Europe

LONDON, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Britain's national tourism agency VisitBritain is to lead a three-day trade mission to Shanghai for a trade fair, marking its first mission to China since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency announced late Tuesday.

Taking place during Nov. 22-24, the trade fair titled "Destination Britain China and North East Asia" will bring together 43 industry suppliers from across Britain with top buyers from China, according to a press release issued by VisitBritain.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s highest court is set to rule Wednesday on whether the government’s plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda is legal, delivering a boost or a blow to a contentious central policy of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s administration.

Five justices on the U.K. Supreme Court will deliver a judgment on the Conservative government’s attempt to overturn a lower court ruling that blocked the deportations.

The government said it had prepared “options for possible scenarios” — a win, a loss or a mixed verdict.

STOCKHOLM, November 14. /TASS/: Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo is mulling possibly closing some or even all checkpoints on the border with Russia due to the influx of illegal migrants from the Middle East, the Yle broadcaster reported.

"We may restrict border traffic, close some or even all crossing points or place the reception center for asylum seekers in one place," the prime minister said, commenting on reports of an increase in the number of people crossing the country’s eastern border without the required documents, Yle writes.

BRUSSELS, November 14. /TASS/: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that he 'does not know' whether Ukraine has a chance to win in the conflict, stressing that "his duty" was "to support it."

Speaking at a press conference following a meeting of EU defense ministers, Borrel was asked if he shared the opinion of Ukrainian top military commander Valery Zaluzhny that "the war situation is in a stalement" and that the EU needs to gather weapons for a new Kiev offensive next year in order to "decisively" change the situation on the battlefield.

MOSCOW, November 14. /TASS/: The presidents of Russia and Egypt, Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, emphasized during a phone conversation on Tuesday that the sides to the Israli-Palestinian conflict need to end bloodshed and release hostages as soon as possible, the Kremlin press service said.

"The principal importance of soonest ceasefire, release of hostages and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to Gaza civilians was underscored," the press service said in a statement.

MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/: The Russian emergencies ministry’s Il-76 plane brought to Moscow another group of Russian citizens evacuated from the Gaza Strip, the ministry’s chief spokesman Roman Okhotenko told TASS early on Wednesday.

"The Russian emergencies ministry’s Il-76 plane has landed with 98 Russian citizens evacuated from the Gaza Strip on board. They were accompanied by doctors and counselors of the Russian emergencies ministry.

MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/: A Russian delegation, led by Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Alexander Kozlov, arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday to attend a meeting of the Russian-North Korean intergovernmental commission, North Korea’s Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Kozlov is the Russian co-chair of the bilateral commission for cooperation in trade, economy, science and technology.

The Russian delegation also includes Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin.

Industry-specific talks have already begun in the run-up to the commission’s 10th meeting.

PARIS, Nov 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Countries’ climate pledges will cut carbon emissions by just two percent by the end of the decade from 2019 levels, far short of the 43 percent fall needed to limit warming to 1.5C, the UN warned
Tuesday.

The annual assessment of climate commitments shows they are “severely off track”, said UN Climate Change chief Simon Stiell, calling for climate talks in Dubai this month to mark a “clear turning point” for a world already
wracked by increasing floods, heatwaves and storms. 

Nov 14 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces have secured a foothold on the east bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff said on Tuesday.

Andriy Yermak's remarks were the first official acknowledgement that Ukrainian troops were established on the Dnipro's east bank in Kherson region.

"Against all odds, Ukraine's Defense Forces have gained a foothold on the left (east) bank of the Dnipro," Yermak said in an address to the Hudson Institute think-tank in the United States. The remarks were posted on Zelenskiy's website.

Nov 14 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday the defence of the shattered eastern city of Avdiivka was key to Kyiv's war plans, with heavy Russian losses there likely to undermine Moscow's conduct of the broader conflict.

Zelenskiy's chief of staff, meanwhile, acknowledged for the first time that Ukraine's forces in southern Kherson region had established a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, potentially opening a new line of attack towards Crimea.