Europe

PARIS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron will send his ambassador back to the United States next week after President Joe Biden agreed that consulting France before announcing a security pact with Australia could have prevented a diplomatic row, the two sides said on Wednesday.

Last week, France recalled its ambassadors from the United States and Australia and accused Biden of stabbing it in the back after Australia ditched a $40-billion defence contract with Paris for the purchase of submarines and opted for U.S. submarines instead. 

GENEVA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday issued its first air quality guidelines since 2005, which aim to reduce deaths from key pollutants that cause cardiovascular and respiratory diseases by moving towards clean sources of energy.

The United Nations agency, in advice to its 194 member states, slashed the recommended maximum levels for several pollutants, including particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, both of which are found in fossil fuel emissions.

KYIV, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Ukrainian police are trying to work out who ordered unidentified individuals to try to murder a top aide of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after his car was sprayed with automatic gunfire on Wednesday morning in an attack that shocked the political elite.

Serhiy Shefir, the top aide and a close personal friend of Zelenskiy's, escaped unscathed, but his driver was badly wounded and hospitalised.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuanian cybersecurity experts are urging the country’s government agencies to abandon the use of Chinese smartphone brands after an investigation identified security vulnerabilities and censorship concerns with certain devices.

Lithuania’s National Cyber Security Center said it found four major cybersecurity risks for devices made by Huawei and Xiaomi, including two relating to pre-installed apps and one involving personal data leakage, and warned against using these two brands.

London, Sep 22 (PTI) The UK government on Wednesday added Covishield, the Indian-manufactured Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, to an updated international travel advisory.

The move follows widespread condemnation of the Serum Institute of India manufactured vaccines not being included in a list of eligible COVID-19 vaccines recognised under Britain's reviewed international travel norms, effective from October 4.

HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — The top U.S. military officer met with his Russian counterpart Wednesday, against the backdrop of U.S. struggles to get military basing rights and other counterterrorism support in countries bordering Afghanistan — a move Moscow has flatly opposed.

The meeting in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, between Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Chief of the Russian General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov comes at a crucial time in the wake of the military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

BERLIN (AP) — Ana-Maria Trasnea was 13 when she emigrated from Romania because her single, working mother believed she would have a better future in Germany. Now 27, she is running for a seat in parliament.

“It was hard in Germany in the beginning,” Trasnea said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But I was ambitious and realized that this was an opportunity for me, so I decided to do whatever I can to get respect and integrate.”

MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/: Moscow expects that the United State will comply with its duty to issue visas to all Russian delegates for participation in the UN General Assembly session, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Tuesday.

"We expect the US side will comply with its obligations as the United Nations' host country to issue visas to all Russian participants. I am referring to the Russian delegation to the UN General Assembly session," she said.

MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/: Russia slams all attempts of the UK to put the responsibility for the Skripal case onto Moscow and will continue to demand comprehensive information from London, spokeswoman for Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Tuesday.

"We resolutely condemn all attempts by London to lay the blame for the Salisbury incident on Moscow and insist that it should be investigated professionally, objectively and impartially," she said.

MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/: Russia will never revise its stance on Crimea and there is no going back on this topic since it’s a done deal, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained to the media on Tuesday.

"There is no chance the Russian side might revise its stance on Crimea," Peskov said. "By and large, Crimea is a subject that is beyond the scope of any potential discussion. It essential to help our counterparts realize (and we will be doing this) the essence of what happened the moment the Crimeans made their choice."