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Ukraine has held drills of its air force, including the practice of airstrikes, on training grounds in the south of the country, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.

Tempest and Future Combat Air System (FCAS), two European programmes designed to build new fighter jets, will eventually merge, Italy's Air Force Chief of Staff said on Tuesday.

Russia's defence minister on Tuesday accused U.S. bombers of rehearsing a nuclear strike on Russia from two different directions earlier this month and complained that the planes had come within 20 km (12.4 miles) of the Russian border.

Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday that Iran could have nuclear weaponry within five years, adding that such progress would be unaffected by its current talks with world powers on a new deal to cap its nuclear technologies.

European airlines are in for a fraught period between now and the end of the year due to renewed COVID-19 concerns that will disrupt Christmas travel and early summer holiday bookings, Ryanair Group Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said on Tuesday.

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Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com

The Kremlin said on Monday it was alarmed by a U.S.-backed push to supply Ukraine with sophisticated weapons, but said U.S. media outlets that have suggested Russia is poised to attack Ukraine are being used in a disinformation campaign.

Ukraine, alarmed by a build-up of Russian troops near its borders, has held another military drill of airborne forces close to the capital Kyiv, the defence ministry said on Monday.

Russia's foreign intelligence agency on Monday compared current tensions over Ukraine with the build-up to a 2008 war in which Russia's forces crushed those of neighbouring Georgia.