," he said.

GENEVA (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump wants to rip up the rulebook for global trade. China is by many accounts abusing it.

As a battle rages between the world’s top economic power and the fast-growing Asian giant striving to take its place, Canada and the European Union are quietly working to update the laws of international commerce, which have not been changed since the internet boom.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May sought to scotch a growing rebellion against her Brexit plans Monday, saying a divorce deal with the European Union is 95 percent complete and urging fellow lawmakers to “hold our nerve” during the difficult last push in negotiations.

May told the House of Commons that “the vast majority” of issues had been settled, including the status of Gibraltar, Britain’s territory at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

ROME, October 22. /TASS/. Italy calls for Russia’s return to the Group of Seven (G7) as Moscow is an important participant in the process of solving global crises, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told a news conference at the Foreign Press Association in Rome on Monday.

"If President [Vladimir] Putin returns to the G7 negotiating table, we will be able to solve international problems, which haven’t been settled so far," Conte told reporters, noting that he has been sticking to this stance since assuming office.

BRUSSELS, October 22. /TASS/. The European Union has called on the United States to think about impacts of its possible withdrawal from the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) Treaty on its own security and the security of its allies and the entire world, as no one in the world wants another arms race, the European External Action Service (EEAS) said in a statement on Monday.