Europe

MOSCOW (AP) — The head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency has said that a proposed Russian mission to the moon will be tasked with verifying that the American moon landings were real, though he appeared to be making a joke.

“We have set this objective to fly and verify whether they’ve been there or not,” said Dmitry Rogozin in a video posted Saturday on Twitter.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party has used her keynote speech at the annual conference to reject the British government’s planned Brexit deal.

Arlene Foster said in Belfast on Saturday that the deal agreed by Prime Minister Theresa May is unacceptable and must be improved upon in the weeks ahead.

Foster’s view is important because the DUP provides crucial votes that help keep May’s Conservative Party in power despite its minority position in Parliament.

ROME (AP) — Anti-Mafia authorities in Sicily on the trail of the No. 1 fugitive Mafia boss have confiscated 1.5 billion euros ($1.67 billion) in property.

The seizure of tourist resorts, a 21-meter (70-foot) yacht, companies and other property Saturday was called one of the biggest hauls in Italy’s strategy to weaken criminal syndicates by going after ill-gained wealth.

The property belonged to heirs of a tour company owner who authorities allege had links to Mafia boss.

MOSCOW, November 23. /TASS/. Ruselectronics Group (part of the state hi-tech corporation Rostec) has developed a mobile super-computer with a capacity of 2.2 petaflops that can find applications in the defense and space industries, the Rostec press office reported on Friday.

"The 1.9x1.35x1m computing module allows reaching a record peak capacity of 2.2 petaflops for computers of such dimensions and a data storage volume of up to 2.2 petabytes," Rostec said.

CHISINAU, November 23. /TASS/.A passenger on Thursday’s Air Moldova flight from Moscow to Chisinau (flight number 9U 176) suddenly lost his cool and became unruly at an altitude of 10,000 meters (32,800 feet) and even tried to open the door in an attempt to jump out, the newspaper Argumenty i Fakty Moldova said on Friday.

ROME, November 23. /TASS/. The drastic reduction of Christian presence in the Middle East comes as a result of foreign values being imposed on the residents of the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Friday during the Mediterranean Dialogues conference in Rome.

MOSCOW, November 23. /TASS/. The first two Project 11356 frigates for India will be built in three years, Head of Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation Alexei Rakhmanov told reporters on the sidelines of a TASS-hosted forum dubbed "Korea and Russia. Economic Cooperation Dialogue" on Friday.

Russia and India earlier signed a contract for the construction of four Project 11356 frigates. Two of them are planned to be built at the Yantar Shipyard in Russia’s Kaliningrad, while the other two will be constructed at India’s Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL).

PARIS (AP) — Cities in Russia, Japan and Azerbaijan are about to find out which one of them gets to host the 2025 World Expo, an event expected to draw millions of visitors and showcase the local economy and culture.

The 170 member states of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions are voting Friday on whether to award the Expo to Yekaterinburg, Osaka or Baku.

Past world’s fairs brought the world such wonders as the Eiffel Tower, the Ferris Wheel and Seattle’s Space Needle — and today’s version is aimed at finding solutions to challenges facing humanity.

BERLIN (AP) — German automaker Volkswagen says it will appeal a court ruling that orders it to buy back a six-year-old diesel vehicle at the original sales price.

In a statement Friday, Volkswagen said it expects an appeals court to overturn the verdict issued last week by judges in the southern German city of Augsburg.

The company has paid billions of dollars in fines and compensation to diesel car owners since 2015 for cheating on emissions tests.

LONDON (AP) — European Union diplomats were meeting Friday to finalize the draft divorce agreement between Britain and the bloc, amid a warning from Spain that it will oppose the deal if it isn’t guaranteed a say over the future of Gibraltar.

Leaders of EU nations are due to meet Sunday to sign off on the deal, which lays out the terms of Britain’s departure in March and sets up a framework for future relations. But Spain remains unsatisfied.