Europe

MOSCOW, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Russia welcomed the agreement reached between Israel and Hamas on a four-day humanitarian pause, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

"In Moscow, we welcome the achievement of an agreement between Israel and Hamas on a four-day humanitarian pause. Russia has been calling for this since the beginning of the conflict escalation," she stated.

"We note the special efforts of Qatar aimed at the practical implementation of the international community's call for de-escalation," she said.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — One thing is certain for the Dutch voters casting ballots Wednesday in a general election: Mark Rutte, the Netherlands’ longest-serving prime minister, is on the way out.

His replacement after 13 years in office could be the country’s first female premier or a social democrat who left his job as the European Union’s climate czar to return to national politics. The next prime minister also might turn out to be an anti-Islam lawmaker or a centrist who created his party only three months ago.

LONDON (AP) — The bodies of four teenage boys who had been missing since they left for a weekend camping trip have been found inside their overturned car, British police said Tuesday.

Police in Wales said the bodies of the boys, who were reportedly 16 to 18 years old, were recovered from the car that appeared to have left a highway near Tremadog in Gwynedd, northwest Wales. The vehicle was upside-down and partially submerged in water, police said.

KIEV, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Kiev on Monday on military aid for Ukraine, the presidential press service reported.

At the talks, Zelensky briefed Austin about the current situation at the frontline of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and informed him of Ukraine's strategic goals and priority needs.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that the recent violent outbreaks in Kosovo were unacceptable and perpetrators must be brought to justice.

“I count on all sides to reduce tensions and to refrain from escalatory actions,” he said during a visit to Serbia’s capital Belgrade, after his stops in Bosnia and Kosovo, on the second day of his trip in Western Balkans,

Stoltenberg’s trip reflects Western concerns over the stability of the volatile Balkan region that went through a series of wars in the 1990s.

21 November 2023; MEMO: Two commercial ships that diverted their course in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden were connected to the same maritime group whose vessel was seized by Yemen’s Houthis, according to shipping data and British maritime security company, Ambrey, Reuters reports.

21 November 2023; MEMO: The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief yesterday said he is “appalled” by an attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, Anadolu news agency reported.

The attack reportedly resulted “in 12 deaths, including patients, and tens of injuries, including critical and life-threatening ones,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

BELGOROD, November 20./TASS/: More than 10,000 residents of the Belgorod Region’s areas bordering on Ukraine have been evacuated to safety since February 24, 2022, the region’s deputy governor Andrey Milekhin said.

About 270 people have been wounded and 60 local residents have been killed, Milekhin told a meeting of the parliamentary commission probing Kiev’s crimes against children.

MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/: Russian forces struck Ukrainian troops and military hardware in 123 areas over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Monday.

"Operational/tactical and army aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groupings of forces inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army’s manpower and military equipment in 123 areas," the ministry said in a statement.

STOCKHOLM, November 20. /TASS/: Finnish authorities plan to close the entire border with Russia on Wednesday night, the Iltalehti newspaper reported, citing sources.

According to the newspaper, the government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo may decide on Monday to close the remaining checkpoints on the border with Russia. These checkpoints are expected to be closed at 12:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday (10:00 p.m. GMT).