Europe

PARIS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- As French President Emmanuel Macron is paying his state visit to China, French businesses are eyeing more opportunities from broader cooperation between France and China.

"We have already seen potential opportunities in the market, which makes us even more bullish about China's economic outlook and prospect," Fabrice Megarbane, president of L'Oreal North Asia Zone and CEO of L'Oreal China, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

GENEVA, April 6 (Xinhua) -- On the eve of its 75th anniversary, the World Health Organization (WHO) marked the occasion on Thursday by calling for a renewed drive for health equity in the face of unprecedented threats.

Seventy-five years ago, after years of war, the nations of the world agreed to set up a new organization and "debated and agreed what this organization would be and do in a document called the Constitution of the World Health Organization," the organization's Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, recalled at a press briefing here on Thursday.

06 Apr 2023; MEMO: The BBC has come under fire for using a photograph which included images of Palestinian flags in a story about one of the worst cases of child sex abuse in Britain. Twenty-one people were convicted yesterday of serious sexual offences against children in Walsall, after the largest child sexual abuse investigation ever conducted by West Midlands police.

MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/: Russia and Belarus continue building up integration in the energy sphere, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

"The process of creating common oil and gas markets of the two countries continues. An agreement on forming the common electric power market is being prepared for signing," the Russian leader said.

BELGRADE, April 6. /TASS/: Montenegro’s State Election Commission published the final results of the presidential runoff election on Thursday with former Economic Development and Tourism Minister Jakov Milatovic winning with 58.88% of the vote.

"The State Election Commission upheld the results of the election of the president of Montenegro. Candidate Jakov Milatovic has been elected as Montenegro’s president with 222,592 votes, that is, 58.88% of the total number of votes," the commission’s statement said.

MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/:  Russian and Belarussian authorities will prepare the Union State Security Concept. The document will outline the two states’ basic cooperation goals, including listing external challenges, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the Union State Supreme State Council meeting in the Kremlin.

MOSCOW, April 6 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Wednesday defended its decision to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, rejecting criticism of the move by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the U.S.-led transatlantic alliance was the one expanding towards Russia, not the other way round, and therefore Moscow had to take steps to defend its own security.

NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine, April 6 (Reuters) - Ukrainian and Russian forces battled in Bakhmut, the devastated eastern city which has become a symbol of Kyiv's defiance, while seven civilians were reported killed by Ukrainian artillery strikes in Russian-controlled areas.

Ukrainian soldiers in trenches just outside Bakhmut said they were ready for a long-anticipated counter-offensive once the weather improves. Elsewhere, other Ukrainian recruits trained hard for new combat missions.

KYIV, April 6 (Reuters) - A top Ukrainian air commander said Ukraine was in dire need of F-16 fighter jets, which he described on Thursday as "four or five times" more effective than the Soviet-era planes currently used by Ukraine.

Serhiy Holubtsov, one of the most senior commanders in the Air Force, said that while donations of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets by allies were an "important step," the planes did not fully meet Ukraine's battlefield requirements.

HELSINKI (AP) — Swedish prosecutors said Thursday a state actor was the most likely culprit for the explosions that incapacitated the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year, an act deemed as sabotage. However, they cautioned that the identity of the perpetrator was still unclear and hinted that it was likely to remain so.

Public prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist from the Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a statement that his office’s investigation is focused on examining if Swedish interests or Swedish security were threatened by the act.