Europe

15 Oct 2021; MEMO: A Rome judge yesterday suspended the trial of four senior members of the Egyptian security services citing concerns that there was no certainty they had been formally made aware that they were charged in the 2016 abduction, torture and killing of an Italian doctoral student, Giulio Regeni in Cairo.

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin during a plenary session of the Russian Energy Week forum said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s remarks that she "doesn’t blame Russia for anything" were a big exaggeration but noted that she had always supported Nord Stream 2.

MOSCOW, October 13. / TASS /: Russia and the US will continue consultations on the settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine if the agreement on special status of Donbass is reached, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Dmitry Kozak said on Wednesday following talks with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland held in Moscow.

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/: The Sputnik Light coronavirus is currently undergoing registration procedures in 30 countries, Russian Direct Investment Fund said in its statement on Wednesday.

"The Sputnik Light has been registered in over 15 countries and is currently undergoing registration procedures in 30 more countries," the statement says.

The Fund noted that this vaccine is planned for production in more than 10 states, including India, China, South Korea, Vietnam, Mexico, Argentina, Serbia, and Turkey.

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/: Russia insists on the need for an honest and open dialogue with European countries and is ready to work to prevent problems in the energy markets of Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week.

"What is happening today in the energy markets of Europe is, to a certain extent, a man-made result of short-sighted policy. But these are their problems. We are ready to participate in preventing such problems. We just need, I repeat, an honest and open dialogue," he said.

MOSCOW, Oct 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Claims in the British press that Russian spies stole the blueprint for the British-made Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are unfounded, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

An Oct 10 article in The Sun newspaper, a popular daily tabloid, recently alleged that Russian spies “stole” the formula of the vaccine, developed by UK-Swedish company AstraZeneca, to create Russia’s Sputnik V jab.

HURDAL, Norway, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Norway will continue to explore for oil and gas in the next four years, with most new drilling permits to come in mature areas of the sea, the incoming centre-left government said on Wednesday.

A minority coalition of the Labour Party and the rural Centre Party will take power on Thursday after defeating the Conservative-led government in last month's election.

PARIS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A pending visit to Tehran by the European Union's coordinator for talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal is vital to its future, France said on Wednesday, questioning the new hardline Iranian administration's commitment to salvaging the pact.

Enrique Mora, the EU's political director, is due to hold talks on Thursday with members of Iran's nuclear negotiating team four months after talks stalled between Iran and world powers, including the United States, to revive the 2015 deal.

ROME, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Britain does not know when it might get a full trade deal with the United States but is hoping to join a Trans-Pacific trade partnership next year, British trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said on Wednesday.

Trevelyan only took up her post last month and met many of her key counterparts face-to-face for the first time earlier this week, including U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, at a gathering of ministers from the Group of 20 major economies.

GENEVA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation on Wednesday proposed 26 experts to form its new Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of novel pathogens, including several who served on its mission to Wuhan, China, to probe the source of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

The statement named the 26 proposed members ahead of a two-week period of public consultation, including Marion Koopmans, Thea Fischer, Hung Nguyen and Chinese animal health expert Yang Yungui, who took part in the joint investigation this year.