Europe

22 Nov 2018; AFP: The European Union and Britain agreed Thursday a draft declaration on their post-Brexit relations that sets out an "ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership," officials said.

The two sides have also agreed a draft deal extending the transition period by one or two years beyond the end of 2020, a final sticking point of the divorce deal.

European Council President Donald Tusk said the EU executive, the European Commission, informed him it has agreed the political declaration on the future ties with Britain.

VIENNA (AP) — The head of the U.N.’s atomic watchdog has called on North Korea to allow inspectors back in to monitor its nuclear program.

Speaking at a board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency Thursday, Director General Yukiya Amano noted that Pyongyang had in September talked about denuclearization measures including the “permanent dismantlement of the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon” — a reactor where it produces plutonium.

21 Nov 2018; DW: Kosovo blamed Serbia for its failed bid to join the international police organization Interpol. Both countries have struggled to normalize their ties after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Kosovo raised tariffs on Serbian goods from 10 to 100 percent in retaliation for what it said was Serbia's efforts to block its accession to Interpol.

21 Nov 2018; DW: A German teenager has managed to gain and lose his driving license in less than one hour after police caught him speeding near the city of Dortmund. The 18-year-old was going 95 kilometers per hour in a 50 zone.

Easy come, easy go — a new driver was forced to give up his license less than one hour after securing it, German police said Tuesday.

A police speed trap detected a car going 95 kilometers per hour (59 mph) through the western town of Iserlohn, near Dortmund. The trouble is that the limit was just 50.

BERLIN (AP) — Budget airline Eurowings says 14 flights were canceled at Duesseldorf airport in western Germany after flight attendants started a temporary strike over working conditions.

German news agency dpa reported that flights were canceled Tuesday for eight hours until 12:30 p.m. local time (1130 GMT). Flight attendants are demanding, among other things, more reliable work schedules.

The ver.di union says the strike is a reaction to Eurowings’ refusal to further negotiate working conditions.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The global chemical weapons watchdog’s initiative to apportion blame for poison gas and nerve agent attacks survived two institutional challenges from Russia on Tuesday and is set to become operational next year.

The U.S. and other Western powers at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons staved off a challenge by Russia and China to a June decision to set up an investigative team with the power to name perpetrators of chemical attacks.

MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/. Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos has never accused NASA astronauts of drilling a hole in the hull of the Soyuz MS-09 manned spaceship docked to the International Space Station (ISS), Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday.

"We have never accused the Americans of that. It was an unscrupulous interpretation of certain statements and media reports. I categorically deny these allegations as totally untrue," he said.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Only half of those who choose the winners of next year’s Nobel Prize in literature will be members of the scandal-rocked Swedish Academy that has always previously awarded the prize, the prestigious body said Monday.

Two authors, two critics and one translator — all Swedish — will join five members of the academy in picking the winners next year — including the 2019 and the delayed 2018 literature prizes — and in 2020.

MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. Russia’s Progress MS-10 cargo spaceship has docked to the International Space Station (ISS) after a two-day flight, a spokesman for the missioncontrol center said on Sunday.

"The Progress MS-10 cargo spacecraft docked to the ISS in an automated mode at 22:29 Moscow time," the spokesman said, adding that the spaceship docked to the Zvezda service module.

MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. Russia may launch settlements with Iran in national currencies in order to continue bilateral cooperation despite the US sanctions against Tehran, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with the Anadolu news agency on Sunday.

"We do not recognize [the US sanctions against Iran], which were introduced unilaterally without the approval of the United Nations Security Council. We will continue seeking mechanisms for cooperation, and one of them is the settlements for supplied goods in national currencies," Novak said.