Europe

MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/: Russia’s former Finance Minister and First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia Sergey Aleksashenko (recognized as a foreign agent) has been put on the wanted list on a criminal charge, according to the Russian Interior Ministry’s criminal investigation base.

"Sergey V. Aleksashenko is on the wanted list on the Criminal Code’s article," according to the base.

MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) may apply sanctions against foreign athletes who will participate in the 2024 World Friendship Games, WADA President Witold Banka said.

"The so-called World Friendship Games in Russia have been announced for next year. We would like to sound a note of warning due to them, we have serious doubts from the viewpoint of anti-doping prospects. This possible event will be organized in a country that lacks compliance, and we have no information about the anti-doping program during those competitions," he said.

BERLIN, November 17. /TASS/: The conflict between Israel and Palestine has confirmed the inevitability of the two-state solution to the Palestinian issue, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said.

"The military confrontation between Israel and Palestine has confirmed that the Palestinian conflict should inevitability be resolved based on the two-state principle within the 1967 borders," the Turkish president said at a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, which was broadcast by the Turkish television channel TRT Haber.

STOCKHOLM, November 18. /TASS/: The deputy commander of Finland’s North Karelia border guard, Samuli Murtonen, confirmed the use of gas at the Niirala border crossing, the Yle broadcaster reported.

"There was a group that did not obey the orders and warnings from a border guard," he was quoted as saying in the report. "In order to bring the situation under control, we had to use the mildest possible means, which in this case was a minor spraying of gas."

MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/: Two warships of the Russian Pacific Fleet have called at the Indian port of Visakhapatnam and plan to stay until November 20, the fleets press office said in a statement.

"A unit of the Pacific Fleet warships consisting of the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs and the medium sea tanker Pechenga, as part of a remote naval mission in the Asia-Pacific region, arrived with a business call at the port of Visakhapatnam in the Republic of India. The Russian ships plan to stay there until November 20," the statement said.

MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/: Ukraine lost up to 180 servicemen and a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle near Donetsk over the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

BERLIN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticised Israel's settlement policy in the occupied West Bank on Saturday and repeated calls for a two state solution for Israel and Palestinians.

"We don't want any new settlements in the West Bank, no violence by settlers against the Palestinians in the West Bank," Scholz said during a visit to Nuthetal in Brandenburg state.

The best outcome for Israelis and Palestinians remains the two-state solution, he said.

HELSINKI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Finland will erect barriers at four crossings on its border with Russia from midnight, officials said on Friday, in a bid to stem an increase in migrants that Helsinki says has been orchestrated by Moscow.

Finland has accused Russian authorities of funnelling migrants to the crossings in retaliation for its decision to increase defence cooperation with the United States, an assertion dismissed by the Kremlin.

Nov 17 (Reuters) - The White House on Friday condemned Elon Musk's endorsement of what it called a "hideous" antisemitic conspiracy theory on X, while major U.S. companies including Walt Disney Co (DIS.N), Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) and NBCUniversal parent Comcast (CMCSA.O) paused their advertisements on his social media site.

Musk on Wednesday agreed with a post on X that falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user who referenced the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory was speaking "the actual truth."

FRANKFURT, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde on Friday called for bold actions to advance the capital markets union (CMU) in the European Union (EU).

In a speech at the European Banking Congress in Frankfurt, she said the CMU is essential for raising the money needed to respond to the challenges presented by deglobalization, ageing of the population and climate change. Having a stronger securities and markets authority would be a step in the right direction, she said.