Europe

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Andrei, a 29-year-old computer programmer who fled to Germany from Belarus two years ago amid a harsh crackdown on political dissent, is facing a serious dilemma.

His Belarusian passport has expired, along with his German residence permit. But Belarus has stopped renewing passports at its embassies abroad under a new decree by authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

01 November 2023; MEMO: Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Organisation for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said 70 per cent of the Palestinian martyrs who have been killed by the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip since 7 October are children and women, warning that there is no safe place in Gaza.

31 October 2023; MEMO: Belgian transport workers’ unions, on Tuesday, called on their members to refuse to handle military equipment being sent to Israel to battle Hamas gunmen, Reuters reports.

The ACV Puls, BTB, BBTK and ACV-Transcom unions said in a joint statement that airport workers have seen arms shipments.

MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/: The cargo traffic between Russia and Asian nations surged by almost 50% over seven months of this year in annual terms to 25 trillion rubles ($271.9 bln), Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in his video address to participants and guests of the International Customs Forum.

"The freight traffic with Asian countries gained almost 50% in seven months of this year, compared to the like period of 2022. It amounted to 25 trillion rubles. This is more than two thirds of our trade turnover," the Prime Minister said.

MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/: Russian forces destroyed Ukrainian army sites producing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and naval drones over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.

"Near the settlement of Malodolinskoye in the Odessa Region, the sites for the production of unmanned aerial vehicles and naval drones were destroyed," the ministry said in a statement.

GENICHESK, October 31. /TASS/: One civilian was killed, four more got injured in the Ukrainian armed forces’ shelling attacks on the Kherson Region’s left bank, a spokesman for the regional operational services told reporters.

"As the result of the shelling along the route between the settlements of Noviye Lageri and Korsunka one civilian was killed," he said. According to him, residents of the settlements of Alyoshki, Noviye Lageri and Novaya Kakhovka were wounded.

MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/: Russia continues to view the United Nations system as an irreplaceable international mechanism for which there is no viable alternative, despite certain inefficiencies in its work toward resolving a host of issues on the global agenda, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

PARIS, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Russian tycoon Alexey Kuzmichev has been detained for questioning in France in connection with alleged tax evasion and money laundering and for violating international sanctions, the French Financial Prosecutors’ office said on Tuesday.

Searches took place on Monday at Kuzmichev's Paris home and in the Mediterranean Var region as part of the investigation, the office said, confirming a report in French daily Le Monde.

Kuzmichev was still being detained on Tuesday but has not yet been charged in the case.

30 October 2023; MEMO: Former NATO chief, Javier Solana, said on Monday that he believes Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is the “worst politician” in Israeli history, Anadolu Agency reports.

“I don’t think anything good will come of this,” he told Spanish broadcaster, Cadena Ser, referring to this month’s events in Israel and Palestine. “But it could make Netanyahu disappear from Israeli politics.”

MOSCOW, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- The United States and its allies are behind the Middle East crisis and other regional conflicts, and benefit most from global instability, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday.

"Those, who are behind the conflict in the Middle East and other regional crises will exploit their devastating consequences to sow hatred, and sow dissent among people worldwide," said the Russian leader at a meeting with top security and law enforcement officials.