Europe

MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS/: The Taliban (outlawed in Russia) has contributed more to the fight against drugs in Afghanistan in the past year than did a two-decade effort by a coalition led by the United States which was interested in exporting Afghan heroin to Russia and other countries, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said.

MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed Western allegations of an "illegal" military partnership between Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as groundless and unsubstantiated.

"The accusations of an `illegal’ military-technical cooperation between Russia and North Korea, being made by the collective West, are groundless and unsubstantiated," the Russian diplomat said in a comment.

MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS/: Russian gas continues to flow to a number of European countries that allegedly refused it, Gazprom head Alexey Miller said, adding that such supplies go through the gas hub in Austria to countries of southeastern Europe.

MADRID, Nov 11 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — After Bolivia severed diplomatic ties with Israel in the aftermath of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, Spain’s Social Rights Minister Ione Belarra said that her country and the rest of the world should follow suit due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ”planned genocide” against the people of Palestine.

LISBON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Bank of Portugal's ethics committee will meet on Monday to evaluate the conduct of governor Mario Centeno, whose independence came into question after the departing prime minister proposed him as a potential replacement, local media said.

Antonio Costa stepped down on Tuesday over an investigation into alleged illegalities in his government's handling of green energy projects, forcing President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to call a snap election for March 10. Costa denies wrongdoing.

BUDAPEST, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Hungary has asked the European Commission to launch an infringement procedure against Bulgaria over a new fee it has imposed on Russian gas transit shipments, EU affairs minister Janos Boka said in a post on Facebook on Friday.

Bulgaria introduced the new transit fee of about 10 euros per MWh of Russian gas last month, prompting strong criticism from Hungary and Serbia.

KYIV, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Russia launched a missile attack on Ukraine's capital Kyiv and the nearby region for the first time in weeks on Saturday and pounded the east and south of the country with drones, Ukrainian officials said.

Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said a Russian ballistic missile was launched toward the capital at about 08:00 a.m.(0600 GMT).

VATICAN CITY, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has dismissed Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Tyler, Texas, one of his fiercest critics among U.S. Roman Catholic conservatives, a Vatican statement said on Saturday.

It is very rare for a bishop to be relieved of his duties outright. Usually bishops in trouble with the Vatican are asked to resign before submitting a resignation, which the pope accepts.

HELSINKI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Icelandic authorities announced the completion of the evacuation of the town of Grindavik on the Reykjanes Peninsula early Saturday morning following a state of emergency late Friday after strong earthquakes rocked the peninsula in the southwest of the country.

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — One year since Ukraine retook the city of Kherson from occupying Russian forces, residents have grown accustomed to hearing outgoing fire from the left bank of the Dnieper river, where Russian troops are positioned. They know that familiar crackle means they have seven seconds to find a shelter, or a sturdy wall to hide behind.