Europe

LONDON (AP) — Britons are encouraged these days — though in most cases not required — to wear face coverings in crowded indoor spaces. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson regularly appears in the packed, poorly ventilated House of Commons cheek-by-jowl with other maskless Conservative lawmakers.

For critics, that image encapsulates the flaw in the government’s strategy, which has abandoned most pandemic restrictions and is banking on voluntary restraint and a high vaccination rate to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

BERLIN (AP) — German voters are choosing a new parliament in an election that will determine who succeeds Chancellor Angela Merkel after her 16 years at the helm of Europe’s biggest economy.

Polls point to a very close race Sunday between Merkel’s center-right Union bloc, with state governor Armin Laschet running for chancellor, and the center-left Social Democrats, for whom outgoing finance minister and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz is seeking the top job.

MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/: In the past 24 hours, 22,041 new Covid cases were registered in Russia, which brings the total case count to 7,398,415, says the federal Covid prevention anti-crisis center.

This is a 0.3% relative increase, and this is the first time over 22,000 new cases were registered since August 14, according to the statistics.

KHABAROVSK, September 25. /TASS/: Law enforcement officers discovered flight recorders at the An-26 plane crash site in the Khabarovsk Region, Eastern inter-regional transportation investigative directorate reported Saturday.

NOVO OGARYOVO, September 25. /TASS/: The election to the State Duma (the lower house of Russia’s parliament) were held openly and in strict compliance with law, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday at a meeting with leaders of the political parties that have won seats in Duma.

The president pointed out that the Duma composition had been determined by the people of Russia, "who exercised their constitutional sovereign right."

"The elections were held openly, in strict compliance with the law and with a high turnout," Putin stressed.

LONDON, Sept 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British climate change protesters on Friday temporarily blocked the Port of Dover, Europe’s busiest trucking port, and police arrested 39 people.

About 40 activists from the environmental group Insulate Britain brought traffic to and from the port, the main artery for trade over the English Channel, to a standstill. Some demonstrators sat on the road until police cleared them.

The port said on Twitter that traffic was moving freely again about three hours after it announced the protest.

MADRID, Sept 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Clouds of thick black ash from volcanic eruptions in Spain’s Canaries archipelago forced the closure of the airport on La Palma island on Saturday, authorities said.

   The Cumbre Vieja volcano came to life a week ago and has intermittently spewed out lava and ash leading to the cancellation of all seven flights on Friday.

   “The airport is closed because of the accumulation of ash,” said state-owned airport operator Aena.

   “Clean-up operations have begun but the situation can change at any moment,” it added.

MOSCOW, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Valentina Chupik, a human rights lawyer who operates a hotline for migrants in Russia, said she has been detained at a Moscow airport after the country's security service revoked her refugee status.

"I am at Sheremetyevo airport, in a special detention centre... I am afraid I will be deported to Uzbekistan," Chupik told Reuters on Saturday, adding that her deportation was expected within 24 hours.

LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Britain is expected to announce plans to issue temporary work visas to truck drivers to ease an acute labour shortage that has led to fuel rationing at hundreds of gas stations and long queues to fill up - with pumps running dry in some places.

As retailers warned of significant disruption in the run-up to Christmas, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office said it was looking at temporary measures to address the shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s closely fought election on Sunday will set the direction of the European Union’s most populous country after 16 years under Angela Merkel, whose party is scrambling to avoid defeat by its center-left rivals after a rollercoaster campaign. The environmentalist Greens also are eyeing at least a share of power.