Europe

22 May 2023; MEMO: Police in the German capital, Berlin, upheld a ban on demonstrations commemorating the Palestinian Nakba events, enforcing it by cracking down on a spontaneous protest organised by Jewish progressive figures.

22 May 2023; MEMO: Spain issued a fresh condemnation of Israel on Monday, rejecting the rhetoric used by Israel's far-right Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem, Anadolu News Agency reports.

In a statement, Madrid called on Israel to "scrupulously respect the status quo of holy sites" and for all parties to "do everything possible" to avoid fresh tensions and preserve stability.

22 May 2023; MEMO: Cyprus does not share the views of Eni CEO, Claudio Descalzi, who argued that the EastMed pipeline needed Turkiye's approval, said Energy Minister, George Papanastasiou, Channel News Asia reports.

MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/: Moscow’s strategic course suggests further expansion of cooperation with China, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said on Monday.

YEREVAN, May 22. /TASS/: Yerevan recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, which includes Nagorno-Karabakh, provided that the safety of its Armenian population is ensured, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference on Monday.

BUDAPEST, May 22. /TASS/: Budapest opposes a number of key provisions in the 11th package of sanctions on Russia developed by the European Commission and will not support giving any additional military assistance from the European Peace Facility until its OTP Bank is taken off of Ukraine’s list of international war sponsors, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday.

CHISINAU, May 22. /TASS/: The Comrat Court of Appeals has certified the victory of Evghenia Gutul from the Sor opposition party in the gubernatorial runoff in Moldova’s Gagauz autonomy at its meeting on Monday.

"To recognize as valid the mandate of Evghenia Gutul, the elected head of Gagauzia. The decision takes effect immediately after being passed," Judge Andrei Mironov read out the ruling. The court's meeting looked into the Central Election Commission’s report about the results of the election on May 14.

GENEVA, May 22 (Reuters) - Taiwan failed on Monday in its efforts to gain an invitation to the World Health Organization's annual assembly despite the island's assertion that support was growing for its participation.

The annual assembly in Geneva decided not to extend Taiwan an invitation to the event, which runs from May 21-30. China and Pakistan urged members to reject Taiwan's inclusion, while eSwatini and the Marshall Islands spoke in favour.

GENEVA, May 22 (Reuters) - The head of the World Health Organization urged countries on Monday to carry out reforms needed to prepare for the next pandemic, hailing their "historic" decision to accept a major budget hike at the U.N. agency's annual assembly.

Speaking at the assembly weeks after ending the global emergency status for the COVID-19 pandemic, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was time to advance negotiations on preventing the next pandemic.

May 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine reconnected the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to its external power supply on Monday after a brief outage that had left it reliant on emergency generators.

Back-up diesel generators had earlier kicked in at the plant in southern Ukraine to ensure nuclear fuel was kept cool and prevent a potential disaster.