Europe

11 Sep 2021; MEMO: Germany will not tolerate xenophobia and hate against people with an immigrant background, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said today. Steinmeier made his remarks during a ceremony at the Bellevue Palace marking the 60th anniversary of the signing of the German-Turkish labour agreement.

The president thanked Turkish immigrants who arrived Germany in the 1960s for contributing to the country's economic growth and its transformation into a culturally diverse and rich society.

London, Sep 10 (PTI) A widespread booster shots campaign as planned by the UK government is not required for everyone as immunity against COVID-19 among fully vaccinated people is lasting well, the creator of the Oxford University vaccine said on Friday.

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/: The Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine’s efficacy against the Delta strain varies from 83 to 94%, depending on the calculation method, which is much higher than foreign-made vaccines, Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya Center, the vaccine developer, said on Friday.

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/: A danger exists that terrorists might find a safe haven in Central Asia in light of the developments in Afghanistan, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS.

"I am afraid, first of all, that a safe haven for terrorists and extremists may appear there [in Afghanistan] without reference to the Taliban (radical militant group, outlawed in Russia - TASS)," he said. "There may be a consolidation of that terrorist underground or semi-underground, even on the territory of the Central Asian states."

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/: Russia and Belarus will continue integration processes within the framework of the Union State taking into account the interests of both countries, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday.

"The integration, of course, will be improving, will continue in the form that will correspond to the two countries’ interests the most, in the best possible way," the Kremlin official noted.

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/: Russia’s Central Bank has again raised its key rate - by 0.25 percentage points to 6.75%, noting that it holds open the prospect of further key rate rises at its upcoming meetings, according to the press release following the key rate meeting of the board of directors on Friday.

GENEVA, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The U.N. rights office on Friday said that the Taliban response to peaceful marches in Afghanistan has been increasingly violent, with authorities using live ammunition, batons and whips and causing the deaths of at least four protesters.

Protests and demonstrations, often led by women, pose a challenge to the new Islamist Taliban government as it seeks to consolidate control after seizing the capital Kabul nearly a month ago. 

BERLIN, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The general secretary of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives has pressed their rival Social Democrats' (SPD) chancellor candidate, Olaf Scholz, to explain himself over an investigation of his Finance Ministry by prosecutors.

Prosecutors raided the finance and justice ministries on Thursday as part of an investigation into the government's anti-money laundering agency, putting a spotlight on Germany's failings in tackling financial crime.

MADRID, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Spain will create specialised groups within the Interior Ministry and the police force to prevent hate crimes and support victims, the government said on Friday, amid mounting public pressure to curb an increase in such attacks.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez chaired an urgent meeting of ministers, community leaders and police to discuss how to reduce hate crimes, which have been growing by around 9% a year since 2014, according to the Interior Ministry.

GENEVA, Sept 10 (Reuters) - A Swiss criminal court convicted Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a power broker in international sports, of forgery on Friday in a trial over whether he used a bogus Kuwaiti coup plot to gain advantage over political rivals.

The sheikh had denied all the charges in the case, which has divided the Kuwaiti ruling family and prompted Sheikh Ahmad, 58, to step back from some of his public sporting roles, including membership of the International Olympic Committee.