Europe

Ukraine mulls martial law after Russia fires on vessels

MOSCOW (AP) — Ukrainian lawmakers were set to consider a presidential request for the introduction of martial law in the country on Monday following an incident in which Russian coast guard ships fired on Ukrainian navy vessels.

An emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council was also called for Monday. The European Union and NATO called for restraint from both sides.

The Ukrainian navy said six of its seamen were wounded when Russian coast guards opened fire on three Ukrainian ships near the Kerch Strait and then seized them late Sunday.

Russia, US should start depoliticizing anti-terror, cyber security efforts

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, November 25. /TASS/. Russia and the United States should begin a normal depoliticized work on combating terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and in cyber security area, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on the Rossiya-1 television channel on Sunday.

Ukrainian drone crossing contact line downed near Gorlovka in DPR

DONERSK, November 25. /TASS/. A Ukrainian drone was downed by militias of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic when it was crossing the contact line near Gorlovka, Daniil Bezsonov, a spokesman for the DPR’s defense ministry said on Sunday.

"Our air defense downed another Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle, which crossed the contact line this night," the Donetsk News Agency quoted him as saying. "It was an assault drone with a flame liquid shell."

Swiss spying, cow horn referendums split voters

25 Nov 2018; DW:Swiss voters have weighed in on a controversial set of measures including spying and cow horns, as well as a judicial independence issue close to the famously neutral country's heart.

Swiss voters headed to the polls Sunday on a set of referenda including a proposed constitutional amendment to preserve cow horns headed by a livestock farmer inspired by talking to his herd of cattle.

Croatia clinch 3-1 victory over France to win Davis Cup

25 Nov 2018; AFP: Marin Cilic beat France's Lucas Pouille in straight sets on Sunday to give Croatia an unassailable lead in the Davis Cup final.

Cilic won 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-3, to dethrone defending champions France and secure Croatia's second Davis Cup, 13 years after their first.

Pouille took Cilic to a tie-break in the first set but could not mount a challenge in the next two, losing in two hours, 19 minutes.

Croatia won all three singles matches in straight sets.

Poland drops case against reporter who filmed neo-Nazis

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish national prosecutors said Sunday that they are dropping a criminal investigation into a reporter for a U.S.-owned broadcaster on suspicions of propagating fascism for having gone undercover to film neo-Nazis.

TVN, owned by Discovery, broadcast undercover footage in January that showed members of a Polish neo-Nazi group celebrating Adolf Hitler’s birthday in a forest in 2017.

Russia blocks passage in Kerch Strait after Ukraine incident

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has blocked passage through the Kerch Strait, a narrow body of water nestled between Crimea and the Russian mainland, after three Ukrainian navy ships made what the Russian coast guard has called an unauthorized crossing through Russian territorial waters.

The move comes after months of growing tensions between Ukraine and Russia, which annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has steadily worked to increase its zone of control around the peninsula.

EU endorses Brexit deal and warns: there’s no better offer

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders on Sunday sealed a divorce deal with Britain, and issued a warning to U.K. politicians who within weeks will approve or reject it — this offer is as good as it gets.

Amid criticism of the deal from lawmakers on all sides of Britain’s EU debate, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said the U.K. couldn’t hope to negotiate better terms before its departure in March.

France to return African treasures to Benin

24 Nov 2018; AFP: French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday agreed to return 26 cultural artefacts to Benin "without delay", a move that could put pressure on other former colonial powers to return African artworks to their countries of origin.

The decision -- which Macron said should not be seen as an isolated or symbolic case -- came as the president received the findings of a study he commissioned on repatriating African treasures held by French museums.

Clashes on Champs-Elysees as French protesters rage against taxes

24 Nov 2018; AFP: Anti-government protesters clashed with French police on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Saturday, leaving the area cloaked in tear gas and smoke from fires on a fresh day of demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron.

Demonstrators wearing the yellow, high-visibility vests that symbolise their movement threw projectiles at police preventing them from moving along the famed shopping avenue, which was decked out in twinkling Christmas lights.

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