Europe

ROSTOV-ON-DON, October 5. /TASS/: Units of Russia’s Southern Military District will conduct drills at training grounds in 14 Russian regions, as well as in Abkhazia, Armenia, and South Ossetia amid NATO’s naval exercises, the press service of the Southern Military District said on Tuesday.

The NATO drills involve warships, aviation, air and missile defense systems. Apart from that, the drills envisage the deployment of US troops to Black Sea countries, near the Russian borders.

GELENDZHIK, October 5. /TASS/: The Russian biopharmaceutical company Nanolek will start clinical trials of a combined COVID-19/influenza vaccine in a year and a half, Maxim Stetsyuk, the company’s deputy general director and head of its vaccine division, told TASS.

"I think this (the start of preclinical trials - TASS) will happen not earlier than in a year. Preclinical trials can usually be completed in six months. We expect clinical trials to begin in about a year and a half," he said speaking on the sidelines of the Biotechmed forum.

MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/: Nord Stream 2 AG, the Swiss-based operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, filed an appeal against the decision of the German court on refusal to grant an exemption for the pipeline from the EU gas directive, the company’s press service told TASS on Tuesday.

"Nord Stream 2, in line with the prescribed timeframe, appealed against the decision of the Supreme Regional Court of Dusseldorf of August 25, 2021, to the Supreme Federal Court of Germany," the company said.

MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/: Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, actress Yulia Peresild and film director Klim Shipenko have moved from the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft to the International Space Station, as follows from an online broadcast on the Roscomos website.

They were welcomed by ISS commander Thomas Pesquet and other crewmembers, including Russia's Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov.

The Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle blasted off from Baikonur at 11:55 Moscow time on Tuesday. Automated docking with the ISS failed and the operation had to be performed manually.

NOVO-OGAREVO, October 5. /TASS/: Fuel markets in Europe are in turmoil and panic because of speculation over climate change and investment cuts, Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted on Tuesday.

"You see what’s going on in Europe, the hysteria and that mess on the markets. Why? Simply because nobody takes it seriously. Some speculate on the issue of climate change, while someone else underestimates something, and yet another one starts cutting back investments in the extractive industries," President Putin said at a cabinet meeting.

LISBON, Oct 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Portugal will give a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine to people aged 65 and older from next week, starting with the most vulnerable groups, such as care home residents and those over 80 years old.

The southern European nation, which has the world’s highest vaccination rate with 85 per cent of its total population fully jabbed, started last month to give an extra COVID-19 shot to those aged over 16 with weakened immune systems.

KYIV, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has imposed sanctions on 95 Ukrainian and Russia citizens in connection with the holding of Russian parliamentary elections in annexed Crimea, Interfax Ukraine news agency reported on Tuesday.

The United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, swept to victory in the September vote amid allegations of mass rigging by the opposition.

BERLIN, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Germany's would-be "kingmakers", the Greens and Free Democrats, will take the next two days to decide how they will proceed with talks to form a new coalition government, Greens co-leader Robert Habeck said on Tuesday.

A close result in a Sept. 26 election, when no party won an overall majority, has kicked off a round of coalition talks that could last months, with the conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD) courting the two smaller parties to try to secure power.

BRUSSELS, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The European Union's 27 leaders will seek a new approach to China on Tuesday in their first summit on Sino-European strategy since the bloc imposed sanctions on Beijing in March and faced retaliation, jeopardising a new investment pact.

Leaders will also discuss the idea of setting up an EU gas reserve and decoupling electricity prices from gas prices, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday, although it will only be a first debate. 

PARIS, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron held talks here with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, three weeks after an unprecedented crisis between the two countries sparked by Australia's decision to scrap a submarine deal with France.

The "at length, face-to-face meeting" between Macron and Blinken, which lasted about 40 minutes according to French media, should "help restore confidence" between the two countries, the Elysee said in a statement.