Europe

MOSCOW, December 31. /TASS/: Russia and Belarus signed a protocol on gas prices for January-February 2020 and addenda to the contracts for transit and supply of Russian gas to Belarus, extending them until 2021, Gazprom said in a statement.

"[Gazprom CEO] Alexei Miller and [ambassador of Belarus to Russia] Vladimir Semashko signed a protocol on gas prices for the Republic of Belarus for January and February 2020," according to the statement.

Also, addenda to gas transit and gas supply contracts were signed with Gazprom Transgaz Belarus, extending them until 2021.

PARIS (Reuters) - French hardline union CGT called on Wednesday for more strikes in France this month after president Emmanuel Macron pledged to push through an overhaul of the pension system following weeks of nationwide strikes by trade unions.

Macron said in a traditional New Year’s Eve address on Tuesday that he expected his government to quickly find a compromise with unions on the reform, but without departing from the principles laid out by ministers.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, in his first message of the new year, denounced on Wednesday the use and abuse of women in modern society, and called for an end to the exploitation of the female body.

Speaking in a packed St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope also defended women’s rights to migrate in search of a better future for their children and condemned those who only thought about economic growth rather than the well-being of others.

“All violence inflicted on women is a desecration of God,” the pope said in his homily.

PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus has become the world’s largest planemaker for the first time since 2011 after delivering a forecast-beating 863 aircraft in 2019, seizing the crown from embattled U.S. rival Boeing (BA.N), airport and tracking sources said on Wednesday.

A reversal in the pecking order between the two giants had been expected as a crisis over Boeing’s grounded 737 MAX drags into 2020. But the record European data further underscores the distance Boeing must travel to recoup its market position.

ROME, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Italians need to be more confident and strengthen their social cohesion, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said in his New Year speech on Tuesday.

The Italian society was experiencing many difficulties and fractures, which were not overlooked, and yet it should create the right conditions "to allow all of our resources to come to light and express themselves without impediments," according to the president.

LONDON, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday night that the first item on his agenda "is to fulfil the will of the electorate" and take the country out of the European Union (EU) by the end of January.

In his first New Year's message at 10 Downing Street, Johnson said that the bongs of Big Ben at midnight was the starting gun being fired on what promises to be a fantastic year and a remarkable decade for Britain, urging people of Britain to join together to make the 2020s a decade of prosperity and opportunity.

BRUSSELS (AP) — December served up a warning of the massive challenges ahead for the European Union.

Freak storms wreaked havoc on parts of southern Europe, showing how the impact of extreme weather will drive the bloc’s thinking and climate change policy over the coming years. The EU has already said it wants to spend effort and money to remain the global driver of measures to fight climate change.

LONDON (AP) — A 20-year-old man is being held in custody pending his next court hearing after being charged with damaging a Picasso painting at the Tate Modern gallery in London.

London police said Tuesday that Shakeel Ryan Massey of northwest London has been charged with criminal damage. He appeared at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

Police said the attack on the artwork happened Saturday. Police did not specify the painting but British media said it was “Bust Of A Woman.”

MINSK, December 31. /TASS/: Belarus is ready to develop cooperation with NATO and this is one of the areas of its multi-vector foreign policy aimed at maintaining friendly and good-neighborly relations with foreign partners, the Belarusian Defense Ministry told TASS on Tuesday.

"The Republic of Belarus is interested in maintaining and developing dialogue with NATO. This is natural, considering the fact that the alliance is a military and political actor of the world level," the ministry said.

MOSCOW, December 31. /TASS/: The unity of the citizens of Russia is the foundation for reaching the country’s most ambitious goals, President Vladimir Putin said in his New Year’s address to the nation.