Europe

MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/: Russia’s Saint Petersburg (SPB) Stock Exchange has suspended trading in foreign securities for compliance procedures, which will take at least seven working days, according to a statement.

The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) blacklisted the SBP Exchange on November 2.

"The SPB Exchange is in contact with Russian and foreign counterparties to establish a framework, given the current situation. We expect that consultations will take at least seven working days," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has not announced a decision to seek another term in office yet, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS.

When asked to comment on a Reuters report that Putin had allegedly decided to run in the March 2024 presidential election, Peskov said: "Putin has not made any statements on the matter yet." "An election campaign has not yet been announced," he added.

CHISINAU, Nov 6 (Reuters) - The party of Moldova's pro-European president came first in hundreds of weekend local elections but was unable to win mayoral seats in the biggest cities, including the capital Chisinau, according to preliminary results on Monday.

Sunday's elections to pick 12,000 local officials nationwide, including the mayor of Chisinau, were seen as a test of President Maia Sandu's pro-European course and took place amid allegations of Russian meddling, which Moscow denies.

Russia Nov 6 (Reuters) - A large group of Russia's former Wagner mercenaries has started training with special forces from the southern Russian region of Chechnya, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Monday.

Wagner played a prominent role in some of the fiercest fighting of Russia's war in Ukraine, but its future was thrown into question when its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash in August, two months after leading a brief mutiny against the Russian defence establishment.

PARIS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - France will send dozens of armoured vehicles to the Lebanese army so it can properly carry out patrol missions in the country, France's defence minister said in remarks published on Monday.

Speaking to Lebanon's L'Orient Le Jour newspaper after a trip to the country, Sebastien Lecornu said it was vital to beef up the Lebanese national army so that it could coordinate well with the United Nations peacekeeping force as tensions mount between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

MOSCOW, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin has decided to run in the March presidential election, a move that will keep him in power until least 2030, as the Kremlin chief feels he must steer Russia through the most perilous period in decades, six sources told Reuters.

After defusing an armed mutiny by the leader of the Wagner mercenary group in June, Putin has moved to shore up support among his core base in the security forces, the armed forces and with regional voters outside Moscow, while Wagner has been brought firmly to heel.

LONDON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The United Kingdom's (UK) departure from the European Union (EU) has not damaged trade between the country and the region, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) said in a report published on Monday.

"The UK's trade patterns with the EU fail to show a Brexit effect, either since the referendum or at the end of the transition period," it said.

The UK's goods exports rose by 13.5 percent to EU countries and 14.3 percent to non-EU countries between 2019 and 2022, before and after Brexit, indicating no impact of Brexit on goods trade.

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz is to meet Germany’s 16 state governors on Monday to address ways to deal with large numbers of migrants, an issue that has become a huge political problem for the government.

Shelters for migrants and refugees are filling up and Scholz, who faces enormous pressure from the opposition and elsewhere to halt that trend, has said that “too many are coming.” The country also has seen more than 1 million Ukrainians arrive since the start of Russia’s war in their homeland.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine on Monday launched a criminal investigation into military officers who organized a ceremony to honor troops that was hit by a Russian missile strike, killing 19 soldiers in one of the deadliest single attacks reported by Ukrainian forces.

The State Bureau of Investigation said it aims to hold military officials accountable for the Rocket Forces and Artillery Day event held Friday near the front line in Zaporizhzhia where Russian reconnaissance drones could easily spot the crowded gathering.

VLADIVOSTOK, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Jewish Autonomous Region (JAR) in Russia's Far East is ready to accept refugees from both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, JAR Governor Rostislav Goldstein said Sunday.

"For us, every life is important. And we are ready to accept in the Jewish Autonomous Region those who come with peace. Refugees from both sides of the conflict can benefit from all the support measures," he wrote on Telegram. "Anyone who needs help will be able to find shelter in the Jewish Autonomous Region."