Europe

16 October 2023; MEMO: France’s broadcasting watchdog, the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA), has asked Eutelsat, Europe’s leading satellite operator to take down the Al-Aqsa Satellite Channel, which is affiliated with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas,  after pressure from the French government, Eutelsat said.

14 October 2023; MEMO: The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has issued Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with a stark warning that UK government officials could be individually liable for their role in aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes. Sunak has been issued with the notice of intention to prosecute UK government officials, for their role in providing military, economic and political support to Israel, which has aided Israel’s perpetration of war crimes.

MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/: The United States’ steps have resulted in the security situation in the Middle East to reach "the point of no return," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel.

Earlier, the US Department of State announced that non-emergency US government personnel of the US embassy in Jerusalem and its Branch Office in Tel Aviv, as well as members of their families, may leave Israel and return to the US. This decision was taken "due to the unpredictable security situation in Israel."

MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/: Russia in its relations with West follows the old adage to prepare for war if it wants peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Rossiya 1 television.

He was responding to a request from the host of the television program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin." to comment on a recent recommendation by a US Congress panel for the US to prepare for possible simultaneous wars with Russia and China that could include the engagement of nuclear weapons.

MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/: A Russian Su-27 jet has stopped a US RQ-4B Global Hawk surveillance drone from crossing into Russian airspace over the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

According to the ministry, Russian airspace surveillance equipment detected an air target approaching the Russian state border over the Black Sea on October 15. A Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled to prevent it from entering Russian airspace, it said.

MOSCOW/BEIJING, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Xi Jinping in China this week in a bid to deepen a partnership forged between the United States' two biggest strategic competitors.

Putin will attend the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Oct. 17-18, his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the Hague-based International Criminal Court issued a warrant for him in March over the deportation of children from Ukraine.

MOSCOW, Oct 15 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that suggestions the United States should prepare for a war against Russia and China were nonsense, and warned the West that any war against Russia would be on a whole different level to the conflict in Ukraine.

A bipartisan panel appointed by the U.S. Congress said on Thursday that Washington must prepare for possible simultaneous wars with Moscow and Beijing by expanding its conventional forces, strengthening alliances and enhancing its nuclear weapons modernization programme.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland was choosing Sunday between its ruling party and the coalition of opposition groups that accuse the conservative nationalists of eroding the country ‘s 34-year-old democratic system.

Many Poles feel it is the most important election since 1989, when a new democracy was born after decades of communism. At stake are the health of the nation’s constitutional order, its legal stance on LGBTQ+ rights and abortion, and the foreign alliances of a country that has been a crucial ally to Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Six people have been killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past 24 hours, local officials reported Sunday.

Two people were killed and three more injured in the Kherson area after more than 100 shells bombarded the region over the weekend, local governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on social media.

Two guided bombs later hit key infrastructure in Kherson city, sparking a partial blackout and disruption to the area’s water supply, reported the head of the city’s military administration, Roman Mrochko.

MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/: The Crimean Bridge has been fully repaired 18 days ahead of schedule and traffic has been restored on all four lanes, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said on his Telegram channel.