Europe

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — For months after Ukraine’s Western allies limited sales of Russian oil to $60 per barrel, the price cap was still largely symbolic. Most of Moscow’s crude — its main moneymaker — cost less than that.

But the cap was there in case oil prices rose — and would keep the Kremlin from pocketing extra profits to fund its war in Ukraine. That time has now come, putting the price cap to its most serious test so far and underlining its weaknesses.

MADRID (AP) — Spanish police said Monday they have confiscated 11 pieces of ancient gold jewelry that were taken out of Ukraine illegally in 2016.

A police statement said five people who were attempting to sell the pieces in Spain have been arrested in recent weeks. Those arrested included two Ukrainians, one of them an Orthodox Church priest, and three Spaniards.

The jewelry was said to be worth 60 million euros ($64 million) and dated from between the eighth and fourth centuries B.C.

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: Russia plans to request another meeting of the UN Security Council in order to discuss solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said on the Solovyov Live television channel.

"We will definitely convene another Security Council meeting. As practice has shown, no one but us dares to do it," he said.

MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/: Russia’s Battlegroup East has thwarted two attempted rotations of Ukrainian troops in the south Donetsk area, the battlegroup’s spokesman Oleg Chekhov told TASS on Thursday.

"In the south Donetsk area, units of the Battlegroup East, supported by artillery, thwarted two attempted rotations of Ukrainian forces near Ugledar and to the north of Novodonetsk. A Ukrainian subversive group was eliminated by the artillery fire to the north of the Priyutnoye settlement," he added.

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: Russia believes that it is necessary to immediately start negotiating the strategy of collective steps to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Russian Presidential Special Envoy for the Middle East, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said at the Cairo Peace Summit looking for solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The text of his speech was posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.

OBREZJE, Slovenia, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Slovenia on Saturday deployed police on border crossings with Croatia and Hungary to prevent potential security threats, leading to queues as travellers waited to have their documents checked.

The Slovenian government had on Friday decided to introduce temporary border controls until Oct. 30, following its neighbour Italy which introduced controls on its border crossing with Slovenia to improve home security.

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - About 100,000 people joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in central London on Saturday, marching through the British capital to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza following the Hamas attack on Israel two weeks ago.

Chanting "Free Palestine", holding banners and waving Palestinian flags, the protesters moved through London before massing at Downing Street, the official residence and office of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

OSLO, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Norway has finalized a fisheries agreement for 2024 with Russia through digital discussions, which is viewed as Norway's paramount bilateral fisheries contract.

"We're pleased to solidify a fisheries agreement with Russia, especially considering the exceptional circumstances this year," Norway's Fisheries and Oceans Minister Cecilie Myrseth said in a statement on Saturday.

LISBON, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Portugal on Saturday raised its terrorism alert level from "moderate" to "significant" due to the potential threat arising from the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The decision is endorsed by the Anti-Terrorism Coordination Unit and is being taken "mainly for preventive and precautionary reasons," said the Portuguese Security Information Service, adding that there are "no indications pointing to the development of terrorist actions on Portuguese territory."

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A missile strike on a mail depot in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv killed six people, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.

A further 16 people were injured in the blast late Saturday, which is believed to have been caused by a Russian S-300 rocket, Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said on social media.

All of the victims were employees of private Ukrainian postal and courier service Nova Poshta.