Europe

MOSCOW, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia this week, Russian news outlet Shot reported on Monday, citing Putin's aide Yury Ushakov.

The reported visit comes after the OPEC+ group of oil producers, which includes all three countries, agreed last Thursday to voluntary output cuts totalling about 2.2 million barrels a day.

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Britain announced plans to slash the number of migrants arriving by legal routes on Monday, raising the minimum salary they must earn in a skilled job by a third, amid pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to tackle record net migration figures.

MOSCOW, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Major General Vladimir Zavadsky, deputy commander of Russia's 14th Army Corps, has been killed in Ukraine, a top regional official said on Monday.

The governor of Russia's Voronezh region, Alexander Gusev, said Zavadsky had died "at a combat post in the special operation zone", without giving further details.

"Special military operation" is the term that Russia uses to describe the war in Ukraine, now approaching the end of its second year.

MOSCOW, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Temperatures in parts of Siberia plummeted to minus 56 degrees Celsius (minus 69 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday while blizzards blanketed Moscow in record snowfall and disrupted flights as winter weather swept across Russia.

In the Sakha Republic, located in the northeastern part of Siberia and home to Yakutsk, one of the world's coldest cities, temperatures fell below minus 50 C, according to the region's weather stations.

In Oymyakon, an area in Sakha, the temperature was recorded at minus 56 degrees Celsius on Monday evening.

LONDON (AP) — Hailed as a world first, European Union artificial intelligence rules are facing a make-or-break moment as negotiators try to hammer out the final details this week — talks complicated by the sudden rise of generative AI that produces human-like work.

First suggested in 2019, the EU’s AI Act was expected to be the world’s first comprehensive AI regulations, further cementing the 27-nation bloc’s position as a global trendsetter when it comes to reining in the tech industry.

PARIS (AP) — A bloodstain by a bridge over the Seine river was the only remaining sign on Sunday of a fatal knife attack 12 hours earlier on a German tourist, allegedly carried out by a young man under watch for suspected Islamic radicalization after serving prison time for preparing a violent attack.

The random attack near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday night has drawn special concern for the French capital less than a year before it hosts the Olympic Games, with the opening ceremony due to take place along the river in an unprecedented scenic start in the heart of Paris.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials on Sunday launched an investigation into allegations that Russian forces killed surrendering Ukrainian soldiers, a war crime if confirmed, after grainy footage on social media appeared to show two uniformed men being shot at close range after emerging from a dugout.

MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/: In the past week, Russian forces carried out 27 group strikes at Ukrainian airfields, arsenals and army, units using high-precision weapons, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"Between November 25 and December 2, Russian forces delivered 27 group strikes at [Ukrainian] airfield infrastructure, arsenals, depots for artillery ammunition and weapons as well as fuel bases, using high-precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles. In addition, Ukrainian army units were struck. All targets were hit," the ministry said.

VALLETTA, Dec 2 (NNN-XINHUA) – Thursday’s decision by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, to further cut down oil production next year, has left the market disappointed, according to analysts.

VATICAN CITY, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The health of Pope Francis, who is suffering from a lung inflammation, is improving but he will read his Sunday message indoors from his residence to be on the safe side, the Vatican said on Saturday.

A statement said the 86-year-old pontiff had no fever and was continuing anti-biotic treatment.

He normally reads the message from a window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter's Square. He would read it indoors to "avoid exposing himself to temperature changes", the statement said.