Europe

MADRID, November 27. /TASS/: Peace and security in the Middle East cannot be achieved without putting an end to the Israeli occupation and respecting the rights of Palestinians, Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi said.

BRUSSELS (Belgium), Nov 27 (APP):Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani and Chair of the European Parliament committee on Foreign Affairs David McAllister met here on Monday and discussed matters relating to mutual interests.

During the meeting they exchanged views on latest regional and global developments and agreed to enhance parliamentary engagement and dialogue for deepening of relations between Pakistan and the European Union.

MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/: Russian security services should take measures to counter Washington's military-biological programs, the Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has said.

MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/: The manner in which the International Energy Agency (IEA) chose to preach to representatives of the oil and gas sector lacks tact, Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Haitham Al Ghais said, cited by the OPEC on its website.

Last week, the (IEA) released a report titled "The Oil and Gas Industry in Net Zero Transitions." In it, the agency said that the oil and gas industry is facing a "moment of truth" and should "choose between fueling the climate crisis or embracing the shift to clean energy," OPEC noted.

MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/: It is still possible to try to exert efforts to save the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from the influence of the West, which is trying to use it in its own interests, but the chances of success are slim, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Speaking at the Primakov Readings international forum, Lavrov said he felt no optimism regarding "the fate of the associations where the United States and its allies rule the roost."

MOSCOW, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Yekaterina Duntsova, who wants to run for president, said the Kremlin should end the conflict in Ukraine, free political prisoners and undertake major reform to halt the slide towards a new era of "barbed wire" division between Russia and the West.

Nearly 32 years since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union stoked hopes that Russia would blossom into an open democracy, Duntsova, 40, said she was afraid as she spoke to Reuters in Moscow.

GENEVA, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Sunday that evidence suggested a misfired rocket was the likely cause of an explosion that resulted in heavy casualties at a hospital in Gaza on Oct. 17.

The explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital triggered outrage across the Arab world. Palestinians blamed an Israeli air strike, while Israel said it was caused by a misfiring Palestinian rocket launch.

WARSAW, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Polish truckers and farmers on Monday started a round-the-clock blockade of access to one of the busiest border crossings with Ukraine, extending a protest that has left over a thousand lorries stranded for days in queues that stretch for miles.

The truckers, now blocking the Medyka crossing as well as three other border crossings, complain they are losing out to Ukrainian companies which offer cheaper prices for their services and which are transporting goods within the European Union, rather than just between the bloc and Ukraine.

PARIS, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Six teenagers go on trial behind closed doors on Monday in connection with the beheading of French history teacher Samuel Paty in 2020, a murder that shocked the country.

The teacher had shown his pupils caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in a class on freedom of expression, angering some Muslim parents. Most Muslims avoid depictions of prophets, considering them blasphemous.

PARIS, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Monday announced she was quitting the X platform formerly known as Twitter, calling it a "gigantic global sewer" that was "destroying our democracies" by spreading abuse and misinformation.

After buying Twitter in 2022, Elon Musk laid off thousands of employees, including many who moderated content on the platform. Rebranded as X, it has lost several major advertisers and was blasted by critics, including the White House, for not doing enough to curtail antisemitism.